The first place winner of the horror story contest, Mr. Bai Yuehu, received his reward the next day: a cream cake made by Lu Qingjiu himself.
Because making a cream cake is a rather complex process, Lu Qingjiu usually didn't make it. Since he had nothing to do in the middle of winter, he simply moved the charcoal brazier into the kitchen and made a large, snow-white cream cake for everyone to enjoy as a dessert. He topped the cake with canned cherries and oranges he'd made earlier. He also used melted chocolate to write "First Place" on the cake as a token of encouragement.
Although it was his first time making it, and since the power was out and he couldn't use the oven, Lu Qingjiu simply baked the cake over charcoal. Of course, the appearance and taste of this cake were much worse than those baked in the oven, but once the snow-white cream was applied, the appearance didn't seem much different. The top layer of the cake was fruit and some chocolate crumbs. Bai Yuehu held the knife for a long time, trying it left and right, and finally handed it to Lu Qingjiu, saying, "You cut it."
Lu Qingjiu smiled and said, “Have you eaten it before?”
Bai Yuehu said, "No." He seemed to feel a little embarrassed after he said that, so he paused for a moment and added, "But I have seen it."
Lu Qingjiu asked, "Where have I seen you before?"
Bai Yuehu said: "The glass window needs money, but I don't have any."
Lu Qingjiu was at a loss for words. Only the White Moon Fox could be so frank about being broke. It was both amusing and a little sad. It seemed the White Moon Fox was also interested in human food, but with nothing to eat, he could only stand by and watch...
Lu Qingjiu picked up the kitchen knife, cut a small portion for himself first, then divided the rest in two and gave half to Bai Yuehu and Yin Xun respectively.
Yin Xun, like a child, grabbed a spoon, scooped up some cake, and began stuffing it into his mouth, leaving white cream all over his mouth. Bai Yuehu ate with his usual elegance, and it was hard to believe he had such a voracious appetite.
The two of them finished the rest of the cake, both with satisfied expressions.
In this cold winter, only delicious desserts can comfort their lonely hearts. Lu Qingjiu had nothing to do, so he started trying other desserts, but the trouble was that they had no electricity, so many desserts that required an oven could not be made.
It snowed heavily last night, and it only stopped this morning. By the time I went out, the snow was knee-deep. To prevent the chicken coop from collapsing, Bai Yuehu would go out every morning to clear the snow from the yard. Seeing that the sky had cleared up today, Lu Qingjiu took a bag of jelly candy and went to check on the pickup truck, helping it clean the snow off.
The pickup truck honked its horn happily.
The village had completely transformed into a silvery-white world. Looking up, it stung my eyes after a while. Seeing that the weather was good today and the sun was out, Lu Qingjiu fetched a pair of sunglasses from home, wrapped himself up in a ball, and strolled around the village in his snow boots.
The strange thing was that everyone in Xueshuifu Village seemed to have disappeared, all hiding in their homes, with no trace of even the most basic activities. Lu Qingjiu walked from his home to the village entrance without seeing a single person. Yin Xun followed Lu Qingjiu and asked, "Jiu'er, what are we having for dinner?" This was his biggest concern every day.
Lu Qingjiu said, "Anything is fine. How did you spend the winter in previous years?"
Yin Xun sniffed: "It's about the same as usual. In fact, there are a lot of things to eat in winter, especially in this mountain."
Lu Qingjiu: “For example?”
Yin Xundao said, "A hibernating animal, like a snake or something like that. Snake meat is delicious, but I'm not very good at cooking it."
Lu Qingjiu said, "Let's forget about the snakes. After all, they are wild animals with lots of parasites. If you want to eat them, you should eat farmed ones..." He remembered something and said, "When spring comes, I'll go to town and buy some lotus roots and make lotus roots for you guys."
Because there was no water in Shuifu Village, eating lotus roots wasn't a common custom. Lu Qingjiu didn't get to taste lotus roots until he grew up and moved to the city. He really liked this dish; the crispy ones could be enjoyed cold, while the softer ones were also delicious when stewed with pork ribs.
"Sure." Yin Xun said, "I haven't eaten it yet."
As they walked forward, they discussed what Yin Xun had never eaten before. Before they knew it, they had left the village and arrived at the foot of the mountain.
The mountain was also a dazzling white. With the exception of a few scattered evergreen trees, most of the trees had lost their leaves, their bare trunks covered in thick layers of snow. More interestingly, some low shrubs were covered in a layer of translucent ice crystals, looking like crystal, pure and beautiful.
These scenes were memories from Lu Qingjiu's childhood, and seeing them again brought a certain amount of emotion. Back then, he and Yin Xun loved to run up the mountain in the middle of winter. Despite the cold weather, some crops still grew in the winter. For example, Lu Qingjiu remembered seeing pomelo trees bearing bright yellow pomelo after a snowfall. Although these pomeloes were sour and astringent, as children, they valued freshness.
After staying at home for several days, I felt refreshed after going out for a walk and breathing some fresh air.
"Do you smell anything?" Yin Xun asked suddenly while standing next to Lu Qingjiu.
Lu Qingjiu turned back blankly: "What's that smell?"
"How strange..." Yin Xun said, "I've never smelled this before." As the mountain god of Shuifu Village, Yin Xun knew every plant and tree on the mountain like the back of his hand, but he had never smelled anything like this. It was a slightly fragrant scent, but also had a faint fishy odor. The combination made him feel a little uneasy.
"I don't smell it." Lu Qingjiu didn't smell the smell that Yin Xun said. Because the weather was too cold, he was wearing a thick mask. He reached out and pulled down the mask, sniffed, but still didn't catch any scent.
"Let's go back." Yin Xun became anxious, "Go back quickly."
Although Lu Qingjiu didn't understand why Yin Xun suddenly said this, he still agreed to Yin Xun's proposal. After all, he was a human being. Although he could occasionally see things that ordinary people could not see, he was not as sensitive as Yin Xun in some things.
Yin Xundao said, "Hurry up!" Although he didn't see anything, his instincts were frantically sounding the alarm—something was coming, something terrible was coming—
Following the terrified Yin Xun, Lu Qingjiu ran in the snow. However, the thick snow made their movements more difficult. When they were about halfway to home, Lu Qingjiu tripped over a stone in the snow and fell directly to the ground.
"Sake!!" Yin Xun screamed in fear. He said, "Get up quickly——"
Lu Qingjiu was panting heavily. At this moment, the difference in physical strength between humans and non-humans was fully revealed. He was wearing too thick clothes and his feet were stuck in deep snow. After running with all his strength, a large amount of cold air rushed into his lungs, making his breathing difficult.
"Huff, huff, huff..." Gasping for breath, Lu Qingjiu, who fell to the ground, felt a shadow slowly covering his head. He thought it was dark at first, but soon he noticed something from Yin Xun's frightened and almost desperate eyes.
Lu Qingjiu looked up and saw a giant bird. He couldn't even describe how big it was, because its head almost took up all the sky above Lu Qingjiu's head. Or rather... it wasn't a bird at all, because no bird has a human head.
At this moment, Lu Qingjiu finally smelled the smell Yin Xun had just described. Amidst the rich, fishy odor, there was a strange sweetness. It was obvious that the source of the smell was the terrifying beast above his head.
Yin Xun said, "Qingjiu..." He turned around and wanted to rush to Lu Qingjiu's side, but it was too late. A gust of wind blew past Lu Qingjiu, and he felt his body tighten, as if something was holding his waist, and then the whole person flew into the air and was taken off the ground.
"Lu Qingjiu!!!" Yin Xun, who was sitting on the ground, wanted to catch Lu Qingjiu who was flying away, but he was just a small mountain god. He had no wings and could not fly, so he could only watch his good friend being taken away by the huge monster bird.
The big bird laughed strangely and flapped its wings gently, and a huge wind blew on the ground. Yin Xun could only stick to the ground tightly to avoid being blown away. When the strong wind ended, there was no trace of the big bird and Lu Qingjiu in the sky.
Yin Xun struggled out of the snow in a panic. One of his shoes was missing, but he didn't care about that and hurried back home.
"Yuehu, Yuehu, something terrible has happened! Lu Qingjiu was taken away by a strange creature—" Yin Xun arrived home and saw Bai Yuehu standing in the yard. He hurriedly told her what had just happened.
Bai Yuehu paused what he was doing when he heard that, frowned, and asked, "Did you go to the mountain?"
Yin Xun said, "No, we just took a walk around the foot of the mountain." His heart was pounding, and his mind was full of terrifying thoughts. The giant bird just now didn't look like a charitable creature. If Lu Qingjiu was captured like this, would...
Unexpectedly, Bai Yuehu was not nervous at all after hearing this. He nodded and said he understood.
"Will Qingjiu be okay?" Yin Xun asked, "Will that bird eat him?"
"No." Bai Yuehu replied, "If she wanted to eat, she would have eaten long ago. Why would she take Lu Qingjiu away? I'll go over and take a look."
Yin Xundao: "Okay..."
Black mist rose from the White Moon Fox, and it vanished from Yin Xun's sight. Yin Xun was left alone in the empty yard. Feeling somewhat lost, he sat down in the snow, slowly looking up at the sky, and once again felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
Besides, after Lu Qingjiu was captured, he was taken directly to the sky thousands of miles above. Looking at the ground getting farther and farther away, he couldn't help but sigh that it was a good thing he was not afraid of heights, otherwise he might have fainted from fright.
Wrapped around his body was a piece of pure white feathers, which imprisoned him completely, making him unable to move. Since he couldn't move, Lu Qingjiu observed the surrounding situation.
He found that he seemed to be no longer in Shuifu Village. Although the scenery on the ground was blurry, he could still see that it was a vast ocean. There seemed to be some scattered islands in the ocean - completely different places from the waterless Shuifu Village.
There should have been a strong wind above the clouds, but the feathers helped Lu Qingjiu resist part of it. He was now wrapped tightly and sitting on a huge bird's claw.
The bird's claws were so large that Lu Qingjiu suspected he could run on them for several minutes without ever reaching the edge.
What did the bird want to do? Where was it taking him? Did it want to eat him? Lu Qingjiu's mind was full of questions, but he also felt that although the bird had forcibly taken him away, it didn't seem to have any malicious intent. Otherwise, he would be nothing more than an ant that it could easily crush to death.
The big bird flapped its wings and brought Lu Qingjiu to the center of the ocean. As it went deeper, Lu Qingjiu noticed that a huge island appeared on the ground. The island was empty with only yellow sand and rugged rocks.
The big bird began to fly lower, and Lu Qingjiu felt the wind blowing across his cheeks, so hard that he could only close his eyes.
When the wind died down, Lu Qingjiu finally opened his eyes with difficulty. He saw that he was placed on a soft beach. When he opened his eyes, he was frightened by the big faces in front of him.
"Are you awake?"
"Are you awake?"
"Are you awake?"
…
The nine greetings echoed one after another, leaving Lu Qingjiu completely stunned. Nine different faces appeared before him. There were men and women, young and old, and even a child who looked only seven or eight years old. Lu Qingjiu instinctively wanted to step back, but he felt his body was still tightly wrapped in the feathers, unable to move at all.
"All of you shut up!" The beautiful female face in the middle let out an angry roar. The other faces fell silent and shut up obediently, turning their gazes to the female face, waiting for orders.
"Your name is Lu Qingjiu, right?" The woman had a charming appearance, with conspicuous red lips and seductive eyes. She was quite alluring - if she wasn't growing on the head of this big bird.
"Yes." Lu Qingjiu replied dryly, "Excuse me, what can I do for you?"
"It's like this." The woman explained, "I have something to ask you..."
Lu Qingjiu asked: "W-what's the matter?"
The woman said softly, "I've heard of your name before, and I just want to ask you for a favor."
Lu Qingjiu thought to himself, where does my reputation come from? However, he did not dare to argue, fearing that he would anger the woman and eat her up. He continued to communicate with a good attitude: "You tell me, you tell me."
The woman said, "I grabbed something and want to eat it differently. Can you help me make it?"
Lu Qingjiu: "..." He paused for a moment before realizing what the woman meant. Facing the mountain-like bird, he suppressed the trembling in his voice and asked, "Can I take a look first, what is it?"
"Show him, show him quickly!"
"It's so good, so good, I'm tired of it!"
"Wow, I'm so touched. He's such a good man."
The other eight heads, which had just been quiet, began to make noisy noises again. The woman ignored them, flapped her wings, and said to Lu Qingjiu, "Wait for me for a moment." After that, she flew into the sky, apparently to get something.
Lu Qingjiu's feathers were also undone, and he finally regained his mobility. This woman, with the body of a nine-headed bird, was indeed mentioned in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. She was a deity named Jiufeng, who lived in Tiangui Mountain in the North Pole. It was said that she was the deity of the Chu people, their most revered deity.
Lu Qingjiu got up from the ground and looked around, realizing that he was indeed on a desolate island. The temperature here was much higher than outside, and he soon felt a bit hot in his down jacket, so he took off his thickest coat.
What made Lu Qingjiu feel a little helpless was that even after taking off his coat, the sweater underneath still made him sweat profusely. He sat on the beach for a while and even felt that if he continued sitting like this, he would really be at risk of heatstroke. In the end, Lu Qingjiu chose life over face and took off the last piece of shirt, leaving his upper body naked.
Fortunately, he'd maintained his exercise after returning to the countryside. While his abdominal muscles weren't particularly pronounced, at least he didn't have any excess fat. Even after taking off his clothes, a thin layer of sweat quickly formed on Lu Qingjiu's wheat-colored skin. To conserve energy, he lay down on the beach.
Jiufeng was gone for a long time. When Lu Qingjiu felt that he was about to be dried up, she finally came back. However, the thing she was holding on her feet made Lu Qingjiu wonder if he was dazzled again.
The Jiufeng's huge claws were tightly grasping a long snake. The diameter of the snake was even longer than Lu Qingjiu's height. Lu Qingjiu could only look up at the snake's big head.
With a "bang" sound of something heavy falling to the ground, Jiufeng happily threw the big snake in front of Lu Qingjiu. She giggled, her words full of joy, "Hey, I brought it. See how to make it delicious?"
Looking at the snake, Lu Qingjiu pulled the corners of his mouth stiffly: "How do you want to eat it?"
"Just don't eat it raw." Jiu Feng bent her head and moved closer to Lu Qingjiu. The strange fragrance began to spread around Lu Qingjiu again. She showed a flattering smile, "You can do whatever you want..."
If this was an ordinary snake, Lu Qingjiu would probably just make do with it, but this snake was so big that Lu Qingjiu rolled up his sleeves and found that he couldn't even hold the snake's body, so he could only helplessly say: "I want to do it, but this snake is too big..."
Jiu Feng frowned when he heard this: "What should I do then? Didn't I snatch you away for nothing?"
Lu Qingjiu: “…” For something like this, I should at least ask his opinion first.
Jiufeng said, "No, no, you must do it for me, but... you do seem a little small." She stretched out a paw and compared it in front of Lu Qingjiu. When she finally confirmed that the tiny Lu Qingjiu was no bigger than her fingernail, she sighed with regret, "Why is it so small?"
Lu Qingjiu looked helpless.
"And why did you take off your clothes? Oh, how can you be so rude." She finally noticed the changes in Lu Qingjiu and said shyly, "I'm still an unmarried girl! You do this! You do this!" As she spoke, she stomped her feet coquettishly, and the ground shook. Lu Qingjiu lost her balance and sat down on the ground.
Lu Qingjiu's mood was extremely complicated, and he actually had the illusion that he was a playboy. "Sorry, I'm too hot, so I have to take off my clothes."
"That won't work either!"
"Yes, yes, how can we get married if we look at it this way?"
"That's right, that's right, otherwise..."
"No, no, I know what you're thinking. He's so young, how can he marry us?"
"But he cooks delicious food, otherwise how could he survive until now..."
The eight heads that had been relatively quiet started arguing again over this topic, one after another, and Lu Qingjiu was dumbfounded. In the end, the woman's face roared at them to shut up, and then they quieted down again.
"Then you should at least find something to cover it." said the woman.
"There's nothing here." Lu Qingjiu felt like she was about to collapse. "How about you take me back so I can find some clothes first?"
Jiu Feng thought for a moment after hearing this and said: "I don't think it's possible. If you go back, I can't bring you out. How about this, I'll be wronged for a while, you first tell me how to make this snake delicious, and when I'm full, I'll send you back."
Lu Qingjiu sighed: "Okay."
It was impossible to make chicken soup with such a large snake, and the conditions here were harsh. After much thought, Lu Qingjiu decided that roasting it would be more reliable. So he explained his idea, which was to skin the snake first, then roast it over a fire, and sprinkle salt and some spices on the snake's body. This should significantly change the taste.
Jiu Feng was bewildered when she heard this: "What are salt and spices?"
Lu Qingjiu: “…” He had a bad feeling.
As expected, after the two of them communicated, Lu Qingjiu was sure that Jiufeng had never eaten salt, and didn't even know what spices were. She only ate the most natural food, which she just grabbed and chewed, so there was no such thing as seasoning.
After hearing Jiufeng's words, Lu Qingjiu felt that she was even worse off than Bai Yuehu...
The White Moon Fox only needs to feed one mouth, but she has to feed eight mouths, and it seems that these eight mouths are not easy to serve.
"Then what should we do?" Jiufeng asked, "Tell me how to get salt?"
Lu Qingjiu said, "Um... I'm sorry, I don't know how to make salt either." Although he knew that sea salt could be used, the sea salt he ate was processed.
When Jiufeng heard that she couldn't eat anymore, she stamped her feet in anger and cried, "How can you be like this? You tricked me into looking at your body and you still refused to cook for me. I just tricked you into coming here for a while! Humph! You are so stingy!"
Lu Qingjiu: “…” He was speechless.
Jiufeng was about to say something when a black cloud suddenly floated in the sky. Her face changed drastically when she saw it. She said, "How come it's catching up to us so quickly? It has such a sharp nose. Is it a dog?"
Lu Qingjiu looked at the familiar black mist and knew that it must be Bai Yuehu who had followed him. He finally breathed a sigh of relief. But before he could relax, he heard Bai Yuehu's angry voice: "Jiufeng, you are so shameless! You actually took off his clothes!!!"
Jiufeng: "I'm not, I didn't! He took it off himself!"
Bai Yuehu: "Lu Qingjiu?!"
Lu Qingjiu nearly burst into tears. Is this the point? And aren't you all too civilized, non-humans? He's only shirtless, and his pants are still on! Why are both of them acting like he's running around naked on the street?
The author has something to say: Bai Yuehu: I haven’t even read it! ! ! !
Lu Qingjiu lifted up her clothes to reveal her belly: I’ll show you, alright, see enough! !
Bai Yuehu: You said it!
Lu Qingjiu: What the hell are you doing taking off my pants? Hey!
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