No Food for Unbelievers

When he heard Xiao Wan'er's plea, her image appeared in Yin Yunze's mind, accompanied by her wish for food.

As the wish emerged, a stream of purple incense offerings, much denser than before, flowed toward Yin Yunze.

As he received this Incense of Faith, Yin Yunze found himself wanting to grant Xiao Wan'er's request.

Though Yin Yunze had formed the desire to grant her request, it was not strong, nor did it compel him in the slightest.

To use an imperfect analogy, the thought was even weaker than Yin Yunze's current desire to eat an apple.

Well, as far as Yin Yunze was concerned, apples were simply cheap fruit that added variety to his diet. He could hardly be said to like them.

In other words, as the one receiving the request, Yin Yunze could simply accept the incense offerings without responding if he did not want to.

Come to think of it, if gods were compelled to grant every request their believers made, there would be at least a hundred and one evil gods for every hundred gods.

After all, compared with proper and righteous wishes, darker desires were more common.

As an alternative to ignoring her outright, the steamer basket of buns and cup of soy milk still giving off steam on the table before him also appeared in Yin Yunze's mind.

Without needing an explanation, Yin Yunze understood instinctively.

If Yin Yunze chose to respond, these were the two foods he could bestow upon Xiao Wan'er and send to her.

Yin Yunze had to admit, the feeling was truly quite wondrous.

"I have received your request. Prepare to receive my blessing."

With a bit of a mind to experiment, Yin Yunze did not delay. After putting on airs and saying those words, he sent the steamer basket of buns and the soy milk sealed in a plastic cup to Xiao Wan'er.

From Xiao Wan'er's perspective, she had just finished her plea when Yin Yunze agreed, and a steamer basket of piping-hot soup dumplings appeared before her, along with a cup of milky-white liquid in a rather strange-looking container.

"Mother, look! Buns! Lord Fox Immortal really sent us food!"

Crying out in excitement, Xiao Wan'er reached out without hesitation and grabbed one of the steaming buns.

"Ah! So hot!"

A scream followed.

The buns had only recently come out of the steamer, and they were still scalding hot to the touch.

Xiao Wan'er passed the bun adorably back and forth between her hands. Once the skin had cooled a little, she could not wait any longer and stuffed it into her mouth, biting off more than half in one big bite.

Then scalding meat juices filled Xiao Wan'er's mouth, making her scream again and again.

"Mm, so hot! So hot... It smells so good! So soft! It's a meat bun too!"

Watching Xiao Wan'er bare her teeth from the heat yet still lick the grease from the corners of her mouth, Yin Yunze reminded her, "The drink beside you is called soy milk. You just need to..."

Under Yin Yunze's guidance, Xiao Wan'er clumsily stuck the straw into the soy milk and took a huge gulp.

"Mm, so hot..."

Having never done this before, Xiao Wan'er scalded herself on the hot soy milk too.

But instead of spitting out the scalding soy milk in her mouth as most people would, Xiao Wan'er clamped her hand tightly over her mouth.

The soy milk even came pouring out of her nose.

Xiao Wan'er hurriedly caught it with her hand, then carefully stuck out her tongue and licked up every drop.

After running down her filthy face and over her filthy hand, the milky-white soy milk had turned gray.

But Xiao Wan'er paid it no mind, saying as she licked:

"So sweet, so fragrant. It tastes so good..."

Watching from the sidelines, Yin Yunze felt that what Xiao Wan'er was doing was a little too unhygienic.

Back in reality, Yin Yunze was already frowning deeply and had nearly spoken up to stop her several times.

Even so, Yin Yunze understood that his way of thinking was rather like asking, "Why don't they eat meat porridge?"

Someone like Yin Yunze, who lived in a modern age of material abundance, could not put himself in the shoes of a child born into poverty like Xiao Wan'er and understand how much she treasured food.

Watching Xiao Wan'er, Yin Yunze could not help feeling emotional.

In the past, "behind vermilion gates, wine and meat rot; on the road lie the bones of those frozen to death" had been nothing more than a saying to Yin Yunze. But after seeing Xiao Wan'er's situation, he now had a concrete image of it.

And as Xiao Wan'er ate, wisp after wisp of Incense of Faith appeared.

Feeling the Incense of Faith steadily increase, Yin Yunze watched Xiao Wan'er with growing satisfaction. What a good child she was, knowing to repay kindness!

Meanwhile, Widow Sun, leaning against the wall, also saw Xiao Wan'er eating meat buns and drinking soy milk. One could even clearly see her throat move from time to time.

Even so, Widow Sun kept her face stern and said nothing.

Xiao Wan'er, for her part, had not forgotten her mother. She picked up a bun and the cup of soy milk and offered them to Widow Sun.

"Mother! Try some too! It's delicious."

When Xiao Wan'er offered her the food, Widow Sun finally could not resist licking her lips, then reached out her hand.

"Stop!" Just as Widow Sun was about to grab the bun, Yin Yunze's somewhat chilly voice rang out. "Unbelievers shall not eat."

Yin Yunze knew that Widow Sun's hostile attitude toward him stemmed from the fact that Xiao Wan'er had nearly been offered as a human sacrifice.

Widow Sun did not know that Yin Yunze was actually a cuckoo occupying the magpie's nest. She had mistaken him for the fox immortal who demanded human sacrifices, so Yin Yunze could understand her hostile attitude.

But understanding did not mean acceptance, much less that Yin Yunze would turn a blind eye and repay resentment with kindness.

If one repaid resentment with kindness, how would one repay kindness?

Yin Yunze was no saint!

As an ordinary person, Yin Yunze might take pity on a beggar and give him a few yuan for a meal. But if that beggar cursed him to his face, Yin Yunze would only think he deserved to starve to death.

Widow Sun's mockery and belittling had been aimed at that fox immortal, but as the one actually being cursed, Yin Yunze had gotten angry listening to her.

Widow Sun did not even have to treat him any better; she only had to keep her mouth shut.

For the sake of Xiao Wan'er, his first believer, Yin Yunze would have turned a blind eye to her sharing some food with Widow Sun.

After all, once the food had been sent to Xiao Wan'er, it did belong to her.

But every time Widow Sun opened her mouth, it was "wild fox" this and "wild fox" that, and hearing it made Yin Yunze furious.

It might have seemed like nothing more than a name, but to an immortal, those words concerned Yin Yunze's legitimacy.

Calling a fox immortal a wild fox was reducing a god to a beast.

In the case of a weasel spirit seeking recognition in a tale of the wilds, calling it a wild fox would be enough to make it bring calamity upon a family for three generations.

It was only because Yin Yunze was still human at heart that he was not greatly affected.

If she had run into a truly petty household guardian spirit, Widow Sun and Xiao Wan'er along with her would probably have come to no good end.

Yin Yunze's refusal to deal with Widow Sun was already the greatest kindness he could show her.

She wanted to eat food Yin Yunze had given?

At the very least, with her current attitude, there was no chance.

After stopping Xiao Wan'er, Yin Yunze also mocked Widow Sun. "Ignorant woman, you said I could only steal food from the surrounding area. Take a good look. Which household around here did this food come from?"

Yin Yunze spoke with complete confidence. After all, he had paid for both the buns and the soy milk himself.

Hearing Yin Yunze say this, Widow Sun's outstretched hand paused, then slowly withdrew.

Indeed, those soft, white meat buns and the soy milk held in that special container...

Never mind the villages for miles around-even the county town might not have them.

Even so, Widow Sun kept a stern face, swallowed, and refused to back down. "Fine, I won't eat... For all I know, it's an illusion you cast! Wild foxes are best at using illusions to bewitch people! They look like meat buns, but they might just be lumps of yellow earth..."

She said that, but judging by how Widow Sun kept swallowing, she clearly could not even convince herself.

And to Widow Sun's further embarrassment, her stomach began to growl the moment she finished speaking.

Widow Sun's face immediately flushed red.

Leaving aside Widow Sun's reaction, if they really were lumps of yellow earth in disguise, would she have stood by and watched Xiao Wan'er eat them?

Clearly, Widow Sun was merely being stubborn.

"Mother!" The two were arguing, but it was Xiao Wan'er who grew anxious. "Stop saying that! I've never tasted anything like this. They're definitely real meat buns! And this soy milk must be real too!"

Hearing Xiao Wan'er say this, Widow Sun fell silent at once.

Xiao Wan'er glanced at Widow Sun, then knelt before Yin Yunze again. "Lord Fox Immortal, please don't hold it against my mother! I'm begging you, please let me share some of this food with her..."