Devouring Evil Martial Arts, Eliminating Demons from All Heavens

Chapter 9: Twenty-four Days Boxer Encounters Bloody Case

The soil along the river bank was moist and uneven, especially in the evening when dew began to form on the grass leaves, making it easy to slip.

When Meng Shuangjiang walked over, he was very careful, steady and took one step at a time.

Chu Tianshu came all the way out of the woods with big strides, his clothes fluttering in the wind, as if the riverbank grass on his side was a large piece of flat dry land.

"Brother Chu is not only a good doctor, but also very agile."

Meng Shuangjiang was slightly envious and said, "When I was a kid, I also learned some boxing and kicking from the guards. Later, I wanted to become a disciple of Master Zhong from the militia."

"Unfortunately, I couldn't endure the hardship and didn't achieve anything. Later, I saw my body getting heavier and heavier. I kept thinking about losing some of the extra fat, but I still couldn't."

Chu Tianshu smiled and said, "If you just want to lose weight, then you need not only exercise but also diet. I'm sure your brother can't do the second one."

He had already walked to the bridge and found that Meng Shuangjiang was accompanied by a child.

The melon-shaped hat and thick jacket seemed to be very warm, which only made the child's face look fair and cute. His slightly chubby hands were tugging at Meng Shuangjiang's trouser legs.

"This is my son, he's six years old. His full name is Meng Huaiyu, but that sounds too fancy, so I usually call him Meng Xiaobao."

Meng Shuangjiang touched the child's head and said, "My wife is worried that the child will become as fat as me, so she usually doesn't let him eat much. Today I brought him out and gave him a good meal."

Chu Tianshu moved his fingers. He wanted to give candy to children when he saw them.

Unfortunately, it’s not as convenient to buy candy here as in my hometown, and I recently forgot to get some with me.

The three of them walked towards the town. Xiaobao was a little shy at first, but soon became lively.

It was obvious that Meng Shuangjiang was the one who knew the way, but Xiaobao always ran ahead of him, and when he felt he was a little far away, he ran back.

Not long after getting on the main road in town, Meng Shuangjiang turned into a small road next to it.

These small paths between the houses are just dirt roads, a bit bumpy, and naturally not as wide as the main roads.

Moreover, when the shops on both sides of the road open every morning, there are people coming out to sweep the floor. When the vendors set up their stalls, some people just spread a piece of coarse cloth on the ground, so there won't be much debris thrown away.

The path here is different.

Outside the walls of many houses, there are piles of broken clay pots, low stools with missing legs, undried grass, broken cat bowls with a little soup left in them, and rough firewood that was put out with water because people thought the rice was cooked when it was halfway through.

These things may not even be discarded by the owner. They may just be temporarily piled outside because there is no room for them at home.

Occasionally, you can see someone walking out of the door and looking for something among these miscellaneous items.

However, since it can be placed outside the door, it is most likely the kind that would not be a pity to throw away. It must look very bad and adds a lot of shabby feeling to these paths.

Chu Tianshu's senses are now sharp, and he can smell a lot of strange smells, but they are not too pungent, so he treats them calmly.

In fact, when he returned to the restaurant every evening, he often took a detour and wandered around, and he was very familiar with these situations.

Until the aroma of braised meat reached my nose, instantly drowning out all the surrounding smells.

A small restaurant appeared in front of me. The open space in front of the door was smoother and cleaner than other places, and it was bustling with people.

Meng Shuangjiang was familiar with the place. Before he even stepped inside, he started shouting, "Auntie Zhou, bring me three pots of dragon and phoenix stew today."

The atmosphere of this restaurant is completely different from that of Lao Ma's Restaurant. Although there are people eating and chatting in the restaurant, their voices are generally not loud.

The restaurant was very noisy, and everyone seemed to be talking at the top of their lungs. There were five or six tables in total, and all of them were occupied by gentlemen in shorts, all of whom were eating with red faces.

When Meng Shuangjiang went in and shouted, his voice became insignificant among the voices of those people.

There were only two people at one of the tables. They had already finished eating. When they saw Chu Tianshu and the others come in, they stood up and walked to another table and continued chatting.

Chu Tianshu and the others had just sat down here when the curtain of a door in the inner room was lifted.

Then a short and fat lady with gray hair came out carrying a casserole.

“As the old saying goes, when the autumn wind blows, three snakes become fat. I knew you would come again in the next few days.

Aunt Zhou was obviously very familiar with Meng Shuangjiang. She put down the casserole and said, "Did you bring Xiaobao with you today? Hey, this guy looks a little unfamiliar."

Meng Shuangjiang lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "This is Brother Chu, the miracle doctor who makes the anthelmintic medicine."

Aunt Zhou's face lit up with joy: "So you are a miracle doctor. Please take a seat, please take a seat. That medicine is really good. I will use my best skills today to get the right temperature, as a way of repaying the miracle doctor."

She turned and went back to the kitchen.

Meng Shuangjiang explained, "Auntie Zhou raised two sons on her own. Thanks to her skill in stewing snake meat, she's quite famous in our town."

"Her business has been booming over the years, and the ingredients in the casserole have become richer and richer, but the entire restaurant still only has this one dish. It used to be called stewed snake, then it was called braised snake meat, and now it is called dragon and phoenix stew."

Xiaobao was standing on a stool, poking the lid of the casserole with his chopsticks.

"Don't be impatient, it's still hot. Let me give it to you."

Meng Shuangjiang quickly opened the lid himself and said, "I won't say much, Brother Chu. You'll know after you eat it."

Although the casserole was off the fire, it still boiled for a while. Once the lid was opened, the aroma in the restaurant became stronger.

The sauce soup is boiling, and the thick snake meat, chicken, pig lungs, green onions and ginger slices are soaked in the rich soup.

There are many snakes in Yizhou, and there have been many snake catchers since ancient times. Snake meat is relatively cheaper than other meats. For those who have to do hard work and want to have some meat, eating snakes is the best choice.

Chu Tianshu had eaten snakes before, but he thought the snake meat was too thin. However, the snakes here were like a large piece of thick-cut pork belly.

The chewy and elastic feeling of snake skin is more like the taste of local pork that has to be fried to reveal the tiger skin and then stewed.

I'm used to the food at Lao Ma Restaurant, and when I first tasted this, I felt that the food was much better than the food in the restaurant.

"Hey, it tastes really good."

Chu Tianshu couldn't help but squint his eyes and picked up another piece.

Meng Shuangjiang watched him put the whole piece of snake meat into his mouth and chew it in a few bites. He said hurriedly, "This snake has bones..."

Chu Tianshu said: "It's okay, I can chew it and digest it."

Meng Shuangjiang added: "No, even if you can chew it, eating it with the bones will taste one way, and eating it without the bones will taste another way."

Chu Tianshu paused his chopsticks, thought about it, and controlled his strength, biting just the meat off the snake bones. It was indeed a different kind of fullness.

Over the past twenty days, he unknowingly developed the habit of chewing bones when eating, because chewing bones made him feel even hungrier.

But since he was here to taste the food, he still had to listen to the gourmet's opinion. His teeth no longer cared about the hardness of the snake bones, and the feeling of eating only the meat was not much different from before. However, his tongue seemed to recall the long-lost sweetness and comfort.

"That's nothing. Once you're done eating and go out, under the moonlight and with the cool breeze blowing, that's the most wonderful moment to eat casserole at night."

Meng Shuangjiang chewed a piece of chicken skin and said, "Don't underestimate us because we're just a small town. People who really know how to eat can enjoy dozens, if not hundreds, of delicious foods."

"When I find a suitable time later, I will invite Brother Chu to eat here again. Sooner or later, we will eat all over this place."

Chu Tianshu nodded and praised: "I thought you were busy with the pills recently and had to put food aside. Now it seems that you still have a solid foundation."

Meng Shuangjiang smiled and said, "Our old man is busy with the pill issue. He's so energetic anyway. I just need to give some advice and let him handle the details."

Chu Tianshu was happy: "This is to let your father work for you."

Meng Shuangjiang said with a wicked smile: "I am afraid that he will feel lonely and empty in his old age. I want to make his later years more fulfilling. This is called filial piety."

Meng Xiaobao was poking a piece of boneless snake meat on his chopsticks, staring at his father with his dark eyes.

Chu Tianshu noticed this scene: "Xiaobao, you have to learn well. Your father is living a carefree life."

Meng Xiaobao nodded obediently: "I will definitely study hard."

Meng Shuangjiang's face froze: "Hey, this..."

He puffed up his cheeks and picked up a piece of green onion for Xiaobao. "Eat yours, kid. Don't try to learn everything."

Chu Tianshu laughed out loud.

It's a good thing that the restaurant is so noisy. Laughing out loud is still a normal thing here and there is no need to restrain yourself.

Chu Tianshu realized the charm of this small restaurant and enjoyed his meal even more.

It was originally planned to have three pots, but they ended up eating five pots, and only one and a half pots were finished by the Meng father and son.

By the time they finished eating, there were not many people left in the restaurant, and Xiaobao had fallen asleep on the table.

Chu Tianshu seized the opportunity to hold the child in his arms, then stood up and said goodbye to the old lady.

When I walked out of the door, the moonlight was just right and there was a cool breeze.

Meng Shuangjiang shook his head and said, "This kid is usually like a monkey. He never gets tired, and when he wants to sleep, he can fall asleep right away. Maybe it's because he's just a child with no worries. He's comfortable enough."

This isn't just because there are fewer worries.

Chu Tianshu is a witch doctor and he also likes to read some miscellaneous books on modern medicine.

Children's metabolic rate is nearly 30% higher than that of adults, and their dopamine secretion is also 30% higher than that of adults. Their fast-twitch muscle fibers and muscle glycogen synthesis rate are all better than those of adults.

Therefore, children can convert food into energy more efficiently, eliminate fatigue, restore physical strength, make bones harder, and make muscles stronger.

In a sense, after martial artists have gained enlightenment, they adjust some parts of their body to be closer to those of children, taking advantage of their strengths.

With the basic qualities of an adult, once they can acquire those advantages and continue to develop them, their expressiveness will be far beyond that of a child.

The old boxing manual says, "The heart is like a baby, and the fist is like a bullet of lead." This is exactly what it means.

They had only walked a short distance on the path when they saw a carriage approaching.

A lantern hung under the horse's neck, and the light was shaking as the wheels rolled over the uneven road.

Meng Shuangjiang looked up and recognized the groom: "It's Lao Wang, the security guard we hired."

The driver was a sturdy man: "Master Meng, the young lady is worried about the children, so she asked me to come and pick you up."

Chu Tianshu handed the child to Meng Shuangjiang.

Meng Shuangjiang said, "Brother Chu, please get in the car with me. I'll take you back to the restaurant."

"No, I do love the moonlight and the wind."

Chu Tianshu chuckled, "You guys take your time, I'll walk back to the restaurant by myself."

Meng Shuangjiang had no choice but to say goodbye to him and got into the carriage with the child in his arms.

The carriage could not turn around on this small road, but the driver was an experienced person who was familiar with the terrain. He was heading to the front right, obviously preparing to make a big turn.

Chu Tianshu watched the carriage go away, turned around, and walked slowly in the moonlight.

When the moonlight shines on the potholes in the dirt road, they appear as spots of light of varying brightness.

Chu Tianshu put his hands behind his back and walked slowly, but each step was on the protrusions.

We walked like this for about a quarter of an hour, but still hadn't reached the restaurant.

His playful mood gradually faded, he raised his head, and walked faster.

The front door of Lao Ma Restaurant faces the main street, and the back door faces a small street.

He turned a corner and came to this path, when he suddenly heard the loud sound of a gong.

With his hearing ability, he seemed to faintly hear someone shouting that someone was dead.

Chu Tianshu's heart skipped a beat when he thought of the carriage that had just left, and he ran over there.

Less than a hundred meters away, after turning the corner, he saw the night watchman standing on the path, beating the gong.

Men from several nearby households also came out, holding rakes and shovels in their hands, looking around, looking a little scared.

Suddenly, a figure rushed over. These people were startled and scattered, with their backs pressed against their doors.

The body on the road that they had blocked was now exposed in the moonlight.

Chu Tianshu stopped and looked carefully, and found that they were not the Meng father and son.

But he looked familiar. He seemed to be the man who sold straw raincoats, bamboo hats, and bamboo baskets and winnowing baskets at a stall not far from the restaurant.

There are still a few hats lying in a pool of blood.

The man selling bamboo hats could no longer pick them up.

The corpse's face was terrified, with eyes open. There were horrific wounds on the neck, chest, legs and feet, which were unbearable to look at.

(End of this chapter)