Chapter 486: Relatives from Nothingness
Xie Yingmian: "When this person is crazy, does he have any special behavior or say anything strange?"
Shopkeeper: “Yes.”
"On full-moon nights, he would kneel down and kowtow to the moon, saying strange things to the void."
"He said he was wrong, he shouldn't have entered the restricted area, and asked the fairies to forgive him."
"He also said some words that others couldn't understand, and I didn't remember them."
Xie Yingmian: "Is this person still alive?"
Shopkeeper: "Alive, but no different from dead."
He sighed.
"After he went crazy for three years, his wife couldn't stand it anymore and divorced him and remarried, leaving behind their three-year-old child. His parents took care of him while also taking care of the three-year-old child."
"After the children finally grew up, the old couple passed away one after another."
"A good family, now only has a madman and a child under the age of twelve left."
"People say that he broke into the restricted area and bumped into the fairy, and he suffered retribution, which led to the destruction of his family. Now everyone in the town is avoiding them, fearing that they will be implicated."
Xie Yingmian asked, "Shopkeeper, do you know where this person lives?"
The shopkeeper nodded and said, "His house is at the easternmost end of the town. The most dilapidated one is his."
Xie Yingmian: "What's this family's surname?"
The shopkeeper said: "My surname is Lu, and my name is Lu Wang."
Xie Yingmian asked again: "What is Lu Wang's mother's name?"
The shopkeeper was bewildered.
He really didn't know what Lu Wang's mother's name was.
Generally speaking, married women do not have their own names.
Outsiders either call her Lu Wangniang or Lu Laotai.
"Wait a moment, sir. The lady who sells lotus wine across from the inn is from the same hometown as Old Lady Lu. Maybe she knows."
The shopkeeper came back soon.
"I found out." The shopkeeper said, "Mrs. Lu's surname is Shen. Her family is also from outside, so she doesn't have a name. Because she is the third child, everyone calls her Shen Sanni."
Xie Yingmian raised an eyebrow.
This surname was a coincidence, so she didn't have to make up a story.
Xie Yingmian sent the shopkeeper away and looked at Yu Lingye.
"Did you guess it?"
Yu Lingye: "The restricted area should be hiding the entrance to the Twin Lotus Sect's main altar."
Xie Yingmian: "I think so too."
She looked outside.
The sun has not yet set, but the temperature is much lower than at noon.
The wind is blowing.
The wind carries the fragrance of lotus flowers and a hint of coolness.
"Go out for a walk?" Xie Yingmian asked.
"Okay." When Yu Lingye went to the capital, he would pretend to sit in a wheelchair.
Arriving in a remote town where he was unfamiliar with the place, he was too lazy to pretend.
The two strolled around the town and bought many local famous lotus-themed delicacies.
Fried lotus, lotus cake, lotus leaf rice dumplings, lotus seed porridge, lotus crisps, lotus leaf spare ribs, lotus leaf chicken, etc., each one has its own unique flavor.
After Xie Yingmian ate too much, she packed up a lot of food.
The two of them carried dishes such as lotus leaf chicken and lotus leaf spare ribs and walked to the easternmost end of Lotus Town.
As the shopkeeper said, they saw the most dilapidated house at a glance.
The people in the town are relatively wealthy, and almost every household has a house built with blue bricks.
At the very least, it has adobe walls and a roof covered with green tiles.
There was only this house, a dilapidated three-room thatched house without even a yard.
When Xie Yingmian and Yu Lingye walked towards that station, the people in the thatched hut immediately discovered them.
A thin and small child who looked less than ten years old stuck his head out and looked at them warily.
"Are you here to look for Uncle Niu? Uncle Niu's house is over there." The child pointed to a small courtyard not far away. "Uncle Niu may not be home at this time. You guys should wait a little longer."
After saying that, the child closed the door.
It's called a door, but it's actually made of countless tattered wooden boards nailed together.
The thatch on the thatched house was also in disarray. Not only could it not keep out the wind and rain, it couldn't even block the sun.
"I'm here to find your father Lu Wang." Yu Lingye said.
The child became more alert, with a tremor in his voice: "You, what are you going to do?"
"My father won't see you."
"You, you guys leave quickly."
Xie Yingmian opened the lotus leaf pork ribs and lotus leaf chicken: "We are from Shangjing."
“My mother’s last name is Shen.”
"My mother often talked about the drought that year, saying that her family had to flee in different directions to survive. The mountains were high and the roads were long, and there was no communication. She didn't know whether her brothers and sisters were alive or dead."
“The older the old lady gets, the more she misses her brothers and sisters. I have heard from many sources that your grandmother Shen Sanni may be her cousin.”
"It just so happens that we are in Lotus Town on business, and the old man asked me to come and take a look."
Xie Yingmian spoke in great detail and with a sincere tone.
Lu Hesheng was stunned by what he had fooled.
He was raised by his grandmother, who often lamented the drought that had left no crops and forced the family to flee for their lives.
Grandma also mentioned many times that many people died along the way and that they were separated from their family.
"Are you really grandma's relatives?"
Xie Yingmian asked, "Why would we lie to you?"
"You're so small, you wouldn't be worth much even if I sold you."
Lu Hesheng felt like he was stabbed.
After his grandparents died, he really wanted to sell himself, at least to have something to eat.
If he eats less, he can give his father an extra bite to eat.
But, my father was cursed by the gods.
No one dared to buy him, and no one was even willing to hire him to work.
He barely made ends meet with the savings left by his grandparents and the occasional income from digging herbs in the mountains and selling them to Uncle Niu next door.
When Lu Hesheng thought of his family's curse, his vigilance faded.
He opened the door and said, "Please come in."
The thatched hut was narrow but clean.
There were three rooms in total, with only one door, which was not only closed but also locked.
"My father would run around everywhere. In order to prevent him from running around, I would lock the door when I was not at home," said Lu Hesheng.
Xie Yingmian saw the herbs in the corner of the room.
There was still fresh soil on the herbs, and it looked like they had just been picked.
The medicinal properties of each herb are well preserved.
There are also many precious herbs among them.
"Did you learn this skill of identifying herbs from your grandmother?" Xie Yingmian asked.
Lu Hesheng was surprised: "How did you know?"
Xie Yingmian: I guessed it.
This era is very different from later generations.
Any job that requires even a little bit of technical skills is a way to support a family and will not be easily passed on to others.
The herbs picked by this child are in very good condition. He doesn't look like an apprentice in a clinic, so they must be inherited from his family.
The family tradition is passed down from either grandpa or grandma.
There was a fifty percent chance that she would guess right.
Xie Yingmian said, "The Shen family all know some medical skills and can identify herbs. In my generation, I even opened a clinic. It's normal for your grandmother to be able to identify herbs."
Lu Hesheng now really believed that Xie Yingmian was a relative of his grandmother.
Very few people know that my grandmother can identify herbs.
Lu Hesheng's attitude also became much more enthusiastic: "How should I call you?"
Xie Yingmian: ...
This stumped her, as there was no concept of seniority in the 29th century.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
