Chapter 81: 81
Under the baptism of looks of admiration, covetousness and even frustration from the Dawn Sect disciples, Jun Xiaomo, her little packrat, and Ye Xiuwen had slowly and steadily polished off the few perfectly grilled pieces of meat on that wire mesh rack with absolute satisfaction and delight . In particular, the little packrat burped after he finished his meal, before it laid comfortably on its back, exposing its round and full belly . Jun Xiaomo chuckled at the sight of her little packrat and rubbed its belly . Immediately, the little packrat picked itself up, kicked off with its feet and sprung into Jun Xiaomo’s clothes, leaving only its tail exposed .
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Could it be that this little fella is embarrassed?
Jun Xiaomo chuckled to herself before she turned her attention away from the little packrat that had buried its head into her chest . Within a few quick moments, she picked up the rest of the reindeer meat that she had cut into pieces and stored them .
This was a habit that she had developed from her previous life . It was very possible to encounter unexpected circumstances when one was traveling outside in the wilderness . Even though they had no lack for food right now, they were still quite some distance away from the Mystic Woods, and nobody would be able to predict what kind of predicament they might find themselves in in future . If they happened to encounter a food shortage in future, then the reindeer meat that she had stored in her Interspatial Ring would certainly be a life-saving measure .
Naturally, they would be able to use a Subsistence Pill to overcome their hunger . However, Subsistence Pills were not cheap objects . Given the limited amount of spirit stones that they had, there was no way that they would be able to stockpile a hoard of Subsistence Pills for a rainy day . Therefore, it was necessary to prepare a healthy stash of food for their sustenance .
At the same time, objects stored in Interspatial Rings were not affected by the effluxion of time, and there was no need to fear that food and meat would rot inside . This was why Jun Xiaomo could confidently store the excess raw meat in her Interspatial Ring without any fear at all .
This should probably be enough meat to feed the three of us for three days, I think . Jun Xiaomo estimated in her heart as the various ways of preparing reindeer meat surfaced and flashed across her mind .
The other disciples did not share the same thoughts as Jun Xiaomo . They felt that storing raw meat within Interspatial Rings was a complete waste of space . When they saw Yao Mo store her excess reindeer meat inside, their lips twitched as they wondered what had to be going through this strange array master’s mind to make him act this way .
The air lingered with the fragrance and aroma of Jun Xiaomo’s earlier grilling . It was as though the gentle breeze blowing through the woods were doing its utmost to provoke Qin Lingyu and the other disciples . When Jun Xiaomo was grilling the meat, the wind constantly blew the irresistible scent of grilled meat over to whet the disciples’ appetites . Yet now that Jun Xiaomo and the others had finally finished their food, the woods were completely silent and still, devoid of any movement of air .
As such, the group of disciples continued to be enveloped with the thick aromas of Jun Xiaomo’s food, assaulting their olfactory senses and exciting their taste buds, causing the disciples to involuntarily tighten their grasp around their dry rations as they craved better food .
This was despite the fact that these disciples had already eaten two sets of dry rations since the morning .
“Alright, since everyone seems sufficiently rested . Let’s be on our way then . ” Qin Lingyu finally spoke, bringing the disciples’ attention away from the frustration of gnawing away at the tasteless, dry rations in front of them .
Several disciples immediately stood up in a spirited fashion as they packed up their belongings and prepared to leave with unprecedented speed .
They simply could not wait to get away from this dastardly place that was filled with the aroma of roast meat .
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Right now, the disciples were in unanimous agreement that it was an important thing to master their culinary arts before embarking on future travels out of the Sect .
But it was too late for regrets right now . They could only gnaw away at their dry rations for the rest of their mission .
As for the disciple who challenged Jun Xiaomo to make a better meal than them? Seeing the results of Jun Xiaomo’s cooking had dealt a heavy blow to him, and his face was now hot, prickling numbly and completely flushed with embarrassment .
In fact, it was not just his face that was feeling slightly sore – his stomach was as well! After all, he could only gnaw away unwillingly at his dry rations as he continued to be battered by the incredible scent of roasted meat that made him salivate uncontrollably . After some time, his stomach even started to cramp up, as though it were in protest against the torment that he was going through right then .
Jun Xiaomo smiled wryly and stroked her chin wickedly . By now, she had already taken in all the disciples’ individual expressions and reactions to her cooking . These reactions were well within her expectations . After all, like martial brother Ye, most cultivators did not see the need to practice or improve on their culinary arts to begin with .
Hehe . Do you think things will be much better once you leave this place? Since I’m travelling with you guys, there’s still plenty of time for me to torment your senses with my cooking . Jun Xiaomo raised her eyebrow and laughed wickedly in her heart as she thought to herself .
Yu Wanrou stole a glance at Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen . Her eyes gleamed brightly, and then she lowered her head and bit down on her lips discreetly . There was no way to tell what she was thinking at this moment .
Over the next few days, the disciples’ faces grew uglier and uglier as time wore on, just as Jun Xiaomo had predicted . In particular, whenever Jun Xiaomo began to pick out stones to set up her makeshift furnace, the disciples would all stare daggers at Ye Xiuwen and Jun Xiaomo as though they wished to puncture them with holes like swiss cheese .
But they had no choice . These disciples had not attained the level of cultivation where they no longer needed to eat . Furthermore, even if they had attained that level of cultivation, it would still be difficult to keep themselves composed when faced with Jun Xiaomo’s assault on their olfactory senses three times a day .
What frustrated them the most was how this array master loved to prepare food in different ways – she would roast meat one day; then smoke meat on the next; braise meat on other days; and salt-bake meat on yet other days .
Having witnessed Yao Mo’s adept culinary arts, they sincerely felt that it was a waste this array master did not choose to become a chef instead . Just why did Yao Mo have to follow them and tempt them with his cooking like that?
At the same time, Jun Xiaomo was certainly not going to let them know that she had done all of these on purpose .
Didn’t all of you acclaim the fact that you hail from Dawn Sect, and that you’re better than a “rogue cultivator” like me? You even alleged that I only knew how to flap my jaws and that I’m good for nothing else .
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I’ll make you eat your words!
There were a few disciples who were truly remorseful about how they had acted . From the outset, there was no reason for any enmity between them and Yao Mo . Rather, it was only because they wished to curry favour with Qin Lingyu and Ke Xinwen that they decided to provoke and challenge Yao Mo with their accusations .
Unexpectedly, Yao Mo’s culinary arts were far better than any of them had imagined possible, and the food that he prepared had always been so aromatic and fragrant that just one whiff of it would cause their stomachs to growl incessantly for a taste of Yao Mo’s cooking . However, they knew that they had thoroughly offended Yao Mo, and their pride prevented them from humbling themselves and asking Yao Mo for a taste of his cooking . To these disciples, they felt that they would be no better than a beggar if they stooped so low to do so .
Naturally, Jun Xiaomo completely disapproved of these disciples . She saw how those disciples eyed her food like they were hungry wolves prowling about their prey, and she stroked her chin thoughtfully – I wonder whether these people would actually cast aside their pride if Mother were cooking in my place?
But what Jun Xiaomo did not expect was that someone actually did cast aside her pride to come begging for food . And this was not just anyone – it was her love rival from her previous life, Yu Wanrou!
“Brother Yao, are you preparing fish soup today?” Jun Xiaomo currently had one foot on a large piece of rock as she sliced open a large fish and cleaned out its innards . Yu Wanrou had deliberated for a moment before she carefully approached “Yao Mo” and asked softly .
Jun Xiaomo gave Yu Wanrou a peculiar glance, before shifting her eyes back to the big fish without a word and resuming her work .
Truth be told, she did not like to prepare fish-related dishes because they were simply too troublesome . Not only did she have to de-scale them and clean out their innards; the fish soup that she prepared had never tasted as good as her mother’s – ever . However, having already had meat every meal for the past few days, she decided it was a good time to change things up slightly .
Ye Xiuwen was currently boiling the water on the side . From time to time, he would add some dried leaves and twigs to the fire to maintain the intensity of the flames below the pot .
Ye Xiuwen was a person who had always been solely focused on his cultivation, and he would rarely bother himself with matters unrelated to cultivation . However, seeing how this young man before him had been squirreling around preparing food for the two of them and one packrat, he could not bring himself to sit idly at the side waiting to be served . Therefore, he picked up a thing or two from Jun Xiaomo and started helping out as well .
Ye Xiuwen had never been good at cooking, whether now or in Jun Xiaomo’s past life . However, preparing and maintaining a small fire was something that was well within Ye Xiuwen’s abilities . At the very least, he had a pretty good grasp on controlling the intensity of the flames .
Jun Xiaomo had earlier already informed Ye Xiuwen that they would be preparing fish soup today, so Ye Xiuwen was aware of what Jun Xiaomo was preparing at this moment .
However, the answer to Yu Wanrou’s question was obvious, and neither Jun Xiaomo nor Ye Xiuwen bothered to reply Yu Wanrou . Ye Xiuwen remained silent because he felt that no answer from him was necessary because Yu Wanrou had not directed her question to him to begin with . On the other hand, Jun Xiaomo was simply too lazy to bother feigning civility with Yu Wanrou .
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Since she had already burnt bridges between her and the other disciples, then it was unlikely that they would be interacting much with each other even if they were going to be travelling together . After all, they already looked like two separate groups camping together at the same spot at this point of time .
If Jun Xiaomo were preparing food on any other day, Yu Wanrou might not necessarily place the food Jun Xiaomo had prepared in her sights . However, they had been travelling in these woods over the last ten days, and she had not even touched meat and fish in the same amount of time . The other male disciples travelling with them were incapable of preparing any wild game for her, and they could all only gnaw away at their dry rations every mealtime for sustenance . Therefore, her stomach felt as though it had been deprived of food for a long time, and it was starting to become unbearable for her .
Right now, Yu Wanrou thought that there might be a slim chance that Yao Mo would be willing to share some food with her if she just flaunted her body and flirted a little bit . Since this was a possibility, why not give it a shot?
After all, Yu Wanrou was confident that no male cultivator was able to escape her charms and allure, and Yao Mo shouldn’t be an exception either .
However, Yu Wanrou’s hopes had obviously been misplaced . Despite Yu Wanrou having made the first move, Yao Mo continued to affix his attention on the fish he was de-scaling and completely ignored her .
Seeing this, Yu Wanrou made a sorrowful look on her face as she pleaded with Yao Mo, “Brother Yao, do you intend to ignore me forever just because you’re angry at brother Qin and the others?”
Hearing this, Jun Xiaomo’s arm that was de-scaling the fish suddenly jerked forcefully, and she almost cut off the fish’s entire head .
Jun Xiaomo immediately made a discreet, wincing expression on her face, before she looked up with a face of bewilderment and responded curtly, “Excuse me, do I know you very well?”
Yu Wanrou: ……
“It seems to me that you don’t think so either . ” Jun Xiaomo acted as though she was taking things seriously as she nodded, adding, “Since we’re not that close, then please stop trying to worm your way into my good books like that . Your actions are giving me goosebumps . ”
Yu Wanrou’s expression momentarily turned ugly when she heard this . This was the first time that it dawned on her how much this Yao Mo’s sharp tongue was highly reminiscent of a particular other person – both were equally hateful, and she desired to tear both their mouths to shreds .
This “other person” that Yu Wanrou was thinking of was naturally Jun Xiaomo! One could only imagine the expression she would make on her face when she finally finds out that Yao Mo was in fact the very same Jun Xiaomo whom she hated to the core!
However, Jun Xiaomo felt that her reaction was still insufficient, so she added, “Oh yes, please don’t stand there and cast your shadow on this fish here . It’s causing me to be unable to see the fish’s scales . ” As Jun Xiaomo said this, she even waved her hands, gesticulating for Yu Wanrou to move away .
Yu Wanrou bit down on her lower lips and gritted her teeth as she glared furiously at Jun Xiaomo . Then, she turned around and walked back to Qin Lingyu and the others with a sickly green face .
At this moment, Zhong Ruolan snickered – she was absolutely pleased at how Yu Wanrou had returned with such defeated spirits .
She had since time immemorial seen Yu Wanrou as a thorn in her side – especially how she used her weak and pitiable pretenses to earn the sympathy and gifts of generosity from the male disciples . Therefore, how could she not take pleasure in Yu Wanrou’s misery when she saw how her pretenses had simply bounced off Yao Mo like he was a steel wall?
On the other hand, as Ke Xinwen watched the interaction between Yao Mo and Yu Wanrou, his heart immediately burned with indignance – there was a mix of both indignance against Yu Wanrou, as well as an indignance arising out of jealousy .
He was furious that Yu Wanrou would actually make a move on that array master; and he was even more furious that Yao Mo would treat the lady he was fond of with such a dismissive attitude .
However, despite a few attempts at roasting meat, he could not even get the basics right . Therefore, he could only give up on currying favour with Yu Wanrou with his cooking for now .
Separately, he also noticed that Qin Lingyu had not consulted him on how to deal with Yao Mo ever since the last time he had plotted against Ye Xiuwen with Frenzypani Grass .
Therefore, when the emotions in Ke Xinwen’s heart once again roiled at this sight, he immediately grew uneasy .
Has Qin Lingyu decided to give up, or is he…
Just as Ke Xinwen thought about this, Qin Lingyu suddenly looked over discreetly and signaled to him with his eyes .
Ke Xinwen immediately understood . He stood up and followed Qin Lingyu as they left the other disciples and walked to a big tree some distance away, and then disappeared behind it .