diymy Chapter 28: Snow Mountain! Fox! Braised Duck! So Delicious!
Chapter 28: Snow Mountain! Fox! Braised Duck! So Delicious!
With the help of the maze map provided by the system, Dong Mo and his group, after forming an alliance, moved freely in the maze. Even when they occasionally encountered traps, Dong Mo easily overcame them with the help of the map.
At first, Gu Ziyue was somewhat resentful of Dong Mo, always thinking about taking over command and leading the way herself. However, after disobeying Dong Mo's advice and falling into several traps, she was pulled back from the brink of danger by Dong Mo.
Gu Ziyue, that silly fox, learned her lesson and obediently followed behind Dong Mo and Xiao Bai, never mentioning the matter of command again.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Gu Ziyue's pace gradually slowed down.
"Hey, Xiao Mo, how much longer until we get there?"
Dong Mo glanced at the map, estimated how far his group was from the array plate, and then spoke to Gu Ziyue.
"At our current pace, we should arrive in about an incense stick's time."
"Ah...it's so far!"
Gu Ziyue complained and said to Dong Mo.
"I can't walk anymore, can I rest for a bit?"
Gu Ziyue drawled, her voice full of exhaustion. The battle with the Black Tooth Serpent King had already taken a huge toll on her, and being chased around the maze by Dong Mo and Xiao Bai had further drained her remaining strength.
In addition, the non-stop travel had caused Gu Ziyue, who possessed the bloodline of the Demon Emperor, to feel soreness in her waist and legs and a lack of strength.
Dong Mo glanced at Gu Ziyue's pitiful, listless, and exhausted appearance, and readily nodded.
"Since Captain is tired and needs to rest, let's take a break."
Upon hearing this, Gu Ziyue felt relieved. She found a flat stone slab to sit on and prepared to meditate and circulate her internal energy to recover her strength.
However, as soon as she closed her eyes, a series of strange clanging sounds came from beside her.
Gu Ziyue squinted one eye and saw Dong Mo and Xiao Bai taking things out of their storage bags.
Pots, pans, various ingredients, and bottles and jars of seasonings were scattered all over the ground by Dong Mo and Xiao Bai.
"What...what are you doing?"
Faced with Gu Ziyue's curious question, Dong Mo, while setting up the stove, said matter-of-factly, "What else can we do? Of course, we'll start a fire and cook, and have a good rest."
Although both Dong Mo and Xiao Bai were able to practice abstaining from grains, Dong Mo, as a transmigrator, insisted on eating three meals a day after transmigrating to satisfy his appetite.
Xiao Bai fully supported this, and even specially studied a few cooking skills to please Dong Mo.
Gu Ziyue frowned upon hearing this, and pointed at Dong Mo and Xiao Bai with a look of disdain.
"Hmph... We cultivators should live on the dew and the rosy clouds, ensuring our Dao hearts are pure and flawless. How can we, like ordinary people and mindless beasts, indulge in the desires of the palate?"
Without even looking up, Dong Mo began peddling his twisted logic to Gu Ziyue while rinsing the spirit rice.
"If a single meal can disturb your resolve, it means your cultivation is still incomplete."
"Everything in the world has its own great principles, and the way of food is naturally one of them."
Gu Ziyue was too lazy to argue with him. She just glanced at Dong Mo with disdain and closed her eyes again.
Hmph! Taking care of a younger brother is just taking care of a younger brother; your resolve in the Dao is still not firm enough!
He's still indulging in culinary pleasures. Once he comes back to the Southern Wilderness with me to acknowledge his ancestors, I'll definitely teach him a lesson for these bad habits...
Xiao Bai deftly put the spirit rice into the pot, and then sliced the meat of various rare birds and beasts that Dong Mo had previously purchased from the Void City into thin slices, and cooked it into a pot of spirit porridge with a few kinds of spirit vegetables full of spiritual energy.
As the iron pot began to boil, the aroma of rice mixed with the scent of meat filled the maze-like passageway.
On the other hand, Dong Mo took out several spirit bird hooks shaped like wild ducks from his storage bag, along with braised duck made with spirit vegetables, and slowly heated them over a fire.
The meat of the jujube is firm and oily. After being marinated in sauce, it is slowly roasted over a low flame, and the fat under the skin sizzles as it is licked by the campfire below.
The aroma of soy sauce and meat intertwined, domineeringly overpowering the delicate fragrance of the porridge.
Gu Ziyue closed her eyes tightly, trying her best to calm herself down.
But the fragrance seemed to have grown legs, relentlessly trying to get into Gu Ziyue's nose.
The aroma of braised duck fat, the fragrance of rice in the spirit porridge, and the rich flavors of beast meat and spirit vegetables—layer upon layer of fragrance—shattered the composure she had painstakingly gathered.
Gu Ziyue quietly opened one eye. Dong Mo and Xiao Bai were enjoying a hearty meal around the iron pot by the campfire.
Looking at the greasy duck leg in Dong Mo's hand, Gu Ziyue's throat involuntarily tightened, and tears involuntarily streamed from the corner of her mouth.
Dong Mo seemed to sense something and looked up at Gu Ziyue.
Gu Ziyue quickly closed her eyes, reverted to a meditative posture, and began chanting incantations as if she were reciting some profound mental cultivation technique.
Dong Mo saw through her little schemes and said to Gu Ziyue with a mischievous grin.
"Captain, would you like to come and grab something to eat?"
Gu Ziyue didn't even lift her eyelids, and pretended to be in deep meditation, completely ignoring what Dong Mo was saying.
Then, Gu Ziyue cursed inwardly.
Hmph... Who wants to eat what you give me! I, Gu Ziyue, would rather jump off this cliff and die outside than eat a single thing from you!
However, the glistening "tears" that flowed from the corners of her mouth had already dripped down her chin onto her clothes, leaving a small dark stain on the chest of her robe.
Seeing this, Dong Mo suppressed his laughter, picked up a braised duck, walked to Gu Ziyue's side, and playfully waved the braised duck in front of Gu Ziyue.
"Oh... how pitiful~ Here's a braised duck for you, hopefully it will help you get through the winter."
Gu Ziyue narrowed her eyes, stealing a glance at the glistening braised duck in front of her, finding Dong Mo's words utterly baffling. What winter nonsense? Where would winter come from in a maze?
"Huh? You really aren't going to eat it?"
Dong Mo moved the braised duck closer, almost touching her nose: "If you're not going to eat it, I can take it away."
The aroma of braised duck wafted towards her nose. Gu Ziyue's willpower completely crumbled at that moment.
Gu Ziyue opened her mouth and bit directly into the duck leg, the oily aroma of the duck leg exploding instantly in her mouth.
At this moment, only one thought remained in Gu Ziyue's mind.
Ah! It smells so good...
A few minutes later.
"Ah! That feels so good..."
Gu Ziyue threw the empty iron pot on the ground, and in front of her were two cleanly gnawed duck skeletons.
After finishing most of the pot of spiritual porridge and gnawing on two braised ducks, Gu Ziyue patted her slightly bulging belly and burped contentedly, her face full of unsatisfied satisfaction.
"Brother Xiao!" Gu Ziyue suddenly straightened up, her eyes shining as she looked at Dong Mo and said, "Why don't you and Sister Dong Bai come and work for me from now on!"
"From now on, you'll be my personal chefs, and I guarantee you'll receive the highest level of treatment. I'll even give you both the same cultivation resources as me! How about it?"
Dong Mo helped Xiao Bai clear the dishes and shook his head at Gu Ziyue with a smile.
"If I ever really have nowhere else to turn in the future, I will consider Miss Ziyue's suggestion."
"For now... let's forget about it."
Upon hearing this, Gu Ziyue pouted in disappointment, but did not continue to pester Dong Mo.
Then she turned her gaze to Xiao Bai, who was quickly cleaning up the pots and pans. She was thinking about how to find another opportunity to freeload a meal in the future.
Because the ingredients Dong Mo used for cooking were all high-grade spiritual herbs and beasts, the effect of this meal was no less than taking a batch of Qi-replenishing pills.
So after finishing their meal, Dong Mo and the other two silently began to refine the spiritual objects inside their bellies.
Xiao Bai and Gu Ziyue each closed their eyes and sat in meditation.
In contrast, Dong Mo borrowed the Purple Nether Sword from Xiao Bai, then got up and walked to an empty space to begin practicing the Mindfulness True Understanding.
Dong Mo's move, seemingly just practicing swordsmanship, was actually a triple kill, simultaneously launching a three-pronged attack.
It both nurtured the Purple Nether Sword and increased the favorability of the Spirit Sword.
At the same time, he used his double pupils to deduce the Tranquil Mind Sword Technique, indirectly increasing his proficiency and favorability with the Tranquil Mind Sword Technique.
Finally, the sword energy generated by the cultivation technique was able to nourish the Devouring Heaven True Blood, and the favorability between the three parties silently and rapidly increased as the sword light rose and fell.
Meanwhile, Gu Ziyue, seeing Dong Mo's strange swordsmanship, asked curiously, "I've been wanting to ask you this since earlier, what kind of swordsmanship are you practicing?"
Dong Mo sheathed his sword and stood still, casually replying, "I practice the Xiao family's ancestral sword technique."
"Oh? The Xiao family's ancestral sword technique? Is this all the sword technique Xiao Hongchen passed down? It doesn't look that great to me."
As soon as Gu Ziyue finished speaking, the panel in front of Dong Mo suddenly flashed.
It turned out that with Dong Mo's previous help, the Tranquil Sword Technique, which had regained its confidence, was now protesting against Gu Ziyue.
[Tranquil Mind Sword Technique: This mere defeated opponent dares to jump out and say I'm no good! Dong Mo, you teach her a lesson! After this is done, I'll help you advance your sword technique to the third level!]
Seeing this, Dong Mo couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
Gu Ziyue, you are truly my lucky charm!
You just gave me the Devouring Heaven True Blood, and now you're jumping out to help me master the Tranquil Mind Sword Technique. I don't even know how to thank you enough.
Dong Moqiang suppressed the smile on his lips, looked up at Gu Ziyue, and casually made a suggestion.
"Miss Ziyue, since we have some free time now, how about we have a swordsmanship contest? I'd also like to see the swordsmanship tradition of the Southern Wilderness demon race!"