Chapter 26: Scary

"It's... it's... something horrible!"

"I'm not blind; don't get any closer. Are you trying to eat it? I know you're foolish, but surely not *that* foolish."

"Gouwa, don't talk. There are people on the road."

"Hehe, I'll listen to you, Senior Brother Li."

Not long after, Zhuangyuan Lü saw the people emerge from the woods.

When he saw how they looked, Zhuangyuan Lü gasped sharply. No wonder his youngest son had just cried "ghosts"; they were truly terrifying. There was a thin person with a patchy black-and-white face, a white-haired woman, a bow-legged person lying on someone's back, and even one whose entire face was covered in hair. Zhuangyuan Lü, having traveled extensively, was well-informed, but he was still frightened by the scene before him.

"Dad, I'm scared." Xiucai Lü kept shrinking backward, seemingly trying to hide as much of his body as possible behind his father.

"'You're scared, and I'm not?' Zhuangyuan Lü inwardly cursed his youngest son. If it hadn't been for a handsome Daoist priest and a few normal-looking Daoist acolytes among the group, he likely would have turned and fled long ago."

Zhuangyuan Lü tremblingly bowed to Li Huowang. "May I ask, Daoist Master, are those... are these all spirits you have subdued?"

As soon as he said this, he immediately received a barrage of hostile stares.

"What's that old man saying?! Looking for a beating, are you? Who are you calling a spirit-monster?"

Zhuangyuan Lü saw the handsome Daoist priest wave his hand, making the aggressive black-and-white-faced spirit-monster stop talking, which further confirmed his suspicion.

"Elder, could you tell me where this road leads?"

"Wuligang! Wuligang is right ahead, not far, not far. Hehehe."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhuangyuan Lü subtly prodded the horse's rump with his dry tobacco pipe. The horse neighed, and pulling the chests, galloped down the forest path.

"Oh! My horse! My horse! Quick, follow it!" Zhuangyuan Lü, pretending to be anxious, led the others in pursuit of the horse.

They ran very fast, and in no time, they had left those things far behind.

They ran for a full hour, and when he saw his youngest son had vomited from running, Zhuangyuan Lü finally blew a whistle to make the horse stop.

After they stopped, he didn't attend to his youngest son; instead, his first priority was to check on the horse pulling the cart. In this opera troupe, horses were more valuable than people.

By then, the sky was gradually darkening, and it was almost night.

"Oh, my goodness, what were those things? They scared me to death." The sweating Lü Juren gasped for air.

Zhuangyuan Lü kicked him. "Can't you see it's getting dark? Go find some firewood in the woods!"

By the forest path, a warm bonfire was lit. Softened multi-grain steamed buns were handed to everyone, and the sweet aroma of the food soothed their frightened hearts.

"Look at how scared you all are. When you're out and about, what's a little strange incident? It's precisely at times like these that you mustn't panic, I tell you." Zhuangyuan Lü said to the others.

"Dad, maybe those weren't spirits. They looked quite human to me, and that young Daoist priest even called you 'elder.'"

Hearing his daughter-in-law say this, Zhuangyuan Lü shook the water gourd in his hand.

"No matter what they are, let's not get involved. All of you, remember this: when you're traveling, if you want to live a long life, avoid anything you can; don't get mixed up with it."

This could be said to be Zhuangyuan Lü's life philosophy. Regardless, by adhering to this principle, he had lived to such an old age.

Furthermore, he intended to teach this principle to his youngest and eldest sons, as when he grew old, the opera troupe would depend on them to take over and perform.

Handing the water gourd to his nephew beside him, Zhuangyuan Lü looked at his granddaughter, who was lying in his daughter-in-law's arms.

Watching her gnaw on a small piece of steamed bun with her newly emerged milk teeth, Zhuangyuan Lü felt his heart fill with joy the more he watched.

He turned and took out a salted duck egg from a round jar on the cart. After carefully peeling a small opening, he brought the sizzling, oily yolk to his granddaughter's mouth. "Come, come, Nannan, suck on this, it's fragrant."

Watching his granddaughter suck vigorously, Zhuangyuan Lü's eyes instantly crinkled into a line of a smile.

Although it was a pity she wasn't a grandson, the bond between generations was strong, and he doted on this little granddaughter immensely.

Sensing a good opportunity, Luo Juanhua immediately spoke up: "Dad, look, Cui'er is already so big. Shouldn't she have some proper clothes? It's not right for her to wear opera costumes every day."

As soon as his daughter-in-law mentioned money, Zhuangyuan Lü's smiling face vanished, his features wrinkling together.

He was about to refuse, but seeing the loose-fitting opera costume on his little granddaughter, his heart softened again.

Taking a few puffs from his dry tobacco pipe, his face now even more wrinkled, he walked to the front of the cart, took out a long brass lock, and opened a chest.

After fumbling inside for a while, he counted out fifty copper coins.

"Don't go to town to buy fabric; it's expensive. In a couple of days, when we reach Wuligang, go ask which women there weave cloth. Buy a few feet from their homes, and remember to ask several households to find the cheapest one."

"Also, remember to buy cotton cloth, not hemp. Xiuer's skin is delicate; hemp would chafe uncomfortably."

"I understand." Luo Juanhua's face lit up as she took the copper coins. She had only expected to get enough for hemp cloth, so she was surprised that the 'iron rooster' had crowed this time.

The child was small, so making clothes wouldn't require much fabric. She might even be able to skim a bit off the top this time.

Once he saw his granddaughter had finished the yolk, Zhuangyuan Lü distributed the remaining egg white among the adults.

Though each person didn't get much, they were delighted to taste something salty. It was a rare treat.

It was already dark, and after dinner, there was nothing else to do. After listening to Zhuangyuan Lü tell a few old stories he'd heard somewhere, it was time to sleep.

The person on watch for the first half of the night was Lü Juren. He had been walking all day and was very tired, but he forced himself to stay alert, staring at the bonfire to ensure it didn't go out.

"Son, go to sleep. I'll keep watch." Zhuangyuan Lü sat beside his son and began puffing on his dry tobacco pipe again.

Lü Juren said, yawning, "Dad, I'm not sleepy. You go to sleep."

"Stop talking nonsense and go to sleep. I'm an old man; I don't need much sleep."

Just as the two were arguing by the bonfire, Zhuangyuan Lü suddenly covered his son's mouth with his hand and pointed towards the dark woods in the distance.

"Hehehe~" A high-pitched, thin woman's laugh suddenly echoed to their right.

Zhuangyuan Lü and his son instinctively looked in that direction, but could see nothing but darkness.

"Hehehehe~ Tell me, do I look like a human or a god?" The dark woods began to sway, as if something was about to emerge from within.

Zhuangyuan Lü was instantly drenched in a cold sweat. As a well-traveled man, he knew that something was asking for a verbal judgment on its nature.

He couldn't answer carelessly; a wrong answer could bring ruin upon his family.

But the problem was, what exactly in the woods was demanding this verdict from him?

The woods swayed rhythmically in the night, emitting an eerie rustling sound.