Chapter 51: Caught My Junior Sister Stealing Food

It was night.

Su Zhan flew on her sword through the mountains, heading toward the Main Peak.

She had to admit that ever since her cultivation started regressing instead of advancing, her sleep quality had plummeted.

Now she had reached the point where even the slightest worry kept her awake.

During the day, Lin Wan’er had given Su Zhan some instructions before heading off somewhere with Cheng Shuang to wander leisurely.

She had also left Ning Yao in Su Zhan’s care.

Before leaving, however, Lin Wan’er had handed Su Zhan a gourd.

She said it was the protective artifact she had failed to deliver last time and told her to keep it safe.

Su Zhan had fiddled with it for a while but still did not know how to use it.

When she uncorked the bottle and poured, the inside was completely empty.

Strangely, when she poured water in, it could go in, yet nothing would come out.

She showed it to Ning Yao.

Ning Yao could not figure out anything either.

After hearing Su Zhan mutter, “So even Junior Sister doesn’t know?”, Ning Yao inexplicably grew sulky and buried her head back into the pillow, playing ostrich.

Su Zhan had no choice but to give up.

She tidied up a small nest for the white cat to stay in.

After all that fussing, night had already fallen, and her stomach felt somewhat hungry.

She had originally planned to endure until dawn and simply close her eyes to meditate and rest.

Yet her mind kept returning to the Little Pan Peach Meeting seven days from now.

Unconsciously thinking of those peaches, she could not help but salivate.

Speaking of which, she had only eaten breakfast today.

At noon she had eaten nothing while rushing along the road.

Tonight, after all the commotion, she had given every last snack to Ning Yao.

Now she could not find a single thing to eat.

Therefore she had no choice but to go to the dining hall and take a look.

She did not know if it was because of the rain that had fallen in the afternoon, but Su Zhan noticed the forest air on the Main Peak carried an extra faint, clean fragrance.

The closer she drew to the dining hall, the stronger that fragrance became.

It even faintly mixed with other aromas.

Someone had clearly arrived before her.

Stewed meat? There also seemed to be the scent of vegetables and fruit.

Quite the food lover.

Su Zhan stopped at the doorway.

No lights were lit inside, but she could see flickering candle shadows and the intermittent sound of a spoon stirring.

“Who is cooking inside?”

She asked while gently pushing the door open a small crack.

The creaking sound was especially abrupt in the silent night.

The person inside must have been startled.

They let out a short cry of alarm and gave no answer.

Immediately afterward, the candlelight that had been flickering suddenly went dark.

The room was left with nothing but the increasingly rich aroma drifting through the air.

Guilty conscience?

But she remembered the sect rules did not forbid disciples from coming to the dining hall to eat at night.

Otherwise she would never have walked in so openly.

She would have had to climb in through the window instead.

Moreover, the aroma in this room would not dissipate anytime soon.

Extinguishing the light would only look like covering one’s ears while stealing a bell.

Su Zhan sighed helplessly to herself.

She condensed a wisp of flame at her fingertip, found a candlestick, and lit it.

The dim flame illuminated most of the room.

Holding the candlestick, she walked toward the source of the aroma.

A small pot sat filled with water.

Many ingredients floated inside, exactly matching the aroma Su Zhan had smelled earlier.

The only difference was the addition of some low-grade spirit herbs.

No fuel burned underneath.

It must have been cooked using spiritual fire.

When spirit herbs were boiled over spiritual fire, their efficacy infused into the water and was absorbed by the ingredients.

If it simmered a while longer, it could become medicinal cuisine.

“Quite the skilled eater. Probably not many people in the entire sect have this kind of technique.”

Su Zhan shook her head.

Suddenly thinking of something, she revealed a slightly knowing expression.

She had thought of a possibility.

She raised the candlestick again and shone it around the surroundings.

Earlier she had only heard the sound of the candle being extinguished, yet she had not heard anyone leave.

Moreover, with her perception she could confirm there was still someone hiding in the corner.

Su Zhan remembered that in the sect, besides the elders and deacons of Dan Peak, only Xia Liu and Yun Li were most skilled at making medicinal meals.

But if it were an elder, they would not panic like this even if discovered.

Xia Liu found it troublesome and never entered the kitchen.

So… the answer was obvious.

“Yun Li, I have already seen you… How much longer do you plan to hide?”

She spoke softly to bluff, her gaze turning to the left side of the room.

There were not many places in the dining hall where someone could hide.

The spot closest to this pot was right there.

Sure enough, as soon as her words fell, a figure leisurely walked out from behind the bamboo rack piled with ingredients in the corner.

Yun Li smiled awkwardly at Su Zhan and waved her small hand in greeting.

“Ahaha… What a coincidence… Is Senior Sister also unable to sleep and out for a walk?”

“Junior Sister is joking. Who goes for a walk and ends up at the dining hall, especially at this hour in the middle of the night.”

Su Zhan sighed helplessly.

This excuse was really too poor.

“Besides, if you were walking, why did you deliberately hide from me just now?”

“Senior Sister, I am sorry…”

Yun Li apologized decisively, her head drooping.

She looked pitiful, already prepared to obediently accept scolding.

“What are you apologizing to me for?” Su Zhan asked in return.

She had developed some interest in teasing this girl.

Perhaps the cannon-fodder female supporting character’s attributes were acting up again.

Every time she saw this girl show a wronged expression, she always felt a special pleasure.

“…I should not have come to the dining hall in the middle of the night to steal food, nor should I have lied to Senior Sister.”

Yun Li finished speaking sullenly.

As if remembering something, she suddenly clasped her hands toward Su Zhan, her tone earnest.

“I promise I will never do it again next time. Please do not report me to Elder Liu, or my coursework will increase again.”

It really made one want to bully her. 

If it were according to the plot of that kind of book whose contents could not be openly described, the next part would be the coercion segment.

Shaking her head to suppress those messy thoughts, Su Zhan asked with considerable curiosity, “Why is Junior Sister troubled by coursework?”

She was a sword cultivator.

In previous years the coursework Elder Liu assigned her had only been sword practice.

The only trouble was having to go to the library every few months to read a sword manual.

“Senior Sister’s words really hurt… I am not as clever as you Senior Sisters. Elder Liu makes me compensate with diligence. I have to have my homework checked every week. If I do not pass, I am punished and not allowed to eat.”

Yun Li pouted, looking aggrieved.

“I have not eaten dinner for three days already. Senior Sister, look at me. I have gotten so thin from hunger.”

Su Zhan remained silent.

She really could not see where Yun Li had lost weight.

Her figure was still slender and graceful.

Under this expression, the baby fat on her face only made her look even more adorably round and plump.

“So that is how it is. I understand now.” She nodded lightly but did not express any stance.

Yun Li secretly observed her expression, feeling uneasy.

Although she could not guess Su Zhan’s thoughts, everything she said earlier was true.

Even her small abdomen let out a couple of unpromising gurgling sounds.

The girl’s face, illuminated by the candlelight, had turned slightly more rosy.

The pleading expression now carried a few more traces of embarrassment.

The aroma from the pot kept wafting out, relentlessly drilling into her nose.

The girl regretted why she had made this food smell so fragrant.

Now it was so tempting, yet she could not eat it.

It was truly tormenting.

“Looks like Junior Sister is indeed hungry.”

Su Zhan watched the girl secretly lick her lips and swallow saliva.

The corners of her lips curved upward.

She laughed lightly in satisfaction and pointed at the pot, gesturing.

“This stewed meat is still warm. If it simmers for another half a shichen, the flavor will be best. I came here tonight also worried about how to fill my stomach.”

“If Junior Sister does not mind, why not let Senior Sister taste your handiwork as well?”

“Of course it is fine!” Yun Li nodded repeatedly and agreed at once.

But as she mulled over what Su Zhan had just said, she sensed something was not quite right.

“Eh? That is not right!”