Chapter 294: Owner Bu, What a Coincidence
Translator: CatatoPatch Editor: Vermillion
In Mo Luo City, there were several figures proudly standing above the tall city walls.
Hu Yifeng was wearing a scholarly white robe with his hair hanging loosely behind him. The remaining brothers of the Thirteen Bandits of Mozhou were standing beside him.
“We, the Thirteen Bandits of Mozhou, never once suffered a loss like this. If we ran away like cowards, we would be letting out dead brothers down.” Hu Yifeng’s eyes were bloodshot and his whole body emanated a vicious air. It was in complete contrast with the way he dressed up.
Only seven brothers remained from the past Thirteen Bandits of Mozhou. Five of them died on the battlefield, in the hands of King Yu’s army.
“That black-robed expert in King Yu’s army… Even if I have to exchange my life for his, I’ll definitely drag him into the underworld together with me.”
By his side, the other six of his brothers had aggrieved looks and they were extremely sad. The seventh master who had lost an arm stared at the imposing army rushing toward Mo Luo City. A trace of madness flashed in his eyes.
…..
Bu Fang didn’t notice Tang Yin’s arrival as he placed all of his attention on the four big woks. He appeared stable and steady while he held his ladle. Mixing the contents of the four woks, a sweet smell was continuously emitted from them.
“Owner Bu? Senior Bu?” Tang Yin’s gaze was slightly dull and puzzled. He thought that he was hallucinating. How could Owner Bu appear in the lands to the northwest?
As he observed the calm appearance of Bu Fang, Tang Yin saw that the way he cooked seemed familiar. Tang Yin was able to verify that it was truly Bu Fang who was cooking. Owner Bu’s actions were too prominent.
Commander Zhu Yue felt that Tang Yin’s gaze was quite strange. Following his gaze, the former looked at the youth who was managing the four woks. Isn’t he just a simple youth?
“Sir… He’s called Bu Fang. He is a new cook here in the Cooks’ Army.” Wei Dafu slightly bowed down and hurriedly added, “This newcomer is arrogant and unyielding. Therefore, I made him process and cook with ordinary ingredients in order to polish his temper.”
“Newcomer? It’s normal for a newcomer to be slightly arrogant. However, it seems like this kid has the qualifications to be arrogant. His skill is… indisputable…” Zhu Yue nodded and sniffed the fragrance in the air. A look of appreciation appeared on his face.
When Tang Yin heard Wei Dafu’s words, his expression changed. It became even stranger. Turning his head, he looked at Wei Dafu as he calmly said, “Arrogant and stubborn? Polish his temper?”
“Indeed… that is indeed the case.” Wei Dafu was scared by Tang Yin’s stare. In his fright, he stuttered as he replied.
Turning his head, Tang Yin’s lips curled upwards into a cold smile. He straightened his clothes before walking solemnly toward Bu Fang.
Zhu Yue and Wei Dafu blankly looked at each other as a bad premonition emerged in Wei Dafu’s mind. Could it be that this senior was acquainted with that kid? Was he a junior that the senior was acquainted with?
Wei Dafu’s heart started thumping and a bitter expression appeared on his face.
The four woks were still boiling and the ingredients within them were churning. Streams of steam were emitted from the woks while they boiled.
Suddenly, Bu Fang lifted the ladle in his hand, pulling it out of the woks. Swinging the ladle in his hand, he covered all the pots with a lid. The lid sealed the pots and the fragrance together with it.
Only after he sealed the pots, Bu Fang raised his head to look at the three people who were walking toward him.
He recognized Wei Dafu and Zhu Yue. As for the person walking in front… He was one of Bu Fang’s old acquaintances.
“Senior… What a coincidence.”
Tang Yin walked toward Bu Fang and respectfully cupped his hands. He gave Bu Fang a respectful greeting. Tang Yin was always respectful toward Bu Fang. He knew that Bu Fang was too mysterious and there was no one able to truly understand him.
Sen….. Senior?
The moment Wei Dafu heard how Tang Yin addressed Bu Fang, his legs softened. He almost dropped straight to the ground as he thought, “What the hell? Why is a seventh grade Battle-Saint like you addressing a youth as ‘senior’? Don’t you know how to speak properly?”
Zhu Yue’s mouth slightly widened and he was evidently shocked. Could it be that Tang Yin mistook this youth for another person? After all, this youth’s cultivation didn’t seem strong at all.
“Indeed, it is truly quite a coincidence. Why are you here? This is an army camp.” Bu Fang looked at Tang Yin and calmly asked.
When Tang Yin heard him, the corners of his mouth slightly twitched. “I should be the one asking you this question. Why aren’t you, a cook, staying peacefully in your own store? Just focus on cooking. What are you even doing in the army?”
“It’s because of some compelling reasons that I had to come to the army. However, why are you, Owner Bu, in the army? Not to mention the fact that you specifically chose the Western Mystery City’s army. They are located quite far from the Imperial Capital.”
“I come to experience what it is like to be part of an army. It’s also for me to gain more experience in cooking so that I can put more emotions into cooking my dishes,” Bu Fang thoughtlessly replied.
The reason he gave was complete nonsense. In fact, Bu Fang was only doing this so that he could complete the mission and obtain the rewards.
However, Tang Yin didn’t know this. When he heard Bu Fang’s words, he felt a sudden increase in respect for Bu Fang. It emerged from the bottom of his heart. It wasn’t surprising that Owner Bu’s cooking skill reached such a realm. It seemed as though he was always challenging himself, and he was practicing. It was all to increase his cooking skill.
Working as a cook in a marching army was an extremely arduous task. Just to practice his cooking, Owner Bu didn’t care about the hardships when he decided to join the Cooks’ Army Unit in the Western Mystery Army. A person with such firmness and willpower was truly someone people from this generation should learn from.
As expected, no matter which profession, in order to have high achievements, an enormous effort was a must.
While the two of them were chatting amicably, Zhu Yue and Wei Dafu’s expression became strange.
Zhu Yue was still fine as he only had slight doubts about the situation. However, Wei Dafu’s complexion was deathly pale. There wasn’t the slightest trace of blood on his face. Why would a cook… be this close to an aloof seventh grade Battle-Saint? Since you were already acquainted with such an expert, why would you join the Western Mystery Army? Was it to make fun of us?
“Owner Bu, What dish are you cooking? It smells really nice!” After chatting for a bit, Tang Yin’s gaze fell on the four woks. A trace of excitement appeared in his eyes.
“It’s nothing special, I only used ordinary ingredients to cook it,” Bu Fang calmly said. “They were prepared for the soldiers.”
After speaking about the dishes, Bu Fang lifted the lid on the woks. The aroma of the dishes immediately burst forth.
“Ordinary ingredients?” Tang Yin was stunned for a second. He immediately rushed to the side of the wok in order to take a look at its contents.
Although all of the many different types of ingredients in the wok possessed a bright luster, with a single look, anyone could tell that every single one of those ingredients was ordinary.
Although the Cooks’ Army Unit used ordinary ingredients when they were cooking, they only used it on rare occasions. This was because ordinary ingredients were unable to maintain the soldiers’ peak condition. That was why most of the cooks used spirit energy ingredients when they were cooking.
Zhu Yue was standing behind Tang Yin. When he heard that the ingredients were truly ordinary ones, he narrowed his eyes as he glared at Wei Dafu. When his gaze reached Wei Dafu, he could see that Wei Dafu’s expression was extremely ugly. Just from his expression Zhu Yue had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
“This dish is called the Four Treasures Broth and is made from all of the ingredients which I possess. As it was cooked using four woks and all of the essence of the ingredients were extracted, I named it the Four Treasures Broth.” Bu Fang introduced the dish to him.
He took a bowl and scooped out soup from each of the four woks. When the different soup in each wok was poured into the bowl, they took a place in the bowl without fusing with each other.
“Have a taste.” Bu Fang handed the bowl to Tang Yin as streams of churning steam emerged from the top of the bowl. The sweet smell was too tempting and Tang Yin received it unconsciously.
Tang Yin used a spoon and scooped up a mouthful of the soup.
After tasting it, Tang Yin stared at the bowl until his eyes became round. When the mouthful of soup touched his tongue, different flavors flooded his brain. The soup seemed as though it fused the flavor of countless ingredients. The flavor was constantly changing within his mouth, and the sensation was incomparably crisp.
“This is….. this is inconceivable! Ah! Is the soup really made from ordinary ingredients?” Tang Yin was unable to return to his senses for quite some time. The higher his cultivation, the more he understood the uniqueness of spiritual ingredients. The more precious the spiritual ingredients were, the richer the spiritual energy contained in them. When they were cooked, the flavor and smell of the dish would be extremely sweet and rich.
Bu Fang was actually able to use ordinary ingredients to cook a dish which was on par with those made from spiritual ingredients. Just as expected of the Imperial Capital’s black-hearted store owner.
The system’s solemn voice resounded in Bu Fang’s mind. This Four Treasures Broth unexpectedly obtained the system’s approval and became the first dish approved in the Cooks’ Army.
Currently, he only had to make two other dishes which met the standards of the system in order to complete the mission. He was two dishes away from obtaining the fragment of the God of Cooking set.
Bu Fang immediately became happy and pleased.
Zhu Yue and Wei Dafu also scooped a part of the soup. After they drank it, they were unable to utter a word for quite some time. Zhu Yue was shocked speechless. As for Wei Dafu, he chose to stay taciturn.
Wei Dafu knew that he was mistaken, gravely mistaken. This Bu Fang’s cooking skill already vastly surpassed his imagination. He was an existence which Wei Dafu could only look at from the back. This single dish in front of him, the Four Treasures Broth, was something he couldn’t cook at all.
Although this Four Treasures Broth was made with only ordinary ingredients, he felt his condition quickly improving after drinking some of it. It was the same feeling he got when he ate spirit energy dishes.
Wei Dafu felt quite bitter.
“Good, good, good! Wei Dafu, ah Wei Dafu. Despite this young master’s excellent skill, you tried to bury and waste his talent. It seems as though your eyesight has deteriorated. Since you like burying people so much, you shall swap position with this young master from now on. He shall be the captain of the Cook’s Army.”
Zhu Yue’s complexion became stern as he laughed coldly.
Wei Dafu’s body trembled and his face was filled with bitterness.
Tang Yin narrowed his eyes as he drank the soup which warmed his heart. When he drank it, he felt as though his injuries were slowly healing. He put all of his attention into the bowl of soup he was drinking and didn’t even take a single look at Zhu Yue who was punishing Wei Dafu.
“There’s no need, I don’t have any interest in becoming the captain. I only need you to prepare spirit energy ingredients for me.” Bu Fang interrupted Zhu Yue’s words as he didn’t have any interest in becoming the captain of the Cooks’ Army. The only thing he wanted to do was to continue preparing dishes so that he could quickly make dishes which were approved by the system.
Regardless of what Bu Fang said, Zhu Yue persisted in his decision. Wei Dafu was left in the ordinary ingredients cooking area.
Several cooks from the Cooks’ Army lifted the four woks and left the place. They brought the soup to the soldiers’ tent and quickly distributed the Four Treasures Broth.
……
Mo Lin pulled the reins as he sat on the back of a spirit beast. There was a densely packed army behind him as he gazed in the direction of the Western Mystery Army’s camp. A cold smile slowly appeared on his face.
A figure which was holding a talisman floated in mid-air and an array formed with talismans was revolving around its hand.
“The Western Mystery Army is there. Go on… Go and annihilate them. The seventh grade Battle-Saint who was assisting them is currently injured. He suffered grave injuries and this is a good opportunity to attack the Western Mystery Army. This is the best time to completely wipe them out. After this, we can focus on the fight at Mo Luo City. After we completely seize the city, we can start our assault on Western Mystery City.”
The sleeves of the black-robed old man who was floating in the air fluttered along with the wind. He gave an imposing statement as he suggested for Mo Lin to attack the Western Mystery Army.
Mo Lin’s eyes immediately brightened and he waved his long spear. With a loud roar, he commanded the army behind him as he rushed toward the Western Mystery Army’s camp.
