Soon, darkness fell across the land.
Countless stars appeared in the night sky.
The breeze brought the scent of the sea.
Tang Hao felt extremely relaxed at that moment. He sat in front of the bonfire, listening to the Taoist masters tell their stories.
The Taoist masters were in their fifties or sixties and had been all around the world. Each of their experiences was enough to fill a book.
Tang Hao exclaimed in amazement when he heard their stories.
He could never be as experienced or as well-traveled as the Taoist masters.
The meat was soon ready to eat. The tantalizing fragrance made everyone hungry.
Tang Hao was mesmerized by the smell of the meat. He took a big bite, and his body trembled with sheer incredulity.
He thought that the white cobra meat was the most delicious thing in the world, but after biting into the sea dragon meat, he realized that he was wrong. Not only was the sea dragon more delicious than the white cobra, but the texture of the meat was also more smooth and delicate.
After he swallowed the meat, a stream of pure energy flowed from his stomach and throughout his body. He had never felt so comfortable before.
He was not the only one who was shocked by the taste of the meat. The Taoist masters were all shocked too.
“Heavens! This taste… is incredible!” They exclaimed in between chews.
They ate to their fill and rubbed their bloated stomachs blissfully.
“This is so delicious! Say, sea dragons are already so delicious. What do you think a real dragon would taste like?” Shabby Taoist Master said as he rubbed his stomach.
“That must be the ultimate deliciousness!” The Taoist masters lamented.
Taoist Master Qian Ji was reclining on the beach. He rolled his eyes. “You idiots. Let’s not talk about whether there are real dragons left in this world. Even if we found one, how are we going to defeat it?”
The Taoist masters had no reply to that.
“One can dream! Right, I wonder when can we find another sea dragon?”
Taoist Master Qian Ji rolled his eyes again. “Are you all addicted to sea dragon meat? Sea dragons are rarer than giant pandas. We’re already extremely lucky to encounter one, and you want another?”
“We’re just thinking!” The Taoist masters said awkwardly.
Tang Hao smiled politely when he heard that.
He was the one who contributed the most and therefore received the biggest share of the sea dragon meat. He received a third of the meat and many teeth, scales, and claws. It was a great haul.
Dragon teeth and claws could be reshaped into weapons to replace his current set of silver throwing knives.
Compared to other metals, silver was relatively soft. It was not very useful as a weapon other than being suitable for fighting werewolves.
Dragon teeth and claws were a lot tougher. One could easily imagine how powerful they could be if they were made into weapons.
Everyone was too full to walk after eating. They rested at the beach before heading back to the mainland.
It was already two o’clock in the morning when they returned to the shore.
Tang Hao returned to his hotel room and slept soundly. He did not hurry to return home the next day. Instead, he stayed in South Beach and visited the various tourist spots with the Taoist masters.
South Beach was a popular tourist destination because of its fine weather and beautiful scenery.
At night, they booked the return tickets for the next morning.
The next morning, Tang Hao received a call from Ling Wei.
“Is there anything, President Ling?” Tang Hao said.
“Bad news, Tang Hao!” Ling Wei sounded worried over the phone.
“What’s wrong? Is there an incident at the restaurant?” Tang Hao’s expression changed.
“It’s the jars. The jars used in the restaurant to soak the herbs. They’re stolen!” Ling Wei said worriedly.
Tang Hao immediately furrowed his brows.
He had repeatedly reminded the chefs that the qi gathering jars were very important. The restaurant should have tight security measures to guard them. How would the jars be stolen?
Then, his expression turned grim.
Someone from Spring Brook must be behind this.
“How many were stolen?” Tang Hao asked.
“There’s none left!” Ling Wei said, “There must be a traitor in our restaurant. They must have stolen the code to the hidden room and took all the bronze jars.
“What should we do now, Tang Hao? If we don’t have the bronze jars, we won’t be able to open for business today. It’s only our fourth day of business, and it won’t be good for our reputation if we’re closed!”
Ling Wei sounded more anxious than ever.
“Traitor? Who might that be?” Tang Hao asked coldly.
“It’s not any of the main chefs. It’s Chef Zheng’s apprentice. He’s uncontactable now. He probably ran away.”
Tang Hao furrowed his brows. It was a troublesome matter.
Internal problems were a lot harder to safeguard against.
“Chef Zheng is scheduled to guard the hidden room. He didn’t expect that his apprentice would be a traitor. That was why he gave the apprentice the code to it so that his apprentice could open up the store.
“He didn’t expect the incident to happen. Chef Zheng is feeling very guilty now.
“I’ve made a police report earlier, but I don’t think we’ll be able to retrieve the jars by today.”
“Did Chef Zheng ask his apprentice to open the store, or did his apprentice volunteer to do so?”
“It’s his apprentice. Chef Zheng happened to be occupied this morning, so his apprentice asked if he could help,” Ling Wei answered.
“So it’s premeditated then!” Tang Hao smirked.
“I’m quite sure that he’s bought over by Spring Brook. Thanks to us, they have barely any customers for the past few days. If this goes on, they’ll shutter in a month.
“We don’t have any evidence that they did it though!” Ling Wei said worriedly.
Tang Hao thought for a moment and replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll get someone to send over a few bigger jars. They should make it in time before the restaurant opens. I’m still at South Beach, but I should be back to Provincial City by noon.”
“Alright!” Ling Wei breathed a sigh of relief.
After ending the call, Tang Hao made a call to Liu Dajun.
When he ordered the small jars for the restaurant last time, he also ordered a batch of big ones for the aphrodisiac factory. Liu Dajun was currently keeping them safe.
Liu Dajun immediately agreed to it after listening to Tang Hao’s story.
It was already noon when he arrived at Provincial City.
After saying goodbye to the Taoist masters, Tang Hao immediately went to Magical Kitchen.
When he neared, he saw a long queue forming from the entrance of the restaurant.
“Looks like he made it!” Tang Hao breathed a sigh of relief.
Tang Hao met up with Ling Wei on the third floor of the restaurant.
“What’s the situation now?”
“Looks like there’s no problem. Fortunately, the jars are bigger… As for Chef Zheng’s apprentice, the police have already issued a warrant of arrest. There’s no news in the meantime.”
“You shouldn’t worry too much. Let me handle the rest! I was planning to let Spring Brook shut down on their own, but it looks like I have been too kind.
“President Ling, we’ll open all our restaurants next to all Spring Brook restaurants. I want to make sure that they don’t have any business at all. As for this main restaurant, let me deal with them.”
After saying that, Tang Hao went out of the door.
