Classic Delicacy: Huo Gua's Grilled Fish, Tian Meng's Silkworm Cocoon

Classic Delicacy—Huo Gua's Grilled Fish, Tian Meng's Silkworm Cocoon

Huo Yuhao snapped off a branch, sharpened one end, and made a simple fish spear. With the precise control of his Spirit Eye Martial Soul, he stabbed a black carp, sprinkled it with salt, and grilled it with a few simple seasonings.

Back when he and his mother had depended on each other for survival in the Duke's Mansion, he would often go to the little stream outside the estate to catch fish and bring them back to grill, so his skill was already honed to perfection.

Before long, wisps of smoke curled upward.

The aroma drifted into the distance.

"Ah, it smells so good..."

Just as the boy swallowed his first mouthful of fish, a voice rang out from afar.

He looked up and saw an older boy and girl in front, about fourteen or fifteen, probably a couple, their manner quite intimate. Behind them were one boy and two girls who also looked like... lovers. All of them were extremely good-looking, and just from their clothing alone, having grown up in the Duke's Mansion, he knew at a glance that these were no cheap goods. The fabric and materials were not the slightest bit inferior to what a legitimate son of the Duke's Mansion like Dai Huabin wore.

"Hey, little brother, is this your grilled fish?" Tang Ya leaned in, making Huo Yuhao blush.

It was the first time he had ever been so close to such a beautiful older sister.

"Mm." One of his hands faintly clenched his sleeve, and he felt a little inferior. "If you're hungry, you can eat. If it's not enough, there's more..."

Tang Ya thanked him, then unceremoniously picked up the grilled fish and began tasting it.

"Hey, it tastes pretty good."

Tang Ya's eyes lit up.

"My name is Bei Bei, she's Tang Ya, and this is... Su Wen, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng." Bei Bei put his sociable nature to work.

"Oh, my name is Huo Yuhao..." the boy answered somewhat stiffly.

Huo Gua's grilled fish was one of Douluo Dalu 2's must-try classic delicacies.

Su Wen silently looked at Ning Tian. The latter obediently nodded, her beautiful eyes signaling for Su Wen to decide. Wu Feng, humming and grumbling, also wanted a skewer.

"Ding~"

Huo Yuhao blankly accepted a Gold Soul Coin. Under the sunlight, it shone brilliantly, radiating the aura of wealth.

"This is..." The boy's throat bobbed. Even though he lived in the Duke's Mansion, this was still his first time coming into contact with a Gold Soul Coin. In the past, the Duke's Mansion had only given his mother two Silver Soul Coins a month, so faced with this Gold Soul Coin, he temporarily could not say anything like "don't look down on a poor young man."

"I don't take things for free." Su Wen chuckled, his gaze warm.

He lightly snapped his fingers.

Rustle, rustle. An ancient tree off to the side trembled twice, and several black fish with purple patterns fell from it. Each was three or four times the size of the black carp. Even with Huo Yuhao's eyesight, he could only barely make out a faint white afterimage flashing past.

"Could you help me grill these fish as well?"

"Gulp..." Huo Yuhao, who still did not have much understanding of the power of soul masters in this world, was filled with shock.

Su Wen was about the same age as him, but that calm and unhurried presence, along with his mysterious and unfathomably powerful strength, pressed Huo Yuhao's sense of inferiority down even further.

"I can."

After hesitating for a moment, he still carefully put that Gold Soul Coin into his pocket.

Then he focused on grilling.

The fragrance rushed toward them.

Su Wen handed the grilled fish to Ning Tian and Wu Feng before finally trying some himself.

The skin was crisp, and the meat inside was tender and fresh. This skill really was excellent. The only pity was that there was a little too little seasoning, but even so, it was indeed quite good. No wonder in the Original Work, when Huo Gua set up a stall outside the academy and charged one Silver Soul Coin, there were still crowds of people fighting over it.

Ning Tian stopped after eating half a fish. As the young lady of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School, she was not like that pauper Tang Ya. For reasons unique to Su Wen, she had tasted every delicacy from the mountains and seas. This skill counted as good, but only good.

Then she gathered her hair, fed the remaining half to Su Wen, and held a towel in one hand, wiping the corner of his mouth.

Huo Yuhao cast an envious glance with his eyes, then turned his head away.

With his mother's vengeance before him, how could he have the mind to think about other nonsense?

"Want to travel together?" Bei Bei sent out an invitation to team up.

But Huo Yuhao shook his head and resolutely stepped onto his solitary journey. Of course, it was also because his mother had reminded him that when alone outside, he had to stay cautious at all times...

"What a pity. I was planning to recruit him into Tang Sect." Tang Ya said regretfully.

"Tang Sect is still around?" Wu Feng asked in surprise.

"What kind of talk is that! Of course Tang Sect is still around!" Tang Ya instantly bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Wu Feng!" Ning Tian said in a low voice.

"Oh, wasn't that sect wiped out a few years ago?" Wu Feng said carelessly. "Who would've thought there were still people..."

Everyone: "..."

Su Wen shook his head.

This girl's tongue really was poisonous. But compared to the Original Work, when Huo Gua said he was the only one left in his family and Tang Ya reacted with, "That's wonderful," the two of them were basically birds of a feather.

Everyone continued onward.

And just behind them, on an ancient tree, Hurricane clung to a branch, watching the direction Huo Yuhao had left in.

"Hah... so hot."

Huo Yuhao scooped up the cool stream water and splashed it over his face, finally clearing his head a little.

The White Tiger Dagger clenched tightly in his hand unconsciously loosened slightly.

He had spent a day on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, yet had not encountered much danger. After looking around and seeing no sign of Soul Beasts, the youth finally sat down against an ancient tree. Without thinking, he took out that Gold Soul Coin and held it beneath the sun, where it shone brilliantly, dazzling to the eye.

The figures of Su Wen, Bei Bei, and Tang Ya surfaced in his mind again.

That calm and unhurried attitude of theirs, compared to how he was practically fleeing for his life, made the contrast all too obvious.

Whoosh!

Just as the youth was lost in memory...

A streak of white light flashed past.

No!

Alarm instantly rose in his heart.

Danger!

"Hurricane is gone, and now there's still a Wind Baboon trying to kill a god?" Su Wen murmured.

The data panel showed that the Wind Baboon's fate was utterly ordinary. Compared to Hurricane's sheer extravagance, its potential did not even reach one.

Still, it seemed the Child of Destiny really did receive the treatment of a Child of Destiny. Tian Meng's appearance needed a reasonable explanation after all, and what was even more coincidental was that, from a god's-eye view, Bei Bei and Tang Ya's route was slowly overlapping with Huo Yuhao's location.

"Wait by the stump for the rabbit."

Su Wen gave the instruction.

His target was clear. It was not Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, but his Silkworm Cocoon. Once his true body had completely merged with Huo Yuhao, this Silkworm Cocoon would be a portion of essence, the final thing to fuse in. He did not dare say it contained fifty percent of Tian Meng's current spiritual origin, but thirty to forty percent was definitely there.

Although Tian Meng had been squeezed dry by the Star Dou Great Forest for a very long time, drained like a power bank, even after being drained like that, the remnants within his body were still quite considerable.

As it happened, the three Pet Beasts lacked resources. This Silkworm Cocoon would probably be enough for them to absorb for several years.

Huo Gua struggled to kill that Wind Baboon with the White Tiger Dagger, and then Tian Meng made his entrance.

"What a pity Brother can't cry. Otherwise, I'd definitely be sobbing my eyes out."

"Who? Who's talking!" Huo Yuhao felt his hair stand on end, a chill spreading across his back.

The ground split open, and a massive worm, its entire body a lustrous white, burrowed out from underground. It looked down at the skinny youth and sighed.