The Harvest Brought by Spicy Chicken

When Slanbi walked out of the stone cave, it was almost morning. With his current status and position, and with several Battle Saint-level figures among the warriors, troublesome work like teaching battle aura and combat techniques never fell to him. Every day, he did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

He took a bottle of Bloody Anya from his Space Ring, tipped his head back, took a big mouthful, rinsed his mouth, then swallowed it with a gulp.

As Slanbi ambled onto the main street, casually dealing with other people's compliments, he sensed something strange.

On the straight street, a glance down the road showed a sea of white. Out of ten street stalls, eight had several Snow Chickens set out.

"Why are so many people selling this thing today?" Slanbi wondered. He stepped forward, about to casually find a restaurant for a meal.

All of a sudden, Slanbi stopped. His nose twitched at an extremely rapid rhythm, and two sharp gleams instantly shot from his dim eyes.

There was a scent drifting through the air that he could hardly describe. If he called it fragrant, it also carried a somewhat strange smell, and the two mingled together, instantly making Slanbi's saliva flow like a river, too fast for him to swallow.

Carefully sniffing out that scent, Slanbi locked onto his target, turned around, and walked into the first restaurant at the head of the street. Sure enough, once he stepped inside, the aroma grew even stronger, almost pungent enough to sting his nose.

There were hardly any people in the restaurant. Two maids were hiding in a corner with their noses covered, tears constantly streaming from their eyes. The middle-aged owner looked much the same. When he saw Slanbi come in, he hurried over to greet him.

"Mr. Slanbi... cough, cough... sir... cough, cough..." The owner felt it was rather impolite to cover his nose, but after lowering his hand and saying only a few words, he could not stop coughing.

Slanbi ignored him and walked straight toward the kitchen. The moment he entered, his eyes abruptly lit up.

Li Junshan was standing in the kitchen, stirring a large heap of bright-red things in an iron wok. The piercing aroma mingled with the cooking smoke, yet he had his eyes narrowed, his face full of enjoyment.

"Kid, what is this?" Slanbi circulated his battle aura to push the smoke away. Unlike the others, he was not choking in discomfort, and he leaned closer curiously.

"Hehe, Mr. Slanbi, hello." Li Junshan turned back and smiled at him, then said, "This is a dish I learned from someone while traveling outside. Spicy Chicken."

Slanbi stared at the pieces of chicken tumbling among those bright-red things. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down nonstop, and he did not even blink.

At this moment, seeing that the heat was about right, Li Junshan took several small bottles from his Space Ring, carefully pinched out some powder and sprinkled it into the wok, then put them away again with equal care.

Immediately, the aroma in the room grew even richer.

"Done." Li Junshan gave it a few quick tosses, scooped the wok of Spicy Chicken onto a large plate, and carried it toward the front hall.

Slanbi immediately followed.

Spicy Chicken was the dish Li Junshan had spent an entire night pondering before coming up with to "lure" Slanbi. He figured top-grade Snow Chicken would not be hard to find, and as for the main ingredient for this dish—chili peppers—he had dried more than ten catties of them and kept them in his Space Ring back when he left Windfire Town. To him, someone who loved spicy food as much as his own life, that pile of chili peppers he had found with great difficulty on the edge of the Falling Moon Mountains was even more precious than the Iron Mother in his Space Ring.

Salt and oil naturally existed in this world, and he had already found Sichuan peppercorns and ginger back when he created Malatang. He had prepared some in his Space Ring as well. Unfortunately, he had not found scallions or garlic, which was truly a bit regrettable.

People who were greedy for food were just as picky about it. Li Junshan refused to believe that his intensely flavorful, richly fragrant Spicy Chicken would fail to draw Slanbi in.

Judging by the current situation, the plan was going very smoothly.

Carrying the plate into the front hall, Li Junshan casually found a stone table and sat down. He picked up a delicate iron fork, speared a piece of chicken, and put it in his mouth.

Li Junshan drew in a deep breath, closed his eyes, and slowly chewed, his face filled with indescribable comfort and satisfaction.

Hearing the loud sound of someone swallowing saliva beside him, Li Junshan acted as if he had only just discovered Slanbi was still standing there and hurriedly asked, "Mr. Slanbi, do you like it too?"

Slanbi kept his mouth tightly shut, afraid that if he opened it, his saliva would surge out in a flood. He did not dare speak and only nodded desperately.

"If you like it, have some." Li Junshan smiled and invited him.

Slanbi had been waiting for those words for some time. Hearing them, he was just about to sit down when, with a whoosh, a black shadow darted in from outside and, at astonishing speed, occupied the only stone stool opposite Li Junshan.

"Onina, you old bastard! This young brother was clearly telling me to sit down. If you're not refining medicine, why did you run over here to steal a seat?" Slanbi instantly flew into a rage and cursed loudly.

The one who appeared was an old man styled much like Slanbi, except his face was much cleaner, without a single whisker. His complexion was pale, and his eyes were an extremely eerie dark gold.

At this moment, he paid no attention to the furious Slanbi. His eyes were fixed straight on the plate of Spicy Chicken, and he kept muttering, "Snow Chicken meat. Isn't that Blazing Fire Grass, the thing used especially to dispel damp heat? How could it have such a strong fragrance? Eh, there are several other medicinal herbs too. What are they?"

Blazing Fire Grass was what the people of this world called chili peppers. Some apothecaries added Blazing Fire Grass juice to medicines to cure certain illnesses caused by damp heat, but no one had ever eaten it as a vegetable.

Li Junshan was delighted inside. Seeing Slanbi so angry that he seemed about to burst into flames, he stood and said, "Mr. Slanbi, please sit on my side."

Only then did Slanbi resentfully withdraw his gaze from Onina and sit in Li Junshan's seat. Without the slightest courtesy, he used the iron fork to spear a crisp-tender piece of chicken and put it in his mouth.

"Hoo!" The moment the chicken entered his mouth, Slanbi's eyes bulged round. He involuntarily stood up, chewing while opening his mouth wide to pant, his expression as spectacular as could be.

"How does it taste?" Onina swallowed and looked at Slanbi as he asked.

How could Slanbi have any attention to spare for talking? He only felt as if a magical Fireball had exploded in his mouth. His tongue was filled with a fiery heat, even a faint burning pain, yet it also carried a strange fragrance he could not describe. In an instant, sweat burst out all over his head uncontrollably.

It was fragrant enough, spicy enough, and Slanbi just could not bear to spit it out. Onina watched from the side, and finally could not hold back any longer. He speared a piece and put it in his mouth, and his expression instantly froze.

"Pah..." Onina hurriedly spat it onto the ground. Feeling a burning pain fill his mouth, he grabbed a bottle of wine and poured it into his mouth.

"What strange thing is this? I've tasted plenty of poisons in my life, but I've never eaten anything this bizarre." Onina was only an apothecary and had no way to suppress it with battle aura. The spiciness brought tears streaming from his eyes.

While he was speaking, Slanbi had already eaten seven or eight pieces in a row. His face was crimson, sweat poured down him, and his expression was one of utter satisfaction. Onina watched helplessly for a while, then could not resist spearing another piece. Enduring the strange spiciness, he slowly chewed. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he swiftly thrust his fork toward the plate.

If it had been another dish, everything would have been clear at a glance. Spicy Chicken was different. The crisp-tender chicken hid among the bright-red chili peppers, and even the process of searching for it had its own unique charm.

Li Junshan stood to the side with a grin, watching the two old men as if they were exchanging blows. Their forks danced swiftly, searching for chicken pieces among the fiery-red chili peppers. Whenever one found a piece, the finder beamed and chewed contentedly, while the one who failed looked indignant and kept stubbornly digging through the dish.

Before long, the plate of Spicy Chicken had been eaten clean by the two of them. Slanbi seemed not quite satisfied yet. After hesitating for a long time, he speared a chili pepper and put it into his mouth.

Li Junshan wanted to stop him, but how could he make it in time? The chili pepper entered Slanbi's mouth. He had only chewed twice when his expression changed. Seeing Onina watching him with a sly smile, he braced himself and swallowed it, then shot the other man a provocative look in return.

"This old man really is tough." Li Junshan laughed inwardly. The chili peppers in this world were far fierier than the bird's eye chilies he had eaten in his previous life. Even though he himself was used to spicy food, he would not dare eat them like that.

"Too..." Slanbi thought for a long time but still could not come up with an accurate adjective. He took out a bottle of Bloody Anya, drank a big mouthful, and looked completely refreshed.

"Brother, that was delicious. Just a little too little of it," Onina said, still wanting more.

"Mm." Li Junshan smiled faintly and said, "If you like this flavor, I can also use Blazing Fire Grass with other ingredients to make different dishes."

"Excellent." Slanbi clapped his hands and laughed. "You've got some cleverness in you, kid. Come on. This isn't the place to talk. Let's go to my place."

With that, Slanbi headed outside. Li Junshan was overjoyed and hurried after him, while Onina brazenly tagged along too.

They returned all the way to Slanbi's stone chamber. Ignoring Onina at the side, Slanbi took hold of Li Junshan's wrist.

Feeling a scorching current of air surge in through his wrist, Li Junshan did not dare move and stood quietly. That battle aura instantly roamed through his body, then reached Li Junshan's dantian and brushed lightly against his own battle aura before receding like the tide.

"There's no problem." Withdrawing his battle aura, Slanbi released his wrist and said, "Fire-type battle aura, with the strength of a junior warrior. At first I thought there might be something abnormal inside your body that caused your mental force cultivation to be affected by battle aura, but now it looks like there's no problem at all."

Li Junshan's heart immediately sank. At that moment, Onina wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth and asked, "What's wrong? Is there some difficulty?"

"It's definitely the Xenomorph genes in my body causing trouble. Maybe an apothecary would have some way." This thought flashed through Li Junshan's mind, and his spirits lifted. He quickly explained the matter to Onina in detail.

After listening, Onina fell silent as well. Only after a long while did he raise his head and ask, "Did you ever try learning battle aura again afterward?"

Li Junshan nodded and said, "I made no progress in cultivating mental force, so I never stopped practicing battle aura either. I've been learning on my own the whole time."

"Then that is strange." Onina shook his head. "I've never heard of a case like this either. Looks like there's nothing I can do."

"But since it's this strange, perhaps you could try circulating your battle aura while also attempting to see if you can meditate and cultivate mental force. But that won't be easy. After all, cultivating battle aura and cultivating mental force are two different things. Sigh, just pretend I didn't say anything," Onina added.

"A whole load of nonsense. Same as farting," Slanbi said from the side, curling his lip hard.

"Thank you both." Hearing this, hope welled up again in Li Junshan's heart. He bowed to Slanbi and Onina in thanks and farewell, then ran out excitedly.