Chapter 54: Rooster in Veil

In the gloomy weather, the whole village was silent, and every household had their doors tightly shut, as if on guard against something.

"Young man, where can we find chickens? Every door is closed." asked Lu Bubu.

Huang Datong said with disdain, "Brother, you're really ridiculous. Even if they didn't lock the door, would you just go in and catch them?"

"It's stealing," Xie Liang said. "We'll split into two groups, one to keep watch and the other to catch the chickens. After catching them, we'll cover their beaks and then wrap them tightly with tape. We need to act quickly while the smog is so thick."

Xie Liang threw a roll of tape to Lu Bubu, and then threw two or three large sacks that he had just taken from someone else's door. "Remember to be quick, accurate, and ruthless!"

Lu Bubu took the sack, glanced at Xie Liang who was looking around, and said, "Damn, you look quite professional, young man!"

"Amateurs. Each of you on each side, you go that way, we'll go this way," Xie Liang said, pointing to a slope. "Fill the sacks and then gather under that big rock."

Xie Liang didn't care whether Lu Bubu and Huang Datong understood or not, and pulled Xu He to the backyard of a house.

The main house of this family was far away from the backyard, so there was no need for anyone to keep watch. Xie Liang pulled Xu He and slipped into the backyard.

"Brother He, come here and help me hold the sack open." Xie Liang handed the sack to Xu He, flipped over his legs and entered the chicken coop.

I don’t know if it’s because of the gloomy weather, but the chickens are all squatting obediently on the hay in the chicken coop.

Xie Liang quickly covered the chicken's eye with one hand and picked up the chicken's body with the other. He quickly wrapped the chicken's beak with tape, tied the chicken's feet tightly, and threw it into a sack.

The two men followed the same method and stole from one house after another.

After the three sacks were filled, the two men began to rush to the place they had agreed with Lu Bubu and others.

On the way, Xie Liang saw Li Jianguo under the eaves of a house.

Xie Liang pulled Xu He to a pile of wet grass on one side and pointed at the eaves not far away and said, "Brother He, look, Li Jianguo!"

Xu He nodded: "Yeah."

Li Jianguo was standing outside the door with his arm around Chen Xiu'e. Xie Liang asked curiously, "Where did Zhao Batian go to allow these two to mess around?"

"I don't know."

"Forget it, let's go and ignore him."

Xu He responded and took the sack from Xie Liang's hand: "Give it to me, you watch the road."

When the two arrived at the agreed place, Lu Bubu and Huang Datong were already waiting there.

As Xie Liang approached, Lu Bubu shouted, "Brother, Huang Datong is a thief, his speed is unmatched!"

Huang Datong said excitedly: "Go to hell! You are the thief!"

"Okay, okay, don't be angry, let's go quickly and don't delay." Lu Bubu said.

Several people carried sacks all the way to the ancestral hall and chatted casually.

Xie Liang: "I just saw Li Jianguo."

"This guy, we thought he died a long time ago." said Lu Bubu.

Huang Datong: "Tsk, that guy must be hooking up with that woman. He probably doesn't want to go back."

Lu Bu Bu snorted and said, "If you don't want to go back, then die here. The instance will be reset when the time is up."

After saying this, he put down the sack and held out his hand. "Do you feel this wind? If we haven't completed our mission by the time the deadline comes, it will tear us into pieces like a knife."

"Then I don't know. If they are willing, who cares? I have never seen any man dare to get involved with the NPC in the dungeon." Huang Datong said.

When they rushed back to the mourning hall, the doors and windows were already covered with talismans painted by the Yin-Yang master.

They threw the sacks in their hands onto the open space in the mourning hall. Shi Xiaoyin saw this and went over to pour out the chickens from the sacks one by one.

When Shi Xiaoyin poured out the sacks of chickens that Lü Bubu and Huang Datong had brought, Xie Liang was at a loss whether to laugh or cry: "Why did you catch hens too?"

Lu Bubu looked at the hen on the ground and called out, "What! How come it's so fast? I wonder if you caught the hen too!"

"Brother, you saw it when I caught it, why didn't you say anything at that time?" Huang Datong said unhappily.

"We were just keeping watch, so we didn't have the time to look closely at the roosters and hens you caught!"

"I don't care. Almost all the chickens in the village are here anyway. You can do whatever you want!"

Xie Liang was helpless and asked the Yin-Yang master beside the wall: "Sir, can we use the hen?"

Upon hearing this, Mr. Yin Yang stood up from his futon and walked towards Xie Liang: "The hen is useless, let it go."

Lu Bubu kept three hens and left them on the eaves outside the mourning hall, planning to cook them when he had time to satisfy his hunger. Shi Xiaoyin let the rest go.

"Hey! Taoist priest!" Shi Xiaoyin dusted off his hands and asked, "When can he be buried?"

Mr. Yin Yang rummaged through his Qiankun bag and said without looking up, "Wait. If she can eat her fill, eight o'clock tomorrow morning will be a good time to go to the tomb."

Then, Mr. Yin Yang walked up to Xu He with the Bagua bowl and said, "Boy, we need some of your blood to cover these roosters."

"Let me do it." Xie Liang held the dagger with a firm attitude.

Unexpectedly, Xu He's attitude became even tougher, and he said in a tone that would not tolerate rejection: "I'll do it."

He snatched the dagger from Xie Liang's hand.

"A veil? What is a veil?" asked Lu Bubu.

The Yin-Yang Master stroked his beard and explained, "The veil is to sprinkle these roosters with the blood of pure yang. Human blood has the scent of primordial yang. The old woman will mistake these roosters for living people when she smells them. Once she has eaten her fill and her soul is at peace, she can be buried."

After the bloodletting, Xu He's lips turned pale, and Xie Liang hurriedly helped him sit down on a bench. But before Xu He could sit down, the Yin-Yang Master sent them all out of the mourning hall and asked them to drag Wang Yang out as well.

After a while, Mr. Yin Yang came out of the mourning hall and locked the two doors.

He walked in front of the crowd and said, "Everything is ready. Once the old woman has eaten her fill, she can be buried."

"Thank you for your hard work, sir." Xie Liang said politely.

Upon hearing this, Mr. Yin Yang looked at Xie Liang and said, "Can you free my disciple?"

Xie Liang nodded: "As you wish."

Wang Yang on the ground heard it and quickly moved towards his master.

Mr. Yin Yang kicked him and cursed, "You useless guy!" After cursing, he glared at him and then squatted down to untie the rope on him.

Wang Li clutched her rumbling stomach and asked, "Hey! Old man! Do we just have to worry about everything now?"

Mr. Yin Yang glanced at her and said, "Do whatever you want. It will take a while for her to eat. You can come back in the evening."

"Okay! Young man, let's go kill the chicken. Your face is so pale that it looks like you have been dead for three days." Lu Bubu said.

Xie Liang quickly covered his mouth: "Pooh! Pooh! Don't talk nonsense."

Shi Xiaoyin: "Several bowls of blood were lost in an instant. It was really terrible."

Everyone was already starving, and Lu Bubu picked up a hen and led everyone to the shed under the stairs.

Wang Li walked behind Xie Liang, looking closely at the shoulder bag on Xie Liang.

Xu He noticed her peeping and glanced back at her.

When Wang Li saw this, she quickly looked away and pretended to look at Huang Datong next to Xie Liang, "I'm so hungry, Brother Huang, wait for me." Then she trotted to Huang Datong.

The shed had been blown askew by the strong wind, but the usable cooking utensils and stove were still there. Huang Datong quickly killed a chicken and threw it to Lu Bubu to stew.

More than an hour later, an enticing aroma wafted out of the pot. When everyone smelled it, they couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

Wang Li was the first to run towards the stove: "Wow! It smells so good. Can we eat now?"

Lu Bubu raised his smoke-stained face and said, "It's still a while. Go find some bowls from the cupboard and we'll be able to eat soon."

"Dinner is ready! Everyone, go find your bowls." Wang Li took her own bowl and sat down at the straightened table.

Just as everyone was sitting around the table with their bowls, waiting for the chicken soup to be served, Xie Liang suddenly remembered that two people were missing.

"Where are those two Taoists?" Xie Liang asked.

Shi Xiaoyin stood up from the stool: "We were in the shed just now. They said the smoke from the fire was too stuffy, so they went outside to get some fresh air." After saying that, she hurried out of the shed.

Huang Datong: "Damn it! Those two stinky Taoist priests won't run away, will they?" After saying that, he strode out behind Shi Xiaoyin.

Xie Liang said worriedly: "I should have kept a closer eye on it."

Xu He rubbed Xie Liang's back and said, "If you're gone, then go. Don't think too much about it."

After a while, Lu Bubu came over with a pot of chicken soup and placed it on the table.

Wang Li picked up a chicken leg impatiently and started eating.

At this time, Shi Xiaoyin and Huang Dayong came back from outside with disappointed looks on their faces.

Lu Bubu shouted at them, "What's wrong with you two? You look like you've lost your soul. Come over here and have some soup."

Lu Bubu picked up the bowls on the table one by one, took out the chicken from the pot, and placed them at everyone's seats.

"Young man, why do you look so listless?" Lu Bubu asked.

Shi Xiaoyin glanced at him and said, "Are you an idiot? Look how many people are missing?"

After looking around, Lu Bubu finally realized, "Holy crap! No way! You guys were just waiting for some chicken soup? You didn't even notice the guy slipped away?"

Huang Datong angrily slammed the table, causing the soup in the bowl to spill out. "Damn it!"

Xu He picked up a bowl of steaming hot chicken soup and placed it in front of the depressed Xie Liang: "Xiao Liang, things have come to this point. There is no point in thinking too much. Drink the soup first and think of a solution later."

"Well, you drink too." Xie Liang said.

After being hungry for a day, everyone picked up their bowls and sipped the hot chicken soup.

After drinking a few bowls of chicken soup, everyone felt much better.

Huang Datong stared at the pile of chicken bones Wang Li spat out and couldn't help but complain: "You're the only one who knows how to eat. I was wondering why there wasn't a single chicken leg! I guess you ate them all."

Wang Li said unhappily, "It's not that I don't let you eat. Who can you blame for just chatting?" After that, she buried her head in sipping soup, looking as if she didn't want to pay any attention to Huang Datong.