In the latter half of the night, the drizzling spring rain continued to linger in the air until dawn.
Long Jun didn't know when he had fallen asleep, half-dreaming half-waking, seeming to have a head full of bizarre dreams.
At one point he dreamed of passing the imperial examinations with high honors, riding a horse through the streets, seeing all the flowers of Chang'an in a day;
Then he dreamed of being taken by a demon into a cold, misty, desolate mountain, where a fox woman forced him to marry her;
In a flash, he felt himself transform into a demon, breaking into the ghost market of the dark spring.
On the dim, long street floating with ghost fires, demons and ghosts came and went, trading things like corpse oil, human skin masks, rotting maggots, and bleeding straw men. There were also evil ghost tears, human skin lanterns, skull wine cups...
Long Jun awoke with a start.
His heart pounded, almost leaping from his chest.
He leaned by the window, listening to the various sounds from South Market Street in the distance, and the quarreling of couples from neighboring houses, the clatter of pots and pans, the crying of children...
The greed, anger, and delusion of the mortal world brought him back to reality.
Long Jun let out a long breath, finally calming his emotions and clearing his thoughts.
It was a dream, thank goodness.
He took his crutch, deciding to go to the kitchen first.
To see if... there were really Rat Demons!
In the kitchen, everything seemed no different from what he had tidied up after making his late meal yesterday.
Except that the stove was slightly warm, and on the stove, the bowl covered with bamboo strips was completely empty of white porridge.
And beside the empty porridge bowl was a piece of grayish-brown tree bark about half a palm in size!
Seeing this piece of bark, Long Jun was initially stunned, then remembered what the Rat Demon had said last night: "Place this trouble-free skin on the stove."
So the so-called trouble-free skin was actually a piece of tree bark.
Hearing only the name before, Long Jun had thought it was some magical treasure or clothing.
But thinking about it, if the Rat Demon from that night was truly so powerful that it could casually give away magical items, how could it possibly steal—no, exchange—porridge to eat at night?
Somehow, upon discovering that the Rat Demon's gift was just a small piece of tree bark, Long Jun wasn't disappointed but rather felt slightly relieved.
He leaned forward slightly to examine the bark, pondering how to handle this item, when suddenly another piece of information appeared before his eyes.
[Trouble-free skin, bark from a hundred-year-old peach tree, carrying it provides a weak effect against evil, grind into powder and consume to kill bacteria and remove impurities.]
Long Jun blinked, and the message prompt disappeared. Concentrating his attention to look again, the message prompt reappeared.
Long Jun immediately realized he had gained a remarkable ability, and quickly tried to examine all surrounding objects, finally concluding that this ability should be called [I Can See All Food Entries]!
Yes, all "food," including some unconventional edible items.
For example, the jar of salt had the entry: [Crude salt, salty, bitter, harmless in small amounts, toxic in excess.]
And the stove ash underneath the iron pot had the entry: [Stove bottom ash, inferior Herb Frost, has mild hemostatic effects both internally and externally.]
Even stove ash had a prompt, showing the broad range of "edible" items covered by the entries.
Long Jun immediately had countless thoughts, and his previously depressed mood couldn't help but stir slightly.
But remembering that demons might still be hiding somewhere in his home, he quickly controlled his fluctuating emotions.
He walked back and forth in the kitchen, feigning surprise: "Hmm, where did the porridge go? Did I remember wrong?"
Casually, he tucked the tree bark on the stove into his sleeve pocket and set the porridge bowl aside.
[Trouble-free skin], can ward off evil—the Rat Demon was thoughtful.
Returning kindness for kindness, Long Jun immediately lit a fire to prepare breakfast.
With limited ingredients, Long Jun simmered another pot of white rice porridge.
Then he beat five eggs, grabbed a handful of flour, mixed them with water, added some salt and lard, and spread them into ten thin, soft egg pancakes.
The eggs and lard mixed together, instantly releasing a wonderful aroma when exposed to high heat.
The child next door had a particularly keen nose and actually shouted from beside the wall: "Grandma, Grandma, Shitou wants to eat egg pancakes, the egg pancakes smell so good!"
As soon as the shouting began, a head with white hair appeared over the east wall of Long Jun's courtyard—an old woman calling toward Long Jun's kitchen: "Scholar, Scholar Long, how did you make these egg pancakes? How are they so fragrant?"
[Like +1]
[Like +1]
...
Long Jun was shocked in the kitchen.
So not only would Rat Demon likes be prompted, but praise from ordinary people would also be prompted!
What was going on? What was the purpose of these so-called likes?
With a thought, Long Jun immediately walked out of the kitchen and smiled at the old woman on the wall: "Good morning, Granny Lai, you say my egg pancakes smell good? Are they truly fragrant?"
Granny Lai's eyeballs rolled around, her facial wrinkles piling together as she licked her lips and said: "Fragrant, truly fragrant! So fragrant—Scholar Long, will you share a few pieces with us?"
[Like +1]
[Like +1]
[Like +1]
With three consecutive likes appearing, on the other side of the wall, Granny Lai's little boy anxiously shouted: "Grandma, I want some too! Fragrant egg pancakes, Shitou wants!"
[Like +1]
[You have collected 10 likes, Blood Qi +1]
[Food Cauldron Scripture Activated]
Long Jun's vision suddenly blurred slightly, and he immediately felt an ancient bamboo scroll, as if from the other end of a distant time and space.
It seemed both real and unreal, both true and false, slowly unfolding before Long Jun's eyes in the current void!
Long Jun was startled, but his first reaction was to turn his head to look at Granny Lai leaning on the wall.
He worried that Granny Lai would see the Food Cauldron Scripture before his eyes.
But before this worry could manifest, a strange sense in the depths of his mind made Long Jun aware: the Food Cauldron Scripture was his personal treasure, only he could know it, see it, and use it.
Granny Lai was still staring at Long Jun with greedy eyes, her saliva seemingly about to drip out.
Seeing Long Jun not answering, she hurriedly urged: "Scholar Long, your pancakes—pancakes? My Shitou also wants to eat!"
Normally, Long Jun would never agree to casually give pancakes to neighbors like Granny Lai who stuck like a plaster.
But this time was different—he turned and went to the kitchen, putting two egg pancakes on a plate to bring out.
He walked slowly with his lame leg, and Granny Lai kept calling out on the way: "Scholar Long, Scholar Long?"
Long Jun carried the pancakes to the wall, saying with a half-smile: "Granny Lai need not be so anxious. The road ahead has its end, no need to compete on the horns of a snail."
Granny Lai's eyes were already glued to the egg pancakes—how could she listen to what Long Jun was saying?
She anxiously clung to the wall, her neck stretching out like a hanged duck, her arm extending to grab the pancakes.
"What snail or earth cow—scholars speak in such puzzling ways. Oh, these pancakes smell so good! Quick, I can't reach, scholar, stretch your hand further!"
[Like +1]
Long Jun moved his hand slightly away, keeping the plate half a foot from Granny Lai's claw-like hand.
"Granny Lai, are the egg pancakes truly fragrant?"
"Fragrant, fragrant, fragrant! Quickly, give them to me!"
[Like +1]
Long Jun raised the plate higher, and Granny Lai finally stretched her fingers to snatch the two pancakes from the plate.
She used too much force and her body fell backward behind the wall. Through the wall, Long Jun heard a thud.
"Ouch!" Granny Lai fell to the ground but paid no attention to her pain, her voice distorted with wild joy, "Fragrant! The pancakes are truly fragrant, delicious! Shitou, quick, quick, come eat pancakes!"
Shitou happily rushed over and immediately began devouring them wildly: "So fragrant, so delicious! Wow, mmm, delicious, delicious!"
[Like +1]
[Like +1]
...
On the other side of the wall, the grandmother and grandson were overjoyed; on this side, Long Jun was also overjoyed.
The golden finger had finally arrived—he felt that perhaps he was saved.