Chapter 49

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Su Zhen let out a soft sigh. “I certainly wouldn’t dare promise that I’ll never say those words to you again.”

Xiao Yu blinked, then immediately understood. “Habitual thanks don’t count. That’s merely a sign of good manners.”

Su Zhen laughed. “Senior really does understand me.”

As they spoke, their hands remained clasped together. The shopkeeper came over carrying a tray and spotted them at once. A smile immediately spread across his face.

Su Zhen: “!”

She pulled her hand away again.

Sensing the force of her movement, Xiao Yu promptly released her and calmly turned his head with a smile.

Su Zhen turned aside and met the shopkeeper’s teasing gaze. With an exasperated shake of her head, she indicated that things were not what they seemed.

“Zhenzhen.”

The shopkeeper did not pursue the matter. He merely greeted her cheerfully. “I had all your favorite cold dishes prepared in double portions. Poor thing—you can hardly taste anything from home while you’re out in the Eastern Region...”

Su Zhen was about to answer when she instinctively glanced at Xiao Yu.

He showed no reaction whatsoever to the remark, as though everything were perfectly natural and had nothing to do with him.

When she turned away, the shopkeeper noticed and asked curiously, “One of you is at Perilcloud Peak, and the other is at Soaring Heavens Peak. How did you two meet?”

“Oh.” Xiao Yu answered calmly, “I heard about her exploits and admired her greatly. Then, by coincidence, we met one day and became acquainted.”

Su Zhen felt that something was off, though the truth was not all that different. “...Senior helped me, too.”

Xiao Yu shook his head. “I didn’t help with anything. I merely followed her around to join in the excitement and broaden my horizons. Now that she’s advanced to a higher realm, I shamelessly came here to freeload a meal and bask in her good fortune.”

The shopkeeper gave him a look, then smiled and walked away.

Only then did Su Zhen take her seat. She looked at the four enormous white porcelain platters arranged in a row, nearly filling the entire table.

She picked up her chopsticks. “These are the four signature cold dishes of the Orchid-and-Cassia Pavilion.”

She pointed to the first dish from the left. The porcelain platter was piled high with pale-green cakes, translucent and almost liquid, with wisps of shredded leaves suspended inside.

“What is this...?”

“Emerald Sweetgrass Cake.”

Xiao Yu picked up his chopsticks. “It’s made from a spirit plant of Jade-Azure Mountain.”

Su Zhen nodded slightly and picked up her own chopsticks. “It’s one of the sweetest varieties. The sweetness has to be brought out with spiritual power, so the cook must possess a wood or plant affinity.”

Or be a demon of the plant kind who had taken human form.

“Did you try it the last time you came?”

“You know, I did. I knew it was one of the restaurant’s signature dishes, and I also knew you liked it, so I didn’t eat any.”

Su Zhen blinked. “You didn’t wait so we could have it together, did you?”

Xiao Yu smiled. “One has to have something to look forward to, doesn’t one?”

Su Zhen was utterly exasperated, yet another inexplicable feeling rose within her. She hurriedly diverted her attention. “Why aren’t you eating, Senior?”

Xiao Yu: “...I was waiting for you to go first.”

Su Zhen was baffled. “I invited you. The guest should be the first to eat.”

“But you are...”

Xiao Yu instinctively wanted to argue, but for once he could not think of anything more convincing to say. “You are you.”

Su Zhen: “...”

The words sounded rather strange, yet she somehow understood what he meant.

She raised her chopsticks and placed a piece directly in his bowl. “This way, you won’t get so excited that you faint, will you?”

“Perhaps.”

The corners of Xiao Yu’s mouth curved upward, his eyes brimming with laughter. “Then remember to catch me.”

Su Zhen rolled her eyes at him.

Xiao Yu carefully picked up the sweet cake and slowly took a bite. His eyes lit up. “No wonder you like it.”

Seeing that he truly enjoyed it, Su Zhen relaxed. “I expect you’ll like the other dishes as well. Many human cultivators find them too sweet.”

She pointed toward another platter.

It was filled with orange-red fruits, each split neatly in half. Their flesh was soft and yielding, like overripe persimmons, and a circle of rich, fragrant white sugar syrup had been poured over the top.

Su Zhen rolled up her sleeves slightly and picked up a fruit for him. “...You know what this is, don’t you, Senior?”

Xiao Yu had intended to refuse, but after hesitating, he simply lifted the platter and accepted it, thanking her before picking one up for her in return.

“Twin-Borer Cage Fruit. Another specialty of Jade-Azure Mountain, right? I’ve seen these things eat people.”

He lowered his head and took a bite. “Holy hell, that’s sweet. This flavor is incredible.”

Su Zhen tasted one as well and could not help laughing at his reaction. “You’ve seen it eat people?”

“...To be precise, by the time I saw it, only half a person was left.”

Su Zhen blinked. “How did that make you feel?”

“What?”

Xiao Yu replied carelessly, “I’ve seen plenty of demons and fiends eat people. I’ve even seen people eat people. What sort of feeling am I supposed to have?”

Su Zhen waved her chopsticks. “You know, I...”

“You’ve never eaten a person, but you could if you wanted to. You’re an omnivorous tree demon. Is that what you were going to say?”

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Su Zhen raised her brows slightly. “Judging by your attitude, you don’t seem to mind at all. Perhaps you even find it thrilling, don’t you?”

Xiao Yu chuckled. “Fine. I’m a pervert.”

Su Zhen gave a soft snort.

The point, of course, was not the eating of humans, but the consumption of living creatures filled with spiritual power.

Any demon that ate humans had certainly consumed far more demons than humans. After all, the demon realm contained far more demons than people.

Had she grown up in the demon realm, the number of demons she had eaten would have been incalculable. It would hardly have been strange if a few humans had been among them.

But she had chosen a different path of cultivation and had long since passed beyond that stage. Even if she needed to draw spiritual power from living creatures, she no longer had any need to eat them.

Su Zhen said no more about it, turning the conversation back to the dishes. “Strictly speaking, this shouldn’t have sugar syrup poured over it. I simply like the two flavors together. Most people find even the spirit-powered fruit too sweet, but the shopkeeper knows my habits...”

“Your habits are excellent.”

Xiao Yu praised her. “Anyone who dislikes this simply has no taste. Can we order another basin?”

Su Zhen: “...”

She stared silently at the platter. Judging by its size, calling it a basin was not particularly inaccurate. “We can. Uncle will certainly be delighted. He planted many fruit trees, and he can ripen them with spiritual power whenever he likes.”

Xiao Yu kept eating until he had finished nearly half a basin of fruit before stopping. “So the reason few human cultivators come here is that they find everything too sweet?”

“That is only one reason. Another is that these spirit plants originally grew in the demon realm, and all of them are highly poisonous. Those with wood or earth affinities can manage them more easily, but without one...”

Then they had to rely on their own skill to purge the poison.

Of course, none of that posed a problem for experts of the Saint Realm. They could drink even fully extracted venom as though it were water, let alone spirit plants that merely contained poison.

Su Zhen pointed her chopsticks toward the other two dishes. “Look at this Silver Marsh Bitterstalk. The so-called Silver Marsh is a pool with Silverglow Grass growing along the bottom. These bitterstalks grow in that pool. Silverglow Grass isn’t an ordinary spirit plant—it’s a demon race that has developed intelligence. So...”

Xiao Yu understood at once. “It’s a vegetable irrigated with demon saliva.”

Su Zhen stared at him expressionlessly. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, Senior, but that description does not affect me in the slightest.”

Xiao Yu was equally unconcerned. “I was only making an observation. I like it, anyway.”

Su Zhen: “...In any case, many people are not like you. Take this Fermented-Wine Golden Earth, for example. It’s a kind of soil from Jade-Azure Mountain. Even after being soaked in wine, it is still soil.”

Xiao Yu had already switched to a spoon and taken a bite. “Mmm. Also very sweet. It tastes a little like steamed sponge cake.”

Su Zhen searched his face and found not the slightest trace of reluctance. She was now completely certain that he was not putting on an act.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’ll be honest with you...”

Xiao Yu raised his head to meet her gaze, looking amused. “Where I went to school, good food was scarce. It was practically a culinary wasteland. But fried meat and desserts were excellent, and relatively cheap too. Desserts were especially inexpensive at night, when they were discounted to less than a quarter of their daytime price. They only lasted one day, after all. Anything unsold was thrown away the next day.”

Su Zhen looked at him curiously. Although she did not understand precisely what he meant by “lasting one day,” she could infer the meaning from the context.

“Even so, some of my classmates refused to buy them because they thought they were too sweet. The same went for many snacks that could be stored for a long time.”

He shook his head. “Whenever my friends told me, ‘You’d better not buy such-and-such. It’s too sweet,’ they were practically recommending it to me.”

Su Zhen asked, “Your friends didn’t know you liked sweet things?”

“They knew, but they didn’t realize how much I liked them. I didn’t want to seem too unusual, either. I don’t know why, but if people see that you can eat spicy food, they think you’re impressive. If they see that you can eat sweets, they say, ‘Oh, brother, watch out for cavities.’”

Su Zhen burst out laughing. “So how are your teeth, Senior?”

“I can only say that I was still fairly young when I came here, and I had no problems. Of course, I may simply have inherited good teeth. After transmigrating, it mattered even less. Long live spiritual power.”

“Pfft.”

No matter how she thought about it, Su Zhen found it hilarious. “People always say that the benefits of immortal cultivation are freedom from disaster and disease, as well as youth and longevity, but this is the first time I’ve heard anyone bring up cavities.”

It truly was just like him.

Before long, the shopkeeper brought over another basin of Twin-Borer Cage Fruits. This time it was an actual silver basin, nearly half the size of the table, filled with several dozen fruits arranged in perfect rows.

Although anything a cultivator ate would ultimately be transformed into spiritual power, the shopkeeper still regarded Xiao Yu with the affectionate gaze one might bestow upon a well-fed piglet.

“If you like them, eat more.”

Xiao Yu cheerfully agreed.

Su Zhen: “...”

The shopkeeper then turned toward her and suddenly sent her a voice transmission. “Zhenzhen, I wanted to mention this earlier. Your cultivation has advanced far too quickly. You...”

“No.”

Su Zhen shook her head and replied through voice transmission as well. “I used some methods from that side, but in the end, I am not one of them.”

She did not explain herself clearly, but he understood completely.

The shopkeeper sighed and continued transmitting. “No one else has the right to interfere with your path of cultivation. I’m only worried that you’ll have to return to your sect. Don’t let them notice anything unusual.”

Su Zhen knew that he did not care whether she was a demonic cultivator. He was only afraid that she carried the Demon God’s Contract Seal and would be discovered, captured, and killed by orthodox cultivators.

Su Zhen pressed her lips together. “Su Xun would never say something like that. Uncle, you really do care about me.”

The shopkeeper shook his head slightly. “Your maternal uncle... is, after all, the head of the family.”

Su Zhen gave a derisive laugh. “Why make excuses for him? Everyone knows exactly what the situation is.”

She suddenly rose and looked toward the entrance. “Auntie—”

A woman entered the hall. The moment she saw the window, her face lit up with joy. “Zhenzhen! You’re back?”

She had long, dark-brown hair twisted into a round bun. She looked middle-aged, with thick brows, large eyes, and a cheerful, kindly face.

She was not tall, but she was solidly built. Her lotus-colored brocade jacket gave her a plump, prosperous appearance.

Su Zhen opened her arms.

The two women embraced tightly.

This was the other owner of the Orchid-and-Cassia Pavilion.

Several hundred years ago, the couple had met the head of the Su family, moved to Qiongnu City, and opened a restaurant there, eventually establishing themselves.

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The food at the Orchid-and-Cassia Pavilion was indeed not to everyone’s taste, but those who liked it adored it and came every few days.

Since the owners had to expend spiritual power to prepare the dishes, the food was not cheap. They earned a considerable amount, and their lives were therefore quite comfortable.

The female owner, Su Yi, was born to a beekeeper from Fragrant Confluence City and a bear demon. Since neither of her parents had a family name, she later met Su Che, the head of the Su family, and simply adopted her friend’s surname.

Her husband was a tree demon found and raised by a gardener. He had originally had no surname either, but later took his wife’s surname and was named Su Zhe.

Both spouses shared their mothers’ surname, but neither was a member of the Su family. Since the Su clan had a great many aunts and uncles, Su Zhen had been afraid of mixing them up as a child and had addressed the couple as Uncle and Aunt instead.

Only later did she vaguely realize that she and Su Zhe might truly share some blood.

Su Zhe, however, was unwilling to say much about it.

Su Zhen said, “...I’ll come visit Auntie more often from now on.”

They would both reach the end of their natural lifespans in a little over two hundred years and pass away one after the other. That was why they already looked somewhat aged now.

“You silly child.”

Su Yi patted her shoulder. “What fun is there in constantly visiting two old people like us? You’re still young. Your cultivation is what matters...”

Su Zhen lowered her head. “I brought you some small gifts. They’re specialties from Mount Tianyuan, things you can’t get anywhere else. Look—this is something I bought from the cultivators of the Hall of a Hundred Herbs.”

She took out a large jar of tree honey and placed it in Su Yi’s hands.

“The spirit bees they raise looked quite decent to me. I remembered that you like them, so I bought this. The jar is sealed with a spatial-folding spell. The inside holds a hundred times more than the outside suggests.”

“Wonderful, wonderful!”

Su Yi smiled so broadly that her mouth could hardly close. “My supply is almost gone. I was just thinking of making another trip there. This time, I can try some of the good things from Mount Tianyuan.”

Then her expression grew serious. “Are you still planning to stay in that sect? You’ve already... reached this realm?”

A trace of confusion appeared on her face. She suddenly sent a voice transmission. “You advanced far too quickly. Perhaps I was still half-asleep. I remember that the last time you came, you had only just formed your primordial spirit. Could it be that you...?”

“No, no.” Su Zhen hurriedly said, “I just told Uncle the same thing. Don’t worry. Truly, there’s nothing wrong.”

As she spoke, she quickly took out another jar. “Uncle, this is for you. It’s fertile soil brought forth by the earth veins over there...”

Su Zhe did not refuse. He accepted it directly and thanked her. “Are you going back into the mountains to have a look?”

Su Zhen’s expression stiffened. “I just came back from that area.”

Su Zhe paused.

“I got into a fight nearby.”

Su Zhen spoke indifferently. “First, the Blood God’s Sacrificial Envoy pounded me into a paste. Then I tore him into strips of flesh. From beginning to end, a certain someone couldn’t be bothered to show himself, as though he truly had complete faith in me. In reality, he simply didn’t care whether I lived or died, so long as I didn’t make a mess of his territory. But it doesn’t matter. I never expected anything from him.”

Su Zhe sighed. “Your father...”

Su Yi patted her husband on the shoulder.

Su Zhe shook his head. “I was only saying. I was thinking that now Zhenzhen has finally made something of herself, he ought to...”

“She has always been outstanding!”

“Ah, yes. I misspoke.”

The couple exchanged a few meaningful glances before Su Yi looked toward the other side of the table. “Little Xiao? So you’re also from the Tianyuan Sect?”

Xiao Yu nodded solemnly. “Auntie still remembers me.”

Su Zhen: “...”

Just as expected.

After only a few more words, other customers arrived, and the couple soon returned to the kitchen.

Su Zhen sat down in silence. “You heard them sending voice transmissions to me, didn’t you?”

Xiao Yu looked genuinely puzzled. “They were using voice transmission precisely because they didn’t want me to hear. Why would I listen?”

Su Zhen sighed. “Is there anything you want to say, Senior?”

Xiao Yu put down his chopsticks. “What do you want me to say? Why are both owners half-demons? There are quite a few demons in this city. I sensed the aura of many along the way. It’s hardly surprising, is it?”

Su Zhen rested her chin in one hand. “Or you could ask why a tree demon and a bear demon ended up together.”

“Would that require any special explanation?”

Xiao Yu imitated her pose, propping one hand against his cheek as he looked at her seriously. “If two people like each other, isn’t it only natural for them to be together?”

The corners of Su Zhen’s lips lifted slightly. “Indeed. With your wealth of experience, Senior, you must have seen it all.”

“It isn’t because I’ve seen it all. It’s because I think that’s how things ought to be.”

Xiao Yu shook his head. “People always say that winged and four-legged demons are more like humans, while plants and stones are heartless and incapable of love. How could that be? Once these demons gained human forms, they gained human hearts as well. And once they had human hearts, countless emotions naturally blossomed within them. Their love is every bit as sincere and precious. Look at those two owners—their relationship is truly enviable.”

Su Zhen: “...”

In truth, she already knew.

She did not need answers from anyone else.

But she had still asked him.

Perhaps she simply wanted to hear him say it.

Su Zhen said, “Senior, that was unbearably sentimental.”

Xiao Yu stared blankly for a moment, then laughed. He reached for the fruit on the table. “Sorry. If I’ve made you uncomfortable, I’ll punish myself by eating an entire basin.”

Su Zhen: “...”

You just want the whole basin of fruit to yourself!