Chu He nodded solemnly.
Then Xia Yao took his hand, lacing her fingers through his, and led him toward the school cafeteria.
The building looked like an ancient black castle, solemn, mysterious, and magnificent. Even the stone carvings by the entrance seemed alive, watching every visitor with their hollow eye sockets.
But when Chu He pushed open the heavy oak door, the smell that hit him made his stomach churn. He nearly suffocated on the spot.
It was an indescribable mixture of odors.
The stench of hydrogen sulfide from rotting corpses mingled with the sharp sourness of fermenting organs. Stranger still, there was a nauseatingly sweet fragrance, as if countless spices and rotten meat had been stewed together for days.
All those smells twisted into one, thick enough to seem tangible, forcing their way into every pore.
The cafeteria was gloomy and cavernous. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting a ghastly white light over rows of long tables. They were neatly arranged, but not a soul sat at them. The place was utterly lifeless.
All the surviving players stood in terror at the entrance, cowed by the smell and the atmosphere, not daring to venture farther in.
The only sign of life came from a window at the far end.
In front of it stood a huge stone counter, covered with hundreds of identical silver platters. Each was hidden beneath an opaque steel lid, concealing whatever lay beneath.
The complex, maddening smell filling the cafeteria was clearly seeping out from under those lids.
Behind the window, a row of enormous iron pots, each more than two meters in diameter, bubbled away. Thick broths of every color rolled inside. Some were blackish green, with unknown eyeballs floating on the surface; others were blood-red and thick as magma.
A man stood beside one of the pots, his back to the crowd.
He was at least two and a half meters tall, as burly as a small mountain, and wore an apron so soaked in dark red bloodstains that its original color was impossible to make out.
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
With a huge bone cleaver as big as a door, he mechanically chopped at something on the cutting board. Each blow landed with tremendous force, making the entire cafeteria floor tremble faintly.
As he worked, his enormous head turned slightly. His profile came into view, and his eyes were the exact same color as Xia Yao's: a pure, emotionless black.
Chu He's heart tightened. This had to be the uncle Xia Yao had said even she couldn't beat.
Beside the giant chef, two strange creatures worked at an inhuman speed.
They had no fixed shape, like enormous, constantly writhing tumors covered in blue veins. Countless arms, so dark blue they were nearly black, sprouted from every part of their bodies. At a glance, each creature must have had more than fifty arms.
Some of the arms skinned unknown beasts. Others washed writhing black tentacles, while still others stirred the thick soup in the giant pots. The scene was both efficient and horrifying.
"That's the Multi-armed Monster Tribe. S-rank. They're the kitchen's odd-job workers," Xia Yao whispered in Chu He's ear.
The moment Uncle saw Xia Yao, his rugged, chiseled face broke into a loving smile.
But when his gaze moved from Xia Yao to Chu He at her side, the smile froze and vanished without a trace.
When his pitch-black eyes finally settled on their interlaced fingers, the mountain-sized man even paused in his chopping.
How could this be? She was holding a human's hand? And so intimately?
A flood of images flashed through his mind.
The whole tribe had been worrying themselves sick over Xia Yao's "marriage prospects."
The Crown Prince of the Abyssal Demon Dragon Tribe had come to propose, bringing enough treasure to buy an entire city. Xia Yao hadn't even looked at him. She'd simply said, in a cold voice, "Get lost."
The young lord of the Sea of Corpse Bones had offered his most precious rib bone, a source material capable of forging a divine weapon, as a token. Xia Yao had looked disgusted and said, "Dirty."
Countless other young talents from terrifying tribes had come, each top-tier in bloodline, strength, and looks. Without exception, every one of them had been rejected by Xia Yao.
He'd nearly come to believe that his niece simply wasn't wired that way.
And now she was holding a human's hand?
A human who looked frail and sickly, with dark circles under his eyes, and nothing going for him apart from a fairly handsome face?
Uncle looked Chu He up and down, trying to find anything unusual about him.
After a long while, he gave up and looked away.
Never mind. It was probably just a child's game.
After dinner, he'd have a "nice long talk" with him and make him back off.
"Thud!"
The bone cleaver slammed down on the cutting board with a deafening crash that echoed through the cavernous cafeteria. Every surviving player's heart jolted.
"Dinner!" Uncle's voice rang out like a bell, filling the room.
"Today's rules are simple. Everyone picks one 'mystery dish.'" He slowly turned around, his enormous eyes sweeping over the crowd with merciless authority. "You must finish everything on your plate within half an hour."
"If you can't finish it, or dare to spit it out..." He grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. "Lie down on that cutting board and become an extra serving for the next meal."
"Now, form ten lines. Each person gets ten seconds to choose a dish. And don't cross that red line!"
Only then did everyone notice the thick red line painted on the floor, about three meters from the enormous counter.
At that distance, with the lids in the way, there was no way to tell what was on the plates. They'd have to choose by instinct and luck!
The players reluctantly formed lines. Almost all of them waited until the final second of the countdown before pointing at a random platter. Then one of the Multi-armed Monsters brought it over with one of its many hands.
When Chu He's turn came, Xia Yao gave his hand a tight squeeze.
Chu He turned to look. Xia Yao subtly raised her chin toward a particular platter ahead.
Following her hint, Chu He focused his mind, and the Eye of Nirvana's ability to see through illusions quietly activated!
In an instant, the world before him lost its color.
The opaque steel lids blurred before his eyes, revealing the dishes beneath them.
The platter on the left held a writhing maggot salad. The one on the right held a still-beating heart... and the one Xia Yao had pointed out held a carefully prepared lion's head meatball. It looked almost exactly like the one he'd seen in Xia Yao's memory maze—except this one was cooked!
Chu He couldn't help marveling. Now this was a real "braised lion's head"!
The instant Chu He activated his ability, Uncle, who had been expressionless the whole time, shuddered.
His dead eyes narrowed, fixing on Chu He.
This kid... wasn't relying on luck. He could see through the lids!
How did he have my tribe's ability?
No wonder Yao Yao chose him!
This kid really is something.
The Eagle Nation's contestant trembled as he lifted the lid. A powerful stench of blood and raw meat hit him.
On the plate was a pile of eyeballs of various sizes, arranged like a salad. A few on top were still rolling around, their pupils all fixed on him.
But as a special forces officer, he had nerves of steel. With a roar, he closed his eyes and forced himself to swallow the still-rolling eyeballs, mouthful after mouthful!
Beside him, the female contestant from Kimchi Country let out a strangled retch.
Her plate held a steaming bowl of thick soup. Several pallid tentacles covered in suckers writhed slowly inside, as if they were alive.
The terror of being entangled by tentacles the night before flashed through her mind. Her face turned paper-white.
But to stay alive, she had no choice. Eyes shut, she grabbed one slick tentacle with a trembling hand and bit down hard.
The tough, fishy texture nearly broke her, but she didn't dare stop.
Her mouth could endure it, but her stomach rebelled violently.
A powerful wave of nausea surged up her throat. She couldn't hold it back any longer. With a retch, she vomited everything she'd just eaten, along with her stomach acid!
The giant chef immediately glanced at one of the Multi-armed Monsters beside him.
The creature abandoned its work at once. Its tumor-like body rolled rapidly across the floor, making a teeth-grinding scraping sound.
It reached the female contestant from Kimchi Country in an instant. Dozens of pallid arms, like those of a hunting spider, grabbed her limbs and head. One mucus-smeared palm clamped over her mouth, and amid her terrified, despairing muffled cries, it dragged her mercilessly into the dark kitchen.
Before you continue