"We're back! We're back!"
Before Su Yanke herself arrived, her voice had already reached.
Chao Xianrou and the others had already rested and started preparing lunch. But their work was limited to washing and cutting vegetables. As for the final step of stir - frying, they were truly helpless.
Suddenly hearing Su Yanke's voice, they all looked up towards the door. Chao Xianrou was the most excited. She rushed to the door first to greet Su Yanke.
"Sister Yanke, you're finally back! We've been so worried during this long time. We were even discussing whether to go look for you!"
Chao Xianrou didn't let go of her hand once she saw Su Yanke. She kept holding onto Su Yanke's arm.
"Alright, alright. It's good that you're back. Let's get ready for lunch. Is everyone hungry?"
Chen Maohua saw that everyone was standing at the door chatting instead of going inside, so he shouted at the top of his voice.
Su Yanke echoed, "Yes, yes. Let's prepare lunch!"
Then several pairs of bright eyes fixed on He Huanhuan. He Huanhuan suddenly had the illusion of taking care of a bunch of big kids.
Under everyone's expectant gazes, He Huanhuan walked towards the kitchen. But soon, there was a problem that gave He Huanhuan a headache.
This was a cooking utensil that needed to be fired up, and she didn't know how!
Chen Maohua rushed to light the fire first, but after struggling for a long time, the fire just wouldn't start. Then Lu Xingmi, Yan Ruoheng, Ruikun and others all tried, but to no avail.
Everyone looked at the stove dejectedly. Hunger was overwhelming their nerves. When Su Yanke came downstairs after changing her clothes, she saw this scene.
"What's going on, everyone?"
He Huanhuan shrugged helplessly at Su Yanke, "The fire won't start. We can't stir - fry the dishes!"
Su Yanke also walked up to the stove. Looking at it, she suddenly thought of something and said to everyone, "I'll perform a magic trick for you, 'ignite wood with a finger'!"
After saying that, Su Yanke took out an orange - red paper strip the size of a joss paper from the small bag behind her. She pinched it between her index finger and middle finger.
Rui Kenuo couldn't help but scoff when she saw Su Yanke still trying to add drama to the moment, "Show - off."
Su Yanke held the Fire Soul Talisman and whispered an incantation. The next second, she quickly threw the talisman paper towards the stove.
The next moment, the stove burst into flames. However, this fire was different from the usual ones. It was mostly orange with a few streaks of dark blue in the middle, looking extremely mysterious.
At that time, the others were so surprised by this "magic trick" that they didn't notice anything strange about the fire. But Chen Maohua's pupils suddenly shrank.
Chen Maohua walked up to the stove and squatted down. He saw the ashes of the talisman paper that hadn't burned out completely. He reached out and pinched the ashes, rubbed his fingers together for a while, and then brought them to his nose to smell.
After taking a sniff, Chen Maohua's body couldn't help but tremble. It was this smell, exactly this smell. Who on earth was Su Yanke? How could she have such a thing?
Chen Maohua looked up at Su Yanke, who was looking longingly at the stir - frying dishes in the pot, with a complicated look in his eyes.
Chen Maohua wanted to ask something, but obviously this wasn't a good time. He could only suppress his curiosity for now and wait for the right moment. But even if he asked, would Su Yanke answer his questions truthfully?
Chen Maohua ate his lunch absent - mindedly.
But Su Yanke and the others enjoyed their lunch very much.
"He Huanhuan, your cooking skills are really good! Whoever marries you in the future will be really lucky!" Ruikun said half - jokingly.
He Huanhuan lowered her head shyly, smiling, and secretly glanced at Lu Xingmi beside her.
Hou Yuheng noticed this and started hinting at Lu Xingmi to look at He Huanhuan. But Lu Xingmi just frowned and ignored Hou Yuheng.
After devouring lunch, Su Yanke voluntarily started doing the dishes. But just as she had washed one plate, she heard a scream.
"Sister Huanhuan! Sister Huanhuan! Wake up, sister Huanhuan!"
Chao Xianrou was sitting closest to He Huanhuan, so she was the first to notice when He Huanhuan fainted.
"What... What's wrong with her? Why did she suddenly faint?"
Chen Maohua also noticed He Huanhuan's situation and helped everyone carry He Huanhuan to the sofa to lie down.
Su Yanke also came out and saw He Huanhuan's situation.
"Just now, when sister Huanhuan stood up, she suddenly fainted. I was so scared!"
Su Yanke stepped forward and felt He Huanhuan's forehead. She found that her temperature was normal.
"She doesn't have a fever. Why did she suddenly faint?"
"Call the director quickly and send her to the hospital to have a check - up!"
After giving the instructions, Su Yanke asked Lu Xingmi if there were any signs when He Huanhuan went out on a mission with them before.
But Lu Xingmi thought for a while and shook his head. There was nothing abnormal.
Suddenly, Su Yanke had an idea. She said, "When you were chasing the cattle and sheep before, did you stay by a lake for a long time?"
Lu Xingmi nodded inexplicably.
Su Yanke had a wild guess in her mind, but she needed to prove it. So she said, "You all wait here for the doctor. I'll go and verify something. Don't wait for me."
After saying that, Su Yanke turned around and was about to leave. But at this moment, several voices sounded simultaneously, "I'll go too!"
Lu Xingmi, Chen Maohua, and Hou Yuheng looked at each other. Su Yanke frowned, "No need. I can go alone. Someone is needed here to take care of things."
"I know martial arts and won't slow you down. I'll go."
Chen Maohua looked at Su Yanke firmly.
"I went on the mission with He Huanhuan. If you need any details, I can help." Lu Xingmi said calmly.
Su Yanke thought about it and it made sense, so she agreed.
Hou Yuheng saw that the two of them had their reasons. He racked his brains but couldn't think of anything. By the time he did, Su Yanke and the others had already left.
Su Yanke's guess was right. He Huanhuan and the others did chase the cattle and sheep near the place where they fetched water.
Su Yanke thought of a person, the local woman who told them not to put down the buckets. She must know something.
Fortunately, after searching around for a while, Su Yanke found the woman.
"Sister! Hello. I'd like to ask you something. Do you remember me? What was that legend you mentioned before? Could you please tell us?"
The woman clearly remembered Su Yanke's amazing beauty. People are always more patient with beautiful people, so she told Su Yanke and the others the ancient legend.
It was more than 100 years ago. At that time, people relied on this lake to survive for generations. In order to live in this way for a long time, the locals began to offer sacrifices to the river god, offering underage children as sacrifices.
Over time, no one knew how many years had passed. Suddenly, many people in the tribe began to suffer from a soul - losing illness. Later, after investigation by the government, it was found that these people had one thing in common when they got sick. That was, they had all put down their buckets to rest after fetching water by the lake.
So ever since then, the locals had an unwritten rule that they couldn't put down their buckets when fetching water by the lake.
After listening, Su Yanke's mind was working frantically. All kinds of information were being reorganized and verified in her mind. Just then, a familiar voice came out.
"She's awake! Sister Huanhuan is awake!"
Hou Yuheng shouted loudly at Su Yanke and the others.
Hearing this, Su Yanke also ran towards him. Supporting the out - of - breath Hou Yuheng, she said, "Really! It's good that she's awake, it's good that she's awake!"
Hou Yuheng looked a bit troubled and said, "She's awake, but something's wrong. Sister Huanhuan seems not to recognize us anymore. Her behavior is a bit... Well... infantile?"
Hou Yuheng obviously had some difficulty describing He Huanhuan's current state. He thought for a while before coming up with this adjective.
"Infantile?" Su Yanke asked doubtfully.
Could it be the soul - losing illness that the sister mentioned?
It seemed that there was really something wrong with that lake. She must go and check it out!
"Brother Lu, now we're all helpless about sister Huanhuan's situation. She won't listen to anything we say. I know she likes you. Maybe your words will have some effect on her. Can you go back with me and give it a try?"
Hou Yuheng said to Lu Xingmi with a pleading tone.
They were really at their wits' end with He Huanhuan's current situation. If they tried to treat her like a child, she had an adult's body. They couldn't beat her, and she couldn't understand scolding. There was simply no way.
Lu Xingmi was obviously a bit hesitant. Would his going back really help? What if Su Yanke was in danger?
Su Yanke was also worried about He Huanhuan's situation. Seeing that there was a way, she also advised Lu Xingmi to go back and take a look.
Seeing that Su Yanke also agreed, Lu Xingmi didn't hesitate anymore. He went back home with Hou Yuheng.
Su Yanke looked at Chen Maohua, hesitating whether to send him away. But Chen Maohua obviously knew what Su Yanke was thinking. He turned around and walked towards the lake first.
Su Yanke was about to say something but stopped. It was Chen Maohua who spoke first.
"Su Yanke, you're not an ordinary person, are you?"
Hearing this, Su Yanke was stunned. She didn't know why Chen Maohua would suddenly ask this question and didn't know what to answer for a moment. Chen Maohua didn't expect Su Yanke to tell the truth immediately either.
Chen Maohua continued, "The talisman paper you used in that magic trick before. I saw it in my grandfather's room. It's not an ordinary thing. Ordinary people wouldn't have such a thing."
"Are you from a family of blessing - praying practitioners?" Although Chen Maohua was asking Su Yanke, his tone was affirmative.
Su Yanke didn't expect Chen Maohua to know about her family. She looked at him in surprise.
"How... How do you know?"
Chen Maohua laughed heartily and said, "Actually, when my grandfather was young, he liked a woman but didn't have the courage to confess. He could only silently watch her from behind. Gradually, he learned some of the differences in that woman's family."
"The people in that family all had a magical ability. Once, my grandfather had an accident and was saved by that woman. She gave him several talisman papers to drive away evil spirits. But grandfather never wanted to use them all up. He kept one. And I was lucky enough to see what that talisman paper looked like and smell the odor when it burned out. It's the same odor as the talisman paper you used in the kitchen."