Eating lamb

Wangjiang Tower took its name from its location beside the Min River, which spanned half of Lieyang City, and its fame from a chef who possessed the three-star Saint Soul "Yi Yin Decoction."

For taste, several other restaurants in Lieyang City enjoyed greater reputations than Wangjiang Tower. But the chef who possessed Yi Yin Decoction excelled at combining nourishing medicinal ingredients with fine food-in other words, preparing medicinal cuisine-making it especially popular with the city's cultivators.

Zhou Xiaoxian had never been here.

Nor had she ever imagined that when Xia Yi offered to treat her to a good meal, it would be this good.

If the way Xia Yi had just earned those banknotes had not made her so anxious, she would certainly have been delighted.

Choosing a private room by a window overlooking the emerald river, Xia Yi sat down with his legs spread and called out, "Waiter!"

"Yes, sir, coming... oh, an elderly gentleman! I don't believe I've seen you before."

A heavily bearded middle-aged man hurried to their table with a broad smile as he answered. Though his movements seemed nimble, Xia Yi keenly noticed that his right foot tilted inward slightly every time it touched the floor.

A limp? A little surprised, Xia Yi could not help giving the waiter a few more looks.

"Is something wrong, sir?" The middle-aged man kept smiling.

"Nothing." Xia Yi shook his head. "It's my first time here. I just took on a good disciple, so I'm treating her to a good meal. No need to recite the menu. Bring eight or ten of your signature dishes. Anything that nourishes the three souls, we'll have it."

The man glanced at Zhou Xiaoxian, his gaze deepening slightly. He stared for two seconds before hurriedly collecting himself. "Only our head chef can make dishes that nourish the three souls, and their prices are rather..."

Xia Yi took the hundred taels in banknotes he had just earned from inside his robe, pulled out one ten-tael note, and pressed the rest onto the table. "Make us this much worth."

Zhou Xiaoxian's eyes instantly widened. Forgetting her worries, she slapped both hands over the money on the table.

These were banknotes worth ninety taels! One tael had roughly the same buying power as one string of coins, and two taels of silver were basically enough to support an ordinary household for a year!

"T-Teacher, didn't you put down the wrong pile?"

The middle-aged waiter smiled broadly. "It won't cost that much, but ten taels won't be enough. For what the gentleman requested, it'll be around thirty."

Smiling, Xia Yi pried Zhou Xiaoxian's hands away and said to him, "Want to take it now?"

"No need, you're too kind. You can settle up at the counter after your meal." The waiter withdrew.

Xia Yi let go, and Zhou Xiaoxian's hands slapped back onto the money.

"Girl, why don't you hold on to the money for now?"

With some difficulty, Zhou Xiaoxian shook her head and said sheepishly, "Teacher, I'm not... not upset about spending money. It's just... this money belongs to my senior brother. How can we spend it like this?"

"I earned it."

You swindled it!

"Hahaha, girl, the food will take a while. I'll use this time to give you your first lesson!" Xia Yi looked at her and suddenly laughed.

Xiao Xian's expression grew a little more serious. "Please go ahead!"

"You think I swindled that boy, and now you don't know how to face him again. But have you considered why I would swindle him? Would I risk offending the Xiyuan Marquis just for money-and the price of one meal at that? Am I really that unreliable in your eyes?"

This is far more than the price of one meal, and you did pretend to be a corpse to scare me and my father... Zhou Xiaoxian looked around their surroundings and could not bring herself to say it.

"I used the Deception Scripture, but I didn't deceive him. I really did give him an opportunity." Xia Yi smiled. "That book alone could fetch ten thousand taels if I sold it to the Xiyuan Marquis himself!"

Zhou Xiaoxian's mouth fell open in astonishment.

"See, there's that dumbstruck puppy look again," Xia Yi said.

"Puppy?"

"Never mind that part."

"...Oh," Zhou Xiaoxian answered, then faltered, "So that's how it is? There's some mystery in that book I couldn't understand? But... but you can't blame me for that... how could I have your..."

"Yes, I've lived longer and seen more. But ask yourself honestly: if you'd thought calmly, could you have picked up on some clues, instead of looking worried the whole time?"

"One unknown thing after another, things we don't understand, make up our colorful lives. Your teacher's first lesson is this: you don't have to understand, but you have to think. Don't respond to every situation with nothing but surprise and worry!"

Zhou Xiaoxian paused, then sank into thought.

"Your food is here!" Just then, the waiter knocked on the door and brought a dish to the table. "Lamb with green soul ginger. Please enjoy."

Xia Yi nodded. Suddenly, a faint murmur of conversation drifted through the open door of the private room, making him turn his head slightly.

Waiters generally had a knack for reading the smallest signs. Seeing his reaction, the middle-aged waiter immediately volunteered, "You have excellent hearing, sir. Those guests are discussing something amusing that just happened. Only half an hour ago, a boy outside the city actually plunged headfirst into the moat.

"He didn't drown, but perhaps the cold got into his body and damaged his brain. After the city guards fished him out, he actually grabbed them and asked whether they'd seen a barefoot, white-haired old man entering the city with a very pretty girl."

The corner of Xia Yi's mouth twitched.

"Tell me, what old man walks around barefoot? The guards meant well and took him to Physician Hu, but the moment that boy saw Physician Hu, his hysteria completely cleared up, and he started demanding to become his disciple... wouldn't you call that ridiculous?"

He was trying to unlock a secondary profession.

Xia Yi fell silent. "Ridiculous."

Watching his expression, the middle-aged waiter could not tell what he had said wrong. He looked the two of them over again, then sneaked a glance at Xia Yi's feet. Relieved to find shoes on them, he hastily added, "Why am I telling you all this?" and withdrew.

Xia Yi shook his head and chuckled. He had just raised his chopsticks to take some lamb when he noticed Zhou Xiaoxian's tense little face and deeply contemplative look.

"...Girl? He was probably talking about Shi Lai. He's come looking for us. Aren't you surprised at all? Or worried?"

Zhou Xiaoxian's expression did not change. "By my judgment, Shi Lai probably wants to learn swordsmanship from you, so I'm not surprised he followed us. I am worried, but pointless worry serves no purpose. Let's go look for him together after dinner, Teacher."

Xia Yi was silent for a moment, then let out a long sigh. "At a time like this, it's all right to show a little surprise and worry."

Zhou Xiaoxian blinked. The stiffness in her face melted like ice and snow, and she asked cautiously, "I can?"

Xia Yi did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Eat. We won't wait for everything to arrive; we'll eat each dish as it comes. Girl, if you're too slow, you'll go hungry."

Xia Yi swiftly picked up some lamb and stuffed it into his mouth, then ate a piece of green soul ginger with a stiff expression on his aged face. Lamb, lamb, lamb, ginger...

Zhou Xiaoxian froze for two seconds, then picked up her chopsticks and joined him. After just one tentative little bite, she gave a muffled sound, and her chopsticks moved almost as quickly as Xia Yi's.

For dishes that nourished the three souls, flavor was secondary. What mattered was the sense of comfort cultivators felt from the inside out, as well as a slight increase in cultivation speed. There was a reason they were expensive.

"Lamb is hard to digest. It's best to chew it thirty times before swallowing," Xia Yi said.

"Really?" Zhou Xiaoxian began chewing carefully, only to see Xia Yi grabbing great mouthfuls of lamb and wolfing them down. "Teacher, you're... cheating!"

"Your stomach can't compare to mine. With my constitution, even eating lamb raw wouldn't hurt my stomach," Xia Yi said as though it were perfectly natural.

Zhou Xiaoxian gave a muffled response. Seeing the lamb on the plate dwindling, she suddenly began chewing faster...

Just like a little rabbit.

Competition made the meal taste even better. In just three minutes, they had not only finished the lamb with green soul ginger, but also eaten half the second dish, a fish-head, tofu, and dusk mushroom casserole.

When the middle-aged waiter knocked and entered with the third dish, their gazes turned toward him in unison, giving him a fright. Forcing a smile, he said, "Here is your third dish... dish... dish..."

Huh? Why was there suddenly an echo?

Xia Yi's mind went blank for a moment. Suddenly, he saw everything before him rapidly rewinding. The situation was so familiar that his initial astonishment gave way to helplessness. Propping his forehead in his hand, he looked at the full plate of lamb with green soul ginger before him.

Across from him, Zhou Xiaoxian tentatively picked up a bite, and her eyes immediately lit up. She wanted more, but hesitantly glanced at Xia Yi. "Why did you only have one bite? Is it not to your taste?"

"It is. Eat!"

As Xia Yi moved his chopsticks, he was speechless. Shi Lai must have died again just now. Was he killed after failing to become a disciple? Surely not? Ah, never mind him. Reloading a Save once should let him survive, right?

"Fine, let him die. This lamb is pretty tasty. Another free plate isn't bad."

Three minutes later, Xia Yi narrowed his eyes at a full plate of lamb with green soul ginger.

"Teacher, aren't you... eating?"

"...I am. Have some more." Xia Yi lifted his chopsticks, ate a few bites, and exhaled. "Not bad. Still tasty the third time."

Three minutes later...

"Fuck, he's so goddamn bad at this!"

"Teacher, what did you say?"

"Nothing. Eat the lamb, eat the lamb."

Another three minutes.

Xia Yi put a bite of lamb into his mouth, chewed thirty times, swallowed, then slammed his chopsticks onto the table with a crack.

Zhou Xiaoxian jumped. "Teacher?"

"Keep eating. Eat plenty!"

Xia Yi stood, walked to the window, and looked outside. A few seconds later, his eyes narrowed. "What a coincidence. It really isn't far from here!"

You made me eat four plates of lamb, you animal!