"What does that locust tree look like? Which direction does it grow in?"
Yuan Jue's question startled Feng Fei: "Didn't you see it?" He looked in Ming Feng's direction and saw him nod with absolute certainty.
Feng Fei staggered out of Yuan Jue's arms and ran towards the front yard. Just as Yuan Jue was about to follow her, he saw Feng Fei run in with a look of utter disbelief: "Yuan Jue! The locust tree is gone! Gone! Even the severed limbs and bones that were overturned under the cherry blossom tree are gone!"
Yuan Jue grabbed the anxious Feng Fei and had Ming Feng transfer some spiritual energy to Feng Fei, which calmed Feng Fei down a little.
Just as he was about to say a few more words of comfort, Feng Fei suddenly shouted again: "Yuan Jue! That locust tree!"
Yuan Jue immediately looked in the direction Feng Fei pointed. There were only rows of wine jars there, but the locust tree was nowhere to be seen.
Looking at Feng Fei with concern, Yuan Jue wondered if the ghost spell that Feng Fei had been afflicted with had not been completely lifted. This thought immediately made Yuan Jue decide to take Feng Fei back to Jin Ming for another checkup.
As if to prove he hadn't misjudged, Feng Fei broke free from Yuan Jue again and ran towards the wine jars.
Feng Fei could naturally see these wine jars that were half a person tall, but after the grinning ghost face on the old locust tree gave her a miserable smile, it disappeared into one of the wine jars in the center.
After a slight hesitation, Feng Fei gritted his teeth and lifted the lid of the middle wine jar.
Instantly, a captivating aroma of wine wafted over.
However, Feng Fei had no interest in indulging in the rich aroma of the wine, because inside the wine jar was a person whose eyes had been gouged out, whose ears had been cut off, and whose nose had been cut off! Upon closer inspection, the person in the wine jar had all four limbs removed, leaving only the torso.
Are these wine jars filled with human pigs?
The thought flashed through his mind, and Feng Fei was so startled that he retreated several steps.
The next moment, Feng Fei lunged at the other wine jars, as if to prove that his idea was wrong.
But reality was cruel. No matter how many wine bottles Feng Fei opened, they all contained human pigs. Some of these people were men, some were women, some were old people, and some were even children who hadn't yet grown their heads.
Walking towards the wine jars against the wall, they opened them but didn't see the human pig; instead, they found an even stronger aroma of wine. Feng Fei immediately breathed a sigh of relief, but Yuan Jue, who was following closely behind Feng Fei, saw the white bones that had sunk to the bottom of the wine jars.
Upon seeing this, Mingfeng, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but exclaim, "Bones! There are skeletons all over here!"
Feng Fei was immediately startled. Looking again, she saw the stark white bones among them and took several steps back as if she had been greatly frightened. If Yuan Jue hadn't caught her quickly, Feng Fei would probably have fallen to the ground.
Suddenly a gust of wind blew in, carrying away the aroma wafting from the wine jars. As the fragrance slowly filled his nostrils, Feng Fei thought of the agony these people endured when they were mutilated and placed into the wine.
The thought of the intense pain of strong liquor seeping into her wounds made Feng Fei's face turn even paler. At that moment, she suddenly remembered the old locust tree that only she could see: it seemed as if the old locust tree was deliberately leading her to discover the secrets within the wine jars, and it was precisely because she glanced at the old locust tree first that she was able to wake up from the fragrance of cherry blossoms in the front yard!
Feng Fei grabbed Yuan Jue's clothes tightly and told him what she had discovered.
After hearing Feng Fei's guess, Yuan Jue's expression became serious.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard, as if many people were approaching. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian (.). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Bone and Blood Wine Banquet
The footsteps outside grew closer, and intermittent voices could be heard.
"Hey, what's going on here? This town is terrifying these days, nobody dares to come out during the day. And this Master Su is still thinking about a banquet? I really don't understand. Hey, you guys just wait outside!" The first to speak was a young man with a strong voice, his voice extremely loud, seemingly addressing the servants who followed him.
"If it weren't for our courage, we wouldn't have been helping to carry drinks these past few days. What's most infuriating is that the head steward of the Su family didn't even give us a raise! It's outrageous!"
"Shh, are you out of your mind?" The person who answered spoke very cautiously, seemingly glancing left and right again before carefully saying, "How could we possibly get involved in the Su family's affairs? It's best to keep your mouth shut!"
The young man from before seemed extremely unconvinced: "Tch, do you think you can get any benefits by acting like this? If there were any benefits, they wouldn't be something you or I could get! Otherwise, why didn't the Grand Steward send his nephew? Don't forget, the Grand Steward's nephew is much stronger and more robust than you!"
These words seemed to strike a nerve with the person behind, and for a while, no one heard him.
The young man from before seemed extremely smug, even raising his voice slightly: "I, Chen Liu, always act so cautiously, yet you haven't gained anything! Aren't you stupid!"
After chuckling smugly a few times, just as the young man was about to speak again, another voice came from behind him.
"Alright, that's enough, business is more important." The speaker was probably an elderly person, his voice was somewhat aged, yet still full of confidence.
Upon hearing the old man's voice, Feng Fei and the other two tensed up, realizing that the courtyard's owner was Old Man Lü.
Upon hearing Old Man Lü speak, the young man immediately took a few steps forward obsequiously and said, "Oh dear, Uncle Lü, you're a favorite of Young Master Su! If you could put in a good word for me, I could immediately rise to the top!"
Old Man Lü chuckled and scolded, "You idle away your days, and you're so sharp-tongued. It's a shame for someone as honest and kind as you!"
The young man just chuckled sheepishly.
"Alright, we're almost in the courtyard, hurry up."
"Hey!" the young man replied cheerfully, giving Chen Liu a smug smile. He then followed him inside eagerly.
Chen Liu glanced at the young man who followed Old Man Lü into the room, spat on the ground with disdain, wiped his mouth, and followed him inside.
Just as Feng Fei and his two companions were about to hide in a side room, seeing that Old Man Lü and his two companions were about to head towards the backyard, they overheard another conversation.
"Oh my, Uncle Lü, those two cherry blossom trees in your yard are blooming more and more beautifully! Could you give me some later? My wife at home loves cherry blossom-filled buns!" The young man's words sounded straightforward, but there was also a hint of opportunism in them.
Old Man Lü smiled mysteriously after hearing this, but did not refuse. He replied with a smile, "No problem. Come to my place when you have time, and I'll get you some to take back. I heard your wife is pregnant? How many months along? Is she pregnant? I heard that things made from cherry blossoms have excellent nourishing effects for pregnant women."
The young man's face immediately lit up with joy. "Really? What a coincidence! If I hadn't asked for these cherry blossoms, I wouldn't have known how wonderful they are! Thank you so much, Uncle Lü!" He then bowed deeply, saying, "Thank you so much, Uncle Lü!"
"Hehe. Don't be angry, it was just a small favor." Old Man Lü waved his hand with a smile, pretending not to be angry.
Just as the young man was about to ask some more questions, Old Man Lü suddenly said very seriously, "Alright! We should hurry up and carry the wine to the Su residence!"
Seeing Old Man Lü's sudden change of expression, neither the young man nor Chen Liu reacted in any particular way, presumably because they were used to Old Man Lü's temper.
Feng Fei and Yuan Jue exchanged a glance, wondering if only Old Man Lü knew about the human pig and wine in the courtyard, or if both of them knew.
However, judging from their previous conversation, it seemed as if they knew exactly what was in the drinks in the courtyard.
It didn't take long for Old Man Lü and his two companions to reach the backyard. Feng Fei and his two companions, who were hiding nearby, noticed Old Man Lü and cautiously looked around.
Feng Fei and the other two breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, when they heard someone coming, they quickly put the things in the courtyard back to their original state.
After observing carefully for a while, Feng Fei noticed a hint of relief on Old Man Lü's face before he waved for the young man and Chen Liu to enter the backyard.
"Uncle Lü, which jars of wine can we take this time?" It was Chen Liu who asked the question. Because Chen Liu was always cautious, the head steward of the Su family entrusted this matter to Chen Liu and asked him to take full responsibility.
Upon hearing Chen Liu's question, the young man turned his head away disdainfully, while Old Man Lü frowned and thought for a long time.
"Those are the two jars of wine under the south wall. I remember those two jars of wine have been there for almost three years," Old Man Lü finally said, pointing to the two jars of wine in the corner.
Feng Fei also knew about those two jars of wine, because those two jars were the wine she had mistakenly thought contained no human pigs, but in reality, they had long since turned into bones.
Having received instructions from Old Man Lü, Chen Liu and the young man began to fight.
Chen Liu remained silent, while the young man started chattering, seemingly trying to get closer to Old Man Lü.
"Hey, Uncle Lu, are those cherry blossoms of yours really good for my wife's baby?"
"I'm not really sure, but there must be some kind of law. Anyway, these cherry blossoms are always a good thing, otherwise there wouldn't be cherry blossoms lining both sides of the street from the main road to here!"
"Uncle Lü is right!"
"But pregnant women can't just eat whatever they want. You should ask the doctor about this."
"Hehe, I trust you." The young man flattered him, which prompted Old Man Lü to mutter a curse in response.
The young man didn't seem to mind, and continued with a smile, "By the way, Uncle Lü, my wife is eight months pregnant, and she'll be giving birth in two more months. I'm really nervous!"
"What's there to be nervous about? Don't you live with your parents? With them taking care of you, you'll be perfectly safe." At this point, Feng Fei clearly saw a strange glint flash in Old Man Lü's eyes, but the next moment it turned into a kind expression.
"If you have a baby, it will definitely be beautiful! Look at your well-proportioned features. And with your daughter-in-law's delicate appearance, your baby will surely be wonderful. I might even shamelessly ask to be adopted as a godchild!"
Upon hearing this, the young man was overjoyed and quickly said, "Oh my! This is truly a blessing for me! I will definitely come and kowtow to you with my child when the time comes."
"Hehe, good, good, good." Old Man Lü said "good" three times in a row, stroking his beard as he stood aside.
The young man looked at Chen Liu with a smug expression before helping Chen Liu tie up the wine jar.
They came carrying loads on their shoulders, and they also brought three empty wine jars, intending to pour the wine from the previous jars into the new ones. The bones in the jars were piled on the ground for now. Old Man Lü would handle them later.
As the young man helped Chen Liu fill the second wine jar, he spoke up again, "Uncle Lü, is anyone going to drink this wine? Tsk tsk, if it were me, I definitely couldn't drink it."
"Hehe, of course someone will drink it! If no one did, why would we have made these and put them here?"
"Sigh. I never imagined that some families would be so destitute that they would have to sell their family members' lives just to let others survive! These people are truly pitiful!"
"There's always a reason why someone is pitiful! It's only because our young master Su has a kind heart that he agreed to do these things for those people. Young master Su has the kind heart of 'If I don't go to hell, who will?' that he did these things despite the storm. Alas... these people have really caused young master Su a lot of suffering!"
Hearing these rumors, Feng Fei's blood rushed to his head; he was furious.
I never imagined there were such people in this world, who took lives yet claimed they were doing good deeds! And even more foolish people believed these things were right!
Thinking about it, Feng Fei felt he couldn't hold back any longer. He straightened up, wanting to reveal himself and teach the three people in front of him a lesson.
Yuan Jue, however, grabbed Feng Fei and gently shook his head at her.
Old Man Lü seemed to sense the commotion on Feng Fei's side. He glanced at it with a puzzled look but found nothing, so he suppressed his doubts.
"Hurry up." Although he didn't find anything wrong, Old Man Lü's mood suddenly turned sour, and he became extremely angry at the young man and Chen Liu's words.
The young man and Chen Liu were already used to this, so they simply sped up their work and soon filled the two jars with wine.
Old Man Lü nodded in satisfaction and was about to leave when Chen Liu hesitated for a moment and said, "Uncle Lü, the young master asked us to bring three jars. Should we fill all three jars and take them back? If we only have two jars, I'm afraid it won't be enough!"
Before Old Man Lü could respond, the young man exclaimed in dissatisfaction, "Hey, when did we have to do what you say? Old Man Lü, we only have these two jars of wine!" He wasn't the one in charge; he was willing to disregard Chen Liu just to please Old Man Lü.
Chen Liu ignored what the young man was offering and respectfully said to Old Man Lü, "Please, Old Man Lü, do me a favor. I'm afraid there won't be enough wine for the banquet tonight, and we won't be able to get any more. This is our famous 'Bone and Blood Wine' from Yangzi Town, and everyone who comes here is here for it. If..."
This "Bone and Blood Wine" is a liquor produced in Yangzi Town only in the last ten years, and it has always been extremely rare. Outsiders all wonder where Su Cheng's good fortune comes from, as he always manages to obtain this Bone and Blood Wine. This Bone and Blood Wine has the effect of strengthening the body and bones, and it also has an excellent taste, making it a liquor that all the merchants and officials traveling to and from Yangzi Town want to try.
However, due to a shortage of wine, this banquet featuring "bone and blood wine" wasn't served often. Therefore, whenever news of "bone and blood wine" broke, many people would travel from near and far to attend. It was precisely because of this that the Su family's business prospered, and Su Cheng's status within the family grew increasingly prominent.
Old Man Lü understood what Chen Liu meant, but only these two jars of wine were old enough; the rest probably wouldn't do. Old Man Lü understood the effects of this "Bone and Blood Wine" and could only rack his brains for a solution.
After thinking for a while, Old Man Lü said, "It's nothing. I will go with the young master when we get back."
Upon hearing Old Man Lü's words, Chen Liu secretly breathed a sigh of relief; these were exactly the words he had been waiting for.
He immediately said respectfully to Old Man Lü, "I will obey Old Man Lü's orders."
Old Man Lü smiled modestly, then left with the young man and Chen Liu, carrying the two jars of wine. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian (.). Your support is my greatest motivation.)