Confession Part 1

Kong Xuan said the terrifying words with a blank expression, causing Lin Yang to gasp heavily a few times: "... No, no way, are you just trying to scare me?!"

Tan Xiao often spoke in a half-true, half-false manner, so when Lin Yang heard Kong Xuan's words, he was stunned and couldn't distinguish between truth and falsehood.

To be fair, Kong Xuan's behavior had indeed been strange before, but under normal circumstances, who would think in the direction of non-humans? Just now, he had only guessed that Kong Xuan might also be a shaman.

But based on what Kong Xuan said, just what kind of powerful figure are you that even the Stove God has to stand up to welcome you...

Lin Yang felt like his brain was about to shrink. So, his Xiao bro's deskmate is not human?

But he would never have thought that Kong Xuan was a deity. However, he had heard Tan Xiao say that many demons liked to brag, and Kong Xuan often spoke in a condescending tone and frequently squeezed him in an extremely rude manner.

For example, right now, Kong Xuan sarcastically replied: "You can really scare yourself to death."

See?

He was just lacking knowledge in this area, that's why he got scared, okay?

"Xiao bro, you're my good classmate. Did the Stove God really stand up because of him? Is he deliberately trying to scare people? Is he really human or not?" Lin Yang felt a bit paranoid after being hit by a series of shocks.

After all, everything was different from what he had imagined. He had already become a down-and-out scholar, and his classmate had become a real shaman.

Tan Xiao glanced at Kong Xuan and asked rhetorically, "What do you think?"

"He should still be trying to scare me." After thinking for a long time, Lin Yang had no evidence to prove that the Stove God stood up because of Kong Xuan. He muttered to himself, "If he's so powerful, why bother studying physics..."

Isn't he just casually bringing over the test papers? No, he shouldn't even need to attend class, right? Who would torture themselves like that?

Upon hearing this, the Rice Guardian happily lay on the stove, kicking his legs.

Kong Xuan: "..."

Tan Xiao almost laughed. "Then just think that way." Overthinking is not a good thing. "Let me first perform a ritual for you to ask the Stove God to take back his bestowment."

"Great! Great! That's the most important thing." Lin Yang wiped away his nearly dried tears.

There weren't really any ritual tools here, but fortunately, Tan Xiao had "a little" connection, and the Stove God's requirements for the ceremony were generally not too grand. Tan Xiao utilized the readily available materials at the farm, found paper, cut it into paper horses, as well as hay, and then brought fruits, candies, bacon, and a rooster, which was also raised at the farm.

"You hold this chicken." Tan Xiao told Lin Yang to hug that chicken.

"Hmm..." Lin Yang smelled a strong odor and estimated that there was probably still chicken poop on the chicken's feet, but he had no choice but to hold it tightly. The rooster itself was unwilling to be held by him and was struggling hard to break free.

"Don't move, don't move!" Lin Yang tried to soothe the rooster, only to feel that as the chicken flapped, something was flung into his mouth.

Lin Yang froze. He wasn't even sure what kind of dirty thing from the rooster's body had been flung into his mouth, whether it was hay or chicken poop, because once it entered his mouth, it tasted like foie gras, ah ah ah!

"Ptooey, ptooey!" Lin Yang cried again, not daring to think too much.

"Quiet." Tan Xiao glanced at Lin Yang.

Lin Yang immediately stopped moving, enduring the taste of foie gras in his mouth. He felt that although Tan Xiao wasn't wearing ceremonial robes or holding any ritual tools, a single cold glance from him instantly silenced Lin Yang, not daring to be unruly.

"We're still missing one thing. We need to write a petition." Tan Xiao thought about the format for a moment. The heading would need to be changed to the Stove God.

"Petition what?" Lin Yang asked timidly.

"It's an explanation of the situation." Tan Xiao usually used a brush to write, but there wasn't one here, so he used a ballpoint pen and homework paper. "When you ask someone for a favor, you have to explain the matter clearly."

"The Heavenly Venerable of the Eastern Kitchen, the Supreme Commander of Destiny, the Great Unity of the Primordial Emperor, the Benevolent and Virtuous..." As the Rice Guardian recited the full title, Tan Xiao wrote it down. With the Rice Guardian present, the format of the official document naturally couldn't go wrong.

No matter the era, there was always a format for petitions to the gods. Tan Xiao swiftly finished writing the petition, asked Lin Yang to sign and affix his seal, and then tossed it into the stove. The Rice Guardian then carried the petition to deliver it as an urgent matter.

Next, Tan Xiao chanted the precious invocation and instructed Lin Yang to grasp the chicken's head and push it into the hay three times.

"The one in charge of the tongue, managing the kitchen... Overseeing the tongue in the Northern Dipper, discerning good and evil within the Eastern Kitchen." Tan Xiao stood beside Lin Yang, dipped his finger in water, and flicked it towards the rooster's head.

Seeing the chicken trembling continuously, as if having an epileptic seizure, he knew it would work. This represented that the Stove God had accepted the offering. If he didn't accept it, this chicken would also have to be slaughtered as a sacrifice.

Lin Yang held the chicken, frozen stiff and unable to move. "?"

"Burn the paper horses and hay, and it will be done." Tan Xiao gathered the hay and paper horses together. Kong Xuan snapped his fingers, and flames shot up from the hay, burning it to ashes.

Lin Yang's mouth opened and closed. He had just convinced himself that Kong Xuan might have been trying to scare him...

Tan Xiao also flicked some water on Lin Yang's face. "It's done. Why are you still in a daze? Put down the chicken."

Lin Yang tossed the rooster, and as soon as it landed on the ground, the chicken that had been having a seizure just moments ago flapped its wings and walked away with healthy steps, fleeing in panic.

"So, am I... okay now?" Lin Yang smacked his lips. There was no unusual taste in his mouth. He often joked about going to Tan Xiao's house for rituals, but this was the first time Tan Xiao had actually performed a ritual for him. It was so amazing.

Tan Xiao: "Then try eating some chicken poop and see?"

"... Hehehe." Lin Yang didn't find it funny because he might have really eaten something dirty just now. He rinsed his mouth with tap water and then cut a small piece of apple and put it in his mouth.

It tasted normally sweet and refreshing.

"Amazing! So amazing!" Lin Yang excitedly wanted to hug Tan Xiao but was blocked by Kong Xuan.

"Let's go. Everyone is asking where we went." Tan Xiao checked and saw that the other classmates had been looking for them for a long time.

Lin Yang watched Kong Xuan walk out of the kitchen with a gust of wind and pondered. "I feel like he..."

"What, have a new guess?" Tan Xiao casually asked.

"Since you're a shaman," Lin Yang thought about Kong Xuan's vicious demeanor, "is he some kind of venomous insect you're raising, or a demon that signed a work contract with you?"

Tan Xiao vaguely said, "Anyway, he's a family heirloom."

"Wow!" Even more awesome. Lin Yang excitedly said, "Amazing, you inherited him?! No wonder he knew you before, but you didn't know him."

Kong Xuan walked in front: "..."

At this point, they could already see the lively lawn from afar. Some people were singing karaoke, some were barbecuing, and Tan Chunying had stopped playing mahjong and was playing poker instead.

Seeing this, Lin Yang couldn't help but say, "Oh right, there's also Auntie. Could it be that this Kong Xuan was inherited from Auntie?"

Tan Xiao shook his head. "No, that's not it. My mom doesn't really know about these things. Don't mention it to her, and don't bring it up to others either."

"I understand, and I've been shouting every day that you're a shaman anyway, so no one would believe me now even if I said it," Lin Yang was quite self-aware. This was almost like "crying wolf". "If he's not inherited from auntie, who was he inherited from?"

Tan Xiao thought for a moment: "It should be from the ancestors, considered skipping a generation inheritance?"

"..." Kong Xuan gritted his teeth, "I can hear you!"

Don't think that just because it's your birthday, I can't get angry! Who exactly was inherited from whom!

......

"Where did you three run off to, not even a shadow to be seen." Yu Zhenzhen held the microphone and scolded them a bit during a break in her singing, "If it's two people gone then they're dating, but with the three of you did you go play cards?"

Lin Yang rubbed his belly: "Not feeling well, took a break to drink some talisman water."

The others were very calm: "Oh. How much did he charge you?"

Lin Yang quickly answered: "Eighty yuan and five cents."

Then everyone burst out laughing.

Lin Yang and Tan Xiao exchanged glances, recalling what he had said before.

"You're back just in time, we were just talking about playing a game, and the loser has to do a truth or dare." Yu Zhenzhen finished the last line of the song, grabbed a bottle and ran over, "Hurry up, sit down."

"Hey class monitor, is this interesting!" Someone started wailing, "I'm afraid to play this with you. Last time on the outing you made me go catch crickets, I'm scared of you!"

It was still pitch black around here, who knows what the class monitor would come up with again.

"There are still a few hours until Tan Xiao's birthday, I promise I won't go too far, we'll just have a little fun." Yu Zhenzhen had a look of 'how can you guys be so weak', "Besides, auntie is right there, what can I do."

That's true, with a parent nearby, everyone definitely wouldn't get too out of hand.

"Alright... so what game are we playing? Just draw playing cards?"

Tan Chunying was playing cards on the side, but the farm definitely had extra decks. According to the usual rules, it's all about drawing the big and small jokers.

"NO, let's play guessing objects, it's the ancient game of She Fu. The object is hidden in a box, and the others divine to guess." When Yu Zhenzhen suggested playing truth or dare, with such a difficult game as a prerequisite, everyone exclaimed 'oh my god, how do we divine'.

"Divination is hard to understand, let's use tarot cards. You can treat it like a card drawing game." With Yu Zhenzhen's introduction, everyone actually had a little bit of understanding about tarot. "Just let your imagination run wild, anyone who doesn't guess it will accept punishment. I've studied tarot, and opposite from you, I'll be the one divining. This is something I just started learning, is that okay?"

Everyone: "..."

Isn't that going to be a rhythm of total annihilation?

However, everyone was still interested in the She Fu game that Yu Zhenzhen mentioned.

Yu Zhenzhen found a staff member to be the host, "Sister, just put any object inside. Let's play it easy first, as long as it's related it doesn't count as losing. For example, you at least have to say what it's used for, or what of the five elements it belongs to."

With the conditions relaxed it was a bit better, making everyone more enthusiastic.

Everyone turned around, waiting for the host to place the object, then turned back.

Then it was taking turns drawing cards, looking at the card faces to make guesses. Yu Zhenzhen was using a beginner's tarot deck anyway, with the attributes and corresponding zodiac signs marked, plus being able to look at the pictures and talk about them. The information was quite abundant and intuitive, it just depended on each person's associative ability.

Lin Yang drew a "Wands Ten" card, the picture showing a person carrying ten heavy wands, with a house behind. "Hmm, fire attribute, lots of these wands, and a house in the back, could it be matches?"

Yu Zhenzhen used the Eastern mysticism she had just learned to divine a guess, "Shock, shock is a wooden object? It seems to correspond a bit with Lin Yang's, also having the imagery of kindling!"

"Then should I also draw tarot?" Tan Xiao actually also knew divination, but according to the rules he had to draw something he wasn't familiar with. Taking a look at the card face, Pentacles Eight, it was a person holding tools making coins. "The person's hands also have sticks, so it feels like the object should be long and thin, and might be a handmade product."

Kong Xuan also drew a card. Although he could know what the object was with a slight movement of his thoughts, he restrained himself from looking. Drawing it out to look, it was a Lovers card. "The object inside might be in pairs?"

Everyone made their own guesses for a round, then opened the box to look.