I open a restaurant in Xiujie

The setting sun is long, sprinkled with golden light.

Yu Xiaotan pulled Ji Chuchen to sit down in the corner of the tavern, and told him about his experiences and knowledge along the way.

The jungle, the flying fish, the poor brothers and sisters of the Xu family and the domineering Ying Yuanwan, who showed off their skills at the Spirit Cauldron Conference...

Ji Chuchen listened quietly, with light eyes and a smile in his eyes, and his eyes never left Yu Xiaotan's body for a moment.

"...Later, I took Xu Ying as my disciple. That girl's talent is really not bad. The most rare thing is that she comes from a humble background, but she also has a heart that is indomitable and sticks to the righteous way."

The setting sun shines through the window and shines on Yu Xiaotan's beautiful eyebrows: "Although time is limited, in addition to teaching cooking skills, I also left a copy of the textbooks from Yu's Academy for the siblings. Even if we go back to the restaurant in the future Go, with her here, I can also pass on my ideas in Tianzhou."

Ji Chuchen's slender fingers tapped on the window lattice, and after a while, he suddenly said, "Xiaotan, is that Xu Ying you mentioned beautiful?"

Yu Xiaotan froze for a moment: "...Huh?"

"It's probably very beautiful," Ji Chuchen said slowly, "or else we haven't seen each other for so long, and we finally met, but you keep talking about her."

Ji Chuchen's tone was soft and light, gentle and tender, giving people an illusion of calmness and bliss.

But facing his handsome face that seemed to be smiling but not smiling, Yu Xiaotan suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

Yu Xiaotan hurriedly added: "Is it beautiful... I haven't paid attention to it at all, you know I don't care about that."

"Yeah," Ji Chuchen sighed, "You care most about the kitchen, and everyone else has to stand aside."

Yu Xiaotan's head was full of black lines: "...How can I have one?"

Seeing his nervous appearance, Ji Chuchen endured it for a while, and finally burst out laughing with a "puchi".

He pulled Yu Xiaotan into his arms, and the corner of his lips touched Yu Xiaotan's head lightly: "Xiaotan, your light is so dazzling, sometimes I really want to hide you, in a place where no one can find you. "

Yu Xiaotan blushed slightly, and hugged Ji Chuchen back: "...what, what's the light, it's too nasty. By the way, Brother Ji, I heard that you didn't participate in the Spirit Cauldron Conference, but passed the guardian assessment Those who are selected, what kind of assessment is this, and tell me about it?"

"That's... nothing to say."

Ji Chuchen quickly went through the assessments he participated in in his mind, and summed it up in one sentence: "There is no one who can fight."

Yu Xiaotan: "...Pfft."

The two looked at each other, and after a while they laughed together.

"Why don't you try the Spirit Cauldron Conference?" Yu Xiaotan said with a smile, "I found that the competition here values ​​spiritual materials very much. Brother Ji, your storage ring also contains the spiritual materials I prepared. With those bases, even if you do It’s a bit unpalatable, but it’s not necessarily hopeless.”

When this topic was brought up, Ji Chuchen's expression suddenly became subtle.

"Actually..." He hesitated, "It's not like I didn't try..."

"Oh?"

Yu Xiaotan's eyes lit up: "Brother Ji, have you cooked? What are you cooking, fried or stewed, why don't you leave it for me to taste?"

Not counting the naughty sausages before, this is the first time Brother Ji has officially cooked, right?

Thinking of Ji Chuchen's first table of delicacies, which he hadn't tasted at all, Yu Xiaotan felt sour in his heart.

Without thinking, he pulled Ji Chuchen out: "Let's borrow the kitchen of the tavern, Brother Ji, can you cook it for me?"

Ji Chuchen couldn't laugh or cry: "Xiaotan, what I made...uh, it's not delicious."

In front of Yu Xiaotan, Ji Chuchen didn't have the nerve to say that he had blown up the kitchen three times, but only gently reminded that "it's not delicious".

But Yu Xiaotan's eyes brightened: "It's okay, as long as it's made by you, it's delicious!"

Ji Chuchen: "..."

"Let's go Brother Ji," Yu Xiaotan tugged at his sleeve, and looked up at him eagerly, "Shall we go to the kitchen?"

...to what kitchen? !

Ji Chuchen was helpless, stretched out his slender arms, and pulled Yu Xiaotan back into his arms.

Yu Xiaotan was about to say something, but his lips suddenly became hot.

...is a long-lost, lingering kiss.

Facts have proved that this trick is very effective.

Yu Xiaotan was kissed so viciously, and the dispute just now was briefly put to the back of his mind, just at this time, the organizer of the Spirit Cauldron Conference came to invite him, saying that he wanted to invite all spirit chefs to the dinner.

"No problem," Yu Xiaotan asked, "Where will it be held?"

The visitor smiled slightly, and pointed to the door: "Zhaixing Pavilion."

……

Following the guidance of the visitor, Yu Xiaotan finally saw Zhaixing Pavilion.

As its name suggests, the pavilion towers into the clouds, and its grandeur is no less than that of Yu Xiaotan's Xuantu Pagoda. When you look up, there are faint stars twinkling on the top of the pavilion, and the Milky Way flows.

Ji Chuchen is not a spirit chef, so he was not among those invited, so at this moment, Yu Xiaotan was the only one walking alone.

"Old man Zhao said that the final exam of the Lingding Conference will be held in the Zhaixing Pavilion..." Yu Xiaotan raised his head and murmured, "You won't start the exam as soon as you enter the city, and you won't be given a rest all night, right?"

Just wondering, he suddenly heard someone shouting behind him: "Xiaotan, Yu Xiaotan!"

Yu Xiaotan turned his head quickly, and saw a young man in Tsing Yi in the crowd with a smile on his face, pulling the young man beside him and waving desperately at him.

"Senior Qiongqing, Brother Che?"

Yu Xiaotan was overjoyed: "You guys are here too?"

He wanted to have a chat with Qiongqing, but under the guide's guidance, the contestants from each district were led into corridors in different directions, and Yu Xiaotan had no choice but to temporarily suppress his excitement in his heart.

"Senior Qiongqing and Big Brother Che are here, Uncle Wang and the people in Tsing Yi are definitely fine."

Thinking of the identity of the founder of Qingyiren Guanghuazhai, and his cooking skills far beyond ordinary people, Yu Xiaotan felt a lot more at ease.

Although they ascended the pavilion from different directions, maybe... we can meet up on the top floor?

I don't even know what's on the roof.

With faint excitement, Yu Xiaotan stepped up the steps.

……

The building is high and the steps are long.

Winding up, circle after circle, looking up, there is a weird feeling of getting lost, and looking down, there is an illusion of not knowing where it came from.

The surroundings are cramped, and even the steps can only accommodate one person, and the surrounding light is dim. The longer you walk, the more you will feel an almost suffocating depression in your heart.

There are murals on the wall, but it seems that they have been blurred for a long time.

"Tick, tick."

There seemed to be the sound of rain falling overhead.

The sound of footsteps below gradually became noisy. I didn't expect such a scene in the Zhaixing Pavilion, and all the spirit chefs were a little impetuous.

The guide carrying the oil lamp walked in the front, and he suddenly said, "Remind, everyone, please don't use your spiritual power."

"The steps here must be climbed on foot, otherwise... you will be out."

Someone below shouted, "Why?"

"We are spiritual chefs, and we should use spiritual power to cook. Besides, why should we waste time on boring climbing stairs? Wouldn't it be better to start the banquet earlier?"

The guide said slowly: "The banquet depends on who is holding it."

"Just like a spiritual chef, cooking dishes is just a means, don't forget the fundamentals of cooking."

A rustling wind came from nowhere in the building, blowing away the voice of the passer-by, and the people below couldn't hear it clearly, so they asked: "What?"

The guide stopped talking.

He just turned around and smiled at the man.

The candlelight fluttered, making people's faces dark, and the shadow projected on the rough wall shook slightly, which made Yu Xiaotan's heart skip a beat.

He suddenly had a bad premonition.

After a while, someone from behind suddenly exclaimed.

"My spiritual power, I can't feel my spiritual power anymore!"

"What's going on, where is my spiritual root?"

"The body is so heavy, why is it so heavy...No, something is wrong, we have become mortals?!"

"The man with the lantern...you stop! I make you stop! Get off!"

"Wait, look at the mural on the wall, the mural is wrong!"

The first shout rang out in the quiet Star Picking Pavilion, like a stone falling into the water, causing an uproar in an instant.

The spirit chefs panicked, screaming and covering their wrists: "Liar, you liar!"

"This is not the Star Picking Pavilion, nor the Spirit Cauldron Conference!"

Amidst the shouts, Yu Xiaotan also felt that his footsteps gradually became heavy.

The spiritual power in his body seemed to be drained in an instant, the unsupported spiritual roots shrunk pitifully, even the sea of ​​consciousness was closed, and the colorful rays of light that had never gone wrong and the golden pages in the sea of ​​consciousness were also here. Instantly lost contact with Yu Xiaotan.

This was not enough, the murals on the wall suddenly shimmered, and an extremely strong sense of fatigue suddenly hit, like the Ten Thousand Jun Mountains, pressing on everyone's spine.

It seems that they are not stepping on flat steps, but on a winding and rugged mountain road, with a towering and steep cliff in front of them; they are not distinguished spiritual chefs, but coolies carrying heavy burdens, staggering , Sweating like rain, I have to pick up the sand and gravel to the top of the mountain.

Thick clouds shrouded both sides, and the light was dim, like an abyss with a huge mouth wide open, waiting for them to exhaust themselves with a sly smile.

The steps that have already been passed turned into a sea of ​​blood, surging in the rear. If you look closely, the things deposited in the sea are piles of bones and residual limbs, which is shocking.

Yu Xiaotan's heart skipped a beat, his chest was pounding.

Feeling the changes around him, he wondered in surprise: Could it be that he is really a liar?

Yu Xiaotan raised his head, looked over the crowd of panicked people, and landed at the front of the line.

The guide who stood there quietly sighed and shook his head slightly.

"This is the Zhaixing Pavilion, and it is also the final assessment of the Spirit Cauldron Conference that you are talking about."

"That's why I said, don't forget the fundamentals of cooking."

He turned around with the lantern in his hand, and continued to climb up the stairs, leaving behind a crowd of howling ghosts and howling wolves, and only left one last sentence: "If you can figure it out, follow me, I'll wait for you on the top floor."

"Within half an hour, if someone can climb to the top, he will be the number one."