Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 3 Bloody Millet Porridge
Rong Wanyin pondered for a moment. She had been wondering why her master had suddenly asked her to take these items back. Could it be that he was afraid that these items would spread out and bring disaster to others? Rong Wanyin shook her head and said to herself, "Impossible! Master doesn't have such a broad mind! He must want to make the profit himself and not let others make the difference! Yes, that must be it!"

Rong Wanyin nodded vigorously, confirming her thoughts.

"But..." The storyteller suddenly changed the subject, "I've heard recently that many treasures made by Elder Wuji have suddenly appeared in various places... I don't know if they are old items or recent creations."

"Is someone using the name of Elder Wuji to defraud people?"

"I don't think so."

"Not necessarily, maybe it's really Old Man Wuji who has returned to the martial arts world!"

"My guess is, someone must have recently bought these treasures at a high price, so someone is selling them. Who can tell the real from the fake?"

The diners had different opinions and no conclusion was reached.

The fat diner nudged the thin diner's arm and jokingly said, "You know, the food at Zhenbaozhai is so delicious. Could it be that they got some treasure from Elder Wuji? Maybe it contains recipes from the royal collection?"

The skinny eater laughed heartily. "That's possible... then we'll be in for a treat."

The fat diner took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, lowered his voice, and became serious: "It's said to be a treasure, but obtaining it doesn't necessarily mean a good thing. How many people have lost their lives in the past few years because of these things? Have you heard? A few days ago, I heard that the Wen family also got a treasure from Elder Wuji, but unfortunately, it's a cursed treasure! The whole mansion has been in turmoil for the past few months. Some say it's haunted by a female ghost!"

The thin diner quickly put down his chopsticks and leaned over, looking curious: "Wen family? Which Wen family?"

The fat eater rolled his eyes at him and said, "Which Wen family is this? The family of Wen Yi, the richest man in Fengxian!"

The thin eater suddenly understood. "No wonder. I heard that the family moved to a villa on Jinsu Mountain outside the city these days. I was wondering, it's not summer anymore, and there's no need to escape the heat, so why move there? But, are you sure these are old man Wuji's things? I haven't heard that his treasures are cursed?"

Rong Wanyin, a martial arts practitioner since childhood and possessing a keen ear, couldn't help but chuckle at this exchange, thinking to herself, "These people have such fertile imaginations! While Master did make a few items, how could Master, being so poor, possibly have hidden secret manuals and treasure maps inside them? If so, he would have traded them for wine long ago. However, Master has kept all the items he's made in recent years, so how could such rumors exist?" The Wen family they're talking about is quite interesting; it's better to wait and find out. As the storyteller's tales grew increasingly outrageous, Rong Wanyin lost interest in listening.

Rong Wanyin picked up the teacup, took a sip, and felt its warmth. Upon closer inspection, she found that it was a beige-glazed porcelain cup from Hutian Kiln. She secretly sighed that Zhenbaozhai was really generous.

The gourd chicken was finally served. The cooking process is very complicated, first boiled, then steamed, and then fried. It is fragrant, crispy and tender, and it is a unique dish. Almost every table that comes here orders it.

Finally, the dishes arrived. The waiter placed the gourd chicken, millet porridge, and lotus leaf pancakes in front of Rong Wanyin. The waiter had a leg problem and limped, but surprisingly, he was quite fast. Rong Wanyin asked the waiter, "Hey, sir, I ordered the gourd chicken, but not the millet porridge or lotus leaf pancakes."

"It's a delivery!" the waiter replied impatiently. Maybe he was too busy. After saying that, he turned around and left. His attitude was so bad.

Rong Wanyin was a little angry and cursed inwardly, "Hey, what an attitude!" Shopkeeper Gao, who was greeting customers not far away, hurried over to smooth things over, "Excuse me, young man, this second brother broke his leg a few days ago and is in a bad mood. Please bear with me. I'll go talk to him right away."

Since Manager Gao had said so, Rong Wanyin couldn't take it too seriously. Although she was angry, she couldn't go against her stomach. Rong Wanyin looked at the bowl of golden millet porridge in front of her. It was soft, fragrant and glutinous, and looked delicious. Rong Wanyin put the porcelain spoon into the bowl and stirred it a few times. Suddenly, a hint of crimson appeared in the millet porridge. The originally ordinary millet porridge, a thin line of crimson like blood, seemed to have life, slowly climbed from the bottom of the porridge. At first, it was as thin as a hair, but in the blink of an eye, it spread out like a fine blood-thread network, spreading wantonly in the millet porridge, turning the originally ordinary food into a bowl of terrifying "blood porridge"! What was going on?

Rong Wanyin took a closer look and was shocked. She was so frightened that she jumped up instinctively and took several steps back, knocking over the stool.

Before Rong Wanyin could react, similar situations occurred at several tables nearby.

"Boss, what's going on! Why is there blood in your porridge?" A voice exclaimed. The one who shouted was a man. The man had a long knife on his waist and a long scar on his face extending from his left forehead to his right cheek. The scar looked hideous in the sunlight, and it was obvious that he was not someone to be dealt with.

"This blood is so weird!" The scarred man stirred the bowl of millet porridge with a spoon. "The porridge was fine when it came up. How can this blood appear out of nowhere and keep increasing? Is it under the porridge?"

Upon hearing this, everyone grabbed their spoons and scooped up the porridge. The millet porridge, which had been normal, was immediately streaked with blood. Some guests stared with wide eyes, their spoons clattering to the ground, and they stumbled backwards. Others, having already eaten some, began to retch. The entire scene was in chaos, and the blood-stained porridge still exuded a creepy aura in the bowl.

Although Rong Wanyin didn't eat, she felt her stomach churning and a little nauseous, so she quickly covered her mouth.

The lame waiter saw it and yelled, "Boss, this is bad! Human blood is coming out of nowhere in the millet porridge!"

He ran to the shopkeeper in a panic, shouting and yelling, which only confirmed everyone's judgment. Infuriated, Shopkeeper Gao slapped him and yelled, "Why are you yelling?"

The scarred man's eyes were sinister, a sinister arc curling at the corner of his mouth. He suddenly stood up and yanked out his long knife. With a flash of cold light, the long knife was wrapped in a whirring sound as it fiercely slashed into the square table. There was a loud "bang", sawdust flew everywhere, and the square table was shaken violently, and the wine cups and dishes on the table were overturned, and the soup and wine flowed freely.

He roared viciously: "What kind of dirty stuff was added to this porridge? Do you want to kill us? If you don't give me one hundred taels of silver today, don't blame me for being rude!" The voice was sharp and piercing, making everyone's ears buzz.

The guests, seeing this, knew the scarred man was trying to blackmail the restaurant, but no one dared to speak. They were all silent, their eyes flickering with fear, secretly wondering if they could take advantage of this opportunity to waive their meal bills or even pay some compensation.

"Yes! Yes! Justice must be given! Compensation! This is too disgusting!" The brave diners also started shouting.

"Curse! This is the curse of a female ghost!" The scarred man suddenly shouted as if he had thought of something.

"curse?"

(End of this chapter)