An alchemy furnace fell from the sky

"Old Huang! Stop!"

A furious cry echoed across the wilderness.

A skinny young man with unkempt hair and ragged clothes yelled and cursed, while holding on to a slender cane and running forward hard.

Not far in front of him was a fat and healthy big ox with shiny and smooth fur. It was dragging a broken hemp rope and running happily towards a green forest in the distance.

"Brother Fu, I'll catch the cow with you!" A thin boy shouted loudly while running with a calf. The other cowherd boys were indifferent, looking like they were gloating about others' misfortune.

"Go back and get the food and carry it for me." Xu Fu turned around and shouted as he ran. As soon as he finished speaking, he tripped and fell forward.

"Yeah!" Xu Fu gritted his teeth and groaned. His rough and skinny palms were scratched with blood from the fine stones on the ground. It was burning and painful. But when he saw the cattle running further and further away, he didn't bother to clean up the wounds. As soon as he gritted his teeth, he got up again, enduring the pain and chased after him.

As long as Xu Fu can remember, his parents have been away from him, and he has always been dependent on his grandmother. Children from poor families become masters early, and Xu Fu has been much more sophisticated than other children of the same age since he was a child.

Grandma is a very kind old woman and very capable. Over the years, she has raised Xu Fu on the five acres of fertile land left by her ancestors. During the off-season, her grandmother would also make needlework for the village landlord Huang Youcai's family, earning a few small changes to support the family. Although it was hard work, it also allowed Xu Fu to have enough food and clothing.

Unfortunately, something unexpected happened. A year ago, his grandma suddenly fell ill. Xu Fu borrowed money everywhere and sought medical advice, but in the end he still could not get his grandma back from the hands of Black and White.

With no choice but to go to Huang Youcai's house to bury his grandma, Xu Fu had no choice but to go to Huang Youcai's house to get a coffin on credit. Unexpectedly, Huang Youcai sent his housekeeper to collect the debt before he was seven days old. How could Xu Fu, a child of half an age, come up with the money?

As a result, several ancestral houses and five acres of farmland were grandly taken over by Huang Youcai. In the end, he agreed to take Xu Fu to work in the Huang family because of Xu Fu's grandmother who had mended clothes for the Huang family for many years.

But what can a teenage boy do if he has neither strength nor skills? Naturally, the Huang family will not raise idle people. Xu Fu was arranged to work with several half-year-old children to graze cows during the day, and when he came back in the evening, he would clean the cowshed and shovel cow dung...

The landlord's family had a son named Huang Dafu, who was half a year younger than Xu Fu. He insisted that Xu Fu was not worthy of the name Fu, so he asked Xu Fu to change his name. Xu Fu refused, so he came to cause trouble every now and then. Under Huang Dafu's instruction, several other children who were herding cattle at the landlord's house would make trouble for Xu Fu whenever they had nothing to do. For example, they would always leave the most difficult big ox to Xu Fu to graze.

This big ox is famous in the whole village. Not only is it big, has a big intestine, and is strong, it is also stubborn and wild. Every time Xu Fu has to leave it half an hour longer than the others before it can eat enough. It took a lot of effort to get it back to the cowshed.

I don’t know who to follow. Although he suffered a lot for no reason, Xu Fu just didn’t want to be as submissive as other cowherd boys. He always seemed to ignore Huang Dafu, which also made Huang Dafu very unhappy.

This time, it was Huang Dafu who caused trouble again. When Xu Fu was not paying attention, he cut the rope that tied the cow.

Xu Fu was bruised and swollen from the fall. Huang Dafu and the other cowherd boys were laughing their heads off. Only a little boy named Goudan, who was two years younger than Xu Fu, looked worried. The sun was about to set at this time.

"Gulu gulu..."

Xu Fu's stomach started to growl half an hour ago, and he just ate a fist-sized bun at noon, which was not enough.

There is no salary for herding cattle in the Huang family. They only provide two rough meals a day, and they don't even care about how full they are. Xu Fu could only wait for the opportunity to catch some game for himself as a toothpaste, and then he got through the year.

The big ox found a piece of tender grass and stopped to nibble. Xu Fu finally breathed a sigh of relief, but as soon as he stopped, he felt even hungrier.

Seeing the big ox eating grass freely, Xu Fu couldn't help but pull out a piece of fresh weed and chew it twice.

"Bah, bah, it's so bitter!" Xu Fu spat out the grass blades and looked at the scalper with envy: "I wish I could be like you. I can be full just by eating grass."

The cow seemed to hear Xu Fu's thoughts. It raised its head and glanced at Xu Fu, turned around and ran forward again. Xu Fu yelled and cursed a few more words with hatred, and chased after the cow despite his hunger and exhaustion.

There was a forest not far away. When Xu Fu saw the cow getting into it, it disappeared. His heart skipped a beat. If the cow had been lost, Huang Youcai wouldn't have skinned himself!

Xu Fu hurriedly got into the forest and listened carefully to what was going on around him. It was originally dark, and the vegetation in the forest was lush, so Xu Fu couldn't see far. Fortunately, there were some marks after the cow stepped on it, so Xu Fu didn't lose it.

But soon, it became completely dark. Xu Fu was hungry and tired. He felt light-headed and it was so dark that he could no longer identify his direction.

Unable to walk, Xu Fu sat down on the ground. He still felt a little dizzy, so he simply lay down and his body, which was about to fall apart, was finally able to breathe.

It's so unlucky. I'm afraid there is no one worse than myself in this world!

Looking at the full moon that had risen in the sky, I realized that it was fifteen again. When my grandma was here, she would make pancakes every fifteenth day. The round pancakes were sweet and chewy, and Xu Fu could eat two of them in one meal.

It was so good then!

"Benefits and blessings rely on, and blessings and misfortunes fall."

The illiterate grandma heard these two sentences from nowhere. She used to often murmur about them, saying that this was such a great truth that Xu Fu didn't understand, but it was very interesting. The Celestial Master who often pretended to catch ghosts when playing, put these words into his mind. Two sentences as incantations for casting spells.

Xu Fu touched the longevity tablet hanging around his neck. The rough texture felt very reassuring to the touch. His grandma said it was left by his parents and should be worn all the time. Although it was ugly, it was still a thought.

"Live well!"

Grandma didn't have any last wishes before she left, except for this little reminder. Xu Fu had never thought that living was hard work before. It was not until he lived a life that was worse than that of an ox in Huang Youcai's family that he realized how much concern his grandma's seemingly simple advice contained.

"I don't know if grandma is living well in the sky." Xu Fu was looking at the moon in a trance when he suddenly saw a fiery red meteor streaking across the night sky. Xu Fu hurriedly held the Talisman of Immortality with both hands and murmured: "For God's sake, please give me something to eat!"

This was also taught by his grandma. When you see a shooting star, you can make a wish to God. Xu Fu always made wishes in the past to find his parents, to bring his grandma back to life, and to turn stones into gold, but none of these wishes came true. Xu Fu felt that maybe his wish was too big, and God thought he was greedy. So, this time, Xu Fu made such a small wish, and silently said in his heart: "God, please have your spirit restored!"

"boom!"

A thunderstorm suddenly exploded, making Xu Fu's ears roar. Then he saw a fire not far away. His whole body seemed to be swept by a heat wave, his face was burning, and many small trees around him were even affected by the heat wave. It blew so hard that the waist broke.

Xu Fu was so frightened that he lay on the ground for a while before getting up and looking at the depths of the forest, glowing with a faint red light.

"What is it?" Xu Fu was a little frightened. When he was hesitating whether to go there, he suddenly smelled the aroma of meat.

"Meat?" Xu Fu sniffed greedily. Yes, it was indeed the smell of meat.

"Did God open his eyes?" Xu Fu was overjoyed when he thought of the wish he had just made. He took three steps at a time and ran towards the red light.

After walking about a hundred steps, Xu Fu found the place where the red light was. It was a deep pit on the ground, and the red light came out of the pit.

Xu Fu endured the scorching heat and stepped forward to take a look. There was a red lump lying at the bottom of the pit, and the red light was emitted from it.

"My cow!" Xu Fu exclaimed. He found the source of the meaty smell, and it turned out to be the big ox he had raised. At this time, half of it was smashed by the red bump, leaving only half of the cow's body exposed. The beef is charred and gives off an alluring aroma.

Xu Fu ignored the heat and rushed forward to take a look at the cow. It was obvious that it was already dead and he felt like crying without tears.

"What can we do?" Xu Fu wailed in his heart.

This cow is the treasure of landlord Huang Youcai!

Within a radius of thirty miles, everyone knew how much Huang Youcai loved raising cattle. It is said that he also came from a poor family, and later a fortune teller gave him four words - "When you meet an ox, you will be prosperous." He sold his ancestral home and land and bought a dozen cows. During the busy farming season, he rented the cows to villagers from all over the country for farming. He paid back the rent after the grain was harvested. In the event of a few years of severe disasters, those who could not pay the rent were The renter had no choice but to let him take over the house and land, which was how Huang Youcai started his family. Although he no longer makes a living by raising cattle and collecting rent, he still raises eight cows at home. He likes to hang out in the cowshed when he has nothing to do. He seems to care more about them than raising his son.

The big ox that Xu Fu raised was the strongest and the one that Huang Youcai liked the most. This was why the ox had such a stubborn temper, which made Xu Fu suffer a lot. On weekdays, when the ox came back from herding, if the housekeeper found any damage to the ox, , they will inevitably receive a beating and scolding.

Xu Fu hated this big scalper from the bottom of his heart, and even created his own set of bull-killing fists, which he often used on the cow when no one was paying attention. Unfortunately, others were too weak, and for the cow, it was almost like scratching an itch. .

Xu Fu has long been fed up with this life of "people are inferior to cattle", but what if he can't stand it anymore? If he ran away at his age now, he would be unable to do anything but beg for food. However, he didn't want to just endure it forever, grit his teeth and endure it for two more years, grow taller and stronger, and when he reaches the peak of his practice of the cow-killing fist, he would really kill the cow, and then fly away, until it's time. On the first day of his career, he will come back and teach Huang Youcai's family a severe lesson!

But now...

Xu Fu looked at the red lump falling from the sky and the half of the cow that was a little burnt. He felt that the sky was about to fall. If he went back and said it, he would definitely be beaten to death by Huang Youcai and the housekeeper.

Xu Fu couldn't stand the temptation of the meaty smell without stopping. With the determination of "I will die to be a full-fledged ghost", I resisted the heat and pulled the beef leg.

But the closer he got, the more unbearable the scorching heat became. Before he could touch the beef leg, Xu Fu's face was already covered in oil from the red bumps.

When I was at a loss, I just heard a "dang" sound, and a lid on the top of the red bump suddenly popped open. First, colorful smoke poured out, and then a ball the size of a bull's eye jumped out from it and landed not far away. Here, you can vaguely see the colorful brilliance on the ball.

Before Xu Fu could figure out what was going on, he smelled a tangy aroma. The aroma was extremely attractive, even overpowering the aroma of beef, which made people feel refreshed.

"What is this?" Xu Fu walked over and carefully picked up the ball. It was slightly warm. The closer it was, the stronger the fragrance became.

"Can this be eaten?" Xu Fu hesitated for a moment, but when he saw the half cow, he no longer had any scruples. No matter if it was poisonous or not, he just ate it and stuffed the warm ball into his mouth. .

Perhaps Xu Fu was too hungry. Before he started chewing the ball, it slipped smoothly down his throat and into his stomach. He didn't even taste the salty, bitter or spicy taste at all.

"Why did you swallow such a big thing all at once? You haven't tasted it yet?" Xu Fu felt a little regretful, but after swallowing it he felt warm in his stomach. After the warmth passed, he seemed to be even hungrier.

"How can we take out the meat?" Xu Fu stood by the pit, looking at the red pimple in front of him, watching the red light gradually fade away, and the burning feeling slowly disappeared.

"This thing should be able to sell for some money, but it's too big. It would be nice if it could be smaller."

When the red pimple cooled down, Xu Fu tried to touch it, and couldn't help but sigh and murmured.

As soon as he finished speaking, the red bump disappeared in front of Xu Fu's eyes. Xu Fu was so startled that he sat down on the ground.

"What's going on? Are you dreaming?" Xu Fu pinched his thigh hard.

"It hurts! It's not a dream! Am I going to die?" Xu Fu suddenly remembered that he had heard someone say that before people die, they will see many strange things, which is called "returning to light."

"Is he just going to die like this? I haven't had a full meal, I haven't beaten Huang Dafu, I haven't..." Xu Fu sat on the ground dejectedly, wanting to cry without tears.

The rich meaty aroma could not understand Xu Fu's sadness, but it penetrated his nose vigorously, making Xu Fu's stomach growl even more happily.

"I'll die like a dead man!" Xu Fu turned around and saw the half-cooked cow beside the pit, and felt a little more angry. If it hadn't been for this stupid cow, he wouldn't have died in this wilderness at such a young age. middle.

No matter what happened, Xu Fu tore off a beef leg and tore into the slightly burnt beef, regardless of whether it was done cleanly or not.

At this time, the red pimple was gone, and there was a big hole on the ground. Although the front half of the big ox was smashed into mud, the back half weighed at least three hundred kilograms. Even if the bones and internal organs were removed, there would still be more than a hundred kilograms of meat. Xu Fu squatted next to the half-cut cow, eating and tearing it piece by piece.

The cow hair has been roasted into fly ash, and the cowhide is attached to the beef after roasting, protecting the meat inside from being too burnt. Xu Fu took a few bites and suddenly realized that it was a bit bland. He groped around on his body, took out a small cloth bag, carefully sprinkled the powder in the bag evenly on the beef, and then took a big bite.

"As expected of my treasure!" Xu Fumei smiled. After adding the treasure seasoning, the beef tasted even better.

Xu Fu carefully put the small bag away and then continued to feast. Xu Fu spent a lot of effort to make these precious condiments. First, I secretly took some salt from the kitchen, and while grazing the cattle, I picked some wild vegetable seeds with a strong flavor. I dried these wild vegetable seeds, ground them into powder, and mixed them with salt in proportion. It took many attempts to get the result I have now. formula. Every time Xu Fu herds cattle, he would set up several traps when he had time. Once he caught game, he would rely on his precious seasoning to season it. He could always eat several meaty meals every month.

I don’t know how long I’ve been eating, but the pile of beef bones gradually increased.

After Xu Fu finished chewing a cow spine, he suddenly found that there was no edible meat left. He actually ate half of the cow.

He lowered his head and glanced at his belly, which was only slightly bulging. This surprised Xu Fu, but thinking that he was about to die, he gave up the idea of ​​finding out.

"After eating, it's time to hit the road." Xu Fu glanced at it and felt that this big pit was prepared for him. He picked up a cow thigh bone as a pillow and lay quietly in the pit, waiting for the black and white impermanence to come. Seducing souls and demanding lives.

"I wonder if I can see grandma." Xu Fu finally came up with this idea and fell asleep.

When Xu Fu opened his eyes, he found that he was lying in a huge room, surrounded by clouds and mist, and the boundaries could not be seen clearly. Many people in the room were running around in a hurry, and they didn't know what they were busy with. In the middle of the room, there was a giant tree more than three feet tall. Objects are looming in the smoke.

"Ceasefire..."

A slow and long voice came from above his head. Xu Fu looked up, but couldn't see anything.

Soon, most of the smoke in the room dissipated, and the giant thing was revealed.

"Ah?" Xu Fu exclaimed. The giant thing in front of me was the red bump that killed the cow. It was exactly the same except that it was much bigger.

"Alchemy furnace, turn on the furnace..." A very calm voice sounded.

With a "dang" sound, the lid opened, and a ball shining with colorful brilliance flew out, hanging in the air, spinning.

Everyone was attracted by this round ball, stopped what they were talking about, and stared at it blankly.

"Master Qi, the Qixin Dan has been refined!" A tall Taoist priest, with his back to Xu Fu, said in a high-pitched voice with a hint of trembling.

"Alchemy furnace? Qixin Dan? What the hell is going on?" Xu Fu stared blankly at the cheering crowd. Suddenly his head hurt and everything in front of him became blurry. When he regained his composure, he saw the huge The alchemy furnace slammed towards him as if someone had kicked it.