Free Web NovelWatching Boss Hu simply tie up his shoulder-length hair with a red string, stand in front of the kitchen counter, put on his apron, and skillfully execute a flourish with a Sang Dagger taken from the knife rack, Lu Yibei, who was watching from the side, widened her eyes slightly.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but as he stood in front of the kitchen counter, his entire demeanor subtly changed. Gone was the lazy indifference he usually displayed while lounging behind the counter, replaced by an aura of sharp, imposing coldness, as if he had transformed into a gleaming, cold blade.
Subsequently, the series of actions—tying his hair, putting on the apron, taking the kitchen knife, wiping the cutting board—also seemed to take on an elegant and ritualistic feel with his change in temperament.
It was as if he were presiding over some solemn and grand ceremony, rather than simply making a dish.
Lu Yibei, "..."
Is this the legendary urban legend that once cooked Human Fireworks? That's something!
But, he touched his hair after that, and it doesn't seem like he washed his hands. Is he going to start cooking now?
The food safety and hygiene situation at Liao Zhai Tavern is truly worrying!
Under the guidance of her Old Dad, Lu Yibei had developed the good habit of thoroughly washing her hands and kitchen utensils before cooking since she was a child. Seeing Boss Hu start cooking without ensuring food hygiene, she felt quite uncomfortable.
It was the kind of feeling like having a piece of meat stuck in your teeth or a small stone in your shoe; you could feel it clearly, but there was nothing you could do to change the situation for a while.
However, considering that Boss Hu was about to cook Human Hell, Lu Yibei held back.
Perhaps, the authentic Human Hell is part of Indian cuisine, and the cooking method is just this "clean and hygienic"?
"Calamity Miss, please watch me carefully. I am about to begin cooking Human Hell," Boss Hu reminded Lu Yibei, seeing her distracted.
Lu Yibei, "...?"
Are you about to start dancing?
Lu Yibei had just muttered a complaint in her heart and hadn't even had time to let her inner monologue talent elaborate on the topic when a slight burning sensation in her eyes made her realize that the main event was coming. She couldn't help but focus her attention.
The next moment, Spiritual Energy surged.
The Spiritual Energy, almost solidified, drifted behind Boss Hu like colorful, vibrant silk ribbons.
As the Spiritual Energy fluctuation hit, Lu Yibei's breath hitched, her eyes burned, her body stiffened slightly, and she subconsciously clenched her fists.
She felt a strong sense of oppression from Boss Hu. Although it wasn't as strong as that Old man Zhang Huainan, it was immeasurably stronger than herself.
Could Boss Hu also be Calamity level?
This thought flashed through Lu Yibei's mind. Then she reconsidered and felt it was understandable.
Liao Zhai Tavern has existed for so many years, not only has it not been banned by the Night Watch, but even Guardians from the Night Watch come here to dine. This is absolutely impossible to achieve relying solely on the tavern's inherent specialness. It is also reasonable for a Calamity level urban legend to be presiding over the tavern.
And the terrifying Spiritual Energy fluctuation Boss Hu displayed while cooking likely follows the same principle as when Zhang Huainan ascended the Zixiao Platform to summon lightning, or when the Big Boss briefly broke free, lay on top of Dream Come True Entertainment City, and let out a long howl.
Just as the Zixiao Platform is Zhang Huainan's home ground, allowing him to fully utilize his Spiritual Energy fluctuations, the kitchen is Boss Hu's home ground as the owner of a tavern.
Perhaps, his Power is also related to cooking?
Lu Yibei thought, steadied herself, and refocused her attention on Boss Hu.
He slightly closed his eyes, took out a clean, damp white towel with one hand and wiped the cutting board, while gripping the Sang Dagger in the other. The blade was slightly tilted, and a cold light, like flowing mercury, passed over the edge.
Immediately after, he suddenly opened his eyes and exhaled a turbid breath.
Thus, after the seemingly ordinary yet inexplicably ritualistic preparatory work, Boss Hu began his cooking.
Once he started moving, there was no hesitation in his actions. The knife rose and fell, accompanied by the dull sound of the blade lightly colliding with the cutting board, cutting the raw ingredients brought by the righteous mice in small baskets into uniform pieces.
The entire process was smooth and flowing, and he even had time to instruct Lu Yibei.
"In the past, there was a brief branch among Alchemists called Spirit Chefs, and Human Hell is a masterpiece in the hands of Spirit Chefs, second only to Human Fireworks!"
"Food is the paramount necessity of the people. This saying is widely spread, but its original meaning is not that simple. Spirit Chefs believe that when cooking is taken to the extreme, it can achieve effects close to that of heaven, capable of creating life and severing death."
"People who don't understand might think that Human Hell is about figuring out how to make a dish taste extremely bad, but in fact, when cooking Human Hell, the consideration should be how to administer poison."
"I understand, I understand. Making something difficult to swallow and wanting someone's life, or even wishing them a fate worse than death, are completely different..." Lu Yibei nodded.
Seeing this, Boss Hu curled the corners of his mouth and asked mischievously, "Isn't it very interesting to infuse a seemingly exquisite dish with a potent poison capable of instantly destroying the diner's consciousness?"
In silence, Lu Yibei nodded expressionlessly, her attitude dismissive.
Although, your dish isn't exquisite either!
Making such a big fuss, I thought you were going to make some rare dish! ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
Is this it? Cucumber salad? Although cucumber is a girl's good friend, can't you make it any simpler? Lu Yibei thought.
Looking at Boss Hu adding sesame oil to the large bowl filled with cucumber pieces, she suddenly had an urge to flip the table and leave.
This feeling was like, the boy you've liked for a long time asks you to his house, pulls you into his bedroom with red rose petals scattered on the floor and scented candles lit, then suddenly pulls you into bed, only to show you his new glow-in-the-dark watch. It was that messed up.
Lu Yibei was secretly feeling annoyed when Boss Hu glanced at her from the corner of his eye, a meaningful smile appearing on his lips.
The next moment, Lu Yibei realized that she had been "impolite" to Boss Hu.
Without warning, her vision suddenly went black, followed by difficulty breathing, and she couldn't help but cough violently.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
As Boss Hu added the seemingly ordinary cold dish seasonings to the large bowl containing the cucumber pieces, a bitter, pungent gas silently emerged and spread outwards. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
The gas drilled into her nasal cavity, instantly transforming as if it had become alive, waving tentacles covered in barbs, rampaging from her nasal cavity, along her respiratory tract, all the way to her alveoli, and then attacking her limbs and bones from the alveoli.
That stuff was definitely poisonous, highly poisonous! Lu Yibei made a firm judgment in an instant.
Although she was not some Alchemy master or a master of Gu poison, after inhaling that gas, she could clearly feel the core of her Demoness Seed urban legend body stirring restlessly.
And in the past, the restlessness of the Demoness Seed urban legend body core was often triggered by potent poisons or ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) corrupted Spiritual Energy.
It was only then that Lu Yibei noticed that when Boss Hu was cooking, his hands were emitting a layer of eerie light.
It wasn't the kind of light in fish eyes, but a very weak, hard-to-detect glimmer that, just by looking at it, uncontrollably evoked a sense of despondency.
She was stunned for a moment, then reacted and gradually understood everything, her eyes lighting up.
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Wait, Boss Hu had previously caught an Alchemist who used emotions as raw materials...
Is this how he infuses the dish by imbuing emotions into the Spiritual Energy fluctuations?
Understood, completely understood! No wonder his body emitted Spiritual Energy fluctuations before he started cooking. So that's what it was for. Lu Yibei thought.
While she was thinking, Boss Hu's cooking had already entered its final stages.
After sprinkling a handful of chopped green onions, a small pinch of minced millet peppers, and toasted white sesame seeds into the large bowl, and mixing the seasonings evenly with chopsticks, a cold cucumber salad was ready.
Boss Hu scooped the cold cucumber salad from the large bowl into a white porcelain plate, handed the plate and a pair of chopsticks to Lu Yibei, and said, "This dish is called 'A Bad Day.' Have a taste?"
"I thought it was called 'Murdering the Ex-boyfriend,'" Lu Yibei muttered softly.
"What?"
"Nothing. Just habitual trash talk, you don't need to mind."
"Oh, then eat!"
Lu Yibei looked at the ordinary-looking cold cucumber salad that could trigger the restlessness of the Demoness Seed urban legend body core, then looked at Boss Hu, and was speechless for a moment.
This stuff, will eating it kill people?
Of course, it might also promote the production of calamity water in the Demoness Seed urban legend body core, but I wouldn't dare try it!
Seeing this, Boss Hu pushed the plate towards Lu Yibei again and smiled, "Tasting dishes and understanding the cooking techniques within is an essential skill for an excellent chef!"
"Don't worry, if you really have problems after eating, we have plenty of ways to save you at Liao Zhai Tavern."
Save? Saying it like that makes it even more terrifying, okay? Lu Yibei grumbled inwardly, bit her lip, and tried to change the subject.
"Boss Hu, don't you think chopsticks are a truly great invention compared to knives and forks? With them, you can free up a hand to play on your phone while eating."
"Mm-hmm," Boss Hu nodded. "You can also eat and play on your phone at the same time."
Seeing that she couldn't get away with it, Lu Yibei was silent for a few seconds, and finally, she bit the bullet, took the chopsticks from Boss Hu's hand, picked up a piece of cucumber, and brought it to her lips.
Learning skills! How can you not suffer a little in such things?
Didn't she also suffer a lot when practicing swords with the Ancestor?
Oh, right! Maybe later I can go to the Ancestor or the God Kingdom Prototype to practice cooking? That way, even if something goes wrong, I won't die suddenly.
While thinking, Lu Yibei put the piece of cucumber into her mouth, chewed a few times, swallowed slowly, then frowned, and looked up at the tip of Boss Hu's chin.
"Boss, this dish, you didn't put any salt in it!..."
"Really?" Boss Hu smiled. For some reason, Lu Yibei felt that his smile was somewhat gloomy and sinister.
"Yes, don't believe me, taste it yourself. It's bland, and a little bitter."
Isn't it...
Lu Yibei was about to say that the white sesame seeds Boss Hu put in the cold cucumber salad were overcooked, causing the bitter taste, when the next moment she seemed to realize something, her eyelids twitched, and her voice stopped abruptly.
For a moment, she felt as if she had taken a "treasure" produced by Dan Sha Gu Shi Pharmacy. Blocks of rich color appeared before her eyes, her whole body became light and airy, and then hallucinations appeared.
In a trance, she felt as if she had returned to her middle school days, had a good night's sleep, washed up, ate breakfast, and happily went out, riding her e-bike to school, but forgot to check the battery level. Halfway there, she realized she hadn't charged it last night and had to push the bike all the way to school—
Rushing all the way, she was finally late, missed morning self-study, and was punished by the Teacher to stand in the hallway.
During her punishment, she forgot to silence her phone, and a harassing call from somewhere suddenly came in, the ringtone echoing through the hallway. The grade director, who happened to be patrolling, confiscated her phone.
After morning self-study, the homeroom teacher unexpectedly called her to the office. When she got there, she found that besides her, several other classmates were already standing there, unanimously accusing her of participating in skipping class yesterday afternoon and claiming she was the one who suggested it.
It was utterly ridiculous. Would the homeroom teacher believe such nonsense? Unfortunately, the homeroom teacher did.
Finally, school was over. With no e-bike to ride, she could only squeeze onto the bus.
The crowd was surging, and in the chaos, her keychain with her bus card fell to the ground. When she bent down to pick up the keys, she obstructed others from getting on the bus and was severely scolded. By the time she finally picked up the keys, the bus had already left, and the head of her beloved doll on the keychain was also missing.
Dragging her tired body home, it was already quite late. The house was dark, and her parents were nowhere to be found. She could only find some leftovers in the refrigerator to fill her stomach and then hurried to the study to start on the massive amount of homework.
However, perhaps because the leftovers had been stored for too long and had spoiled, her stomach began to feel uncomfortable not long after.
She endured the discomfort in her stomach and continued writing her homework. Just as the discomfort was about to reach its peak, her mother returned. She thought she could find some comfort from her mother, but before she could even speak, her mother, who had received a call from the homeroom teacher, scolded her without question.
On the verge of collapse, she returned to her room without a word, locked the door, and lay on the bed wanting to cry loudly, but she was too tired, even the strength to cry was gone. However, just as she was about to fall into a deep sleep, violent knocking sounded.
Her Old Dad was back, questioning her from outside the door: "Why did you make Mom angry and make her cry so sadly?" "You're such a big person, when will you understand things?" "Why did your monthly exam results drop again?" As he spoke, he dug up old grudges and past mistakes.
Finally, she couldn't bear it anymore, and like a walking dead, she paced to the window, opened it. The wind on the seventeenth floor outside the window was very cold, so cold that she didn't dare to take another step forward. She could only pick up the water cup beside her and throw it out the window.
Watching the water cup draw an arc in the sky and disappear into the night, it was as if she herself had already jumped once.
Then, everything began to become hazy. Perhaps the effect of Human Hell had worn off, and Lu Yibei's consciousness began to clear.
She stared blankly at the plate of cold cucumber salad, suddenly understanding why Boss Hu would name it "A Bad Day."
Collapse doesn't need any special reason, just a bad day. The human world is hell!
But...
No matter how bad it is, tomorrow must continue. Sleeping isn't a big deal, is it?
If life wants me to kneel today, can't I just stand up tomorrow, the day after, the day after that? Lu Yibei thought.
Although she could understand that many people might think of ending things because of this, at least she definitely wouldn't!
While she was thinking, Boss Hu spoke, "Do you understand the cooking method of Human Hell a little better now?"
"Much better."
"Then let's start making it?" Boss Hu nodded. "Let me see what you've learned tonight."
"No problem, just watch!" Lu Yibei said confidently.
