Chapter 5: Thicket Village (Part 5)

Yun Xueqing ignored the overly clumsy deception and closed his eyes for a light sleep.

The thing outside saw that Yun Xueqing had no intention of opening the door, so it tried several more voices in succession, but none of them worked.

It was hopeless to get Yun Xueqing to open the door, and the noises outside finally vanished completely. The large room returned to a deathly silence once more.

Yun Xueqing fell asleep in the latter half of the night, but he woke up very early. The light outside the window was impossible to ignore.

He got up from the bed, and he heard Fu Wuxuan, who was still lying on the bed, say lazily, “Up so early?”

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“Your complexion doesn’t look good,” Fu Wuxuan laughed. “Didn’t sleep well?”

A thousand years ago, Yun Xueqing had fought in a great battle that shattered his Golden Core and destroyed his Nascent Soul.

Now, aside from sharper hearing and vision, his physical condition was not much better than an ordinary person’s.

But he knew Fu Wuxuan was no better off.

One slash, one little monster? Just putting on a strong front.

Fu Wuxuan saw that Yun Xueqing had already put on his outer robe and was preparing to go out, so he suddenly spoke up. “This village should have chickens.”

But there were no rooster crows now.

Yun Xueqing paused, leaned over to the window for a look, and discovered that the glaring light was extremely unusual:

The sun was brighter than usual, and it was rising from the west!

He took three steps back, his expression turning grave.

Fu Wuxuan curled his lip. “Not stupid, after all.”

He leaned against the bedside table in a lazy posture and casually snapped his fingers. “Oracle: Barrier Breaker.”

The dim room suddenly blazed with white light. Yun Xueqing closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the room was pitch black, and the gray gloom outside was the same.

Fu Wuxuan explained casually, “Using Weird arts to fake daylight and trick people inside out—it’s a common Weird trick. Don’t fall for it next time.”

Yun Xueqing nodded solemnly. “Thanks.”

The other man waved it off indifferently and reverted to his unserious demeanor. “Now that you know, how about we go back to sleep together?”

Yun Xueqing didn’t find anything off about his words. He nodded, took off his shoes again, and climbed back onto the bed.

He had only been forcing himself through his drowsiness to get up earlier, and now that he was back under the covers, he truly slept until the sun was high in the sky.

By the time the two went out, it was already lunchtime.

In the center of the courtyard of the siheyuan, most of the people had already gathered—over a dozen in total, including the conjoined twin brothers and Wu Xue.

Because there were so many people, the village chief had prepared two large round tables in advance, with the tabletops covered in the red plastic film used for rural banquets.

The first table was already full, so the two had to go to the second empty one.

Everyone sat obediently in their seats without touching their chopsticks ahead of time. Fu Wuxuan glanced at the dishes and chuckled. “The food’s all out—why isn’t anyone eating?”

The dishes on the table weren’t coarse grains or rare delicacies from the mountains or seas, but platters of snakes, rats, insects, and ants.

Right in view was a coiled cauliflower snake, artificially shaped into a loop, surrounded by boiled centipedes as garnish.

This dish was already shocking enough, but the neighboring plate of hairless live rats was equally hard to ignore.

A girl who looked like a student next to it directly covered her mouth and retched.

The bald burly man sitting beside the girl also looked unwell. “Never thought I’d see Three-Squeak Rat in my lifetime.”

The Three-Squeak Rat was one of the Ten Forbidden Dishes. The ingredients were simple: just a few newborn live rats and a dish of soy sauce.

The eater picked up a live rat with chopsticks. The rat squeaked once. When dipped in soy sauce, it squeaked again. When put in the mouth, it let out a final squeak—three squeaks in total.

The younger of the conjoined twins pointed at the Three-Squeak Rat and grinned. “Haha, this dish looks fun!”

“As long as the guests like it,” the village chief said with a Weird smile as he walked over carrying the last dish. “We don’t have anything fancy in the countryside. Please bear with us.”

He set down the plate, revealing a dish of raw brain matter.

The bald burly man’s face fell. “This isn’t Monkey Brain, is it?”

Monkey Brain was also one of the Ten Forbidden Dishes.

The village chief waved it off. “Our village doesn’t have monkeys. If we did, we’d have killed and eaten them long ago.”

“Then what is this…”

The man gave a sinister smile. “No monkeys, but there’s always something else to substitute.”

The burly man choked and didn’t dare ask further.

The village chief “enthusiastically” finished serving all the dishes, but when no one touched their chopsticks, his face changed dramatically. He flew into a rage. “Why aren’t you eating?! Do you look down on the produce of us country folk?!”

Everyone was startled by the village chief’s outburst, but still no one moved their chopsticks.

Eating this stuff was a real test of one’s mental fortitude.

The anger on the village chief’s face receded, replaced by a faint excitement. “If you won’t eat, then I’m starting!”

He opened his mouth wide in excitement, saliva drooling out as the yellow teeth in his mouth grew longer, turning fang-like.

He didn’t stare at the food on the table but at the people, as if picking who to bite into first.

Yun Xueqing’s sacrificial aura took effect. The village chief grinned darkly and walked toward him.

“Wait, Village Chief,” Fu Wuxuan suddenly said with a smile. “We were just waiting for noon to start eating.”

It was indeed just noon now, and yesterday’s instruction had been to eat at twelve. They hadn’t violated the rules yet.

The village chief paused reluctantly and retracted the fangs in his mouth. “Eat quickly. Don’t waste my efforts.”

Fu Wuxuan actually picked up his chopsticks and took a centipede from the plate, biting into it.

The others broke out in cold sweat at the crunchy sound.

The one eating the centipede had no mental burden and even commented, “Tastes like chicken. All protein.”

Wu Xue, who had been sitting quietly in the corner, also picked up her chopsticks and tried a centipede.

Several people trusted Wu Xue. Seeing her eat it without issue, they followed suit.

The bald burly man chewed the centipede in his mouth and said in surprise, “It really does taste like chicken.”

He even grabbed another one like he was trying something new.

The village chief saw most people eating and felt unwilling, reluctant to give up the delicacy at hand.

He kept watching Yun Xueqing’s movements and saw that the other hadn’t touched his chopsticks. He laughed eerily. “Looks like this young friend doesn’t think much of the meal I prepared…”

Yun Xueqing met the village chief’s malicious gaze and said calmly, “As a cultivator, I abstain from meat and fish.”

Everyone turned to him in surprise upon hearing this. The burly man muttered, “What a niche profession.”

The village chief’s gaze grew even colder. “I don’t care if you’re a cultivator or not. If you don’t eat, then you’ll be e—”aten by me.

Before he finished, Yun Xueqing slowly pulled a yellow talisman from his sleeve.

Feeling the evil-suppressing power of the talisman paper, the village chief choked, inwardly furious, but his tone softened. “I get that you Daoists don’t eat meat, but eating in the courtyard at noon is the rule we set. I can’t do anything about it.”

His tone was mild, as if open to discussion, but underneath the faint resentment, there was a touch of grievance.

The crowd watching the village chief’s face change multiple times: “…”

Why was this Weird feeling aggrieved first?

Yun Xueqing leisurely tucked the talisman away and pulled a biscuit from his sleeve. “This will do for me.”

The rule was only to eat in the courtyard within the time limit—it didn’t specify eating the village chief’s food.

Having been outmaneuvered, the village chief knew he couldn’t have his sacrifice. He couldn’t hold back and cursed, “Damn Daoist priest, won’t kill you.”

With no chance there, the village chief turned his gaze to those who hadn’t eaten anything.

The little girl’s flesh was the tenderest. He targeted the student-like girl. “You haven’t eaten yet.”

The girl knew she couldn’t escape. Resigned, she reached for a centipede, only to find they were all gone.

Her mind went blank. She stared in terror, suddenly realizing the village chief was right beside her!

Survival instinct kicked in. Her hand moved faster than her brain—she grabbed a pinkish-white rat from the plate raw, without even dipping it in soy sauce, and shoved it into her mouth!

Her teeth chewed the raw meat as blood burst in her mouth, and the live rat emitted shrill squeaks.

The texture was utterly revolting. The girl nearly cried from fright but clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from vomiting.

If she vomited, something worse might happen.

The village chief looked regretful and said casually, “Three-Squeak Rat is my specialty. Next time, remember to dip it in soy sauce—that’s the authentic way.”

He pressured the others at the table the same way, and they all ended up eating some, more or less.

These things were disgusting, but survival came first.

Lunch ended, and the village chief said with a smile, “Friends, you’ve eaten my food—now it’s time to work. Turn right out of the village; there’s a pond with plenty of fish. Catch some for me.”

Like an unscrupulous capitalist, he issued impossible quotas. “At least ten each.”

But no one haggled. After all, they were Oracles with skills; catching a few fish shouldn’t be hard.

But when they actually reached the pond, they realized how wrong they were.

The bald burly man shouted in despair, “That damn old bastard—why didn’t he say they were Man-eating Fish!”

In the center of the pond floated a school of fish, but they all had sharp teeth. Going down to catch them would mean getting bitten bloody.

No wading in, no fishing rods—catching over a hundred fish was impossible.

Even Fu Wuxuan, who had been handling everything smoothly, said, “In a Weird Domain, Divine Domain range is limited. The fish are too far; we can’t cover them.”

Wu Xue caught his implication. “Need someone as bait.”

Just get someone to dangle in the water to lure the Man-eating Fish into Divine Domain range, and it would be manageable.

Everyone looked at each other, but no one spoke.

“I’ll do it,” Yun Xueqing suddenly said.

Everyone was shocked. They hadn’t expected some fool to volunteer as the hero for such a dangerous task.

Yun Xueqing kept his indifferent expression. “Accumulating merit.”

His master had once said that doing good deeds and accumulating merit would help him establish his Dao.

Now everyone thought not only was this guy a fool, but also cringey—super cringey and foolish.

People like him wouldn’t last three days in a Weird Domain.

Fu Wuxuan didn’t think he was foolish. He just joked, “Doing things so utilitarian—really accumulate merit?”

Yun Xueqing didn’t reply. He just gave him a deep look.

Those eyes peeking from the bandages were clear and piercing, sharp as a hawk’s, as if no lie could escape them.

Yun Xueqing calmly withdrew his gaze, half-squatted at the pond’s edge, pushed aside his wide robe to bare half a jade-like arm, and immersed his hand in the water.

The fairly clear water reflected Yun Xueqing’s face.

His complexion was like snow, his black hair like clouds, his figure ethereal. When he settled into stillness, his immortal bearing shone even more.

Fu Wuxuan glanced over and idly thought that when the Man-eating Fish swam up and saw Yun Xueqing’s face, they might sink right there.

He amused himself with the humor. Compared to his leisure, the others were tense, staring fixedly at the Man-eating Fish drawn by the scent of human as they swam over. Each prepared their big Oracle moves, ready to unleash once the fish entered their domains.

Time was about up. Yun Xueqing was just about to pull his hand out when, beside his submerged hand, a smiling woman’s face suddenly appeared!

Yun Xueqing’s pupils dilated. A black hand covered in moss suddenly reached from the water and gripped his forearm tightly!