Time stretched endlessly in that moment.
The entire Gluttony House fell so silent that the faint crackling of the charcoal fire could be heard.
Every diner, whether they had the head of an ox and the face of a horse or a human head atop a serpent's body, froze in the pose they'd been in a second ago, as if they'd all been hit with a petrification spell.
"D-did I hear that right?"
The duck intestines in a wolf-headed Beastman's hand plopped into the bubbling pot of red oil, splashing droplets everywhere, but he didn't even notice.
His blank gaze shifted back and forth between the impossibly handsome Xia Nuo and the utterly bewildered Chu He.
"Did that lord just call that young boss... brother-in-law?"
"Oh my god! This meal was worth every penny! It's not just delicious food—we've got front-row seats to the juiciest gossip of the century!"
"Brother-in-law... the Void Gazer Royal Family's... brother-in-law? Hss—"
A chorus of sharp inhales rang through the room.
One by one, the gazes of the diners swiftly shifted from shock to feverish curiosity, gossip, and a certain gloating anticipation.
Those gazes were like countless red-hot needles, stabbing into Chu He.
The genial, infuriating smile on Chu He's face stiffened inch by inch, shattered, and finally vanished.
The already cool and stunning face of Xia Yao was now shrouded in a layer of frost anyone could see.
The pure black depths of her eyes roiled violently. A terrifying aura, powerful enough to freeze space itself, was edging wildly toward losing control.
Only Kachi remained unfazed. She blinked her sparkling eyes, where stars seemed to swirl, and her small lips curled into an amused smile.
"Ahem!"
Snapping out of his stunned daze, Chu He felt a fine sheen of cold sweat break out across