Xiangji Kitchen

Sister Xiao Li and the others ran toward the fragrance, as desperate as Wild Dogs that had gone half a month without food and were rushing to snatch a meal.

This was obviously abnormal.

Lin Baici shouted several times, but he could not stop them. He knew another God's Taboo Object was causing trouble.

Five minutes later, everyone, panting heavily, rushed into a large courtyard and stopped in front of a Dining Hall.

Above the Dining Hall's main entrance hung a plaque that read, "Xiangji Kitchen."

"A cafeteria?"

Lin Baici sniffed. It seemed someone was cooking porridge.

It smelled delicious!

Hua Yueyu and the others pushed open the door and entered.

Creak!

The hinges let out a teeth-grating screech.

Lin Baici was not tempted by the fragrance. He could have left entirely, but after hesitating for a moment, he stepped over the foot-high threshold and followed them inside.

Bang!

The door slammed shut the instant Lin Baici entered.

Lin Baici turned around and tugged on the wooden door.

It was tightly shut.

He could not open it!

This Dining Hall called Xiangji Kitchen was very spacious. Fifty rectangular tables and wooden benches were arranged inside, enough to seat six or seven hundred people at once.

The kitchen was on the north side. No one could be seen working inside, but a rich porridge fragrance wafted out.

Old Aunt found an empty seat, sat down, and began calling for Lin Baici.

"Baici, come sit!"

There were many people in Xiangji Kitchen. Lin Baici swept his gaze over them and estimated there were nearly a hundred, but all of them looked frightened and had no mood to speak.

Every person had a huge bowl in front of them, filled with purple Eight-Treasure Porridge.

Both its color and fragrance were exceptionally enticing. Just one glance made people want to drink until they were full.

"Seven guests, one bowl of fragrant porridge each!"

A bold female voice rang through the Dining Hall.

Lin Baici felt as if he had entered Sun Erniang's shady inn on Liangshan. At any moment, someone might rush out, hack them to death with random blades, and turn them into bun filling.

Out of caution, he should have let someone else ask about the current situation, but Jin Yingzhen and the others had nothing but "eat" on their minds and could not care about anything else.

Lin Baici could only handle it himself.

He first swept his gaze around, then looked toward the gray-haired Old Man in his sixties seated three meters diagonally across from him.

"Old Man, what's going on here?"

Lin Baici was very polite, but the Old Man picked up his bowl and slurped down a mouthful of porridge, ignoring him completely as he struck up a conversation with Hua Yueyu.

"Beauty, why do you look so familiar?"

This Old Man often watched livestreams and especially liked young girls like this.

It would be even better if they wore less.

[An old pervert with no sense of propriety. He watches livestreams without spending a cent, often pretends to be rich, and flirts with Female Anchors, but he is actually a miser. Every time he goes to the supermarket, he steals a few things. If caught, he lies on the ground and pretends to have Heart Disease!]

[Be careful. If you see him fall, never help him up, or he'll extort you!]

[Recommend Charcoal Grilling him and feeding him to dogs!]

The God of Gluttony's three-part assessment tore the Old Man apart completely.

Hua Yueyu had not heard a word the Old Man said. She craned her neck, her eyes fixed straight on the kitchen as if she were looking through autumn waters.

Jin Yingzhen and Old Aunt were much the same.

Everyone did not have to wait long. A Cook strode out carrying a red-lacquered tray.

Seven bowls of porridge sat on it.

The bowls were enormous, large enough to fit a person's head.

Lin Baici's pupils suddenly contracted when he saw the Cook.

She wore cleanly washed rough linen clothes and an apron, with a white square kerchief wrapped around her head.

Her movements were brisk, and her smile was warm, but she was around two meters tall, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with arms so thick a horse could run across them.

Lin Baici believed that when facing a Cook like this, diners would definitely not be thinking about how to skip out on the bill. They would be wondering whether they could leave alive after finishing their meal.

"Seven bowls of Fortune, Prosperity, Longevity, and Happiness Porridge!"

As the Cook drew out her voice in a loud announcement, thud, thud, thud, bowls of porridge were placed in front of Lin Baici and the other six.

Steam rose from them, and the fragrance of porridge filled the air, making mouths water uncontrollably.

"Please enjoy!"

After calling out those words, the Cook placed both hands around the tray before her abdomen and retreated gracefully to the side, watching everyone with a smile.

Jin Yingzhen and the others could no longer wait. They did not even use wooden spoons, directly lifting the huge bowls and pouring the porridge into their mouths.

Even when the heat made them bare their teeth and cry out, they did not stop drinking.

"..."

Lin Baici's mouth twitched.

The Cook was very satisfied, but when she saw that Lin Baici had not moved, the smile on her face immediately vanished. "You... aren't drinking?"

"It's hot. I'll let it cool first!"

Lin Baici brushed her off.

"It tastes better while it's hot!"

The Cook explained.

"I'm afraid of burning myself!"

Lin Baici forced out a smile.

"Hehehe!"

The Old Man looked at Lin Baici with a gloating expression, waiting to see him suffer.

Earlier, someone had refused to drink the porridge. The Cook had forcibly pried open his mouth and poured it all down his throat like she was dumping swill into a Trash Can.

"I'll help you!"

After saying that, the Cook set the tray on the table, took one long stride to stand before Lin Baici, and rolled up her sleeves, ready to help him drink the porridge.

How could Lin Baici dare let the Cook do it? He hurriedly picked up the huge bowl. "No need, I can do it myself!"

Slurp!

Lin Baici took a mouthful of porridge.

Damn!

It was scorching hot!

The Cook smiled again, lowered her sleeves, and picked up the tray.

"Drink without worry. There's plenty!"

With that, the Cook walked toward the kitchen.

Once the Cook turned around, Lin Baici immediately lowered his head and spat the porridge in his mouth back into the bowl.

Who knew whether there was something wrong with this stuff?

He definitely was not going to drink it.

Lin Baici was very cautious. With his mouth pressed close to the bowl, he kept secretly watching the Cook's back. If she noticed that he had spat out the porridge, he would immediately take another sip.

By the way, there was actually a kitchen knife tucked into the back of the Cook's waist?

That was a little terrifying.

The Cook did not look back until she entered the kitchen.

Lin Baici relaxed and looked at the others.

Jin Yingzhen and the other six were drinking porridge, urging Lin Baici to hurry and taste it as they drank.

"Stop drinking!"

Lin Baici tried to persuade them.

It was useless.

"Why can you resist it?"

The Old Man stared at Lin Baici in shock, dumbfounded.

The other eight people at his table wore the same expression.

The porridge was too fragrant. Everyone had only realized something was wrong after drinking until they were stuffed. Before that, their minds had been filled with nothing but drinking porridge.

Lin Baici ignored the Old Man.

He felt hungry, but not for this bowl of porridge. Rather, he wanted to go into the kitchen and "eat" something.

The Old Man's gaze fell on the Pine Torch before returning to Lin Baici, studying him carefully.

This kid...

His willpower was so strong. The Old Man himself had not been able to resist earlier. He had drunk porridge like a starving ghost reincarnated, and now his stomach was so bloated and uncomfortable that he wanted to throw up.

[Food is the first necessity of the people. Drink the porridge! Drink the porridge!]

Hearing the God of Gluttony say that, Lin Baici felt much more at ease. It seemed there was nothing wrong with the porridge, and he could drink it.

Inside the Dining Hall, everyone sat on wooden benches, drinking porridge with ugly expressions. Some had clearly drunk until they were stuffed long ago, but they did not dare stop and could only force it down.

Their bodies had all been beyond their control, drawn here by the fragrance.

"Could it be that if they can't finish this bowl of porridge within a certain period of time, they'll be killed?"

Lin Baici analyzed.

"Huh? Why aren't you drinking? It's delicious!"

Sima Mu was greatly surprised to see Lin Baici had not moved. He had already finished his own bowl and was even holding it up, licking the remaining grains of rice with his tongue.

"I'm not hungry!"

Lin Baici noticed that after drinking a bowl and filling his stomach, Sima Mu was no longer wholly focused on the porridge.

Jin Yingzhen did not have much of an appetite and could no longer eat, so her pace of drinking had clearly slowed. As for Hua Yueyu, it was impossible to tell, but she was actually a big eater.

"I advise you to drink quickly. When the Cook comes out and sees you haven't drunk your porridge, she'll chop off your head!"

The Old Man was unhappy to see that Lin Baici had not drunk a single mouthful, so he deliberately tried to scare him.

What if this Fortune, Prosperity, Longevity, and Happiness Porridge was harmful to the body, and this kid escaped disaster because he had not drunk it?

That would not do!

If they were going to die, they should all die together.

"No need for your concern. My stomach is bad, and I can't eat much. I'm sure that Cook will be understanding!"

Lin Baici chuckled.

This Old Man had a rather dark heart.

As soon as Sima Mu finished his porridge, set down his bowl, and let out a full belch, the Cook came out carrying another bowl of porridge.

It was still the same enormous bowl, placed on the table in front of Sima Mu.

"Can you taste how many kinds of Ingredients are in this Sukiyaki Porridge?"

The Cook blinked her billiard-ball-sized eyes, looking at Sima Mu with hope written all over her face.

"I can't!"

Sima Mu shook his head. Who could taste that?

He glanced at the hot porridge in the bowl. There were red dates boiled nearly to mush, longans, peanuts, and all kinds of beans.

He did not recognize them.

The Cook looked disappointed, but she still forced a smile. "It's fine. Drink slowly, identify them slowly. There's no rush!"

Lin Baici raised an eyebrow at those words.

Could surviving depend on guessing how many Ingredients were in this Fortune Porridge?

The Cook was about to leave, but when her gaze swept over the porridge bowl before Lin Baici, she immediately stopped. Her large eyes widened. "Why aren't you drinking?"

As the Cook said this, her right hand reached behind her back and gripped the knife handle.

Hehehe, just keep refusing to drink if you've got the guts!

The Old Man felt pleased.

"I drank some. I'm savoring it carefully!"

Lin Baici explained, "I want to savor the flavor of every Ingredient on my tongue!"

The Cook's face immediately lit up at those words. She excitedly asked, "Did you taste anything?"

"I've identified five kinds for now!"

Lin Baici glanced at the bowl and named several Ingredients he could recognize.

"Mhm! Mhm!"

The Cook nodded repeatedly, very satisfied. "You're the first diner today to seriously savor the Fortune, Prosperity, Longevity, and Happiness Porridge. I'll serve you another hot bowl. Drink without worry, there's enough to fill you up!"

"Thank you!"

Lin Baici was very polite.

The Old Man was dumbfounded, as were the diners at several nearby tables.

Drinking porridge in this Xiangji Kitchen was torture, comparable to suffering punishment, yet this guy actually wanted more on his own initiative?

"Truly, ignorance is fearless!"

A red-haired woman sneered.

"He got away with it like that?"

The Old Man was speechless.

This student's response had far exceeded his expectations. Especially after seeing that the Cook had believed his nonsense and had not forced him to drink that scalding bowl of porridge, he was extremely displeased.

But when the Cook brought over another bowl, set it before Lin Baici, and told him to drink quickly, the Old Man became happy.

Let's see how you'll clean this up when you can't finish it!

Jin Yingzhen and the others drank more than half a bowl of porridge. Their overwhelming urge to eat faded, reason returned to their minds, and cold sweat instantly soaked them as fear flooded in afterward.

No matter how foolish they were, they could sense that something was deeply wrong.

"Oppa, what do we do?"

Jin Yingzhen looked at Lin Baici pleadingly.

Whether they lived or died depended on him.

The Female Anchor, Old Aunt, and Sister Xiao Li felt the same way. Lin Baici was now the whole village's only hope.