Scary

"There's... there's... there's poop!"

"My eyes aren't blind, don't get any closer, are you trying to eat it? I know you're dumb, but not that dumb, right?"

"Gouwa, be quiet, there are people on the road."

"Hehe, as you wish, Senior Brother Li."

Before long, Lu Zhuangyuan saw the people walking out of the forest.

When he saw what they looked like, Lu Zhuangyuan gasped. No wonder his youngest son said there were ghosts; they were terrifying.

A skinny man with patches of black and white on his face, a white-haired woman, a bow-legged freak lying on someone's back, and even one person whose face was covered in hair.

Lu Zhuangyuan, who had traveled far and wide, could be considered well-informed, but he was still frightened by the scene before him.

"Dad, I'm scared." Lu Xiucai kept shrinking back, trying to hide behind his father as much as possible.

"You're scared, but you think I'm not?" Lu Zhuangyuan cursed his youngest son in his heart. If it weren't for the fact that there was a Handsome Daoist and a few normal-looking Daoist Children in this group, he would have turned around and ran away long ago.

Lu Zhuangyuan trembled as he bowed to Li Huowang. "May I ask, Daoist Master, are... are these all the monsters you've subdued?"

As soon as he said this, he immediately received a lot of hostile looks.

"What are you saying, old thing! Looking for a beating, huh? Who are you calling a monster?"

Lu Zhuangyuan saw the Handsome Daoist wave his hand to stop the aggressive black-and-white-faced monster from speaking, and he became even more convinced of his idea.

"Old man, may I ask, where does this road lead to?"

"Wu Li Gang! Wu Li Gang is just ahead, not far, not far. Hehehe."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Zhuangyuan secretly burned the horse's butt with his pipe. The horse neighed and pulled the cart along the Forest Path.

"Hey! My horse! My horse! Follow me!" Lu Zhuangyuan led the others, pretending to be anxious as they chased after the horse.

They ran very fast, and soon left those things behind.

They ran for an hour. Seeing that his youngest son had vomited, Lu Zhuangyuan whistled to stop the horse.

After stopping, he ignored his youngest son and immediately went to see how the horse pulling the cart was doing. In this opera troupe, horses were more precious than people.

At this time, the sky was slowly darkening, and it was almost evening.

"My goodness, what were those things? They scared me to death." The sweating Lu Zhuangyuan panted heavily.

Lu Zhuangyuan kicked him. "Can't you see it's getting dark? Go find some firewood in the forest!"

Beside the Forest Path, a warm fire was lit, and soft, roasted cornbread buns were put into everyone's mouths. The sweetness of the grain comforted their frightened hearts.

"Look at how scared you are. What's it matter if you encounter something strange when you're out and about? The more this happens, the more you can't panic, I'm telling you." Lu Zhuangyuan said to the others.

"Dad, maybe those aren't monsters. They looked like people to me, and that little Daoist even called you 'old man'."

Hearing his daughter-in-law say this, Lu Zhuangyuan shook the gourd in his hand.

"I don't care what they are, let's not get involved. You all remember this, when you're out and about, if you want to live longer, don't get involved with things you can avoid."

This could be said to be Lu Zhuangyuan's philosophy of life. In any case, he had lived to such an old age by relying on this point.

And he also planned to pass this on to his youngest and eldest sons, because when he got old, the opera troupe would have to rely on them to take over and perform.

Lu Zhuangyuan handed the water gourd in his hand to his nephew beside him and looked at his granddaughter lying in his daughter-in-law's arms.

Watching her grind a small piece of steamed bun with her newly grown baby teeth, Lu Zhuangyuan felt more and more delighted.

He turned around, took a salted duck egg from a round jar on the cart, carefully opened a hole, and brought the oozing yolk to his granddaughter's mouth. "Come, come, little one, suck on this, it's so fragrant."

Watching his granddaughter suck hard, Lu Zhuangyuan's eyes narrowed into a line with a smile.

Although it was a pity that it wasn't a grandson, he still doted on this little granddaughter very much because of the special affection for grandchildren.

Sensing that this was a good opportunity, Luo Juanhua immediately said, "Dad, look, Cui'er is so old, shouldn't she have some clothes? It's not good to just put her in opera costumes every day."

As soon as his daughter-in-law mentioned money, Lu Zhuangyuan's smiling face disappeared immediately, and his facial features wrinkled together.

He was about to refuse, but when he saw the loose opera costume on his little granddaughter, his heart softened again.

He took a few puffs of his pipe, his face with more wrinkles, walked to the cart, and took out a long copper lock to open the box.

After groping inside for a while, he counted out fifty copper coins.

"Don't go to the town to buy cloth, it's expensive. Wait a few days when we get to Wu Li Gang, ask which woman weaves cloth, go to their house to buy a few feet, remember to ask a few more families, find the cheapest one."

"Also, remember to buy cotton cloth, not linen. Xiu'er's skin is tender, linen will be uncomfortable."

"I know." Luo Juanhua took the copper coins with a smile. She thought she could only get money to buy linen, but she didn't expect the old miser to crow this time.

Children are small, and making clothes doesn't require much cloth, so she might be able to save a little this time.

After seeing his granddaughter finish the yolk, Lu Zhuangyuan divided the remaining egg white for the adults to eat.

Although everyone didn't get much, they were very happy to taste a little saltiness. This was a rare opportunity to have some meat.

It was already dark, and there was nothing to do after dinner. After listening to Lu Zhuangyuan tell a few old stories he didn't know where he heard them, it was time to sleep.

The person guarding the first half of the night was Lu Xiucai. After walking all day today, Lu Xiucai was already very tired, but he still tried his best to keep his spirits up, staring at the fire in front of him, not letting it go out.

"Son, go to sleep, I'm watching." Lu Zhuangyuan sat next to his son and started puffing on his pipe again.

Lu Xiucai yawned and said, "Dad, I'm not sleepy, you go to sleep."

"Stop talking nonsense, go to sleep quickly. This old man doesn't need much sleep."

Just as the two were arguing in front of the bonfire, Lu Zhuangyuan suddenly covered his son's mouth with his hand and pointed to the dark woods in the distance.

"Hee hee~" A sharp and thin woman's laughter suddenly sounded on their right.

Lu Zhuangyuan and his son subconsciously looked over, but saw nothing but darkness.

"Hee hee hee~ Tell me, do I look like a human or a god?" The dark forest began to shake, as if something was about to come out.

Lu Zhuangyuan was immediately frightened into a cold sweat. The knowledgeable him knew that something was asking him for a title.

You can't answer this randomly, if you answer wrong, you might end up with your family ruined.

But the question now is, what exactly is in the forest asking him for a title?

The night forest swayed rhythmically, making a strange rustling sound.