Chapter 31 The Ancient Town's Spirit Parade - Searching for Offerings

When she came out of the Guesthouse, more than half of the morning had passed; now, after wandering for a while, it was nearly noon.

It seemed the residents here woke up quite late, only heading out after most of the morning had gone by.

The aroma of food wafted from a distance, tempting her appetite. Bai Xiao touched her stomach; she was indeed a little hungry.

Following the scent, Bai Xiao arrived in front of a shop.

This was a snack shop. The Shop Owner hadn't opened the main door, only a large window. Inside, next to the left side of the window, was a long table holding a basin of the same kind of pastries the little girl had been eating earlier, followed by a basin of chopped greens and a small basin of diced meat. On the right was a large circular iron stove, with several pastries currently frying on it.

The Shop Owner was very meticulous; even for just making snacks, he wore a full chef's outfit. With one hand, he used a spatula to press a pastry into a long strip, and with a gloved hand, he sprinkled chopped greens and a small pinch of diced meat onto half of it. Then, the spatula lifted the other half, folding it gently before pressing down. A sizzling sound erupted with the pressure, and a rich fragrance hit her face.

Seeing Bai Xiao drawn by the scent, the Shop Owner greeted her with a smile, "Would you like to try one?"

Smelling the unfamiliar meat and vegetable aromas, Bai Xiao asked, "What kind of vegetables and meat are in this?"

"The vegetables are wild greens found only in our town's bamboo forest, and the meat is also a local specialty. This is a gift from the Lord Mountain God; you won't find it outside of Qingshi Town." Seeing that she wasn't saying she wanted to buy but was instead asking about the ingredients, the Shop Owner became slightly displeased. "Are you buying or not? If not, don't stand here and disturb my business."

"How much for one?"

"Our Qingshi Town is famous for high quality at low prices; a fried pastry is only three hundred yuan."

"Three hundred yuan?! You're selling such a small pastry with so little meat for three hundred?" Bai Xiao was shocked. The game had only given her a total of one thousand yuan in her bag, and one pastry cost three hundred?!

This was practically an exorbitant price! And he called this 'high quality at low prices'? Just what kind of purchasing power did they have here?

The Shop Owner grew anxious upon hearing this. "What does an outsider like you know? This meat is hard to come by; this little basin is all that's left for the entire year so far."

"Forget it, forget it. I won't buy it for now." Bai Xiao repeatedly declined. She hadn't found an offering yet, and there were still two and a half days to go; it was better not to spend money yet.

"If you're not buying, don't stand here. Hurry up and leave, go, go, go." Seeing that Bai Xiao wasn't buying and kept looking inside the house, the Shop Owner immediately became annoyed and raised his hand to shoo her away.

Bai Xiao had originally wanted to see what was inside the residents' homes. This shop's interior was simple, looking like a single-person residence, and it was exceptionally clean. On the innermost side of the room, there seemed to be some kind of portrait being enshrined. Before Bai Xiao could see it clearly, she was chased down the steps by the Shop Owner.

Bai Xiao had no choice but to keep walking forward. As the sun rose higher, more people came out, and the town gradually became lively.

The people here seemed to love cleanliness; even the sweat towels of the porters were snowy white, and the vendors were very particular about how they handled their goods.

Bai Xiao walked up to a shop run by a kind-looking old woman and pointed to the fruit in a bamboo basket. "Grandma, how much are your fruits?"

Seeing a beautiful girl with red lips and white teeth, the old woman's eyes suddenly lit up. She had been dozing off with her chin in her hand, but now she wasn't sleepy at all. She said excitedly, "These are Mountain Pears, juicy and sweet. These are Mountain Apricots; don't mind their small size, they're even sweeter than the pears..."

The old woman pointed to the fruits in the basket and introduced them one by one. The reason Bai Xiao chose this shop to ask was that she noticed the window was large but the room was small, and the old lady was hunched and short, making it easy to see the layout inside.

Bai Xiao patiently listened to the old woman's introduction and found that the fruit wasn't cheap either. A single small Mountain Pear cost a hundred yuan, so she immediately gave up on the idea of buying.

She pointed to the portrait inside the room as if casually and asked, "Grandma, I'm from the Parade God Team from the provincial capital, specially invited to participate in the Procession Assembly. I heard that everyone here worships the Mountain God. Unfortunately, it's my first time here, and I haven't had the honor of paying my respects to the Mountain God yet. Is that portrait in your room the Lord Mountain God?"

"Parade God Team? Why this year..." The old woman muttered a few words to herself after hearing Bai Xiao. Not knowing what she had thought of, she gave a strange smile, stopped herself, and then replied, "The portrait indeed enshrines the Lord Mountain God."

"I see you're offering your own fruit. I wonder what the Lord Mountain God likes? Our Parade God Team will also participate in the Offering Ceremony tonight. I'd like to ask for advice—what kind of offerings should we buy to present to the great Mountain God?"

The game hinted that the Mountain God was holy and should be treated with piety; Bai Xiao used this same line of questioning with everyone.

Sure enough, the old woman became happy upon hearing the respect in Bai Xiao's words. "Sincerity is all that matters. As a pious believer of the Mountain God, one should naturally offer the best of what they have to him."

It was always the same rhetoric.

Not giving up, Bai Xiao continued, "Grandma, you're really good at speaking in riddles. I see you're offering mountain peaches to the Mountain God. Could it be that mountain peaches are your best things? From your earlier introduction of other fruits and their prices, mountain peaches don't seem to be the best."

"How are they not? What does an outsider like you know!" The old woman grew anxious and quickly turned around, muttering words Bai Xiao couldn't understand, and bowed to the divine image.

After bowing, she turned back and questioned with some anger, "You dare to question my piety in worshiping the Mountain God?!"

Bai Xiao waved her hands repeatedly and said quickly, "I didn't mean that at all. I'm really just curious and anxious to buy some good things to present to the Lord Mountain God tonight."

Hearing this, the old woman saw that she seemed to be telling the truth. Her wrinkled white eyebrows smoothed out, and she scrutinized her up and down again, her eyes gleaming once more. "You really want to know? Then stay and work for me for a day, and I'll tell you. How about it?"

Here it was again, here it was again. It was the same look the Townsfolk had when they first saw her coming out of the alley, perhaps even more intense.

A sudden sense of crisis rose in Bai Xiao's heart. She forced a dry smile and declined, "No thanks for now."

Seeing she couldn't get any information, Bai Xiao continued walking along the long street. Along the way, she stopped at several shops and saw that they all hung the same portrait. Unfortunately, the portraits weren't large, and Bai Xiao couldn't see clearly what was depicted. She vaguely felt the figure looked like a monkey. Monkeys love peaches—was that why the old woman offered mountain peaches?

No, looking all the way down the street, every household's offerings were different; some didn't even have any.

The long street was only a few hundred meters, and normally one could reach the end quickly, but Bai Xiao walked slowly as she asked questions and browsed, taking two hours to reach the end of the street.

Connected to the end of the street was an open space much larger than the town entrance. This open space was circular, like a large plaza. In the center of the plaza was a Sacrificial Altar about four meters long. Above the altar was a three-story-high Divine Platform. At this moment, a divine statue about half a person's height sat on the platform, covered by a red cloth, appearing exceptionally mysterious and solemn.

At the edge of the circular plaza were paths leading in all directions, about a dozen of them. The paths were winding and deep, making it impossible to see what lay within.

Just as Bai Xiao was about to step forward to investigate the plaza, she suddenly noticed that the shouting from the shops behind her had stopped.

She couldn't help but stop and suddenly look back.

Several Shop Owners who had been craning their necks to peek at her didn't react in time and hurriedly withdrew their gazes.

Why were these people secretly looking at her and laughing?