"How much is considered a small amount?" Sparrow Cat’s eyes lit up, and he asked shyly.
"Anything under a hundred."
Sparrow Cat immediately squinted his eyes and couldn’t help but giggle.
So why bother with that fifty for meals? You could just order whatever you want!
Wen Yan replied offhandedly, then quickly ordered two large plates of white-cut chicken and a couple more dishes. After paying and seeing the restaurant had accepted the order, and that the courier only switched once before someone picked it up—no more swaps after that—he felt relieved and put away his phone.
He checked his call history too—nobody had called, Zhuge Wanjun hadn’t called back either.
"Where’s Zhang Laoxi?"
"I heard he went back to his old house to move some stuff. He’s still got a ton of things over there. Once he moves it all over, he’ll be living next door to us long-term."
"Alright then, we’ll just eat ourselves later."
Half an hour later, Wen Yan stood at the door waiting, glancing left and right. This entire row, both sides, even the row up front, it was all pitch black—only the streetlights were on.
Even the apartment next door where Zhang Laoxi lived was completely dark.
He watched as car headlights shone on the street—a courier, throttle twisted to max, roaring over.
Wen Yan took a look—hey, it was that same guy as last time. The dude’s face looked a little pale, with barely-contained fear in his eyes. Clearly, he was a bit spooked by this place.
"Mr. Wen, here’s your food."
"Great, thanks man! Next time you deliver and I’m not down here, just leave it at the gate, that’s fine."
"Ah... oh, okay, okay..."
If it were any other spot, the courier wouldn’t think much, but for some weird reason, remembering all the stories about this place, his imagination just ran wild and scared himself half to death.
"Could you please give me a good rating?"
After blurting that out, the courier revved up again, roaring away down the road.
Wen Yan sighed—second time delivering here, and he’s still scared off by the rumors.
He glanced around—heck, the streetlights were plenty bright.
Thinking for a moment, he opened his delivery app, for once left a review, gave him a good rating, then thought again and tipped the courier twenty...
After typing the number, he hesitated, gritted his teeth, and gave fifty instead.
Just in case he wasn’t home, there’d only be Sparrow Cat, Little Zombie, Uncle, then in the back row, Old Zhao and the Five Oddballs—couldn’t even piece together a single living human among them.
This place—having someone make a delivery, if they accidentally saw someone (or something), no way they’d come again.
Twice in a row, it’s this dude delivering. At this point, pretty sure there isn’t another person in this whole area willing to come out here.
Review done, Wen Yan grabbed the food and headed back to his room.
"Feng Yao, let’s eat first. We’ll deal with things after dinner."
Feng Yao pounded away at the computer a bit, set it to connect to Scorching Sun Department’s server for auto-processing, then came over for dinner himself.
He routinely fed Little Zombie, gave Sparrow Cat a bowl of noodles, blessed a tomato with Yang Energy for each of them, then Wen Yan carried some rice and dishes to the basement, putting them out in front of Uncle.
"Uncle, time to eat. Been crazy busy today, so eating takeout again. Don’t mind it, okay?"
He lit some incense, bowed a couple times, then stuck it into the incense burner.
Only then did Wen Yan go back up, took a big plate of white-cut chicken, and headed for the back yard.
He placed the white-cut chicken at the gate of Old Zhao’s villa.
"Been kinda busy today, let’s just make do for now. If everything goes well and troubles are solved in a few days, I’ll invite you all over to my place for a real meal."
The door opened. The Five Oddballs squeezed together at the entrance, looking a bit sheepish at Wen Yan.
Wen Yan smiled and waved his hand.
"You want me to pour the soy sauce on top? Or you wanna dip it yourselves?"
"Just pour it on top, it’s fine."
"Alright then, enjoy."
After feeding the Five Oddballs, Wen Yan turned and left.
They took the white-cut chicken inside, set it down on the offering table on the first floor. The five brothers didn’t rush to eat, instead they pulled Old Zhao over.
Old Zhao had just reached for the chicken head and took a bite when the five brothers started singing in chorus.
"Old Zhao, even as a ghost you gotta have a conscience."
"Yeah, Wen Yan’s such a good guy!"
"He let you sunbathe and everything."
"And now white-cut chicken, brought you soy sauce too!"
"If you don’t do something, can you even eat this chicken with a clear conscience?"
Old Zhao looked at the five brothers and finally realized—these guys actually let him eat first for once, there’s gotta be something fishy. He got tricked again.
"What are you guys up to?"
The five brothers all perked up their eyes at once.
"Don’t tell us you can’t sense it—he’s looking for someone."
"Exactly, exactly! We can all sense it, how come you can’t?"
"No way you’re dumber than us, right?"
"Didn’t you say you’re an expert in feng shui?"
"Help Wen Yan find that person."
Old Zhao wanted to argue back, but just couldn’t say anything. He absolutely couldn’t admit he was dumber than the five brothers, or that he didn’t know feng shui.
"Come on, Old Zhao, even ghosts need a conscience."
"Wen Yan’s so busy, he can’t even eat dinner."
"Has to be a life-or-death matter to skip dinner, right?"
"I’m honestly worried he’s gonna die."
"If he dies, how are we gonna have a feast next week?"
The five ghosts said this as they surrounded Old Zhao, all wiping at their eyes.
Old Zhao was totally baffled.
"But... but I don’t know how to find ’em!"
"We’ll help you." For once, the five ghosts spoke in unison.
The next second, the five ghosts lunged forward, grabbing Old Zhao’s arms, legs, and body. Their thoughts and senses miraculously synchronized, condensing all their power and perception and sharing it with Old Zhao.
Feeling a new sense in his mind, Old Zhao’s expression went solemn. He immediately stretched out both hands, starting to calculate with his fingers.
"Today is the first day of the waxing moon. According to what you all sense, it’s very auspicious for the west.
There’s a blend of reality and illusion here, the energy is shifting and unstable—something must be interfering.
No, no, what he wants is too intense; this isn’t that kind of uncertainty.
What he’s seeking is the only fixed point.
Hmm, found it: number thirty-eight, located to the southwest. That’s the spot."
After finishing his last line, Old Zhao’s eyes rolled back, and he toppled over stiff as a board.