Chapter 24 The Mud Demon's voice was completely blocked, sounding rough and unrecognizable as male...
The Mud Demon's voice was completely blocked, sounding rough and indistinguishable as male or female. But when it talked about red oil wontons, it was so happy that it spoke in long, uninterrupted sentences.
"I'm not exaggerating, their spicy wontons are really delicious."
According to Lanni Gui's description, the snack shop was a husband-and-wife operation. They actually sold other things besides wontons in chili oil, but Lanni Gui just loved the wontons. It was a small family business; the wife sat in the front, holding a spot to wrap the wontons, while the husband worked in the back kitchen, cooking and preparing the wontons.
It's not just that Lanni Gui thinks their spicy wontons are delicious; regular customers all agree that their spicy wontons are the best.
His wonton wrappers are handmade, and the pork is freshly bought by the couple from the market early every morning—it's all handmade. You can imagine how delicious it is. At this point, even the mud ghost got a little excited; the little tentacles holding the chopsticks were almost shaky, and he wanted to slap his thigh and say:
"Not to mention their seasonings, their chili oil is homemade, it's incredibly fragrant! If you have the chance, you absolutely must try it! It's so delicious!"
He Zhao glanced at Qiao Yanyu; her gaze was intense, clearly indicating she was plotting something. He Zhao could guess some things, such as: the Mud Demon was definitely a local ghost.
Qiao Yanyu had previously stated that most ghosts become earthbound spirits and rarely leave the place where they died. He Zhao suspected that there was something fishy about his system, which was why it attracted so many bewildered ghosts to his stall in search of food.
However, in theory, it should only attract people from within the city; people from too far away shouldn't be able to come. That's why He Zhao thought the Mud Ghost was a local ghost.
Qiao Yanyu's bright eyes were filled with a serious and responsible attitude towards her work. He Zhao knew without her saying a word that Qiao Yanyu must have been thinking about sending away the Mud Ghost—no, she wanted to help it pass on to a better realm.
Since Qiao Yanyu thought that way, He Zhao would definitely help her out. She simply asked directly, "You've said so much, but give me the address! I don't know the address, so where should I eat?" He Zhao asked very naturally, as if she and Lan Ni Gui were old friends.
By now, He Zhao was certain of the Mud Demon's identity, given its unusual manner of death, making it easy to locate. However, whether the Mud Demon itself knew this, and what unfulfilled wishes it might have, remained unknown.
After He Zhao asked the question, the Mud Demon paused for a moment. Its bizarre body, with no discernible face, gave He Zhao a sense of bewilderment. It was genuinely confused, remaining silent for a long time. After a while, it resumed eating white rice, seemingly trying to recall where it had eaten by tasting the spicy wontons.
But after taking two bites, it stopped, hesitated for a long time, and then told He Zhao.
"I don't remember."
That's alright then.
He Zhao and Qiao Yanyu looked at each other and decided not to dwell on the matter. The Mud Ghost was a very stable ghost. Although it was powerful, at least it spoke clearly and could be understood by everyone. However, there were still many things it couldn't remember. Even so, it had never done anything heinous, and it obediently stayed put, never being seen by ordinary people and causing ordinary citizens to get fevers, colds, headaches, or other minor ailments.
It's actually a good ghost.
Therefore, Qiao Yanyu is still observing it and has not taken any action so far. Of course, monitoring is still necessary. The Mud Demon speaks so clearly that it might be even more capable than Gossian. We can't just let it run around freely.
If one day it really remembers everything and becomes exceptionally aggressive, at least we can arrive immediately and stop it.
The Mud Demon couldn't remember where the Red Oil Wontons were, nor who he was, nor what unfulfilled wishes he had. He just kept coming to He Zhao's stall every day to eat that bowl of Red Oil Wontons that tasted like a dead man's meal.
After finishing his bowl of rice, the mud ghost put the ghost money under the bowl, then crawled away again.
After receiving the money and picking up the bowls and chopsticks, He Zhao couldn't help but ask Qiao Yanyu, "Sister Qiao, do you know where the red oil wontons it mentioned are?"
"I don't know, but I should be able to find out soon if I look it up. Do you want to eat it?"
He Zhao hesitated. She had just heard that mud-covered devil mention homemade chili oil. He Zhao's hometown wasn't a place where people ate spicy food. It was oily but not very spicy, and some dishes even had a hint of sweetness. She hadn't eaten much spicy food since she was a child, and even if she could, it was only mildly spicy.
Red oil wontons—you'll know it's from Sichuan in just one day; that place is incredibly spicy.
She was a little scared, but the mud ghost's description of how delicious it was made her crave it. So she started subtly asking Qiao Yanyu, "Sister Qiao, can you eat spicy food?"
Qiao Yanyu's immediate reply, "I can," shut He Zhao down completely. Qiao Yanyu didn't realize something was wrong at first, but then, noticing He Zhao's expression and some whining, she asked, "Can't you eat spicy food?"
"..." If He Zhao answered honestly after she asked so directly, it would make her seem useless.
He Zhao grumbled for a while, but finally realized that Qiao Yanyu didn't care at all whether she could eat spicy food or not, so she could only answer honestly. She just lowered her voice a lot: "I can't eat spicy food very well."
"Oh, you probably won't like those red oil wontons, they're quite spicy. Usually they'll put a lot of chili in them, especially since they say it's homemade chili oil."
Qiao Yanyu spoke with utmost seriousness, absolutely without any intention of looking down on He Zhao for not being able to eat spicy food. However, her overly sincere words sounded somewhat harsh to He Zhao. Her back straightened instantly, and she said defiantly, "Who said I can't eat spicy food? I can!"
She was so stubborn that even Qiao Yanyu noticed it instantly. She smiled and even had a little idea to tease He Zhao: "Then why don't you pack up and go back to sleep for a while, and then we can go out for dinner together? Let's eat at that place with the red oil wontons."
If He Zhao were to eat spicy wontons alone, she probably wouldn't be happy. Although she wanted to eat them, they were spicy, and she couldn't handle too much spice, so she would definitely back out. But if Qiao Yanyu offered to go with her, it would be a different story; He Zhao would really want to eat them.
She agreed without even a second's hesitation.
As the two were discussing when to go out for dinner, another regular customer of He Zhao's arrived. It was that same elderly woman who looked like she had a hard life. The weather was getting colder and colder, and even He Zhao couldn't help but wonder when he saw the old woman wearing only thin summer clothes: Wasn't the old woman cold?
The thought lingered in my mind for a moment, but I quickly dismissed it: Of course Grandma wouldn't be cold, she's a ghost, how could a ghost be cold?
Seeing it like that, He Zhao still felt a pang of pity.
"Grandma, you're here! One bowl today too."
"yes."
The old woman sat down, squinted her eyes, and waited for the rice to be served before happily starting to eat. This old woman was usually rather clueless, always a bit dazed, and this time she didn't ask He Zhao where he'd been the past two days or why he hadn't come to set up his stall.
He Zhao took the initiative to say, "Grandma, I'll be resting for the first two days, then it'll be a seven-day event, and I'll need to rest for two more days. Don't make a wasted trip while I'm resting."
She was afraid that the old woman's hearing might not be good, so she raised her voice a little. Breaking through nodded to indicate that she understood. After it finished eating, she still took out her plastic bag from her pants pocket and gave He Zhao 10 yuan in change. She hadn't given up last time and still wanted to give He Zhao an extra yuan or two so that He Zhao could buy candy.
He Zhao refused as usual, and after two rounds of refusing, the old woman finally withdrew her hand. The old woman's mind was not clear, and too many elderly people had died at her age, so even if her face was known, it would be difficult to verify because she was already dead.
It will take some time. Qiao Yanyu has already asked her colleagues in the information processing department to investigate, but since the old lady is a harmless and clueless little devil, the investigation will generally be delayed. The information processing department is so busy all day long that they don't have much time to deal with Qiao Yanyu's investigation of the old lady.
After the old woman left, He Zhao chatted with Qiao Yanyu again: "The old woman was dressed very thinly. Is there any way to get her some clothes to wear? Like burning some paper money or clothes for her to pass on to?"
Qiao Yanyu thought for a while, then shook her head: "I'm not saying it's impossible, it's just that I don't know. It seems like no one has tried this before. We're all ghost hunters, and we rarely think like you. If you want, we can wait a couple of days and buy some paper clothes and real clothes to bring over and burn over to see what happens."
He Zhao's eyes lit up: "You're right, we should at least give it a try!" She was also thinking of solutions with great enthusiasm: "We don't need to burn it for Grandma first. Grandma is a confused ghost, so she can't give a definite answer whether the burning is over or not. Let's burn it for the Mud Ghost first!"
Qiao Yanyu thought about what the mud ghost looked like. She felt that burning clothes for the mud ghost was a bit of a hellish joke, but... He Zhao liked it, so let's give it a try. The two of them huddled together and chatted for a while.
Before they knew it, it was past 11 o'clock. He Zhao checked the time and called out to Qiao Yanyu, "Sister Qiao, why don't you rest for a while? Take a nap if you can."
Qiao Yanyu didn't refuse. She pulled her coat tighter and prepared to go to sleep. Who knew that He Zhao would take out a small blanket from the compartment of his small food cart and start showing it off while making "ding ding ding" sounds to accompany his actions.
"Sister Qiao, I bought you a little blanket so you won't be cold while you sleep!"
She had a big smile on her face, as if to say: How about that, am I amazing?
Qiao Yanyu's eyes crinkled with a smile. She didn't refuse and took it. He Zhao was so straightforward; if she were to refuse back and forth, it would seem indecisive. However, this rare act of kindness she received made Qiao Yanyu's face flush slightly.
She whispered, "Thank you."
He Zhao didn't feel wronged. When Qiao Yanyu said those words, she was huffing and puffing as she got herself a small blanket. Hearing what Qiao Yanyu said, she put on the blanket and turned around: "What are you thanking me for? It's not much money."
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