Demon, come and cultivate for me.

Xu Yuan invited the taciturn man to go for a walk in the street and find something to eat.

The man with the taciturn expression waved his hand in refusal, looked up at the sky, and struck a profound pose, seemingly lost in thought.

The others were used to his behavior, so they didn't say anything more, left the taciturn man behind, and went out into the street.

We found a nice restaurant on the street. As soon as we entered, the lobby was full of people. The waiter led us upstairs to our seats.

The restaurant had no menu; Zhou Chu simply told the waiters to bring out the best food and drinks.

Before long, the waiter brought out a table full of dishes, both hot and cold, both meat and vegetables, including fish and meat.

After traveling for most of the day, the group was starving. Without any hesitation, they picked up their chopsticks and started eating.

Zhou Chu picked up a slice of beef, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it twice, and then spat it out.

Although Zhao Ji and Xu Yuan weren't eating beef, they both spat it out as soon as they put the food in their mouths, just like Zhou Chu.

This large table of dishes looks beautiful and smells delicious.

But when you put it in your mouth, it tastes like chewing wax, with absolutely no flavor.

To be precise, it has a strange, indescribable smell.

The three of them tried other dishes, and without exception, they were all the same.

Not to mention that it's hard to swallow, just putting it in my mouth makes me feel nauseous.

Xu Yuan slammed his hand on the table, summoned the waiter, and questioned him:

"Are you trying to take advantage of us because we're outsiders? Is this food even fit for human consumption?"

The waiter looked puzzled and said:

"Sir, what do you mean by that?"

Xu Yuan tossed the chopsticks to the waiter and said:

"Give it to me, let's see if you can eat it."

The waiter took the chopsticks and said incredulously:

"You really want me to eat it?"

"Stop talking nonsense and eat."

"Hehe, thank you, sir. I won't be polite then."

Next, Xu Yuan and the others were dumbfounded.

The waiter picked up the food, caught it with his hand, carefully put it into his mouth, and chewed it with a look of enjoyment on his face.

"That kid's putting on quite a show," Xu Yuan thought to himself.

However, given the guy's behavior, saying the food wasn't good would seem like nitpicking.

Before the waiter could swallow, Xu Yuan said:

"Go and call your manager over."

Before long, the waiter brought the manager up.

The innkeeper, wearing a professional, fake smile, said, "Gentlemen, what are your orders for summoning me up here?"

Xu Yuan then gave the chopsticks to the shopkeeper so he could eat.

The shopkeeper had been busy for most of the day and hadn't eaten yet, so he took the chopsticks and started eating.

The expression of enjoyment on his face was exactly the same as the waiter's earlier performance; he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

This old fellow can put on an act, Xu Yuan thought, not believing it, and told the shopkeeper to sit down:

"It's not that we're looking for trouble, but if you two finish all the food on this table, I won't shortchange you on how much money it costs."

After saying that, he stood up and stared coldly at the shopkeeper and the waiter.

The waiter swallowed hard, staring longingly at the shopkeeper.

The innkeeper twirled around Zhou Chu and his two companions, bowing respectfully, before inviting the staff to sit down and eat together.

The two of them took turns eating, making loud smacking noises as they chewed, their expressions showing pure enjoyment throughout, seemingly without any pretense.

As Zhao Ji watched the two men's behavior and recalled the taste of the dishes, her delicate brows furrowed, and she almost felt acid reflux.

In no time, all seven or eight dishes on the table were gone.

The shopkeeper leaned back, patted his belly, and looked very satisfied.

The waiter picked up the plate with some leftover soup, poured all the vegetable scraps and oil into his mouth, put down the plate, and looked like he hadn't had enough.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan had nothing to say. He slapped a handful of loose silver coins on the table and told Zhou Chu and the other man to get up and leave.

"Old Zhou, don't you feel something eerie about this place?" Xu Yuan asked in a low voice as they walked out of the restaurant.

Zhou Chu nodded and said, "I sensed something was wrong as soon as I got here."

Zhao Ji looked around the street, her face extremely unpleasant.

Zhou Chu asked her if she also felt something was wrong.

Zhao Ji said, "It's not just that something feels wrong. Look at the candy seller, the shoe seller, and the monkey trainer. There isn't a single normal person on this street."

Zhou Chu looked around and saw that the sugar figurine vendor could blow out a sugar figurine bigger than a human head in one breath.

Because he was exhaling too much, the boss's two scarlet eyes were almost bulging out.

The monkey trainer isn't performing properly; he's lying on a bench pretending to break a boulder on his chest.

The monkey swung the sledgehammer and smashed it down on the monkey trainer's head, smashing it to pieces.

The onlookers, far from being surprised, laughed and took out pieces of silver and copper coins, scattering them in the crowd as a reward.

Upon hearing the sound of the coins falling to the ground, the monkey trainer with the rotten head immediately pushed aside the large stone slab and got up to pick them up.

Then look at the shoe sellers; they seem much more normal among these strange people on the street.

This idea only existed in Zhou Chu's mind for a few breaths before a shoe buyer came along and shattered it.

The shoe buyer pointed to the shoes displayed on the counter, and the shoe seller came out, carrying a machete.

He handed the shoe buyer a small stool, and after the buyer sat down, he squatted down and chopped off the buyer's foot with a knife. Then he picked up the severed foot, walked to the counter, took off the old shoe from the severed foot, and put on the new shoe...

Finally, the shoe seller reattached the buyer's feet and gestured for the buyer to stand up.

The shoe seller stood up, stomped his foot, threw down the silver, and left.

"Let's go!"

The people on the street were all acting strangely. Zhou Chu wasn't too scared, but he was worried that something might happen to Chen Xiangzi.

After all, compared to the people on the street, his resurrected third uncle was even more bizarre.

Zhou Chu secretly guessed that the reason why Chen Family Village was so strange was most likely due to his third uncle.

After all, judging from the markings on the Mountain and Sea Map, Chen Xiangzi's third uncle, Chen Ji, had traveled as far as the North Pole Heavenly Pillar in the north.

Nobody knows where or what happened.

But the "Fountain of Immortality" described in the picture, which supposedly grants immortality, doesn't seem like a legitimate way to achieve that.

Xu Yuan walked ahead, while Zhou Chu followed behind, pulling the pale-faced Zhao Ji along, heading straight for the Chen family patriarch's house.

When they reached the gate, the taciturn man had vanished without a trace, along with his pack of chestnut horses.

Upon entering the courtyard, Zhou Chu shouted Chen Xiangzi's name towards the side room.

No one answered from inside the house.

At this moment, Ah Niu came out of the main room, his hands and mouth covered in oil, and he was chewing on something. He mumbled something to Zhou Chu and the others:

"Third Master and Uncle Clan just went out, and Uncle in Red went with them too."

Xu Yuan asked, "Kid, do you know where they went?"

Ah Niu shook his head to indicate that he didn't know, then seemed to think of something and nodded again, saying:

"My uncle asked me to give you this."

As Ah Niu spoke, he rubbed his oily hands on his clothes, reached into his pocket and rummaged around, but in the end he found nothing.

"Oh, I remember now, you guys wait here."

Ah Niu jogged back into the house, and when he came out, he was holding a small ball of paper in his hand.

Zhou Chu took the crumpled paper, which unfolded into a strip of paper about two fingers wide and three or four inches long.

Judging from the material of the paper, it should be the yellow paper that Chen Xiangzi often used.

There were three lines of small characters written on it, but unfortunately, Ah Niu's dirty hands had made them greasy and messy, so they were completely illegible.

But Zhou Chu understood the last three words perfectly:

"Danger! Run!"