This Taoist priest is so unprofessional!

The torrential rain pounded on people's faces, stinging painfully.

The blue tiles under Wang Xiaoer's feet were so slippery, as if they had been smeared with oil.

He crouched on the roof, clutching a few pieces of asbestos tile he had picked up, trying to plug the roof, which was more leaky than a sieve.

The wind howled like a wild dog.

A bolt of lightning cleaved the gray sky, instantly illuminating his face, which was covered in rain and mud.

Beneath my feet, the already loose tile let out a creaking sound as it succumbed to the weight.

"Click."

The body lost its only support.

He fell from the not-so-high roof.

The muddy ground in the yard had been soaked by the rain and turned into a muddy puddle.

He plunged in headfirst, choking on a mouthful of muddy water.

Hehe!

A sharp, short crowing of a rooster abruptly ended the call.

Wang Xiaoer struggled to lift his head out of the muddy water, spitting out the grass roots and mud from his mouth.

He didn't feel any pain anywhere on his body.

These minor falls and bumps are commonplace for him.

He rolled over and saw what was under him.

It's the old hen at home.

It was sheltering from the rain under the eaves when it was accurately hit by this human-shaped cannonball. Now its neck is tilted to one side, its wings twitch twice, and it is completely still.

Rainwater washed over its yellowish feathers.

Wang Xiaoer stared blankly.

This was the only living creature in his house besides himself.

It looks like we won't even be able to eat eggs anymore.

He neither cursed nor cried.

He slowly sat up from the mud and wiped the rain off his face.

There was no discernible emotion on that young face.

He reached out and picked up the still-warm dead chicken.

He stood up and limped into the dilapidated house that was battered by wind and rain.

The wooden door creaked and groaned, as if it might fall apart at any moment.

The indoors wasn't much better than the outside.

There was a basin in the east corner, a bucket in the west corner, and a chipped earthenware pot directly under the roof beam.

Tick, tick.

Rainwater seeped from every corner of the roof, falling precisely into these containers, creating a symphony of poverty.

Besides these, all that remained in the room was a wooden bed that was about to fall apart and a strangely shaped three-legged table.

On the table was a chipped, rough porcelain bowl, which was empty.

The lid of the rice container in the corner was open, and it was so empty that even a mouse wouldn't want to stay inside.

Wang Xiaoer threw the dead chicken on the ground and then sat down on the edge of the bed.

Rainwater trickled down his tattered clothes, quickly forming a small puddle at his feet.

He stared at the chicken for a long time.

Then, an ugly smile appeared on his lips.

"Alright, let's have an extra meal tonight."

The thought flashed through my mind, and nothing else came to mind.

Years of bad luck have worn him down to a tough, unyielding nature.

Do you resent it?

I've long since become numb to it.

The rain subsided slightly, turning into a light drizzle.

Wang Xiaoer carried the chicken, which had been scalded with boiling water and plucked, and prepared to go to the well at the village entrance to clean it.

His water tank broke yesterday when he accidentally bumped it against a water bucket while carrying water.

As soon as I stepped out of my muddy courtyard wall, I bumped into several villagers with umbrellas, looking like they had just finished playing mahjong.

The leader was Aunt Zhang from the village, who was known for her warm heart and her gossipy nature.

"Hey, waiter!"

When Aunt Zhang saw the white chicken in his hand and his still damp clothes, she immediately understood what was going on.

"You child, you fell off the roof again?"

Wang Xiaoer twitched the corner of his mouth, which was his way of greeting him.

"It's alright, Aunt Zhang, I'm used to it."

Another villager, Li Laosi from the west end of the village, took a half step back, distancing himself from Wang Xiaoer.

"Waiter, you should stay away from us."

Li Laosi's face showed undisguised disgust.

"You're such a jinx, whoever gets involved with you is doomed. I only said two words to you the other day, and half of my pigsty collapsed when I got home."

Wang Xiaoer didn't say anything, but simply carried the chicken and silently walked around them.

His silence was interpreted by others as tacit agreement.

Aunt Zhang sighed and lowered her voice to speak to the person next to her.

"What a disaster! How many generations has the Wang family been in this line of work?"

"My grandfather told me that, starting from his great-great-grandfather's generation, the Wang family has never had a single decent person."

"Drinking cold water will cause you to choke, and farting will cause you to hit your heel—that's a perfect description of their family."

"Look at his ancestral home, it's built in the lowest depression in our village, which is called a 'poor and desolate place' in feng shui. It gathers yin energy and dissipates wealth. Even gods would have to take a lot of damage if they came here."

The murmurs were neither too loud nor too soft, just enough to reach Wang Xiaoer's ears.

He kept walking, his face remaining expressionless.

He's been hearing these words since he could walk.

For generations, my ancestors were known as the unluckiest people in the surrounding area.

While others had a bumper harvest, he had a complete crop failure.

In business, you lose everything on the very first day of opening.

If you marry a wife, she will either run away with someone else, or she will fall seriously ill within three days of the wedding.

By the time it came to his father's generation, misfortune had reached new heights.

He was over thirty years old when he finally managed to marry a woman from another village, who was Wang Xiaoer's mother.

As a result, his mother's health was poor after giving birth to him, and she passed away less than two years later.

His father raised him until he was over ten years old. Once, when he went up the mountain to chop firewood, he was knocked off a cliff by a wild boar.

Thus, Wang Xiaoer became the new generation of "god of misfortune" in this "desolate land".

He survived to the age of twenty by relying on the help of neighbors in the village, who would give him a bowl of rice or a piece of clothing, and by doing odd jobs himself.

He walked to the well, placed the chicken on the well rim, put down the bucket, and began to draw water.

"Hey, isn't this the unlucky Wang Xiao'er?"

A sarcastic voice came from behind.

Wang Xiaoer didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

Li Ergou, a local hoodlum.

Two young men followed behind Li Ergou, looking like hooligans and clearly not good people.

"What happened? You even squandered the last of your family's possessions?"

Li Ergou glanced sideways at the white-striped chicken on the edge of the well, his Adam's apple bobbing.

Wang Xiaoer ignored him and slowly cranked the well pulley.

The bucket was brought up.

Li Ergou grabbed the well rope.

"I'm talking to you, are you mute?"

Wang Xiaoer finally raised his head and glanced at him.

"What's up?"

His voice was flat, like a stagnant pool without any ripples.

Li Ergou was enraged by his nonchalant attitude.

"Something's wrong? This is serious!"

He stepped onto the edge of the well and pointed at Wang Xiaoer's nose.

"You're always hanging around the village, you're ruining the village's feng shui! I lost three hundred yuan playing cards yesterday, it must be because of you!"

"Today, you either pay me three hundred yuan, or you leave this chicken here for us guys to have with our drinks!"

Wang Xiaoer looked at his face, which was etched with the word "scoundrel".

I laughed for no reason.

It was a strange laugh, like helplessness, yet also like mockery.

"Okay."

He said.

"Then come and get it."

Li Ergou was stunned for a moment.

He didn't expect Wang Xiaoer to be so agreeable.

"Has this kid changed his ways today?"

He had some doubts, but looking at the plump chicken, greed overcame his vigilance.

"You said it yourself!"

Li Ergou smugly reached out and grabbed the chicken.

His feet were still on the slippery well edge.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch the chicken, the moss-covered stone under his feet suddenly slipped.

"Holy crap!"

Li Ergou let out a scream.

He lost his balance and fell backward in an extremely awkward position.

Pfft!

A muffled thud.

He fell hard into a large mud pit next to him.

That pit was dug a couple of days ago when the village was repairing water pipes; the water and mud inside were about half a foot deep.

Li Ergou instantly turned into a mud figure.

His two henchmen were dumbfounded.

The villagers who had been watching from a distance were initially deathly silent, then burst into suppressed laughter.

"Hahaha! Karma's coming!"

"Serves you right for messing with bad luck!"

Li Ergou was thrashing about in the mud pit, both angry and anxious. He choked on a mouthful of muddy water and coughed until his face turned red.

His venomous gaze was fixed on Wang Xiaoer.

It was as if she wanted to tear him to pieces with her eyes.

Wang Xiaoer didn't even glance at him, and proceeded to cut open the chicken's belly and begin cleaning it.

After a long while, he picked up his chicken, took the bucket of water he had just drawn, and turned to go home.

He didn't say a single extra word from beginning to end.

But the more he acted this way, the more eerie he appeared to others.

"See that? This kid's got a really weird streak!"

"Stay away from him, that's the right thing to do."

Wang Xiaoer's figure appeared exceptionally lonely under everyone's gaze.

He walked slowly, his back view desolate.

No one knows what he is thinking at this moment.

"This is fucking boring."

Back in the dilapidated house, he closed the door, shutting out all the sounds from outside.

Inside the house, the leaking rainwater was still dripping.

He skillfully started a fire, boiled water, and threw the chicken that had been with him for a long time into the pot.

There was no oil, no salt, and no seasoning.

It's just a pot of boiled chicken.

Soon, the aroma of meat filled the dilapidated little house.

This was the first time in months that he had smelled meat so closely.

Wang Xiaoer scooped out a chicken leg, not caring that it was hot, and stuffed it directly into his mouth.

It's very tough and has a fishy smell.

But he ate very quickly and with great effort.

It was as if all the grievances, resentment, and numbness were being swallowed down along with this piece of chicken.

As he ate, his movements slowed down.

My eyes welled up with tears without warning.

A drop of scalding hot liquid slid from the corner of my eye and fell into the chicken soup in front of me, creating a small ripple.

Just then.

Suddenly, a series of chaotic footsteps and shouts came from outside the courtyard wall.

"Catch that little charlatan!"

"Don't let that damn swindler get away! He dares to try and cheat our Kaoshan Village! If I catch him, I'll break his legs!"

"Over there! He ran into Wang Xiaoer's yard!"

Wang Xiaoer was taken aback and got up, about to go out to check.

"Bang!"

His already rickety wooden door was smashed open by a tremendous force.

A figure stumbled in.

He was a young man, who looked no older than Wang Xiaoer.

He was wearing a faded old robe, his hair was messy, and his face was covered in mud; he looked quite disheveled.

The young man rushed into the house and was taken aback when he saw Wang Xiaoer.

Behind him, several villagers carrying hoes and carrying poles had caught up to the gate of the courtyard and were glaring at him angrily.

"You little liar, where do you think you're going now!"

The young man ignored the pursuers behind him; his breathing was somewhat rapid.

His gaze quickly swept across the four corners of the house, but finally settled firmly on the roof beam of the dilapidated building.

The initial panic quickly faded from his face.

Instead, there was an extreme shock, an astonishment as if a priceless treasure had been discovered.

He looked at Wang Xiaoer, then looked up at the dilapidated house that was drafty, dark, and damp.

His mouth opened wider and wider, and he made a "hoarse" sound in his throat, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

The villagers who chased after him were also a little confused by his appearance.

"Has this kid... gone mad?"

next second.

The young man turned around abruptly, staring at Wang Xiaoer with shining eyes. His voice was trembling with excitement.

"Holy crap! Ten generations of poverty, yet a hidden dragon lies dormant in the abyss!"