The Heavenly Wandering Sword
Chapter 60
This year, the apprentices had been sent down the hill and kicked out of the sect for at least six months. This was meant to teach many of the apprentice’s life lessons as well as instill a bit of humility into them. If a disciple had to rely only on their martial art and ended up in the city prison, then he was truly left to the prison. The Thousand Sword Sect had no need for disciples who wanted to cultivate to immortality and bring glory to the sect but couldn’t even live half a year in the mortal realm.
Many of them split into groups while a few of the more promising disciples were cautioned carefully about not misrepresenting the sect itself nor dishonouring the sect’s legacy. This year was special. It was the first time in a century that the sect had a full compliment of Sword Disciples. The sect had a total of six mountains, each emphasizing on a specific kind of swordsmanship. This year however, the inner sect finally had a full set of four hidden disciples. The hidden disciples maintained order throughout the sect in the name of the Sect Master, answerable only to the Sect Master. For most of the disciples, it was not common knowledge who the hidden disciples actually were.
For Li Jian, he looked forward to this. It was six months that he was able to get out of the Sect. He didn’t have to listen to the Sect Master lecture him on wasted talents and the like, and he would be able to pursue a little bit of a life that he had not been afforded in the small fishing village. It also meant that perhaps he would be able to pursue some hobbies of his. First thing first, he had to fill his stomach. For the thousands of hidden treasures the Sect talked about, delicious food was not one of them. He contemplated jumping off the mountain if he had to eat salt pork, salt beans and rice for dinner every night again.
He wasn’t as suave as his friends. There was Mu Yang who could charm the coins out of any beauty’s purse. He wasn’t as beautiful as Lan Bin thankfully but she was invited to some of the finest restaurants by her suitors. He also didn’t have the wealth of Hu Ban, the inheriting lord of the northern Lord that had servants cater to each of his meals. For young Li Jian, there was only whatever wild beasts he could catch and roast himself, or the Sect canteen. He often wondered if there was a Thousand Wok Sect, and if they had an immortal canteen. He had tried his hand at cooking, but his master had cursed him and Buddhist Palmed him every time he caught Li Jian cooking.
In Baiyang city itself, there were quite a few restaurants. The most expensive one was of course the Skytower restaurant. There was no way he would be able to afford to eat there. Forget a thousand spirt stones, he couldn’t scrape together a thousand rocks in his pocket. Maybe he really should take one of those jobs on the job boards one of these days. Maybe it’d get his master off his ass for once.
Thankfully, no one paid him any attention. Ditching the uniform of the Thousand Sword Sect, he wore plain travellers’ tunics. There were plenty of teenage boys in plain clothing so no one gave him a second thought. When he found a nice place, he fingered the few silvers in his pocket and grinned. Today he was going to eat well.
At first the owner of the Happy Goose Eatery was a bit perplexed, and assumed the boy wanted the food to go, for his parents or whoever sent him out. When the teenage boy shook his head and asked for a table, he was worried that he was going to be scammed by another hoodlum again. He sighed and thought to himself. “The kid has a nice sword, I can always take it from him and sell it if he has no money to pay.”
Li Jian stared at the menu on the walls and grinned to himself. First, an order of juicy meat buns. Second, some roasted pork belly. He couldn’t decide between the sweet and sour fish or the fish fillets in wine sauce so he took both. Then he ordered a big plate of stir fried noodles with cabbage and chicken. It took a small bit of time but the dishes soon came to his table. With his eyes wide, he tasted each plate and groaned with satisfaction. Finally! Something that wasn’t salted bullshit this or salted bullshit that. He began devouring the plates, scaring the restaurant owner. “Teenagers do grow fast nowadays.” The owner thought to himself.
When the waiter finally went to go pick up the plates, they were completely empty, licked clean of all sauce and seasoning. When he had recovered from his meal enough, he put a few silvers on the table, never realising the relief that came from the restaurant owners soul when he saw that the child had not just paid but overpaid by a silver. “Boss! Can I have a place to sleep for a bit?” Undisturbed sleep, that was his next goal. He didn’t want to have a sleep where his master might wake him up by trying to stab him or buddhist palm him. He remembered the few cold nights where he had to sleep outside after he asked his master why an old man was so obsessed with touching a young man and his master had buddhist palmed his room.
“Of course of course, please young master, you can rest here.” He showed Li Jian to a suite upstairs that had a nice comfy bed. Li Jian grinned and thanked the restaurant owner and proceeded to pass out on the bed. With his belly full and warm, and his master forbidden from interfering (trying to murder him) in this outing, he slept better than he had in years.
He woke up that evening to the sound of the restaurant owner freaking out. “You can’t just leave like that? Dinner rush is upon us! Why can’t you send a message to one of your brothers?” Another voice replied apologetically. “Boss, please accept my humble apology. I must go take care of my father, he is old and my brother is too far. I cannot let my father tend to himself.” The restaurant owner sighed. “Alright alright but please come back soon, I will have to ask the guests to leave.”
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His ears perking up, he jumped up and stretched, his young body filled with energy and walked downstairs. The eatery owner was in the processing of kicking people out but Li Jian knew what to do here. He strode forward, ready to fight everyone in here. Pick a righteous cause, because that is the main reason to cultivate. “Boss, I heard you’re having trouble. I know just how to solve this.” He announced. The eater owner turned and saw the young man from earlier. He had forgotten about him truthfully, but something in his tone gave him confidence. “I didn’t know you knew how to cook. Please then! Off to the kitchen go go go!” The owner shooed him into the back where Li Jian awkwardly stood.
He looked at the kitchen knife and picked it up, looking it over and beamed. It’s time to put all those lessons that he had snuck into practice. He originally had just planned to use one of the thousand sword stances on the restaurant but cooking seems like a much better way to do this.
The orders came in and Li Jian got to work. “Keep each piece cut exactly the same, to ensure even cooking time. The meat must be rested with the dish, and anything crisp must be patted dry. He soon got into the rhythm and began turning out dish after dish. He had to learn how to cook for many years by himself before he had joined the sect. Now, he will finally have a kitchen filled with ingredients that he can use.
In the dining room, some of the patrons were a bit puzzled. The Happy Goose Eatery was not known for amazing dishes, but dishes that tasted good at a good price. Tonight however, many of the patrons seemed to have felt like it was a new restaurant.
“Old Lu! When did your chef learn how to cook like this?”
“Old Lu! Another order of the braised pork belly! I’ve never had it this good!”
In one of the better tables in the back, closer to the windows, Xu Yinlin the owner of the Skytower pavilion sat there alone with a bottle of wine, a now empty plate that previously had a dish of shrimp rice noodle wraps. Traditionally it was made with soy sauce but the one served today was much more sweet and savoury than ones he had before. He came to the smaller restaurants to get away from the hustle and bustle of the Skytower, the high end cuisine often being wasted on those who simply had money.
He summoned a waiter and asked for a word with the owner. Old Lu was there within moments, and although he did not recognize the man, he could see that the man was of not just modest means. “Honoured guest, is something wrong?” Xu Yinlin shook his head. “The chef you have is very skilled. Please, ask him to prepare a dish for me that he would personally enjoy.” Old Lu bowed and quickly went to the kitchen. “Hey young cook, one of our guests would like something you would enjoy eating. Please make something special for him.”
Li Jian sighed to himself. He had just cut apart a mountain of cabbages and carrots, and now some guest wanted a special dish? Although it was interesting. Something that he would enjoy eating. He knew right away that salted pork and beans would be out of the question. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered. He thought to when he was a child and what he looked forward to eating the most and smiled. Salt, cumin and black pepper were mixed together and carefully sprinkled over two filets of white fish that he cut apart. Thanks to the years of sword arts, cutting apart fish with a knife was a breeze. Each cut was clean and precise. Letting the fish sit, he put a small pot of water to boil.
Throwing in fish bones as well as some shellfish shells, he took a look around to make sure no one was looking and then infused the flame with his spiritual essence. The flame began heating the pot much faster than normal, and soon the pot was almost red hot but the rapidly boiling water was leaching the fishbones and shells of their umami flavour. He tossed in some herbs to lighten it a bit before lightly tasting it. It was something that reminded him of the ocean on first taste. He smiled and splashed some rice wine over the white fish and let it roast on a fire directly on skewers. He let them only cook for a few minutes, but with plenty of light sprinklings of rice wine. Soon the dish was finished. The seafood broth was quickly strained, with a splash of sesame oil added and poured onto a bowl of plain rice. On a plate was set the fire roasted white fish.
He got to work on the sauce. Ginger was chopped up into a puree thanks to his sword skills, while hot chilli was also mixed in although only slightly. A sprinkle of sugar and some soy sauce and rice wine were mixed together, the mixture being heated on a pan quickly to let it reduce before he poured it into a cup for dipping and set it on the plate.
Xu Yinlin looked at the dish in front of him. Roasted fish with a dipping sauce, and rice that had a rich broth poured over it. He tasted the rice first. The rice was cooked perfectly well, but the broth added a richness of the sea that was mild in flavour. It was a soothing calming taste. The fish by itself was almost plain if not for the slight herbal taste of the cumin that was on it but when he dipped a piece into the sauce, his world seemed to change. A mix of sweet, savoury and spice hit his tongue all at once. But there was a slight burn of the rice wine that added an extra dimension of heat. He quickly ate a portion of the rice and found the calming rich seafood taste of the rice clashed deliciously with the sweet savoury heat of the fish dipped in the sauce.
The dish was finished quickly, Xu Yinlin looking satisfied at the empty plates in front of him. It had been a while, even in his own kitchen, where he had tasted something that didn’t rely simply on expensive ingredients. Everything here was a cheap peasants ingredient but it was one of the most delicious things he had ever tasted. The owner was summoned again, Old Lu waiting to see if this dish passed the muster.
“Old Lu, you are a lucky man. Your chef is wonderful. He must be a man of great talent and gift. I hope you will treat him well, because if not I would not hesitate to offer him a position in my kitchen.” Old Lu blinked a few times. “Your kitchen, sir?” Xu Yinlin nodded. “Yes. I am the owner of the Skytower. You might have heard of it?”
Old Lu felt as if he was struck by a thousand lighting bolts at once. This must be Xu Yinlin. The Skytower was known as the culinary powerhouse of Baiyang city. To think that small eatery he owned had served the owner of the Skytower… he perhaps might not have let the teenage boy do the cooking if he knew this was the case.
Xu Yinlin set a gold coin on the table and stood up, bowing slightly to Old Lu. “Thank you for the meal Old Lu. It was a genuine pleasure to see that there still are outstanding culinary talents in this world.”
In the kitchen, Li Jian saw that no one was around and sneaked a few drinks of wine. His master had always forbidden it but he wasn’t here to try and buddhist palm him into the sky. He found the wine pleasant and sat back on a chair. The orders had slowed down now, and he thought perhaps he might make some food for himself too. It seems that perhaps he might make a good living as a cook for a while.