Chapter 49 My Gluttonous Master Likes It Very Much

"Knock knock knock—"

There was a knock on the wooden door. Granny Zhang's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately called out, "Who is it?"

The person outside replied, "May I stay here? I can pay you!"

A clear female voice came into the house from outside.

Granny Zhang was puzzled. Very few people usually passed by her place, so why would a woman want to stay overnight?

She grew suspicious and asked through the door, "How many people are there?"

“There are only two people, both women,” she replied, “and they’re only staying for one night.”

Granny Zhang slowly opened the door and peered through the crack in the candlelight. She squinted, pondering that the two people in front of her seemed somewhat familiar, as if she had seen them somewhere before.

"Grandma Zhang?!" Unexpectedly, the person on the other end remembered first.

"You are..."

“Grandma Zhang, you’ve forgotten! We were the same people who asked you questions at the market that day!” Cen Ying said excitedly.

"Oh dear! I'm so sorry, I'm getting old and my eyesight is failing, I didn't recognize you!" Granny Zhang immediately broke into a smile, "Come in, come in!"

The two entered the house, and under the bright candlelight, Granny Zhang's originally smiling face was startled by their faces.

"What...what's wrong with you all?!"

“Sigh, here’s what happened…” Bai Yuheng sighed heavily. “We don’t know where we offended the Ghost Lord of the White Bone Ghost City. She not only kidnapped our companions, but also turned us into this. Now we can’t stay in Anping County anymore, so we can only live a life of hardship in the surrounding area, searching for our friends while trying to find the Ghost Lord to turn us back.”

Granny Zhang exclaimed in surprise, "The Ghost Lord turned you into this?!"

Bai Yuheng sighed, her face showing distress.

Cen Ying was also filled with worry and sorrow: "Yes! Granny Zhang, you don't know how arrogant those ghost messengers are. Not only did they kidnap our friends, saying they were going to make them wives of the Ghost Lord, but they also want to turn us into these ghosts! We can't go anywhere now! I miss my parents so much, sob sob sob..."

After saying this, Cen Ying wiped away her tears and hugged Bai Yuheng, who was sobbing beside her, and wept bitterly.

Granny Zhang's initial suspicions were dispelled, leaving only heartache. She sighed, "Poor things, if you can't find anywhere else, you can stay here with me."

"No, Granny Zhang." Bai Yuheng looked up at her, her red, watery eyes glistening with tears. "We'll only stay one night; we'll be leaving tomorrow..."

Granny Zhang grew anxious: "It's very inconvenient for you to leave like this, and it might cause... cause panic among others!"

Looking at their faces, which resembled those of corpses, she said, "No."

"But...but we can't do anything about it. Anping County is so big, and we've been searching for days but still can't find any trace of the Ghost Lord or my friend. What should we do?!"

"this……"

“Yes, Granny Zhang, we know you are kind-hearted, but we can’t let you suffer any more trouble… Luckily, my home is not far away, and I am acquainted with the officials of Yu Chen County. We can find some family members and ask them for help!”

"That won't do!" Granny Zhang blurted out suddenly, standing up abruptly. Meeting the two puzzled gazes, Granny Zhang said awkwardly, "I mean, it's too dangerous for you two girls to go to Yu Chen County. There are many bandits and pirates in this area, and I'm afraid you'll be in danger!"

"Grandma Zhang, what should we do?"

After saying this, the two embraced and wept bitterly, their cries filled with genuine emotion and deep feeling.

The three people eavesdropping outside looked at each other in bewilderment.

Chen Pingan asked in a low voice, "Have these two studied opera?"

His demeanor and voice moved even someone who knew the situation.

Pei Yuan smiled and looked inside through the gauze window: "I haven't studied it." But with her pitiful and adorable appearance, not many people could resist her, Pei Yuan thought. He certainly couldn't.

Li Tiankuo glanced at the person next to him with a puzzled look, seemingly lost in thought. When he noticed, he looked away and back into the room.

“Don’t cry, ladies. I’ll think of something for you…” Granny Zhang felt pity for the two girls’ pitiful state and said to them, “I know how to see the Ghost Lord, but…”

"Really!?"

Before she could finish speaking, the two exclaimed in surprise and joy, "Thank you so much, Granny Zhang! You are our savior! We can never repay your kindness!"

After saying that, the two men took hands and tried to kowtow to her a few times.

"Hey, hey, hey, no, no!" Granny Zhang pulled the two of them back in time, and said with emotion, "I think you look kind and I feel a connection with you. This old woman will help you to the end."

"Thank you so much, Granny Zhang!" the two thanked her again.

“I was quite familiar with that ghost master when she was alive, and I had taken care of her several times. Just now, she sent a ghost messenger to deliver the wedding invitation. I suppose it is for your friend’s wedding banquet?” As she spoke, she took out a bright red wedding invitation with gold lettering from a compartment. “This is the wedding invitation. You can come with me tomorrow.”

"Is this...is this alright? Won't it implicate you?" Bai Yuheng asked worriedly.

Granny Zhang shook her head and smiled, "It's alright. I know the ghost guards at the gate. They won't make things difficult for us. I'll take you in. I only ask the Ghost Lord to give you the antidote. I don't care about anything else."

Bai Yuheng and Cen Ying exchanged a glance and nodded, saying, "Alright! Thank you, Granny Zhang!"

"It's nothing," Granny Zhang waved her hand repeatedly and said, "We get along well. You two young ladies have it tough out there, so I'll help you if I can."

"Oh, right, this is your money for lodging." Cen Ying took out a money bag from his pocket and handed it to her.

"Hey, hey, hey, this won't do! I won't accept it!"

Granny Zhang said with a serious expression, "You put a few money pouches in my vegetable basket the other day, and I haven't had a chance to return them to you yet!"

After saying that, he went to find the money bags and return them to them.

Bai Yuheng pulled Zhang Po back, and Cen Ying also put his arm around her, saying, "Zhang Po, there's no need. You can consider this money as payment for our lodging and for finding you to enter the wedding banquet to find the antidote. We can't let you risk your life for us, can we?"

"How can this be allowed!" Granny Zhang looked at the money bags and saw that they were filled with a lot of money.

“Yes, yes!” Cen Ying and Bai Yuheng said repeatedly.

"If you don't accept it, we'll leave immediately!"

Granny Zhang sighed repeatedly and had no choice but to compromise, saying, "Alright, alright, we'll do as you say!"

"Grandma Zhang, you're so kind!"

"You're as beautiful as a fairy! Beautiful inside and out!"

Their sweet little mouths coaxed her into smiling from ear to ear.

“You guys…”

Using their nervousness and fear as an excuse, the three women pulled Zhang aside and talked to her about many things she should pay attention to the next day. Zhang, without suspecting anything, explained everything to them in detail.

As night deepened, fearing they might miss their appointed time the next day, they finally went to bed separately.

Bai Yuheng and Cen Ying slept in a rather small side room, and it took several attempts to persuade Granny Zhang to give up the idea of ​​letting them stay in the main room.

The two closed the door, and three people were already standing inside.

"Tomorrow I'll give Granny Zhang some medicine so she can get a good night's sleep, and Yu'er will pretend to be Granny Zhang, carrying the wedding invitations and leading us into the wedding banquet," Cen Ying said.

"Have you found out everything?" Li Tiankuo asked.

Bai Yuheng nodded and said, "We know the whole story. Granny Zhang is kind-hearted and has no suspicion. She told us everything about the ghost city, whether she knew it or not."

The three nodded: "Okay, let's follow Cen Ying's plan tomorrow."

"Um."

"Now... let's all rest."

The side room was small and cramped; even with five people standing there, it felt extremely confined.

“We’ll sleep outside,” Li Tiankuo said, following behind Chen Ping’an. “There’s a flat spot in the yard where we can sleep peacefully.”

Pei Yuan glanced at Cen Ying, then said to Bai Yuheng, "If you need anything, feel free to call me."

After saying that, he went out.

Cen Ying: "???"

"What did Uncle Pei mean by that look he gave me at the end?"

"Huh?" Bai Yuheng didn't see it and asked in confusion, "What kind of look is that?"

"..." Cen Ying pondered for a moment but couldn't figure it out. She just assumed that she was seeing things. Otherwise, how could she have seen a hint of jealousy and envy in his eyes?

"I must have misread it."

"Okay, go to sleep early. We have a tough battle to fight tomorrow."

"good!"

The next morning.

They, already in a zombie-like state, showed no signs of fatigue and got up early. Cen Ying was cooking breakfast, while Li Tiankuo assisted her.

Cen Ying had lived in the village with her uncle, where she learned excellent cooking skills. Her alchemy and medicine-making abilities also made her cooking skills exceptionally refined.

It was unknown why Li Tiankuo, as a prince, was so skilled in cooking, and he had no intention of telling them more, so everyone tactfully refrained from asking further.

After Cen Ying finished cooking one dish, Li Tiankuo also cooked one, and Pei Yuan was eager to try as well.

Cen Ying was surprised: "Uncle Pei can cook too?"

Pei Yuan nodded, a slight smile playing on his lips: "I made this for the Emperor before."

Although she had long since abstained from grains, she still occasionally enjoyed the taste of everyday life. However, she couldn't cook, so whenever she wanted to eat something, she would find an excuse to go down the mountain to try it.

Pei Yuan was very good at reading people at that time. He could tell that she was hungry, so he had already prepared a table full of delicious dishes, all of which were her favorites.

"You did all this?" she asked in surprise, looking at him in disbelief.

"Yes, I made it using the sect's small kitchen." Little Pei Yuan said shyly, his bright eyes filled with a hint of anticipation and an undisguised attempt to please. "Master, please try it."

She took the jade pendant, took a small bite, and couldn't help but exclaim, "It's delicious!"

The previously tense Pei Yuan couldn't help but reveal a clean and relieved smile.

She ruffled his slightly stiff hair, her eyes filled with undisguised praise and joy.

Knowing she liked it, he would make her different dishes every time.

If she tried to stop him, he would lower his eyes, his gaze flickering, and cautiously ask her if she didn't like it anymore.

She knew his sensitivity, so she would hug him to comfort him and say softly, "Of course not, Master likes it very much, but Master is afraid that you will suffer."

"Disciple is not tired, as long as Master is happy." Little Pei Yuan rubbed against him affectionately.

"But you can't put all your energy into cooking, can you?"

Xiao Pei Yuan remained silent for a long while before finally saying, "I understand, Master."

"Does the Emperor also like to eat these?"

Cen Ying had never met this legendary figure who had sacrificed himself for the sake of all living beings; she had only heard about him from her father and elders. Therefore, to her, the Emperor was like the moon in the sky—desirable but unattainable.

But when a wonderful person, revered by everyone as a god, has the same interests and hobbies as oneself, the moon in the sky seems like a faint candlelight lingering around one's side, within reach, creating a sense of closeness.

Pei Yuan smiled as he glanced at the person opposite him and said, "Hmm, the Emperor is the biggest glutton."

The emperor himself, concealing his identity: "..."

Bai Yuheng felt awkward whenever she heard her own topic. After chuckling, she tried to change the subject: "The food will be ready soon. Granny Zhang will wake up soon, so you'd better hide quickly."

"Hey, does the Emperor have any other little-known but harmless quirks?"

No one paid any attention to her.

Even Li Tiankuo, who usually stays out of everything, couldn't help but be curious and looked over while working.

"..."

Pei Yuan glanced at her casually, lowered his eyes and smiled. He was very happy to share with them the things he and she had experienced together. They were memories that belonged only to the two of them, and no one could take them away or interfere with them.

"Of course there are."

Cen Ying's eyes lit up. She was very curious about what the emperor, who was high and mighty, was like in private. Did he also have joys and sorrows, and make mistakes like us mortals?

She pressed on, asking, "For example?"

"The Emperor once secretly drank the immortal wine of the Eastern Xuan Emperor, only to find out it was a strong liquor that the Eastern Xuan Emperor had secretly kept." Pei Yuan's heart warmed as he recalled that scene.

"And then what?"

"Pfft..." Pei Yuan laughed before speaking, and inadvertently glanced at someone who was sulking and tending the fire. His clear voice was filled with laughter, "He excitedly danced with a sword for the spirit beast of the Spirit True Emperor all night, and wouldn't let it leave. He used a spell to make it keep its eyes open and watch her sword performance all night."

"Hahahahaha..."

Cen Ying couldn't help but burst into laughter, and even the usually stern Li Tiankuo had a smile on his face.

Bai Yuheng: "..."

Can she clean house?