035 Confusion

"Father! Father! Look, braised pork! Braised pork!" Lu Xiucai, with a lion's head bulging in his mouth, gawked at the plate being served.

The moment the plate of glistening braised pork hit the table, six or seven pairs of chopsticks lunged at it like hungry wolves. By the time the chopsticks were withdrawn, not even a scrap of the dried mustard greens beneath was left.

"Look at you all, like starved ghosts! Eat slowly. People who don't know might think the Lu family has no manners!"

"Father, stop harping on manners. We couldn't even have such a sumptuous meal during the Spring Festival in the past. Look at that fatty meat on your chopsticks. You've eaten just as much as us!" The youngest son's cheeky retort earned him a sharp rap on the head with a chopstick.

Seeing his younger brother getting hit, Lu Juren swallowed the food in his mouth and jumped to his defense. "Father, just let everyone enjoy the meal. We went through so much last night to earn this feast."

As soon as he said this, a look of relief after a narrow escape flashed in the eyes of everyone who was wolfing down their food.

Last night was truly petrifying. The master was locked in a battle with the monster down there, and they, performing on the stage, were so scared they almost wet their pants.

Then, they all instinctively glanced at Li Huowang in front of the house, who was lost in thought, gazing at the sky.

A trace of awe welled up in everyone's eyes. If it weren't for this master last night, they might not be sitting here enjoying this meal today.

This young Taoist priest might be young and beardless, but he was truly remarkable.

However, when another servant carried in a dish, their attention was instantly diverted.

"Hey! There's a chicken! Look! It's a roasted chicken!" Those pairs of chopsticks darted around above the round - table like venomous snake tongues.

Just as the chopsticks were about to tear the chicken apart, an old, well - polished tobacco pipe blocked the chicken's head. "Stop all of you! This chicken is off - limits! Wait until I go and invite the young Taoist priest to join us."

"Father, don't call him. Taoists don't eat meat. You're asking the Taoist priest to break his precepts."

"Bullshit! It's the Buddhist monks who abstain from meat! I'm warning you. If I come back and see even a bit of skin missing from this chicken, you'll pay the price!"

After shooting a fierce glare at his most rambunctious youngest son, Lu Zhuangyuan wiped his greasy mouth with his hand and then roughly smeared it on the edge of the table. Then he turned around and strode towards Li Huowang.

"Young Taoist priest, hehehe, Young Taoist priest?" Lu Zhuangyuan, with his wrinkled face all crinkled up, called out in the most sycophantic way.

"Young Taoist priest, you've been toiling all night. Come and have something to eat. Look, the dishes provided by the Hu family are sumptuous and delicious."

Li Huowang, lost in thought, turned around and looked at him. After a moment of hesitation, he asked tentatively, "Master Lu, you saw those memorial tablets fall down on their own, right? That scene couldn't have been just a hallucination of mine, could it?"

"Oh, Young Taoist priest, how would I know? I don't have your abilities, so I didn't dare to look around randomly. I was singing on the stage with my eyes closed later on."

Li Huowang let out a soft sigh. He recalled the words he heard in his ear again. Although they were very faint, he was absolutely certain it was the voice of his master, Danyangzi. In both worlds, only his master would call him "boy".

Logically speaking, hearing his master's voice again, he should be extremely nervous now. However, Li Huowang was plunged into confusion because he didn't even trust himself.

"I'm a lunatic, a seriously ill one at that. If it's just a bit of auditory hallucination because I didn't eat the black 太岁 and my illness flared up, it would be perfectly normal."

"However, those suddenly fallen memorial tablets and the suddenly appearing and disappearing God of Happiness... None of this can be explained. Could it be that..."

Li Huowang remembered the strange changes in Danyangzi's body before his death, and his expression darkened. "Could it be that he really... became an immortal?!"

"No! Danyangzi couldn't have become an immortal. The so - called immortal cultivation method and the inner elixir he took were clearly made up by me on the spur of the moment. How could such randomly fabricated things help one become an immortal? Maybe what he became wasn't an immortal at all!"

But if he wasn't an immortal, what on earth had he become? Why did he keep pestering me? A look of fierce annoyance flashed across Li Huowang's face.

"Young Taoist priest? What are you brooding over? We're all on the same side now. If you have any troubles, just speak up."

Lu Zhuangyuan's words jolted Li Huowang back to reality. He took a deep breath and made up his mind. "Regardless of whether it's true or not, there aren't many countermeasures I can take now. First, go to the so - called Western Capital City and check out the Buddhist temple that Lu Zhuangyuan mentioned. Maybe they know something if it's real. I still know too little about this world."

"Master Lu, it's nothing. I just remembered some trivial matters. Let's go to the table and have a meal."

Hearing what Li Huowang said, Lu Zhuangyuan nodded cheerfully. The two of them turned around and headed towards the dining table in the house.

When they reached the table, Lu Zhuangyuan's expression froze. He saw that, except for the roasted chicken, all the other dishes on the table had been devoured clean. The plates were so spotless that they didn't even need to be washed.

"Ahh~ I'm so full! I bet even the emperor doesn't have such a great time." Lu Xiucai, with his mouth smeared with grease, leaned back lazily on the stool and loosened his belt.

Lu Zhuangyuan gave an embarrassed smile to Li Huowang. Since there was an outsider present, he couldn't lose his temper. He could only hold the roasted chicken with both hands and place it in front of Li Huowang. "Young Taoist priest, have some. This chicken is quite plump. I'm really sorry. Please forgive our rudeness."

Li Huowang smiled, picked up his chopsticks, tore off a piece of chicken and stuffed it into his mouth. "It's okay. The chicken is quite delicious."

Just as he had taken a few bites, a group of people walked through the corridor into the house. At the front was Hu Jianghe, Lu Zhuangyuan's employer.

"Not bad, not bad. The ancestors were very satisfied. The incense and candles on the table were all burned out. This is a good sign!"

Hearing the other person praise him, Lu Zhuangyuan beamed with pride and modestly said, "It's my duty. It's what I should do."

"Master Lu, the next time you pass by here, you must come to our Hu family for a cup of tea." Hu Jianghe said politely.

As he spoke, a strong man beside Hu Qinghe stepped forward with a tray covered with a red cloth. When the red cloth was lifted, ten shiny silver ingots were neatly arranged there.

"Here's the promised ten taels of silver. Take it."

"Oh, thank you, Master Hu! Master Hu, rest assured. As long as there's work, as long as someone sends word, our Lu family troupe will come as soon as possible no matter where we are."

After Master Hu left, the Lu family surrounded the tray, eyeing the silver ingots in the tray with greedy eyes.

Just as Lu Xiucai was about to reach out and touch the biggest amount of money he had ever seen in his life, his hand was swatted away by an old tobacco pipe.

Lu Zhuangyuan first took out four silver ingots from the tray and stuffed them into his pocket. Looking at the remaining six, his eyes showed strong reluctance.

But in the end, he forced a smile and carried the silver to Li Huowang, who was having a meal.

"Hehehe, come on, Young Taoist priest. As we agreed, you get six and I get four. This is your share."