Bear Meat

"Shasha..."

Pushing aside the grass before him, Zhao Ke found a narrow path leading down the mountain. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he could vaguely make out what seemed to be a village below.

Judging by the sky, he estimated that he should be able to reach that town before nightfall.

He was in no hurry to return to reality. There were still ten days left. Rather than going back in a muddle, he might as well head down the mountain and see what kind of world this really was.

As for the extended mission to protect Zhou Shun down the mountain, it had already been marked as failed the moment he killed Zhou Shun.

But Zhao Ke did not care. Compared to dragging around dead weight that could cause trouble at any moment, he preferred being alone and free.

With a flick of his hand, a water flask appeared in Zhao Ke's grasp.

"Slurp."

Warm tea flowed from the mouth of the flask. It was loose tea he had found in Xiong Er's home. It did not taste like much, but it quenched his thirst well enough.

"Convert!"

With a thought from Zhao Ke, the flask in his hand immediately turned back into a stamp and returned to the Post Album.

Though he had been studying it all the way down the mountain, Zhao Ke could not help showing a hint of delight. The more he studied it, the more interesting he found it.

Once an item was converted into a stamp, it was as though time had frozen. Whether it was temperature or flavor, everything remained exactly as it had been at the moment of conversion, unchanged no matter how much time passed.

For a chef, this was practically a divine artifact. No matter where he went, he had pots, bowls, ladles, and all the rest at hand, along with what was essentially a vacuum-sealed freezer.

And unless he allowed it, no one could see what exactly was stored in his Post Album. As for himself, it had another, even more important ability: ...disposing of bodies without a trace!

However, the Post Album did not seem all-powerful. When he tried to convert a massive boulder four meters high into a stamp, he received a notification that it could not be converted. The reason was that his authorization was insufficient.

On his way down the mountain, he had encountered a snake and tried to put it inside. He received the same notification: insufficient authorization. In the end, he could only turn the snake into a corpse before storing it in the Post Album.

Clearly, there were certain things he could not convert into stamps at will. That made Zhao Ke somewhat displeased, though fortunately, most of the items he wanted to convert posed no problem.

For instance, Xiong Er's and the old woman's corpses. Though the old woman's body was little more than a pile of bones, it was still good soup material. As for Xiong Er, he was an especially rare, premium ingredient.

Earlier, Zhao Ke had regretted that he could only take two bear paws. But now... he stuffed the entire bear carcass into the Post Album.

After simply eating some roasted bear meat, Zhao Ke set off lightly. By the time darkness was approaching, he finally arrived at the town at the foot of the mountain.

It was called a town, but in Zhao Ke's eyes, it was more fitting to call it a village. Thatched huts and wooden houses stood everywhere, while all sorts of strange smells filled the streets.

There were pigsties, sheep dung, and... the sour stench of rot. The moment Zhao Ke entered the town, the smell nearly made him vomit, forcing him to stuff strips of cloth into his nostrils.

The pedestrians on the streets dressed like commoners in costume dramas, wearing clothes and cloth shoes made of hemp. For a moment, Zhao Ke wondered whether he had somehow traveled through time.

Just as Zhou Shun had said, this year was a year of famine. Along the way, Zhao Ke saw many people curled up in corners, so starved that they were little more than skin and bones.

As Zhao Ke passed an alleyway, he could sense some unfriendly gazes roaming over him. They did not seem particularly welcoming toward this strangely dressed outsider.

"Sir! Please show some mercy and give me a bite to eat."

A beggar with disheveled hair and an obscured face saw Zhao Ke walking past and lunged at him.

Zhao Ke's expression darkened. Before the beggar could get close, he sidestepped and kicked him.

He had not used much strength, but with the boost from the special stamp Bear Coat, the force was still far from light.

With a bang, the beggar slammed into the wall beside him. After twitching a few times, he passed out. The kick had not struck a vital spot, but given the beggar's condition, he probably would not live more than a few days anyway.

The other beggars' faces changed. Their legs, which had already begun to rise, obediently squatted back down. One by one, they lowered their heads and did not even look at the unconscious beggar.

Zhao Ke took in the expressions of the surrounding beggars and gave a cold laugh.

He walked over to the unconscious beggar, covered his nose with one hand, and used the tip of his shoe to pry open the beggar's hand. Beneath the tattered long sleeve was a triangular iron spike.

Pitiful people always had something hateful about them.

He was not a bleeding heart like Qi Liang. If he let them latch onto him, then by the next moment, he might be the one lying on the ground.

After glancing at the beggars, Zhao Ke continued onward. Once he had left the alley, the beggars looked at one another, slowly rose, and gathered around the unconscious beggar.

A vicious look gradually appeared on their filthy faces. After exchanging glances, they silently pulled cleavers from their clothes.

Though the town was desolate and the surroundings mediocre, it was still a town after all. Zhao Ke found a relatively clean inn, tossed down a small ingot of silver, and was assigned one of the best rooms.

Travel was inconvenient in those days, and most of the inn's guests were laborers staying in the chicken-feather beds in the rear courtyard, which cost one coin a day. Zhao Ke's ingot of silver was worth at least half a month of business.

The lodging itself was not bad, but the food... Zhao Ke truly could not praise it. Combined with its outrageous price, it made him click his tongue. He estimated that the loose silver he had found in Xiong Er's home would not last two days if he ate three meals a day here.

Fortunately, he was not short on ingredients. He spoke with the innkeeper about cooking for himself, and the innkeeper readily agreed. After staying two or three days, Zhao Ke had nearly explored the entire town without finding anything special. Still, whenever the innkeeper saw him now, his face bloomed with smiles, and he wished Zhao Ke would stay a few more days.

There was no helping it. The dishes Zhao Ke cooked smelled far too good. There were no range hoods in this era. Whenever Zhao Ke cooked in the kitchen, the whole street behind the inn could smell the rich aroma, making passersby drool.

Unfortunately, Zhao Ke was not the inn's cook. Each time, the innkeeper could only bring over a jug of good wine and eagerly try to ingratiate himself. Before long, the two became familiar with each other.

"Young brother, you've been staying here for several days. If you're bored, you can visit Zhuangyuan Tower on North Slope. That place... heh heh."

Seeing Zhao Ke come downstairs, the innkeeper warmly greeted him. He had noticed Zhao Ke had been terribly bored these past few days, so he made the suggestion.

"Zhuangyuan Tower?" Zhao Ke was briefly stunned.

The innkeeper grinned, giving him the look all men understood, and whispered slyly, "That place has plenty of fun to offer. If you don't go, you'll regret it."

"A brothel?"

Seeing the innkeeper's expression, Zhao Ke understood, and his eyes lit up.

It was not that he was interested in brothels. He was not particularly interested in the services they offered.

There were plenty of all kinds of services in reality. He was not lacking in that respect.

But what did a brothel in this era look like? According to what he had read, brothels also had different ranks.

Just as he was pondering this.

Several figures entered through the door.

"Hey! Bring out whatever food you have, and get us a jug of wine."

A group came in from outside. One look was enough to tell they were street thugs with no proper work, likely having come into a little money somewhere and decided to eat out.

Zhao Ke paid them no attention at first. He was just about to head for the Zhuangyuan Tower the innkeeper had mentioned when, after only a few steps—

He suddenly stopped. Raising his nose slightly, he caught a very familiar scent. Zhao Ke's brows lifted as he scrutinized the thugs again.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a young man in his early thirties seated in the center of the group. His features were fairly handsome, but his eyes gave off a sinister air inside and out.

Most importantly, there was a faint fishy stench on him, exactly like the smell on Xiong Er and the old woman.

Without drawing attention, Zhao Ke sat nearby. He heard the man lower his voice and tell the thugs, "My information is absolutely correct. That family lives up in the eastern mountains. There are only two of them, an old woman and a young man. Their ancestors were officials and made a fortune. I hear they have quite a few valuable treasures hidden away..."

The thugs' eyes widened as they listened. They looked at one another, their thoughts beginning to stir.

"Then..." one of them began, wanting to ask for details, but the young man pressed a hand down, indicating that there were too many people around and it was not suitable to say more.

The thugs found that reasonable and immediately urged the waiter to bring the food quickly.

So it really was you!

With his back to them, Zhao Ke understood the young man's identity after hearing his words. Just as he had guessed before, someone had deliberately been spreading news to lure people up the mountain to die.

Combined with the familiar scent on the man, Zhao Ke had already reached a conclusion about his identity. His eyes narrowed slightly as he stood and headed straight for the kitchen in the back.

"Hurry up! Why is the food taking so long?"

After a while, when no food had arrived, the thugs at the table could not help urging them on. But they soon caught a particularly unusual fragrance. They could not tell what kind of meat it was, but the aroma was extraordinary. Not only the thugs, even the innkeeper could not help swallowing as he stood on tiptoe and peered toward the kitchen.

"Coming!"

The kitchen door opened, and Zhao Ke emerged carrying a basin of stewed meat soup. He set it before the thugs. The broth was golden, while the chunks of meat within were bright red and translucent, garnished with a small sprinkle of chopped scallions.

Not only the thugs, even the innkeeper followed behind, drooling.

"It smells amazing."

The thugs did not stand on ceremony. They picked up their bowls and chopsticks and began eating in huge mouthfuls. The meat melted in their mouths, soft as fermented bean curd. With one bite, thick bone marrow squeezed out through the cracks in the bones, making them want to swallow the bones whole.

Their faces glistened with oil as they ate. They even fought over the soup, and in the blink of an eye, they had cleaned the basin completely.

"Waiter, what kind of meat is this? Why is it so delicious? Is there any more? Bring another basin."

One of them smacked his lips, still unsatisfied, and called the waiter over to ask.

"This..."

The waiter looked troubled and shook his head. "Gentlemen, this dish was not made by our cook. It was made by a guest staying at the inn. The guest said that a few days ago, when he passed East Mountain, he saw a house where someone had apparently killed two bears. He thought the meat would be wasted, so he cut off some and brought it down. This is bear meat. Where would we possibly get any..."

Clang!

The moment the waiter finished speaking, the young man seated at the table went deathly pale. His eyes locked onto the pile of bones on the table, his lips turning purple. He shot to his feet and screamed, "Mother! Brother!"

As soon as the words fell, the young man's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the floor unconscious.

Sigh, age truly spared no one. Ever since getting married, his body had grown weaker by the day. Now he could not even cultivate immortality anymore and could only get up early to write. He missed those days when he cultivated immortality every night.