Chen Shi didn't sleep a wink that night, continuously practicing the Three Lights True Qi Technique, stepping on the Big Dipper, refining the seven stars.
Li Tianqing saw how hard he was working and couldn't help but admire him greatly. He tried to practice too, but soon got too tired and went back to bed.
Even though Chen Shi kept practicing non-stop, the Green Ghost Hand acted up again, squeezing his heart tighter and tighter. Fortunately, he knew it would happen because he had killed twelve people, and the ghost hand would act up at night, so he prepared early.
Chen Shi endured the intense pain and kept practicing, finally getting through this wave of attacks.
Only then did he dare to sleep.
By the time the dog barked, it was the fifth morning of the demon transformation.
Chen Shi and Li Tianqing went out to find spirit beasts. They needed to gather as much food as possible during the early stages of the demon transformation, or else as it deepened, the spirit beasts would turn into porcelain.
If they couldn't gather food early on, they would starve later.
Today's harvest was still not much. Chen Shi saw a spirit boar similar in size to the one he had caught before, but unfortunately, it had gotten smarter. When it saw them, it ran away, and the two of them and the dog couldn't catch up.
They only caught one spirit camel, a small spirit beast about the size of a regular sika deer, weighing over a hundred pounds.
On their way back to the village, they passed through several villages where the people had turned into porcelain, including his godmother.
It seemed the Evil Bodhisattva had passed through here.
"If this keeps up, Yellow Slope Village won't last long."
The two felt a heavy weight in their hearts.
When they reached Yellow Slope Village, Granny Yuzhu hurried over to Chen Shi and whispered, "Someone's here for you!" Chen Shi was delighted, "My grandpa's back!"
Granny Yuzhu shook her head mysteriously, "It's a big girl, and she's quite pretty."
Chen Shi was stunned, a big girl?
Could it be that the money he saved with his grandpa was enough, and his grandpa got him a wife?
He couldn't help but get excited, "Am I grown up? How come I didn't know?"
Li Tianqing quickly followed him, very curious and eager to see this pretty big girl.
The big girl didn't go into Chen Shi's house but sat under the old tree at the entrance, wearing a bright red jacket with green flowers, matching pants, and two big braids draped over her chest.
Her chest was bulging as if hiding some treasure.
The big girl looked sickly, and the villagers felt sorry for her, even making her a bowl of meat soup. Chen Shi saw this beautiful big girl and turned around without saying a word.
Li Tianqing asked in confusion, "Little Shi, aren't you going home?"
"Home? What home? This isn't my home!"
Chen Shi blinked, "I took the wrong path. My home is on the other side of the village."
Heiguo barked twice, looking very serious, as if saying, "You really did take the wrong path."
It ran ahead, planning to lead its lost little master to the other side of the village.
The big girl watched them with a smile and suddenly said, "Keep walking, and you'll all die."
Chen Shi turned back, smiling with surprise, "Hey, isn't this my home? Look at my memory, getting confused at such a young age. Heiguo, how did you get confused too?"
Heiguo sat on the ground, hanging its head in regret, as if blaming itself for remembering the wrong house.
The big girl sneered, sipping her meat soup, watching their act with a sideways glance.
Chen Shi walked towards his house, suddenly acting as if he saw her for the first time, surprised, "Master Jin, is that you? Master Jin, don't you remember me? I'm Little Chen! We met in Reckless City!"
He was overjoyed, "Master Jin, we even had tea at the same table back then! Tianqing, come quickly, this is Jin Hongying from the Divine Mechanism Battalion! Heiguo, come greet Master Jin! Master Jin, you look even better today!"
As he spoke, he backed away, pushing Li Tianqing and Heiguo into the courtyard, closing the door, panting heavily, his smile vanishing, replaced by fear.
Li Tianqing was also terrified, not looking at the door but at the corner of the wall.
In the corner stood a cannon as tall as a person, the Red Barbarian Cannon!
Heiguo ran around, looking for something to cover its doghouse.
Its doghouse was filled with black iron cannonballs.
"Bang!"
The door was kicked open by a force, and Jin Hongying, looking unwell, walked into the courtyard with a bowl in hand, kicking her shoes, limping, and looking unfriendly as she glanced at the Red Barbarian Cannon in the corner and the black iron cannonballs in the doghouse, sneering.
Chen Shi's face turned pale, whispering, "Tianqing, what's the punishment for stealing a Red Barbarian Cannon and hiding cannonballs?"
Jin Hongying didn't wait for Li Tianqing to answer, shouting, "Exterminate your nine generations! And add the crime of making gunpowder privately, executing the whole village. By this time next year, your village can reincarnate and start over!"
She rolled her eyes, her face clearing up, smiling, "But I'm not unreasonable. Everything can be negotiated. If you can give me a little meat to eat, we'll let this go. I'm starving!"
She gulped down the meat soup, quickly finishing a bowl, looking pale.
After fighting the Evil Bodhisattva, she hid in Fragrant Field Village to heal her wounds.
Fragrant Field Village didn't have cultivators like Chen Shi and Li Tianqing who could hunt every day. The villagers struggled to feed themselves, so Jin Hongying could only starve.
Unexpectedly, just as she stabilized her injuries, the Evil Bodhisattva came, turning everyone in Fragrant Field Village, even the little girl's godmother, into porcelain.
Luckily, she escaped in time.
But the Evil Bodhisattva was searching for living people, turning them into porcelain upon finding them. Many villages and towns had become porcelain worlds.
Everyone turned into porcelain, motionless.
Chen Shi, hearing she came to beg for food, felt bolder, saying, "So it's Little Jin. Little Jin, I know you've had a tough time these days, but we don't support idlers in Yellow Slope Village. If you want a meal, it's not impossible. What skills do you have?"
He looked Jin Hongying up and down.
Jin Hongying smiled at him, saying leisurely, "I have a particularly long life. Little rascal, go make food for me, or I'll eat you two little guys!"
Chen Shi agreed and went to cut meat to cook.
Li Tianqing quickly came to his side, surprised to see him pick up a knife, thinking Chen Shi was going to attack. But Chen Shi just cut a piece of meat and started cooking.
"Little Shi, weren't you planning to kill her?" Li Tianqing asked, puzzled.
"How could I do that? I'm not a bad person. I don't just go around killing," Chen Shi said, slicing the meat, planning to marinate it for a while, shaking his head.
Li Tianqing felt like he was seeing him for the first time, suddenly realizing, "You're going to poison the meat!"
Chen Shi shook his head, "Jin Hongying is the kind of person who, even if she's severely injured and lying on the ground, as long as she's not completely dead, you shouldn't try to kill her. Wait until she's completely dead, then you can."
Li Tianqing didn't understand.
But Chen Shi knew Jin Hongying was a strong fighter who could face off against Prince Xiao. Even when Prince Xiao was severely injured and unconscious, his two swords guarded him, and anyone who touched him would die.
Jin Hongying's injuries must be serious, but she could still walk and talk, so her injuries were lighter than Prince Xiao's back then. Even if Chen Shi had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare to act.
"Little brother, you're quite smart," Jin Hongying said, sitting at the table, petting the dog's head, smiling. Heiguo lay at her feet, enjoying it.
Chen Shi cooked braised ribs, pork belly, and stewed tendon, then made meatball soup and served it.
Jin Hongying was so hungry she devoured everything, even though Chen Shi had cooked enough for three people.
Chen Shi had to cook again.
"Chen Shi, your village won't last long. The Evil Bodhisattva will find this place soon," Jin Hongying said, feeling a bit stronger. "We need to move soon."
Chen Shi shook his head, "What about our villagers? If we leave, they'll starve."
"They won't starve. Without spirit meat and exotic beast meat, they'll soon turn into porcelain. They've lasted this long because you've been providing them with spirit meat. But you two little guys can't feed a whole village forever. We three should leave together."
She paused, petting Heiguo's head, "Bring this dog. If there's nothing to eat, we can eat dog meat."
Heiguo immediately stood up, refusing to sit by her side anymore.
Jin Hongying was surprised, laughing, "This dog can actually understand human speech!"
Li Tianqing said coldly, "Chief Jin, after eating the dog, you can eat people, right? After all, you're with two kids who can't resist you."
Jin Hongying giggled, "Little brother, you're so smart. I'll start by eating you."
Chen Shi laughed, "Sister, we're still young, not tasty. Wait until we grow up."
Jin Hongying laughed, "Two little ones, a pair of golden children, so endearing. When you grow up, I'll eat you in a different way."
Chen Shi didn't understand, thinking she really wanted to eat them, so he quietly grabbed a kitchen knife, hiding it in his sleeve.
Jin Hongying noticed this, laughing, "Put the knife down. It's not the kind of eating you're thinking."
Chen Shi, realizing she noticed, didn't dare act rashly, obediently putting the knife down, asking, "What kind of eating is sister talking about?"
Jin Hongying looked into his innocent eyes, blushing at her own thoughts, took a deep breath, and limped out the door. Her voice came from outside, "You two eat up. I'll give you time to say goodbye to these villagers. I'm not heartless. The spirit meat you used to give them, I won't take. They can live a little longer."
Chen Shi focused on cooking.
Li Tianqing sat by the stove, adding firewood, saying, "This Sister Jin is really something. One moment she wants to be our mom, the next our aunt, and she wants to eat us. She says we're small now, she'll eat us when we grow up, and the way of eating will be different. No wonder my grandpa says women are changeable."
Chen Shi thought for a moment, "She's alone, lonely for a long time, so her temper must be strange."
Jin Hongying called from outside, "I heard that! You two little guys, talking about me behind my back, I'll tear your mouths apart!"
Chen Shi whispered, "See, her temper's bad again."
Li Tianqing said, "My grandpa says getting married will fix that."
"I'm coming in to hit you two!" Jin Hongying shouted angrily.
After eating, Chen Shi washed the pots and dishes, leaving a note for his grandpa, telling him not to worry.
His grandpa hadn't returned these days, but he believed his grandpa wouldn't abandon him and would surely come back.
"I need to offer incense to my godmother," Chen Shi said.
Jin Hongying huffed, "Troublemaker! We'll go together!"
She thought Chen Shi's godmother was the divine tree outside the village, but they headed out of the village instead.
"Little Shi, are you leaving?" Yuzhu asked, blinking her big eyes.
Chen Shi nodded, "Your family's meat should last ten more days. Don't save it, eat well. I'll come back later with more!"
Yuzhu looked confused, waving her little hand as she watched them leave the village.
"Granny, Little Shi is leaving," she said, turning back.
Granny Yuzhu, leaning on her cane, stood behind her, understanding Chen Shi was leaving but not stopping him.
On the streets of Yellow Slope Village, every household had someone come out, watching Chen Shi leave without saying a word to stop him.
"He's taken care of us for a long time. We shouldn't keep him. Staying will only harm him," Granny Yuzhu said.
Chen Shi led Jin Hongying, Li Tianqing, and Heiguo to Yellow Earth Slope. Jin Hongying was about to go up the slope when her face changed, stopping suddenly, looking at the slope with uncertainty.
Chen Shi turned back, surprised, "Sister Jin, aren't you coming up?"
Jin Hongying's forehead was covered in sweat, looking at Li Tianqing, who was already on the slope, even the black dog was up there without any problem!
But as soon as she lifted her foot, the world spun, and the vast yellow sky pressed down on her!
Sweat dripped down her face.
Going up the slope might mean death!
"This Yellow Earth Slope is strange, very strange!"