Chapter 23: Eldest Brother Can Absorb Spiritual Energy Now, But There’s a Catch

BBQ Powder?

Juanjuan lowered her head slightly, pondering over yet another term she didn’t understand. But she couldn’t ask about it. If she did, her little secret of hearing strange voices would be exposed.

“Juanjuan! Er Mao!” Her father’s voice came from the side. Juanjuan looked up to see her father, neatly dressed, revealing a handsome face full of vigor. However, his legs still seemed a bit unsteady, showing a slight limp as he walked.

Bai Tian approached and casually ruffled his little daughter’s hair. 【I must say, the little girl is actually quite pretty, just a bit undernourished and thin. Especially those innocent, slightly droopy puppy eyes—super cute!】
【So adorable!】

Juanjuan’s eyes brightened: her father was praising her!

Bai Tian: 【I must earn money to make my little girl healthy and beautiful!】

“I’m going out for a bit. Don’t run around the house,” Bai Tian instructed. Juanjuan nodded obediently, “Okay.”

His third son, Yun An, casually asked, “Dad, where are you going? You’re not off to drink and gamble again, are you?”

【After all, drunks and gamblers are inherently unreliable, not to mention their father, who indulges in both.】

Juanjuan also looked at her father, waiting for his answer. Bai Tian, seeing the wary eyes of his children, felt a pang of exhaustion. He cursed the original host in his heart while explaining to the kids, “I’m going to see if there’s an ox cart to town tomorrow. We need to buy some rice and flour for the house. We can’t keep eating wild vegetable cakes forever! You all need to eat well to grow!”

To Bai Tian’s surprise, as soon as he finished speaking, his little daughter anxiously tugged at his sleeve. “Are you going to town again?”

It wasn’t her fault for being sensitive. Just yesterday morning, their parents and brothers had gone to town, only for the ox cart to overturn before they even got there. Now, with their injuries still not healed, how could they be going to town again? What if…

Bai Tian roughly understood what his little girl was worried about. He smiled and gently patted her head like a soft ball, “Don’t worry, nothing will happen.”

Hearing that their father was going to town, Yun An, standing nearby, felt a stir in his heart. 【If I go to town, I can also bring back some things from the Dimensional Space.】
【If I’m lucky, I might even sell the BBQ Powder for some money.】
【After all, BBQ Powder can’t be eaten as a staple. For those with meat, it’s a treasure, but for the Bai Family now, without meat, it’s useless. Are we supposed to dip cakes in BBQ Powder?】

“Dad, if possible, I want to go too.” Bai Tian looked at his son and gently refused, “Er Mao, you’re still injured. Stay home and rest.”

Yun An (Er Mao): “I’m fine, I can go to town.”

Bai Tian: “No, you need to heal.”

Yun An (Er Mao): “I’m fine!”

The father and son stared each other down, eyes locked. Bai Tian decisively spoke the truth. “The problem is, going to town means taking the ox cart, and that’s eight coins round trip!”

Yun An fell silent: …

So it wasn’t about caring for him, but about the eight coins for the ox cart ride!

Suddenly, he felt exhausted. Bai Tian’s eyes drifted, a bit guilty. The truth was, the family really didn’t have many copper coins left. Last time they went out with the sons, it was to sell the eldest to town as an apprentice, which is why the whole family went. Who knew the ox cart would overturn? This time, going to town was to buy rice and flour and look for business opportunities, not for fun. It was all serious business, not a leisure trip. Why bring along a limping, blood-coughing Er Mao?

“Actually, it’s not about the money. It’s that you’re injured, and the journey to town is tiring. Dad cares about you!” Bai Tian, seeing his third son wasn’t easily fooled, smacked his lips to ease the awkwardness and made his escape. “I’ll go ask around first. Juanjuan, look after your brothers at home!”

Juanjuan watched her father leave, then turned to her unhappy Third Brother, cautiously saying, “I’ll go check on Second Brother.”

Juanjuan left, leaving Yun An alone in the small, rundown Bai Family courtyard. Well, alone except for three hens. One of them wandered to his feet and, under his gaze, deposited a fresh, steaming pile of chicken droppings.

Yun An: “Shoo!”

…

In the fields of Niantao Village, Aunt Wu watched the young, beautiful wife. She couldn’t understand why the young woman, with wild vegetables right at her fingertips, would pluck a weed and toss it into her back basket. Her movements were quick and confident, as if she were indeed picking wild vegetables.

“Goudan’s mother, you’re picking weeds. This is the wild vegetable you can eat.”

Jiang Dai, carefully selecting wild vegetables: …

It was truly mortifying.

“Is that so? Thank you, Auntie.”

Jiang Dai smiled gently and humbly inquired, “Auntie, have you ever seen a type of grass in our village with particularly large roots, like a big stone?”

“I’m afraid I haven’t seen anything like that.”

Aunt Wu shook her head, then curiously asked, “Is everything alright with your family’s Er Mao? He was coughing up blood. I must say, that girl Hua Ni’er is quite fierce.”

Jiang Dai smiled warmly, “He’s fine now.”

As Aunt Wu helped pick wild vegetables, she chatted with Jiang Dai, gathering information like a gossip network.

Meanwhile, Jiang Dai was forming a new understanding of the village from Aunt Wu’s words.

After chatting for a while, Jiang Dai turned around, only to find that her eldest son, Goudan, was missing!

“Aunt Wu, have you seen my Goudan?” Jiang Dai asked anxiously.

Aunt Wu replied, “Oh! Wasn’t he just here?”

Seeing Jiang Dai’s worry, Aunt Wu quickly reassured her, “Don’t worry, let’s look for him together. Goudan is such a big kid, he couldn’t have just disappeared!”

The village kids were free to roam and play outside, so Aunt Wu didn’t see the need to worry.

At that moment, Goudan was running alone towards a large pit that resembled a mountain hollow.

There, he sensed a fluctuation of spiritual energy.

It was weak, but he hadn’t sensed wrong!

The eight-year-old dashed into the rumored haunted burial pit.

He knelt in front of a small mound and began to dig.

Before long, he unearthed a hard object—a large piece of jade marrow raw stone.

If sold, it could fetch a hundred taels of silver.

But silver could be earned; spiritual energy was a rare opportunity.

As a cultivator, Bai Yunqi immediately tried to absorb the weak spiritual energy from the jade marrow.

However, his body was clogged with impurities, making it difficult to fully absorb the spiritual energy. He needed to cleanse his meridians and marrow first.

Gritting his teeth, Bai Yunqi sat down, using the jade marrow’s spiritual energy to forcibly cleanse his meridians and marrow with his heaven-defying cultivation technique from his previous life.

Black impurities seeped from his skin as time passed.

He reeked of a foul stench, as if he’d fallen into a cesspit.

As night fell, Bai Yunqi suddenly spat out a mouthful of foul blood.

The large piece of jade marrow raw stone lost its original luster, turning gray like an ordinary rock.

The jade wasn’t enough for a complete cleansing of his meridians and marrow.

But it allowed him to circulate a small amount of spiritual energy from the jade marrow.

Even with just this, he could finally do something he’d long wanted to accomplish today.

Covered in filth, Bai Yunqi stood up and ran towards home.

As he ran, Bai Yunqi marveled, “Even with just half a cleansing, I can feel my body is much lighter!”

“Goudan?”

Suddenly, an adult called out to him.

Bai Yunqi’s mouth twitched at the down-to-earth name but nodded in response.

“Yes!”

“You fell into a cesspit!”

Bai Yunqi: …

The person looked at Bai Yunqi and said, “You’d better head home. Your parents are worried sick looking for you!”

Then, without waiting for Bai Yunqi’s reaction, the person turned and shouted at the doorsteps of various homes, “Goudan’s been found! He fell into a cesspit but climbed out himself!”

Bai Yunqi, who had just cleansed his meridians and marrow: …

You fell into a cesspit!

…

The eldest brother had gone missing, and the parents were out searching for him.

Juanjuan wanted to look for her eldest brother too, but her parents wouldn’t allow it.

They had especially asked the neighbor, Auntie Dachui, to watch over her and her remaining second and third brothers.

Juanjuan could only stand at the doorway, quietly watching the surroundings, hoping to see her family return through the night.

Waiting with Juanjuan was Wang Family’s Dachui.

Suddenly, Wang Dachui sniffed hard.

“Juanjuan, do you smell something unpleasant?”

“No, I don’t!”

Dachui felt his white bread didn’t taste as good anymore. “Take a closer sniff. It smells like a cesspit!”

Standing at the corner, Bai Yunqi: …

But before Bai Yunqi could step out, a village kid ran past him, holding his nose.

Shouting loudly, the kid yelled:

“Found him, found him.”

“The lost Bai Family Goudan has been found!”

A passerby asked, “Where was he found?”

A little kid holding his nose replied, “He fell into a cesspit! Climbed out by himself!”

The passerby exclaimed, “Wow! That’s rare!”

Wang Dachui said, “Juanjuan, your brother fell into the cesspit.”

Juanjuan: …

Around the corner, Bai Yunqi said nothing, simply turning away.

He felt he couldn’t stay in this village any longer.

Perhaps he should just leave!

Running away from home at this point didn’t seem unreasonable.

“Juanjuan, look! That guy covered in filth, isn’t that your Eldest Brother?”

Dachui’s voice rang out excitedly.

“Eldest… Brother?”

Juanjuan’s childish voice carried a mix of doubt, hope, and an incredulous shock.

Bai Yunqi’s steps faltered.

【If only a bolt of lightning had struck me dead back then!!】

Just then, the neighbors, having heard the news, began to gather.

Seeing more and more people arriving, Bai Yunqi took a deep breath and made an excellent decision.

Which was…

“Juanjuan, your Eldest Brother has fainted! He’s fainted!”

“Goudan from the Bai Family has fainted, someone help him up!”

“You help him, I won’t, he stinks too much, ugh…”

“Yuck…”

…

By the time Bai Tian and Jiang Dai returned, the nearby villagers had already carried Goudan into the Bai Family courtyard.

Lying on the ground with Goudan were several pieces of ragged cloth.

The villagers had used the rags to keep their hands from touching Goudan as they carried him in.

“Bai Tian…”

Old Lady Wang was the last to leave. She hesitated but couldn’t help calling out to Bai Tian.

“Hey! Old Lady Wang!” Bai Tian responded.

“You…” Old Lady Wang sighed, “Your family has had such bad luck lately. I know a powerful shaman, just one or two silver coins, maybe she can help?”

Indeed.

In just two days.

Yesterday morning, the whole family tipped over in an ox cart.

This morning, Juanjuan and the others got into a fight with Hua Ni’er, and Er Mao was beaten until he vomited blood.

This afternoon, the Bai Family’s eldest, Goudan, went missing. The good news was he was found.

But falling into a cesspit wasn’t exactly good news.

Bai Tian paused, then smiled, “Thank you for your kindness, Auntie. If our bad luck continues, I’ll personally invite her.”

“Alright then, you all…” Old Lady Wang glanced at the still foul-smelling Goudan, looking at Bai Tian and his wife with sympathy, “Take your time cleaning up!”

Bai Tian: …

Indeed, they needed to clean up thoroughly.

That evening, when every household should have been resting, the Bai Family was busy washing Goudan.

Beside the vegetable patch in the courtyard, they had set up a makeshift frame with two bamboo poles, hanging a piece of worn coarse cloth as a curtain.

Behind the curtain stood the now “awake” Bai Family Goudan.

Juanjuan was tending the fire.

Jiang Dai was fetching water, bringing it to the stove to boil.

Bai Tian was responsible for carrying the hot water behind the curtain, reminding, “Goudan, wash yourself properly!”

Bai Yunqi scrubbed vigorously: …

“I know!!!”