Chapter 32: Meeting at the Broken Temple

These ten were clearly led by a female tough; when Wu Chengyu had just burst in, they immediately went on guard, but upon seeing it was only two children, they relaxed a little.

Wu Chengyu stood hesitating at the doorway; the female tough glared with big eyes and said in a muffled voice: "Kid, hurry in, that little girl got caught in the rain; come warm yourselves by our fire, or she'll definitely catch a cold. Sister here isn't a bad person."

After speaking, the female tough put on a smile, the horizontal flesh on her face becoming even more pronounced, giving the impression of Li Kui shaving his beard and disguising himself as a lucky cat.

Wu Chengyu observed carefully; these people definitely had blood on their hands—the aura of those who had killed was always different—but their eyes showed no malice.

Most importantly, Wu Chengyu's intuition was sharp; just as the coachman who suddenly wanted to rob and kill him on the road had formed a bad idea, he had immediately felt a warning in his heart, but these ten strapping men before him gave him no sense of ill intent.

Even so, by rights Wu Chengyu should keep his distance, but A Ku in his arms was more than half soaked; if she didn't warm herself by the fire she would surely catch a cold, and Wu Chengyu had no time to build another fire.

Wu Chengyu held A Ku, bowed slightly and said: "Traveling in haste, suddenly caught in heavy rain, we had no choice but to take shelter here for the night; sorry for the disturbance, everyone."

"No need for ceremony; children of the Jianghu, meeting by the roadside—just doing a small favor. Little brother carrying a child, you must have suffered along the way."

The speaker was the only one who looked like a scholar, in his thirties, with five long whiskers, and two double-headed short spears placed beside him.

Wu Chengyu didn't waste words; A Ku was getting colder and colder. He held her to the fire, warming her while slowly channeling inner force into her body.

The female tough who called herself sister—Wu Chengyu actually wanted to call her aunt—sized up A Ku in Wu Chengyu's arms and said:

"It was quite hot during the day, but suddenly it's raining now; this little girl has a weak constitution and gets sick easily. Where are your elders? Why isn't anyone accompanying you?"

"The elders at home have urgent matters and left; I'm bringing my sister to Qingyuan Prefecture on the road. I thought the journey wasn't far, but who would have thought it would suddenly rain."

When meeting people, only say thirty percent; Wu Chengyu dared not say he and A Ku were orphans, nor would he say his actual destination was Gusu.

"This little brother is indeed extraordinary; his inner force foundation is not bad." The man dressed as a scholar narrowed his eyes and immediately saw that Wu Chengyu was channeling inner force into A Ku.

Internal energy heart techniques have always been scarce; being able to infuse it into another's body further shows his inner force already has a solid foundation.

Among the martial heroes of the Jianghu, few truly possess inner force; Guo Jing's masters, the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan, practiced external martial arts. This man could see what Wu Chengyu was doing, which at least shows he is also an inner force master.

"Is that so? I was saying which family's elders were so careless; it turns out little brother is one of us. I don't know little brother's honored surname and name. Sister here surnamed Niu; just call me Niu Dajie. Those beside me are all my brothers; this one surnamed Lu, call him Lu Dage."

"Junior surnamed Wu; family martial arts, not worth mentioning. Greetings to Niu Dajie and Lu Dage, and to all you brothers."

Wu Chengyu could become smooth at any time; when out and about, safety first. He immediately tried to draw closer to the other party. His childlike appearance was extremely deceptive; after a few words he had them smiling and lowering their guard, especially Niu Dajie, whose horizontal flesh trembled as she laughed.

However, Wu Chengyu also relaxed; these people really didn't look like bad people.

Among the others, one surnamed Yu took out some chunks of meat, skewered them on tree branches, and roasted them over the fire.

Perhaps because warming by the fire made her body warm, or because of the nourishment of Wu Chengyu's inner force, A Ku gradually woke up, but Wu Chengyu believed more that she was awakened by the aroma of the roasted meat. After all, she had only eaten dry rations today and had afterward vomited everything clean; the little girl must be absolutely starving at this moment.

"Big brother, the meat you roast isn't as fragrant as what my brother roasts; my brother is more skilled."

A Ku shrank into Wu Chengyu's arms; seeing a group of strapping men around her, she didn't dare speak at first, but then for some reason blurted out such a sentence.

The people beside them laughed heartily; Niu Dajie laughed even more, bending double: "Yu Xiaowu, you're usually the best at roasting meat, aren't you? Today you're being looked down on."

Yu Xiaowu wasn't angry, but he was certainly unconvinced. He said to A Ku: "Young Miss, wait until you taste my roasted meat and you'll know which is more delicious."

A Ku was also unconvinced: "It's just that my brother's roasted meat is more delicious; no need to taste to know, it's far more fragrant than yours."

At this point, Wu Chengyu also wanted to join in the fun: "Brother Yu Wuge, in terms of skill I may not be better than you, but the seasoning I use for roasted meat definitely beats yours. How about you try my stuff."

Wu Chengyu said while pulling out a paper packet from his hand; inside was the barbecue seasoning he had carefully formulated. It had a very resounding name: Thirteen Fragrances.

The composition of Thirteen Fragrances was written on the packaging; anyone could see it. The key was the ratio of various seasonings—that was the core of Thirteen Fragrances.

While recuperating from his injuries and bored, Wu Chengyu had A Ku find these seasonings. According to the instructions on the bamboo slips and his own sense of smell and taste, he repeatedly experimented and finally completed a new ratio. It definitely differed from the true Thirteen Fragrances ratio; Wu Chengyu also replaced two of the ingredients, and the final effect definitely surpassed the taste in his memory.

Yu Xiaowu looked at Niu Dajie and Lu Dage. Niu Dajie acted as if she hadn't heard, her eyes fixed on A Ku, teasing her with interest. Lu Dage's eyes shifted; he glanced at Wu Chengyu and nodded slightly.

Yu Xiaowu was not polite either; he took the paper packet from Wu Chengyu's hand, held it to his nose and smelled it. His eyes immediately lit up, and he impatiently opened it and sprinkled it onto the meat skewers. But he was also cautious; he only sprinkled it on a few skewers, and the rest of the meat skewers had none stuck to them.

The other party was also an old hand of the Jianghu who had been out and about. Even if Wu Chengyu was a child, the necessary vigilance was always there.

In a short while, an exotic fragrance assailed the nose. Even this broken temple, which reeked of rot, was filled with this aroma. Everyone's eyes turned toward it, and some, not very promising, swallowed their saliva.

The meat wasn't fully roasted yet when Niu Dajie reached out and snatched a skewer, shoving half a skewer of meat into her mouth in one bite, completely unafraid of the heat. As she ate, she mumbled in her mouth.

"Delicious. Yu Xiaowu, are you still unconvinced? You've roasted meat for so many years; this time you've been outdone by someone, haven't you? Far behind."

Yu Xiaowu didn't have time to reply. He picked up a skewer himself and shoved it into his mouth. The whole person immediately became intoxicated. He directly gave Wu Chengyu a thumbs-up, writing a character of "conviction."

Two others around also picked up meat skewers. The rest, though greedy-eyed, didn't dare reach out, including Lu Dage, who had been sizing up Wu Chengyu.

Wu Chengyu naturally knew what the other party was thinking. If there were poison in this paper packet and they ate without caution together, they would surely all be knocked down by Wu Chengyu.

Wu Chengyu originally had no such thought. He felt no guilt at all; he even reached out and took a skewer, saw it was basically cooked, and stuffed it into A Ku's hand.

A Ku didn't have all those twists and turns in her heart that these people did. Her brother's Thirteen Fragrances roasted meat—that was the ultimate taste in the human world. She was also hungry and impatiently tore into it.

After these meat skewers were eaten and those who ate showed no abnormalities, Yu Xiaowu then sprinkled the remaining Thirteen Fragrances onto the other meat skewers.

Lu Dage also let down his guard at this time and said to Wu Chengyu: "Wu little brother, a chance meeting like floating duckweed—we can consider it fate.

We brothers are here tonight to do a big thing. This matter has nothing to do with little brother; no need to worry. Just watch coldly from the side later."

These two chapters are transitional chapters. I have designed a big plot for the next part, which will take at least ten or so chapters to write. These characters are semi-original creations, and they are also meant to build new social relationships for the protagonist. If the people around the protagonist were still those from the original work, it would be a bit monotonous.

Also, some readers said I'm too wordy and the plot is too slow. I originally tell stories at a slow pace. Of course, a slow pace doesn't mean being wordy. I will pay attention to pacing changes in the future.

Thank you all for the suggestions.

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(Chapter End)