Erlangzi opened his eyes wide, staring straight at the black roof made of thatch and mud. The old quilt covering his body had turned dark yellow and it was impossible to tell what it originally looked like. There was also a faint smell of mold.
The other person sitting right next to him was his second brother Han Zhu, who was sleeping soundly. From time to time, bursts of snoring of varying degrees could be heard from him.
About half a meter away from the bed was a mud wall made of yellow mud. Due to the passage of time, there were several inconspicuous long cracks on the wall. From these cracks, one could faintly hear the nagging complaints of Han's mother, occasionally mixed with the "click" and "click" sounds of Han's father smoking his pipe.
Erlangzi slowly closed his already sore eyes, forcing himself to fall into a deep sleep as soon as possible. He knew very well that if he didn't fall asleep well, he would not be able to get up early tomorrow, and would not be able to go into the mountains to collect firewood with his other companions as agreed.
As soon as the day dawned, Erlangzi got up early.
He looks very unremarkable, with dark skin, just an ordinary farm boy, but deep down, he is much more mature than his peers. He has longed for the richness and prosperity of the outside world since he was a child, and dreams that one day he can walk out of this small village.
The outside world is often talked about by elders and storytellers.
But he never dared to tell anyone else about this idea.
Otherwise, the villagers would be shocked that a little brat who was still wet behind the ears would have such an idea that even adults would not dare to think about easily. You know, other children of his age would only chase chickens and dogs around the village, let alone have such a strange idea of leaving their hometown.
Erlangzi's family consists of seven people, including two older brothers, an older sister, and a younger sister. He is the fourth child in the family and is just ten years old this year. Life at home is very hard. They can only have a few meat meals a year, and the whole family has been hovering around the poverty line.
As he walked out of the house, he made up his mind and clenched his fists: when he went up the mountain, he must help his beloved sister pick more of her favorite red berries.
…
"You fool, let's get down the mountain. My teeth are almost sore, why are you still picking red berries?"
"Erlangzi, if you don't leave now, we won't wait for you..."
"You guys go ahead! I'll pick some more red berries for my sister..."
"Then we're leaving. Be careful not to run into any big bugs..."
Erlangzi picked a thumb-sized red berry, wrapped it in leaves, put it in his arms, and was about to leave when he saw a figure appear at the end of the mountain path out of the corner of his eye.
A figure flashed past, startling him and making him shudder all over.
"Huh, I finally saw someone, just an ordinary person!"
Yi Xiaochuan muttered to himself and was about to leave, but suddenly he let out a light exclamation.
With a flash of his body, he stood beside the thin child.
Erlangzi was so frightened that his legs went weak and he fell to the ground with his buttocks. The red berries in his arms scattered all over the floor. It seemed as if there was a lump of phlegm in his throat and he couldn't speak.
"The face looks different..."
Erlangzi looked at the person in front of him, who he didn't know whether he was a ghost or a monster, and saw his eyes, which had been normal just a moment ago, gradually turn pure white. His whole body began to tremble violently.
According to the old people, there are man-eating monsters in the mountains...
"Don't eat me, don't eat me..."
Yi Xiaochuan frowned slightly, turned his head to look at the young man who left, then looked seriously at the "idiot" in front of him, put away his magical powers, and said with a smile: "Your name is Erlangzi? I'm not a monster, I won't eat you!"
"He... they... all call me Erlangzi. I have a real name. My name is Han Li... Are you... are you an immortal?"
Erlangzi's surname is Han and his name is Li. His parents couldn't come up with such a nice name. This is the name his father asked Uncle Zhang in the village to give him when he used the steamed bread made from two coarse grains.
When Uncle Zhang was young, he worked as a study companion to rich people in the city for several years. He was the only educated person in the village who knew a few words. More than half of the names of the children in the village were given by him.
Han Li was called "Erlangzi" by the villagers, but he was not really stupid. Instead, he was the smartest child in the village. But like other children in the village, except for his family members, he seldom heard anyone call him "Han Li" formally. Instead, the names "Erlangzi" and "Erlangzi" have always accompanied him to this day.
The reason why he was nicknamed "Erlangzi" was simply because there was already a child named "Lengzi" in the village.
This is nothing. Other children in the village are also called "Gou Wa" and "Er Dan" and these names are not necessarily better than "Er Lang Zi".
"I am a cultivator. Do you mind if I take a drop of your blood?"
Without saying anything, he scratched his middle finger with his fingernail and took a drop of blood.
50 points of energy have been consumed, so just wait!
"Immortal... Immortal, can I go back now?"
"No hurry, no hurry. Oh, by the way, you must be hungry!" Yi Xiaochuan heard the gurgling sound of his stomach.
"I'll show you a trick... Watch carefully..."
Take out a snack box from the imaginary space, which is filled with various snacks.
“There are eggs!”
Erlangzi couldn't understand what was in the box, such as instant noodles, chocolate, bread, ham, etc., but he recognized the packaged boiled eggs. His eyes lit up and he couldn't help swallowing.
To boil water for instant noodles, he snapped his fingers, and a flame burned quietly between his fingers. After a while, the water boiled.
After a while, a fragrance wafted out from the woods, which must be very familiar to the people on Earth, but was absolutely unfamiliar to the people in this world.
The hungry fool sniffed his nose. The intoxicating aroma seemed to make his stomach growl even louder.
It’s hard to believe that a white pancake rinsed with boiled water can become so fragrant in such a short time
Is this the delicacy that gods eat
"Here, eat!" Yi Xiaochuan placed the traditional pickled cabbage beef noodles in front of Erlangzi.
Licking his lips, Erlangzi felt that he was very lucky that he could one day eat such delicious food.
"Immortal, are you really going to give it to me?"
"Eat! When you're full, come chat with me..."
“Ah… so hot… oh… so delicious…”
A big mouthful of boiling hot noodles went into his mouth. Erlangzi cried out in pain at first, but he was reluctant to spit out the noodles. He forced himself to eat it, and his eyes immediately widened.
Is this the noodles that gods eat
It’s so delicious that you want to swallow your tongue!
Erlangzi ate half of the instant noodles and stopped eating.
"Why don't you eat anymore?"
"I want to bring some to my sister to try..."