Taoist priest goes to America

Chapter 93 Fanatical Believers (Part 1)

In the video, the young man stands up, raises his hand, turns to face the audience with tears streaming down his face, and raises his new arm high.

A deafening roar of cheers and applause erupted from the audience. Many people knelt down and kowtowed, shouting "Master!" and weeping uncontrollably on camera.

Ang Lee pressed the pause button on the screen. There was a detail in the video that caught his attention: the newly grown arm had no color difference from the surrounding skin.

In normal regeneration, newly formed tissue will have a noticeable color difference from the original tissue. Newly formed skin has not yet experienced ultraviolet radiation or wear and tear in daily life, so its color will be several shades lighter than the surrounding skin.

Yuzu this morning is the best example. The calluses on her right hand that regenerated are completely gone, and it's much whiter and smoother than the rest of her arm.

The skin tone of the arm in the video is exactly the same as the skin around the young man's shoulder, as if it had never been broken.

Just as Ang Lee was deep in thought, a childish voice came from inside the paper craft shop.

"Grandpa, I'm hungry."

Ang Lee returned the phone to Chen Houde and looked in the direction of the sound.

The old wooden door at the back of the shop was pushed open a crack. What was revealed first was a very small hand, its fingers gripping the edge of the door frame, as thin as a newly sprouted bamboo shoot.

Then a small face peeked out from behind the door. It was a thin little girl with sparse, yellowish hair tied in two crooked pigtails.

She was wearing a pink nightgown that was clearly too big, and her wrists, which were so thin they were heartbreaking, were showing through the cuffs.

Her face was small, her skin was yellowish and dark, and her lips were a little chapped. She stood barefoot behind the door frame, timidly peeking outside. When she saw strangers in the shop, she instinctively shrank back, but still repeated herself.

"Grandpa, I'm hungry."

""

Upon hearing the voice, Chen Houde stuffed his phone into his apron pocket, quickly walked to the door, bent down, and picked up the little girl.

The little girl was incredibly light; when her grandfather picked her up, she felt almost weightless, and her two thin little legs wobbled slightly.

"Sweetie, Grandpa's cooking it up, it'll be ready soon, it'll be ready soon." Chen Houde held the child in one arm and reached for the baby bottle on the small table next to him with the other, putting the nipple into his granddaughter's mouth.

The little girl sucked on the pacifier twice, and a little milk dripped from the corner of her mouth onto the collar of her pink pajamas.

She raised her small hand and wiped her mouth, then tilted her head and leaned on Chen Houde's shoulder, looking at Li An with hazy eyes.

Those eyes were large, but they lacked the bright, curious look that children their age should have; instead, they held a quiet, numb obedience.

Chen Houde pulled his granddaughter closer to his chest, then gently patted the little girl's back with one hand and said, "Niu Niu, this is Grandpa's good friend. Say hello to Uncle Li."

The little girl stole a glance at Li An from her grandfather's shoulder, but looked away as soon as her eyes met his face. She buried her face back in her grandfather's shoulder, shook her head, and then snuggled into his arms.

Chen Houde gave an apologetic look, opened his mouth, and wanted to explain a few words on behalf of his granddaughter: "The child is shy and doesn't usually act like this. Please don't take offense."

Before he could finish speaking, Ang Lee waved his hand and said, "It's alright, Old Chen, you go ahead and feed the baby."

He glanced around the shop and his gaze fell on the woodworking table piled with tools in the corner.

Scattered on the table were several copper engraving knives, willow mallets, silver planes, and a peach wood measuring ruler. The tools were well-maintained, with a thin layer of wax coating the wood surfaces.

"I've come today to borrow the carving tools to make a few exquisitely carved amulets."

"You can do it yourself, there's no need to trouble you. Just focus on feeding the child."

Chen Houde followed his gaze to the woodworking table, then looked down at his thin granddaughter in his arms. He wanted to say, "How could I?", but the little girl coughed again, so the old man had to swallow back the polite words that were on the tip of his tongue.

He smiled gratefully at Li An and pointed with his rough, old hand toward the woodworking table.

"All the tools are there, there's no other place for them. Feel free to use them, and call me if you need anything."

,

Li An nodded and turned to walk towards the woodworking table.

He pulled out the old wooden chair and sat down. He secured the amulet in the vise, held one end with his left hand, and gripped the copper knife in his right hand, then made the cut.

The rustling sound of the carving knife cutting into the wood mingled with the bubbling of rice and oil bubbling on the charcoal stove, becoming the background noise in the paper craft shop.

Chen Houde sat on a small stool next to the charcoal stove, holding his granddaughter in one arm and a spoon in the other, feeding the little girl spoonful by spoonful of rice oil mixed with milk powder.

The little girl held the spoon in her mouth and swallowed slowly. Occasionally she would cough, and Chen Houde would stop, pat her back, and continue feeding her until she calmed down.

Time passed slowly, and the wood shavings around Li An accumulated more and more. The amulet gradually took shape under his knife. The tip of the knife moved across the wood, and the strokes of the runes were as fine as hair, so exquisite that no deviation could be seen.

After Chen Houde fed the little girl most of the rice and oil, her complexion improved a bit. Her chapped lips regained some color, and her eyelids began to droop.

The old man put the empty bowl aside, gently patted her back to lull her to sleep, and hummed an old Cantonese tune in a low voice so as not to disturb Ang Lee's work.

"boom,"

The sound of a car engine came from the street corner. The engine was rough and particularly jarring in the quiet neighborhood.

The tires screeched as they rolled over the road, and finally the car stopped in front of the paper craft shop.

It was a very old Toyota sedan, the paint on the body was cracked and peeling from the sun.

The driver's side door opened first, and a tall, thin man crawled out. He was Chen Houde's son, wearing a wrinkled shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows, revealing his two thin forearms.

His face was dark, his eyes were sunken, and only a thin layer of skin covered his cheekbones. His eyes stared straight ahead with a vacant look, as if something had sucked away all his energy.

The passenger door was also pushed open, and Chen Houde's daughter-in-law, Su Jingxian, rushed out of the car.

She was wearing a floral dress, and her hair was clearly carefully combed before she went out, styled into a neat bun, and adorned with a pearl hair clip.

Her makeup was also very meticulous, with foundation, blush, and lipstick all applied.

But the makeup couldn't hide her terrible complexion at all. Her eyes were deeply sunken, bloodshot, and her cheekbones were prominent. The only thing on her face that looked like her husband was her eyes, which were wide open and staring straight ahead.

Her condition was worse than her husband's; the skin around her eyes had an abnormal bluish-gray tint, as if she hadn't slept for days and nights.

Her hands gripped a vial of blue medicine tightly. It was a thin, transparent glass tube, half-filled with a blue liquid that shimmered eerily in the light.

She gripped it so tightly that her hands were trembling, and the glass tube was covered with sweat from her palms.

"Yueyue! Yueyue!" she called out her daughter's nickname in a high-pitched and urgent voice as she rushed into the store. The hem of her floral dress was lifted by the wind as she ran, revealing two thin, bony legs.

She stumbled and staggered into the paper shop in an almost out-of-control manner.