Giant Wild Chicken, Adorable Little Cook

"Brother A Chu, are these mushrooms enough?"

Little Moon Spirit looked at Wu Chu's ever-changing expression and asked uneasily.

Wu Chu came back to his senses and smiled. "Enough, more than enough. Oh, right, release those wild chickens first! How many did you catch?"

"There are six. One of them is the biggest and prettiest..."

As Little Moon Spirit spoke, she dispersed the cloud mass, revealing six Brocade Pheasants before them. The largest one left Wu Chu utterly dumbfounded.

After all, faced with a primitive wild chicken nearly as tall as he was, with its fierce gaze and an iron beak that looked as if it had been cast from gold, any normal person would be terrified.

The dreadful memory buried deep in his mind, of being chased down by the village rooster, resurfaced once more.

No matter how he looked at it, Wu Chu felt that this thing was not to be messed with.

Unable to even truss a chicken seemed to be the perfect description of him right now.

Cluck, cluck, cluck...

The large Brocade Pheasant's neck trembled slightly, seemingly issuing them a warning. The splendid feathers around its neck stood on end, making it look ready to attack.

"How about we use it for an extra dish later?"

Wu Chu looked it over, took a breath, and swallowed the compassionate tears at the corner of his mouth.

Little Moon Spirit nodded eagerly. "Brother A Chu, what should I do next?"

"Wait for me to tie up their feet with vines so they can't run away..."

Little Moon Spirit smiled. "There is no need for that trouble. Even if they run away, I can catch them again."

Wu Chu nodded. "Then I'll make them a coop later and raise them. Only tamed wild chickens can keep laying eggs for us."

Little Moon Spirit nodded her little head despite not fully understanding. She released the other wild chickens, and the moment they regained their freedom, they clucked and flew into the flowerbeds, instantly hiding themselves. The once peaceful flower field in the lakeside breeze immediately erupted into chaos.

Clearly, they had been frightened by Little Moon Spirit, while the Little Wolf Cub had been frightened by them.

"Brother A Chu, how should we deal with this one?" Little Moon Spirit asked, pointing at the giant wild chicken.

Wu Chu smiled. "Normally, we need to cut its throat and drain all the blood from its body. Then we boil some water, pour it over the chicken, and pluck the feathers..."

Wu Chu found a small bamboo bucket, added some water and a little Salt, then had Little Moon Spirit restrain the large Brocade Pheasant while he plucked the feathers from its neck...

The Salt was freshly made Salt that had been filtered and boiled again, removing its bitterness.

Yet what embarrassed Wu Chu was that he could not pull out the chicken feathers at all.

He handed the kitchen knife to Little Moon Spirit. "Yueling, I'll teach you how to kill a chicken."

Little Moon Spirit took the kitchen knife with a hint of excitement. "Brother A Chu, why add water and Salt to the bamboo bucket? Can the Brocade Pheasant's blood be eaten too?"

"Of course. Most parts of a wild chicken can be eaten, including its blood. The water lets the Salt dissolve more thoroughly into the chicken blood, while the Salt makes the blood coagulate faster."

Under Wu Chu's guidance, Little Moon Spirit removed the feathers from the large Brocade Pheasant's neck. Then, with a light sweep of the knife, a fountain of blood spurted from its throat.

Wu Chu caught the chicken blood in the little bamboo bucket while stirring it with the Merit Spiritual Treasure, the Fire-Drilling Stick. At the same time, he explained, "Once it is stirred evenly like this, the salt water can thoroughly blend with the blood and speed up its coagulation..."

After that came boiling water, pouring it over the Brocade Pheasant, and plucking its feathers.

Wu Chu kept the two brocade tail feathers, each two or three meters long, as decorations.

Watching Little Moon Spirit pluck chicken feathers while dressed in a Daoist robe, Wu Chu felt that the image was somewhat out of place. If she were wearing a little cook's outfit instead, it would be much more fitting.

Thus, while Little Moon Spirit plucked the wild chicken, Wu Chu asked, "Little Moon Spirit, did you make that Daoist robe yourself, or did you conjure it with magic power?"

Little Moon Spirit's small hands paused. She tilted her little head and looked at him. "Brother A Chu, clothes can be made by oneself? How would one make them?"

Wu Chu smiled. "Of course clothes can be made, though the process is rather troublesome. Then the Daoist robe you are wearing must be conjured! I have a design for a very pretty outfit here. Would you like to try it?"

As he spoke, Wu Chu took out his phone and brought up a cute anime cook outfit he had saved. "Do you think this outfit looks good? This is essential battle gear for a Culinary Dao expert."

Naturally, what Wu Chu showed her was not modern clothing, but a cook's outfit with a touch of ancient style. It was not revealing at all, and wearing it instead gave one an adorable air.

Especially since Little Moon Spirit was a little loli herself, naturally endowed with cuteness.

Little Moon Spirit had originally been somewhat unwilling, but when she heard that it was essential battle gear for every Culinary Dao expert, her eyes immediately lit up.

Then she stood, spun around, and the Daoist robe on her body transformed into a cook's outfit.

A white cook's kerchief was tied around her head, and she wore a pair of little black leather boots. Beneath the ancient-style white chef's robe, her legs were clad in white stockings, while a white pleated lace-trimmed apron covered her chest...

Cuteness and sexiness coexisted perfectly. Wu Chu grinned broadly at the sight and nodded again and again.

At some point, Yibao appeared on Wu Chu's shoulder and sneered. "Tricking a clueless little demoness from the Primordial World like this—doesn't your conscience hurt?"

Wu Chu smiled in reply. "Don't you think this is more pleasing to the eye?"

"Scumbag!"

"Don't casually slap labels on people, especially someone you know so well! I am appreciating a work of art with an appreciative gaze."

"You think I would believe that?"

"What I do is up to me. Whether you believe it is up to you."

"You... I'm starting to dislike you!"

"Sometimes, I dislike myself too."

"..."

Seeing Wu Chu's satisfied expression, Little Moon Spirit ignored the suddenly appearing Yibao and did not dwell on what meaning there was in the exchange between Yibao and Wu Chu.

Little Moon Spirit knew that Yibao was a Merit artifact spirit, while Wu Chu's Merit Spiritual Treasure was the magical iron slab in his hand, which could display things that astonished her.

Therefore, Little Moon Spirit did not pay much attention to Yibao's appearance. She simply threw herself happily into "battle," rapidly plucking the feathers from the wild chicken in her own way, her movements clean and decisive. Then, under Wu Chu's guidance, she cut open the chicken's belly, cleaned out the innards, and kept the parts Wu Chu believed were edible.

Chicken heart, chicken liver, chicken gizzard...

The foul smell in the chicken intestines was somewhat troublesome to deal with. Wu Chu decided to figure out a solution later; for now, he would toss them to the fat fish in the lake as an extra meal.

"There are many ways to cook chicken—steaming, pan-frying, stir-frying, deep-frying... But today, we are making Chicken Stewed with Mushrooms..."

Unfortunately, they had none of the various seasonings now, so Wu Chu could only uphold the principle of using the simplest methods to cook the finest ingredients.

Wu Chu continued to have Little Moon Spirit do it herself while he stood to one side, directing her verbally.

"Put in the fatty pieces first. Once the chicken fat has rendered, add Ginger, then toss in the chicken and stir-fry it..."

After waiting for the chicken skin to curl up, he poured the prepared fruit juice into the clay pot. "Stir-fry it a few more times. Yes, then you can start adding water and simmering it slowly..."

Under Wu Chu's guidance, Little Moon Spirit wore a solemn expression as she carried out every step in an orderly fashion. It had to be said that Little Moon Spirit truly had talent in cooking.

Little Moon Spirit clearly did not have the flustered clumsiness Wu Chu had shown when he first learned to cook.

"Brother A Chu, is this enough?"

"Not even close!" Wu Chu said with a smile. "Now you can go wash the mushrooms. The mushrooms you brought back are all nonpoisonous, right?"

Little Moon Spirit nodded with great certainty. "Brother A Chu, rest assured. I tasted them all carefully; they are not poisonous. That largest one even contains an exceptionally rich amount of spiritual energy!"