Chapter 6 - After Effects

Your [Tier] has increased by 1 level.

[Essence Enhancement] has increased by 1 level.

Buzzing in his head. Some annoying fly caught in the web of his ears, maybe? Couldn't be that clean in there. There were no cotton swabs in here, and the other options were too unreliable that Lei feared he might break something crucial in his head should he try to work anything but a finger up in his ears.

He shook, and spat phlegm on the ground, his feet singing a painful song as he winced his way up to the table, clutched the edges, and pulled himself afoot, breath rasping in his chest.

A look around the room let him understand that it wasn't the world, but his mind that had decided to go on a crazy number of spins. Fatty Lou lay snoring under the table, one hand caught between the hinges of the chair, his index finger seemingly had stopped mid-way reaching for the Spirited Fried Rice.

Deep breaths. Take deep breaths.

What in the eighteen hells, or six paths of reincarnation had happened? Did they somehow overdose on spiritual food? Could it be that this was the legendary state that fell many a famous cultivator, Qi Deviation the devil itself?

No. Deviation would've killed us. This was different.

The most sensible explanation was that their body couldn't take all that Qi. Then again, Lei had never thought a simple dish would carry Qi so intense that'd leave them breathless. Everything, from the tips of his fingers to the nape of his neck, hurt like a bastard.

Oh?

But his feet were light as feathers. A step took him round the table, and another out from the door where he breathed the fresh air, bathing under the blazing lights of the morning sun.

Sun? Did we sleep through the night?

That explained the bad taste in his mouth, and his throat, too, parched like a cracked patch of earth that'd been roasted under the blazing sun. What about his face, then?

Lei sprung back into his house and raised a pot near his face to check if there was anything wrong with him. A stained, exhausted face glared back from the pot's darkened surface. But other than the trails of blood dried under his nose, there didn't seem to be anything broken at all.

He sighed out a long breath. That was a relief.

Then he froze. The wok, the pots, and the plates… everything looked as though somebody had licked them clean. Not even a grain of rice was left on them.

You brats! You're going to kill yourselves!

He shot Fatty Lou one last look and decided not to wake him up. He looked too peaceful in this rather twisted state, so Lei pulled that arm from the chair and put it over on the floor. He didn't have it in him to carry him to the bed.

He had other worries. Yes, that was the reason.

Outside, the sight of ruined houses and deserted backyards, bushes, and weeds slowly consuming the once lively streets greeted him. He shaded his eyes with one hand and decided to check the system as he started.

Name: Liang Lei

Age: 20

Class: Chef

Tier: Novice 3

Skills: Eyes of the Yellow Maiden.

Cooking Skills: [Essence Enhancement - Novice 2]

His right eye twitched when he saw the system's generous evaluation of him as a Novice 3 chef. Other than that, though, the new skill had gained a level too, but Lei still didn't have any idea about what these upgrades meant.

The skill must've become more effective, but how should he measure this improvement was beyond him. He didn't have dozens of spiritual ingredients to do endless experiments, nor did he really have a solid way of getting those. Fatty Lou's uncle in that brothel had said that he could only help them for this once. So that door had been closed for good.

There were other ways, different ways, but Lei wasn't sure if it was worth risking his life just to work his way through a system he didn't know why he got in the first place. Some twisted joke, or a prophecy, perhaps?

But then, a prophecy about a chef didn't sound too realistic.

He could see where things could go from here. The [Essence Enhancement] skill alone had the potential to turn his dishes into pseudo-medicinal pills, and he was sure he'd get more from the system as he kept leveling up.

Does it matter why I got this thing? Can't I just use it?

That sounded good, but the trouble was, that it would mean that he had to be more than a mere stall owner who just wanted to spread a different culinary culture in this ancient world.

There was always the risk of being collateral damage to some cultivator's nuke, though. The choice doesn't always belong to you. Not when some bastards can decide anytime that a mortal city will be a good place to sort their differences.

That was what killed the previous owner of this body. A pack of stray cultivators. They didn't even directly assault the city but razed it to the ground as they passed by it. So in that sense, staying away from cultivators or anything spiritual was just a matter of perspective. If you're a delusional fool thinking that you could find a 'silent' place by some mountain, then by all means you're free to ignore the reality of the world.

It'd be hardly a surprise if the mountain I'd picked turned out to be some primal fucking turtle hiding from its arch enemies.

Lei sighed. It was probably foolish of him to think all of these things while still suffering from the side effects of that Qi overdose. His whole side was screaming at him, and his feet were sore and itching.

Where are these kids?

And why were these ruined houses looked all the same? Those children were few in number, and never stayed in one spot, always changing houses to be safe from the thugs that frequented this place at night. But it also worked the same way against Lei, and he wasn't in the mood to check every single stone to see if they'd been dead or not.

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Well, we're not dead. And there was hardly enough rice for a dozen children. If they all took one or two bites, then I don't think it'd be enough to kill them.

Lei sighed. What a start to the day.

……

He found them all curled up and out cold in some building that had its door jacked between two walls, wooden planks groaning lazily in the occasional wind that drifted down from the far mountains. That seldom breeze was the only thing that made the day bearable. Well, that and the kids were still breathing.

Good, they're not dead.

As he stooped under the beams and worked his way to the other side where about a dozen children lay sleeping on the cold floor, Lei sighed once again. Then something furry caught his eye, hidden behind a girl's arm, its two pointy ears jerking up at the sound of Lei's steps.

"You've even let the cat eat that?" Lei didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he stared at this sight. "I've spoiled you too much!"

Thankfully, Old Ji wasn't here, or else Lei would have to listen to his blabbing about how these kids didn't know what was best for them, or how they would turn into thieves and thugs if he kept pampering them.

Some were already thieves, but Lei tried to put a positive spin on it. They were kids, after all, and kids didn't know how to act in certain situations. Their brains had this basic logic that more often than not got them into trouble.

But not you. You should've known better, you little devil!

Lei leaned over to a boy who had a blissful smile on his face. His friends called him Snake, a name that suggested a sneaky, and vicious thug that roamed the lands, but in truth, he was just a slippery little devil that prided in being not caught after all the things he'd snatched from the stalls.

He had a round face, plump cheeks with dimples on them, and short, spiky dark hair. Lei reckoned he was twelve, or thirteen at most, making him the oldest of these bunch, and he knew how to look after them.

"Sneaky Snake, wake up," Lei poked him with his sandal, but the kid groaned and turned his side, pushing Lei's foot with his hand. That was rude and unacceptable, so Lei raised his voice, "Wake up, you brats!"

That got him some reactions as a couple of heads turned in his direction. A strange silence settled on the cramped space, broken by widening eyes and gasps as the children all stiffened at the sight of Lei.

"It's Lei Lei," said one of them, a girl with long, brown hair who had the kindest eyes in the world, petting the black cat that purred happily in her arms. "Looks like he's awake!"

Lei shook his head at her. "Little Mei, just call me Lei. You don't have to say my name twice."

"It's more fun this way." Little Mei cocked her head to the side, gazing curiously at him. There were enough rice grains stuck on her cheek to suggest that she'd had her fair share from that fried rice, and she giggled as the damned cat licked them off of her face one by one.

"We were supposed to call him the Heavenly Cook!" a voice protested as another child raised a finger to Little Mei's face. This brat was a head taller than Little Mei and had black eyes that glinted under the sunlight.

"Heavenly Cook?" Lei was amused and patted Little Chao on the shoulder. He then knelt beside him, and asked, "Who told you that?"

All the eyes turned to the same spot, where the only child still lay dreaming.

"Of course," Lei mumbled as he leaned closer to Snake, poked him once, twice, and when that wasn't enough, he stretched the boy's eyelids open and snapped his fingers at him. "Wake up, little snake!"

"Big Brother Lei!" Snake's eyes jerked wide open, staring round at him. "What are you doing here?"

"That's my line, you brat," Lei said, scowling. "Didn't we have this talk the other week? And yet you're still stealing, even from your Big Brother here. You all could've died!"

"I didn't steal anything!" Snake waved his hand angrily. "Y-You were sleeping, and I thought letting the food go cold would be a waste, so we took it."

"Sleeping?" That was one way to put it, but Lei didn't bite it. "Didn't you all watch me cook those dishes? I saw you peeking from the holes, don't lie to me!"

Little Snake looked hurt, but he still dared to click his tongue at Lei. "Nobody's lying, Big Brother. We watched you cook that dish, and then you dozed off with that fatty."

"What about you?" Lei asked, rather curious about the effects of those spiritual dishes on these children. They didn't look different, perhaps a little more energetic than always, but that could've been the result of a full belly. "Are you feeling different? Any pain in your stomach, or anywhere else?"

All the children shook their heads at the question, with Snake inching closer to Lei and giving him a reassuring pat on the back, "Big Brother, I've always thought you're a simple cook, but turns out you're a real genius! Your rice even fixed Stone's stomach! He said it didn't hurt anymore."

Little Chao, the so-called Stone, stepped forward and bowed as though a disciple before a Master to Lei. His head nearly touched the ground before he stepped back, respect shining deep in his eyes.

"Are you sure?" Lei asked. That dish near broke him and Fatty Lou. It was a little hard to believe the only effect it had on these children was a good night's sleep. There had to be something, anything.

When the crowd of shuffling heads gave him strange looks, Lei decided it would be best to rely on the system's magic. Why bother trying to get answers from these little devils? There was no trusting them, anyway.

He focused on Snake, using the Yellow Maiden's Eyes on him.

[Song Junjie: Mortal, 1st step of the Body Tempering Stage]

"Wait, what?"

……