After setting up the tent and building a fire, Ju Zi and Ke Ke returned shortly, chatting and laughing. The two women approached Huo Yuhao, and a flash of light appeared on their storage soul tools, revealing a pile of ingredients.
There were some kind of mushrooms, several fresh fish weighing about 1.5 pounds each, and even a musk deer.
"So fast?" Huo Yuhao counted the supplies on the grass. Surprisingly, there were quite a few.
"There are plenty of resources around here; it's easy to get them," Ju Zi said with a smile, while also taking out pots, pans, and a lot of seasonings and ingredients. "Ke Ke, let's prepare the ingredients. Yuhao can show off his cooking skills later."
"Okay!" Ke Ke didn't refuse, and the two women immediately began preparing the ingredients. They scraped the scales and tendons from the fish, and cut the musk deer into different edible parts, all neatly arranged.
The stream was right next to them, making preparation easy.
However, there was a difference in speed between Ju Zi and Ke Ke's preparation; Ju Zi was noticeably faster, clearly an experienced cook.
With everything ready, it was Huo Yuhao's time to shine.
"How about we make a thick soup to go with the grilled fish and meat?" Huo Yuhao asked thoughtfully, looking at the ingredients presented before him.
"You're the chef, you decide," Ju Zi waved her hand dismissively.
"Just a quick question, Yuhao, can you really cook?" Ke Ke asked tentatively.
"It's alright, I hope you'll be satisfied," Huo Yuhao replied without boasting, quickly getting to work.
Besides the ingredients they'd found in the mountains, Ju Zi had also brought extra ingredients like butter, milk, and bacon—too much!
Ke Ke couldn't help but complain; other Soul Masters would stuff every inch of their storage Soul Tools, but Huo Yuhao seemed to have filled every available space with food.
The 'artificial stove,' though rudimentary, was sufficient. Huo Yuhao methodically prepared a fragrant mushroom and beef soup.
The saying "a man who cooks is the most captivating" is certainly true. After delving into the art of cooking, Huo Yuhao's expression became incredibly focused, every movement as smooth and elegant as if he were crafting a work of art.
Just like a certain Uncle Mads who enjoys "making people."
The rich soup, made from mushrooms, butter, milk, beef cubes, and a variety of other ingredients, gradually came to life. The aroma of milk and fragrance began to waft from the pot, and just then, a gentle evening breeze carried the scent to the two women's nostrils. The enticing aroma truly tempted their appetites.
Orange and Keke leaned closer, their mouths watering at the milky-white soup.
"You can have some soup first, I'll grill the fish and meat."
Huo Yuhao said unhurriedly, picking up the fish that Ju Zi and Ke Ke had already skewered and placing it on the grill. A glint appeared in his spiritual eyes as he precisely controlled the grilling of every part of the fish. As the flames rose and intertwined with the fish, Huo Yuhao had a precise measure in his mind of how long to grill each part, not a second more, not a second less.
Ju Zi and Ke Ke first served Huo Yuhao a bowl of soup, then sat down beside him, enjoying the mushroom and beef soup while watching him grill the fish.
The fish tumbled and turned, the scorching flames surging, and the evening breeze carried away some of the heat from their faces, making the temperature just right. Because it was near the northern part of the Sun Moon Empire, the weather was slightly chilly, and when the steaming, delicious mushrooms and beef entered their stomachs, they felt as if they had come back to life, incredibly comfortable and pleasant.
Ju Zi and Ke Ke only took a few bites before surprise appeared in their beautiful eyes.
"Huo Yuhao, your cooking is pretty good!" Ke Ke exclaimed, praising Huo Yuhao as he ate heartily the soup.
"It's not that great, just edible," Huo Yuhao chuckled. "Actually, I haven't cooked since leaving Shrek Academy." Ke Ke
teased, "Your girlfriend is really lucky. We Soul Masters and Soul Masters prioritize cultivation, and there aren't many who are good at cooking. Hehe, I'm lucky. Sister Ju is a good cook, and you are too. I've met both of them."
Huo Yuhao smiled but didn't say anything more. Actually, many of the dishes he knew how to cook were learned from his master's wife because Sister Xiao Tao liked them.
Unexpectedly, he worked hard to learn these dishes for Sister Xiao Tao, and as a result, Sister Xiao Tao also went to his master's wife to learn, saying she would cook for him from now on.
You see, Sister Xiao Tao grew up spoiled by her master and master's wife and had never cooked before.
Unexpectedly, they went to each other.
It had been a year since he'd seen her, and he wondered how Sister Xiao Tao was doing. As he cooked, Huo Yuhao's thoughts drifted away.
"Yuhao!"
Suddenly, Ju Zi exclaimed. Huo Yuhao snapped out of his daze and realized that a part of the grilled fish in the center was slightly burnt. He quickly picked it up, "Sorry, sorry, I was daydreaming. I'll eat the burnt one, you guys can have these."
Huo Yuhao took the fish with the slightly burnt skin and handed the rest to Ju Zi and Ke Ke.
"You can even daydream? What's wrong? Missing your girlfriend?" Ju Zi, seeing Huo Yuhao's slightly surprised look, took the burnt fish.
Ke Ke also looked over with a gossipy expression.
Huo Yuhao glanced at Ju Zi and didn't deny it, nodding sincerely, "Yes."
"Oh~"
Hearing this, the two girls smiled slightly, but didn't ask any more questions, stopping them in time.
Huo Yuhao's grilled fish tasted excellent. Ke Ke had heard about it many times from Ju Zi's descriptions, and now that she had the chance to taste it herself, she naturally wouldn't miss it, immediately biting into the fish and digging in.
"Swish."
As the tender fish meat, infused with chili powder and cumin, and the crispy skin were chewed, a fragrant aroma filled her mouth, and Ke Ke's pupils widened immediately.
She held the grilled fish in surprise, examining it closely.
"See? I didn't lie to you, did I?" Ju Zi chuckled, seeing her expression.
Ke Ke nodded silently, her eyes filled with amazement. If the soup was decent enough, the grilled fish was truly exceptional.
There weren't many grilled fish to begin with, and they were quickly finished. Next, Huo Yuhao started grilling meat—the meat from the musk deer.
The meat was cut into palm-length pieces, two fingers wide. Perhaps due to the vitality of the Douluo Continent, the musk deer meat was of excellent quality.
"You two don't have any dietary restrictions, do you?" Huo Yuhao asked.
"No, no," the two girls quickly shook their heads.
"Alright then." Huo Yuhao nodded, immediately taking out three small bowls and preparing three portions of barbecue sauce. Neither of the women could see exactly what was in the sauces.
But as Huo Yuhao smiled and focused on preparing the sauces, Ju Zi stared at him, stunned.
In her childhood, her family ran a barbecue restaurant. When customers came, her father would always smile and diligently prepare a sauce—an act to satisfy the diners. In the dim firelight, that image seemed to overlap with Huo Yuhao's.
"Dad." Memories flooded back, and Orange's eyes welled up with tears as she unconsciously uttered the name she hadn't used in many years.
Unfortunately, Huo Yuhao had just finished mixing the sauce and turned to hand it to her, only to see Orange calling him "Dad."
Caught off guard by being called "Dad," Huo Yuhao visibly froze, holding the sauce bowl and looking around blankly.
Keke, initially confused, quickly tugged at Orange's arm after confirming she hadn't misheard, exclaiming in surprise, "Sister Orange, what are you doing?"
Ju Zi looked at Huo Yuhao, seemingly understanding, and said sadly, "I'm sorry, I remembered things from the past."
"It's alright." Although it was a misunderstanding, it felt strange to be called "Dad" by a stranger for the first time in his life.
"Come on, eat some meat." The roasted meat didn't need to be roasted for too long. With precise control, Huo Yuhao distributed the pieces of roasted meat into the three people's bowls.
Ke Ke naturally didn't stand on ceremony and immediately started eating.
Ju Zi looked at the roasted meat in the small bowl of sauce, picked up a piece and put it in her mouth. The tender roasted meat melted into juices with a gentle chew and entered her stomach. Combined with the slightly sweet, honey-like sauce, it was incredibly delicious.
This taste... Ju Zi froze instantly, her eyes turning red. If the sauce was a repetition of appearances, then the taste was a repetition of flavors.
The intense familiarity made Ju Zi completely stunned.
It was like a wanderer who had been away from home for many years, returning home and eating the food cooked by their parents—that feeling of belonging.
Keke, oblivious to Ju Zi's red eyes and the look of impending tears, continued to enjoy her meal.
"Here."
"Thank you."
Huo Yuhao discreetly handed her a tissue. Ju Zi looked up in confusion at first, then felt a warmth in her heart and took it to wipe her eyes.
It was so similar; when she was little, her father would also smile and hand her a tissue.
The meal ended in a lively atmosphere. Everyone washed up and tidied up, intending to rest in their tents.
Suddenly, Huo Yuhao noticed something amiss. He frowned, looked up, spread his wings, and quickly flew into the air, gazing at the deep and vast Jingyang Mountains from tens of kilometers away.
The unusual situation quickly became apparent.
From Huo Yuhao's perspective, he noticed that when the moonlight fell into the Jingyang Mountains, it seemed to have a funnel-like distortion, as if the moonlight was being swallowed up.
This discovery piqued Huo Yuhao's interest. He returned to the ground and walked to the tent of Ju Zi and Ke Ke, calling out,
"May I ask if there's anything special about the Jingyang Mountains?"
Inside the tent, the two women were chatting and laughing. Hearing Huo Yuhao's question, they stopped and popped out, puzzled. "Something special?"
"Look, when the moonlight falls on the Jingyang Mountains, it seems to be swallowed up," Huo Yuhao gestured to them.
Ju Zi and Ke Ke stood up again and looked in the direction Huo Yuhao was pointing, but both frowned. "Really?"
Huo Yuhao was somewhat surprised by their answer. "Didn't you notice?"
"No," Ke Ke shook her head and said, "I've been to the Jingyang Mountains several times, and I've never encountered what you described." "
Could it be that Yuhao is mistaken?" Ju Zi clearly thought Huo Yuhao was mistaken as well.
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao's eyes flickered slightly. He said nothing more, and smiled faintly, "Perhaps I really did see wrong."
"Then let's rest first."
The two women returned to the tent, leaving Huo Yuhao alone, standing there gazing into the distance with a deep look in his eyes. His eyes would not be wrong.
The Jingyang Mountains probably hold some special secret, perhaps related to the moon, because when they arrived during the day, there was no distortion from absorbing sunlight.
They would have to observe it carefully once they got there during the day.
...
Among the peaks, countless natural caves are hidden, and one of them conceals the headquarters of the Holy Spirit Cult. Its network of passageways is firmly controlled by the Holy Spirit Cult's evil soul masters.
It is only a few dozen kilometers away from Mingdu, located in the Western Mountains. Perhaps the Western Mountains are a somewhat unfamiliar place, but the name itself makes it familiar.
Qiankun Dog Training Valley is also deep in the Western Mountains.
Bright soul-guiding lights radiated from the smooth walls all around, without any darkness, bloodshed, or filth. Compared to conventional evil forces, the Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters could even be considered clean and tidy.
Within the vast territory, a statue tens of meters tall sat deep within, its face solemn and righteous, wielding a massive longsword and clad in heavy armor. This was the statue of the legendary Holy Emperor of the Holy Spirit Cult.
However, the Holy Emperor was merely a legend; no one had ever seen him. It was said that the legend had existed for ten thousand years, and that the Holy Emperor had once saved the evil spirit masters, helping them escape the prison that held them.
At the head of the table, Zhongli Wu sat upright, with Vice Sect Leader Feng Ling beside him. Seats were then assigned according to the order of elders.
Besides the Sect Leader and Vice Sect Leader, there were eight elder seats, six of which were already occupied, all of them titled Douluo-level powerhouses.
The First Elder and the Fifth Elder were absent; the former, of high rank, was exempt from the meeting, while the latter was in Dongyang City completing a mission against the Sea Princess clan of the Far North Ice Sea.
"You all understand the mission. How to carry it out is self-evident," Zhongli Wu said calmly, looking at the group of people standing respectfully before him.
At a glance, there were eighty evil soul masters gathered together. All of them were dressed in long, black robes, and even the lowest-ranking among them possessed the strength of a Soul King.
The sect leader spoke, and the crowd silently looked up. Their faces were varied, but the fierce light in their eyes was remarkably uniform, and a chilling aura spread, causing the temperature to drop sharply.
"Yan Feng, Lu Genggeng, Tang Dai, Gu Yu, Dai Huabin, Hei Shui, Qiu Tang, Yu Jingjing, you eight are specially selected to participate in this plan. Don't mess it up. Of course, whoever completes the task perfectly will receive a substantial reward. Make the most of it."
"Second Elder, Third Elder, Sixth Elder, Seventh Elder, you four will each lead a team to cover the rear. It's getting late; we can move out now. I, the sect leader, will await your good news."
Zhong Liwu stood up, hands behind his back.
"Yes, sir." The four elders rose, bowed, and then strode out.
The eighty evil soul masters dispersed in an orderly fashion, forming teams of twenty, each following an elder.
Blackwater walked on, his gaze unwavering as he glanced at Dai Huabin, a cold-faced man standing in another group beside him.
This fellow, who had a grudge against his master, was a key target of his attention, but unfortunately, he hadn't been assigned to a team for this mission.
The main objective of this trip was to eliminate a nobleman of the Sun Moon Empire named Earl Moonlight.
After leaving the heavily guarded cave, the group quickly disappeared into the darkness, speeding towards Mingdu.
Perhaps due to the bad weather, thick clouds were piling up above Mingdu, creating a sense of impending doom and impending collapse.
The once bustling streets were now less crowded.
Inside the East Palace, Xu Tianran sat in his wheelchair, looking up at the dark sky outside the window, a faint smile on his face.
...
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(End of Chapter)