Chapter 330: Terror and Cuteness Are but a Single Thought Apart

There is no desire to sleep on an autumn afternoon.

Chen Shu lay by the sofa, his head resting on Qingqing's lap, holding his Mobile Phone to scroll through short videos.

The Calamity-Responding Bodhisattva attained Buddhahood yesterday at dawn, which happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival; now, the whole world is full of news about the venerable elder.

Every time Chen Shu opened the app, it was him, and the subsequent videos he scrolled through were also him; major state media and self-media outlets were scrambling to publish content, trying to ride the coattails of the venerable elder's popularity.

He had been scrolling for an hour now, and he still encountered them occasionally.

It is evident how viral this matter is.

Of course, various countries have not informed the public of the true existence of "divine beings," so the "divine beings" here remain only at the level of faith. Even so, for the whole world, this is a truly remarkable event.

As a top-tier sect of Yiguo and one of the two largest religions, the Buddhist Sect is the oldest religion in the world, with numerous believers distributed all over the globe.

There are even those among the Eastern Continent Demon Clan who believe in the Buddha.

Their hard power is strong, and their religious influence is also strong.

And the birth of the previous Buddha of the Buddhist Sect was already eight hundred years ago.

Eight hundred years—to the average person, it is actually not much different from two thousand years; both are ancient, both are very distant things. The birth of the Calamity-Responding Buddha signifies the arrival of another era for the Buddhist Sect; the central Buddha statues in temples across the world are being replaced, the objects of worship for most believers are also changing, and it is possible that the entire strategy and inclination of the Buddhist Sect will adjust accordingly; it might become more conservative, or it might become more radical.

Attaining Buddhahood in the present world, the birth of a new god—is there any matter greater than this?

As Chen Shu scrolled, he suddenly thought of something, moved his gaze away from the Mobile Phone screen, and glanced at Qingqing, who was reading a book:

"So, has the World Prediction Line been disrupted now?"

"Mm."

"It can still serve as a certain reference, right?"

"Yes."

"Then isn't this the perfect time for you to cultivate 'Fear' and 'Surprise'?"

"I will cultivate 'Heavy Sorrow' first."

"Must it be in order?"

"No."

"Then why are you cultivating 'Heavy Sorrow' first?"

"..."

Ning Qing moved her gaze away from the page, lowered her head, and looked at him calmly: "Teacher's Spirit Decay is becoming more and more severe."

"I see..."

Chen Shu dragged out the long tail of his words, not knowing what to say for a moment.

As Ning Qing's boyfriend who hadn't started dating her yet, he naturally knew about this old gentleman. However, birth, aging, sickness, and death are things no one can avoid; Chen Shu himself, on the contrary, does not feel that a person of that age approaching death is a terrifying or sorrowful thing; what is terrifying is the Spirit Decay.

"Will you be sad?"

"I will be during 'Heavy Sorrow'."

"Do you want me to comfort you?"

"As you wish."

"Oh..."

At this moment, a figure walked over holding a water cup, heading straight for the water dispenser.

"Glug, glug..."

The water dispenser kept bubbling.

The young girl stood by the water dispenser with her hands on her hips, waiting for the cup to fill up; she had just cleaned the stone table used for lunch, swept the floor, and taken the clothes from the washing machine to the roof to dry—it had exhausted her.

"Click..."

The young girl turned off the switch, picked up the water cup, tilted her head back to drink half of it, then put the cup back to continue filling it.

She then carried the cup and walked slowly upstairs.

As for the two people on the sofa, she seemed not to see them at all, and from beginning to end, she did not look in that direction once.

Not long after, Chen Banxia walked in again.

"Not going out to play this afternoon?"

"Not going out."

"Let's go! Big sister will take you to see a movie!"

"Go with your little friends; I still have to prepare roasted rabbit for you this afternoon." Chen Shu felt angry just thinking about it; this silly woman, every time she wants to eat something, it's either crayfish, river snails, or roasted rabbit—all things that take a long time to prepare.

"..."

Chen Banxia frowned and exhorted him: "You cannot be so fierce to your big sister; be a little gentler, and show respect to your big sister."

"Goodbye."

"!"

Chen Banxia glanced quietly outside; her little friend was still on the swing and shouldn't have heard the conversation inside, so she adjusted her expression, walked out, and said to the little friend looking at her: "I thought about it, let's just leave Chen Shu at home to cook for us; it's enough for us to go see it."

"Let them go together."

"I don't want them to go."

Chen Banxia looked serious as she pulled Zhang Suannai away.

Chen Shu in the living room sighed, met Qingqing's gaze, and couldn't help but ask: "Tell me, how is it that not a single person in this family is normal?"

"Which family?"

Ning Qing asked in a very low voice.

"Chen Banxia, you, Xiaoxiao," Chen Shu said, feeling helpless, "Except for me, not one is normal."

"Where does the problem lie?"

"How would I know?"

"Look for a pattern."

"A pattern... could it be..."

Chen Shu fell into thought and soon had an answer: "Is there a problem with the feng shui of Bai City?"

"..."

Ning Qing looked at him, simultaneously reaching out quietly to swipe the Mobile Phone from his hand as punishment for him saying he wasn't normal, then tucked the phone into her other pants pocket, ignored him, and continued reading.

"Give it back."

Chen Shu reached back, wanting to take the Mobile Phone back.

Without his Mobile Phone, he would die.

Ning Qing didn't say a word, nor did her expression change; she just shifted to the side and reached out to press down on his hand, not letting him get his way, and the two sides began a silent confrontation.

"Fine, keep it then."

Having touched her leg enough, Chen Shu stood up to go make dinner.

Chen Shu had bought two rabbits and an additional four rabbit heads, for a total of six rabbit heads, plus two naked carp.

The vendor had already slaughtered the rabbits and fish for him, but he still had to clean them carefully once more, clean them thoroughly, and then season and marinate them. The rabbit heads had to be braised and stir-fried in the afternoon, then placed in the seasoning to let the flavors slowly soak in.

Ning Qing stopped reading and came to the kitchen to watch him cook.

"Do you think I'm handsome?"

"..."

"You wouldn't be trying to steal my techniques, would you?"

"..."

"You should have said so earlier; I'll teach you."

"..."

"A total mute."

Chen Shu shook his head helplessly; sure enough, none of them were normal.

By the time Chen Banxia and Zhang Suannai returned from the movie, Chen Shu's roasted rabbit and roasted fish were already out of the oven, sizzling with oil.

The roasted fish was made with a garlic flavor, and the two roasted rabbits were made with spicy and cumin flavors respectively; Chen Shu wore gloves to tear them into small pieces, removed the bones, then placed them in a basin with wolf-tooth potatoes and different seasonings to mix well, and the two portions of hand-torn roasted rabbit were ready.

The temperature of the Spiritual Power Oven was far higher than an electric oven, so it could easily produce a flavor no less than charcoal-grilled.

Adding the six five-spice spicy rabbit heads, the Secretary heated up the leftovers from noon, and Chen Shu turned the leftover rice into egg-fried rice; that was tonight's dinner.

Chen Banxia quickly leaned over and reached out to steal a bite.

With one bite, the roasted rabbit was charred, fragrant, and flavorful, the seasonings mixed to perfection; it was the taste of her younger brother from her memories.

"Ah~~"

Chen Banxia revealed an expression of enjoyment.

"Is it good?"

Zhang Suannai watched her expectantly.

Chen Banxia nodded heavily and took another piece to feed her.

"Mmph!!"

Zhang Suannai's eyes widened instantly.

The roasted rabbit was roasted very dry, the outer layer crispy, close to beef jerky, yet full of meaty fragrance and charred aroma; combined with the mixed seasonings, she, who had never tasted this flavor before, was conquered almost instantly.

At this moment, there was only one feeling in her mind—

"So this is the taste!"

The first time she met Chen Shu at Qingshan Ridge, she didn't know then that this person was Qingcai Keke; he and his roommate were eating five-spice spicy roasted rabbit, and that line about it being "ultimately flavorful" had stayed on her mind for a long time, and now she had finally tasted it.

It really was ultimately flavorful...

Zhang Suannai couldn't speak.

Until her peripheral vision swept over and she saw Xiaoxiao bringing up six more rabbit heads.

The braised rabbit heads appeared reddish-brown, covered in red oil and spices, the skulls ferocious with two large front teeth; they looked like the heads of aliens or some kind of monster, a bit scary.

"This is..."

"Five-spice spicy rabbit heads, my masterpiece." Chen Shu glanced at her, "Dare to eat one?"

"Is it edible?"

"Of course it is! Why would I make it if it wasn't?"

"Emmm..."

"It looks a bit scary, but you only need to eat one bite, and it will immediately become cute in your eyes."

"I suspect you're lying to me..."

Zhang Suannai stared at Chen Shu vigilantly.

Chen Shu saw deep distrust in her eyes and couldn't help but frown; as an honest and kind person, this was something he couldn't understand.

"You can ask Chen Banxia; the first time I made them, Chen Banxia didn't dare to eat them either, she was almost crying, but later she loved them to death."

"!"

Chen Banxia immediately looked at him and retorted, "Who was almost crying? Don't talk nonsense!"

After the retort, fearing Chen Shu would answer again, she immediately said to Zhang Suannai, "But these rabbit heads are indeed very delicious, even better than the rabbit meat. If you dare to eat one, we'll have one each; if you don't dare, I'll eat two."

"One each?"

Zhang Suannai glanced at the little girl and Qingqing, and said blankly:

"They... also eat them?"

"Of course."

"..."

Zhang Suannai truly could not imagine such a scene.

However, not a few minutes later, she saw Qingqing and Xiaoxiao put on gloves, and without a word, each took a rabbit head, snapped it in two; one skillfully separated the rabbit head and tore off the meat to put in her mouth, while the other went straight in with her teeth, slurping loudly.

Zhang Suannai watched, stunned.

"Are you afraid to eat it?"

Chen Banxia glanced at her little friends: "Then I'll eat it."

At the same time, Zhang Suannai caught a glimpse of her two roommates also lifting their eyelids and looking over at her.

"Haha, how could that be!"

Maintaining her image of fearing nothing, Zhang Suannai nervously picked up a disposable glove, put it on, and reached for a rabbit head.

The rabbit head felt very hard to the touch, and was still warm.

Zhang Suannai steeled herself, imitated the way Qingqing and Xiaoxiao had just done it, snapped it in two, and brought it to her mouth to take a bite—

Hm?

Hm??

Hm???

The rabbit head had long been braised until soft and flavorful, the tastes of various spices combining to form a perfect braised dish, with no clashing flavors. And this was likely the part of the rabbit with the highest fat content, possessing both the deliciousness of rabbit meat and not being as stringy as the meat on the body, plus the soaking in red oil and chili, it felt both fragrant and spicy.

It was actually this delicious!?

The ferocious rabbit head suddenly became cute.

Zhang Suannai's movements quickly became fluid.

Just like every time she came here to mooch a meal, it was another day of refreshing her palate.

In late August, the moon waxed and waned.

The Imperial Exchange Meeting began.

The location was still at the Military Academy, and even the Martial Arts Arena was the same one Chen Shu and Zhang Suannai had used a few months ago.

As group members, Chen Shu and Qingqing, although they hadn't signed up to participate, still obtained the right to watch, and even brought along Xiaoxiao and Taozi. It was said that those who were participating had held a meet-and-greet before the fighting started, probably to discuss the rules, choose opponents, and get to know each other.

Zhang Suannai came back and told Chen Shu that two people from the Northern Continent and one tiger demon kept asking them about him; they were likely provoked by him and wanted to beat him up.