32: Grandma! My female friend, Xiaomei!

Night fell quietly, and by the time everyone arrived at Jiang Family Town, the sky had turned completely dark.

Looking from a distance, two rows of bright red lanterns were clearly visible.

These two rows of red lanterns were situated on either side of the ancient town's streets; every household had hung such lanterns high at their doors. They were arranged exceptionally neatly, like two straight lines of streetlights stretching into the distance.

However, a sense of eeriness welled up in Jiang Yi's heart. He vaguely remembered that the town was currently celebrating the "Mountain God Festival." According to local tradition, the town should avoid holding weddings or other festive events during this period.

But the scene before him was truly strange, and it couldn't help but make one feel a chill in their heart.

With suspicion, Jiang Yi stopped in front of the stone tablet at the town entrance and dialed Grandma's phone number.

“Hello! Grandma, my friend and I have arrived at the stone tablet at the town entrance. Come pick me up.”

“Alright! AYi.”

Not long after, an Old Woman who looked to be over seventy, with thinning and graying hair, came rushing over.

Although time had carved wrinkles onto her face, Grandma was full of energy, her steps as light and quick as a young lad's.

Grandma spotted Star standing next to her grandson from a distance and immediately beamed with joy, her face full of warmth: “Oh, AYi! If you had called Grandma in advance, I would have definitely driven the little tricycle to pick you guys up myself.”

“Look at this, such a handsome girl walked such a long way with you, how tiring!” As soon as she finished speaking, Grandma unhesitatingly reached out and—*snap*—flicked Jiang Yi's forehead, meaning to blame him for being inconsiderate.

“Ouch! Grandma, he's not that delicate! And he's...” Before Jiang Yi could finish, Star covered his mouth.

Star stepped on Jiang Yi's foot with his high heels and gave Grandma a sweet smile, saying: “Hello, Grandma, I'm Xiao Mei! I'm AYi's 'female' friend, and also a photographer.”

“We came to Jiang Family Town specifically to visit you this time, and also to gather material for the TV station!”

Jiang Yi's face turned red as he forced a smile. “Mm-hmm!”

Grandma smiled until her eyes narrowed into slits, nodding repeatedly in approval.

“It's a lot of trouble for you to come see a useless Old Woman like me, you're too kind.”

Grandma took Star's hand, looking more satisfied the longer she looked.

Star said coyly: “Isn't it because AYi wanted to meet the family...”

...Seeing that 'Gang Zi' was only making things worse, Jiang Yi simply gave up struggling. He gave Du Wenqing a look that said, 'Save my life.'

Du Wenqing blinked to indicate she received the message!

Immediately after, she put on a pitiful look, stroked her flat belly, and complained in a delicate voice: “Oh my, Grandma Jiang~ Wenqing is about to starve to death!” That cute and playful look instantly made Grandma burst into laughter.

Grandma suddenly slapped her thigh and realized: “Oh my! Look at this Old Woman's memory. I was so excited to see Xiao Mei that I completely forgot about the important matter of eating.”

“Come, come! Children, don't just stand there. Follow Grandma home, we're eating right away!” Saying this, Grandma didn't forget to pull Xiao Mei's hand... The group followed Grandma home, where the meal was already prepared. Everyone sat around and chatted while they ate.

“Burp, burp, burp...” Yun Song let out a series of loud burps!

“Sorry, sorry! Grandma's cooking is too delicious, I couldn't help but eat a few extra bowls.” Yun Song curled his toes. *How embarrassing! In front of Miss Du...*

“Hahaha! It's fine, it's fine! As long as you like the food this Old Woman made with her own hands, that's enough!” Grandma beamed and scooped up another full spoonful of fragrant rice.

She carefully placed it into the rice bowl in front of Yun Song, which was already piled high like a small mountain, and muttered: “Come, come, young man, eat some more!”

Yun Song quickly reached out both hands to hold the large bowl. Feeling the warmth from his palms, a warm current couldn't help but surge in his heart.

“Thank you very much! Grandma.” After saying that, he lowered his head and continued to feast with total concentration.

Beside him, Du Wenqing's eyes widened as she finally realized—so that's how it is!!!

Only then did she understand why Yun Song always filled his belly with steamed corn buns when he was young. Thinking back, it was truly not easy for the then-unprosperous Qingyun Temple to barely make ends meet and raise Yun Song.

Star looked at the wolfing-down Daoist Master Yunsong and couldn't help but secretly marvel: “This guy's appetite is truly amazing!”

“Is that the sixth bowl, or the seventh?”

Jiang Yi had a look of someone who had long since seen through it all. He tilted his head and noticed that Grandma's expression was a bit strange, as if she was hiding something from him.

“Grandma, do you have something you want to say to me?” Jiang Yi couldn't help but ask.

Grandma hesitated for a moment and said: “AYi! Actually, Grandma didn't want you and Nannan to come back this time.”

“Why? Could it be that you've encountered something dirty too, Grandma?” Jiang Yi shot up from his chair.

“Hey, hey, hey! Why are you shouting so loud?” Another flick to the head from Grandma came his way.

“Oh!” Jiang Yi clutched his forehead and sat down obediently.

“Listen to this Old Woman, don't be so restless every day.” Grandma gave her grandson a few disdainful glares.

“It's because some strange things have been happening in town recently. Several unmarried girls have gone missing; they haven't been seen alive, nor have their bodies been found.”

“Old Man Gu from the coffin shop said the Mountain God is angry and wants to take a bride. I was worried Nannan would be in danger!”

“Grandma, just put your mind at ease! Nannan is in C City, she's doing great!” Du Wenqing tightly held Grandma's hand and patted it gently.

“I'm not worried about Nannan now. Doesn't the news say that the Underworld Company is in C City?”

“But you came back with Xiao Mei to see me. This Old Woman is both happy and anxious! I'm old; after eating, I think about this again, and I feel my blood pressure rising.”

Yun Song put down his chopsticks and deftly pulled a bottle of Ghost-Slaying Pills from his backpack, pouring out one and handing it to Grandma. “Grandma, hurry and eat this. It lowers blood pressure very quickly. My master is a famous 'old doctor of Chinese medicine'!”

Grandma took the pill and swallowed it. After resting for a while, her complexion immediately looked much better. “Thank you, Little Song.”

“Your master's medical skills are truly impressive! Some other day, this Old Woman will steam a few baskets of soup dumplings for you to try.”

“Thank you, Grandma. It's so good to have a Grandma.” Yun Song still had a few grains of rice stuck to his face.

“Oh! Little Song's mouth is like it's been smeared with honey! I've cooked for AYi for over twenty years, and I've never heard him praise this Old Woman much.” Grandma shot a glare over.

Jiang Yi shuddered and quickly tried to change the subject: “Grandma! Where did my Grandpa go?”

“Grandpa? AYi, have you become muddled from a fever! Your Grandpa has been gone for several years now.”

At this moment, Du Wenqing looked up at Grandma Jiang with a face full of horror!

“Again!”