Chapter 375: The Renowned Chef

At dusk, the exhausted You Xuetao caught the scent of food.

You Xuetao looked toward Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng pulled two fruits from her pocket: "Are you hungry? Eat these!"

What You Xuetao smelled was not the scent of fruit; she seemed to smell the masterpiece of some renowned chef, and that enticing aroma made drool flow unconsciously from the corners of her mouth.

"Xuetao, what's wrong with you?" Li Banfeng tried to wipe You Xuetao's mouth, but her own mouth felt as if it held a water cellar, and her words came out a bit muddled.

It was a fragrance impossible to resist.

Meng Yuchun said to Li Banfeng from the shadows: "Tianhe Zhi Ji — fragrance."

Li Banfeng had initially assumed the cook was a Two Shi Xiu, but he hadn't expected there really was a culinary cultivation sect.

You Xuetao couldn't hear Meng Yuchun's voice, but she saw a man dressed as a chef, carrying a food box, arrive at the edge of the plot.

She knew a formidable foe had arrived, and that her odds of winning were slim.

But this was land reclamation; as long as she could hold on for a while, You Xuetao absolutely would not give up easily.

The chef raised the food box a bit higher and said to You Xuetao and Li Banfeng: "Don't be afraid, Miss. Seeing how hard things are for you, I came specially to bring you something to eat."

You Xuetao unconsciously licked her lips; the aroma wafting from the food box made her so hungry she could barely hold her blade.

The chef opened the food box, and a roast chicken, yellow tinged with red, appeared before their eyes.

You Xuetao and Li Banfeng both stared, as if that tender, crisp chicken skin, with its sauce and fat, had already slipped into their mouths.

Meng Yuchun continued: "Tianhe Zhi Ji — appearance."

The chef, carrying the food box, stepped across the boundary of the plot.

You Xuetao swung her blade and hacked at him.

The chef dodged smoothly, borrowing the momentum of You Xuetao's blade to slice off a chicken leg and bring it to You Xuetao's lips.

You Xuetao hesitated for less than a second, opened her mouth, and bit down on the chicken leg.

She knew she was in the middle of a battle.

She knew that once she ate the opponent's food, she was bound to lose this fight, and might even lose her life.

But she couldn't resist.

After taking one bite of the chicken leg, You Xuetao dropped her knife on the ground and sat down herself, gnawing the chicken bite by bite, completely losing all will to fight.

"Tianhe Zhi Ji — taste." Meng Yuchun took out a handkerchief, wiped the dew from her own lips, and then wiped Li Banfeng's as well.

Li Banfeng's weariness was largely driven away by the aroma, and he couldn't help exclaiming: "This culinary cultivator is formidable."

Meng Yuchun nodded: "I once heard him tell some of his past. He once infiltrated an enemy's household, worked as a chef for a day, cooked an entire table of dishes, and slaughtered the whole enemy family. I didn't believe it at the time, but after I tasted his cooking, I believed it."

He said that while the enemy was eating, he watched his own family members die of poisoning one after another, yet his mouth couldn't stop, until he ate himself to death. Although the enemy's cultivation wasn't high, it was enough to prove this culinary cultivator's methods.

You Xuetao ate the chicken leg without restraint. Li Banfeng stepped forward to stop her: "Taor, you can't eat anymore. This stuff is definitely poisoned. Let's get out of here. Don't eat, don't—"

As she spoke, the chef sliced off another chicken leg and handed it to Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng held out a little longer than You Xuetao; she pushed away the chef's chicken leg and tried to resist.

Meng Yuchun said to Li Banfeng: "Your eyes weren't wrong. This girl's cultivation really is not low. Being able to withstand this one strike means she has at least three layers of cultivation."

Li Banfeng said nothing, continuing to wipe drool with his handkerchief.

The chef was very agile; the chicken leg in his hand seemed to perform a magic trick and appeared again at Li Banfeng's lips.

Li Banfeng pushed it away again and pulled You Xuetao to leave.

You Xuetao refused to go. The chicken leg in her mouth was finished, but somehow another chicken wing had appeared in her hand.

The chef carried the chicken leg toward Li Banfeng's lips again. Li Banfeng shut off her breath and dodged swiftly.

"Zhai Xin Ren Hou!" Meng Yuchun had spotted the trace of a technique. Under normal circumstances, even holding one's breath couldn't block the aroma of this roast chicken. Li Banfeng had used the Zhai Xin Ren Hou technique to forcibly isolate the aroma from her body.

If she knew the Zhai Xin Ren Hou technique, it proved Li Banfeng's cultivation was at least six layers.

Li Banfeng nodded, thinking to himself: it seems I'm not the only one with cheats.

The chef was also startled. He was a seven-layer wandering monster, and Li Banfeng had six layers as her base. If Li Banfeng's cultivation were a bit higher, victory or death would be hard to say.

He split the roast chicken open, and inside the chicken's belly was a roast squab.

The squab's aroma was even more intoxicating. Li Banfeng retreated rapidly, trying to keep her distance from the chef.

The chef pressed the pursuit relentlessly, but Li Banfeng had no means to counter.

This was the weakness of a Yu Zhaixiu. When far from her residence, her combat power was greatly reduced. Most of her techniques, such as Golden House Concealing Beauty and Shen Zhai Da Yuan, had no way to be deployed. Against an opponent of comparable level, she could hardly put up a fight.

The chicken leg hovered right at her lips, the fat drifting onto them. What looked like a teasing scene was actually a killing move the chef had honed for decades.

With no choice, Li Banfeng used the Homing Arrow technique.

She knew her residence wasn't here, and she couldn't possibly run back to it. She simply wanted to use the technique to boost her speed and shake off the chef's pursuit.

After running for a while, she succeeded.

The chef stopped chasing.

He returned to where he'd been and handed the chicken leg, along with the entire chicken, to You Xuetao.

You Xuetao clutched the roast chicken and tore into it without restraint.

The chef laughed: "Eat slowly. There's still a pigeon inside. Watch out for the bones."

Li Banfeng froze on the spot, only then realizing something.

You Xuetao was still inside the plot, but Li Banfeng had already reached the outside of the boundary.

She was desperate to return to the plot, but the chef warned her: "According to the rules of land reclamation, you've already left the plot. Until the reclamation is over, you can't come back in."

What the chef said was true; that was the rule no matter where one reclaimed land.

Li Banfeng shouted at the top of her lungs: "Taor, let's go! Weren't you doing the reclamation for me? I can't get back in now. What's the point of your reclamation?"

You Xuetao, still chewing chicken, looked up at Li Banfeng.

She very much wanted to leave with Li Banfeng, but her mouth simply couldn't stop. Even if she could walk and eat at the same time, she couldn't do it.

She just wanted to sit here and finish eating the chicken; she couldn't even spare the mouth to say a single word to Miss Xiao Feng.

The cook spoke on Youtao's behalf: "Miss Miss Xiao Feng, what you said isn't right—

Youtao really did come here to open up wasteland for you. Once she opens up the wasteland, she'll be able to protect you on this plot of land in the future. You should be helping her with some strength—why must you force her to leave?

Could it be that you don't want her to help you open up wasteland? Could it be that you don't want her to protect you?

That's true too—you have such a high cultivation level, you really don't need her protection. I'm actually curious about this very thing: why must you take her away?"

"That's none of your business. I can't let Taor suffer a loss!" Miss Xiao Feng ignored the cook and tried to charge into the plot of land again.

Meng Yuchun wasn't about to be polite at this point.

Miss Xiao Feng was no longer a wasteland-opener, yet she still wanted to walk onto the plot of land—this clearly broke the rules.

Meng Yuchun rushed forward, grabbed Miss Xiao Feng, and flew up into midair, then slammed Miss Xiao Feng heavily onto the ground.

Throughout the entire process, Meng Yuchun didn't reveal her form. Miss Xiao Feng struggled for a long time, unable to get up.

Youtao's eyes went red; she wanted to give Miss Xiao Feng a hand, but she couldn't control herself.

From midair came Meng Yuchun's voice, a mixture of low and shrill tones, making it impossible to tell the timbre, or even whether it was male or female.

"Why have you come to my territory? Who sent you here!"

Miss Xiao Feng said nothing.

The cook stepped forward and opened the lower tier of the food box.

Inside the food box was a roast duck.

Upon smelling the fragrance of this duck, Youtao nearly put down her roast chicken.

This smells too good!

The cook warned Youtao: "She stepped outside the boundary. By rights, your wasteland-opening has already failed, but the plot's boundary is still lit, which proves the plot pities you. You must cherish this opportunity."

The plot pities Youtao?

What does that mean? Li Banfeng didn't understand.

Meng Yuchun offered an explanation: "Miss Xiao Feng never once put in any effort for Youtao, and gave Youtao trouble at every turn. The plot sees things clearly and didn't count Miss Xiao Feng as a wasteland-opener. Although it broke the rules, it can be considered the plot showing a merciful heart."

"The plot showed a merciful heart?" The more Li Banfeng listened, the more confused he became.

Meng Yuchun offered no further explanation—this was something Li Banfeng was not supposed to know in the first place.

The cook tore off a piece of duck meat and brought it to Miss Xiao Feng's mouth. Miss Xiao Feng tried to struggle, but Meng Yuchun stomped her into the ground with one foot.

The duck meat was stuffed into Miss Xiao Feng's mouth by the cook. Miss Xiao Feng wanted to spit it out, but she couldn't.

This roast duck was too delicious.

From the duck skin, to the duck meat, to the duck bones—everything melted in the mouth, transforming into oil that wasn't greasy in the slightest, sliding bit by bit down the throat.

The cook tore off a duck leg and said to Miss Xiao Feng: "Miss, I advise you to tell the truth. What exactly did you come to this place for?

If you don't tell the truth, I'll keep feeding you duck meat. Once you've eaten another half, your life will be done for."

After saying this, the cook tore off another piece of duck meat and stuffed it into Miss Xiao Feng's mouth.

Miss Xiao Feng felt a sharp pain in her belly, but still couldn't help swallowing it down.

"I'll talk, I'll talk!" Under fear, Miss Xiao Feng told the truth: "It was Ah Xia who sent me here, it was Ah Xia!"

Youtao, eating her roast chicken, stared blankly at Miss Xiao Feng.

Ah Xia sent her here?

Wasn't she here to hide from Ah Xia?

What on earth is going on?

The cook tore off another piece of duck meat: "You'd better explain in more detail."

Miss Xiao Feng shook her head repeatedly, signaling the cook not to bring the duck meat over. She stopped resisting too, and told the whole story from beginning to end:

"One day Ah Xia told me that through divination, she'd found a good place. The local earth god of this place was already dead, but the deed was still there.

As long as we found this place and got the local earth god's deed, Ah Xia could become the local earth god. When that time came, that plot of land would all be our house, and my cultivation could skyrocket!"

Youtao ate her roast chicken, staring at Miss Xiao Feng in astonishment. Her words were muffled and unclear, as if she were trying to say something.

The cook knew what Youtao was trying to say—most people couldn't speak clearly while eating his food.

The cook asked Miss Xiao Feng: "This Miss Youtao wants to ask you—why did you want to deceive her?"

Miss Xiao Feng said to Youtao: "I didn't mean to deceive you on purpose. I was worried you'd be scared. If Ah Xia became the local earth god, it'd benefit both of us. How could I bear to let you suffer a loss?"

The cook was silent for a moment, then laughed: "Miss Miss Xiao Feng, what you said sounds very much like the truth. If it were someone more gullible, they might really have been taken in by you.

But I'm not that easy to fool—perhaps because I've lived too many years. If I haven't guessed wrong, the whole stunt you and Ah Xia pulled wasn't to fool this Miss Youtao, but to fool your own house, wasn't it?"

Miss Xiao Feng grew a little flustered: "W-what would I want to fool the house for?"

The cook said with a smile: "Because Yu Zhaixiu are special. The house, the house spirit, and the Yu Zhaixiu—the three together make up a complete Daoist lineage.

If a Yu Zhaixiu colludes with the house spirit and wants to leave home, that means abandoning the house, and the house will inevitably fight to the death.

But if a Yu Zhaixiu breaks with the house spirit, even staging a bitter-suffering scheme, the house can also choose to part on good terms.

You and the house spirit put on quite a convincing bitter-suffering act. I heard that to protect you, the house even got itself injured.

In that situation, the house must be hoping you'll escape quickly. If it's a house with a gentle temperament, it won't forcibly keep the house spirit either. Isn't that the logic?"

Miss Xiao Feng said nothing. Meng Yuchun said to Li Banfeng: "The cook is right. If a Yu Zhaixiu has already broken with the house spirit, even to the point of mutual harm, a house with a gentle temperament will choose to part on good terms."

Li Banfeng nodded.

So it wasn't that the bamboo tower was too weak—it was that it had a gentle temperament.

Youtao ate her roast chicken, her eyes reddening in waves, still mumbling incoherently.

The cook translated: "Miss Youtao is asking you—now that you've already left the house, why did you still want to deceive her?"

Miss Xiao Feng said to Youtao: "That's because I can't bear to part with you. I can't leave you!"

The cook shook his head and sighed: "Miss Miss Xiao Feng, you look so honest, but you speak nothing like an honest person."

Miss Xiao Feng shouted, "Everything I said is the truth!"

"It's true, not a word of a lie, but the meaning isn't quite right. You really can't bear to part with her, and you can't leave her either, but don't make it sound so heartfelt,

Your cultivation isn't low, but Yu Zhaixiu's experience is lacking. Going on a long trip, you need someone to look after you — otherwise, even a human trafficker could come along and lead you away. That's why you can't leave this wandering-jianghu Miss Youtao,

You, this person — you can't scheme in front of outsiders, but tricking your own people, you're really something."

Miss Xiao Feng shook her head repeatedly: "I didn't trick you, Tao'er, don't listen to him."

"Still won't admit it," the cook laughed, "let me lay it all out for you,

You and Ah Xia tricked the house, ran all the way from home to this place, all to find a stretch of land where the local earth god is gone,

You kept forcing Youtao to pioneer here because you wanted to help Ah Xia test whether there's still a local earth god around."

Youtao recalled the scene in the tent last night, where Miss Xiao Feng kept muttering, "There's one here, really one…"

When Youtao woke up, she said there were snakes.

Was she really talking about snakes at the time?

No!

At the time, she was talking to Ah Xia!

She was telling Ah Xia that there really was a local earth god here!

Ah Xia has been following them all this time!

Youtao ate her roast chicken, watching Miss Xiao Feng the whole time.

Miss Xiao Feng didn't dare look at Youtao again — every single thing the cook deduced was spot on.

The cook went on, "Once it was confirmed there's a local earth god here, and Miss Youtao really wanted to pioneer the land, you threw a wrench in it again,

Because you don't want Youtao to break the wasteland open, you don't want Youtao to stay here, you still want Youtao to follow you, shield you from wind and rain and trouble, and at night keep you company — that's the logic, isn't it?"

Miss Xiao Feng said nothing.

Youtao's tears fell.

Next, the cook asked, "How did you find out the local earth god here had an accident?"

Miss Xiao Feng said, "Ah Xia divined it."

The cook tore off a piece of duck meat and said, "If you don't tell the truth now, you really won't survive."

Li Banfeng listened carefully from the side — he had repeatedly urged the cook that this question had to be asked clearly.

This matter was of great consequence; Ah Xia's source of information had to be thoroughly investigated.

PS: This cook is really too useful — not only does he touch the heart, he satisfies the stomach too.

Give Li Banfeng a like, give the gramophone a like, carry them to twenty thousand, thank you all, sincerely thank you all.

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(End of this chapter)