Chapter 217: A Story of His Own
Although Mixian County was neither particularly small nor particularly large, Chef Wu naturally knew of the Liu residence.
Otherwise, no matter how much money the other party offered, he certainly wouldn’t have climbed into this carriage in the middle of the night as readily as he had now. Though he couldn’t help feeling sleepy and grumbling under his breath, he was still sitting upright and steady inside.
Tianfeng Restaurant was in the food and catering business. With so many customers coming and going, there was no shortage of gossip and news to be heard. Although Chef Wu worked in the kitchen, he had still heard quite a few accounts of supernatural occurrences from various places.
If the invitation had come from a family he didn’t know, and they had offered such a generous payment to have him prepare a banquet in the middle of the night, he would definitely have gone there… with his heart in his throat and every muscle in his body tensed.
What? Refuse to go?
That was a generous payment!
Supernatural occurrences were ultimately just rumors. The money, on the other hand, was right there in front of him. Only a fool would turn it down!
Chef Wu yawned all the way there. When they arrived at the Liu residence, he quickly rubbed his face before getting out of the carriage, making sure to put on an alert and energetic expression. He didn’t want the Liu family to see how exhausted he was and worry that he wouldn’t be able to prepare the banquet properly.
With his eyes bright and alert, he followed the steward inside.
He soon discovered that the Liu residence was already brightly lit. The Liu family’s servants were all bustling about. Some were carrying bowls and chopsticks, others were buying spices, and still others were hauling baskets of vegetables. Two servants were even carrying a string of enormous, live carp that were flopping about as they hurried past.
There was no need to ask. For them to have managed to buy all these things, the merchants must have been roused from their beds in the middle of the night as well.
Master Liu and Madam Liu were standing right in the middle of the front courtyard, occasionally giving instructions to servants who had run into difficulties while purchasing supplies.
“Master, I went to the butcher’s shop. The owner said he always goes to the village early in the morning to collect the pigs that have been reserved in advance. He doesn’t have much stock left in the shop.”
Master Liu replied, “Offer him more money. Tell him to set out for the village right now and buy the pigs.”
“Madam, the pastry shop says their workers and master bakers won’t arrive until the fifth watch to start work. It’s only the fourth watch now, so they told us to wait.”
Madam Liu said, “We can’t wait. If they only start working at the fifth watch, it’ll be daylight by the time the pastries are ready. Offer them more money. Have the shop assistant on duty find the shopkeeper, then have the shopkeeper tell us where the workers and master bakers live. We’ll invite all of them to come in early and get to work.”
Of everything Madam Liu said, Chef Wu heard only two words: “Offer more money.”
Judging by how the Liu family’s servants were rushing back and forth without a single complaint on their faces, it was clear that they, too, had fallen victim to the temptation of extra pay.
Master Liu’s eyes shifted, and he spotted Chef Wu immediately.
“Chef Wu!”
A smile spread across his face, and he hurried forward to greet him.
“At last! We’ve been waiting for you. Quick, quick, quick! The kitchen is this way. Get started right away and begin cooking with whatever meat and vegetables we have on hand!”
As an experienced head chef at a restaurant, Chef Wu was no stranger to being invited into private residences to prepare banquets. He had done this sort of thing quite often.
He immediately bowed to Master Liu and Madam Liu, who were both smiling broadly at the sight of him, before asking:
“May I ask how many tables need to be prepared? How many for male guests and how many for female guests? Should the children be seated separately?”
“What is the occasion for this banquet? Are there any particular dietary restrictions or taboo dishes? Have you decided on the first course? And…”
Before he could finish going through his usual list of questions, Master Liu hurriedly interrupted him.
“There’s no need to ask so much. You only need to know that there will be thirteen guests. However, don’t prepare food according to the usual portions for thirteen people. Just keep cooking until daybreak. Prepare every specialty dish you’re good at. I’ve already sent people to fetch the kitchen assistants from Tianfeng Restaurant. They’ll help you with the preparations, and you can also freely assign any of the servants in my household to assist you. If you need anything, just ask Steward Qian.”
Steward Qian had driven the carriage in the middle of the night, and the journey had left his hair somewhat disheveled. A few loose strands hung down beside his face. While taking a moment to tidy them up, he gave Chef Wu a polite smile.
Master Liu and Madam Liu were still rushing about in a great hurry.
“Steward Qian, I’ll leave everything to you!”
Steward Qian replied, “Yes, Master and Madam. Rest assured. Chef Wu will certainly have a sumptuous banquet prepared before daybreak.”
The two elderly people, whose hair had already turned white, immediately hurried off toward the inner courtyard, supporting each other as they went.
Their steps were so hurried, it was as though a mountain of gold awaited them just up ahead.
Chef Wu was thoroughly bewildered by the whole affair.
Unable to hold back any longer, he turned to Steward Qian and asked, “Steward Qian, what exactly is going on with your master and madam…?”
Truthfully, Steward Qian thought the master and madam had gone completely mad.
In the middle of the night, the two of them had suddenly jumped out of bed like startled weasels. Their eyes gleaming, they had immediately begun issuing instructions left and right, all while mysteriously sneaking in whispered conversations whenever they had a spare moment.
The problem was, they were so excited that their so-called whispers weren’t quiet at all. Standing nearby, he had heard every single word.
The two of them insisted that their young lady had returned, and that the young lady wanted a meal of food for the living.
They really had gone mad! How could such a thing be possible?
Even if their young lady had truly returned, what she should be asking for was incense, candles, and offerings—in other words, food for the dead!
Although Steward Qian privately believed his master and madam had lost their minds, there was naturally no way he could discuss such matters with an outsider. He merely smiled faintly and said,
“Master and Madam have their reasons for doing things this way. As you heard, all you need to do is prepare a banquet of the required standard before daybreak. Please, this way to the kitchen.”
Chef Wu understood immediately.
Oh! So there was something going on that he wasn’t supposed to ask about.
No problem. He would keep his mouth shut. From this moment onward, he would be a mute who earned a great deal of money.
Chef Wu was a very conscientious professional. Once he accepted a job, he took it seriously.
Although it was the middle of the night, and although some of the ingredients and supplies hadn’t arrived yet, the moment he entered the kitchen, he got straight to work with whatever ingredients were available.
As he busied himself, familiar faces from Tianfeng Restaurant’s kitchen staff began appearing one after another. Ingredients that had no business showing up at this hour also started materializing like mushrooms after the rain.
The more Chef Wu cooked, the more smoothly everything went. And once he got into the rhythm, he couldn’t help wondering who exactly the Liu family was preparing to entertain.
Thirteen people?
Could they be relatives?
But what kind of family held a banquet first thing in the morning, right at daybreak?
With such a generous payment sitting right in front of him, Chef Wu could let his imagination run wild all he wanted. It wouldn’t stop him from showing off his culinary skills.
To concentrate and get the job done in one go, he didn’t even eat or drink anything, nor did he take a single trip to the latrine.
By the time dawn was approaching, Chef Wu finally stopped working and looked with satisfaction at the results of a whole night’s labor.
There were twenty-two dishes in total, including cold dishes, hot dishes, main courses, soups, and fruit platters. The generous payment had truly brought out his full potential. Across the entire county, he doubted any other chef could have managed to prepare so many dishes, each with excellent color, aroma, and flavor, in such a short amount of time.
As expected, when Master Liu and Madam Liu were summoned, they seemed very pleased. They promptly paid Chef Wu the full amount they had promised, without the slightest hesitation.
Holding the money, Chef Wu was delighted. Now that the job was done, all he wanted was to hurry off to the latrine.
After asking where it was, he rushed over. He had been squatting there for quite a while when he heard two other people enter the neighboring stalls.
They didn’t seem to mind the smell at all and started chatting right there in the latrine.
“After keeping everyone busy all night, why didn’t Master and Madam have the food brought to the main hall? Why did they order it to be taken to the garden instead?”
“Exactly! I thought some distinguished guests were coming.”
“What distinguished guests would come for a banquet first thing in the morning? Besides, ever since the young lady passed away, Master and Madam have been in such poor spirits. They don’t look like they’re in any mood to entertain guests.”
“But there are so many mosquitoes and insects these days. Won’t all that food go to waste if it’s left out in the garden?”
“Who knows? Forget it. Perhaps Master and Madam want to use these dishes to pay their respects to the young lady.”
“Then shouldn’t they go to the young lady’s grave? What’s the point of making offerings in the garden?”
Chef Wu, however, perked up as soon as he heard them mention the matter.
If they really were preparing to pay respects to the late Miss Liu, then there was nothing more to say.
But if Master Liu and Madam Liu intended to eat the food themselves, wouldn’t it be a terrible waste to leave such fine dishes out in the garden first thing in the morning, where ants, insects, and morning dew could ruin them?
Besides, the morning breeze was quite chilly. If Master Liu and Madam Liu went to eat in the garden, the wind would cool all those dishes in no time. If they ended up with upset stomachs after eating them, would they blame him?
After leaving the latrine and washing his hands, Chef Wu still couldn’t resist his curiosity. As he passed the garden wall, he naturally slowed his pace. Through the decorative latticework, he casually turned his head to take a look, pretending he was merely glancing around.
It wasn’t daylight yet. The sky was a deep shade of indigo, and a few remaining stars still glimmered on the horizon. Beneath the dark sky, the trees and courtyard walls in the garden were little more than indistinct silhouettes.
Following the light of the oil lamps ahead, Chef Wu slowly made his way forward.
Without realizing it, he soon discovered that morning mist had begun to gather around him. The white, chilly fog hung heavily in the air, making the garden’s scenery even more difficult to see.
Fortunately, the few oil lamps ahead were still there to guide his way. Feeling his way forward, Chef Wu approached them. Just as he drew near, he heard someone murmuring in the otherwise silent early morning.
“My child… We’ve prepared all the food for you. Hurry and take it with you. When it comes to official duties, sooner is always better than later.”
“Your mother is right, Shu’er. I know you can’t bear to leave us, but your official business is more important. Don’t keep your superiors waiting. You said yourself that the distinguished guests your superior is entertaining are living people. Don’t let them go hungry for too long. Who knows? Perhaps one day you’ll be able to use an official assignment as an excuse to come visit us again. Good daughter, there’s no need to rush. We have plenty of time.”
“That’s right. All these pastries are for you. We’ll go pay our respects at your grave today. Take these back and share them with your colleagues. Make an effort to get along with them. You’re a newly appointed junior official, so you should be diligent and take on plenty of work.
“But when you need to stand your ground, don’t be timid. Don’t let the other ghosts b*lly you. If you suffer any grievances in Youdu, don’t keep them bottled up. You must find a way to send us a dream and tell us. Your father and I have lived several decades longer than you, after all. Surely we can think of something to help.”
“That’s right, my child. Don’t worry. After you leave, your father and I will do more good deeds in your name to accumulate good karma for you. Once you’ve accumulated enough merit, perhaps you’ll even be able to get promoted again.”
Chef Wu’s eyes widened more and more as he listened!
He cautiously crept closer to the decorative latticework. Sure enough, in the garden ahead, he could make out several wooden tables, all laden with the dishes he had spent the entire night preparing.
Master Liu and Madam Liu were standing in front of the food, chatting away as though the banquet table before them wasn’t a spread of dishes, but their deceased daughter herself.
Chef Wu’s first thought was that these two elderly parents, who had lost their daughter, had gone mad. Not only did they believe their daughter had returned, they had even imagined that after dying at such a young age, Miss Liu had gone to work in the underworld!
That was what he thought, yet he couldn’t help shivering.
Cold…
So cold…
Had it been this cold on the path he’d taken from the left?
The white mist around him grew increasingly dense. For some inexplicable reason, Chef Wu’s heart began pounding wildly, as though his body already knew he was about to witness something he would never forget for the rest of his life.
In the next instant, he watched with his own eyes as the dishes on those tables—which had been sitting there perfectly intact just moments ago—suddenly vanished without a trace.
Chef Wu: !!!
He stood frozen for a moment before hurriedly rubbing his eyes.
He wasn’t seeing things. They really were all gone.
Master Liu and Madam Liu, however, didn’t seem surprised in the slightest. They merely wiped away their tears, called out their daughter’s name several times, and told her that she must come visit whenever she had the chance.
Only then did they slowly leave the garden.
Left behind, Chef Wu clutched his head and crouched in the corner by the wall, feeling as though his entire mind had gone blank.
Only now did he finally realize that he had stumbled upon an earth-shattering secret.
After her death, the young lady of the Liu family had gone to a world of the dead called Youdu. She had become an official there, with colleagues and superiors. Her superior even entertained living guests.
That was why Miss Liu had asked her parents to hire someone to prepare food for her.
Huh???
Huh?????
Chef Wu had heard plenty of stories about ghosts and supernatural happenings, but never in his life had he heard of anything like this.
Hadn’t there once been a Daoist priest who had assured him with absolute confidence that there was no world after death? That all souls would go to the Reincarnation Bureau to be reincarnated?
But what the Daoist priest had said and what Chef Wu had witnessed with his own eyes were two different things. Naturally, he trusted his own eyes more.
—It seemed that Daoist priest hadn’t cultivated deeply enough.
With his mind in a complete jumble, Chef Wu continued turning things over in his head. He only happened to look up when he noticed that the morning mist around him had already dispersed. He hurriedly made his way back, stumbling along the path with uneven steps.
—Youdu.
—Doing good deeds could earn one good karma.
—Miss Liu had apparently become an official after death because her parents had performed good deeds on her behalf.
Chef Wu couldn’t help searching through his memories, trying to recall all the good deeds he himself had ever done.
He walked around in a daze, completely unaware of when he had left the Liu residence.
Chef Wu turned around and looked at the plaque above the Liu residence’s entrance.
He knew that after today, everything would be different.
He, Chef Wu, would no longer be someone who could only listen to other people’s stories. At last, he had a story of his own—one he had witnessed with his very own eyes.
——
After spending several hours awkwardly making conversation with the Ghost King Qian Heng at the Ghost Gate, the Fenglu Mountain cultivators finally received their banquet.
When the food actually appeared before them, the dozen or so cultivators couldn’t help feeling surprised.
After all, Ghost King Qian Heng clearly had no intention of letting them leave. They had already prepared themselves for the possibility that they would be the dishes served at this banquet.
Who would have thought that this ghost deity genuinely intended to invite them to a feast?!
It seemed the road from the underworld to the world of the living was quite a long one. It had taken an astonishing amount of time just to fetch the food.
Senior Sister Ming Moyu remained on guard. She signaled with her eyes for the other cultivators not to eat just yet, then cautiously took a bite herself.
The taste was exquisite. The food was tender and practically melted in her mouth. There wasn’t the slightest trace of yin energy, nor was it made of paper offerings. It tasted just like an ordinary meal from the human world—except it was the kind served at a high-end restaurant.
After swallowing, she paused for a moment to make sure nothing was wrong with her body. Only then did she nod to the others.
The group had been hungry for quite some time. They had fought ghosts, sustained injuries, and then arrived at the Ghost Gate, where they had been startled again and again. After all that, they had still been forced to make conversation with a particularly talkative Ghost King.
Now that there was finally food in front of them, everyone eagerly seized the opportunity to eat and drink, replenishing their energy.
Besides, even if something really did happen, they wouldn’t stand a chance against the Ghost King sitting up there. They might as well eat their fill while they could.
As they were eating, they suddenly heard a ghost official announce loudly:
“Distinguished guest arriving!!”
The dozen or so Fenglu Mountain cultivators immediately went on high alert again. They stared intently at the entrance, wondering which distinguished guest from the underworld had decided to join the banquet midway.
A burly old man strode inside.
He had a square face, thin eyebrows, small eyes, and a scar on his face.
After entering, he swept his gaze around the room before fixing his eyes precisely on the dozen or so Fenglu Mountain cultivators. Some were holding chopsticks, others soup spoons, and all of them looked as though they were leisurely enjoying their meal.
The anxious expression on the burly old man’s face gradually faded when he saw that they were eating.
He gave a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Looks like you’re enjoying the food~”
The thirteen cultivators under his gaze: “…”
The portraits of every generation of Fenglu Mountain’s sect leaders were displayed in the Ancestral Hall. The disciples offered incense and paid their respects every morning and evening. They had been looking at those portraits since childhood.
How could they possibly fail to recognize this person?
“Grand Ancestor?!!!”
