The next day.

morning.

The eerie charm that pervaded the deserted village has disappeared without a trace.

Su Wu turned over and climbed up from the haystack,

Go out of the cowshed and check the bowl of rice under the archway.

The handful of incense sticks stuck in the grains of rice had been burnt out, and the ashes were nowhere to be found.

Anyway, the uncooked rice in the bowl was not stained by any ash.

He picked up the bowl of rice,

I looked at the rice grains and found that there was no change in appearance compared to last night.

But when Su Wu weighed it, he found that the bowl of rice was lighter.

Did that ghost eat the uncooked rice?

Is uncooked rice something similar to an offering from the Secret Realm?

How is this kind of uncooked rice that looks like ice particles in your hand grown?

Thoughts are running through my mind,

Su Wu put the bowl of uncooked rice under the archway again.

——The fat old man only asked him to check whether there was any change in the uncooked rice, but did not ask him to take the bowl of rice back.

Carrying a bowl of uncooked rice that was supposed to be given to Sneaky on the stage, Su Wu returned along the original route.

On the way back,

The stage is missing,

Mantou Mountain is missing,

The early morning sun shines on the dirt road,

There are many roads crisscrossing the roadside, and the wheat sown in early spring has already given birth to tender green and weak seedlings in this particularly cold weather.

…

It’s still the same bamboo forest.

The bamboo forest hides a newly built temple,

In the clearing in front of the forest,

The fat old man pulled up a stool,

Sitting on a bench,

The four legs of the bench sank deeply into the soft soil.

He lit the pipe pot,

‘Bata, Bata’ took a few puffs,

His dark, fat face was full of unconcealable fatigue.

The fire in the three-burner wood stove is still burning,

The iron pot on the stove is filled with smoking water for cleaning.

Obviously, these three iron pots worked together last night and entertained many 'passers-by'.

The fat old man took two puffs of cigarette,

Then he raised his head and took a look at the road to the east.

The road to the east is brightly illuminated by the sun, and you can see at a glance that there is not a single person at the end of the road.

Before seeing anyone, the fat old man frowned, with worry hidden in his eyes.

"It's already this hour,

According to common sense, it’s time to come back...

Hey..." He sighed lowly,

Put out the cigarette pot,

Get up and clean all three pots.

Then he turned to the bamboo forest,

Not long after,

He picked up a skinned dog and marinated the meat with salt until it turned dark red, and walked out of the bamboo forest.

At this moment,

There was a hunchbacked old man who already had two children aged seven or eight.

Walk here from the small village outside the bamboo forest.

He and his children stood respectfully in front of the open space. The corner of his eyes kept turning to several loads of rice and vegetables under the table in the open space, with a look of longing in his eyes.

The fat old man came back with the dog meat and saw the old man with two children.

He looked at the children brought over by the hunchbacked old man,

The hunchbacked old man looked past the fat old man,

He looked at the bamboo forest behind the fat old man.

I didn’t see the half-grown boy from yesterday walking out of the bamboo forest...

His heart is slightly calm,

He bowed his hands to the fat old man and said with a smile on his face: "Master Stove Lord..."

"Ouch!"

Hearing this title, the fat old man raised his eyebrows and changed his color on the spot: "The Chief is going to shorten my life - Stove Lord, is that a title I can afford?!"

Take it back quickly,

Take it back quickly!"

"ah,

The old man took it back,

Hehe, take it back..." The hunchbacked old man wanted to say something nice and compliment the fat old man.

The Cult of Kitchen God has followers all over the country.

The momentum is not far behind that of Taoism, the Ming Dynasty’s manifest religion.

The hunchback leader also knew about this sect,

If you know the most outstanding stove master in their sect, you will be called the "Stove Lord".

So I wanted to use this title to please the fat old man,

Unexpectedly, the flattering photo was taken in the wrong place and hit the horse's leg.

The chief was not embarrassed, and still smiled. He pushed the two seven or eight-year-old boys in front of him towards the fat old man and said: "Master in charge, the boy you sent out last night,

You haven't come back yet, have you?

The old man felt that he would probably never come back.

So this morning I brought two more helpless children and brought them to your door.

At least I can survive for a few days and have enough to eat."

The fat old man heard the chief say that the kid last night would probably never come back.

There was an unhappy look on his face,

But he also knows,

It’s already this hour,

The boy has not been seen yet,

The chance of coming back is actually very small.

The young man last night was actually quite courageous.

When doing this kind of thing yourself, the most important thing is to be bold and careful.

Young people probably only have the word "bold".

It would be better if I were more careful...

The fat old man felt sorry in his heart,

Sad again,
To be continued...