Mountains exhausting and waters wicked with plenty of evil demons, it was said that though there were countless evil spirits between heaven and earth, most of these evil spirits had their own circles of activity, and naturally, ordinary people dared not step foot in places where overly fierce demons resided.
Therefore, as ti passed, these demon-infested areas were rarely trodden by humans.
As night fell, deep in the mountains was a large mountain called Yellow Wind Ridge.
This night, within Yellow Wind Ridge, a massive rat left the mountain and headed toward a town dozens of miles away.
Although it was a demon, this massive rat did not eat humans, yet perhaps due to its nature being hard to contain, despite possessing vast divine skills, it never resorted to robbing to satiate its hunger, but rather stole food and drink.
That evening, the rat transford back into its original form and quietly sneaked into the town under cover of night, contemplating which house to steal so food from.
Suddenly, an indescribable strange fragrance wafted by with the breeze, causing the rat's nose to twitch slightly, and then, its eyes lit up.
...
Jiang Liu followed the guidance of the dark-skinned Han man and quickly entered the town, arriving at a residence.
The man casually placed so farm tools behind his ho's front gate and shouted loudly, telling his wife to prepare extra vegetarian dishes today.
As the Han man shouted, out ca a woman in coarse linen, acknowledging the instructions and knowing Jiang Liu and others were there to buy spices, she nodded and turned toward the kitchen.
"Wait, no need for courtesy, we've all eaten already, no need to prepare dinner for us!" Jiang Liu said upon hearing the conversation between the Han man and his wife.
Indeed, they had eaten earlier, unlike these people who rose at dawn and rested at dusk and, because they were busy with farming, had extrely early breakfasts and very late dinners.
"Master, I, Old Pig, feel a bit hungry again..." However, Zhu Bajie, hearing there was food, his eyes brightened, and he rubbed his stomach while speaking.
"Are you a pig!?" Jiang Liu's face darkened, listening to Zhu Bajie's unhelpful comnts, and secretly complained, but indeed, this fellow really was a pig, wasn't he?
"Pfft..." The woman, who was about to head to the kitchen, couldn't help but laugh out loud and nodded before leaving.
This family, apart from the couple, also had a pair of children, both around the age of four or five.
The two children were very curious about Sun Wukong, seemingly having never seen a monkey before, and Sun Wukong found it amusing to play with the children.
"Master, these are the anise hyssop I harvested, since it was only harvested once, so the yield isn't much, only about three "dou" worth!"
Focused on the task at hand, the man quickly brought out so cumin from his ho, stored in an old cloth bag, indeed quite full.
Jiang Liu's eyes lit up as he slled it, indeed, it was excellent.
He quickly figured in his mind that one "dou" was about thirteen pounds, and he had promised to pay ten tis the food price for these cumin, so, three "dou" of cumin would be bought for about thirty "dou" of grains.
"Not bad, this is quite good already! Benefactor, here is two taels of silver, which is the paynt for your anise hyssop, please keep it!" Jiang Liu thought for a mont before pulling out two taels of silver.
"This is too much..." The Han man was startled upon seeing the silver that Jiang Liu pulled out.
Even with a tenfold surcharge, thirty "dou" of grains didn't amount to this much silver. According to the prices, he had to give back several smaller coins.
"Just accept it, may I ask if your family has a stone mill? Could you please help grind these anise hyssop into powder, and the remaining silver can be considered your labor paynt!"
Jiang Liu spoke, as the cumin indeed needed to be ground into a powder form to be best.
"Deal, I'll grind it for you!" Hearing Jiang Liu's words, the Han man stopped hesitating, happily agreed, and took the silver to go back inside.
It wasn't long before one could hear the couple exclaiming in surprise from the kitchen.
Clearly, two taels of silver were a considerable fortune for an ordinary family.
Hearing the laughter coming from the kitchen, the corners of Jiang Liu's mouth also rose slightly, in this age where deities were plentiful and demons were as common as dogs, the simple joy of common people was truly precious.
Two taels of silver were indeed quite a lot, Jiang Liu still rembered that back in Jinshan Temple, when Brother Xuanwu descended the mountain to perform as a mage, he only got about twelve coins of silver.
After handing the money over to his wife, the Han man energetically set up the stone mill to help Jiang Liu grind the cumin powder, so busy that he didn't even bother to eat his als.
Zhu Bajie, however, unceremoniously started eating again, his stomach seemingly bottomless.
"Hmm, not bad, the quality is quite good!" At the grinder's edge, Jiang Liu looked at the ground cumin powder and nodded with satisfaction.
Recalling the tis from his past life where he used to drink chilled beer and snack on skewers at late-night food stalls, Jiang Liu felt his throat churn. Your journey continues with empire
Unable to resist any longer, after properly adjusting the fire, he went straight to the kitchen, grabbed a cleaver, and took a big piece of at from his pack space. Choosing a section with a nice balance of fat and lean, he cut it into thin slices.
Then he had Sun Wukong help him whittle so small wooden sticks and skewer the at on them.
"Master, this slice is so thin, it's not even enough to get stuck in I, Old Sun's teeth..." While whittling the sticks, Sun Wukong looked at the thinly sliced at on the sticks and couldn't help but make a comnt.
Usually, when grilling at, people grill large chunks directly.
Hearing Sun Wukong speak, the family got quite a shock, and Jiang Liu took so ti to reassure them, helping them relax.
Although demon creatures are frightening, tad ones are sowhat reassuring, much like how a vicious dog can be less scary when its owner is nearby.
"If you think it's boring, then don't eat it later!" Comforting them briefly, and seeing that he had almost finished threading a dozen or so skewers, Jiang Liu moved to the stove to start grilling. He took out his usual seasonings and also brought over a small dish of cumin powder.
"Great Mage, can you eat this anise hyssop?" A man grinding nearby paused to watch Jiang Liu's actions, stunned.
He had initially wanted his wife to make a few sachets with it to see if they could sell them.
Smiling slightly, Jiang Liu didn't explain much as he flipped the at skewers, sprinkling them with salt and so sauce, and as they looked about ready, he again grabbed a handful of cumin powder and sprinkled it over them.
Since the at on the skewers was only thinly sliced, it naturally cooked much faster than thicker chunks of at.
As the cumin powder was sprinkled on, the scent of the at mixed with the aroma of the spices quickly filled the air, making Jiang Liu feel intoxicated.
In a trance, it was as if he had returned to his forr life, late at night at a barbecue stall with his close friends, chatting away with cold beers in hand.
Seeing this, Sun Wukong, who was whittling sticks nearby, put down his knife, eyes sparkling as he watched the skewers in Jiang Liu's hand, licking his lips unconsciously, and approached with a softened face, "Master, this grilled at is completely different from what we usually eat!"
Zhu Bajie, who was wolfing down his al at the table, also froze mid-action. His nose twitched, and he turned his head, staring intensely at the skewers in Jiang Liu's hand with lit eyes.
The enticing aroma that spread made Zhu Bajie feel as if the food he was currently eating tasted like wax in his mouth.
Even the man and his wife nearby couldn't help but gather around, continuously inhaling the delicious sll.
"Mom, I want to eat…" Two children, a boy and a girl, silently bit their fingers, their eyes magnetically drawn to the barbecued skewers on the stove.
"Great Mage, this slls really good! Hehehe," the dark-skinned man said with a simple smile, looking at the grilled skewers in Jiang Liu's hands.
"All right, you go on grinding. I'll share a few skewers with you later; once you know how to use this fennel powder, you won't worry about selling it," Jiang Liu said, smiling at the man and also asking Sun Wukong to continue whittling the sticks.
"Master, I, Old Pig will help you thread the skewers…" Zhu Bajie volunteered eagerly, picking up a plate of at slices and sitting beside Sun Wukong, all the while complaining about Sun Wukong's slow pace.
In just a short ti, a batch of at skewers was almost ready, and Jiang Liu opened his mouth and gently took a bite.
Perfectly seasoned, the taste of cumin powder mingling with the aty flavor spread through his mouth, satisfying Jiang Liu enough for him to nod in approval.
"Master, how's the taste? Let I, Old Pig taste so too!" Drool ran from his mouth, and Zhu Bajie was the first to rush over, eyes gleaming as he stared at the skewers in Jiang Liu's hand and asked.
"Everyone gets two skewers each to start with; let's all taste them. Tonight, there will be enough skewers for everyone!" Jiang Liu announced as he divided up the few dozen skewers among them.
Although a bit bashful to accept, the savory scent of the skewers was too tempting, and the nearby man and his wife didn't decline.
After tasting the cumin-flavored skewers, everyone worked even harder. Those who were cutting at did so, those who were whittling sticks continued, and those who were grinding cumin powder got busy in their tasks, all in high spirits. The food originally prepared on the dining table seed temporarily forgotten.
Livened up by the occasion, the man brought out a jar of homade rice wine. As the group enjoyed the skewers and sipped the wine, the atmosphere was wonderfully harmonious, subtly reminiscent to Jiang Liu of the tis eating skewers with friends at night markets in his past life.
This feast continued until midnight, with everyone well fed and happy. In the end, they grilled dozens more skewers, which Sun Wukong took to the White Dragon Horse.
Although a horse usually eats grass, its true form is a White Dragon, and it's fitting for it to eat so at as well.
As Jiang Liu and the others drank and enjoyed the skewers late into the night, they didn't realize a yellow-furred mouse with drool dripping from its mouth had been watching from a hidden spot the entire ti, craving a bite all night long…
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