Chapter 38: Senior sister, come to my house for dinner another day

After Zi Menghan and Luo Qianning woke up, they went to the stream He Qiu had pointed out to wash their faces.

After all, they were both girls; having spent one night sleeping in the wild, their clothes and appearance needed quite a bit of tidying up.

He Qiu was in no rush either.

He served himself a bowl of soup and sat at the edge of the cave to eat breakfast.

Before long, several men in green Taoist robes walked in.

“Brother He Qiu, did you all rest well?”

“Yes, thank you for keeping watch through the night.”

“Oh, it was a small matter~”

The Orthodox Path cultivators laughed.

“We saw how exhausted the two ladies were. Consider this our way of repaying your kindness by helping you keep watch for one night.”

Their relationship with He Qiu was very polite.

This was likely what people meant by heroes recognizing each other.

He Qiu didn’t treat them like strangers.

He sat up and made space for them, his gaze shifting to the iron pot over the campfire.

“I boiled some mushroom soup. Drink some while it’s hot.”

“We smelled the fragrance a long time ago! We didn’t expect Brother He Qiu to not only have high martial arts and extraordinary courage but also to have quite a bit of research into the culinary arts!”

“It’s just average. I learned how to pick mushrooms and cook them from an older sister in my village when I was a child…”

He Qiu gave a modest smile and sat to the side, lowering his head to continue drinking his soup.

Beside the campfire, one cultivator served himself a bowl of soup.

The moment he took one sip, his eyes widened.

At the same time, the other cultivators froze.

They all seemed to have noticed something unusual about the mushroom soup in the pot.

The cultivators looked at each other, their eyes filled with disbelief.

“This, this soup…”

“Did you notice it too, brother? Indeed, the concentration of Spiritual Energy is extremely high, and the stewing has brought out the flavor perfectly…”

“It, it couldn’t be — “

While everyone else was still in shock, one cultivator had already raised his bowl and gulped it down.

After drinking, he quietly closed his eyes to sense it.

A moment later, he suddenly stared with eyes as wide as goose eggs.

“There’s no mistake, there’s no mistake… This is genuine Spirit Soup! I feel that my Spirit Vein has been significantly nourished!”

“Is it true? This is actually Spirit Food! Brother He Qiu not only knows sword techniques but is even so accomplished in Spirit Chef recipes!”

“Quick, give me another bowl! This is too delicious!”

In an instant, all the Orthodox Path cultivators were in an uproar.

After all, ordinary people rarely had the chance to eat professionally prepared Spirit Food.

Fruits and plants containing Spiritual Energy were easy to find, but after eating most of them, the nutrients couldn’t be directly absorbed by the body.

Many valuable components would be wasted.

However, a professional Spirit Chef who studied culinary arts could perfectly resolve this.

A powerful Spirit Chef could carefully stew spirit meat and spirit fruits, breaking down the Spiritual Energy that was originally difficult to absorb and transforming it into Spirit Food that could be absorbed by the body.

With this layer of food processing by a Spirit Chef, the cultivation value of ‘Spirit Food’ would increase a hundredfold.

Being able to replenish Spiritual Energy and grow stronger just by eating was something everyone loved.

However, a Spirit Chef was difficult to train and was considered an extremely rare profession.

First of all, Spirit Chefs did not possess combat or self-defense capabilities, so most people were unwilling to learn the trade.

Secondly, becoming a Spirit Chef was a great test of talent.

Without a master to guide them and a large amount of ingredients to practice with, it was difficult for an average person to achieve success.

It was a profession with a high threshold and low returns.

Therefore, there were very few Spirit Chefs in the Spirit Cultivation Realm, and every portion of Spirit Food was exceptionally precious.

To think that Brother He Qiu actually possessed the skills of a Spirit Chef as well.

He had made a casual breakfast, yet it was Spirit Food of such quality!

Thinking of this, the cultivators looked at He Qiu with even more respect.

“Since Brother He Qiu is so kind, we shall graciously accept!”

“Brother He Qiu is truly a man of hidden depths. We will certainly remember the kindness of this breakfast!”

“Brother He Qiu, if fate permits, please allow us to bring top-grade spirit fruits to your door to thank you!”

They all stepped forward to express their gratitude, placing their bowls at their sides and bowing with their hands pressed together, thanking He Qiu respectfully.

Then, they began to bury their heads in the soup.

‘?’

He Qiu stood frozen to the side, nearly having a question mark written on his face.

He felt that the way these Orthodox Path cultivators looked at him was becoming more and more strange.

They had helped him keep watch, and he had invited them for soup.

At most, this could only be considered a normal return of kindness.

There was nothing wrong with social reciprocity.

But why were they sighing toward the sky, nodding in admiration, and even crying while they drank?

‘What is going on? I didn’t even put chili peppers in the soup. Is such an exaggerated reaction necessary?’

He Qiu didn’t quite understand, and he didn’t dare to ask too much.

For a while, the sound of slurping soup echoed everywhere, looking very much like a scene of students devouring food in a high school cafeteria.

***

A while later, Zi Menghan and Luo Qianning returned from washing up.

Looking at the empty iron pot, Zi Menghan raised an eyebrow slightly, not quite understanding the situation.

Luo Qianning’s lips twitched as she said aggrievedly, “I haven’t even had a single sip of the soup Junior Brother boiled!”

“You… Why didn’t you wait for us? You drank it all…”

To be honest, Luo Qianning had smelled the mellow fragrance of the soup when she woke up and was craving it intensely.

She had been looking forward to tasting He Qiu’s cooking and had been excited the whole way back.

But now?

Good grief, where did that big pot of soup go?

Why were these Orthodox Path cultivators all looking so full and intoxicated?

Was the soup Junior Brother stewed really that good?

So good that not even a single bowl was left?

Her expectations shattered, Luo Qianning was speechless.

Just then, several Orthodox Path cultivators realized their mistake.

“Ah, Lady Qianning, our apologies. The soup Brother He Qiu stewed was simply too delicious. We unknowingly…”

“Yes, yes. It was amazing… *burp*!”

“Sorry, Lady Qianning. We’re truly sorry. Our silly mouths were just too greedy!”

“Forget it.”

Holding her forehead, Luo Qianning sighed.

It was just a breakfast; it wasn’t worth making a fuss over.

Beside her, He Qiu spoke up to comfort her, “It’s fine. It’s just a meal. I’ll cook for you another day.”

Honestly, he hadn’t expected these Orthodox Path cultivators to finish every drop of the soup.

He was even starting to wonder if the mushrooms he used were some kind of hallucinogenic variety.

Why were these people getting more addicted as they drank?

In the blink of an eye, the soup in the iron pot had vanished.

The speed at which they ate could only be described as wolfing it down.

But it didn’t make sense.

When he followed the big sister from next door to pick mushrooms on the mountain as a child, that was exactly how she had taught him.

‘Could it be that I actually have a talent for cooking?’

“Junior Brother, you promised! Next time you make soup, I want the same kind you made this morning!”

Luo Qianning spoke with a hint of petulance and a spoiled, willful tone.

The more something was unobtainable, the more tempting it became.

Originally, that pot of fragrant mushroom soup had been right in front of her, within reach, but in the end, she hadn’t gotten to drink it.

As a little foodie, Luo Qianning’s heart was truly itching.

She didn’t want to eat anything else right now; she only cared about that pot of mushroom soup her junior brother had stewed.

“No problem. If you want to drink it, come find me another day.”

He Qiu didn’t refuse.

Toward his benefactor and Senior Sister, let alone one meal of mushroom soup, he would have no problem cooking for her for one month.

Of course, that was provided Luo Qianning didn’t get tired of it or look down on He Qiu’s cooking.