Chapter 80 – JW Swing
At night. In the middle of Tong's courtyard.
In order to relieve his stress, Tong brought out a barrel of beer to drink it alone.
Constant killing wore down his mentality. The battle of Anping last year, the purge of the nobles, and merchant rebel slaughtering gave him a bad aftertaste. Sometimes he had a nightmare about the past events and was forced to wake up to break away from the dream.
The event today gave Tong a severe headache. He had Hua Shi scan him with her skill, but she could not detect anything unusual. Yet, his headache persisted, and his eyes were also somewhat burning.
He also remembered that his [Plot Armor] skill should have protected him from all disease, but he could not explain about this phenomenon which was happening to him. He tried to activate his regeneration skill, but the pain still remained.
Tong believed that he was mentally exhausted, so he took a break from the espionage management lesson from Lu Zhi for today.
Tong never minded the physical tiredness, but he did not like it when his spirit was being worn down by his past.
The 100 liters of beer was emptied in a few hours. It was already midnight.
After Tong downed a barrel of beer alone, he was a bit tipsy as the [Plot Armor] skill did not work when he voluntarily drank any alcohol.
Because he was drunk, he missed a few beverages at his previous life.
"Come to think of it. Before I died the first time, I haven't finished my black label yet."
Tong missed his favorite whiskey in his previous life. It was a well-known brand that Tong could afford to buy it every month as it cost him only 40-50 USD for a liter bottle.
A funny inspiration awoke within his mind. It would be nice if he could recreate such a drink in this era with his [Create Food] skill.
With such thought, Tong extended his hand and pointed it to the empty barrel next to him.
"[Create Food]"
*BZZ* *BZZ*
[Error. This skill can only create food or food ingredient that you have eaten. You cannot create water or liquid substance directly.]
System rang a buzzing sound and told him that he could not use it this way. Yet Tong laughed out merrily the moment he heard the system said "directly".
"Well, thanks for the pointer. If I can't create it directly, then how about this?"
Tong recollected his thought and tried to think about a food that he had eaten in his previous life. He recalled the time when he was a rowdy middle-schooler. He and his friends used to act like dumb brats and cooked fried vegetables and noodles with his stolen whiskey. It tasted awful, but it was a good memory.
"I think it was my father's 'Swing'? I'll try it! [Create Food]!"
*WINK*
Light flashed and brown water poured from his extended palm into the empty beer barrel. Within a few seconds, the barrel was filled by one-tenth. The skill was still at level two, so he could only create 10 liters of liquid at a time.
The unique aroma of JW Swing whiskey piqued his nose. It was a nostalgia smell that he yearned for.
"MUAHAHAHAHA!! I DID IT!! A NEW DISCOVERY TO BOOT!! HAHAHAHA!!"
Tong screamed in laughter like a lunatic in the dead of the night. Dozens of servants woke up in panic and thought that something had happened to Tong. They took their weapons and rushed out to see him, only to find out that he was acting weird all alone.
Hua Shi also woke up from the laughing noise. She straddled toward him and kicked away his chair which made Tong stumbled and fell on the ground as a result.
"Pipe it down! What time do you think it is? I was having a good sleep! You know that my job is tiring, right? I need a lot of rest and …"
Hua Shi had planned to give Tong a good scolding, but she came to a pause as she caught a whiff of a familiar aroma from the barrel.
At first, she thought it was the beer that Tong had created using the magic cooking utensil. However, the beer did not have this unique scent.
"Why am I feeling that I have a déjà vu? What did you create this time?"
"Instead of asking me, why don't you try it yourself?"
The face of Hua Shi turned solemn. She took Tong's cup and stepped toward the barrel. She scooped up the content and brought it to her mouth.
Once it reached inside her mouth, she opened her eyes wide in shock. The taste was something that only the reincarnators from the 21st century knew about.
"You … how did you? Was it the cooking utensil?"
Tong puffed his chest and smirked back at Hua Shi.
"I'll tell you tomorrow after the morning assembly. For now, let's send back the servants and our bodyguards. I've to clean up this mess, too."
…
…
The next day.
After the morning assembly in the government hall with all officials was over, Tong asked his master again for a day off today. He had an important business to discuss with Hua Shi.
Lu Zhi allowed it because he thought that Tong and Hua Shi were husband and wife, so he should spare a bit of time for the youths the spend together. Thus, he left Tong and Hua Shi alone in the government hall.
With no one around, Hua Shi started questioning Tong.
"Any explanation of yesterday? How did you get that?"
Tong smiled as he brought out an empty barrel from his inventory, then he cast the skill again.
"[Create Food]!"
Another 10 liters of JWS whiskey was poured into the barrel, while Hua Shi stared at Tong in astonishment.
"Holy Sweeting Buddha! That skill is HAX! Can you show me the skill menu again?"
…
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[Create Food] LV.2 (6,135/20,000)
- Create a food product or raw food ingredient.
- 10kg of food can be created from one usage.
Skill Cost: 1 Lifespan
Skill Restriction:
- Host cannot create a food that host has never eaten before.
*******************************
…
Hua Shi frowned after she read the skill over and over again. It was clearly stated that he could only create food. How come he could create a liquid.
"I know what you are thinking. It's an ingredient from one of the foods I ate in my previous life."
"You … what had you eaten? Why did I not know that there is something that used a whiskey to cook a food?"
"Oh, please. I grew up in Asia. It's the land of food, you know? There are many dishes that used wine and other alcohol as part of the ingredients. A bunches of street food even used it. Where were you in your last life, North-Korea?"
Hua Shi smiled wryly. She was narrow-minded when it came to food. At the latter part of her life, she switched to cannibalism and forgot about normal food.
"Anyway, what I want to talk to you is not about food or this whiskey. There is something more important that I need your help with."
Tong paused and gazed to Hua Shi. He saw her every day so he did not notice this before. She became prettier as she continued to grow up.
The first time he encountered her, she was just an average teenage girl in his eyes. However, the Hua Shi in front of him now was like an innocent fairy. If Tong had never known about her before, he might think that she was a daughter of a goddess.
Noticing Tong's passionate gaze, Hua Shi smirked.
"What's wrong? Are you horny? We can do it here right now too, you know?"
Tong snapped out of the trance and facepalmed himself. If only she kept her mouth shut, he would probably fall head over heel for her ages ago.
"Never mind that. I'll get straight to the point. I'm going to cancel all of your one-night tickets from now on. I want us to live in the same room starting from today, so the tickets aren't needed anymore. I'll tell my father to invite your parents over ASAP, so we can get married. After that, I have a favor that I-"
Before Tong could finish his sentences and get into his main point, his lips were covered by Hua Shi's mouth. Because she thought that Tong was proposing to her, she kissed him.
However, she did not hear what Tong really wanted.
'I just wanted to level-grind my [Create Food] skill by dual-cultivating every day. It feels wrong for doing it over and over again and risked getting her pregnant before we get married. Oh well, I'll explain it to her on the bed.'
Tong closed his eyes and indulged into the kiss.
…
Hua Shi moved into Tong's room since that day. She found out later that Tong wanted to grind his skill EXP by dual-cultivating. She was so mad that she did not talk to Tong for a week after that.
However, her perverseness and her desire outweighed her temperament. She forgave Tong moved into his room as he had asked.
After a while, Tong had to arrange her working days into 3 days a week instead of 6 because she always got exhausted from his all-nighter EXP grinding.
A few months later, Hua Shi no longer exhausted from the night activities as she had more stamina from the constant work-out. The role was switched and it became Tong who was tired out from the night routine. However, that was another story for another time.