Mechanical Pioneer Under One Person

"Boring, really boring. It looks like we won't get anything to eat here."

"You are a bunch of heartless people. Lian's son's son has been cured. Now you have the right to find fault with him?"

After Gao Lian entered the hall, the casters of the dark magic seemed to recognize him and popped their heads out, arguing with each other in the hall.

As their voices grew louder, nine rows of candles were lit in turn in each of the three directions: front, left, and right, dispelling all the darkness in the hall.

And these spellcasters also surfaced - a group of elves, or [immortals].

At this moment, these spirits, who had cultivated Qi for countless years in the form of animals to achieve enlightenment, were projected throughout the hall in the form of witch spirits, wandering around, quarreling, and fighting.

Seeing this, Gao Lian couldn't help but sigh. He clasped his fists first, then went to the incense pile on the side of the hall, took out thirty-two incense sticks, and inserted them into the sandalwood burners used by the thirty-two Gao family members to worship the elves.

"Excuse me, uncles and aunts, who is in charge today?"

Chapter 156 Banquet

Let’s not talk about the questions Gao Lian asked the immortals for now, and just say that he lit 32 incense sticks. At first glance, this number seems large, but in fact, there are only more than ten "immortals" wandering around in the hall.

This situation is indeed normal. After all, even if they are all "animal spirits", some animals naturally like quietness and do not like noise.

Therefore, some immortals will only project their sight through the spirit tablets, but will not choose to come out in the form of spirits to fight or quarrel.

In addition, some immortals who were being called away to help other disciples do hard work and possessed the bodies of others naturally could not come down.

Of course, in addition to the reasons mentioned above, there are also a very small number of "immortals" with special circumstances who cannot come.

They were the spirits in the center of the hall, those with the names of "Grandfather" and "Grandmother." All we could say was that they were truly gone, but where they had gone was unclear.

According to the other immortals of the Tian generation, they really went to heaven. Except in life-or-death situations, the disciples who were sent out could only offer tributes, and they could not be asked to help.

However, according to Gao Lian's grandfather, during the turmoil seventy or eighty years ago, those people did come out briefly and fought with their opponents.

Gao Lian's question about who was in charge today did give the elves a pause, but it only lasted for three or four breaths before they resumed making noise again.

However, amidst the arguing of these "grandparents," there were still a few voices that sounded mature and steady, answering, "He's a prominent figure in the Liu family, but he just happened to be called away."

After hearing this answer, Gao Lian understood why the hall was in such a mess. He then said, "Uncles and aunts, since the head of the family is not here today, I will tell you directly. Today's event is my family's 'family dinner', and I have already informed you of it beforehand."

"My second daughter was also half-raised by all of you in the hall. Later, she met with misfortune. You all know what happened. Most of her body was disabled."

"Now, she's lucky enough to have met a capable young man who saved her from that 'tank'. Now she's just like any other person."

"Today's family dinner is for the young man who helped Erzhuang."

"I am here to offer incense to everyone in the hall. I hope that after today's family dinner, if you are still free, you will give me a favor and go and offer a blessing to that boy."

Gao Lian stated his request directly in one breath.

Naturally, the immortals in these halls were the ones he had worshipped since he was a child, so he didn't try to hide anything when he spoke, and just said whatever he thought.

After thinking for a few moments, these immortals stopped making noise out of courtesy and stopped their spirits in front of their own tablets.

Soon, the hall suddenly became quiet. A handful of ash rose from the incense burners in front of the spirit tablets, and finally fell into Gao Lian's hands.

Gao Lian, who got the incense ash, let out a long sigh, bowed several times towards the center of the hall, and then walked out.

……

The next day, Liu Ke did not get up very early. After all, being able to rest on the big bed instead of the bunk bed would help him recover better, and accordingly, he would sleep more soundly.

It was past eight o'clock before he finally got out of bed. He washed up with Gao Yushan, took a quick shower each, and then lay back on the soft bed to recover his strength.

This laziness was understandable. After all, once people relaxed from a tense atmosphere, they tended to fall into a deep period of fatigue and recovery. Liu Ke and the other man were definitely not fully recovered or rested yet, so a nap was normal.

After more than half an hour, around nine o'clock, the two men woke up and regained their strength. They changed into casual clothes and left the hotel.

Speaking of which, the Gao family's ancestral home is not too far from where they live. It only takes about three or four minutes to walk there.

When Liu Ke saw the large mansion across the street, which was disguised as a private club or leisure villa by magic, he couldn't help but say to Gao Yushan, "Your house is really huge! It's almost as big as a large courtyard house."

Gao Yushan didn't react in any special way when she heard this. She just smiled softly and said, "It's not bad. After all, it's been passed down from our ancestors. But it was only renovated in recent years."

After saying that, she carefully took Liu Ke's arm, stepped onto the sidewalk, and walked towards the other side.

The road was not very wide, and the time allowed for pedestrians to pass by the traffic lights was not very long. However, Liu Ke, who was being held by someone's hand for the first time, still felt that the distance was very far, and time seemed to be stretched infinitely.

It was as if it was him, not the cyborg girl next to him, who pressed the [Sian Westin] to accelerate his body and senses.

After entering the Gao family mansion, Liu Ke came out of his previous senses and looked at the "brand new" interior of the mansion.

Yes, the look inside and outside the house is really very different, it can really be called a brand new one.

If Liu Ke had only seen an ordinary courtyard when he looked inside the mansion from the outside, then when Liu Ke walked into the mansion himself, the scene around him seemed to have been refreshed. It was very different from what he had seen from the outside just now. There were more people and things.

As soon as the two men stepped in, someone stepped out of the crowd and came over to greet them.

"Oh my god, you two are finally here. If you hadn't come earlier, Uncle Gao would have sent me to call you."

The person who spoke was not unfamiliar; it was Deng Youcai, whom Liu Ke had met at the Luotian Grand Ceremony. He was still dressed in a sleeveless T-shirt, adorned with a considerable amount of gold jewelry, which was quite impressive.

Liu Ke found Deng Youcai's attire, which was so common in Shenyang streets, very amusing, so he said, "Hello, Brother Deng!"

When Gao Yushan saw him, she asked, "Brother Youcai, why are you here?"

Deng Youcai patted Liu Ke's shoulder and then said to Gao Yushan, "Why am I here? Why else would I come? Isn't it because I'm here to watch the ceremony today?"

"My father and mother have been going crazy lately. They say they've got their sights on a big guy. They've been hiding in a ditch in Mohe for almost half a month and haven't caught him. They're so unwilling to give up that they don't have the time to come here anymore."

At this point, Deng Youcai patted his clothes to brush off some dust and said, "And you know what my brother is like. He's studying for the CET-4 at home, and he's memorizing words like 'ebendeng, 'ebendeng' every day."

"No, I'm the only one who can do it."

Then, he said with a rather envious expression, "Your family is also very impressive today. Grandma hasn't moved out for almost a few years, and your father invited her here today."

After hearing this, Liu Ke asked, "Brother Deng, the old lady you mentioned, is she the one among the Ten Lords?"

Deng Youcai nodded after hearing this and said, "Anyway, here, Grandma Guan is of high enough generation, so those of us who are part of the same lineage of horsemen all call her Grandma."

After that, he added, "Okay, you two can go in quickly. I saw that the place is almost cleaned up."

Seeing this, Liu Ke exchanged glances with Gao Yushan and asked, "What is the procedure for your family banquet?"

After hearing this, Gao Yushan tilted her head, blinked, and said, "Actually, there's no specific process."

"It's just that whoever is hosting the banquet invites all the family members, and then invites other good families and people from the horse sect to come. When everyone is here, the banquet will begin."

"After serving the delicious wine and food, we will invite the immortals to come down for a visit and a meal, and then bless them for a prosperous new year."

"After that... nothing happened. This family feast is almost over."

With Gao Yushan's introduction, Liu Ke and she entered the banquet venue.

This is an independent open-air courtyard. At the front is an incense table and a sacrificial table. Behind it are more than 20 round tables neatly placed in the open space.

There were dozens of people sitting around each table, their voices mingling with the hearty Northeastern dialect. The guests were dressed in a variety of styles, some in casual clothes, some in formal attire, and some in folk costumes.

Their enthusiasm was hard to conceal. The men raised their glasses and drank with loud voices; the women laughed, scolded, and complained with smiles on their faces. It was a rough and lively scene.

However, perhaps because Liu Ke and Gao Yushan, the two main guests of today, had not arrived yet, the dishes were not served yet.

Nowadays, each table is only furnished with peanuts, melon seeds, cigarettes and candies, and the only thing these guests enjoy drinking is Snow Beer.

Although 'Laoxue' has a very high alcohol content among beers and ordinary people would get drunk after drinking a few bottles, all those present here are extraordinary people.

Let’s not talk about the energy consumption of the aliens, and just talk about their ability to convert food. I’m afraid everyone here won’t get drunk even if they drink seventy or eighty bottles of "Laoxue".

So, these beers are more like drinks than liquor.

When Liu Ke and the other person came in, a sharp-eyed senior immediately greeted them, and then everyone turned their eyes to them.

"Hello, Uncle Zhang, hello, Aunt Wang!"

"Uncle Liu, Uncle Li, Uncle Benshan!"

As a newbie in the circle, Liu Ke was not very familiar with the strangers from Northeast China, so he was taken by Gao Yushan's arm and greeted the seniors present one by one.

After greeting everyone in the circle, they finally arrived at the Gao family's main table in the front. After the two sat down, they also greeted everyone one by one.

Sitting next to the Gao family's table were the masters of the exorcist sect, led by Guan Shihua, one of the Ten Lords.

"Grandma, you're here!"

After Liu Ke and Gao Yushan greeted her, the nearly 100-year-old white-haired old lady smiled and nodded in response.

But when the two young men turned their heads, Guan Shihua secretly looked at Liu Ke again with a puzzled look.

After a few breaths, for some reason, she glanced at Gao Lian with an incomprehensible expression again.

……

Seeing that Liu Ke and Gao Yushan were seated firmly, Gao Lian stood up, waved his hand, and said loudly: "Let the banquet begin!"

As soon as he finished speaking, more than ten aunties who were responsible for serving food rushed out from the back of the courtyard, each pushing a small cart loaded with a type of dish.

Afterwards, four stews, four hot dishes, four cold dishes, three sweet dishes and one soup, led by "Sour Cabbage and Blood Sausage", "One Pot", "Pot in Pot" and "Snow Bean Paste", were served on the table. The staple dishes included Yangzhou fried rice, pork and sauerkraut, and pork and celery dumplings.

After these hot dishes were served, they also added a sashimi platter, a braised food platter, a roast duck, and a poached chicken, and the meal was complete.

After these aunties had served all the dishes, a few uncles in sleeveless blue shirts came up carrying some large dishes.

It's a pig, a cow, and a sheep.

Afterwards, another man in a white coat came up, carrying a cage of more than twenty chickens, followed by a jar of rice.

Generally speaking, if one were to follow the ancient sacrificial rituals purely, then offering pigs, cattle, and sheep at one time would have to be a sacrifice to the heaven and earth, the country, or the emperor.

However, nowadays we live in a modern era with abundant resources. Moreover, the shamans from Northeast China are different from the pure Chinese witchcraft, so the specifications of the sacrifices are not so strict.

After the sacrificial animals were settled, the old men and women all left and closed the door of the courtyard where the banquet was held.

Gao Lian stood up from the banquet and walked to the incense table in the center of the venue.

He first scooped out a handful of grains and piled them on the table. Then he killed a chicken and took out a white jade bowl, letting the chicken blood drip down the edge of the bowl.

Afterwards, Gao Lian lightly dipped his hand in chicken blood, dipped it in grains, and scattered it on the animals and the chicken coop, quieting down the noisy creatures.

After muttering a few words, Gao Lian took out three incense sticks from his bosom, lit them with the candlelight on the incense table, and kowtowed to the sky in the smoke. His voice was hoarse as he said, "My fellow immortals, today my Gao family uses the five grains as a guide and the three animals as a gift. I sincerely invite you to show up and share the feast—"

As he finished speaking, dozens of black wind spirits suddenly swept over, causing the candle flame to suddenly shoot up. It was obvious that the immortals had received the message and arrived at the scene.

But these black wind spirits circled in the field for a while before retreating and circling the outer wall of the courtyard. For dozens of breaths, they neither advanced nor retreated, simply watching from afar.

This scene seemed to be beyond Gao Lian's expectations. He was stunned for a while, then he took out a sachet from his arms, opened it, and scattered the incense ash inside.

After the incense ash flew away, Gao Lian put his hands together again and burned incense, hoping to call those immortals down and have them land on the incense table.