The True Braised Lion's Head

Chu He nodded solemnly.

Immediately, Xia Yao took his hand, their fingers intertwined, and they walked into the school cafeteria intimately.

The building's exterior resembled an ancient black castle, solemn, mysterious, and grand. The stone carvings at the entrance seemed alive, watching every visitor with hollow eye sockets.

But when Chu He pushed open the heavy oak door, the smell that assaulted him made his stomach churn, nearly suffocating him on the spot.

It was a mixed aroma that defied description.

The stench of hydrogen sulfide from decaying corpses, mixed with the pungent sourness of fermenting internal organs. Even more bizarrely, it was laced with a nauseatingly sweet fragrance, as if countless spices and rotten flesh had been boiled together for days and nights.

All the smells twisted into one, so thick it felt tangible, forcefully seeping into every pore.

The interior of the cafeteria was dim and cavernous. Crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling cast a pale white light. Underneath the light, long dining tables were neatly arranged, yet empty, exuding a deathly silence.

All the surviving players stood at the cafeteria entrance, faces etched with terror, awestruck by the smell and atmosphere, daring not to venture further.

The only sign of life came from the windows at the far end.

In front of the windows was a massive stone platform, laden with hundreds of identical silver plates, each covered with the same opaque steel lid, completely concealing whatever lay within.

The complex, maddening smell in the cafeteria was clearly seeping out from under those lids.

Behind the windows, giant iron pots, each over two meters in diameter, were bubbling and churning with thick soups of various colors. Some were blackish-green, floating with unidentifiable eyeballs; others were blood-red and as viscous as lava.

A man stood with his back to the crowd, beside one of the pots.

He stood at least two and a half meters tall, as burly as a small mountain, wearing an apron soaked in dark red bloodstains, its original color long gone.

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

He was using a giant bone knife, the size of a door, to mechanically chop something on a cutting board. Each strike was heavy, causing the entire cafeteria floor to vibrate slightly.

As he moved, his massive head turned slightly, revealing a profile. The color of his eyes was identical to Xia Yao's, a pure, emotionless, deathly black.

Chu He's heart tightened. This must be the Uncle Xia Yao mentioned, the one even she couldn't defeat.

Beside the giant chef, two peculiar Anomalies were working at inhuman speeds.

They had no fixed form, resembling giant, constantly wriggling flesh tumors covered in blue veins. From various angles of the tumors, dense, countless blue-black arms grew. A rough estimate suggested each Anomaly had over fifty hands.

Some of these arms were skinning unknown beasts, others were cleaning still-wriggling black tentacles, and some were stirring the thick soup in the large pots. The scene was both efficient and terrifying.

"Those are from the Many-armed Monster Tribe, S-Class, kitchen helpers," Xia Yao whispered in Chu He's ear.

On the giant's rugged, chiseled face, a loving smile instantly bloomed upon seeing Xia Yao.

But when his gaze followed Xia Yao to Chu He beside her, the smile froze and vanished without a trace.

When his pure black eyes finally settled on their ten interlocked hands, the mountain-like man's chopping motion faltered slightly.

How could this be? She's holding a human's hand? So intimately?

Countless images flashed through his mind.

For Xia Yao's "lifelong happiness," the entire clan had been worried sick.

The Crown Prince of the Abyssal Demon Dragon Tribe had arrived with treasures enough to buy a city, proposing marriage. Xia Yao hadn't even glanced at him, merely saying one cold word: "Scram."

The Young Master of the Sea of Corpse Bones had offered his most precious ancestral rib, capable of forging divine artifacts, as a token of his affection. Xia Yao, however, had disdainfully declared: "Dirty."

And countless young talents from various terrifying tribes, all top-tier in bloodline, strength, and appearance, had, without exception, been rejected by Xia Yao.

He was almost convinced his niece was missing a crucial screw.

And now, she was holding a human's hand?

A human who looked frail, sickly, with dark circles under his eyes, and nothing remarkable except for his decent looks?

The Uncle's gaze swept back and forth over Chu He, trying to find anything unusual.

After a long time, he disappointedly withdrew his gaze.

Forget it, it's probably just a child's tantrum. After this meal, I'll have a "good talk" with him and make him retreat.

"Thump!"

With a loud bang, the bone knife struck the cutting board heavily, echoing through the vast cafeteria and making all the survivors' hearts tremble.

"Dinner is served!" the Uncle's voice boomed like a bell, resounding throughout the hall.

"Today's rules are simple: everyone chooses a 'blind box meal'," he slowly turned around, his giant eyeballs scanning the crowd with undeniable cruelty. "Everything on the plate must be finished within half an hour."

"If you can't finish, or dare to spit it out..." He grinned, revealing a row of bone-white teeth, "then lie down on that cutting board over there and become the next meal."

"Now, form 10 lines. Each person has ten seconds to choose their meal. Be careful, no crossing that red line!"

Only then did everyone notice a thick red line drawn on the floor about three meters from the giant platform.

At such a distance, and with the lids blocking their view, it was impossible to discern what was on the plates. The choice was entirely based on intuition and luck!

The players reluctantly lined up, most pointing randomly at a plate in the last second of the countdown. Then, one of the Many-armed Monsters would use one of its hands to deliver the plate to them.

When it was Chu He's turn, Xia Yao squeezed his hand tightly.

Chu He turned his head and saw Xia Yao subtly flicking her chin towards a specific plate in front of them.

Following Xia Yao's gesture, Chu He moved his mind, and the illusion-breaking ability of the Eye of Nirvana was quietly activated!

Instantly, the world before his eyes lost its color.

The opaque steel lids became translucent in his eyes, and the contents of the plates became clearly visible.

The plate on the left contained wriggling maggot salad, and the plate on the right contained a still-beating heart... The plate Xia Yao had gestured to, however, held a meticulously prepared lion's head, almost identical in appearance to the one he had seen in Xia Yao's memory labyrinth, except this one was cooked!

Chu He exclaimed inwardly, Holy crap, this is the real "Braised Lion's Head" then!

And the moment Chu He activated his ability, his uncle, who had been expressionless, suddenly trembled!

His dead, lifeless eyes narrowed sharply, staring intently at Chu He.

This kid... he didn't get here by luck! He can see through it!

How could he possess an ability of my tribe?

No wonder Yao Yao chose him!

This kid is indeed not simple.

The Eagle Country contestant trembled as he lifted the lid, and a strong smell of fish mixed with blood assaulted his nostrils.

On the plate was a pile of eyeballs of various sizes, arranged like a salad. The topmost ones were even rolling around, their pupils fixed on him.

But as a special forces officer, his mental fortitude was extremely strong. He let out a roar, closed his eyes, and forcefully swallowed the still-rolling eyeballs in huge mouthfuls!

Beside him, the Kimchi Country female contestant let out a suppressed gag.

Her plate contained a bowl of steaming hot soup, in which several pale tentacles covered in suction cups were slowly wriggling, as if alive.

The fear of being entangled by a tentacle monster from the previous night flashed through her mind, turning her face ashen.

But to survive, she could only close her eyes, grab a slippery tentacle with her trembling hand, and take a fierce bite.

The tough, fishy texture almost made her break down, but she dared not stop.

However, while her mouth could endure it, her stomach was protesting violently.

An intense wave of nausea surged up her throat, and she could no longer hold back. With a "whoosh," she vomited everything she had just eaten, along with her stomach acid!

Instantly, the giant chef shot a look at the Many-armed Monster beside him.

The Many-armed Monster immediately abandoned its work. Its tumor-like body rolled rapidly on the ground, emitting a grating sound.

It instantly rushed to the Kimchi Country female contestant. Its dozens of pale arms, like predatory spiders, grabbed her limbs and head. With a mucus-covered palm, it clamped down tightly over her mouth, and amidst her terrified, despairing whimpers, it dragged her unceremoniously into the dark back kitchen.