Chapter 250 will give everyone a challenge; let's eat this bowl of incense ash rice.
The group followed Zhao Jiangli and Sun Tishou to the room of Zhao Yan's cousin, Sun Yunle.
The room wasn't big, but it was fairly tidy. However, the table was piled with a lot of live streaming equipment, fill lights, and props, making it look a bit messy.
A young man who looked to be in his late twenties was sitting blankly on the edge of the bed, dressed in his pajamas, staring out the window with an empty gaze, showing no reaction to the group of people who entered.
Shen Yuepo's gaze swept across the room, landing on the live-streaming equipment, and he still asked, "Captain Zhao, what does your cousin usually do for work?"
Zhao Yan sighed, somewhat helplessly, "This kid doesn't have a proper job; he just loves doing online live streaming. It seems he specializes in sensational topics, saying they get high traffic."
He spoke with disapproval, "But I did tell him not to touch supernatural topics, because they're weird, and he actually listened to me."
Zhang Qingyuan nodded and said to Zhao Jiangli, "Auntie, I need your son's birth date and time, the more accurate the better."
Zhao Jiangli hurriedly walked to an old-fashioned five-drawer chest, rummaged around for a while, and took out a carefully preserved piece of red paper on which Sun Yunle's birthday was neatly written with a brush.
She handed it to Zhang Qingyuan with both hands: "Master, do you think this is alright? It was written by his grandfather when he was born."
Zhang Qingyuan respectfully accepted the red paper and carefully examined the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches and the time of birth.
Then he closed his eyes, began to rapidly calculate with his fingers, chanted incantations, and a wisp of spiritual energy emanated from his body.
Everyone quieted down, even their breathing became soft.
Zhao Jiangli and his wife gripped each other's hands nervously, and Zhao Yan also looked solemn.
Feng Jin stood beside Shen Yuepo, his gaze sweeping calmly over the stunned Sun Yunle, then looking at Zhang Qingyuan who was casting a spell, his eyes devoid of any emotion.
Lin Yanxin leaned against the door frame, watching with great interest.
A moment later, Zhang Qingyuan opened his eyes, his brows furrowed slightly, and said, "This man's fate indicates that both his parents are alive and in good health, and his family was originally harmonious. He should be an only child."
"Your destiny indicates a major calamity at age twenty-eight. This calamity is related to evil spirits. If you can safely overcome it, the rest of your life will be peaceful and worry-free; if you cannot..."
He paused, then looked at Zhao Jiangli and his wife, "At best, their souls will be damaged, their minds clouded, and they will appear mentally impaired; at worst, their lives will be in danger."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jiangli and Sun Tishou's faces turned deathly pale.
Zhao Jiangli's legs went weak and he almost couldn't stand up, but Sun Tishou quickly helped him up.
Sun Tishou panicked and hurriedly asked, "Master, then... then how can we resolve this calamity? What kind of ritual is needed? Or do we need to find something? We're willing to sell everything we own to save our child!"
Zhang Qingyuan shook his head, looking troubled: "Based solely on fate analysis, we can only discern the calamity that awaits us."
"To find the specific reason and solution, we need to investigate his specific experiences before he lost his mind."
"I was concentrating my senses just now and I vaguely saw some fragmented images..." he tried to recall, "It seemed to be a hand picking up rice covered in incense ash."
"The image is blurry, but the feeling of incense ash mixed with rice and a hint of gloom is very clear."
"Rice covered in incense ash?" Lin Yanxin couldn't help but interject, stroking his chin as he looked at Sun Yunle, who was lying on the bed with a blank stare.
"Could this kid have actually done something stupid for his bizarre live stream, like... eating rice covered in incense ash on live stream?"
He recalled some folk superstitious practices, including the indiscriminate use of incense ash.
Zhao Yan wasn't particularly close to this cousin and didn't know much about his livestream content, so upon hearing this, he immediately looked at his aunt, Zhao Jiangli.
Zhao Jiangli tried hard to recall, then suddenly said, "He usually doesn't let us watch his live streams, saying we don't understand them..."
"However, I remember Ah Le casually mentioning during a meal once that his livestreaming account was called something like that..."
"That's right! It should be called 'Long Life and Long Happiness'."
Shen Yuepo: "..."
What a simple and unpretentious name.
Lin Yanxin quickly took out her phone, opened a major live streaming platform, and entered "long life and happiness" in the search bar.
Sure enough, they quickly found a streamer's account with a considerable number of followers.
He clicked into the homepage and found the latest "live replay" video, which was posted four days ago.
"Found it, the last live stream." Lin Yanxin said, pressing play and turning up the volume on her phone.
Everyone in the room gathered around, including Zhao Jiangli and his wife, nervously watching their phone screens.
The live stream footage was initially shaky, indicating it was handheld.
It was nighttime, and the background resembled a secluded road on the outskirts of a city, with dim streetlights.
Sun Yunle's face appeared on camera; he looked much more energetic than before, even somewhat overly excited, and lowered his voice to the camera:
"Hey guys, let's have a PK tonight. The road I'm on right now is called the Funeral Route. My grandpa told me that funeral processions used to go this way."
"See that tree over there? There looks like there's some ashes from burnt paper money and offerings."
The camera zooms in, revealing a small altar made of stones under an old locust tree by the roadside.
A bowl of white rice was placed on top, with three burnt-out incense sticks stuck in it, their ash scattered on the rice.
There were also some fruits nearby.
Sun Yunle's voice was somewhat excited, "See that? A standard wild ritual! I wonder which wandering ghosts they're worshipping."
“Brothers, they all say that unclaimed offerings, especially those covered in incense ash, are imbued with spirits.”
"Today, your host will give you a challenge: eat this bowl of incense ash rice. Double-tap to like and share! Let's send some rockets and sports cars!"
The live chat immediately erupted with comments like "The streamer is amazing!"
"No! I heard it will attract unclean things!"
"Exciting! Eat up!"
In the video, Sun Yunle is clearly overwhelmed by the atmosphere and the tips he receives in the live stream.
He chuckled and reached out to pick up the bowl of rice covered in grayish-white incense ash from the simple altar.
The close-up shot of the hand and the bowl of rice looked particularly eerie in the dim light.
"Brothers, watch closely! This is what you call eating with ghosts and gods!" he said, actually picking up a pinch of rice covered in incense ash and waving it in front of the camera, and then...
It was stuffed into his mouth.
He even chewed a few times, giving the camera a look of barely suppressing discomfort.
"Cough cough... It doesn't taste very good, a bit pungent... But it's worth it for the brothers!"
He forced himself to eat a few more bites before putting the rest of the rice, along with the bowl, back near the altar.
Then he started bragging to the camera and thanking everyone for the gifts.
The live stream replay ended abruptly here.
It's obvious that Sun Yunle turned off the live stream.
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