The temporary fair, which Wan Wan had managed to set up by chance, went very smoothly, leaving everyone happy.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, it seems you are quite short on grain here?"
After the lively trading concluded, Yang Hong, while watching the villagers excitedly discuss their departure, took Chen Xiaohu by the arm and asked a question he already knew the answer to.
"As for grain, you could say we are short, and you could say we are not,"
Chen Xiaohu said with a sigh, tightly clutching the cloth bag in his hand.
"Oh? What do you mean by that?"
"Fellow Daoist, please follow me."
Yang Hong's hundred-plus catties of spiritual rice had already broken down Chen Xiaohu's defenses. He directly led Yang Hong and the others towards the back of the village.
There were not many people in this so-called village. Yang Hong had already scanned it with his divine sense; there were a total of 483 people. Among them, 173 were children under fourteen, 22 were elders who could not walk easily, and the rest were the able-bodied.
Of the 288 able-bodied individuals, only 102 were men, and the remaining 186 were women.
It seemed that this place was also not peaceful.
The most direct cause for such a skewed gender ratio was war and natural disasters!
And the architecture of this village was quite interesting.
Most of the buildings were underground. Only three to five feet of the structure were exposed above ground, forming a slope facing east. Below the surface, the buildings spiraled downwards, with rooms built along the spiral staircase.
Around the village were four gently sloping walls. These walls were clearly not for defending against demonic beasts or humans.
Soon, they passed through the village and arrived at a stretch of reddish-red Gobi Desert, where patches of grayish-yellow plants were growing.
"Fellow Daoist, please look. This is the primary food source of our Red Stone Village – the Tu Gua. The annual yield is decent enough to ensure the villagers don't starve."
As he spoke, Chen Xiaohu pulled up a grayish-yellow plant and pointed to its root system.
Yang Hong leaned in to take a closer look. Upon seeing the plant, Yang Hong immediately thought of a high-yield grain crop from his previous life – sweet potatoes, also known as Chinese yams.
The plant in Chen Xiaohu's hand resembled sweet potatoes. Both were vine plants, and both were eaten for their root systems. The yield also seemed to be very high, with only the color of the leaves and vines being different.
Sweet potato vines are green, and even if the leaves wither, the vines remain green. The vines of the Tu Gua, along with its grayish-yellow leaves, immediately brought to mind farmyard manure.
However, the fruit of the root system looked quite similar, and the skin was generally red, varying in depth.
Looking at this Tu Gua, Yang Hong couldn't help but think of sweet potatoes from his previous life.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, may I try some?"
"You can try it, but I hope you are mentally prepared. This Tu Gua is not just a little bit difficult to eat."
"How difficult is it to eat? Then I must try it properly."
Yang Hong's curiosity was piqued. He took a piece of Tu Gua, about the size of a thumb, that Chen Xiaohu had peeled, and put it into his mouth, chewing it carefully. His expression was enigmatic and peculiar.
"Give me a bit to try too."
Wan Wan was a little curious and wanted to try. Chen Xiaohu had already peeled a piece, but looking at Wan Wan's cultivation, and then at her and the other women's equipment and clothing, he resolutely shook his head.
"Fellow Daoist, this Tu Gua is truly hard to eat. Please don't try it, really."
Chen Xiaohu adamantly refused to give any to Wan Wan and the others. It wasn't that he was stingy, but he was afraid of being beaten.
"But my husband is eating it with great relish?"
"This~ This Fellow Daoist Yang might~ perhaps~ should be so overwhelmed by the unpleasant taste that he cannot speak."
Chen Xiaohu was baffled, seeing Yang Hong close his eyes as he ate, chewing vigorously as if he were enjoying it. He couldn't come up with a proper explanation for a long time.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, let them try it too. There are thousands of flavors in the world, and this is just one more. It won't make much difference."
Just as Wan Wan was about to get angry and dig up the Tu Gua herself, Yang Hong opened his eyes, a look of satisfaction on his face, and said to Chen Xiaohu.
"Ah~ This? Fellow Daoist truly has profound insight. I am inferior.
Then let everyone taste the flavor of Tu Gua."
Afterward, Chen Xiaohu cut the Tu Gua he was holding into seven pieces and distributed them to Wan Wan and the other six women.
And then~~
"Ah~ Ptooey~"
"Cough cough~ So bitter~ So astringent~"
"So hard to eat~"
"It's too awful!"
All seven women, including Zhou Fengzhi, who was the least picky and the most gluttonous, spat it out as soon as they took a bite.
The taste buds of cultivators are far more sensitive than those of mortals. They are more sensitive to both unpleasant and pleasant tastes, and their reactions are naturally more intense.
"Bastard, did you give me poison?"
Zhou Fengzhi spat out the Tu Gua and with a flash of movement, appeared in front of Chen Xiaohu, lifting him up as if she were about to kill him.
Those who are gluttonous are generally discerning about food. When they encounter something unpleasant, they tend to become more agitated.
"Fengzhi, stop."
Seeing that Zhou Fengzhi had already begun to mobilize her true qi, Yang Hong quickly called out to her. If he had been a second slower, Chen Xiaohu would have surely been reduced to a pulp.
"Hmph~"
Zhou Fengzhi was still a little angry, but she still put Chen Xiaohu down.
"Didn't I just say that? Life has myriad flavors, and one more won't make much difference.
Have you forgotten what we just experienced?"
As Yang Hong spoke, he personally went to the field, pulled up another Tu Gua plant, and cut a piece about the size of a fist for Zhu Yu Yan and the others.
Two pieces for Zhou Fengzhi.
"Eat~ You will like it."
"..."
Zhu Yu Yan and the other six women exchanged glances. Although what Yang Hong said made sense, and was a grand principle, it was completely out of character for Yang Hong.
When did Yang Hong start to like lecturing? He usually subdued people with force, or avoided those he couldn't defeat; when it came to eating, he ate what he liked and didn't eat what he didn't like.
Not to mention Yang Hong not hitting women; he had personally killed Wang Xifeng and You Daxiang.
And in the early days of their cultivation, except for Zhu Yu Yan, Yang Hong had beaten all of them under the guise of teaching them techniques and spells.
"Sigh~ It really is hard to eat."
Only after Zhu Yu Yan and the other six women had finished eating the Tu Gua and swallowed it did Yang Hong sigh.
It was bitter, astringent, and had a strange sourness.
Tu Gua was indeed the most unpalatable food Yang Hong had ever eaten in both his past and present lives.
It was indeed food. After eating the Tu Gua, there was a distinct feeling of fullness, and it was not poisonous. Yang Hong had confirmed this with his divine sense.
If the taste were disregarded, Tu Gua was indeed an excellent staple food.
However, if cultivators like Yang Hong found it difficult to swallow, ordinary people would likely find it even more unacceptable.
For some reason, seeing the Tu Gua and thinking of food reminded Yang Hong of the years he spent farming in the imperial palace of the Great Sui Dynasty.
At that time, although his cultivation was low, and he deliberately acted like an ordinary person to hide his strength, he had lived a very comfortable life during those years.
Even if there were some palace intrigues, they never reached him.
Thinking about it made him feel nostalgic and sentimental.
He then looked at the Tu Gua in his hand and asked Chen Xiaohu,
"Fellow Daoist Chen, how do you prepare this Tu Gua?"
"It's quite simple. Soak it in salt water for a day, then boil or roast it.
Although it's still hard to eat, it can at least be swallowed to some extent, and filling your stomach is not a problem."
Chen Xiaohu shrugged, unconcerned. He had eaten Tu Gua since he was born and was already used to it.
But the hand holding the spiritual rice in his hand gripped even tighter!
"Then, please trouble Fellow Daoist Chen to host us for a meal?"
"It would be my pleasure~"
Each with their own calculations, they readily agreed.
Perhaps this was Yang Hong's merit and fortune. In just an hour, he had integrated himself into this Red Stone Village.