Chen Zhou narrowed his eyes.
Strictly speaking, entities that transcended the scope of living beings were not non-existent—evil spirits were such a thing.
However, the essence of an evil spirit was vastly different from that of the Golden Buddha.
He and Wu Gou had previously speculated that the Golden Buddha was a product of heaven and earth, born to balance death qi.
But if it truly was artificially created, then who was the person who made it?
Was it those false gods of the Central Province?
Or was it some other existence?
Regardless, the fact that the Golden Buddha could only descend once every thousand years at least indicated that the manufacturing cost was immense, and the realm barrier had a significant impact on it.
The realm could still hold out for at least a hundred years.
For Chen Zhou, that was plenty of time.
Since the Golden Buddha was in his hands, he could take his time studying it.
After Lu Cheng received the blueprints for the Dingnai Hall, he and his apprentices had been working overtime to finish the construction.
Calculating the time, it should be just about finished.
Chen Zhou told Yu He to take the severed half of the Golden Buddha to the Dingnai Hall for research.
Yu He nodded, stuffed the half-piece of the Golden Buddha into a cloth bag, and carefully tucked away the seven pieces of broken divinity. He gave a polite bow and turned to leave.
Yu He pushed open the door and walked down the stairs of the Gathering Fortune Pavilion.
Just as he stepped out of the building, he heard a burst of commotion.
By the pond, Cang Ming and Cang Che were still soaking in the water, messing around with Yusai.
Cang Che held Yusai up high, and the little fish spirit giggled loudly.
"Higher! Even higher!"
Cang Che tossed him upward, and Yusai did a somersault in the air before landing in the water with a splash.
Then he poked his head out, shook it, and laughed again.
"Again! Do it again!"
Yu He took one look and withdrew his gaze.
How childish.
As he thought this, a figure suddenly lunged in front of him.
"Master!"
Yu He paused in his tracks.
He looked up at the man before him.
The man looked to be in his thirties, with a face full of stubble and red-rimmed eyes, staring at him with great excitement.
Yu He fell silent.
He recognized this man.
For the past few days, this person had been crouching at the entrance of the Gathering Fortune Pavilion every day, calling him "Master" the moment he saw him.
"This... Uncle."
Yu He said, "I have said this many times. I am only four years old."
Song Zi'an nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, yes. Master, you are four years old."
Yu He: "...Stop calling me Master."
Song Zi'an's eyes grew even redder.
"Master, do you really not remember me?"
"I am Zi'an! Song Zi'an!"
"The disciple you took in five hundred years ago!"
Yu He looked at him expressionlessly.
"Five hundred years ago?"
"That was something from a past life."
Song Zi'an rubbed his hands together in anxiety.
"Master, listen to me. You are the reincarnation of the Heavenly Chef!"
"In your previous life, you took me as a disciple at Zhenlong Mountain and taught me culinary arts!"
"You even—"
Yu He raised a hand to interrupt him.
"Look at me. I am only four."
"Look at you. You are in your thirties. Is it appropriate to call me Master?"
Song Zi'an lowered his head dejectedly.
"I am twenty-two this year..."
Yu He: "..."
He looked at Song Zi'an's stubbly face, remained silent for a moment, and then sighed.
"I am very busy. I need to complete the task given to me by the Lord."
He carried the cloth bag, bypassed Song Zi'an, and walked forward.
Song Zi'an quickly followed.
"Master, what task is it?"
"Are you making New Year's Eve dinner?"
"I can help you."
"I am very fast at peeling garlic!"
Yu He did not stop.
"I do not need it."
Song Zi'an followed step by step.
"Master, do not be modest."
"I have been practicing my culinary skills diligently all these years just so I could assist you again one day."
"Please just let me help."
"It has been so many years since we shared the same stove!"
Yu He stopped.
He turned back and looked at Song Zi'an.
That face was full of anticipation, and though his eyes were red, they were very bright.
Yu He looked around and saw that no one else was there, then he continued walking.
"As you wish."
Song Zi'an was overjoyed and hurried to keep up.
"Thank you, Master!"
"Master, walk slower. Let me carry that!" He reached out to take the cloth bag from Yu He's hand.
Yu He dodged him.
"No need."
Song Zi'an was not bothered and followed along with a beaming smile.
Yusai saw Yu He leaving and stopped playing.
He poked his head out of the water and wagged his small silver tail.
"I am not playing with you two anymore. I am going to find Little He for something delicious!"
Cang Ming was stunned. "Who is Little He?"
Yusai thought for a moment and pointed into the distance. "It is that... that kid who was born at the same time as me and looks like a mushroom!"
Cang Ming and Cang Che exchanged a glance.
Yu He.
The reincarnated Heavenly Chef.
Cang Ming stood up immediately.
"Imperial Father, I will accompany you!"
Yusai blinked and asked, "What is an Imperial Father?"
Cang Ming was choked up by the question.
Cang Che laughed mockingly from the side.
"It is... it is..."
Cang Ming stammered, unable to explain.
Yusai saw Yu He getting further away and became anxious. He stopped dwelling on it and said hurriedly, "Fine, fine, you accompany me. Quick!"
With a flick of his tail, he leaped out of the pond and landed on the shore.
Cang Ming and Cang Che also hurried ashore and followed behind him.
The three of them chased after the direction Yu He had gone.
After everyone had left, the Gathering Fortune Pavilion became quiet.
Chen Zhou stood by the window and looked out.
The sky had already grown dark.
In the streets of the City of the Wrongfully Dead, white lanterns hung everywhere.
The character for "Offerings" was pasted on the lanterns, which swayed gently in the night wind.
On both sides of the street, offering tables were set up in front of every household.
Incense burners sat on the tables, with three sticks of incense burning, their smoke curling upward.
The offerings were also quite peculiar—some were gold ingots made of paper, and others were various garments cut from yellow paper.
A few children wearing little black burial shrouds, their faces painted deathly white, crowded around a small stall to buy freshly made Meng Po Soup.
It was actually just brown sugar ginger tea. The Ugly Hag shouted while ladling the soup, "Drink up, drink up! Drink it to forget your troubles and have a smooth year ahead!"
The ginger tea was a recipe taught to her by the new resident, Little Song, who said children liked it.
Looking at it now, it indeed pleased the children.
In front of a nearby paper-craft shop, several women were picking out new clothes.
The shopkeeper held up a burial shroud to show them. "How about this one? This year's latest style. The cuffs are embroidered with the same skull pattern as the Lord's. Very auspicious!"
A woman touched the fabric and nodded with satisfaction. "Give me two. One for my husband and one for me."
Chen Zhou looked at this scene and smiled.
No wonder the City of the Wrongfully Dead had been so lively lately; it turned out the New Year had arrived.
He did not know who had started these customs.
The commoners of the City of the Wrongfully Dead thought hanging white lanterns was festive, the wealthy merchants of Lantao City thought wearing burial shrouds was lucky, and the children had heard from some adult that one should drink Meng Po Soup for the New Year.
With these groups mixed together, they had somehow turned a New Year that should have been joyous and celebratory into something with the atmosphere of an Underworld funeral.
Yet, everyone seemed to think it was quite good.
It felt just right.
Forget it, he would let them be.
After all this time, Chen Zhou had grown used to seeing it.
He did not understand it, but he respected it.
As Chen Zhou watched, his heart felt a rare sense of peace.
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