Mutated Tao

Chapter 639: Wonton Stall

Soon, two bowls of spicy wonton were served in front of Yang Xiaohai and his wife.

Yang Xiaohai grabbed his chopsticks and picked out the snowy white wontons. He ate it with some spring onions and nodded in approval.

The wontons were clad in chili oil, but they weren't greasy at all. In addition, they were only a bit spicy and were full of fragrance.

As a chef, he approved of the wontons.

Eating a bowl of hot food on such a cold day was bliss, so the two were all smiles as they ate.

“Husband, do you know how to make these?”

“I do, but mine isn't as good as the owner of this stall. They're probably using a secret recipe.”

Yang Xiaohai stared at the stove and saw that the chef had placed some sticks into the pot while the wontons were being cooked.

Yang Xiaohai's curiosity was piqued; he wanted to know the identity of those sticks.

Just then, an old woman walked into the tent. The woman was so old that she had to rely on her cane to walk.

“Do you want a bowl of spicy wontons?” the stall owner asked with a smile.

The old woman licked her cracked lips and stared at the boiling wontons in the pot. “I have my own things to eat. Can you please just give me a bowl of hot water? How much would that be?”

Yang Xiaohai glanced at the old woman and took note of her clothes. Her clothes had been mended many times, and the old woman herself looked so skinny that she could be compared to a twig.

“It's okay. There’s no need to pay for a bowl of hot water. Just sit down, and I'll bring you a bowl of hot water.”

The old woman thanked the kind stall owner, and then she sat down at the table next to Yang Xiaohai.

Soon, the bowl of hot water arrived. The old woman opened her cloth bag and took out a small black jar.

She drank a mouthful of the hot water before using the chopsticks to grab a tiny cobblestone from inside the black jar.

The cobblestone was dripping with black liquid.

“Husband, look. She’s eating stones.”

Yang Xiaohai turned and saw that the old woman was sucking on the cobblestone.

Having made quick work of the black liquid on the stone, she spat it into the jar and drank a mouthful of hot water.

Zhao Xiumai sighed when the old woman took another stone and sucked on it. “Husband, she’s so pitiful. Let’s buy her a bowl of wonton, okay? How can she relieve her hunger with just stones?”

Yang Xiaohai nodded. He couldn’t bear to see someone go hungry, as he could still remember how bad hunger felt when he was still a beggar.

However, Yang Xiaohai dared not give her too much. He couldn't flaunt his wealth, as it would be too risky. He ordered another bowl of wonton and extended it to the old woman.

“Here, eat this instead, Maam. You won't be hungry for a while with this,” Yang Xiaohai said.

The old woman was taken aback, and then she smiled. She didn’t have any teeth, so her gums formed two red lines when she smiled.

“Thank you, young man, but I don’t need it because I have these," the old woman replied, "Do you see this stone? It tastes like braised ribs, while this one tastes like roasted duck. This one tastes like braised pork trotters.”

With that, the old woman gave the bowl of wontons to the three chained monkeys next to the monkey trainer.

The three monkeys were visibly hungry, and they snatched the bowl away from the old woman's hand before making quick work of the wontons.

Bewildered, Yang Xiaohai had no idea what to do, so he simply went back to his seat.

The old woman was still sucking on her stones.

Before long, he sighed and turned to Zhao Xiumai, saying, “Do you think she's crazy like Senior Li?”

“Her family must be very unfilial. Otherwise, why would they let her run around when she's sick?” Zhao Xiumei said, sounding furious.

“What if she’s like me? What if she doesn’t have a family?” Yang Xiaohai asked.

The two went silent.

However, they had already done everything they could do for a stranger; they couldn't afford to take a mentally ill old woman with them on their journey.

The two were kind, but they weren't that kind.

The two continued their meal, but the wontons no longer tasted as delicious as earlier for some reason.

The wontons in their bowls disappeared slowly as they ate, and once there were no longer any wontons in their bowls, they stood up to leave.

Just then, an old man sitting on a black donkey entered the little tent with his two disciples. The old man's long beard made him look like an Immortal.

“Master, let’s eat here today.”

“Hm~ Sure. I remember the last time I ate wontons was when I summoned the God of Thunder to punish the wicked being that was threatening the peace of a village.”

Everyone turned around and cast a look of reverence at the old man.

“Of course. Master is going to become an Immortal soon. And he hates evil people!” the two disciples exclaimed, praising their master.

One of the monkeys heard that, and it glanced at the monkey trainer. Upon seeing that its owner was busy eating his second bowl of wontons, it bit the chains on its neck and shouted, "Help! Jiji, help!"

The monkey even knelt as it begged the Daoist for help.

“Hm?” The old Daoist slammed the table and frowned, seemingly getting angry.

Realizing that his trick was no longer a secret, the monkey trainer flipped the table and took out a dagger. He decided to fight to the death and pointed the dagger at the old man.

“Let's do this, then, you old bastard!” the monkey trainer roared.

The old Daoist’s figure shook, and his eyes rolled to the back of his skull. He sat frozen on the stool, unresponsive to the monkey trainer's challenge.

The old Daoist’s reaction shocked everyone, including the monkey trainer.

“Hahah! So you're just a fraud?!” The monkey trainer laughed boisterously. He then dragged the monkey that had decided to beg for help, and he kicked it until it was bleeding. “How dare you try and escape? Do it again! Show me how you did that!”

The monkey trainer slapped the monkey so many times that the monkey's face looked like it was sloughing off.

Yang Xiaohai hesitated at the sight. Just as he was going to make a move, a cobblestone streaked across the air and struck the monkey trainer’s arms.

The monkey trainer's arms snapped with a grotesque crack.

The monkey trainer let out a shrill cry, but the old woman spat another cobblestone. The cobblestone flew into the monkey trainer’s mouth, and the latter's head exploded into a bloody mist.

The old woman then walked toward the injured monkey and tore off its skin, revealing the head of a bleeding child.

It turned out that the monkeys were human children! They were made to wear monkey skin and were forced to act like monkeys.

“Ah... Poor children," the old woman muttered. She took out a white cloth and wrapped it around the injured child’s head. “Come, this world is full of suffering. Worship Sir Arrogant Stone, and you will reincarnate into a better life.”

THIS CHAPTER UPLOAD FIRST AT NOVELBIN.COM