Wandering Gods of Day and Night
Chapter 193 - 159 Human Stomach

Chapter 193: Chapter 159 Human Stomach

Little Fuzi quickly brought over the notebook and handed it to Zhou Xuan.

Zhou Xuan flipped through the pages and found the guest’s contact address.

"Li Chusheng, 64 Ming Garden Road, Mingdong Avenue."

He tore off the address and handed it to Lv Mingkun: "Fifth Brother, go to Li Chusheng’s house... see if something has happened to his family."

"Alright."

Lv Mingkun picked up the white cloth, covered Li Chusheng’s corpse again, straightened his long robe, put on a bowler hat, and left the shop.

...

"Ming Garden Road" had the character "Ming" in it, so naturally, it had everything to do with tea leaves.

On this road, every household dealt in the tea business—tea houses, tea trading shops, tea frying stores... and so forth.

Li Youfu, who lived at No. 64 on Ming Garden Road, had been frying tea for half his life. He had earned enough money to open a tea house and transformed himself into a tea shop owner, his days becoming increasingly prosperous.

But even so, Li Youfu never gave up frying tea. He bought a large house with a courtyard and set aside a room specifically to set up a large pot for tea frying.

What started as a way to make a living eventually became a genuine love. Without it, life seemed to lack a certain flavor.

Early in the morning, Li Youfu began to fry tea. He was in an exceptionally good mood today, frying several types of tea together.

"Iron Goddess!"

Li Youfu poured half a ceramic jar of red Iron Goddess into the frying pot. The Iron Goddess, soaked in thick, sticky red liquid, hissed and smoked as it hit the heated pot.

"Cloud Mist Tea!"

Li Youfu grabbed another ceramic jar and dumped a pile of foul-smelling Cloud Mist Tea into the frying pot.

The scent of Cloud Mist Tea mingled with the red-black Iron Goddess, forming a stench so overwhelming that even the rats in the room pinched their noses and fled.

"Rock Tea!"

The white Rock Tea, clumped together into a sticky mass, was tossed into the pot. Li Youfu picked up an iron spatula and hacked at it repeatedly, breaking up the rock tea.

The rock tea sizzled and clattered loudly in the frying pot.

"Maojian Tea!"

"Biluochun!"

One jar after another, Li Youfu poured the teas into the iron pot and stirred them over the heat.

He fried with such delight that his waist swayed in rhythm with the clanging and banging of the pot.

As he fried, Li Youfu suddenly froze and muttered, "No, no, how could there be no Gua Pian tea? Where is my Gua Pian?"

He rummaged through the wooden shelves, but no matter how he searched, he couldn’t find the Gua Pian.

"How could I forget where the Gua Pian is?"

Turning on his heel, he began searching, starting in his bedroom, then moving to his eldest son’s room, then to his second son’s room, finally ending up in his sister’s room.

His sister, Li Xiaojie, lived with him, but rumors had it that she was dishonest, often stealing things from the household.

"It must be that wretched woman who stole my Gua Pian."

He entered the room and searched everywhere—in the wardrobe, under the desk, on the bed.

When he stood by the bedside, rummaging through the quilt on the bed, he suddenly felt a warmth on his foot. Looking down, he saw a puddle of water seeping out from under the bed.

Li Youfu crouched sharply and spotted Li Xiaojie huddling under the bed, trembling, her pants soaked through. His eyes glowed a ghostly green as he stared at his sister, who dared not open her eyes.

He sneered and said, "Ah, Gua Pian, so you were hiding here all along..."

...

With the Gua Pian found, Li Youfu dropped the plump, sticky two pieces of Gua Pian into the frying pot and stirred vigorously.

"So much tea—when I finish frying it, I’ll eat it all in one pot. I’m so hungry."

He licked his lips greedily, craving the tea in the pot.

But it still felt like something was missing from the pot.

What was that flavor?

He became dazed and muttered, "A grand gathering of famous teas—how can we be missing Huangyuan black tea? But where is the black tea? I can’t seem to recall... my mind feels so cluttered...

Oh, that’s right, that’s right, it’s in my head!"

Gripping the spatula in one hand, Li Youfu began striking his own forehead repeatedly.

The harder he struck, the weaker he grew, until he finally collapsed limply beside the tea-frying table.

"What a shame... I didn’t get to eat the tea I fried! So hungry! So hungry!"

As his consciousness began to fade, Li Youfu suddenly asked himself a question,

"When did I start feeling this hunger?"

"Ah! I remember now—it was when I sent my eldest son to find the burial team!"

He was suddenly transported to that night when Li Chusheng ate himself to death.

Li Youfu carried his son’s corpse onto the carriage. Because his son’s body was so heavy, he handled it with some roughness, pulling up his son’s clothes to reveal his bloated stomach.

"Is that a stomach? Why does it look a bit like a thoroughly cooked piece of braised pork belly?"

Driving the carriage to an isolated spot, Li Youfu’s appetite overcame him. He pulled the reins, jumped down from the wooden frame, and unlatched the wooden carriage door...