Chapter 94 Chapter 94 The Ghost Car Bird that Steals Children Can’t…
It was already the fourth watch, and the streets of Chang'an were silent. The two Wu Hous had already patrolled twice and were feeling very sleepy when one of them suddenly heard some noise. He stood up alertly, walked a few steps cautiously with a lantern, and only picked up a black feather on the ground.
"It turned out to be a raven." He breathed a sigh of relief, then sat down again and took a nap.
On the locust tree in the gloomy alley, the ghost bird scanned the tree with its bloodshot eyes, but didn't find its target. It flapped its wings twice angrily and flew away, leaving only two rows of deep scratches on the tree.
Qingnu, who was hiding under the bridge, waited for half a day and felt safe. Her arm was scratched by the ghost car bird, leaving a deep cut, and there was a strong smell of blood on her body.
She carried the bamboo basket carefully and slowly walked into the Goldfish Alley. Several small monsters were lying on the eaves waiting for her. When they saw her coming back, they quickly pushed open the door together.
"What's wrong? What happened?" The young lady in green on the celadon plate came to support her, and was frightened by the smell of blood on her clothes.
The baby in the bamboo basket was sleeping soundly, unaware of the tragic struggle just now. The child with a bun on his head, who was transformed into a makeup box, climbed into the bamboo basket, reached out and gently poked the baby's chubby face, and then asked: "Is he hungry? Does he need to eat?"
Qing Nu applied medicine to his shoulder and said, "No need, I gave him some spiritual energy. He doesn't need to eat for three days now."
The little boy looked at her furtively: "Aren't you trying to steal the baby's soul light? Why are you giving him spiritual energy instead?"
Qing Nu paused while spreading the medicine. All the demons looked at her. Her face suddenly turned red. Then she put her hands on her hips and said fiercely to the child, "I have to give him spiritual energy first and then take away his soul light. No way!"
The child was so angry at her that he whimpered and retreated back into his dressing table.
The young novice monk who was meditating on the Avatamsaka Sutra chanted: "It is extremely detrimental to one's practice to take away someone's soul. It is better to return the baby."
The demons poked their heads out and echoed.
"No." Qingnu rejected it harshly, but his eyes were gentle as he looked at the baby: "He's been targeted by the Ghost Car Bird."
Qingnu was looking outside for a newborn baby with a bright and agile soul. She finally arrived outside a tile-roofed house and heard the cry of a baby.
The baby's mother probably went out to work, and the baby was alone lying in the bamboo basket crying. When he saw Qingnu come in, he stopped crying immediately.
Qing Nu made a face: "Aren't you afraid? I am a demon, I am here to catch you."
The baby smiled at her.
Qingnu stretched out her hand towards the baby, then put it down, and stretched out her hand again.
The baby held her hand. The little hand was soft and tender, with a unique human warmth.
So Qingnu's self-proclaimed heart of stone melted away immediately. She shook her head, laughed at herself, and was ready to give up and leave. As soon as she reached the gate of the yard, she bumped into the ghost car bird, which was drooling and showing greed.
The ghost car bird feeds on the souls of babies. It was transformed from the resentment of a woman who had difficulty giving birth. Once it sets its sights on a target, it will never give up until its death. Moreover, because its resentment is too strong, ordinary monsters are no match for it. Qing Nu was protecting the baby, but was beaten back repeatedly and had to flee with the child.
The demons gasped after hearing her story, and the child stammered, "Then...what should we do then?"
After Qingnu finished healing his wounds, he glanced at the sleeping baby and asked, "Where's grandma?"
The little monk sighed: "He is sleeping in the bedroom."
The Persian carpet on the ground was pulling at its torn thread: "Grandma's fate is about to end..."
On the morning of the second day, when the sun just rolled over Mount Zhongnan, Xuanyangfang was already bustling. The waiter from the vegetable shop threw a cart of freshly picked cowpea strips in a corner, and did not bother to sell them to the restaurants. He just squeezed into the crowd to watch the fun.
The three-month-old baby of the mordant and dyer was missing. The couple ran to report the case and cried at home all day.
It was said that there was a black feather next to the cradle, and the neighbors said, "Something bad has happened. It must have been caught by the ghost car bird in its nest."
Duan Zhiwei was originally waiting at home for the waiter from the restaurant to deliver cowpea strips for making braised noodles with green beans, but he waited and waited in vain, so he had to drag Yuan Shenji, who was on leave, out to look for them.
I met two strange-looking people standing at the mordant's door.
The younger one was holding a compass and wearing a tattered gray robe. The other one had messy hair like cattails. He was obviously a man, but he was wearing a robe with silver-red Sasha patterns and had the moon-shaped makeup that was popular among the ladies.
Duan Zhiwei went to pull her husband's arm and said, "Why is the Hundred Opera Troupe here? Will they be looking for someone else?"
Yuan Shenji leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Those are the runners from the Monster Catching Department."
Duan Zhiwei: “…”
Sure enough, everyone in the Monster Catching Division was as weird and out of tune as their Dugu Sijie.
She finally caught the waiter from the restaurant among the crowd of onlookers, paid him on the spot, and let Yuan Shenji carry a large basket of cowpeas home.
Duan Zhiwei chatted with him casually: "I don't know if the child can be found."
She was a little annoyed: "I wish I could have stopped that woman in black when it was raining that day. She looked strange."
Yuan Shenji comforted her a few times, and the two returned to the restaurant.
Wash a basket of fresh and crispy beans, fry the pork belly until slightly crispy, stir-fry excess fat, and stir-fry with minced garlic and beans.
The fresh noodles that were added last were rolled out by A Pan in advance. They were fresh and chewy. They were poured into the pot and fried until a faint aroma of burnt wheat was emitted. Then the vegetables were poured in and simmered over firewood until the juice was absorbed. When the pot was opened, the aroma filled the air all at once.
The noodles were oily and fully absorbed with the rich gravy, and the beans were bright green. Duan Zhiwei took a bite and found the noodles chewy, the pork belly salty and mellow, and the essence of the broth was stewed out.
She was very pleased with the dish.
Customers came one after another. They smelled the aroma of burnt wheat and meat, and ordered a pot of braised beans and noodles with garlic. Everyone was busy. After serving a wave of customers, Aunt Duan asked, "Has Grandma Zeng not been here for a few days?"
It’s not that hot today and the weather is quite comfortable. Logically, Grandma Zeng should come out for a walk in this kind of weather.
She likes to sit alone in a corner, chat with people in the restaurant, and feel the lively atmosphere of the restaurant.
She was too lonely being alone.
"It rained every day in the past few days and the ground was slippery. I don't think there would be any accidents." A Pan continued.
Duan Zhiwei was so busy that he looked up and said, "I'll go over after dinner."
When Duan Zhiwei brought Yuan Shenji into the house, Grandma Zeng was lying on the bed, squinting her eyes and sewing a small piece of clothing.
When he saw Duan Zhiwei and Yuan Shenji coming together, he quickly put down the work in his hands and greeted them warmly.
Perhaps because she had been lying down for too long, she felt a little dizzy when she stood up suddenly and was about to fall. Duan Zhiwei and Yuan Shenji hurried to help her.
The old lady smiled embarrassedly and said, "I am old and useless now."
Duan Zhiwei raised the food box in his hand: "Have you had lunch? I'll bring you some food."
A bowl of savory ham and tofu soup, a plate of stir-fried cabbage, and steamed chicken legs with vegetables that are stewed until they fall off the bone.
Grandma Zeng kept saying, "Oh, how embarrassing!" and went to feel for money under the pillow.
Duan Zhiwei helped her put the needle and thread aside, and saw the half-embroidered green dress. She smiled and said, "This dress is really novel and cute. Could it be for the Mohele doll?"
Ever since Pu Tao got the Mohele doll on Chinese Valentine's Day, she has been begging A Pan to embroider some small skirts and shoes for her every day, and she has been having a lot of fun playing with it.
Grandma Zeng shook her head: "It's not made for the Mohele doll, it's for..."
She lowered her head and stroked the little clothes, with a reluctant expression on her face: "I prepared gifts for some children who have always been with me, just in case one day I..."
Seeing Duan Zhiwei staring at her with blinking eyes, she loosened her hands on the clothes as if she had just woken up from a dream: "I'm talking nonsense again, Madam Duan, Captain Yuan, please don't mind it."
Although Duan Zhiwei and Yuan Shenji didn't understand what she was saying, they certainly wouldn't mind an old woman's chattering, so they just held her hand and said something else.
Duan Zhiwei talked about the jar of duck eggs that failed to be pickled yesterday, which drove away the diners and made everyone in the restaurant lose their appetite. In the end, the whole pot of lotus root soup went into Yuan Shenji's stomach, which made the old lady laugh.
After a while, seeing that the old lady was a little tired, Duan Zhiwei hurriedly stood up and said, "Grandma, take care to rest. If you have time, come to the restaurant and sit down. If you are too lazy to move, we will come back to see you later."
Granny Zeng wanted to get up and see them off, but as soon as she started to move, she saw stars again. She had no choice but to sit back down and said with a forced smile, "Okay, it's getting cooler in the evening, so I'll go to the restaurant and sit down."
They both closed the door for her.
Duan Zhiwei sighed and looked up at Yuan Shenji: "What do you think..."
Yuan Shenji raised his hand and stroked her head: "People are born, grow old, get sick and die. This is a normal thing."
Duan Zhiwei certainly knew this truth, but...
Grandma Zeng was a frequent customer of the Duan family restaurant. She always sat in the corner of the restaurant, for fear of disturbing the men who were drinking and reciting poems, or disturbing the women who were chatting and drinking tea.
The copper coins she used to buy lunch and dinner were always polished to a shine. Even though even a stingy person like Aunt Duan would not accept her money, when cleaning the table, those copper coins would definitely be quietly placed on the table.
"Is grandma here to supervise the restaurant again?" The diners liked her and often teased her, but the grandma didn't get angry. She just smiled and her skinny face turned into a chrysanthemum.
Children also liked her. She always had some candy in her pocket, which she generously shared with the children.
Duan Zhiwei couldn't accept such a good grandma, as her time would soon come.
She had a rare chance to shed tears, but before they could fall, someone else took the lead - the sound of a baby crying suddenly came from the small storeroom in the old lady's yard.
She and Yuan Shenji looked at each other and ran over together. There was a strong lock on the warehouse, but this did not pose a problem for the brave general and he quickly broke the lock.
Inside was a woman in black with her hair loose. She looked so devastated and was holding a crying baby and comforting him patiently.
She kept saying, "My dear, please stop crying."
When she saw Duan Zhiwei and the other person, she quickly stood up, put away her tender expression, and replaced it with a alert look.
The atmosphere was tense when a large black bird suddenly circled and landed in the yard. It sneered at the people and the monster in front of it and said in a cold voice, "I finally found it..."
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