Tan Xiao directly exposed his biological mother's secrets. Mao Mao hesitated for a moment and said, "Then, give me something for self-defense."

"Yes, do shamans have any shamanic tools that can ward off evil spirits for sale?" Mrs. Wu looked like she wanted to swipe her card on the spot.

"Sister Mao Mao, didn't I tell you that our family's old shamanic tools have been donated to the folk museum." Tan Xiao himself was carrying a string of talismans, pendants and the like, but many of these were made by Tan Chunying, belonging to real cultural and creative products, displayed on his body for product promotion.

"Ms. Wu, you don't need to offer those things at home anymore. That Grand Stove God is quite good." Duan Yang had more say in this aspect. He took out some cinnabar, "This is cinnabar. Let Tan Xiao draw a peace talisman for each of you."

Cinnabar is another name for vermilion, and the cinnabar produced in Chen Prefecture is recognized as the best. Chen Prefecture is also part of the Chu region, deeply influenced by the shaman culture. The Chen Prefecture talismans drawn with cinnabar are quite famous and are also a type of folk witchcraft.

The talismans of shamans also have various effects. Tan Xiao dipped the cinnabar to draw an evil-warding talisman, with the talisman head and body, and used the snake-foot script to write the four characters "Peacock arrives here" at the talisman's tail, then folded it up and skillfully wrapped it in a glue case.

He also gave Wu Tianyu an extra soul-calming talisman.

Duan Yang also used a mixture of salt and rice to wipe Wu Tianyu's hands and feet. These are common items in people's homes and also have the effect of dispelling impurities and evil. There is also a tradition in Nanchu folk culture to mix salt, rice, and tea together in a cloth bag as an evil-warding item.

Mao Mao watched curiously on the side and helped wipe Wu Tianyu a bit. Because she didn't believe in the past, she was now especially interested. As she watched, she found that Tan Xiao was also squatting beside her, watching intently.

"What are you looking at?" Mao Mao asked.

"...Trying to secretly learn if there are any special techniques." Tan Xiao also knew many methods of dispelling impurities, but he actually wanted to see if there would be any special reactions when dispelling impurities from someone who was really possessed.

Mao Mao: "..."

Duan Yang: "..." Are you kidding me, learning my techniques.

The conclusion was that there were no special reactions. Wu Tianyu was still unconscious, of course this could also be because he was too embarrassed to wake up.

After the dispelling, Mrs. Wu and Mao Mao finally helped him up to go to the hospital, while Tan Xiao and the others stayed behind to clean up and purify the room. Duan Yang sprinkled salt and rice while chanting the purification mantra: "Heaven and earth are natural, the impure energy disperses..."

After chanting about two sentences, he heard a clatter and strange noises coming from the kitchen.

When Tan Xiao was steaming buns in the kitchen before, he had heard some unusual movements. At that time, he only thought it was the doing of the thing entangled with Wu Tianyu, which was Big Beard Zhong. But now Big Beard Zhong had already been captured, and after another round of purification, how could there still be movement.

Tan Xiao and Duan Yang looked at each other, then looked at Ah Jin... well, they couldn't see Ah Jin's eyes, and cautiously walked towards the kitchen together.

Duan Yang took out his compass and gestured a few times, saying uncertainly, "It seems like there's something...?"

Tan Xiao asked, "So should we go in?"

It wasn't clear if this was a good thing, just like at first glance there was nothing unusual about Wu Tianyu. Duan Yang thought of Big Beard Zhong's ferocity earlier, his waist still a bit sore, and said hesitantly, "You should go, I'm afraid I can't handle it."

Tan Xiao didn't sense any great danger. He walked in following the sound and carefully observed. The noise was coming from the cupboard, and getting louder and louder.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Tan Xiao had one hand ready to make a hand seal at any time, and opened the cupboard with the other hand, only to see an electric rice cooker inside.

Just as he was hesitating, the bouncing rice cooker was pushed up by something from inside, and the lid popped open, revealing a semi-transparent little person lying in a large bowl inside, tied up like a mummy with sausage string, with a soy sauce bottle cap stuffed in its mouth.

This little person had distinct features like a human, wearing a round-necked robe in emerald green, with a black gauze hat, the kind with two wings inserted in the back. The robe was tattered, with several bite marks left by teeth. As soon as it saw them, it started making "wu wu wu" noises.

It seemed to be the source of the noise.

Just like that, Tan Xiao picked up the little person with one hand, "It doesn't seem that scary."

Duan Yang: "..." If I had known, I would have gone in.

Tan Xiao had seen few monsters and examined it with curiosity, "What kind of monster is this?"

Duan Yang took a look, seeming to recognize it. He pointed at the image of the Grand Stove God and said in slight disbelief, "Just as the God of Wealth has the Child of Fortune, and Guanyin has the Dragon Girl Shancai, the Grand Stove God also has a child attendant called the Rice Guardian Child, specifically responsible for guarding by the pot after people finish cooking, to prevent evil ghosts from stealing the food. But this is the first time I've seen it in the flesh..."

With that said, Duan Yang also realized, "No wonder the Grand Stove God they put up at home had no effect at all, turns out the Rice Guardian Child was all tied up."

And bitten all over with wounds.

The Grand Stove God is also very busy and of course won't personally handle everything. At this time, underlings like the Rice Guardian Child are needed, active in thousands of households.

Big Beard Zhong only dared to tie up the Rice Guardian Child here, not directly bite it to death, probably afraid it would tattle, and also afraid that if something happened it would draw the Grand Stove God's attention.

Hearing it wasn't a villain, Tan Xiao untied the Rice Guardian Child's ropes. It looked quite weak.

The Rice Guardian Child stood up unsteadily. Perhaps its injuries were too severe, it was babbling incoherently. Its red eyes fell on the garbage bag in Tan Xiao's hand, recognizing Big Beard Zhong inside.

"Ah ah ah--" With a low roar, the Rice Guardian Child leapt up, pulling out a rice spoon from the void behind its back that was even longer than its body, and slashed down from the air!

It hit Big Beard Zhong on the head with a muffled thud.

The Rice Guardian Child landed with a flourish after withdrawing its spoon. One hit wasn't enough. It bounced up again and frantically struck at Big Beard Zhong. Without rhyme or reason, it rapidly hit over a dozen times, actually directly waking up the unconscious Big Beard Zhong, raising large lumps on his head.

Tan Xiao watched its jumping height and suddenly realized: that day in the cafeteria when he saw Wu Tianyu, there were some spots and bruises on his legs that he never understood how they got there...

Now he knew.

"Ow! Ow!" Big Beard Zhong was exasperated. Who told him to be restrained and unable to fight back. He could only twist his head and curse, "How dare you, boy!"

How could the Rice Guardian Child not dare to continue its frenzied beating? It's just that it lacked strength and changed to jumping up and stabbing with its spoon, its mouth still cursing indistinctly, saying how dare he injure its believer, very irritable.

Tan Xiao and Duan Yang were watching from the side with their heads down. It wasn't that they intentionally wanted to give the Rice Guardian a chance for revenge, but it was jumping around and fighting Big Beard Zhong, making a big scene with little noise, just like having mice in the house.

Tan Xiao didn't even know where to start. He waited for the right moment and reached out to grab the Rice Guardian.

At this point, the Rice Guardian was also exhausted and passed out with a plop...

What to do now? Tan Xiao looked at the spirit body collapsed in his palm, which looked a bit like the Peacock God's spirit form, only more translucent, like a projection.

Tan Xiao didn't even dare to use much force. He pinched the collar with two fingers and asked Duan Yang, "Do you want to take it back to heal its injuries?"

Duan Yang was also dumbfounded. "I'd like to take it back. It's my first time seeing the Rice Guardian's true form. But I don't know how to heal it either." He knew medical skills, but they really didn't include treating Rice Guardians.

Tan Xiao was a little puzzled, "It's your first time seeing it too?"

Tan Xiao thought to himself that it was fine for him to see it for the first time, but how come Duan Yang, a veteran, had never seen it before?

Don't even mention it. Duan Yang said with embarrassment, "I thought I only saw it because of following you. After all, besides the Rice Guardian, it's also my first time seeing someone invite a great god's true form..."

Hearing this, Tan Xiao remembered that there was still a Peacock God at home. Duan Yang couldn't heal it, but the Peacock should be able to, right?

Tan Xiao put the Rice Guardian in his pocket. With that, the matter here was settled.

Duan Yang cupped his hands towards Tan Xiao, "Spirit Master, let's keep in touch on WeChat."

"Okay, you're too kind." Tan Xiao also waved his hand.

The two parted ways, one taking the Rice Guardian back to recuperate and write a new chapter of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" sequel. The other took Big Beard Zhong back to the Bureau 404 to report back, register, fill out paperwork, review, and close the case...

......

When Tan Xiao got home, he happened to meet a delivery person at the door, and Tan Chunying was signing for it.

Seeing him, Tan Chunying asked, "Did you order this? It was sent from the old master. What kind of mask did you have custom made?"

"The mask is ready?" Tan Xiao said with delight. This was the divine image he had custom made for the Peacock God. He casually said, "Yes, I've decided to establish a patron god, the Peacock God."

Kong Xuan heard the commotion and slowly walked out, just in time to hear Tan Chunying say, "What peacock?"

Kong Xuan: "..."

"Don't be too ridiculous," Tan Xiao also felt that his mother was quite unbelievable, and emphasized, "The Peacock, son of the Primordial Phoenix!"

"Oh oh, yes, the Primordial Phoenix gave birth to two sons, the Peacock and the Roc," Tan Chunying patted her forehead, "Ah, I'm getting old and my memory is not good."

Kong Xuan: ...Forget it, for the sake of the Primordial Phoenix, give Tan Xiao some face.

"Oh haha, you've done this solo twice, you really want to establish your own altar, right?" Tan Chunying said with a smile, "When you were little, didn't you say you wanted to make the Calabash Brothers the patron gods after watching TV? Then do it yourself, I'm going out to have fun."

Kong Xuan: ?

"Bye." Tan Xiao tried his best not to look at Kong Xuan's eyes...

Tan Xiao took the delivery box and went straight to his room on the second floor. Before Kong Xuan could open his mouth to mock him, he took out the Rice Guardian.

"Great God, you should know what this is, right?" Tan Xiao said.

"Rice Guardian." Kong Xuan recognized it. He said indifferently, "Why did you bring it back? It can't stop your mom from stealing offerings anyway."

Tan Xiao: "..."

Don't scold anymore, don't scold anymore.

"...This is the one from Wu Tianyu's house. It seems it discovered the existence of the Ash Immortal and fought with him but lost." Tan Xiao said, "I just saw that it was badly injured and wanted to ask the Great God if you know how to heal it?"

"It'll be fine after eating more." Kong Xuan didn't seem to care.

Well, eating more and it'll be fine, isn't that the same as the Great God? Tan Xiao said in his heart.

But come to think of it, the Rice Guardian is also a child attendant under the Stove God, and both it and the Peacock have official positions above. The difference is that the Peacock is a second-generation god, while the Rice Guardian is a frontline grassroots civil servant.

After the Emperor's Essence incident, they must be very busy like the Bureau 404.

Hearing that it was fine, Tan Xiao put the Rice Guardian aside and opened the delivery box, taking out a wooden mask about 40 centimeters long.

According to Tan Xiao's request, the mask was mainly in gold and green colors, befitting a peacock after all.

Actually, when making masks, green is often used to outline judges, ox-head and horse-face demons, and the like, but the master used a green close to turquoise, with shimmering gold as embellishment. There was also a carved openwork feather border, instantly removing the gloomy and terrifying feeling of a judge's face.

This was meticulously carved by a master craftsman using high-quality poplar wood, which first had to be left in a cool and ventilated place for more than half a month. Then the shape was drawn, the core was hollowed out, and the facial features were carved one by one. After that, it had to go through polishing, coloring, deep-frying and other steps. And the polishing was done multiple times, not just once.

The openwork carving on top of the relief carving made the mask even more layered, no wonder it took so long. Now that it was delivered to Tan Xiao's hands, there was only one last step left - consecration.

According to the rules of shamans, when Tan Xiao hadn't established his own altar, he was actually considered Tan Chunying's assistant, strictly speaking just a junior shaman. Now that the mask had arrived, Tan Xiao could consecrate it and establish his own altar, and finally take the Peacock God out from that pile of masks to be worshipped separately.

In some places, the masks are displayed, while in others, they are placed in cages or covered with curtains.

As for Tan Xiao, he was going to hang it in front of the desk beside his bed, so that the desk could also serve as an altar table. Kong Xuan was very satisfied, because this way, when Tan Xiao made offerings in the future, it would be in his room, and he wouldn't have to worry about Tan Chunying coming to steal the food.

But as usual, Tan Xiao had to prepare some offerings first.

Because it was a ceremony to establish a patron god, in order to show its importance, Tan Xiao spent a lot of his pocket money to buy good ingredients.

It was a good season for eating crabs, and lake crabs were the best for tasting crabs, with the Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs being the most famous. Tan Xiao didn't know if the crabs he bought were Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, because nowadays many crabs could be called that just by taking a spin in Yangcheng Lake. But he guaranteed that he had carefully selected them, picking the best and the plumpest.

Most of the time, people eat crabs on their own, without the need for other side dishes.

But today, Tan Xiao made something fancy, a dish of crab with egg white, after all, it was the day of establishing a god, so it could be a little more extravagant. Especially when he specifically waited for Tan Chunying to be out of the house.

Nanchu has many river systems, so the people there are skilled at cooking fish, shrimp, crabs and other aquatic products. Tan Xiao first steamed the crabs, picked out the crab meat and roe, then diced the shiitake mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots, shrimp and chicken breast, stir-fried them with seasonings and the crab meat and roe to make the filling.

By this step, the delicious aroma had already filled the kitchen.

Kong Xuan stood at the kitchen door with his arms crossed, supervising the work.

Tan Xiao said, "Don't you have anything else to do?" Why not check on other believers and take care of their business?

"Nothing else to do," Kong Xuan bluntly said. He had finished his physics homework early, though he wasn't sure if the answers were right.

Okay then. Tan Xiao continued to oil the crab shells, fill them, and steam them. He prepared the fish paste, beat the egg whites into a foam and spread it on the fish paste, sprinkled some diced ham, and steamed it as well. Finally, he thickened the sauce and poured it over the crabs. The fish paste and crabs were plated together, resembling a hibiscus flower. When the hot oil was poured over, the aroma wafted out.

This Hibiscus Crab dish had many steps and a beautiful appearance, and it tasted great too. When Kong Xuan saw it, he was extremely satisfied both in appearance and substance!

"This needs to be eaten while hot," Tan Xiao said. Since Kong Xuan was at home anyway, Tan Xiao didn't need to be so particular about the ritual. For dishes that needed to be eaten hot to be delicious, he told Kong Xuan to start eating first while he continued preparing other dishes.

Before the god was enshrined, the god had arrived - how willful!

However, when the Hibiscus Crab was served, a wisp of the steaming aroma drifted over to the unconscious Rice Guardian lying beside the table. Its spirit body visibly became clearer and its wounds healed too!

In the end, it took on a form almost indistinguishable from a physical body if not closely examined or touched, similar to Kong Xuan's.

"Uh..." the Rice Guardian groaned.

Hearing the sound, Tan Xiao turned to look. Wow, it really woke up.

This being was originally formed from the aroma of myriad households' cooking. Kong Xuan had also said it would wake up after eating something. This was what it needed to eat - the aroma of cooked food.

The Rice Guardian rolled around on the table a few times. It stretched out its two legs with difficulty and jumped up, looking at Tan Xiao in a daze.

It had been listening to the commotion in the pot. This was the spirit master who saved it. And beside him seemed to be a patron god of a spirit master family, though it didn't know which deity it was as his back was turned while enjoying the offerings.

At a time like this, one should thank the main person involved. It knelt on one knee, and because its form had solidified, its knee hitting the table made a sound. "Greetings, spirit master. I have not yet thanked you for saving my life!"

The Rice Guardian knelt down still holding its rice paddle that was taller than its body, like gripping a long spear. Tan Xiao was also holding a spatula. He slightly bowed to look at it. The two of them had a strangely corresponding pose. Tan Xiao looked at it curiously, "Are you alright now? Do you need to eat some more?"

The Rice Guardian's eyes lit up. Unlike those food-stealing ghosts and monsters, it had an official position. It would only eat if the master's family provided food, and the better tasting the food, the better the effect on it.

Hearing Tan Xiao say this, after holding back for about 0.3 seconds, it wiped its paddle on its body. "Then I'll gratefully accept!"

However, Kong Xuan, who had his back to them, snorted, "Know your limits."

He had allowed a wisp of the food aroma to be shared because Tan Xiao wanted to save the Rice Guardian. But Tan Xiao was actually inviting the Rice Guardian to continue eating.

Kong Xuan mocked, "What, you want to invite it to join the altar too?"

The Rice Guardian was indignant. Sure, no one would invite it to join a divine altar, but there was no need to say it like that. It had a bad temper to begin with and said resentfully, "I'm still a kitchen boy under the Stove God..."

Kong Xuan glanced back at it.

The Rice Guardian realized who this was and almost choked on its own words. "Cough, cough, cough!"

Although it had grievances, it also admired this one's combat power. It lowered its head and said, "So it's Lord Peacock. Pardon my rudeness."

Who didn't know that the Peacock God had a bad temper, sometimes even the Primordial Phoenix couldn't restrain him.

"Don't fuss over these things while eating. I made quite a lot. The crabs are all yours. Just give it a tiny bit of side dishes, okay?" Tan Xiao gestured a tiny amount with his fingers.

Kong Xuan crossed his arms and looked at the sky. "Do as you see fit."

Tan Xiao exhaled. That's fine. Actually, the Peacock God was reasonable.

The Rice Guardian was also surprised. Although it never had the chance to directly interact with this great god before, how come his temper didn't seem as bad as the legends said?

At this moment, Kong Xuan secretly glared at the Rice Guardian, locking on with murderous intent, fully displaying a threatening meaning.

Rice Guardian: "..."

When Tan Xiao turned back again, Kong Xuan continued to look at the sky indifferently.

The Rice Guardian punched the air in anger, raging impotently.

"?" Tan Xiao looked at it. Why did it suddenly go crazy again? "Are... are you still going to eat?"

The Rice Guardian was in a dilemma. "...Just give me some scraps, I'm not hungry. I, I'm in a hurry to go back and report."

Tan Xiao couldn't help but laugh. He took a bottle of Coke from the fridge. "Why don't you have a drink first."

Kong Xuan disdained to drink this stuff. But after taking a sip, the Rice Guardian let out a long burp, its eyes shining. "In-interesting. I've seen others drink it but I've never had it myself."

—It's said that it also relied on offerings. Usually it would freeload off the Stove God's offerings. How could ordinary households offer Coke to the Stove God?

Tan Xiao felt like he was watching a cartoon. If he was still in elementary school, he would probably ask the Rice Guardian to go to school with him. He laughed again and continued cooking.

The Rice Guardian sat on a spice jar and looked around. This spirit master was really an all-rounder! He could beat food-stealing rat spirits and also make delicious food.

It tapped its two feet together and said softly, "It's just like a dream. I used to often dream that the places I worked at were all like this, with kind and generous masters and delicious food. I would sit behind the pot, guarding the food aroma..."

Tan Xiao was about to respond when he heard the Rice Guardian pause, glance at the Peacock, and mutter to itself, "But I wouldn't dream of this."

Tan Xiao: "..."

He wasn't sure if this counted as an insult or praise. Tan Xiao kind of wanted to laugh.

It was unknown if Kong Xuan heard it or not. Seeing Tan Xiao still chatting with the Rice Guardian, he took the opportunity to tap the table, dissatisfied. "Preparing for the ritual, don't you know to be focused, solemn, and serious?"

Otherwise, how could it show importance?

Tan Xiao thought, you yourself ate first too, and didn't find the ritual lacking in solemnity.

"Great God, I am taking this very seriously. Otherwise, why would I make Hibiscus Crab? But you have to admit, we've been working together for a while now. This is just a supplementary ritual, there's no need to be so particular about the details, right?"

Tan Xiao looked at the offerings he had prepared and suddenly thought that this was originally a mandatory contract. He joked, "Oh, if Ah Jin were here, would he say this is love after marriage, or buying the ticket after getting on the bus?"

Kong Xuan: "............"

Kong Xuan suddenly fell silent and buried his head in eating the vegetables.