When Xu Milu had nothing to do, she liked to make some snacks. Now that it was winter, the Hu family sent over a lot of dried fruits from the mountains, so she made several large boxes full of roasted nuts and seeds, including cream-flavored melon seeds, sweet almonds, salty hazelnuts, some pine nut candy, sour plums, and so on.
Red Boy found everything fascinating. After finishing off all the bowls of vegetarian food, he began to devour the snacks and pastries.
"What is this? The taste is indescribably strange—"
He was smacking his lips with a mouthful of creamy sunflower seeds, and once the taste from the seed shells was gone, he chewed them up twice and swallowed them whole, without even spitting out a single seed shell.
"Eat slowly, all of this is for you. If you're still hungry, there are some cakes and pastries. As long as you can deal with the monsters causing trouble in Chang'an, I'll provide you with plenty of snacks and treats."
Xu Milu pushed the snack box forward, gesturing for Hong Haier to eat a small egg yolk cookie from the box.
These snacks are easy to make. After beating the eggs, add flour and a little milk powder. Sift the flour and stir until there are no lumps. Then squeeze out round shapes and bake them in a kiln.
—The cave dwelling that Mo Xuan built for roasting ducks was only used once this summer and has been sitting idle for a while. Xu Milu cleaned it up and baked some snacks to use for the New Year.
The round, yellow cookies were sprinkled with powdered sugar, making them look very appealing. Red Boy was immediately drawn to them, grabbed one, popped it into his mouth, chewed it, and a satisfied expression appeared on his face.
"These snacks are delicious, make more for this great king—cough cough, I am the immortal! I have the skills of 'flying through the clouds' and 'wind-swirling magic.' Although that Gu Diao is quite formidable, whether he wields a spear or a knife, I am still the ancestor of that monster! As long as this immortal takes action, I guarantee the medicine will cure the ailment!"
Xu Milu's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately asked in return:
"I did not specify what kind of monster was causing the trouble, so how did you know it was a Gu Diao causing the trouble?"
"Just as you know I am Sudhana, I know that the one causing trouble in Chang'an is a Gu Diao."
Red Boy's dark eyes darted around, and his sharp, white teeth made him look somewhat like a little monster.
"If it weren't for the delicious snacks here, and the fact that I converted to Buddhism long ago, I would have swallowed them whole if someone else had tried to coax me like this before! Don't think I don't know that a while ago, on the Dragon King of the West Sea's birthday, my uncle brought a little monster whose origins I couldn't tell at all to the banquet, and all the gods in the heavens know about it!"
He chuckled.
“My uncle always avoids me. He must have heard me here just now to keep quiet. Once I help you capture this troublesome Gu Diao, you will owe me a huge favor. When I look for him again, he can’t say he’s not here!”
Xu Milu was somewhat taken aback, realizing that she still wasn't used to judging these gods and monsters simply by their appearance. Although Red Boy looked no different from a six or seven-year-old child, he was actually over three hundred years old, having lived for several hundred years longer than her. He was truly "cunning and shrewd."
"The Great Sage always avoids the boy? I've heard that the Great Sage and the boy's father, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, are sworn brothers. How can an uncle always avoid his nephew when he comes to visit? Besides, the boy is a disciple of the compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva. It's only right that he subdues demons and saves people from suffering. How did it become that I owe the boy a huge favor?"
Xu Milu pretended to be stupid and refused to respond to Hong Haier's words:
"If you, young boy, can subdue that wicked Gu Diao, wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to gain great merit? I will prepare a feast to celebrate your victory. However, I truly do not know where the Great Sage has gone—"
Red Boy sat cross-legged, the golden hoops on his hands jingling. He puffed out his cheeks and said somewhat impatiently:
"I can't even tell where you came from. No wonder you're favored by that monkey. You're quite clever, like a little monkey. Some time ago, I subdued a painted tiger to use as my mount, but who knew that the Sandalwood Merit Buddha would take it to sweep Mount Ling. They say that 'brothers and uncles should share what is more with the lesser.' Since I, as the nephew, lost my mount, he, as the uncle, should naturally compensate me with one. If he doesn't agree, I'll transform into a little child and cry my heart out in his temple for three days and three nights!"
At this point, Red Boy's rosy little face was full of pride.
Xu Milu was speechless. No wonder Sun Wukong avoided Red Boy. If it were just a good fight, that would be fine, but Red Boy was just an unruly kid who didn't follow the usual path.
It seems even the Great Sage doesn't want to deal with unruly kids.
"If the boy loses his mount, can't we just find another one?"
Xu Milu casually said:
"I think this wicked Gu Diao is perfect. It can fly thousands of miles and can also make the sound of a baby crying. Why don't you catch it and use it as a mount? Next time you meet the Great Sage, you won't have to pretend to be a crying child."
Red Boy's eyes lit up immediately, and he jumped off the table:
"Wonderful, wonderful! This Gu Diao is quite a strange beast. Once I catch it, I'll ride it to see my mother. It will be so impressive! Quick, lead the way and take me to find that wicked Gu Diao. Let me show you how I subdue it! After I've subdued this evil beast, I'll take it to Flower Fruit Mountain and make it cry for a few days. Let's see if my good uncle will still be hiding from me!"
Xu Milu: "..."
She just said it casually.
Red Boy actually took it seriously. If he really went to harass the monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain, he would have committed a terrible sin.
...
...
Since the snow disaster, many makeshift sheds were erected overnight outside Chang'an City, where many families who had suffered hardship gathered to wait for the heavy snow to pass.
But the weather was not cooperating. That very night, it started snowing again. This time, the snow was thicker and deeper, with large flakes falling like cotton wool. Just taking a breath made one's limbs shiver with cold.
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