"Please give me some food, please, have mercy, please give me some food..."
Some wandering ghosts smelled the fragrance and kowtowed to Xu Milu. Among them, an old ghost with white hair, a sallow and thin face, and an unusually large belly was the most diligent, his face covered with blood and tears, which was quite heartbreaking to see.
"You insolent wretch! Who do you think you are? It was only out of the mercy of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva that you were allowed to come up here to listen to the sutras, yet you dare to disturb the people! Wait till I report this to the Void, and I will surely punish you with thirty more lashes!"
Perhaps sensing Xu Milu's pity for the wandering ghosts in the arena, Horse-Face lashed the old ghost with his whip and smiled at Xu Milu:
"Young lady, don't be fooled by his human skin. In the mortal world, this scoundrel drowned his four granddaughters in succession so that his daughter-in-law could give birth to a son. Yama punished him by making him suffer in the eleventh level of the Stone Press Hell, where he is struck in the internal organs with a stone hammer every day, and is also made to drag his four granddaughters in his womb, torturing him every day and making him taste the pain of childbirth until the resentment of the ghost infants is dispelled. Only then can he enter the cycle of reincarnation and enter the animal realm."
I understand.
Xu Milu immediately withdrew her sympathy and pointed to another woman who was constantly weeping:
"These are all evil spirits from hell. What crime has that woman committed?"
Niu Tou answered readily:
"Before her death, that woman stirred up trouble and spread rumors about others, spreading that the young lady of the Zhao family had an affair, which drove the young lady of the Zhao family to commit suicide by hanging. When the young lady of the Zhao family arrived in the underworld, she filed a complaint against this woman. King Yama punished the woman by sending her to the Tongue-Pulling Hell, where she suffers the pain of having her tongue pulled out every day."
The iron chain in his hand twirled, pointing to ghosts whose expressions were miserable, whose clothes were barely covering them, and who looked extremely pitiful:
"This man who bullies men and women, forces others to be his wives, and abducts women and children, will be sent to the hell of sawing and knives. This corrupt official who squanders the five grains, who deceived his superiors and oppressed the people while he was alive, will be sent to the hell of the stone mill, where he will suffer the torment of being ground into meat paste by the stone mill every day..."
Several of them were utterly wicked. Xu Milu shook her head: "Even if these people suffer in hell after they die, it's still pitiful for those who have suffered."
The horse-faced man chuckled, his laughter sounding like a horse's neigh.
"We only deal with matters of the underworld. You mortals are the ones who have to correct the injustices of the mortal world. The separation between the living and the dead is no joke."
Xu Milu understood after a moment's thought: "If the underworld can manage the affairs of the living world, in the long run, people will not think about relying on themselves, but will instead seek help from gods and Buddhas—it's better to rely on yourself than on others. I understand now."
Niu Tou nodded: "My wife is intelligent; she truly has a connection to Buddhism."
After eating their fill, the Ox-Head and Horse-Face demons dared not slack off for a moment. They left six copper coins and went to drive away the evil spirits, not giving them even a moment's rest.
For a moment, half the scene was filled with howling ghosts and howling wolves, while the other half was filled with chanting Buddhist hymns. Xu Milu had cotton stuffed in her ears, so she could barely endure it.
...
...
Some people listen to the sutras in the evening, buy a bowl of hot vegetarian noodles and eat it, feeling refreshed and comfortable. There are also hungry monks in the temple who get a bowl of noodle soup, slurp it down, and drive away the chill.
Xu Milu saw Lady Yin in the distance and waved to her. Lady Yin hesitated for a long time before coming over with an empty basket—the incense, candles and paper money inside must have all been burned.
The ground was filled with eerie ghostly energy, and hundreds of ghosts crawled around. However, Lady Yin was completely unaware of it, but Xu Milu could see it clearly. Wherever she walked, all the ghosts gave way, and even the Ox-Head and Horse-Face demons bowed their heads in respect.
She began to suspect that this person was also a Bodhisattva in disguise.
"Miss Xu, how's business today? Are things going well?"
Seeing Lady Yin walking over stepping on a hanged ghost without noticing, Xu Milu's eyelids twitched. She truly believed that Lady Yin couldn't see these things.
“It’s alright. A few monks from the temple came by ahead. I didn’t accept any money, but gave them some vegetarian noodles and food. Madam Yin, please have a seat. You’ve been in the temple for quite a while, so you must be hungry. I’ll make some food, and we can eat together before going home.”
Xu Milu patted the flour off her hands, picked up a bowl, added flour, poured in boiling water to scald the flour, added a little salt, and repeatedly folded and kneaded it. After it was shaped, she cut it into small dough pieces of appropriate size, kneaded them a couple of times, and they became flat wrappers.
Take two more bowls of flour, add soybean oil and stir. Knead the dough into a flaky pastry similar in size to the dough sheet, fold it, and roll it out three to five times to create layers.
Take out the remaining mushroom filling, wrap it in the dough, slowly close your palm, and use your thumb and forefinger to make pleats little by little. Finally, wrap all the filling inside, and a round "baozi" is made.
Are you making vegetarian steamed buns?
Lady Yin recognized some of them, but she wasn't entirely sure.
During the Tang Dynasty, steamed buns were called "steamed cakes" and baozi were called "mantou". Meat-filled ones were called "meat mantou", which were mostly filled with mutton and vegetables and tasted oily and delicious. Vegetarian ones were called "vegetarian mantou", which were filled with boiled pear flesh and tasted sweet and sour.
"Steaming buns takes too long. It's late, so I should go home early. I'm going to make pies instead."
Xu Milu reached out and patted the round bun flat, sprinkled some flour on it to prevent it from leaking, heated oil in a pan, and when the oil was hot enough, took out some charcoal and slowly fried the bun over low heat until both sides were golden brown, like a golden sun. That was it.
"This way of eating is quite novel."
Lady Yin covered her face with a handkerchief and peeked out slightly.
"This flaky pastry pie is not only novel, but also delicious! My wife, you should try it."
Xu Milu placed two pies in front of Madam Yin, then found a clean piece of gauze, pinched the pies, and took a delicious bite.
She's generous with the ingredients in her vegetarian filling. She mixes tofu dregs, minced shiitake mushrooms, and minced king oyster mushrooms in a 1:3:3 ratio, and adds soy sauce, sugar, and salt for seasoning. When stir-frying, she first sautés the shiitake and king oyster mushrooms in oil until they have a texture similar to meat chunks, and then adds dried tofu dregs and stir-fries them together. The oily and moist filling is not dry at all, and it's full of fragrance when you eat it.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
