Chapter 5: Rice Porridge and Sweet Potatoes Every Day
When the uncle and nephew returned to the Shao family home, it was already dark.
Aunt Ruan Chongyue had already prepared the meal and was waiting for them to return with her two twin sons.
As soon as Shao Che entered the house, he smiled and took the rice that Jing Wu had bought out of the basket and handed it to his wife: "A-Wu earned some money today, so he bought some rice."
Ruan Chongyue took the heavy bag and saw that it contained not only rice and flour, but also a pound of pork. She glanced at the girl sitting at the table eating sweet potatoes and couldn't help but scold her husband, "This must cost a lot of money. How could you let her buy food? She's still a child!"
Shao Che scratched his head, about to say something, when he saw Jing Wu puff out his cheeks and speak.
"Aunt, please accept this. I've been staying here for so many days, thank you for your help." Jingwu choked a little on the sweet potato, so he immediately drank a sip of rice porridge to settle his throat. "Besides, I heard from my uncle that your meat pies are delicious. I've never had them before, so I bought flour, hoping you could show off your skills to me sometime."
She had been at the Shao family's house for five days, eating rice porridge and sweet potatoes every day. She was really fed up with it and desperately needed to eat some meat to change her diet.
Hearing this, Ruan Chongyue looked at the thin girl and sighed. She had been sent to the dojo since she was a child, and she must have been poorly fed and dressed. She was only fifteen years old, but she looked like she was twelve or thirteen, and she was as thin as a bamboo pole.
Compared to her twin sister, who was raised in luxury, she looked even more pitiful. It seems she needs to take on more embroidery work to earn some money to buy meat and nourish her.
Ruan Chongyue was completely unaware that her attitude towards Jingwu had changed from resistance to acceptance, and she unconsciously began to take care of her as if she were her own daughter.
"Okay, are you going to South Street again tomorrow?"
"I'm not going. I'll be staying home for the next five days. Is there anything I can help you with?" Jingwu finished eating quickly, washed his bowl, and looked up at the woman.
Watching her actions, Ruan Chongyue couldn't help but feel indignant on her behalf. Since Jingwu came to their home, she had always been well-behaved and sensible, and even possessed such great abilities. Her sister-in-law was truly blind to have treated her so poorly.
Thinking of this, she sighed softly, shook her head at Jingwu, and softened her tone: "No, if you're going, I'll get up early and make you some meat pies so you can take them with you. If you're not going, I'll make them later so you can have them at noon."
Upon hearing this, Jingwu's eyes lit up: "I'll be home tomorrow, thank you, Aunt."
She was really craving meat pies!
Ruan Chongyue listened to these words with a somewhat unnatural expression. She responded and immediately walked to the side.
Jingwu was oblivious, his mind completely occupied with tomorrow's meat pies.
She washed up, returned to the attic, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began to transform the merit within her body.
Suddenly, she sensed something unusual and peered out the window. She saw a familiar figure walking into the depths of the woods.
Jingwu frowned. Where was her second cousin going in the middle of the night? She made a hand seal and teleported to the boy's side.
But he found that his second cousin, Shao Chengyang, had empty eyes and a blank expression, and walked past him into the depths.
She turned her head to look into the depths, where everything was shrouded in mist; there must be something inside.
Without hesitation, Jingwu grabbed the back of his collar, made a hand seal, and injected the substance into his body.
The next second, Shao Chengyang's eyes focused. He looked at the person standing in front of him, a look of confusion on his face: "Cousin? What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you that too. What are you doing out here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?" Jingwu loosened his collar and sensed a ghostly aura emanating from him. It seemed he was being watched by something, so he asked, "Where's the talisman I gave you?"
Shao Chengyang subconsciously reached for his chest, only to find that he was wearing only an undergarment when he came out. He then remembered that he had put the talisman under his pillow when he went to sleep that night.
“I put it under my pillow. I just heard a little sister calling me, and when I opened the door, I don’t know why I ended up here.”
Jingwu twitched the corners of his mouth, but he couldn't bring himself to get angry at this seven or eight-year-old child. He could only grab the child's collar and teleport back home.
Shao Chengyang stared wide-eyed at the scene that had teleported in an instant, finally stopping in his own yard, still in a daze.
Jingwu had no time to worry about him; he only wanted to go deep into the forest to see what was watching him.
After putting my cousin back to bed, I took the talisman from under his pillow, placed it on his chest, and earnestly instructed him: "Remember, you are not allowed to go out at night next time. Even if you have to go out, you must keep the talisman close to your body!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she was about to walk outside when someone suddenly grabbed the hem of her clothes. She turned around and saw that innocent little face.
"Sister, where are you going?"
Jingwu patted his head, not intending to say anything more: "Get some sleep."
"Sister." Shao Chengyang didn't let go of her hand, his clear eyes fixed on her: "It's cold outside, wear another layer of clothing."
Jingwu then realized that he had only been wearing his undergarments when he went out, so he nodded and said, "Okay, go to sleep early and don't go out again."
Seeing that he agreed, she went up to the attic, put on her cotton-padded clothes, and then teleported to the deep forest.
She looked at the black mist and walked into it.
The further you go in, the fainter the ghostly aura becomes.
Jingwu frowned, looking around. Had they gone the wrong way? That shouldn't be the case.
Just as she was about to do some divination, a girl of about five or six years old emerged from behind the sycamore tree beside her, stood in front of her, looked up and asked, "Sister, are you here to play with me?"
Jingwu looked at the girl in front of him in surprise: "Did you ask my cousin to come out and play just now?"
"Yes." Sensing the mystical aura emanating from her, the girl immediately hid behind a nearby tree and said warily, "I have people come to play with me every night, and I send them back at dawn. I absolutely do not harm them!"
Jingwu could naturally tell from her clean aura that she hadn't harmed anyone, so he asked, "What's your name? Why are you lingering here instead of reincarnating?"
“My name is Zhuzhu. My grandma told me to wait here. She said she would come to pick me up later, but I don’t know why she hasn’t come yet. Is she lost?”
Upon hearing this, Jingwu had a guess in his mind. He reached out and touched her brow, trying to find her memories.
Zhuzhu was born into a farming family in the neighboring Ji Village, the first child in her family. When she was six years old, Zhuzhu's mother gave birth to a younger brother, and her grandmother took her to town to buy things.
When Grandma passed by here, she realized she had forgotten something, so she told her to wait here while she went back to get it.
Unexpectedly, when night fell and Grandma still hadn't returned, Zhuzhu got scared and hid behind the big sycamore tree.
She thought Grandma would definitely come back the next day, but she didn't. Three days passed, and Zhuzhu fainted from hunger, collapsing to the ground. That night, she was eaten by wild wolves.
Zhuzhu's body was devoured by wolves, but her soul lingered there, waiting for her grandmother to come and take her away.
Over time, Zhuzhu was bored and could only call on some peers to play with her. Over time, she forgot that she was dead.
Jingwu withdrew his hand, a hint of pity in his eyes. He squatted down, looked up at her, and said, "How about I send you to be reincarnated?"
Zhuzhu's memories gradually surfaced. She recalled the pain of being devoured by wolves and the despair before her death, and couldn't help but purse her lips: "I want to find my mother."
Jingwu looked down at her and couldn't help but sigh softly, "Even if you go, she won't be able to see you or hear you."
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