Chapter 621: What the junior wants is your life!

Bazha stared gloomily at the already purplish-red face of someone who was no longer there, with no intention of letting go.

He had merely been the Great General of the former Eagle King Kingdom; one day he seized the throne successfully and slaughtered the entire Wang Shi bloodline of the Eagle King Kingdom.

Aside from the former queen, who now serves as his concubine in the inner court, he killed every member of the former royal family down to the last.

He became the king of the Eagle King Kingdom.

Thus he now cannot bear anyone addressing him as "Your Lordship" again.

Soon he twisted the beauty's neck outright, then, unable to contain his rage, smashed the wine bowl onto the ground.

"All of you, get out!"

As the music and dance ceased, the dancing girls bowed their waists in panic and hurriedly fled.

Bazha vented his fury in a torrent.

"What time is it now? Where is Liu Li? Where is Batu'er?!"

"Not a ghost in sight!"

"Didn't Batu'er say he would present this king with a top-tier beauty from the Central Plains?"

"If he dares to deceive this king, this king will surely kill him——"

A servant stepped forward at risk of his life and advised: "My king, quell your anger. The Han man Liu Li sent word back yesterday, saying there is a fresh batch of superior goods, so he must personally attend to the service of the Shatuo Buddha."

"Perhaps it is precisely this matter that has delayed his arrival until now."

"As for Batu'er, after A'likun died he inexplicably could not find anyone, and it is unknown whether he fled to avoid punishment..."

Bazha: "A bunch of good-for-nothings!"

"What on earth is this Batu'er up to? After wrangling with a group of Han people for so long, failing to present a beauty to this king is bad enough, yet he actually caused such a great disturbance at A'likun's residence!"

"Could it be that he still intends to take A'likun's place?"

"This king does not mind capable men rising, but he dares to act without informing this king first—this king cannot spare him!"

"Has any news returned from the people this king sent out?"

The servant trembled, burying his head: "Replying, my king, up to now there has still been no news..."

Bazha's face instantly sank like icy cold.

"Could it be that this group of Han people..."

"But how could that be? Batu'er said they were merely a group of merchants, with a few knowing some martial arts, and that beauty looked nothing more than a decorative rack—"

Seeing Bazha's mood worsen, the servant hurried forward to flatter: "My king, the rear kitchen has just obtained a fresh ingredient, already eagerly cooked and ready for you to taste."

"Why not let the servant serve the dish, and you try it first?"

Bazha asked offhand: "What fresh ingredient? Could there be something this king has never eaten before?"

The servant: "My king naturally has eaten all mountain delicacies and sea flavors, but today when the ingredient arrived, its blood vessels were still twitching."

"The subordinate smelled it, and even the raw meat smelled strangely fragrant."

Bazha finally took interest: "Oh? What is this thing?"

The servant: "It seems to be fish."

"But the servant has never seen such a large piece; it is merely a chunk of meat cut from a fish's body."

If the Eagle King City wanted to eat fish, it would be a very rare occurrence.

Bazha grew a bit interested: "Then serve the dish; this king wishes to taste what this rare ingredient is."

Soon the fragrant, steaming dish was brought before Bazha.

One dish after another, cooked not only with perfect color, aroma, and flavor, but also mostly unseen by Bazha before.

Bazha stared at the dishes without immediately moving: "Today's cook is rather interesting."

The servant hastily replied: "Replying, my king, today's rear kitchen has a new cook. He says he once worked at a major restaurant in the Central Plains, so his dishes are mostly learned from there."

Bazha: "New cook? Central Plains people just like to make flashy things."

"Has the new cook's background been clarified? Do not give villains a chance to poison this king; otherwise, before this king dies, I will also drag all you negligent things onto the scapegoat!"

The servant stammered: "Replying, my king, this cook is a distant relative of the head cook Kaze'er, and has been in our rear kitchen for two or three months already."

"When faced with this fresh fish meat today, Kaze'er himself did not know where to start. Coincidentally, Kaze'er, who had just returned home, saw it and said he could cook it, so he let him try."

"This try, his culinary skill truly amazed, and only then was his dish permitted to be served."

Hearing this, Bazha finally set aside his misgivings.

He picked up his chopsticks and first tasted the thick-sauced, brightly colored braised fish chunks.

One bite in, he immediately widened his eyes in amazement.

Central Plains food, originally, is this flavor?

No wonder everyone wants to run to the Central Plains.

Moreover, like the Central Plains beauties, they are both worldly extremes known to the marrow when eaten.

Bazha could not help but feast heartily.

The more he ate, the harder it was to stop.

In the end he actually ate all the food on the table by himself, leaving nothing.

Afterwards he belched contentedly, then drank three large bowls of wine in succession.

Wiping his mouth, he loudly commanded: "Reward!"

"Go, bring up that cook; this king wishes to reward him personally!"

The cook was soon brought up.

He is a small fellow whose stature is not outstanding among men.

Bazha glanced with disdain: "You are the cook who prepared today's dishes for this king?"

"Such a small frame, yet you can still wield an iron spoon? Come over, let this king examine you more closely!"

The cook stepped forward slowly, clasped his fist in salute: "This humble one has seen the King."

Bazha: "What kind of meat is this? It's so delicious—what reward do you want me to give you?"

"Speak!"

"I'm in a good mood right now; whatever reward you want, I can grant it. Of course, including the beauties of my harem."

The cook slowly raised his head: "Your Majesty, guess what kind of animal this meat is from?"

"Speaking of which, Your Majesty should know what this is."

"After all, it's something you personally raised, Your Majesty."

"In the cave a hundred li west of the city, you had Liu Li and the others feed this beast—don't you remember?"

Bazha's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

Upon realizing what it was and how it had been fed, he couldn't bear it and turned to vomit.

With a "splash-splash", he vomited all over the floor, and instantly the whole hall reeked.

"Who—who exactly are you?"

"How could you know these things?"

"Guards—no! I will personally kill you—"

Bazha furiously drew the great knife hanging nearby, stepped on the low table, and leapt up to slash!

The cook, unhurried, retreated while raising his hand to shoot a sleeve arrow at Bazha.

Bazha raised his knife to block the sword, but that very opening allowed the cook to duck low, slip beneath Bazha, and as they crossed, he thrust his short dagger upward fiercely!

"Ah!"

Bazha let out a miserable cry and fell to the ground.

His hamstring was cut.

Bazha, unable to contain his rage: "I'll have your corpse torn to ten thousand pieces!"

The cook merely gave a cold laugh: "In this world, more than just you want my corpse torn to ten thousand pieces."

"But none of them ended well."

"You are the next."

"Just now, Lord Bazha—weren't you asking what reward this humble one desires?"

"This humble one has long decided."

"What this humble one wants is your life!"

The cook deliberately prolonged the word "lord", making Bazha's eyes instantly bloodshot, like a bull that has drunk human blood, nearly losing all reason.

"Hand over your life!"

Bazha charged again with his knife, but the cook remained unhurried, deftly wielding a short dagger to respond.

Her martial arts were not extraordinarily supreme.

But she prevailed with agility, like a slippery snake darting in and out of Bazha's sight, which Bazha could not catch.

Bazha was strong as an ox, and after long battlefield experience his whole body brimmed with killing intent.

But he was accustomed to straightforward killing; such a cunning assassin as the cook was rarely encountered.

So at first he was truly dazed by the cook's tricks.

Yet the more this happened, the angrier he became.

Wielding his great knife, he began to hack wildly inside the hall.

As a result, the eunuchs and servants hiding east and west were first slaughtered cleanly.

As for the cook, he had already leapt onto Bazha's throne and was now coldly staring at him, mocking.

Mocking him: "Lord Bazha, is that all the ability you have?"

"I truly don't know how you managed to seize the throne and become this traitorous villain."

"Do you even deserve to be the king of the Ying Kingdom?"

This remark completely enraged Bazha, causing him to lose all reason and charge again.

Bazha raised his knife, pouring all his inner power into a slash at the throne.

The throne was instantly split in two.

And the cook merely gave a light leap, jumping aside once more.

Waiting for Bazha to raise his knife again to slash at him, she merely stood there, motionless.

But before Bazha's blade fell, he felt a strong force seize his heart.

He jerked to a halt, clutching his chest desperately.

As if someone were stirring his five viscera with a stick, the pain left Bazha unable to move at all.

He plunged headfirst to the ground, gazing at the shattered plates, finally realizing a truth.

"You… poisoned me…"

Li Qingluo: "Not too stupid."

"Otherwise, you'd think why I dare come alone to assassinate you?"

"The poison you've taken will erupt if your qi rushes to your heart; using martial arts will worsen the outbreak."

"The angrier you are, the more painful it becomes."

"Bazha, how many lives have you taken? If anyone deserves hell, it's you."

Looking at the person before him who, with a single dish, had reduced him to this state, Bazha writhed in pain, unable to rise.

"Guards… guards!"

The overconfident Bazha just now still wanted to personally slay this short cook.

But now he only wants his personal guards to crush this cook, then turn him into a dish, and he himself must eat it with his own mouth!

But unfortunately, even if he shouted himself hoarse today, no one would come to rescue him.

The sound of fighting had already come from the front courtyard.

And it was gradually drawing nearer to this side.

Only then did Bazha fully realize that this cook was not alone!

He not only came prepared, but he probably also intends to overthrow his own throne!

"Who…… exactly are you……?"

The cook tore off the human-skin mask on his face in one motion, revealing his true appearance.

As it turned out, this cook was no stranger—he was Li Qingluo, a man disguised as a woman who had also changed his appearance!