A fire had already been lit in the courtyard, surrounded by stacked stones!
Perched atop the stones was a wire rack, grilling five plump Spirit-Tail Chickens.
Sizzle… sizzle…
As the Spirit-Tail Chickens were turned and laid back on the wire rack, their golden-brown meat appeared, and a rich, savory aroma wafted through the air.
The little white fox and Li Shishi sat in front of the fire, their eyes glued to the roasting chickens, afraid the cooked birds might just fly away.
“Shishi, when you went to catch Elder Chen’s Spirit-Tail Chickens, did you tell her?”
Ning Wan seemed to remember something and looked at her troublesome disciple.
Spirit-Tail Chickens were a precious spiritual fowl. Their skin, meat, and bones could be used in medicine, and even their tail feathers were useful for refining Dharma Robes.
The Spirit-Tail Chickens in the bamboo forest behind them were raised by Elder Chen Yu of the Artifact Refining Pavilion.
“Elder Chen?”
“Uh… um… I might have told her!” Li Shishi stammered, feeling too guilty to meet her Shizun’s gaze.
The moment she’d thought about roasting something, Spirit-Tail Chicken had inexplicably popped into her head. If she had to assign blame, it was the Spirit-Tail Chicken’s fault for entering her thoughts without permission. Otherwise, why would she have gone to catch them?
“Tomorrow, you will go and inform Elder Chen. Otherwise, you’ll be punished with wall-facing meditation!” Seeing Li Shishi’s guilty expression, Ning Wan had already guessed she hadn’t said a word and sternly admonished her.
“Oh!” Li Shishi didn’t dare to furrow her brow at her Shizun and could only meekly obey.
She actually wanted to say that everyone, including that stupid fox, had a share in eating the Spirit-Tail Chickens she caught. Why was she the only one who had to face Elder Chen? That wasn’t fair.
But after thinking it over, Li Shishi didn’t dare voice this. Her Shizun wouldn’t care about that logic, and speaking out might earn her an even worse punishment.
“Yingying!” The little fox beside her let out a heartless laugh, her furry ears twitching uncontrollably with mirth.
Feeling mocked, Li Shishi’s anger surged from her heart, and malice swelled in her gut. She grabbed the snow-white tail and hoisted Yingying upside down. With a righteous expression, she declared:
“Shizun, I have a report to make!”
“Yingying was also involved in catching the Spirit-Tail Chickens.”
“Without her help, creating a diversion to snatch them instantly would have been impossible.”
“Yingying!” The little fox frantically scrabbled with her paws, trying to break free, but she couldn’t reach anything.
Ning Wan’s face was expressionless as she looked at the girl and fox duo. “Tomorrow, you’ll both go and see Elder Chen!”
“Yes, Shizun!” Li Shishi immediately wore a sly, triumphant grin and abruptly let go.
With a thwack, the little white fox Yingying landed face-first on the stone bench.
“Aiya, Yingying, how could you be so careless?”
“Do you want me to rub your face for you?”
Witnessing this, the big loli Li Shishi feigned concern, but the gloating smile on her face completely betrayed her.
“Yingying!”
The little white fox was instantly enraged. Her four stubby legs powerfully kicked off, launching a flying kick straight at that hateful, oval face.
Before Li Shishi could react, the fox’s flying kick landed squarely on her cheek. She snapped.
“You dare kick my face? Yingying, you’re dead meat!”
“Tonight, we’re not just roasting Spirit-Tail Chicken, we’re roasting you too, you stupid fox!”
With those words, the big loli began chasing the fox once more. The little boat of their friendship capsized at the drop of a hat.
“Whoosh!”
Just then, Deng Tianyu brought out his own simplified cumin blend and sprinkled it over the five roasted Spirit-Tail Chickens.
Instantly, an intensely rich fragrance billowed out.
The sparring Yingying and Li Shishi exchanged a glance and immediately scurried back to the stone chairs, staring intently at the nearly finished chickens.
Little White Fox: Slurp… (￣￢￣）!
Li Shishi: Slurp… (￣￢￣）!
The expressions of longing on the big loli and the little fox couldn’t be called similar; they were practically identical.
“It’s ready to eat!”
Once the simplified cumin was evenly spread, Deng Tianyu placed the five chickens—their meat golden, crispy, and fragrant—onto prepared lotus leaves.
With a few delicate, minute arcs of Sword Qi, bone and meat were instantly separated, neatly sliced into pieces. They were even arranged back into the chicken’s original shape, adorned with slices of cut Spirit Fruit for garnish.
Neatly they came, neatly they went. That was his respect for the Spirit-Tail Chicken.
“Nom! (x2)”
The already impatient big loli carefully picked up a lotus leaf, and the little fox leaned her furry head in close. The girl and fox duo began to eat.
(￣～￣) Chew… o(≧▽≦)o!
A rich, savory, and slightly numbing flavor burst on their taste buds. Both the girl’s and fox’s brows arched into crescents, their expressions synchronized and unified.
Deng Tianyu also sat down beside Ning Wan and said softly, “Shizun, please try some.”
“Alright.” Ning Wan offered a gentle smile, picked up a pair of bamboo chopsticks, and gracefully placed a piece into her rosy mouth.
“The Spirit-Tail Chicken in the cultivation world is indeed much more fragrant and sweet than anything from my past life,” Deng Tianyu mused as he picked up a piece and ate it himself. “Perhaps it’s because they’re nourished by Spiritual Energy.”
While not a gourmet, he was definitely a foodie, meaning his culinary skills were quite impressive.
“Tianyu, you grew up in the Purple Cloud Sect. Where did you learn such cooking?” Ning Wan chewed slowly, asking with some puzzlement.
She still remembered that even when her precious disciple was very young, he could already make exquisitely prepared meals. Whenever she returned to their residence after handling Purple Cloud Sect affairs, she could always enjoy them.
But disciples and Elders in the sect all consumed Fasting Pills. He shouldn’t have had any exposure to culinary arts.
“There were some miscellaneous books in the Library Pavilion that I browsed through before. There were books related to cooking among them.”
Deng Tianyu pondered for a moment, then just made something up. The Purple Cloud Sect Library Pavilion had at least ten thousand volumes of miscellaneous works; he had no idea what was actually in there. But he couldn’t mention his past life, so nonsense it was.
Fortunately, Ning Wan didn’t press about the miscellaneous books. Instead, she asked, “Then why is Tianyu interested in cooking?”
Deng Tianyu smiled and explained, “Just wanted to make some good food for important people. That’s all!”
That plot armor, though a bit of a scam, was still practically a cheat code. Didn’t he need to fully master the Path of Filial Piety if he wanted to become an Immortal Emperor someday? And to master the Path of Filial Piety, didn’t he have to be extremely filial to his Shizun?
That meant starting with small things, slowly accumulating until the Filial Piety Pool was filled. Just like now, another drop of Filial Piety Water had trickled into the pool.
Of course, Deng Tianyu also truly considered Shizun Ning Wan as family and genuinely wanted to be filial to her.
“So that’s how it is.”
Hearing this, Ning Wan’s expression grew even gentler. Her soft hand clasped her precious disciple’s, and her slender, jade-like fingers slipped into the gaps between his, slowly interlocking until their fingers were tightly entwined.
It was obvious that Tianyu had learned to cook entirely for her. Such a filial and considerate disciple—how could one not adore him?
Feeling the boneless softness of her hand, Deng Tianyu silently picked up the bamboo chopsticks with his left hand, pretending nothing was happening.
Fortunately, a tablecloth made of bamboo membrane covered the stone table, blocking the view beneath it. Otherwise, this scene would have been seen by the big loli and the little fox.
