Yueling's Self-Hypnosis

The green bamboo was enormous. At its widest, the bamboo joints were nearly a meter in diameter; a single joint could easily serve as a bathtub.

Wu Chu was initially shocked at the sight, but then felt it was perfectly normal. After all, this was the Primordial World! What was there to be surprised about?

It would save him quite a bit of trouble too. He had originally planned to have little Yueling dig out several wooden barrels, but now that hassle could be spared.

Looking at the two giant bamboo stalks, Wu Chu thought, The bamboo barrels are taken care of. Bamboo bowls can be solved too, and bamboo chopsticks go without saying. I can even make brooms.

He could also weave other bamboo household items, such as baskets and sieves.

He had never made either of those before, though, so he would need to experiment a few more times.

In any case, he had plenty of time. He could take it slow.

So Wu Chu began teaching little Yueling how to use the Spirit Prime Sword to cut the bamboo joints apart one by one. They made several bamboo barrels half a meter wide and half a person's height, then drilled two holes into the upper walls of each barrel and threaded vines through them as handles.

Once the bamboo barrels were finished, Wu Chu tested the thickness of the joint bottoms and discovered that even with his strength, he did not seem capable of damaging them.

In other words, without powerful tools, his current strength simply could not break this giant bamboo.

He then found a bamboo joint at the end of the stalk as large as a sea bowl, along with three joints the size of small bowls, and motioned for the little girl to cut them off, making one large bamboo bowl and three small ones.

Then he carried out a Purple Jade Spirit Crabapple, washed it clean, sliced off its flesh with a kitchen knife into the large bamboo bowl, and used a pestle made from Purple Jade Spiritwood to mash the flesh. He then poured out the juice and divided it among the three small bowls.

Naturally, there was not much juice, so the small bamboo bowls could not be filled.

The little girl watched Wu Chu's entire process, her eyes full of wonder.

Wu Chu smiled. "This is called fruit juice. In the Culinary Dao, adding a little fruit juice to a dish can sometimes make it sweeter and more fragrant. I'll teach you more when there's a chance."

Though Wu Chu himself could only be considered Ordinary at cooking, he felt that was more than enough to teach Little Moon Spirit, who knew nothing at all.

In this primitive era of eating raw meat and drinking blood, knowing even a little cooking would make someone a culinary god.

Little Moon Spirit nodded her tiny head, looking like a diligent student who had received instruction.

"Come, have a taste. It's really good!"

As he spoke, Wu Chu handed one small bamboo bowl to her and placed another before the Little Wolf Cub, A Qiu, earning three or five tail wags from the pup.

Then he picked up his own small bamboo bowl and took a light sip. The sweet, refreshing juice spread through his mouth, stimulating the taste buds on his tongue as a dreamlike sensation filled his nerves.

To Little Moon Spirit, it was something utterly ordinary, yet Wu Chu ate it as though it were the finest delicacy in the world. This made her feel rather puzzled. Even ordinary food seems to become the most delicious thing in heaven and earth in Senior A Chu's mouth. It seems Senior A Chu's sincere heart toward the Culinary Dao is beyond anything I can compare to! Is this Senior A Chu's Culinary Dao?

So Little Moon Spirit copied him, holding the cup in both hands, taking a small sip, lifting her head, narrowing her eyes, and exhaling—all in one smooth motion.

Sure enough, it felt different!

The corners of Little Moon Spirit's lips curled up slightly.

Completely unaware of Little Moon Spirit's thoughts, Wu Chu noticed Yibao sitting on his shoulder, staring at the fruit juice in his hand.

So Wu Chu held the bamboo bowl before her. Yibao lowered her head and sniffed it, dipped her little finger into the juice, then put it into her mouth and sucked on it.

At last, she gently shook her head. "It seems Yibao truly isn't a real life-form yet! I can't taste anything at all, and the energy in this fruit juice is of no use to Yibao either."

Wu Chu smiled and reached up to rub her little head.

After enjoying a bowl of Purple Jade Spirit Crabapple juice, Wu Chu carried a bamboo barrel to the pond, fetched a barrel of water, stuffed the red earth into a washed sock, and began kneading it. The red earth gradually turned into slurry, while bits of residue remained inside the sock.

Since he had the conditions, Wu Chu naturally hoped to use finer red earth to fire pottery.

"Brother A Chu, what are you doing?"

Having finished her fruit juice, Little Moon Spirit curiously came over to Wu Chu again.

"I'm preparing to fire some clay pots for boiling water. Oh, right, Yueling, take the bamboo barrel and collect the white frost from the surface of that giant shrimp..."

"Brother A Chu, what is that white frost?"

"That's salt, one of the most important seasonings in the Culinary Dao."

Wu Chu smiled. "Also, if you find any other shrimp or crabs, collect them as well. This stuff comes from the sea, and there isn't any around here."

The moment Little Moon Spirit heard that it was one of the Culinary Dao's seasonings, she immediately perked up. She gave a crisp reply, then rode the wind away while carrying a giant bamboo barrel nearly a meter wide.

Those sea salts were somewhat bitter, though. He would have to filter and boil them again later.

After washing all the red earth into slurry and setting it aside to settle, Wu Chu came over to the giant shrimp. The little girl had already collected nearly half a barrel of sea salt and left it there, though she herself was nowhere to be seen. She was probably off looking for sea salt elsewhere.

Just as Wu Chu was about to cut off some shrimp meat to take back and cook, a fleshy tentacle covered in suckers floated toward him.

It was an octopus tentacle. The little girl's entire body was hidden beneath it; anyone unaware of the situation might have thought the octopus tentacle itself was flying.

But Wu Chu had already been mentally prepared, so he was not frightened.

Sure enough, once the octopus tentacle landed on the ground, a tiny figure flew out from underneath it.

"Brother A Chu, this thing can be eaten too, right?"

"It can, and it's delicious too!" Wu Chu said with a smile.

Wu Chu thought of octopus sashimi, but since he did not enjoy raw food, he silently shook his head and decided to dry some octopus jerky instead, saving it for the "winter."

This octopus tentacle was also covered in a layer of white frost. In fact, the layer was much thicker than the one on the giant shrimp.

"Can you find anything else?" Wu Chu asked again.

Little Moon Spirit nodded, then added, "There are some, but some have already been gnawed on by wild beasts. The beasts that fled earlier to avoid the battle are gradually returning now! I also heard some wolf howls earlier. They're probably A Qiu's pack."

Wu Chu nodded. "Let it be! If he wants to return to his pack, then let him go." After a pause, he asked, "Have you eaten those wild beasts before?"

Little Moon Spirit gave a slight nod, then said, "But I never carefully tasted their flavor."

"You ate ones with intelligence too?" Wu Chu asked.

Little Moon Spirit nodded, looking as though it were perfectly normal. Then she said, "But after I learned to feed on qi, I stopped eating such food."

Wu Chu silently nodded. It seems that in the Primordial World, whether you eat someone doesn't depend on whether they have intelligence, but on whether they taste good.

No wonder the Classic of Mountains and Seas recorded so many divine beasts that could be eaten. Perhaps there truly was some sense in calling it a Primordial Cookbook!

Wu Chu smiled. "Little Moon Spirit, let's make a rule! From now on, if we actively hunt for food and encounter a beast that has developed intelligence and can communicate like us, then we won't eat it, regardless of whether it has taken Transformation Form. What do you think?"

Little Moon Spirit looked confused and asked, "Why?"

Wu Chu thought for a moment before saying, "Perhaps because I couldn't bear it. If one day someone killed and ate you, how would you feel?"

Little Moon Spirit considered it, then nodded thoughtfully.

Wu Chu smiled. "All things have spirits, let alone those who have transcended through intelligence. They are much like us, with the seven emotions and six desires; they understand joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness..."

"Brother A Chu, what are the seven emotions and six desires?"

"..."

Wu Chu: I didn't read much. Let me think about that carefully.