Chapter 51: Jiu Feng

Mr Bai Yuehu, the first winner of the Horror Story Club, received his prize the next day, a cream cake made by Lu Qingjiu himself.

Lu Qingjiu doesn't do it on weekdays because of the complicated process of making a buttercream. In the middle of winter, Lu Qingjiu simply moved the charcoal pot into the kitchen and made a large cake with snowy cream for dessert. The cake was topped with tinned cherries and tinned oranges that Lu Qingjiu had made earlier, and Lu Qingjiu wrote a 'first place' in melted chocolate sauce to encourage Bai Yuehu's horror story.

Although it was the first time Lu Qingjiu had ever made a cake and there was no way to use the oven because of the power cut, he simply baked it over a charcoal fire, but of course the cake was not as good as the one baked in the oven, but there was no big difference in appearance once the snow-white cream was applied. Bai Yuehu held the knife in his hand for a while, but finally handed it to Lu Qingjiu and said, "You cut it."

Lu Qingjiu laughed and said, "Have you eaten before?"

Bai Yuehu said, "No." He seemed to feel a little humiliated when he finished, so he paused for a moment to add, "But I have seen them."

Lu Qingjiu said, "Where have you seen it before?"

Bai Yuehu said, "In a window made of glass, you need money, and I don't have any."

Lu Qingjiu is crying and laughing, only Bai Yuehu can say that he has no money so frankly, but at the same time he feels a bit sad. It seems that Bai Yuehu is also interested in human food, but his pockets are empty and he can't eat anything, so he can only stand by and watch.

Lu Qingjiu picked up the kitchen knife and cut a small portion for himself before cutting the rest in half and giving half to Bai Yuehu and Yin Xun.

Yin Xun, a child at heart, grabbed a spoon and began to stuff the cake into his mouth, leaving white cream all over his mouth. Bai Yuehu ate with his usual gracefulness, and his appetite was not at all evident.

Both finished the rest of the cake with a satisfied look on their faces.

In these cold winter months, only delicious desserts can comfort their lonely hearts. Lu Qingjiu had nothing else to do and started to try other desserts, but the trouble was that the electricity had been cut off and many of the desserts that required an oven could not be made.

It snowed heavily overnight last night and only stopped in the morning, when we went out the snow was up to our knees. To prevent the chicken coop from collapsing, Bai Yuehu goes out every morning to clear the snow from the yard. Lu Qingjiu saw that it was clearing up today and took a packet of jelly sweets to check on the minivan and help it clear the snow from its body.

The minivan honked its horn in delight.

The village has turned into a silvery white world, and when you look at it, your eyes will sting if you look at it for too long. Lu Qingjiu saw that the weather was not too bad today and the sun was out, so he took a pair of sunglasses from home and wrapped himself in a ball before walking around the village in his snow boots.

The only thing that was strange was that once it snowed, everyone in Shuifu Village seemed to have disappeared, all hiding inside their homes, without even the most basic signs of activity. Lu Qingjiu walked from his home to the head of the village without seeing a single person, and Yin Xun followed Lu Qingjiu, saying: "Wine, what are we going to eat tonight?

Lu Qingjiu said, "Anything, how did you spend your winters in the past?"

Yin Xun sniffled, "It's just like any other day, but there's a lot to eat in winter, especially up here."

Lu Qingjiu: "For example"

Yin Xun said, "Hibernating animals, snakes and the like, and snake meat is quite tasty, but I'm not very good at it."

Lu Qingjiu said, "Forget about the snakes, they are wild animals after all, they have a lot of parasites, if you want to eat them you have to eat farmed ones." He remembered something, "When spring starts, I will go to town and buy some lotus roots and make them for you.

In Shuifu Village, where there is no water, it is not customary to eat lotus roots, and it was only when Lu Qingjiu grew up and moved to the city that he got his first taste of them. He liked them, the crispy ones could be served cold, and the soft ones were also very tasty when stewed with pork ribs.

"OK." Yin Xun said, "I haven't had it yet."

As they walked on, they discussed what Yin Xun had not eaten before, and before they knew it they were out of the village and at the foot of the mountain.

The mountain is also a dazzling white, with most of the trees, apart from a few scattered evergreen trees, having lost their leaves and their bare trunks covered in thick white snow. What is more interesting is that the leaves of certain low shrubs are wrapped in a layer of crystal clear ice crystals, looking as pure and beautiful as crystal.

These views are memories of Lu Qingjiu's childhood, and seeing them again at this time was quite emotional. Back then, he and Yin Xun used to run to the mountains in the middle of winter. For example, Lu Qingjiu remembers that they used to see yellow grapefruit trees after it had snowed, even though they tasted sour and astringent.

After days of squatting at home, it was very refreshing to get out for a walk and get some fresh air.

"Do you smell something?" Yin Xun asks suddenly, standing next to Lu Qingjiu.

Lu Qingjiu turned back blankly: "What's that smell?"

"It's strange," Yin Xun says, "I've never smelt it before." As the mountain god of Shuifu Village, Yin Xun knew every blade of grass and tree on the mountain, but he had never smelt anything like it before. It smelt a little fragrant, but with a faint fishy smell that, when mixed together, made him feel a little uneasy.

"I don't smell it." Lu Qingjiu didn't smell what Yin Xun was talking about because it was so cold and he was wearing a thick mask; he reached up and pulled it down, sniffing, but still didn't catch any scent.

"Let's go back." Yin Xun became agitated, "Hurry up and go back."

Although Lu Qingjiu did not understand why Yin Xun suddenly said this, he agreed to Yin Xun's proposal. He was a human being, and although he could occasionally see things that ordinary people could not, he was not as sensitive as Yin Xun in certain matters.

Yin Xun said, "Hurry up," and although he saw nothing, his instincts frantically sounded the alarm that something was coming, something terrible was coming.

Following a frightened Yin Xun, Lu Qingjiu ran through the snow. But the thick snow made their movements more difficult and when they were about halfway home, Lu Qingjiu tripped over a rock in the snow and fell straight to the ground.

"Sake," Yin Xun shouted in horror as he said, "get up."

Lu Qingjiu gasped violently, the difference between human and non-human physical strength was now fully apparent, he was wearing really thick clothes and there was deep snow under his feet, after running with all his strength, a large amount of cold air rushed into his lungs, making it difficult for him to breathe.

"Lu Qingjiu, who had fallen to the ground, felt a shadow slowly looming over his head, which he thought was darkness at first, but soon sensed in Yin Xun's frightened, almost desperate eyes.

Lu Qingjiu looked up and saw a huge bird, he could not even describe in words how big it was, for with its one head it took up almost all the sky above Lu Qingjiu's head. Or maybe it wasn't a bird at all, because there are no birds that grow with human heads.

At this moment, Lu Qingjiu finally caught the scent that Yin Xun had just described. The rich fishy smell was tinged with a strange sweetness, and it was clear that the source of the smell was the horrible beast above his head.

Yin Xun said: "Qingjiu". He turned around and tried to jump at Lu Qingjiu's side, but it was too late.

"Lu Qingjiu" Yin Xun, sitting on the ground, tried to catch the distant Lu Qingjiu, but he was only a small mountain god, without wings and unable to fly, so he could only watch his best friend, carried away by the huge monster bird, just like that.

Yin Xun had to cling to the ground to keep from being blown away by the wind, and by the time it ended, there was no trace of the bird or Lu Qingjiu in the sky.

Yin Xun scrambled out of the snow, losing a shoe on his foot, but he couldn't care less and rushed home.

"Bai Yuehu, Bai Yuehu, it's not good Lu Qingjiu has been taken by something strange" Yin Xun arrived home and saw Bai Yuehu standing in the courtyard and hurriedly told him what had just happened.

Bai Yuehu paused in his hands at this and frowned, "You went to the mountains."

Yin Xun said, "No, we just went around the foot of the mountain." His heart was beating wildly and his mind was filled with horrible thoughts, that giant bird didn't look like a charitable thing just now, would Lu Qingjiu be caught like that?

Who knows Bai Yuehu didn't get too nervous after hearing this, but nodded and said he knew.

"Will the sake be all right," Yin Xun said, "and the bird, will it eat him?"

"No." Bai Yuehu replied, "If she wanted to eat, she would have done so already, so why take Lu Qingjiu away with her? I'll go over and see."

Yin Xun said, "Good."

Bai Yuehu's body rose into a black mist and then disappeared before Yin Xun's eyes, leaving him alone in the empty courtyard again. He sat down in the snow, a little lost, and slowly raised his head to look at the sky, feeling once again his powerlessness.

After Lu Qingjiu was taken away, he was taken directly to the sky ten thousand miles above. Looking at the ground further and further away, he couldn't help feeling that he was lucky he wasn't afraid of heights, otherwise he might have been scared out of his wits.

Wrapped around his body was a white feather, which imprisoned him and prevented him from moving. Since he could not move, Lu Qingjiu looked around him.

He found himself in Shuifu Village, a blurred landscape on the ground, but a vast ocean with a few scattered islands and a completely different Shuifu Village without water.

Above the clouds, where there should have been a strong wind, only the feathers helped Lu Qingjiu to resist some of it, and he was now wrapped up tightly in a huge bird's claw.

The bird's claws were so large that Lu Qingjiu doubted he could run on them for more than a few minutes without running over the edge.

What did the bird want to do? Where was it taking him? Did it want to eat him? Lu Qingjiu was full of questions, but he felt that although the bird had taken him away by force, it did not seem to have any malicious intent, otherwise he would be nothing more than an ant that could be crushed by hand.

With a wave of its wings, the large bird leads Lu Qingjiu towards the centre of the ocean and as it goes deeper, Lu Qingjiu notices a huge island on the ground, empty of anything but yellow sand and jagged rocks.

Lu Qingjiu felt the wind blowing across his cheeks as the bird began to drop in altitude, and he could only close his eyes.

When the wind died down, Lu Qingjiu opened his eyes with great difficulty. He saw that he was placed on a soft sandy beach, and when he opened his eyes, he was startled by the large faces in front of him.

"You're awake."

"You're awake."

"You're awake."

The nine greetings that followed each other caused Lu Qingjiu's whole body to be dumbfounded, only to see nine different faces appear in front of him. There were men and women, old and young, and even a young child who seemed to be seven or eight years old. Lu Qingjiu reflexively tried to retreat, but he felt that his body was still wrapped tightly in the feathers and he could not move at all.

"Shut up, all of you," the pretty woman's face in the middle of the room roared in anger.

"Your name is Lu Qingjiu, isn't it?" The woman is charming, with her conspicuous red lips and silky eyes, which would be quite charming if it wasn't on this big bird's head.

"Right." Lu Qingjiu replied dryly, "May I ask what you want?"

"It's like this." The woman explained, "I wanted to see you about something."

Lu Qingjiu said, "What? What is it?"

The woman said softly, "I've heard of your great name for a long time and just wanted to ask you a favour."

Lu Qingjiu thought to himself, "Where did I get that big name from?" But he didn't dare carry it for fear of pissing the woman off and eating himself straight away, and continued the exchange with a good attitude, "You say you say."

The woman said, "I've caught something and would like to eat it differently, can you do it for me"

Lu Qingjiu: "" he took a moment to react to what the woman's words meant, facing the large bird like a mountain, he suppressed the tremble in his voice, "Can we see first, what it is"

"Show him, show him quickly."

"Great, great, I'm sick of eating it."

The other eight heads, which had just been quiet, began to make noisy noises again. The woman ignored them, waved her wings and said to Lu Qingjiu, "Wait for me for a while." After saying this, she flew off into the sky, looking like she was going to fetch something.

Lu Qingjiu Feathers on the body

It was also unlocked and he finally regained his mobility. The woman with the nine-headed body of a bird was indeed also recorded as such a creature in the Shanhaijing. That is the god named Jiu Feng who lives in the Arctic in the Heavenly Ark Mountains. She is said to be the faith of the Chu people and the most revered deity in their hearts.

Lu Qingjiu got up from the ground and looked around, realising that he was indeed on a deserted island. The temperature here was much warmer than outside and, wearing his down jacket, he soon felt a little hot and took off his thickest jacket outside.

Lu Qingjiu was a bit helpless, but even with his jacket off, the jumper he was wearing underneath was still making him hot and sweaty, and after sitting on the beach for a while, he even felt like he was really risking heatstroke if he sat down like that again. In the end Lu Qingjiu chose life over face and life and took off his last top and just went topless.

Fortunately, he had kept up his exercise routine since returning to the countryside, and the abs on his stomach were not particularly visible, but at least they weren't flabby or anything like that. Although he had taken off his clothes, a thin layer of sweat soon appeared on Lu Qingjiu's wheat-coloured skin and he lay down on the beach to save his strength.

Jiu Feng had been gone for a long time, and it was only when Lu Qingjiu felt like she was going to be dried up in the sun that she arrived, only to clutch something on her foot that made Lu Qingjiu wonder if he had once again lost his eyesight.

The Jiu Feng had a death grip on a long snake in its huge claws, the diameter of the snake was even longer than Lu Qingjiu's height, and its head was so big that Lu Qingjiu could only look up at it.

"Jiu Feng threw the snake in front of Lu Qingjiu with a happy thud and a giggle, her words full of pleasure, "Mumble, I brought it, see how to make it taste good."

Looking at the snake, Lu Qingjiu tugged stiffly at the corner of his mouth, "How do you want to eat it?"

"Just don't eat it raw anyway." Jiu Feng bent her head and moved closer to Lu Qingjiu, the strange, alien aroma began to fill Lu Qingjiu's surroundings again and she gave a pleasing smile, "Just watch."

If this were a normal snake, Lu Qingjiu would probably have made do with it, but this snake was so big that Lu Qingjiu rolled up his sleeves and found that he couldn't even hold it, so he could only say helplessly, "I want to do it, but this snake is too big."

Jiu Feng frowned at that, "What then? Wouldn't I have snatched you up for nothing?"

Lu Qingjiu: ""You should at least ask him for his opinion on such matters first.

Jiu Feng said, "No, no, no, you have to do it for me, but you do seem to be a bit small." She held out a paw and compared it to Lu Qingjiu's face, and when she finally decided that the tiny Lu Qingjiu was no bigger than her fingernail, she let out a long, regretful sigh, "Why is it so small?"

Lu Qingjiu looks helpless.

"And why did you take your clothes off, oops you're so rude." She finally noticed the change in Lu Qingjiu's body and said shyly, "I'm still an unmarried girl you do this you do this" and stomped her foot so delicately that the ground shook and Lu Qingjiu sat down on her buttocks.

Lu Qingjiu's heart was so mixed up that he actually felt like a wanderer: "Sorry, I was too hot and had to take my clothes off."

"That won't do either."

"Yeah, yeah, how are we going to get married looking like that."

"That is, that is, or else"

"No no, I know what you're thinking, how can he marry us when he's so young."

"But he's a good cook, how else would he have survived this long?"

The eight heads, which had been fairly quiet, were once again arguing over the subject, you and I, and the Lu Qingjiu were dumbfounded, and it was only when the woman's face gave another roar to silence them that it was quiet again.

"Well, at least find something to cover it up." The woman said.

"There's nothing here." Lu Qingjiu felt like he was going to collapse, "Or you can take me back and I'll find some clothes."

Jiu Feng thought for a moment, "I don't think so, if you go back, I won't be able to bring you out, how about this, I'll give in, first you tell me how to make this snake tasty, when I'm full, I'll send you back."

Lu Qingjiu sighed long and hard: "Okay."

It was impossible to make chicken soup with such a large snake, and as conditions were difficult here, Lu Qingjiu thought it would be better to roast it. So he told them his idea, which was to skin the snake, then roast it over the fire and sprinkle salt and some spices on its body, which should make a big difference to its flavour.

Jiu Feng smiled, bewildered, "What are salt and spices?"

Lu Qingjiu: ""He had a bad feeling about this.

As it turned out, Lu Qingjiu confirmed that Jiu Feng had never eaten salt, let alone spices, and that she ate only the most natural foods, all of which she grabbed and nibbled on.

After listening to Jiu Feng's words, Lu Qingjiu felt that she was even worse off than Bai Yuehu

Bai Yuehu only needs to feed one mouth, but she has to feed eight, and it looks like all eight are not well served.

"What to do then." Jiu Feng said, "You tell me how to get the salt."

Lu Qingjiu said, "Well sorry ah, I don't know how to get the salt either." Although he knew that sea salt was available, all he ate was processed sea salt.

When Jiu Feng heard that she couldn't eat, she was furious and cried out, "Why are you like this? You tricked me into seeing your body and still refused to cook for me.

Lu Qingjiu: ""He was actually speechless.

Jiu Feng was about to say something else when a black cloud suddenly drifted in the sky, and when she saw it her face changed dramatically and she said, "Why are they coming after us so quickly?

Lu Qingjiu looked at the familiar black mist and knew it must be Bai Yuehu who was following him, so he was finally relieved. But before he could let go of that sigh, he heard Bai Yuehu's voice booming with anger: " Jiu Feng, you are so shameless, you actually took off his clothes"

Jiu Feng: "I'm not, I don't have him to take it off himself"

Bai Yuehu: " Lu Qingjiu "

Lu Qingjiu almost cried out, is that the point? And you non-humans are too civilized, he just took off his upper body, his trousers are still on, why do both of them sound as if he is running naked on the street?

Author's comment: Bai Yuehu: I haven't even read it

Lu Qingjiu lifts up his shirt to reveal his belly: I'll show you, all right?

Bai Yuehu: You said it

Lu Qingjiu: What the fuck are you doing with my trousers down, fuck, hey