Chapter 382

"Ah? Can't eat it"

The celestial officials were somewhat disappointed; seeing Sun Wukong's face sink, they hurriedly said, "Not eating, not eating is also useless. Great Chef Sun Wukong's skills are so superb—even if we can only watch with our own eyes, it's still quite good."

The other celestial officials quickly chimed in, "Exactly, even if we can't eat it, just watching the cooking method isn't bad either—we can learn from it. Food God, you said it, right?"

The Food God was calculating how, when Sun Wukong displayed his cooking skills, he would thoroughly learn the method of this dish; then, even if he couldn't recreate the dish's true flavor, making something close would still be not bad. After all, although he didn't have Sun Wukong's culinary prowess, if he didn't have him as a benchmark, his own cooking would still be passable.

"Exactly, you're right. Let us observe the cooking method up close—it's not bad either. We've filled our mouths with blessings; can't we also fill our eyes with blessings?"

Sun Wukong looked at the Food God's eager-to-try expression and let out a cold laugh, "Then just wait."

He pushed open the door of the Imperial Kitchen and led the group of celestial officials inside.

Upon entering the Imperial Kitchen, the celestial officials felt a hint of strangeness and asked, "Why is this Imperial Kitchen so quiet? Not a single sound at all."

Sun Wukong explained, "Before the Buddhist Dharma Feast, I need to prepare for a few days. Here, the chopping sounds and the aroma drifting out—this isn't because I'm afraid of disturbing you. I've cast spells throughout the entire Imperial Kitchen to isolate sound and aroma."

"Ah, that's how it is. Great Chef Sun Wukong's consideration is truly thorough. I feel ashamed by comparison."

Sun Wukong smiled faintly, accepting the celestial officials' flattery.

This was, of course, intentional on his part. Otherwise, when they had just entered earlier, the loud voices outside would have long since frightened away the Buddhist disciples sneaking food inside.

"Since you're here, follow me inside. The ingredients are prepared inside. As soon as you enter, I'll start cooking. As I said before: whoever first guesses the name of this dish when it's done gets to eat it."

"That's truly wonderful—we get to watch cooking for free and even have a chance to eat the dish. We'll definitely guess carefully."

Sun Wukong smiled, leading the celestial officials from the Imperial Kitchen's courtyard into the house, where they came face to face with the Buddhist disciples sneaking food in the Imperial Kitchen.

The events rewind by two quarters of an hour.

"Senior Brother, will we be in trouble if we do this? What if we're caught red-handed?"

The two Buddhist disciples came out of the Buddhist Sect, deliberately changing into clothes resembling celestial robes. At first glance, they were hardly distinguishable from celestial attire; without close inspection, one couldn't tell them apart at all.

"No worries. I guarantee you—absolutely no one will notice."

"Why does my eyelid keep twitching nonstop? Otherwise, we should just leave."

The Buddhist disciple stopped, turned to look at his companion, and asked, "What exactly are you afraid of? I'm keeping my eyes open. Besides, we've already become Buddhas—why do you still believe in these mortal trinkets?"

His companion felt very guilty, "It's not that I still believe in those things—I'm just genuinely afraid. What we're doing is forbidden. If another Senior Brother sees us and reports us to the Buddha, we'll be expelled from the Buddhist Sect—what then?"

"Don't worry. We're just going to look—we're not really going to eat. Even if caught on the spot, we'll say the Buddhist beads accidentally fell into this bowl; we're just here to look around. You can put your mind at ease—no one will come here. Even if someone does come, they won't hear anything from inside."

The companion looked at his Senior Brother in surprise, "No, Senior Brother, why are you so certain?"

"Really, since I dare to do this, I must have prepared in advance. Sun Wukong has already set up taboos in this Imperial Kitchen. The entire Imperial Kitchen—except for passing gods and Buddhas—will emit nothing, whether aroma or sound; nothing will leak out."

"Really?"

The companion still couldn't believe it, "How do you know that?"

"You are truly a vegetable."

The Buddhist disciple glared at his companion, "I've said it—I decided to come, so I must have done my homework. Last time, I seemed to hear Senior Brother Jin Chanzi say that this monkey's magic power is quite good."

"But..."

"Why are you so ink-stained?"

The Buddhist disciple looked at his companion with exasperation, "Are you coming or not? If not, I'm going alone."

"Anyway, I can't take it anymore—the aroma of that dish keeps lingering by my nose.

I went back, changed clothes, took a bath, and even secretly ate a few steamed buns, but that aroma just won't go away. You said we've abstained from food—why do we still feel hungry?"

The companion, tormented by this aroma, also felt miserable. He nodded slightly and said, "Really, we have no women here. Otherwise, I'd just go borrow some heavy-scented rouge and powder from someone."

"Exactly, we're driven to this point by craving—are you sure you're still not going?"

The Buddhist disciple continued to apply eye ointment to his companion.

His companion was actually tormented inside—guilt and the dish's aroma constantly swirling at his nostrils, urging him to make a decision quickly.

He closed his eyes, thought it over again and again, and still made this decision: "Come on, Senior Brother—we're leaving now. I truly can't wait another moment."

The two sneaked to the Imperial Kitchen door. At this time, the Buddhist Dharma Feast had already dispersed, so basically no one would appear.

The companion looked at the golden barrier before him and asked, "Senior Brother, what is this thing? With this thing, how are we supposed to get in?"

The Buddhist disciple gave his companion a strange look, "Are you stupid? I really doubt you could become a Buddha just because you're too stupid. The Buddha took pity on you and let you attain that position."

"Senior Brother, what do you mean by that? If you don't want to explain, then don't. Why must you gratuitously harm me for no reason?"

The companion grew somewhat angry, "Fine, if you think I'm stupid, then I'll leave first. You stay here and research by yourself."

"Sigh"

The Buddhist disciple sighed, took his companion's hand, and went to the side, "We came secretly. Originally, we shouldn't have used the main gate—we should enter from here."

The companion looked at the three-person-high wall top, "Enter from here?"

"Otherwise?"

The Buddhist disciple said, "Otherwise, I'd go call Sun Wukong over, have him bang gongs and drums to lure us in, wouldn't that work?"

"That's not what I meant either."

The two cast spells, leapt into the air from the ground, and jumped over the wall top into the Imperial Kitchen.

Indeed, as the Buddhist disciple said, this side was extremely quiet—no sound at all—but that strange aroma still lingered constantly at the tip of the nose.

"Senior Brother, what's going on? Logically, since Sun Wukong cast spells here, I shouldn't be able to smell the aroma, but for some reason, I keep smelling that dish's aroma."

"Who isn't?"

The Buddhist disciple rubbed his hands and pushed open the door inside the Imperial Kitchen.

"Anyway, we're just here to look. I think we won't break precepts. I just want to see whether that dish was given some medicine or spell by that Sun Monkey—why else would I keep smelling this aroma?"

"Exactly, exactly. We've cultivated for so long—could we really break precepts over just one dish? I absolutely won't eat it—I'm just looking, just looking."

As they said this, they walked into the Imperial Kitchen, when suddenly they came face to face with someone inside.