Mythology Returns! Starting with Folklore and Strange Tales

Chapter 117 Chicken Soup (Not Really) is Here!

"Who?"

"Stay there, don't come any closer!"

As Liang Lidong instinctively picked up the machete beside him and shouted, he also slapped his relatives to wake up the men in the team and get ready.

These days, those still wandering the country are either starving people like them, or bandits who have resorted to highway robbery because they can't survive.

The peddlers who used to prefer traveling between towns and villages by main roads, and the caravans who were afraid of being robbed and losing their lives, no longer dared to openly travel on the official roads.

So, at the slightest sound, even if they were starving, they would get up and check the situation.

But that one glance made Liang Lidong's already rapidly beating heart race even faster.

It looks like a person from a distance.

But there's only one!

This is scarier than encountering bandits.

Soon, all the men among the starving people stood up, while the women and children began to sneak into the forest from behind the human wall. However, they did not go far and remained under the sight of the starving people, ready to flee at any moment if things went wrong.

Seeing the crowd already on guard, Zhang Wei stopped approaching and instead spoke loudly from a distance: "I've only been walking for a while and wanted to come closer to ask some questions when I saw strangers. I didn't mean to disturb you all. Please forgive my rudeness!"

The other party did not reply immediately.

After whispering for a while, an old man stepped out from the crowd, walked up to him, looked him up and down, and then breathed a sigh of relief: "Please forgive us, Taoist priest, we have seen too many things along the way and have to be careful."

"But I wonder where you're headed, Daoist Master, traveling alone?"

This is an interrogation.

If Zhang Wei gives an incorrect answer, the old man, who was originally sent out to "die," will immediately try his best to drag himself away, giving the others a chance to escape and survive.

But while he was questioning Zhang Wei, wasn't Zhang Wei also scrutinizing him?

After all, Yazi would never take things seriously if they didn't have blood on their hands.

After observing the old man for a while and confirming that he was at least a human being, Zhang Wei spoke up: "I just came down from the temple and wanted to travel in the mortal world. I was given directions by the villagers in the village behind me to go to Heshun. I saw you all resting by the roadside and thought I would come over to ask about the way and take a break. I never expected to offend you all."

"If there's anything inconvenient, then I won't bother you any longer. Just tell me how far it is from here to Heshun, and I'll walk a little further until I find a shady spot to rest!"

Hearing Zhang Wei say this, the old man looked him up and down.

He moved closer, took a slight sniff from a distance, and wiped his withered hands on his clothes before handing them to Zhang Wei.

When Zhang Wei also offered his left hand, placing it on the hand that was just a layer of rough skin covering the bone, and watching the other person's index finger dangle around his wrist for a while, the tense atmosphere finally eased.

After confirming that Zhang Wei was alive, the old man praised Zhang Wei's cultivation achievements while begging for mercy and leading him back to the crowd of starving people by the roadside to tell them about the situation down the mountain.

The crowd was noisy and chattering, but it also gave Zhang Wei a deeper understanding of what was happening inside the silhouette.

Although there are still less than six months until the worst drought of the Dingchou year, we are still far away.

However, in Shanxi, where the drought had truly begun and had been brewing for two years, the land was already desolate, with nine out of ten villages deserted.

Forced by hunger, the people left their homes and began to flee in all directions.

"Sir, I heard from the villagers that there's a new organization called 'Full Food Society' in Heshun City that's been doing disaster relief lately. Are you here for them too?"

Zhang Wei spoke casually, but to his surprise, the faces of the old men who had been chatting and laughing immediately changed: "Young Taoist priest, you wouldn't dare say that. We're from Yunfu. We've never seen or heard of any kind of feast, but we're just farmers. Even if we haven't eaten pork, we've seen pigs run, right? They're neither the imperial court nor wealthy local families. Why should they care about the lives of us peasants?"

"The last people to be this kind were the White Lotus Sect and the Luo Sect. Their food is terrible; if you eat it, your whole family has to go and support your mother. If you're lucky, you might get a few more decent meals, but if you're unlucky, you'll be working for them before you even see them again!"

At this point, one of the old men scoffed, "A feast? It doesn't sound like anything respectable. Who would go to eat that last meal unless they were truly starving and about to die? We've been traveling and looking around, hoping to find a kind-hearted family that's setting up a soup kitchen to get a few bites to stave off our hunger, or perhaps wait for the imperial court to provide disaster relief. That thin porridge mixed with sand and pebbles might be hard to swallow, but at least it won't kill us, right?"

Zhang Wei nodded knowingly: "Alas, the world is a difficult place. Although I have been ordered by my elders to go down the mountain to travel, I have not traveled very far and I already feel powerless."

"Young Taoist, this has nothing to do with you. If it weren't for that damned..."

'

"cough!"

The complaint had barely left his mouth when the person next to him quickly covered his mouth. The latter turned to look at Zhang Wei, his expression a mixture of lingering fear and smirk: "Please forgive us, we've been starving for so long, we sometimes have bouts of hysteria, please don't take it to heart, young Taoist!"

"We were so busy chatting that we forgot everyone was just conserving their energy. That's my fault!"

Zhang Wei smiled as he untied the sachet from his waist and took it into his hand. After examining it for a while, he reached into the corner of the sachet and took out a rough porcelain bottle: "This is a fasting pill that the temple master prepared for me before I went down the mountain. One pill will keep me from hunger for more than a month."

"I will fetch some water and use a talisman to dissolve this elixir in it. We can then share it and drink it to satisfy our hunger and ward off evil spirits. This will be my compensation for troubling you all."

"This won't do!"

"Don't bother!"

Upon hearing that Zhang Wei had something to fill their stomachs, the starving people who had been lying on the ground sat up and stared at him intently.

His dry throat kept swallowing, but his mouth kept refusing.

Zhang Wei chuckled lightly: "I'll drink the talisman water first. If you all can wait half a day or a day, it's fine."

"Besides, if I were truly practicing evil magic that required human souls and flesh, wouldn't buying people with grain be more cost-effective these days than using talismans and elixirs?"

Rough words are not rough.

After hearing his words, the starving people couldn't wait any longer.

He borrowed an iron pot from the starving people, poured two fasting pills into the pot, and used his earth-burrowing technique to burrow underground and use his magic to squeeze out half a pot of water from the nearly dry soil.

Back on the ground, Zhang Wei began his first cooking experience.

Three Demon-Slaying Talismans, three Evil-Suppressing Talismans, four True Yang Talismans, and two Sweet Rain Talismans.

Looking at the talisman water that had turned red, purple, and green and was shimmering in the pot, Zhang Wei dipped his finger in it and tasted it.

After savoring it for a few seconds, he added another Five Thunder Talisman.

Watching the five thunderbolts descend, instantly transforming from vibrant colors into transparent talismanic water shimmering with layers of iridescent light, Zhang Wei nodded in satisfaction. "As expected of him," he thought, "it quenches thirst, satisfies hunger, cures illness, and wards off evil. Don't just stand there, come and have a sip!"

Upon hearing this, the starving people who had been looking at Zhang Wei with surprise were taken aback.

At this moment, they no longer thought of Zhang Wei as a wicked man who plotted to kill.

Which heretical sect would be willing to invest such a huge sum?

Just the way these talismans shimmered and glowed when thrown into the pot was enough to fetch dozens or even hundreds of taels of silver from any wealthy family in the city.

When they encountered those Manchu nobles, they could get whatever they wanted. Not to mention people, there was nothing in this world that they couldn't get.

Why bother with these starving people?

So this is not only a kind-hearted Taoist priest, but also the kind of highly skilled person with cultivation in the stories!

The Taoist priest was indeed a legitimate Taoist priest, but this talisman water... Just as the starving people were struggling with their decision and hesitating, a faint voice suddenly rang out: "This humble Taoist priest tasted it and found it quite good. Why isn't everyone drinking it?"

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