Chapter 47: Meng Shuiyi

In October, Shuifu Village was blessed with several days of continuous drizzle. Unlike the pleasant summer rains, the temperature dropped as the autumn rains cooled off, and Lu Qingjiu put on two layers of clothes. The rainy weather always makes people feel lazy and it was a pity that Bai Yuehu's chairs were moved to the house so that we could not sit in the courtyard and rock the chairs as we did before.

Since Yin Xun wanted to eat sausages, Lu Qingjiu went to town and bought sausage casings and meat, pureed the meat, seasoned it and stuffed it into the casings. The sausages are made with a lot of attention to detail, for example, when filling the casings with meat, you have to pierce the casings with a needle to release the air inside, so that the moisture inside the sausages can evaporate and become more easily dried.

In just a month's time, Lu Qingjiu's kitchen was full of bacon and sausages, and because there was too much to put in there, he cleared out a new room to hang the meat, and put a layer of newspaper on the floor to prevent the grease from dripping onto the floor when it dried.

While Lu Qingjiu was thinking about what he needed for winter, two guests arrived at the old house.

When Lu Qingjiu heard the knock on the door, he thought it was Li Xiaoyu from next door. Thanks to the efforts of Xiao Hei and Xiao Hua, Li Xiaoyu's grades have improved a lot recently, and because of this improvement, Li Xiaoyu has been coming to their house more often, almost every day after school. But when Lu Qingjiu opened the door, he didn't see Li Xiaoyu, but Pang Ziqi, the man who had almost died because of the Rain Master's concubine, standing in the doorway with his umbrella. He was followed by an expressionless man dressed in black, who was a head taller than Pang Ziqi, who was 5'8", and although he was handsome, his rock-hard demeanour gave him an air of being a stranger.

" Lu Qingjiu ." Pang Ziqi said, "What are you doing?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "I'm cooking and you're well."

"All right." Pang Ziqi responded, but his eyes tended to dart inside the house as he said, "Won't you invite me in?"

Lu Qingjiu made a gesture of invitation, and now Bai Yuehu had gone to the field, Yin Xun had gone for a nap and had not yet returned, leaving him alone in the house.

Pang Ziqi then entered the house with the tall man behind him, they were watching Lu Qingjiu and Lu Qingjiu was watching them, it looked like this man should be Pang Ziqi's colleague, also a police officer, but I didn't know what Pang Ziqi was here for this time.

"Sit down, I'll go and get you a cup of tea." Lu Qingjiu beckons them to sit down inside the house.

Pang Ziqi said, "No need, actually I came here to thank you."

Lu Qingjiu said, "Thank you."

Pang Ziqi said, "You helped me get rid of the thing that possessed me before, didn't you?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Pang Ziqi smiled, "Don't lie, since you can see these things, you must have your own method, and I have no intention of handing you over to the top, I'm just asking you."

Lu Qingjiu sat down opposite Pang Ziqi without speaking.

Pang Ziqi pointed to the man beside him who had not spoken and introduced him, "This is my colleague, Meng Shuiyi."

Meng Shuiyi greeted Lu Qingjiu with a nod.

Lu Qingjiu looks at Pang Ziqi: "Is that why you came to talk to me this time?"

Pang Ziqi shook his head, "No, I'm actually a bit worried about you, since you can see those things you should also be able to feel yourself tainted with the scent of a fierce beast, and I don't think that's a good thing for an ordinary human."

Lu Qingjiu laughed, "You're here because you're worried about me."

Pang Ziqi smiled awkwardly, "That's one of the reasons, there's another reason why I was asked to ask about the body of the Rainmaker's concubine, where did it go"

Lu Qingjiu was a bit curious: "How do you know I'm the one who lost it?"

Pang Ziqi said, "I don't know, I'm here to ask you."

Lu Qingjiu said, "Would you believe me if I said I didn't know either?"

Pang Ziqi sighs, "Naturally, I don't believe it."

Lu Qingjiu said, "Then why are you asking me?"

Pang Ziqi said, "It's just a routine thing, and if you don't want to talk about it, I won't force you."

His attitude was not bad, and Lu Qingjiu could see that he was actually quite short-tempered, but now that Lu Qingjiu had saved his life, he could not be angry in front of Lu Qingjiu, and if he had not disposed of the Yu Shi concubine so quickly, and given the efficiency of Pang Ziqi's department, I am afraid that Pang Ziqi would have been cremated by now.

Knowing what Pang Ziqi wanted, Lu Qingjiu felt that he had nothing to say to Pang Ziqi, and that he could not possibly tell him about Bai Yuehu, so he stiffly refused: "Sorry, I have no comment."

Pang Ziqi sighed as he looked around the house and finally his eyes fell on the chickens in the courtyard who were currently sleeping in their nest and seemed to notice something different, his eyes took on a look of consternation as he said, "You know what is around you"

Lu Qingjiu said, "I know."

Pang Ziqi has a complicated look: "Aren't you afraid?"

Lu Qingjiu asks, "What are you afraid of?"

Pang Ziqi: "Naturally, I'm afraid he'll eat you."

Lu Qingjiu said, "If he wanted to eat him, he would have done so long ago, why wait until now? Besides, if he wanted to eat me, you would have been able to save me."

Pang Ziqi had a smile in his eyes, "I don't know if I can save you, but I'll always try." Since he was a policeman, he had to carry out his duties as a policeman, and he felt that if Lu Qingjiu was unknowingly being tricked into being with a murderer, he would be able to save him.

The beast lives together, then he naturally has a duty to warn, but now it seems that Lu Qingjiu knows very well what he is doing and has trust in the fierce beast.

"Thank you, don't worry about me." Lu Qingjiu said, "We're getting along fine."

Pang Ziqi nodded.

Lu Qingjiu noticed that the moment Bai Yuehu entered, Meng Shuiyi, who had been in a relaxed posture, suddenly straightened his back and seemed to become tense.

Lu Qingjiu took his eyes off him and smiled at Bai Yuehu: " Bai Yuehu, back."

Bai Yuehu doesn't say anything, casually puts the rain-soaked basket on the table, glances at Pang Ziqi and Meng Shuiyi, and nods.

"There are freshly steamed corn cakes in the pot." Lu Qingjiu said, "I'm afraid it will get cold, so go and eat."

Bai Yuehu hmmed and turned towards the kitchen, only before leaving he cast a salty look towards Meng Shuiyi, who instantly became even more nervous.

Pang Ziqi, the least inspired of them all, is completely oblivious to the undercurrents, still looking at Bai Yuehu, apparently a little curious about this handsome looking man.

It was only when Bai Yuehu entered the kitchen that Meng Shuiyi breathed a small sigh of relief and turned his head towards Pang Ziqi: "Let's go."

Pang Ziqi was confused: "Ah why are you leaving all of a sudden?"

Meng Shuiyi said, "It's almost all clear."

Pang Ziqi said, "What's clear? I don't know anything yet."

Meng Shuiyi, however, had already stood up and raised his chin, "Let's go."

Pang Ziqi wanted to say something else, but seeing Meng Shuiyi's serious expression, he didn't look like he was joking, so he said goodbye to Lu Qingjiu and the two of them walked away, umbrellas in hand.

"Hey, why are you in such a hurry to leave, we haven't even asked anything yet." Pang Ziqi asked Meng Shuiyi in confusion as soon as he left the house, the first time he had seen Meng Shuiyi looking so slightly flustered.

"If you ask again, you're afraid you'll have to ask someone in the stomach." Meng Shuiyi said coldly, "Don't come over in the future, this Lu Qingjiu is not something we can afford to mess with."

"Well what do you mean," Pang Ziqi wondered, "isn't Lu Qingjiu human?"

"Yes." Meng Shuiyi said, "But have you ever seen a human who breeds ferocious beasts?"

Pang Ziqi finally got a taste for it: "You mean that Bai Yuehu man is a ferocious beast and there are ferocious beasts that are so beautiful."

Meng Shuiyi: "What do you think all ferocious beasts look like?"

Pang Ziqi said, "At least as hard as you are, with a look that's too hard to chew."

Meng Shuiyi :""

Pang Ziqi: "Haha, I'm just kidding."

Meng Shuiyi glared at Pang Ziqi, but didn't bother with him any more. They got into the car and left Shuifu Village.

Lu Qingjiu, having sent Pang Ziqi and Meng Shuiyi away, suddenly notices a red stain on the corner of his coat, which he at first thinks is paint he has accidentally smeared, but after a closer sniff, he realises that the red stain is blood.

Where did the blood come from Lu Qingjiu froze in place as he checked around his body and the table to make sure there was no blood anywhere except on the corners of his own clothes.

"Strange." Lu Qingjiu tugged at the corner of his shirt and frowned, "Where did it come from?"

"There's no need to look." Bai Yuehu, who had finished his corn cake, slowly emerged from the kitchen, still holding a piece in his hand, which he was slowly chewing, "That Meng Shuiyi is not human."

"It's not human," Lu Qingjiu said, "then what is it?"

"It's the Meng Tu clan." Bai Yuehu replied.

Lu Qingjiu, who was already familiar with the Shanhaijing, understood what was going on when he heard the word Meng Tu, which is also one of the gods in the Shanhaijing. This was Meng Tu's method of judging cases, and prevented the wrongful conviction of people.

There was no doubt that the blood on the corner of Lu Qingjiu's shirt was proof that he had lied. He recalled the conversation he had just had with Pang Ziqi and decided that it didn't seem to matter if his lie had been exposed, so he relaxed and said, "Can I wash it?"

Bai Yuehu saw the blood on the corner of Lu Qingjiu's shirt: "It can't be washed clean."

"Lu Qingjiu was a bit surprised that the shirt he was wearing was one of his favourites and it was a shame that he couldn't wear it anymore.

When Bai Yuehu heard Lu Qingjiu's words, he said it was all right and didn't say anything else.

Lu Qingjiu thought he was reassuring himself and didn't take it to heart. He took off his clothes and tried to wash them, but it was just like Bai Yuehu had said, the blood on them didn't move at all.

It was a pity about the clothes, but Lu Qingjiu didn't dwell on it for too long, as he could cut them short and still give them to the little foxes.

Lu Qingjiu, who has always had a big heart, soon forgot about it, but within a few days someone came to the door again, this time Meng Shuiyi and an old man who looked quite old.

As soon as the two men entered the house, their attitude was very respectful, and the old man addressed Mr. Bai several times.

Bai Yuehu glanced at the old man and continued to munch on the chestnuts with his head down, not intending to speak.

"Mr. Bai, I'm really sorry, this boy is young and doesn't know much about things." The old man said in a respectful manner, "I've brought him here to apologise to you on purpose."

Meng Shuiyi said from the side, "Mr. Bai, I am really sorry." He then looked at Lu Qingjiu and said, " Mr. Lu, I'm sorry for what happened before, I've specially brought you new clothes, I hope you can accept them." As he said that, he actually took out some shirts from the backpack behind him and carefully placed them on the table in front of him. These shirts were exactly the same as the ones Lu Qingjiu had stained with blood, and had obviously been bought on purpose.

Lu Qingjiu was not expecting such an image and was about to resist, when he saw the old man giving him a pleading look, asking Lu Qingjiu to accept the gifts.

Lu Qingjiu looked at Bai Yuehu for a moment, vaguely understanding what was going on, and he said, "Thank you, then."

At his words, Meng Shuiyi and the old man's expressions only slightly relaxed.

"Water Legacy, go out for a while, I have some things I want to talk to Mr. Bai about alone." The old man spoke.

Lu Qingjiu also excused himself to feed the chickens and went out with Meng Shuiyi, leaving the house to Bai Yuehu and the old man.

Meng Shuiyi stood in the courtyard, watching Lu Qingjiu feeding the chickens rice, and said, "Do you mind if I have a cigarette?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "Be my guest."

Meng Shuiyi lit his cigarette and took a puff: " Mr. Lu, I've offended you before." When Pang Ziqi spoke to him, he thought Lu Qingjiu was just an ordinary human who had been haunted by a ferocious beast, so he didn't think much of it, but when he arrived at Lu Qingjiu's residence and saw Bai Yuehu, he realised how wrong he had been.

Lu Qingjiu was indeed an ordinary human being, but the one who stalked him was by no means a fierce beast, it was someone Meng Shuiyi could not afford to mess with no, to be precise, the Meng Tu clan, could not afford to mess with.

Within a few days, his grandfather called him back to ask him what had upset Bai Yuehu, and after a reprimand, he realized that he had offended Lu Qingjiu.

After that it became what it is now, and his grandfather brought him here with trepidation to make amends, fearing that he would really piss Bai Yuehu off.

Meng Shuiyi looks at Lu Qingjiu and Lu Qingjiu looks at his chicken, neither of them speaking.

As the atmosphere froze, Yin Xun, who had come for dinner, came in from outside with a yawn and was stunned for a moment when he saw Meng Shuiyi: "Who is this, wine?"

"This is Meng Shuiyi." Lu Qingjiu said, "Pang Ziqi's colleague, who is also a police officer."

"Oh." Yin Xun responded with little interest as he said, "Is there anything to eat I'm so hungry."

Lu Qingjiu said, "Don't go in yet, Bai Yuehu is talking to someone, bear with him for a while longer, Zhu Miaomiao has sent crabs over again, we will steam them for you later." In September we eat female crabs, in October we eat male crabs, these are the most seasonal things, after that time the crab paste is not so fat.

"Okay." Yin Xun rubbed his nose and found a random place to sit.

Meng Shuiyi is not a man of many words, so he stands quietly smoking a cigarette and listening to the two men's conversation.

Lu Qingjiu looked at Meng Shuiyi for a moment, and seeing that he had no intention of speaking, he began to chat casually with Yin Xun.

Lu Qingjiu said: "Do you like crabs?"

Yin Xun smiled, "I love it, the crab is delicious, I've never had it before you came."

Lu Qingjiu said, "How were you doing in Shuifu Village before I came?"

Yin Xun said blankly, "What about? I think it's fine." He laughed as usual, "Oh, don't worry about me, I'm an adult too, I have my own way of living, I always find my own fun when you're not around, I'm happy too."

Lu Qingjiu looked at Yin Xun without speaking, and he saw, after Yin Xun had said this, that a bright red blood stain was stained on the corner of his coat.

Yin Xun doesn't notice, and is still laughing happily.

Lu Qingjiu's voice lowered: "And what if one day I go back to the city?"

Yin Xun scratched his head, "As long as you're happy, you can go anywhere."

Lu Qingjiu said, "What about you?"

Yin Xun says: "I'll stay at Shuifu Village, I like it here."

The blood stains on the corners of his shirt are widening and look ironic with Yin Xun's smile.

Lu Qingjiu looked at his best friend and sighed, "I'm not going anywhere, there are two mouths to feed at home, besides I really do think of you as my son." After these words, his clothes were still clean, without a single blood stain.

Yin Xun said angrily, "You're fucking taking advantage of me again."

He looks at Lu Qingjiu and realises that this man is not as harmless as he seems, Lu Qingjiu is more interesting than he thought.

The two spoke for a while, but Meng Shuiyi's grandfather and Bai Yuehu had almost finished talking, and the old man soon came out, said goodbye to Lu Qingjiu and left with Meng Shuiyi.

"Sorry about that." Lu Qingjiu called out to Meng Shuiyi, "Can you leave a contact message?"

Meng Shuiyi was stunned, then nodded and left his phone number with Lu Qingjiu, not knowing what Lu Qingjiu was up to, but it was clearly not a bad thing to get on good terms with him.

After the two men had left, Lu Qingjiu went into the house and picked up his shirt, handing it to Yin Xun to change into.

Yin Xun is baffled: "Why are you changing your clothes?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "Change when you're told to, where's the need to talk so much?"

Yin Xun had to take off his own clothes, which he did, and Lu Qingjiu took them and crumpled them into a ball to cover the bloodstained corner.

Bai Yuehu saw Lu Qingjiu's movement and his lips pursed slightly, his and Lu Qingjiu's eyes locked for a moment, both understanding the meaning in the other's eyes.

Yin Xun's body shape was similar to Lu Qingjiu's, and the shirt fit him perfectly, so he looked left and right and said, "Why did you buy so many identical clothes?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "What do you know, this is a parent-child suit."

Yin Xun: "Fuck."

Lu Qingjiu laughed out loud and instead of wearing the clothes himself, he gave all the shirts to Yin Xun and asked him to take them back and wash them before wearing them. Although he was baffled, Yin Xun accepted the gift at Lu Qingjiu's insistence and took back all the clothes Meng Shuiyi had given him.

"I'll take this shirt for the little fox." Lu Qingjiu took Yin Xun's changed clothes away, but Yin Xun didn't care, but wondered why Lu Qingjiu bought so many shirts, and why each one was the same!

Bai Yuehu watched quietly as the two interacted, not saying a word until Yin Xun, who had finished his evening meal, had left, when he said, "You didn't keep one for yourself."

"Don't keep it." Lu Qingjiu says, "I don't seem to like it that much either."

"What lies did he tell?" Bai Yuehu noticed that Lu Qingjiu seemed to be in a bad mood and knew that it must have something to do with the lies Yin Xun had told.

"He said he used to be happy at Shuifu Village," Lu Qingjiu said. Lu Qingjiu said.

Bai Yuehu is silent.

"Lu Qingjiu looked at the beautiful and mysterious tenant. After spending time with him, he could see that Bai Yuehu had a very unusual status in the non-human world.

Bai Yuehu said indifferently, "Meng Shuiyi is not here." The implication was that even if he had lied, Lu Qingjiu would not have been able to tell.

Lu Qingjiu laughed in disbelief: "Do you have to lie?"

Bai Yuehu said, "Why not?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "I thought you didn't care to lie."

Bai Yuehu said, "In all my years of living, I've seen people who never lie, only they don't live as well as they think."

Lu Qingjiu sighed and stopped talking, the truth is, there are times when a well-meaning lie is actually happier than the harsh truth, he said, "So you don't actually like it here either"

Bai Yuehu smiled at his words, the corners of his mouth curving in a confusing way, "No, I like it here."

Lu Qingjiu frowned at him.

"Look, I tell the truth and you don't believe me." Bai Yuehu says, "But I'm serious, at least for now, and I like it here."

Lu Qingjiu gave up dwelling on the matter with Bai Yuehu and showed his hand, "OK, it seems that this question is meaningless, so let's talk about something meaningful."

Bai Yuehu raised an eyebrow and gestured for Lu Qingjiu to speak.

Lu Qingjiu said, "For example, what do you want to eat for lunch tomorrow? It's getting cold, I want to stock up on lamb, but we don't have enough fridge at home.

Bai Yuehu said, "There's no need to stock up on lamb, just wait until the coldest time of the year, when Cong Long's meat is at its best."

Lu Qingjiu: "So what we ate before was also Cong Long, right?" Cong Long is a kind of animal in the Shanhaijing that looks similar to a sheep, except that its fur is red and it is said to cure deafness. Lu Qingjiu said that with his familiarity with Shanhaijing, he could already communicate seamlessly with Bai Yuehu without him having to explain it again.

Bai Yuehu winked: "Is it good?"

Lu Qingjiu mercilessly drops his conscience: "It smells so good."

Bai Yuehu smiles broadly.

The author has something to say: Lu Qingjiu: This animal is so precious, is it too cruel for us to do this.

Bai Yuehu: That

What does it take not to be cruel?

Lu Qingjiu: Add more star anise to remove the fishy taste

Bai Yuehu.