The kitchen was a horrific sight.
The floor was covered in red liquid, with mangled flesh, chopped bones, and various soft and hard objects scattered about.
The stench was so terrible that everyone reflexively covered their mouths and noses.
Soone with a weak stomach made a faint retching sound.
And the culprit of this disaster shouted while holding a sharp knife:
“It wasn’t ! I, I couldn’t have done this!”
Qing looked at the scene and thought:
Why waste all this perfectly good food?
Malatang oil was all over the floor, with pitiful at, vegetables, tofu, and noodles floating in it.
Qing snapped in an annoyed voice:
“Hey, what do you an it wasn’t you? Aren’t you that so-called Greatest Chef Under Heaven?”
“Yes, I am Bai Changzi, the Greatest Chef Under Heaven. And these are all trash. Why? Why doesn’t it taste right? It shouldn’t taste like this. What’s wrong with it? Is it the stock? No, that’s fine. Has the Ma spice changed? No. The tender at? It’s not that either.”
The Greatest Chef Under Heaven, Bai Changzi, muttered while darting around with crazed eyes, grabbing ingredients and sniffing them.
“What is it? Everything’s fine! Everything’s perfectly fine!”
“Look. I get that sothing’s gone wrong, but why are you throwing away perfectly good food? Isn’t it a waste?”
Qing still hadn’t escaped the mories of scavenging trash for food during her early days in Murim.
That painful mory she would carry for life continued to fuel her obsession with food.
“No! This isn’t fit to eat! It’s garbage!”
“No, what? Mister is the one who made it garbage.”
“What? I made garbage!? How dare you say that to , Bai Changzi, the Greatest Chef Under Heaven!”
Qing held out her hand to the side.
Choi Leeong produced Bokshinjeok from sowhere and placed it in her hand.
Qing’s voice that followed was chilling.
“Bai Changzi or Bai Daechang, ah, I want so daechang (Large intestines). Anyway, isn’t what’s scattered on the floor supposed to be my dinner? If you don’t give a satisfactory explanation…”
“No! This isn’t my Ultimate Malat, ack!”
WHACK!!! A hearty sound rang out.
This was why people should maintain so of their senses even when they were not in their right mind.
*
The Greatest Chef Under Heaven was in a terrible state.
He rolled on the floor clutching his head, his chef’s uniform soaked to the limit with malatang broth.
With his bright red, broth-soaked uniform sticking to his skin, Bai Changzi knelt politely.
“So, what about my dinner?”
“I… I am deeply ashad. I have no excuse…”
“What? What’s the problem? Is it so wrong for to want to eat a delicious bowl of malatang? I waited exactly forty-five days because they said your cooking was so good.”
“That’s precisely why. I cannot serve an imperfect dish to guests who ca expecting my cooking.”
“An imperfect dish?”
“This taste, this isn’t the right taste.”
Bai Changzi explained the situation.
Originally, the Ultimate Malatang was a high-class dish worth one gold sycee per bowl.
That was why they only used the tenderest loin from young pigs between seven and nine months old, frying the outside before cooking it separately.
The beef was also prepared similarly, using tenderloin from healthy calves.
And for the lotus root, they didn’t use just any lotus root, but cultivated a special pond and so on and so forth.
Qing asked incredulously.
“So you’re saying you use the best ingredients, cook them separately, and then put them in the broth. But how can it not taste good then? Is a Greatest Chef Under Heaven really necessary if that’s the case?”
“Cooking is about considering the condition of the ingredients each day, whether it’s humid or not, hot or cold, checking the fat and at quality, looking at the leaves and shape of vegetables, and bringing out the best taste. Who else but could gather the best ingredients and pour them into a re bowl of malatang?”
“A re bowl of malatang?”
“Although malatang is ultimately just commoner food, there’s no high or low in cuisine. In fact, after my Ultimate Malatang, various evolved forms of malatang have appeared, gradually being recognized as a proper dish rather than just a cheap al replacent.”
Earlier he seed just crazy, but listening to him now, he was unexpectedly a solid and excellent chef.
“But why did you throw away my dinner?”
“Well, you see…”
Today, as always, he had perfectly prepared all the ingredients, putting extra effort into it because of the esteed guests.
However, the mont the ingredients were combined, a major problem arose in the harmony created by the ingredients and the soup.
He went crazy because even after checking each ingredient individually, he couldn’t find anything wrong.
“So, I cannot serve you the dish today.”
“Is it that serious?”
“Of course. It’s such a subtle distortion that no one in the world except soone with my palate as the Greatest Chef Under Heaven would notice, but it’s definitely not a proper dish. Um… are you going to hit ?”
“Yep.”
Qing nodded, holding Bokshinjeok.
Bai Changzi explained with a solemn expression.
“Even if I’m hit, my determination to always serve the best cuisine will not waver.”
“Craftsmanship is good and all, but shouldn’t you know when to stop? Aren’t you thinking about the hungry custors waiting outside?”
“Taste is power. For the best cuisine, of course, a ti of eager waiting is nece- Ack!”
WHACK! Bai Changzi rolled on the floor again.
Still, in recognition of his spirit, it was a controlled strike with just about one exclamation mark’s worth of force.
Qing turned away from the rolling Bai Changzi.
“It looks like dinner is ruined. Damnit, I’m starving to death… Friend, where were we going earlier?”
“Seems we just wasted ti. But we got a good show. Say, do you enjoy duck? While not as good as Beijing, Sichuan duck has its own flavor.”
“Oooh, that sounds good, huh?”
Qing had already forgotten about the malatang and was chattering away.
After all, didn’t he say it was comparable to Beijing duck, even if not quite as good?
Even before her journey into Murim, Beijing duck, also known as Peking duck, was world-renowned, but she hadn’t had the chance to try the original since her journey began.
“Sichuan duck. I’m really looking forward to it.”
“That’s right. Duck is an excellent dinner. According to the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor1, duck nourishes Qi and builds the body. It’s an ingredient martial artists should love.”
Peng Chaolei naturally joined the conversation.
“W-Wait a mont! Hasn’t the situation sohow naturally turned into that weakling treating us? Unni, I was determined to treat you to dinner today.”
“But isn’t roast duck much better than malatang? I didn’t really like it that much to begin with.”
Peng Chaolei answered while scratching the back of her head.
Tang Nanah quickly replied.
“We, we have plenty of duck in the Tang Clan too. We even raise them on sulfur.”
“Oh. Sulfur duck. Right. According to the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, humans originally can’t swallow sulfur, but if you feed it to ducks and let it settle in them, when eaten later, it strengthens bones and nourishes joints.”
Sulfur and saltpeter were items controlled by the governnt.
Not only were they not cheap, but it was impossible to purchase large quantities in the first place.
So feeding expensive sulfur to re ducks was like feeding gold to dogs.
Of course, the Tang Clan had both power and wealth, so they were capable of doing such.
“I’ll properly treat you at our household today, okay? Unniiii?”
Qing tilted her head.
Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor? Is that so kind of gourt guidebook?
Qing was just thinking she should get a copy and read it when Peng Chaolei patted her shoulder.
“Qing’er. Let’s go. The Tang Clan is offering to treat us.”
“Ah. Is that what it was? I didn’t think she was including .”
To Qing, Tang Nanah felt exactly like a Chihuahua.
After all, she was wagging her tail and fawning on Peng Chaolei, but baring her teeth at Qing from within her arms.
That’s how Tang Nanah looked to her, overlapping with that contemptible yet cute dog breed.
“Ah, Unni. Wait a mont. I…”
“Our Qing’er’s allocation in the hierarchy is near unparalleled. How could they not invite the nad disciple of the Matriarch? Even if they did, how could you go along? By the way, Nanah, what’s wrong?”
Qing’s allocation put her as a great elder of Daoism.
If they excluded her from a dinner invitation while she was present, it would be tantamount to a declaration of war, trampling on the face of all Daoist sects.
If Peng Chaolei went along happily, she would only be participating in that.
The quick-witted Tang Nanah hurriedly changed her words.
“Ah, he, hehe, it’s nothing…”
Of course, she didn’t forget to think of various poisons at the sa ti.
What? A re veiled woman has such a good background?
Then it would be a big problem if I’m caught using poison, wouldn’t it?
And then, imdiately she thought:
Then I just need to not get caught, right?
What poisons can I use secretly?
I’ll have to combine a few with Split Poisons.
Split Poisons referred to substances that weren’t poisonous individually but showed their effects when combined.
For example, putting one poison in the soup and applying the other to the side dishes or personal utensils that are dipped separately.
A poisonous glint appeared in Tang Nanah’s eyes.
Arrogant veiled woman!
Tonight, you won’t be able to leave the toilet.
‘Even if I’m caught, I can solve it with one use of my ultimate secret technique, Tears of Flowers Filling the Sky’, was what she thought.
As Tang Nanah was plotting such an incomparably wicked sche and raising her Poison Qi, Peng Chaolei said just one thing.
“This girl. How frivolous.”
Qing brightened up.
“Then, shall we? Friend, co with us too? When else would we get to enjoy the hospitality of one of the Five Noble Clans?”
“This, I an, are you talking about ?”
Ziyou suddenly burst into laughter and continued:
“That does sound good. The hospitality of the Tang Clan. I’ve been thinking I should experience it at least once.”
----
The Tang Clan received unexpected guests that day.
The daughter who went out to have dinner with her future sister-in-law, Female Xiang Ji Peng Chaolei, ca back not only without having dinner but also with a bunch of hangers-on.
Thanks to this, even the Tang Clan Lord had to co out to entertain unexpected guests.
Wasn’t she a nad disciple of that Matriarch, after all?
Although still young, she was at least of an allocation where the Clan Lord should show his face once.
But not to the extent of visiting her personally, of course.
They should co to pay their respects; it was not to the point where the Tang Clan Lord would go to receive them.
So he had called them just to see their faces.
And so the door opened.
The Tang Clan Lord, who had been lying down half-heartedly, sprang up as if flicked.
Footnotes
1. Huangdi Neijing, literally the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor or Esoteric Scripture of the Yellow Emperor, is an ancient Chinese dical text or group of texts that has been treated as a fundantal doctrinal source for Chinese dicine for more than two /genesisforsaken
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