Chapter 142 – Shock and Awe (II)

Chapter 142

Shock and Awe (II)

Was Long Tao a good cook?

No.

Did any of us dare point it out?

Actually, yeah, pretty much everyone except for me.

“Wow, Senior Brother, this piece of lettuce is somehow sharper than your sword,” commented Xi Zhao.

“Chewing raw grass is tastier!” added Dai Xiu.

“It’s stupid,” said Light in all her wisdom.

“It’s… edible,” said Wan Lan, though it would have been better had she not said anything.

Meanwhile, I actually felt kind of bad for the old monster. He was perched at the praying mat, his lips trembling, eyes full of indignation–though whether it was toward the comments or his own failure as a cook, I didn’t know.

I mean, it wasn’t awful–just your average, student-in-college-learning-how-to-cook bad. The first time I tried making something that wasn’t a PBJ or eggs or fried sausages, I nearly gave myself food poisoning. I couldn’t even cook chicken and rice until, like, four months in, and though the internet was still in its infancy back then, there was still a slew of info on cooking readily accessible anywhere.

We didn’t even have a cookbook!

Though, this does mean that Long Tao has not cooked once in his life, which is, well, kind of amazing, considering he’s at least thousands of years old. Can you imagine? Living for thousands of years and never having to cook? Because he probably always had someone else to do it for him.

Oh, to be the prince.

Though they teased him, they all did finish the meal, in fairness. Not in silence, however. The big topic of discussion: Wan Lan’s breakthrough, naturally.

“What did it feel like, Junior Sister?” The seniority remained unchanged–they ordered themselves by, well, the order in which I took them in. All save for Light, who they all called ‘Junior,’ and she called everyone ‘Old’. No, seriously, she even called Dai Xiu old and made the 12-year-old girl cry a few times because of it.

“It was… you know that feeling when you’re really hungry?” she asked back.

“And Senior Brother Tao fails to make a meal to fill me up?” Not wanting to miss a chance, Dai Xiu took a shot at poor Long Tao, who was now pretending to meditate in the corner.

“No, no, when you’re really hungry, like you hadn’t eaten for days?”

“Oh. Yes,” she nodded, perking up.

“Well, it’s sort of like that, but, at the same time, there’s all the food in the world that you need right in front of you. You just have to… figure out how to reach it. It started small, as Qi pooled around me, but it stopped there. There’s this distance that it keeps from you, and you have to figure out a way to reach out and grab it. The more of it you can grab and the faster, the smoother the breakthrough. I wouldn’t worry about it; with your talent, Qi will probably just waltz in you and form the palace.”

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“Haah, I wish,” Dai Xiu said. “But it’s unfair! I was supposed to be next, after Senior Brother Tao!”

“Hm? Next what?” Wan Lan asked, tilting her head.

“The next to break through into Foundation Establishment,” the young girl pouted, pressing her chin into the table. “Now I’ll be third!”