Chapter 175: Your Cooking Is Too Bad

Standing on Kong Que, looking down from high above.

What came into view were those primitive, rugged mountains and ridges, followed by the water network formed by the various branches of the Tongtian River; from time to time, one could see boats drifting and fishermen casting their nets.

Li Heng estimated the distance; he had already left the territory of Bei'an County, having crossed at least three counties. However, according to what Kong Que said, they were getting closer and closer to the destination, so it would not take too long.

Looking at the land beneath his feet, Li Heng felt a bit emotional.

The counties outside of Bei'an and Beiguo were surprisingly peaceful; he did not even sense many Weirds or demons, and if there were any, they were just minor Weirds or minor demons, worth at most one point of Source Power if killed.

Of course, this might also have to do with his trajectory.

A straight line could hardly cover the full picture.

But even so, it was much better than Bei'an and Beiguo.

However, judging by the level of rot in Great Li, problems would arise sooner or later; after all, the crises encountered by the two counties of Beiguo and Bei'an had received no aid at all, which showed just how rotten it was.

"Master, we have arrived at the destination."

At this moment, Kong Que spoke up.

Li Heng raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing this and looked directly below; it was actually a road, and judging by the size of this road, it was clearly a main official road that people walked on frequently, with not many weeds growing on it.

"The Present World coordinates corresponding to the Kong Que clan are right here?"

This did not look very hidden.

If some powerful expert here suddenly had a whim and tore open space, they could probably run right over to the Kong Que clan; was the location not a bit too casual?

"Yes, Master," Kong Que answered softly.

However, as if afraid that Li Heng would misunderstand, she spoke again to explain.

"Although I do not know why the location of our clan's Present World coordinates would be on a road where people come and go, in the Yin World, the place where the Kong Que clan resides also has its own significance."

"Oh, what significance?" Li Heng became interested.

"Back when the Heaven and Earth Mutation occurred and the Spirit Realm shattered, the Kong Que clan fell into the Yin World, and it just so happened that a nearby fragment also pierced into the Yin World, causing a weak point in space to appear."

"Our clan settled down at that weak point in space."

"This was originally intended to escape through this weak point in space, but unfortunately, before the plan could be implemented, we were discovered by Ten Thousand Demon Ridge. Although the clan survived in the end, the strongest Great Elder was killed, and the rest were unable to tear open space."

As she spoke, Kong Que's eyes became dim and lusterless.

"Descend."

Li Heng nodded and said indifferently.

He did not want to dwell on Kong Que's sad past; in any case, this World was just like this, and the past could not be changed. If one did not learn to adapt and get used to it, there would be plenty of sadness in the future.

Kong Que came back to her senses upon hearing this and descended onto the road.

Li Heng looked around and raised his eyebrows.

This section of the road was a fork, surrounded by dense mountain forests. Standing in front of him was a medium-sized inn, clearly provided for passersby to rest and eat.

He looked carefully and revealed a smile.

"Let's go, let's go over and take a look."

He beckoned for Kong Que, who had transformed into human form, to follow.

Soon, the person and the demon arrived in front of the inn.

This inn was not large, estimated to be only two stories high—likely the lower floor for eating and the upper floor for resting—standing between two forks in the road. A large sign hung in front of the door: "Youjian Inn."

Kong Que was slightly stunned; what was Master doing again?

Wasn't he going to look for her clan?

While she was still puzzled, Li Heng had already walked into the inn.

Once inside the inn, one could see a spacious and bright hall; there were over a dozen tables and chairs in the center, with three or four tables already occupied by some merchants and commoners drinking wine and eating food.

"This guest, are you here for a meal or to stay the night?"

A greeting made Li Heng turn his head to the right. It turned out there was a counter on the right side of the entrance, with dozens of jars of wine on it, and a person who looked like the innkeeper was clicking an abacus and asking.

At this time, Kong Que also hurriedly walked in, looking around.

Li Heng said indifferently, "I'm afraid there isn't enough time to stay the night, so a meal it is. Bring out your finest wine and all kinds of dishes; we aren't afraid of having too much."

Having said that, he sat down at a table to the left of the entrance.

Kong Que hurriedly sat down next to Li Heng, looking very well-behaved.

"Alright, the finest wine and dishes, please wait a moment."

The innkeeper did not ask if Li Heng would burst from eating so much food; he replied indifferently and continued to mechanically click the abacus.

While waiting for the food, more people arrived at the inn.

Five burly men walked in, each holding a gleaming ring-pommel saber in their hands, and combined with their fierce expressions, it was as if they were some greenwood heroes about to "act on behalf of Heaven."

However, strangely, the innkeeper was not afraid.

He spoke again, "Guests, are you here for a meal or to stay the night?"

The five burly men looked at the innkeeper in unison upon hearing this.

One of them, a more prominent man who seemed to be the leader, stepped forward and snorted coldly, "Manager Qi, we haven't seen you for a long time, so you've become this arrogant? You actually dare to speak to us in this tone? Yesterday, one of my brothers came down the mountain to your place to get wine, but he didn't return all night."

"I suspect you people harmed my brother!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the man's expression became even more ferocious; he walked to the counter, raised the ring-pommel saber in his hand, and slashed down heavily. Then, with a bang, the saber was directly deflected by the counter.

The man only felt his hand tremble, and he almost could not hold onto it.

"This!"

He was a bit confused; what was going on? Why couldn't he cut into it?

This counter was made of wood, not iron.

The innkeeper seemed to remain calm and composed.

"Are the guests here for a meal or to stay the night?"

"Fine, you dare to play me, right? You really think I don't dare to slaughter you?" The burly man was stunned again upon hearing this, hurriedly putting on an angry expression; they knew each other's roots and bottom lines, they were acquaintances, so why the act?

"Guest, speak properly; isn't your brother right there?"

At this moment, the inn's chef brought out dishes from the back kitchen, and seeing this burly man wanting to kill someone, he hurriedly spoke to stop him, while pointing at a person constantly eating at the table nearby.

The burly man was stunned upon hearing this and turned his head to look.

Good heavens, it really was his missing brother?

He strode over to his brother, slapped him hard on the shoulder, and spoke angrily at the same time. "Feng San, what are you doing? I told you to get wine, you've been missing for a night, and now you're still eating?"

Seeing this, the other four burly men also laughed.

"Boss, it's not like you don't know. This guy can't move his feet when he sees food; perhaps he drank some wine last night and passed out right here, and now that he's awake, he's continuing to eat, just like a pig."

However, this Feng San still did not respond and continued to eat.

At this time, the chef had already presented the dishes to Li Heng.

Li Heng looked at the fragrant, colorful, and delicious food before him and couldn't help but reveal a smile. "This is truly excellent culinary skill; this master, could you tell me how you made this?"

"Why, guest, do you want to learn..."

The chef gave a hehe laugh, the rolls of fat on his face moving, and he was just about to continue explaining. But he saw the lead burly man kick the constantly eating Feng San to the ground.

Yet Feng San continued to pick up the food from the ground to eat.

The burly man frowned, swung his ring-headed saber down fiercely, and directly chopped off Feng San's head. But strangely, not a single drop of blood sprayed from the severed head and body.

He was stunned, then looked around, understood something, and revealed a cold sneer. "Fine, no wonder I always felt this inn was strange!"

The burly man suddenly grinned hideously, his aura shook, and he erupted with intense Qi and Blood; he was clearly in the Blood Exchange Realm where Qi and Blood are like a furnace.

The innkeeper's expression remained completely unmoved, mechanically clicking the abacus. Only the chef sighed, gave up on explaining the wonders of these dishes to Li Heng, and walked directly to the burly man with a plate of food.

He casually picked up a few slices of meat and stuffed them into the burly man's mouth.

At the same time, he spoke with a smile.

"Delicious, right? Then eat some more."

The burly man chewed mechanically, his expression changing drastically, but in the end, it all returned to dead silence; his Qi and Blood faded, and he began to eat the things on the table just like the other guests in the inn.

The other burly men were treated the same way.

After these burly men calmed down, the chef walked back to Li Heng. "This guest, please excuse the commotion just now; come, come, this is twice-cooked pork I carefully stir-fried, don't be polite."

"This twice-cooked pork is indeed not bad, both fragrant and not greasy."

"It's just that the ingredients are wrong." Li Heng said with a smile.

"Ingredients are wrong, how is that possible? This isn't farmed meat, but wild meat, very fatty and delicious." The chef shook his head.

"No, no, still no; even if it's wild, it's too ordinary. Do you have that kind that has sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty all at once? It would be best if it could change flavors according to a person's mood."

Li Heng said indifferently.

Upon hearing this, the chef's expression stiffened.

"This guest, are you not teasing me? Where would there be such a dish that changes flavor according to one's mood."

"If you can't make it, it's because your culinary skills are too low; how could it not exist."

Li Heng said disdainfully.

The chef's expression suddenly turned fierce and incomparably gloomy.

"This guest, I'm just asking you, are you going to eat or not!"

"If your ingredients were good, I would definitely eat."

Li Heng spoke, then picked up his chopsticks, casually picked up a slice of meat, and then loosened his chopsticks, letting it fall to the ground. "Look, the ingredients are still not high-grade enough, not enough elasticity; it didn't even bounce back to the table."

The chef went crazy instantly.

You want elasticity from a slice of meat? Do you think it's a meatball!

Li Heng threw the plate of vegetables on the table onto the ground. "Look, these vegetables don't know how to dance, can't eat them." He pointed at the pile of vegetables on the ground and said indifferently.

"You're ruining my food, aren't you!"

The chef pulled a kitchen knife directly from his waist; the knife was covered in bloodstains, as if it had experienced decades of slaughter and was soaked in fresh blood.

"You say the ingredients aren't high-grade enough?"

"Fine, I think your meat is very high-grade!"

After saying this, the chef brandished the kitchen knife and slashed down at Li Heng's head! He, Zhu San, had been cooking for so many years, and this was the first time he had seen such a picky guy!

Why did he escape Ten Thousand Demon Ridge?

One was to stay alive, and two was because he didn't want to please those picky guys. This stupid human dared to set conditions for him? I originally wanted to let you live a little longer, but now I'll just slaughter you!

With a slight movement of his mind,

A wisp of Sun True Fire appeared before Zhu San's eyes.

"What did you say? Say it again now."

Li Heng said indifferently.