Starting with the flesh-based stimulant

Ingredients?

Zhou He was a little confused, but then he remembered his first meeting with Li Ping. The other party had seen a hanged ghost, cooked it, and bewitched him.

Thinking of the hanged ghost, Zhou He recalled the bowl of soup, clear as a rock in the pot, yet spreading like thick ink in the bowl.

So fresh!

He was a little pathetic; as he turned around, he wiped the corner of his mouth and looked at Li Ping:

"Ingredients?"

Zhou He didn't want to ask, but his body language told him otherwise.

For a moment, Li Ping's eyes darted around furtively. Seeing that no one was around, he lowered his voice even further and said:

"I haven't seen what it is yet, but, hmph, after ten years of honing my skills, my nose and tongue have long since become quite adept."

Zhou He had no doubt about this.

The two chatted for a while longer, and then went back to bed to rest sometime later.

The next day, there was a great commotion of gongs and drums.

Zhou He was slightly dazed.

Didn't they say the bride ran away? Why are they making all this noise here again?

The next second, he realized something was wrong.

The gongs and drums were not the joyful tunes for welcoming or sending off the bride, nor were there any suonas or cymbals.

The banging of gongs and drums sounds more like the chaotic, disorderly noise made by ignorant men and women banging on the moon to scare it away when the celestial dog eats the moon.

Sure enough, upon closer listening, Zhou He heard a duller sound in the gongs and drums, as if someone were banging an iron or copper basin.

He rolled over, grabbed his black hard leather bag, and casually shook the cook beside him awake.

"Let's go out and take a look."

The two walked out of the courtyard, where no fewer than a hundred villagers from the village had gathered in the yard.

Even the old women with gray hair and the disheveled children were carrying some noisy objects and banging them on.

Their faces were filled with fear and astonishment. Although the sun had already risen and people were gathered together, it should have been a scene that made people feel more at ease.

However, Zhou He saw it clearly.

These people were terrified.

Li Ping walked into the arena and grabbed a man of medium build, dragging him out.

He was in charge of the Tian family.

He was also carrying a gong, his face was pale, his whole body was trembling, and he gritted his teeth as he banged it along with the others.

Li Ping pulled the head of the Tian family away from the crowd and took something out of his bag.

It's a shortbread, made by mixing ghee with flour, adding sugar and nuts, and then baking it.

With a pang of sympathy, Li Ping measured the pastry for a long time. Seeing that the head of the Tian family was trembling even more, he hurriedly broke off a small corner, pinched the other man's cheek with one hand, and stuffed the small corner of pastry into his mouth with the other.

As soon as he took a bite of the pastry, the head of the Tian family's eyes darted around, and he seemed to calm down a little. He then squatted on the ground, trembling like a leaf.

Li Ping took the opportunity to explain to Brother Zhou:

"They've lost their souls... That's strange, how can so many people lose their souls at the same time?"

Seeing that the other person's expression was off, Zhou He also became much more serious and gave him an inquiring look.

Li Ping, pressing his head against the head of the Tian family, didn't see Zhou He's gaze, but continued to explain:

"Logically speaking, soul loss usually occurs when mortals bump into something they shouldn't have and get frightened. But with so many mortals, there shouldn't be such a powerful thing that could scare away the souls of hundreds of people."

"Even if such a powerful thing really exists, why not just eat all these people? Why bother just to scare them?"

Zhou He listened, his mind racing.

That's definitely unreasonable.

Unless... he remembered what the cook had told him yesterday about Miss Tian.

"Mr. Li, how long will it take for the head of the Tian family to wake up?"

Li Ping stared at Manager Tian's lips and throat, and seeing that the other man had begun to swallow, he carefully placed him aside, stood up, and said:

"Immediately, scaring people by making them lose their souls is something for ordinary people. Which of my friends in this trade doesn't have some methods?"

Sure enough, before the words were even finished, Master Tian slowly woke up. As soon as he woke up, he widened his eyes and grabbed the bronze gong next to him with his hands on the ground. Only after he saw Li Ping and Zhou He in front of him did he take a few deep breaths and his face regain some color.

Zhou He squatted down in front of him, speaking softly, using some techniques often employed when communicating with patients in unstable mental states:

"Mr. Tian, ​​the matter has been resolved. I am Zhou He, we have met before."

"Is the matter... is it resolved? Zhou He—I recognize you."

Looking into Zhou He's eyes, Manager Tian calmed down a bit and began to think along the lines of Zhou He's words.

Zhou He didn't give him a chance to think back, and first tried to comfort him:

"Mr. Tian, ​​thankfully Mr. Li Ping and I are here, so you don't need to worry. You should know who he is."

Manager Tian nodded, remembering that Li Ping was someone who had been hired at a high price and was very capable.

Finally, he relaxed a little, his gaze passing over Zhou He and looking at the crowd still running around and making a ruckus in the arena. His expression turned ugly.

Upon seeing this, Zhou He gestured with his chin, indicating to Li Ping to block the view and prevent the other party from seeing what was happening inside.

Li Ping was stunned for a moment, trying to understand Zhou He's meaning. He then pulled out a pot from somewhere and slammed it down on Manager Tian's head with a clang.

Zhou slapped his forehead.

He quickly waved his hand, signaling Li Ping to take the pot down.

"Alright, alright, Manager Tian, ​​please tell us what happened first, and I can see with Mr. Li if we can help you."

Manager Tian had calmed down by now. Although he still didn't know why Li Ping wanted to pin the blame on him, he took it as a way of helping him from someone in the business.

Now, hearing that Zhou He had a solution, and with a touch of desperation, he quickly spoke up:

"Mr. Zhou, Mr. Li, this is strange. Last night, the master suddenly told me that Miss has run away."

In my panic, I hurriedly called on the young men from the village who had come to help, and together we searched the mountains.

"Last night at dawn, there was only one road leading out of the village, and the back mountain is the Niangniang Temple. Logically speaking, Miss had nowhere else to go."

"After searching for an hour or two, we couldn't find a single trace, let alone a person or even a footprint."

"Because my young lady..." He paused, then continued, "In short, the master said that we should stop looking for it for now. He told a few people to guard the two intersections, and the rest of us to rest until dawn."

"I told the other young men to go back first, and I and two of the nephews from the other guys stayed at the intersection. After a while, we heard voices."

"I thought it was Miss Tian, ​​or someone sent by the Master to speak, but it turned out to be Old Man Tian—one of our brothers from the village, but..."

At this point, he suddenly began to tremble again, his face turning deathly pale. He swallowed hard and continued:

"Old Tian, ​​he, he... he was holding two people in his hands, carrying them on his back. The two people were close together, naked, and their private parts were stuck together."

"They groaned on Tian Laogunzi's body, as if they were on a kang (heated brick bed)."