Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Qingcheng put all the condiments into the pill refining furnace and left the block of salt outside.
She flung a ball of fire into the bottom section of the furnace and started the roasting process.
She used her energy to rotate the condiments inside the furnace. After she had completely dehydrated everything, she ground them into powder. A knife appeared in her hand, and she scraped off some salt from the block and threw it in, mixed everything together evenly, then after it looked about done, she took out a large airtight container to store everything properly.
Moondevil was lying at the side and watching her curiously. It couldn’t figure out what on earth Qingcheng was doing.
Meanwhile, Tealwood was done cleaning the meat and came over. He looked like he had been struck by lightning as he stood there in shock. “Master… that… that over there… is a pill refining furnace?”
“That’s right. What’s wrong?” asked Qingcheng.
Tealwood looked like he was constipated now. “Well… Master, earlier you… you didn’t look like you were refining pills earlier…”
“That’s right. I was just making some condiments for the food. Spreading it over the roast meat will make it smell more fragrant and taste better.” She didn’t think there was any problem with what she just did.
“AHEM, AHEM… COUGH! COUGH! Master, you just used a pill refining surface to make the condiments for roasting meat?!?!” Tealwood really didn’t know how to describe how he felt right now…
Could anybody enlighten him, please? How was his Master such a wastrel?! That was a pill refining furnace, for crying out loud! Not some stir-frying pan!! AHHH!!!
Qingcheng saw how despondent he looked and asked seriously, “What’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell? Do you need any medication?” She looked at Tealwood and thought that he was probably feeling discomfort somewhere. He was looking very strangely at her as well.
He tried to calm his heart down as much as possible. “Master, I’m really fine. I’m really fine. Come along now, here’s all the washed meat.” Tealwood really couldn’t talk to Qingcheng about this anymore.
He passed her the meat and just sat down by the side to wait for food.
A wonderful fragrance wafted through the air. The smell of roasted meat was already enough to whet anybody’s appetite, but the added aroma of the condiments used to season the meat made them salivate uncontrollably.
“Qingcheng… is the food ready? It… it smells too good… I’m having trouble holding myself back…”
Moondevil was already unable to stop a clear liquid from dribbling out of its mouth as it stared at the rack of meat roasting away, a sparkle in its eye. It had already asked this question twenty times.
Tealwood was calmer in comparison, but the way he couldn’t take his almond-shaped eyes off the meat gave away what he was truly thinking inside.
But Qingcheng always answered, “It’s not done yet, but it’ll be done soon.” Then… there was no update…
“Alright, it’s done.” Qingcheng finally removed one of the rabbits from the fire and gave it to Tealwood. Then, she pulled a chicken drumstick out for Moondevil as it looked at her with great anticipation.
The little fellow was immediately upset. “Why do I only get one chicken drumstick while Tealwood gets a whole rabbit? That’s not fair!!” It looked sadly at Qingcheng, but this had no effect on her.
Qingcheng just glanced calmly at it and said, “He’s a wolf, while you’re just a tiny fox. Can your stomach store that much? If you eat too much, you’ll get indigestion.” That looked about right. She had given her dog about the amount equivalent to one chicken drumstick for each meal in her previous life, too.
After Qingcheng ignored Moondevil’s protests, it had no choice but to quietly eat the drumstick it was given. Thankfully, this azurite chicken wasn’t too small in the first place.
It grouchily took one bite, then it simply couldn’t stop eating. It was too delicious!
Tealwood usually threw a snarky remark or two at Moondevil, but he was too was way too busy tearing at the meat.
Qingcheng pulled a leg off for herself and enjoyed the delicious taste of the roasted meat. She had one more mountain rabbit left, so she planned to put it into the kitchen in her interspace to keep it fresh so they could eat it at any time.
None of them said anything, and there was only the sound of chewing and munching.
“…OOOH… this smells so good! This smell! I’ve really never come across any food that smelled so good…” A silver-haired old man in a long white robe suddenly appeared in the forest, and he happened to be fairly close to Qingcheng and the rest.
He followed the smell and found his way there. When he saw the two humans and one animal sitting by the stream to eat, his eyes immediately lit up.
Swoosh… a gust of wind blew by.
The man suddenly disappeared from that spot and then appeared next to Qingcheng in the next second. He looked at the mountain rabbit and chicken that was still roasting over the fire, and he bent down to sniff hard.
“…that’s right. This is the smell. It smells so amazing…” He was enjoying the smell so much that they could hear him swallowing his saliva.
Tealwood and Qingcheng were both so shocked. This man moved so quickly! He was so fast that he had appeared next to them without either of them noticing! If this man wanted to do them any harm, then that would be too terrifying to think about. Thankfully he hadn’t done anything that looked dangerous.
Qingcheng gave Tealwood a glance to tell him not to be rash. She threw aside the bones she had licked clean, then calmly took a handkerchief to wipe her mouth and hands. Then, she looked at this old man who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. At the same time, he also straightened himself out and looked them up and down.
He smiled widely as he asked, “Young lady, are you the one who roasted this meat?” The young lady before him was very beautiful, so he tried his best to sound as friendly and approachable as possible.
Qingcheng looked carefully at this old man. He was in a long, wide, white robe and stood at around five feet seven inches tall. He had a whole head of white hair, of which half was tied up, and the rest was left to cascade down his back. He had a round face, his white eyebrows were slightly curved, and his smiling eyes were looking at her now. He had taken very good care of his skin, so it made him look like he was only thirty, but the long white beard he had exposed his real age.
An old man like that didn’t look threatening at all, but she remained vigilant as she replied to him flatly, “That’s right.”
The old man hadn’t expected that such a young girl would be able to remain so calm and speak so coldly.
He didn’t give up and continued asking, “Then, is it possible for one human and two animals to finish eating all of this? If you can’t, then could you take pity on me and give me some? I haven’t eaten in a few days now.” He didn’t actually need to eat anything, and he really just wanted to eat meat…
Qingcheng was a little taken aback. This old man was able to tell that Tealwood was actually a Magical Beast with one glance, so this old man was definitely at a higher level of cultivation than Tealwood. But when she looked at this old man pretending to be pitiful to get some food out of her, she actually found it very amusing for some reason, and she suddenly wanted to laugh.
So, she let him be. “If you want to eat some, go ahead and take the meat.”
She could roast meat anytime anyway, so it didn’t really matter. The old man smiled even more brightly when Qingcheng agreed to let him have some food. He grabbed the mountain rabbit and started tearing it up to eat. As he ate, he munched loudly and kept saying how delicious it was.
Moondevil finished its portion and looked longingly at the half chicken left on the rack, but resisted the urge to eat it in the end. It walked over to Qingcheng, and she didn’t look at the old man anymore. She used a handkerchief to wipe Moondevil’s mouth and little paws, then cuddled it again. Tealwood had also finished his mountain rabbit.
None of them spoke to each other nor said anything. They all just sat there and watched the old man wolf down the meat.