Chapter 374: Famous Chef

As twilight fell, the exhausted Nectarine caught the scent of food.

Nectarine looked towards Xiao Feng.

Xiao Feng pulled two fruits from her pocket and offered, "Are you hungry? Have these!"

What Nectarine smelled was no ordinary fruit aroma; it was as if she'd caught the scent of a renowned chef's masterpiece. That enticing scent made saliva involuntarily dribble from the corners of her mouth.

"Nectarine, what's wrong with you?" Xiao Feng tried to wipe Nectarine's mouth, but her own felt like it was filled with water, making her words muddled.

It was an irresistible aroma.

From the shadows, Meng Yuchun whispered to Li Banfeng, "Chef Cultivation Technique: Aroma."

Li Banfeng had initially thought the chef was a Food Cultivator. He hadn't expected there to be a real Taoist sect called Chef Cultivators.

Nectarine couldn't hear Meng Yuchun's voice, but she saw a man dressed as a chef, carrying a food box, approaching the edge of the plot.

She knew this was a formidable opponent and that her chances of winning were slim.

But this was land reclamation, and as long as she could hold out for a while, Nectarine would absolutely not give up easily.

The chef lifted the food box slightly higher and said to Nectarine and Xiao Feng, "Young ladies, don't be afraid. I see you're struggling, so I specifically brought you some food."

Nectarine unconsciously licked her lips. The scent wafting from the food box made her so ravenous she could barely hold her knife.

The chef opened the food box, revealing a roasted chicken, golden-yellow with hints of red.

Nectarine and Xiao Feng's eyes widened, as if the tender, crispy chicken skin, with its sauce and juices, had already melted into their mouths.

Meng Yuchun continued, "Chef Cultivation Technique: Appearance."

The chef, holding the food box, stepped across the boundary of the plot.

Nectarine swung her knife to attack.

The chef dodged fluidly, and using the momentum of Nectarine's blade, he sliced off a chicken leg and brought it to her mouth.

Nectarine hesitated for less than a second, then opened her mouth and bit into the chicken leg.

She knew she was in combat.

She knew that eating the opponent's food would surely mean losing this battle, and she might even die.

But she couldn't resist.

After taking a bite of the chicken leg, Nectarine threw her knife to the ground and sat down, gnawing on the chicken piece by piece, completely losing all will to fight.

"Chef Cultivation Technique: Taste." Meng Yuchun took out a handkerchief, wiped the saliva from her lips, and then wiped Li Banfeng's mouth too.

Much of Li Banfeng's fatigue was dispersed by the aroma. He couldn't help but exclaim, "This Chef Cultivator is truly formidable."

Meng Yuchun nodded. "I once heard him recount some of his past. He infiltrated an enemy's home, serving as a chef for a day. He prepared a feast and 'slaughtered' the entire enemy family. I didn't believe it then. But after tasting his dishes, I believed him. He said that while eating, his enemy watched his family members one by one succumb to the poison, yet couldn't stop eating until he himself ate until he died. Although the enemy's cultivation wasn't high, it was still enough to prove the Chef Cultivator's methods."

Nectarine ate the chicken leg with abandon. Xiao Feng stepped forward and stopped Nectarine, saying, "Nectarine, you can't eat any more! This must be poisoned. We need to leave quickly. Don't eat, don't..."

As she spoke, the chef sliced off another chicken leg and offered it to Xiao Feng.

Xiao Feng resisted a little longer than Nectarine. She pushed away the chef's chicken leg, attempting to resist.

Meng Yuchun said to Li Banfeng, "You're right, this girl's cultivation is indeed not low. To resist that, she has at least three layers of cultivation."

Li Banfeng remained silent, continuing to wipe his drool with a handkerchief.

The chef was very agile; the chicken leg in his hand seemed to perform a magic trick, reappearing at Xiao Feng's mouth.

Xiao Feng pushed it away again, then pulled Nectarine up and tried to leave.

Nectarine refused to move. The chicken leg in her mouth was finished, and somehow, a chicken wing had appeared in her hand.

The chef held the chicken leg and brought it towards Xiao Feng's mouth again. Xiao Feng held her breath and quickly dodged.

"Generous Heart!" Meng Yuchun noticed the trace of a technique. "Normally, even holding one's breath wouldn't block the aroma of this roasted chicken. Xiao Feng used the Generous Heart technique to forcibly isolate the aroma from her body."

If she knows the Generous Heart technique, it proves Xiao Feng's cultivation is at least six layers.

Li Banfeng nodded, thinking to himself, "It seems I'm not the only one with an unfair advantage."

The chef was also surprised. He was a Level 7 Wanderer, and Xiao Feng had a base of six layers. If Xiao Feng's cultivation was just a bit higher, the outcome of victory or death would still be uncertain.

He sliced open the roasted chicken; inside, there was a roasted squab.

The squab's aroma was even more intoxicating. Xiao Feng quickly retreated, trying to maintain distance from the chef.

The chef pursued relentlessly, but Xiao Feng had no means of counterattack.

This was the weakness of a Dwelling Cultivator: when far from their dwelling, their combat power was greatly reduced. Most techniques, such as 'Golden House Hidden Beauty' or 'Deep Mansion and Courtyard', couldn't be deployed, making it difficult to resist an opponent of similar level.

The chicken leg lingered near her mouth, the grease wafting onto her lips. This seemingly playful scene was in fact the chef's killing move, refined over decades.

Out of desperation, Xiao Feng employed the technique 'Heart Like an Arrow Homebound'.

She knew her dwelling wasn't here and she couldn't possibly run back to it. She simply wanted to use the technique to increase her speed and escape the chef's pursuit.

After running for a moment, she succeeded.

The chef stopped chasing.

He returned to his original spot and handed the chicken leg, along with the entire roasted chicken, to Nectarine.

Nectarine hugged the roasted chicken and tore into it without restraint.

The chef smiled and said, "Eat slowly. There's a squab inside; be careful of the bones."

Xiao Feng froze in place, only then realizing something.

Nectarine was still within the plot, but Xiao Feng herself was now outside the boundary.

She urgently wanted to return to the plot but was warned by the chef: "According to the rules of land reclamation, you have left the plot. You cannot return before the reclamation is finished."

The chef spoke the truth; this was the rule for land reclamation everywhere.

Xiao Feng called out loudly, "Nectarine, let's go! Weren't you reclaiming this land for me? Now I can't get in, so what's the point of you reclaiming it?"

Nectarine bit into the chicken and looked up at Xiao Feng.

She really wanted to go with Xiao Feng, but her mouth simply couldn't stop. She couldn't even manage to walk and eat at the same time.

She just wanted to sit there and finish the chicken. She couldn't even spare her mouth to say a single word to Xiao Feng.

The chef spoke for Nectarine, "Miss Xiao Feng, what you're saying isn't right. Nectarine did come here to reclaim land for you. Once she develops this wasteland, she'll be able to protect you on this land in the future. You should be helping her, adding your strength. Why are you forcing her to leave? Could it be that you don't want her to help you reclaim the land? Could it be that you don't want her to protect you? That's right, with your high cultivation, you certainly don't need her protection. I'm actually curious about this myself: why are you so insistent on taking her away?"

"That's none of your business! I won't let Nectarine suffer!" Xiao Feng ignored the chef and tried to re-enter the plot.

At this point, Meng Yuchun didn't need to be polite.

Xiao Feng was no longer a land reclaimer, and trying to enter the plot again was clearly breaking the rules.

Meng Yuchun rushed forward, lifted Xiao Feng into the air, and then slammed her heavily onto the ground.

Throughout the entire process, Meng Yuchun remained invisible. Xiao Feng struggled for a long time, unable to get up.

Nectarine's eyes reddened. She wanted to help Xiao Feng, but she couldn't control herself.

Meng Yuchun's voice came from mid-air, a mix of deep and shrill sounds that made it impossible to distinguish the tone or even the gender.

"Why have you come to my territory? Who sent you here!"

Xiao Feng remained silent.

The chef stepped forward and opened the lower compartment of the food box.

Inside the food box was a roasted duck.

Smelling the aroma of this duck, Nectarine almost dropped the roasted chicken.

It was too fragrant!

The chef tore off a piece of duck meat and brought it to Xiao Feng's mouth. Xiao Feng tried to struggle, but Meng Yuchun stepped on her, pinning her to the ground.

The duck meat was forced into Xiao Feng's mouth by the chef. Xiao Feng wanted to spit it out, but she couldn't.

This roasted duck was too delicious.

From the duck skin, to the duck meat, to even the duck bones, everything melted in her mouth, turning into a non-greasy fat that slid down her throat bit by bit.

The chef tore off a duck leg and said to Xiao Feng, "Miss, I advise you to tell the truth. What exactly did you come here for? If you don't tell the truth, I will continue to feed you duck meat. If you eat half more, your life will be gone."

After speaking, the chef tore off another piece of duck meat and stuffed it into Xiao Feng's mouth.

Xiao Feng felt a sharp pain in her stomach, but she still couldn't help but swallow it.

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" In her fear, Xiao Feng told the truth. "A Xia told me to come, it was A Xia!"

Nectarine continued eating the roasted chicken, while staring blankly at Xiao Feng.

A Xia told her to come?

Weren't they here to escape A Xia?

What was going on?

The chef tore off another piece of duck meat. "You'd better be more specific."

Xiao Feng shook her head repeatedly, signaling the chef not to bring the duck meat closer. She stopped resisting and explained the whole situation:

"One day, A Xia told me that through divination, she had found a good place. The local deity of this place was dead, but the contract was still there. As long as we found this place and obtained the local deity's contract, A Xia could become the local deity. Then that entire territory would become our dwelling, and my cultivation would also rapidly increase!"

Nectarine ate the roasted chicken, staring at Xiao Feng in astonishment. She mumbled indistinctly, seemingly trying to say something.

The chef knew what Nectarine was trying to say; most people who ate his food couldn't speak clearly.

The chef asked Xiao Feng, "Miss Nectarine wants to ask you why you deceived her?"

Xiao Feng said to Nectarine, "I didn't mean to deceive you. I was afraid you'd be scared. A Xia becoming the local deity benefits both of us. How could I bear to let you suffer a loss?"

The chef was silent for a moment, then smiled. "Miss Xiao Feng, what you're saying sounds very real. A gullible person might truly be fooled by you. But I'm not so easily fooled, perhaps because I've lived for too many years. If I'm not mistaken, this whole charade between you and A Xia wasn't meant to deceive Miss Nectarine, but to deceive your family dwelling, wasn't it?"

Xiao Feng looked flustered. "Me? Why would I deceive the dwelling?"

The chef chuckled. "Because Dwelling Cultivators are special. The dwelling, the dwelling spirit, and the Dwelling Cultivator—only when all three are together do they form a complete Taoist sect. If a Dwelling Cultivator conspires with the dwelling spirit to leave the dwelling, that's abandoning the dwelling, and the dwelling would surely fight to the death. But if a Dwelling Cultivator breaks with the dwelling spirit, or even stages a 'bitter flesh' trick, the dwelling might choose to part peacefully. The 'bitter flesh' trick you and the dwelling spirit performed was very convincing. I heard the dwelling even got injured trying to protect you. In such a situation, the dwelling would surely want you to escape quickly. If it's a gentle dwelling, it wouldn't forcibly keep the dwelling spirit, would it?"

Xiao Feng remained silent. Meng Yuchun said to Li Banfeng, "The chef is right. If a Dwelling Cultivator has broken with the dwelling spirit or even fought each other to the death, a gentle dwelling would choose to part peacefully."

Li Banfeng nodded.

So it wasn't that the bamboo house was too weak, but that it was gentle-natured.

Nectarine ate the roasted chicken, her eyes welling up, and her mouth still mumbling indistinctly.

The chef translated, "Miss Nectarine is asking you, even after leaving the dwelling, why did you still deceive her?"

Xiao Feng said to Nectarine, "That's because I can't bear to leave you, I can't live without you!"

The chef shook his head and sighed. "Miss Xiao Feng, you look so honest, but your words are anything but."

Xiao Feng shouted, "I'm telling the truth!"

"It's true that you're telling the truth, but the meaning isn't quite right. You genuinely can't bear to part with her, and you can't live without her, but don't phrase it so sentimentally. Your cultivation is indeed not low, but as a Dwelling Cultivator, your worldly experience is lacking. If you travel far, you need someone to look after you; otherwise, even a human trafficker could snatch you away. That's why you can't be without Miss Nectarine, who has walked the jianghu. You, as a person, can't use schemes in front of outsiders, but you're truly skilled at deceiving your own."

Xiao Feng shook her head repeatedly, saying, "I didn't deceive you, Nectarine. Don't believe him."

"Still not admitting it?" The chef smiled. "Let me lay out the facts for you. You and A Xia deceived the dwelling, ran all the way from home to this place, all to find this territory where the local deity was gone. You insisted on Nectarine reclaiming land here to help A Xia test whether there truly was no local deity here anymore."

Nectarine remembered the scene in the tent last night, when Xiao Feng had been mumbling repeatedly, "It's here, it's really here..."

When Nectarine woke up, she said there was a snake.

Was she really talking about a snake then?

No!

She was talking to A Xia!

She was telling A Xia that there really was a local deity here!

A Xia had been following them all this time!

Nectarine continued eating the roasted chicken, while staring fixedly at Xiao Feng.

Xiao Feng dared not look at Nectarine anymore; every deduction the chef made was extremely accurate.

The chef continued, "Once it was confirmed that there was a local deity here, and Miss Nectarine truly wanted to reclaim the land, you then interfered. Because you didn't want Nectarine to develop the wasteland, you didn't want Nectarine to stay here. You still wanted Nectarine to go with you, to shield you from wind, rain, and trouble, and even keep you company at night. Isn't that right?"

Xiao Feng remained silent.

Tears streamed down Nectarine's face.

Next, the chef asked, "How did you know something happened to the local deity here?"

Xiao Feng replied, "A Xia divined it."

The chef tore off a piece of duck meat and said, "If you don't tell the truth, you'll really lose your life."

Li Banfeng listened carefully from the side. He had repeatedly instructed the chef to make sure this question was asked clearly.

This matter was of great importance; they had to find out A Xia's source of information.