Chen Shi returned home feeling a bit out of it. His grandpa called him for dinner, but he only took a couple of bites before putting down his chopsticks and trudging back to his room. He flopped onto the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"You brat, are you eating or not? If not, I'll feed it to the dog!"
Grandpa tossed the food in front of Heiguo, the family dog.
Heiguo sniffed it, shook his head, and walked away.
"Our own dog doesn't even know if it tastes good..."
Hearing this, Heiguo wagged his tail and came back, sniffing the food again. He tried to eat but couldn't swallow it, so he turned away with his tail between his legs.
"Today's food is really something else, almost all herbs, nothing edible."
Grandpa frowned slightly, reflecting on his cooking. "Next time, I'll tone it down a bit, at least make it edible for the dog. If the dog won't eat it, Little Shi definitely won't."
By dinner time, Chen Shi got up, still feeling a bit down.
The Desolate Mountain Temple was the only place he found suitable for proper training, but now it was destroyed by a meteor. If he could only rely on starlight to train, who knows how long it would take to shake off his useless status.
He wanted to retake the provincial exam, become a scholar, and change his life, at least earn enough to take care of his grandpa in his old age.
His grandpa was getting older, and Chen Shi didn't want him to have to keep running around taking care of him, a useless grandson.
But now, a sudden meteor from the sky shattered his dreams.
He was heartbroken.
However, life had to go on, and Chen Shi soon snapped out of it because his grandpa made a hearty dinner.
This time, the dinner didn't have any weird herbs, except it was a bit too salty, but otherwise fine.
For the first time in two years, Chen Shi ate a meal that tasted somewhat normal. After a couple of bites, he couldn't help but get teary-eyed.
"Is it too salty?"
Grandpa stood with his back to him at the altar, a pair of eyes on his shoulder watching Chen Shi, and asked, "I can't taste anything, maybe it's a bit salty."
He had lost all sense of taste, even eating candles with relish.
Chen Shi shook his head, "Not salty, it's delicious."
Grandpa smiled, "Only after enduring hardship can one rise above others. Tonight, double the medicine."
Chen Shi ate quietly, then said, "Grandpa, the temple we stayed at that night got destroyed. A meteor from the sky smashed the mountain."
"Such things are as common as cow's hair on the Western New Bull Continent, why worry?" Grandpa said slowly, eating a candle without much concern.
"Has this happened a lot?"
"Yes, a lot."
After dinner, without needing Grandpa to say anything, Chen Shi cleaned up the dishes diligently.
After his herbal bath, Chen Shi practiced the Three Lights True Qi Technique as usual. In the next room, he heard Grandpa using the Thousand Mile Communication Talisman to contact his father. Grandpa repeated his old tune, telling Chen Tang that he was getting old and didn't have much time left, hoping Chen Tang would take Chen Shi to the city.
But the other end of the talisman always had excuses.
Grandpa also asked Chen Tang if he would come back for the New Year.
Again, excuses.
The talisman burned out, leaving the room dim and filled with a long sigh.
"Ah Tang, I really don't have much time left, I'm worried about Little Shi..."
In the yard, Chen Shi felt sad, continuing to train, but his progress was much slower than when he was in the Desolate Mountain Temple.
Late at night, he returned to bed, staring at the dark ceiling for a long time before falling asleep.
Heiguo heard sounds from Chen Shi's room and listened closely.
"Grandpa, don't worry about me, I can take care of myself..."
Heiguo was puzzled. Grandpa had already left, so who was Chen Shi talking to?
He quickly stood up, quietly nudged open Chen Shi's door, and peeked inside.
"Grandpa, I'm not useless, I won't get sick anymore. I'll get better, I'll pass the provincial exam, become a scholar."
On the bed, Chen Shi was restless, talking in his sleep, "I'll make sure you live a good life... I don't like Dad, I've never even seen him, please don't give me away, Grandpa... don't give me away, I'll be good to you..."
Heiguo watched for a while, then Chen Shi turned over and stopped talking.
Heiguo stepped forward, covered Chen Shi with the kicked-off blanket, quietly left the room, and closed the door with his mouth.
The next morning, Grandpa had already hitched the cart, ready to go out. Chen Shi, a bit anxious, asked, "Grandpa, where are you going?"
"To the county town to buy medicine, we're out of it at home."
Chen Shi thought for a moment, "Grandpa, was last night's dinner so good because we're out of medicine?"
"Yes. I'll be back in the afternoon, don't wander off."
Grandpa sat on the cart, holding a compass, and instructed, "If you're hungry, just skip a meal, I'll bring something good for you from the county town."
Chen Shi was quite looking forward to it.
The wooden cart rattled out of the village.
Chen Shi went to pay respects to his godmother, then trained for a while. He got hungry quickly, so he extorted a few duck eggs from the Yuzhu family, stole some sweet potatoes and a watermelon, ate his fill, and returned home.
In Yellow Slope Village, his godmother sat in a tree, her bright eyes watching him, holding a red fruit, waving at him.
"Trying to poison me while Grandpa's not here, huh?"
Chen Shi sneered, went back to his room, found some paper and ink, and planned to draw some talismans to sell secretly.
"Heiguo, aren't we good buddies?" Chen Shi, with one hand behind his back, approached the big black dog with a grin.
Heiguo backed away cautiously, already guessing what Chen Shi was up to.
Chen Shi lunged forward, revealing the small knife hidden behind his back, shouting, "Good buddies should be willing to take a stab for each other... Why not stab me? My blood isn't as fragrant as yours... I'll draw talismans to sell, we'll split the money, how about it?"
He was wrestling with Heiguo, causing a ruckus, when suddenly there was a loud knock on the door. The door was pushed open, and a dust-covered man rushed in, wearing coarse linen clothes and worn-out straw shoes. Seeing the boy and the dog wrestling, he was stunned.
"Is this Talisman Master Chen's home?"
The man hesitated, "Our village is in trouble! There's an evil spirit causing chaos, several children have gone missing, we need Talisman Master Chen to help get rid of it!"
Chen Shi let go of the dog, stood up, and said to the man, "My grandpa went to the county town to buy herbs, he won't be back until the afternoon."
The man looked disappointed and lamented, "What should we do? If we wait until the afternoon, people might die!"
"Uh... is there any reward for getting rid of the evil spirit?"
Chen Shi's eyes sparkled, his breathing quickened, "Is there silver?"
The man hesitated, took out three or four small pieces of silver, about five taels, and said, "Our Yellow Poplar Village could only gather this much..."
Chen Shi snatched the silver, clutching it in his hand, smiling, "My grandpa is a Talisman Master, and so am I. I'll take this job! Wait for me, I'll get my things and go with you!"
The man was dumbfounded, watching Chen Shi excitedly go into the house, followed by the black dog.
Inside, there were sounds of barking and the boy's voice, as if they were having a conversation.
"Woof, woof!"
"I know I don't have True Qi or spells, but I can draw talismans."
"Woof woof, woof woof woof!"
"Don't worry, it'll be fine. Saving a life is more important than anything, and they've lost several children, that's several lives."
"Woof..."
"You mean it's unusual for an evil spirit to appear during the day, right? I agree, it's odd. But I have to earn this money, so next time I find a desolate mountain or a broken temple, I won't need to ask Grandpa for money, I'll have my own to fix it up."
"Woof?"
"I was thinking, if that temple wasn't so broken, the sunlight inside wouldn't have been noticed by the sky, maybe it wouldn't have been destroyed, and I could continue training."
...
After a while, Chen Shi got ready, carrying a bookcase out the door. The bookcase was taller than him, stuffed with things, probably weighing over twenty pounds, yet Chen Shi carried it as if it weighed nothing.
"Heiguo, I'll leave a letter for Grandpa, telling him where I've gone."
Chen Shi wrote a letter, gave it to the dog, and said, "When Grandpa comes back, give him the letter. If I run into danger, let him come to Yellow Poplar Village quickly."
Heiguo took the letter in his mouth, ran to the main hall, placed it under Grandpa's shrine, then ran back, carrying a small knife, indicating Chen Shi should put it in the bookcase. If danger arose, using his dog's blood might save him.
Chen Shi knew the dog was worried about his safety, so he let it follow along.
The man led the way, and the two of them, along with the dog, headed to Yellow Poplar Village.
Yellow Poplar Village was on the northern slope of Heavenly Yang Mountain, not far in a straight line, but the mountain roads were rugged and difficult. The path was flanked by desolate mountains and dense forests, often with wild animals.
On the way, Chen Shi got a rough idea of the situation.
Yellow Poplar Village had an abandoned house, originally inhabited by the Tian family, with eight members. One day, the entire Tian family, regardless of age or gender, suddenly died violently, even the livestock, including chickens, ducks, cats, and dogs, were all dead!
The authorities didn't investigate, as such incidents were too common in the countryside, so it became an unsolved case.
Rumors spread that the Tian house was haunted, and over time, it became an abandoned house, with no one daring to enter.
"A child from our village was naughty, climbed over the wall, and got possessed. He laughed and cried, muttering about eating whoever wets the bed."
The man said, "We put up Peachwood Talismans, but they didn't work. The child's mother offered sacrifices to the godmother, but it didn't help. That night, something happened."
Chen Shi listened intently, "What happened?"
"A child in the village wet the bed and was taken away."
The man had a strange expression, "The child's father saw a huge shadow on the wall at night, with a big mouth and a long tongue, slurping up the child."
Chen Shi's heart skipped a beat, an evil spirit that only eats bed-wetting children?
That's really bizarre.
"Yesterday, two more children went missing, scaring the others so much they didn't dare let their kids drink water, fearing they'd wet the bed and get eaten. Some families even woke their children up at night to go to the bathroom, but it still happened. Today, during the day, Old Liu's child, Fugui, was peeing when a long tongue came down from the sky, slurped him up, and he disappeared."
"During the day?"
Chen Shi frowned, an evil spirit appearing during the day?
"And then?"
"Then he was probably eaten."
"Your village's godmother didn't intervene? She allowed an evil spirit into the village?"
The man shook his head, "Not all godmothers protect villagers. Some cause trouble if they think the offerings are too little. Some say the Tian family was killed by our village's godmother. They say that night, our godmother didn't drive the evil spirit away but let one in to kill the Tian family. It seems the Tian family's daughter-in-law insulted the godmother, so she held a grudge and had them killed. After the Tian family died, the godmother sent us a dream, telling us to offer more incense and sacrifices, or we'd end up like the Tians."
Chen Shi frowned, aren't godmothers supposed to be kind?
How could they do evil?
They arrived at Yellow Poplar Village, which was dilapidated, with old houses mostly made of straw. The villagers wore tattered clothes, looking like refugees. Both children and adults were pale and weak.
There were a few children in the village, some timidly hiding behind their parents, others boldly clamoring for water, probably not having had any for a long time.
"An evil spirit that only eats bed-wetting children? Such a spirit would be attracted by children's urine, meaning the reason for the children being taken isn't bed-wetting but the urine itself. I'm still a child... wait, was my body intact before they cut my Divine Fetus? I was only nine then, probably intact..."
Chen Shi was lost in thought when someone bumped into him. A boy about his age ran past.
The boy stopped, turned to apologize to Chen Shi. He was a skinny, shy boy with a runny nose.
"It's okay, it's okay."
Chen Shi waved generously, smiling, "Aren't you afraid of me?"
If it were a child from Yellow Slope Village, they'd probably be on their knees begging for mercy by now.
The skinny boy curiously asked, "Why should I be afraid of you?"
Chen Shi remembered those kids begging for mercy and kindly smiled, "Kids in my village are all scared of me, they don't dare play with me."
The skinny boy scratched his head, "Then you don't have any friends?"
"I have my godmother, Heiguo, and Scholar. They're my friends." Chen Shi smiled.
The skinny boy smiled too, "Would you like another friend?"
Chen Shi's eyes lit up, this was his first human friend since waking up!
And a living one at that!
The village elders surrounded the man who had led Chen Shi, an old woman trembling as she spoke, "Sanwang, we told you to get Talisman Master Chen, where is he?"
"Talisman Master Chen isn't home, only his grandson is. Though young, he's also a talisman master."
The man, Sanwang, glanced at Chen Shi and whispered, "And we didn't offer much money, probably couldn't get any other talisman master, only this young one. Five taels of silver, which talisman master would come?"
Everyone looked at Chen Shi, who was talking to the air, laughing and chatting, leaving them puzzled.
Sanwang gathered his courage and asked, "Talisman Master Chen, who are you talking to?"
"My new friend!"
Chen Shi smiled, "By the way, I'm Chen Shi, nicknamed Little Shi. What's your name?"
"My surname is Liu, and my name is Fugui," said the skinny boy.