Delicious Delicacy of the Demon Spirit

"Boom!—Boom! Boom! Everyone, be careful with the candles!"

The official went through the streets and alleys to knock the third watch. Li Kuer woke up suddenly, but her mind was still in a mess. She opened her eyes and found that she was already sitting in the Yingyue Pavilion. What she brought is now gone.She looked around, and there were four lanterns hanging on the corners of the pavilion, emitting a cold white light.She had never seen this lantern before, it was round and snow-white, with "East", "South", "West" and "North" written on it according to the directions, it was really weird.

Li Ku'er stood up and leaned on the pillars of the pavilion to look out, but he couldn't see anyone, not even the servants who used to watch the night.The shallow lake reflected the snow-like brilliance of a lantern, and the empty courtyard frightened her...

"Sister He..."

She called out tentatively, wondering why He Weiran brought her here, but left her alone.

At this moment, out of nowhere, a string of illusory Huangmei melodies suddenly lingered in Li Kuer's ears. It was so clear and clear, but it seemed to come from a far, far away place.

"The days and years in the Heavenly Palace are too desolate, and the days and nights are counted. The eldest sister often says that the world is good, and men farm and women weave to spend time..."

This seems to be the beginning of "The Match of the Immortals", the libretto of the Seven Girls.Li Ku'er listened carefully, discerning carefully, although she only listened to half of Cheng Xiashu's play, she could still tell that this was the singing skill and timbre that only that pillar had.Li Kuer was listening, when she saw a white halo on the lake coming towards her from afar.She squinted her eyes for a while, and when the halo got closer, she realized that it was a white paper lantern. When she got closer, the white brilliance faintly illuminated the person carrying the lantern, who was He Weiran.He Weiran stepped on the water step by step, there was no sound under her feet, and there was no ripple in the water. She smiled and waved to Li Kuer as she walked, as if calling her to come over.

Li Kuer's eyes widened in surprise, she raised her hand and rubbed her eyes, afraid that it was her own hallucination, why did He Weiran walk on the water?However, the woman opposite was clearly still smiling at her.

Li Ku'er was about to call her, but saw He Weiran put his index finger to his mouth, made a gesture of silence, then walked to the pavilion step by step, and stretched out his hand towards her.Li Kuer looked at the slender and tender hand, hesitated, and then looked at He Weiran's face, with a warm smile, which seemed to dissolve all the stubborn anxiety in her heart.Unable to restrain herself, she grabbed that hand and let it be gently pulled, walked out of Yingyue Pavilion, and stepped on the lake.

Li Kuer was surprised to find that the lake under his feet looked soft but was hard, just like the land, which could support all weights.She didn't know where He Weiran was going to take her, but she was at ease in her heart, no matter where she went, there was nothing to be afraid of.

The two of them were walking on the lake, the melodious Huangmei tune in their ears was still endless, He Weiran suddenly stopped, let go of Li Kuer's hand, and pointed to the lake to tell her to look.Li Kuer's eyes followed the direction of He Weiran's fingers, the light of the white paper lanterns condensed into a bunch, and the moon-like spots illuminated a lake...

There are colorful koi swimming by, appearing, and disappearing again. They are happy and carefree, as if they have not noticed the peeping of the people on the lake at all.Looking down, there are scattered colorful pebbles at the bottom of the lake, half hidden in the lake mud, smooth and round.In the middle of the lake mud, there is a round snail hidden, Li Kuer saw it familiar, it seems to be very similar to the snail shell that Qi Qiaoye stepped on.

Just as she was thinking, He Weiran gave her the lantern, then bent down and knelt on the lake, rolled up her sleeves, and fished out the snail from the lake.Huang Meidiao suddenly approached a lot, Li Kuer raised the lantern, dripping drops of water slipped from He Weiran's hand, the palm of her hand, lying on her back, was indeed an empty snail shell.The inside of the shell was glowing with blue phosphorescence, which was very bright. When Li Kuer recalled that night, it was not her own eyes that were dazzled.Cheng Xiashu's voice clearly came out of the snail shell, so it was the thief.

"Why did you take away Cheng Xiashu's talent?" He Weiran's voice was calm but with a trace of majesty, just as he finished speaking, the Huangmei tune stopped abruptly, and the snail shell became dull and dull.He Weiran blinked his eyes, seemed to be in the hands of a monster who was timid and fearful, then looked at Li Kuer, suddenly smiled and said: "Why don't we go in and play around."

Li Kuer opened his small mouth slightly, he was surprised for a moment, and asked: "But we are so big, and the mouth of this snail shell is so small, how can we get in?"

He Weiran squinted her eyes, and smiled even more slyly: "You don't have to worry about it, let's go." While speaking, Li Kuer felt a strong suction coming from somewhere, and then his whole body flew up.She closed her eyes tightly, grasped He Weiran's hand vigorously, and after a while of spinning around, opened her eyes again, and the surroundings had changed.

They stood at the entrance of a long corridor, and because it was winding, they couldn't see the end.The walls of the corridor are inlaid with night pearls glowing with bluish light, which is as beautiful as a dream.Li Kuer couldn't help admiring that he could witness such a mirage in his lifetime, who would believe it when he told it.

"Sister He, are we really inside the snail shell?"

"Yeah, it's still a snail shell that only loves to make money. Let's go, let's go inside and have a look."

The two continued to walk along the corridor, the more they went in, the brighter it became. After several turns, two red doors blocked the way. They were two semi-circular doors, which blocked the way ahead. It's tight, I don't know what material it is, it's as red as cinnabar, as slippery as marble, and as cold as ice.Rows of huge golden beads are inlaid on the door, which is extremely gorgeous.

When Li Kuer pushed the door, his hands were numb from the cold, and he couldn't use any strength.She withdrew her hand, breathed out, and looked at He Weiran pitifully.He Weiran shook her head, grabbed her numb hand and exhaled, the warm feeling instantly entered her skin, and her hand regained its strength.Li Kuer scratched twice with five fingers, feeling deeply miraculous, when he raised his head, He Weiran stretched out his hand and pushed the door open, it seemed as easy as pushing the door of his own room.

Unexpectedly, on the other side of the gate, there is a small resplendent palace. Although small, it has many treasures, such as crystal jade, gurgling wine spring, carved beams and painted columns, and white jade bridge.On the other side of the stone bridge is a red sandalwood table. On the table are wine bottles with golden feet and emerald plates. There is wine in the bottles and fish in the plates. Obviously, someone has enjoyed it here just now.

The two walked across the stone bridge and over the table case, only to find that behind the screen on the back of the table case, there was a bed made of jade, and the bed was completely covered by layers of curtains.He Weiran walked over, opened the curtain, Li Kuer hid aside and watched, looking in from a distance, there was something shivering under Yun Jinxiu's quilt.

Is it a human or a ghost?Seeing He Weiran stretching out his hand to take off the quilt, Li Kuer couldn't help feeling anxious, don't open a scary monster out.

"Great man, spare your life, Master, spare your life..."

A trembling female voice came from under the quilt, it wasn't Cheng Xiashu.He Weiran lifted the quilt without hesitation, and the girl inside was exposed.The girl looked about the same age as Li Kuer, with a round face, black eyes, and two white jade snails on both sides of her head.Her mouth was tight and drooping, and she was on the verge of tears.

"You hand over Cheng Xiashu's talent first, and then I'll consider whether I should spare your life."

"Woooooo..." The girl looked at He Weiran who had a cold face and began to cry, she got up from the bed while crying.

"I really don't have any bad intentions, it's just that I just like that girl's beautiful singing, and I can't help it when I'm obsessed with ghosts..." The girl wiped her tears and twisted the mechanism beside the bed.

There was a creaking sound, and the bed moved a few feet, revealing a pothole.The pothole was half the size of the bed, with a shallow layer, and there was water under it, and hundreds of small snails were lying in the water, alive.The girl wiped her tears again, knelt down to pick and choose among the snails, picked out one and carefully identified the appearance of the snail, after a long while, she chose one, handed it to He Weiran and said: "Sir, What's in it is that girl's talent for singing. You see, I'm so honest, can you let me go?"

He Weiran took a look at the snails, put them in his cuff, then looked at the rest of the pile, and asked, "What about these?"

"These..." The girl dodged her eyes and said, "It's not important..."

"What's the big deal?" He Weiran asked, "If you don't tell the truth, I will destroy you, little demon today."

"Ah?" The girl trembled, so she had to be honest: "It's just some talent for juggling and dancing and music, it's not a big deal... But except for the one in your hand, none of them came from this town, and it's been a long time It's been a long time, those people are all dead..."

"So there's no need to pay it back?"

"Sophisticated."

"Heh, you are a glib little demon, do you think you can fool me by doing this?"

"This... this..." The girl was terrified, but there were no tears in her eyes: "Actually, I am not a fairy. My name is Snail Girl, and my master is the snail spirit who used to live here. She has practiced enough. For 1000 years, finally a hundred years ago, God went to become a fairy. I am her shell, I should have become a fairy with her, but the fairy who taught her the way gave her a treasure, a Sapphire snail shell. She had a new shell, so she abandoned me and left me in the world. Without her, my spiritual power became weaker and weaker, so I had to drift with the current and float in the world. If I become a snail, I can maintain it, and gradually, my spiritual consciousness has a body, which is what I am now, although I don’t have any great skills, but I am not afraid of being teased by those fish and shrimp.”

He Weiran looked at her, sighed and said: "Actually, you have become a demon. The abandonment of the snail spirit has made you resentful, and the evil thoughts have already eroded your spiritual consciousness. The cunning snail girl is even worse than life for ordinary people." The more precious talent nourished your evil thoughts and made you degenerate into a demon. If you continue to do evil in the future, you will suffer the consequences yourself."

"What?...I became a demon? How could it be?! You lied to me!" Luo Nu couldn't believe it, and there seemed to be a black current on her face, which scared Li Ku'er so much that she couldn't help shrinking behind He Weiran.

He Weiran frowned, and pointed two fingers between Luo Nu's brows, a red light flashed, the black energy quietly disappeared, and Luo Nu returned to calm.

"Now that you have cultivated a spiritual body, if you can devote yourself to cultivation and do more good deeds to accumulate virtue, you don't need to absorb the talents of ordinary people. I will let you go today, and I hope you can do it yourself." He Weiran said, leading Li Ku With his son's hand, he stepped out of the palace and out of the corridor.

There was another whirlwind, and Li Kuer suddenly opened her eyes...

"Why am I here..." She rubbed her eyes and looked around, it was already dawn, she was lying on He Weiran's bed, and there was no one around her.

"Could it be a dream?"

Li Ku'er scratched her head and thought about it carefully, her mind was so confused that she couldn't distinguish between dreams and reality, she got up and dressed, opened the door, there were maids busy in the courtyard.They told Li Kuer that He Weiran had already gone to work in the back kitchen, and when Li Kuer left, they started whispering again.

Naturally, Li Ku'er didn't know, she ran to the back kitchen, only to find out that it was past time for breakfast, and everyone was busy with today's lunch.When Li Kuer stepped into the stove, He Weiran was busy working by the stove. When she saw her, she smiled and said, "Slacker, it's time to wake up. Today is the end of summer heat. I heard that duck meat is eaten during the end of summer heat. I'm planning to do it."

Li Ku'er was hungry, seeing that He Weiran wanted to eat something delicious again, so he hurried over to have a look.

"Hungry, let's eat a meat bun first." He Weiran grabbed a steaming meat bun from the steamer and gave it to Li Kuer, and then said: "What I want to make is snail and duck stew, it's not too difficult to make. But it is also particular. The broth needs to be carefully boiled to make it thick but not greasy. The duck meat must be aged ducks that are more than two years old and steamed so that it is crispy but not rotten. There are also snails, although they are mainly used to enhance freshness, they must be fried first, so that they can be delicious. By the way, I want you to help me with something today."

"Ah?" Li Ku'er was thinking about the relationship between the snail pot and the dream, when He Weiran asked him to do something, and he couldn't react in a daze. "Sister He, just give orders."

"Go and inquire about Cheng Xiashu's residence in Hualing Banner. When my old duck is ready to cook, you can bring her a cup too."

Li Ku'er is naturally willing, it's just He Weiran's intention, can it explain that all the illusions are not dreams?