"Father! Father! Look! There's braised meat!" Lu Xiucai had a meatball in his mouth but was already eyeing the next plate that was coming to their table.
Just as the sizzling braised meat was served, six pairs of chopsticks stabbed into the plate. By the time the chopsticks pulled away, even the preserved vegetables beneath the pork had disappeared.
"Look at all of you! You're eating like starving ghosts! Eat slower, or people might think we're a family with no manners," said Lu Zhuangyuan.
"Dad, stop preaching. We rarely get a chance to eat such good food. And look at the meat on your chopsticks! You ate just as much as we did!" The youngest son taunted his father, earning a solid whack on the head in return.
Seeing his brother get hit, Lu Juren quickly tried to defuse the situation. "Dad, it's alright. Let them eat as much as they want. We went through a lot yesterday just to have this one meal."
The moment he said this, everyone who had participated the previous night revealed solemn expressions.
Last night had been terrifying; it had been so frightening that they nearly peed their pants out of fear. Fortunately, they had such a strong Taoist handling things below the stage for them.
All of them turned to glance at Li Huowang, who was sitting off to the side by himself.
Their gazes toward him were filled with admiration; if it hadn't been for him, they might have all died. The Taoist was quite young, so young that he didn't even have a mustache. Yet, he was incredibly strong.
At that moment, another dish was served, once again drawing their attention to the food.
"Chicken! It's roasted chicken!" Their chopsticks once again attacked the food on their plates.
Seeing how their chopsticks were about to shred the chicken, a smoke pipe blocked them and guarded the dish. "Stop! Don't touch this chicken! I want to invite the young Taoist to join us."
"But dad... Taoists don't eat meat. Are you going to ask him to break the rules?"
"You stupid fool! Monks are the ones who can't eat meat! If I come back and see that the chicken has been touched by any of you, be prepared to be whacked by me!" Lu Zhuangyuan stared at his youngest son before wiping his oily mouth with his hands and then wiping them on the table before walking over to Li Huowang.
"Young Taoist, hehe. Young Taoist?" His face wrinkled as he called out to Li Huowang.
"Young Taoist, you worked hard last night. How about you join us for a meal? The Hu family has prepared a lot of juicy and nutritious food for us."
Li Huowang, deep in thought, turned to look at him before asking carefully, "Old man, you saw how the memorial tablets moved on their own, right? I wasn't hallucinating, was I?"
"Aiyo, young Taoist, I don't know about any of that. I didn't even dare to glance your way last night; I just closed my eyes throughout the performance."
Li Huowang sighed, recalling that faint sentence he had heard at the end. Even though it was faint, he could easily recognize the voice. It was the voice of his Master, Dan Yangzi. Only he would call him "a dear disciple."
He should have been nervous about hearing his Master's voice, but he wasn't nervous—just confused. As he was now, he couldn't even trust himself.
"I know that I suffer from hallucinations. It would be reasonable to hear things like that, given that I haven't eaten a Black Taisui in quite a while. But then how should I explain the memorial tablets suddenly moving on their own? Or the God of Happiness that appeared and disappeared so suddenly?"
Li Huowang thought back to how Dan Yangzi's body had contorted into that ugly creature.
"Don't tell me that he really became an Immortal? No, that can't be it... The so-called method to become an Immortal was just some random garbage I came up with. How could it have been the correct method? Unless... he turned into something else? But then, what did he end up becoming? Why is he still following me?"
Li Huowang grew visibly irritated.
"Young Taoist? What were you thinking about? We're close enough now, aren't we? You can tell me if something is bothering you."
Lu Zhuangyuan's voice pulled him back from his thoughts. He had made a decision.
"Regardless of whether it's real or fake, there's nothing I can do about it right now. I need to go to Western Capital City and visit the Monastery first. If it's real, maybe they will know what to do. I know far too little about the world."
"It's nothing, old man. Let's eat. I was just thinking about some random things."
Hearing that, Lu Zhuangyuan happily nodded. Then both of them entered the room and walked toward the dining table.
However, when they reached the table, Lu Zhuangyuan's face stiffened. Everything on the table, except for the chicken, had been eaten clean. The plates had even been licked!
"Aaaah~ That was such a nice meal! I guess this is what an emperor's feast feels like." Lu Xiucai stretched his body as he unbuckled his belt, his mouth smeared with oil.
Lu Zhuangyuan could only chuckle, feeling embarrassed; after all, it wouldn't be nice to scold his son with outsiders around. He could only take the roasted chicken and place it before Li Huowang. "Young Taoist, the chicken is quite juicy. Forgive me for not being able to serve the rest of the dishes for you."
Li Huowang smiled and began eating a piece of the chicken. "It's alright. The chicken is plenty delicious."
Li Huowang had just eaten a few bites when a crowd of people entered the room from the corridor. The man leading the group was Hu Qinghe, the old man who had requested Lu Zhuangyuan's services.
"Not bad. It seems that my ancestors are quite satisfied with your performance. Even the candles on the tables were eaten. This is a joyous sign!" Hu Qinghe praised.
Listening to the praise, Lu Zhuangyuan chuckled humbly. "It was nothing much. It was something we could do."
"Troupe leader Lu, if you're passing by again, please come to our house for a cup of tea," Hu Qinghe said politely.
After he spoke, he waved for a man beside him to reveal a tray covered with a red cloth. He removed the cloth to show ten pieces of silver.
"Here is the payment, just as we agreed. Please accept it."
"Aiyo! Thank you for your generosity. As long as we're alive, just send word, and we will come as soon as we can!"
Once old man Hu left, the Lu family gathered around the tray, their eyes filled with greed as they stared at the silver pieces.
Just as Lu Xiucai was about to touch the largest sum of money he had ever seen, a smoke pipe whacked his hand.
Then, Lu Zhuangyuan took four of the silver pieces and placed them into his clothes. As for the remaining six pieces, his eyes were filled with reluctance.
Still, he smiled and placed the tray containing the remaining silver pieces near Li Huowang, who was eating the chicken.
"Hoho, come, Young Taoist. We agreed on splitting the reward 60-40. This is your portion of the payment."