After bustling in the kitchen for more than two hours, Shao Cheng finally presented his carefully prepared dishes. Seven or eight dishes filled the small table.
"Come, everyone, try them," Shao Cheng said confidently, a proud smile on his face. "I spent a long time perfecting these recipes."
Xiao Yi, catching a whiff of the food, exclaimed in surprise, "Master, I didn't know you had such skills!"
Lü Shaoqing and Ji Yan, however, eyed the food warily, their faces full of apprehension. Their eyes held deep suspicion.
Lü Shaoqing pointed at one of the dishes, "What's this one?"
Shao Cheng proudly responded, "This is 'Immortal Maidens Chasing the Moon,' made primarily with maotou spirit mushrooms, enhanced with other ingredients."
"A new recipe?" Lü Shaoqing's wariness grew, and he couldn't help but feel disdain.
Shao Cheng nodded with satisfaction, "Of course. I spent a lot of time developing this."
Ji Yan's expression soured, "No wonder your cultivation hasn't improved. You've been wasting time on meaningless things."
Shao Cheng laughed awkwardly, "I only do this in my spare time. It doesn't interfere with my cultivation."
Xiao Yi chimed in, "Elder Brother, don't be too harsh. It's good for Master to have a little hobby."
"Enough talk," Shao Cheng urged them eagerly. "Just taste it! I guarantee you'll be surprised."
Clearly, Shao Cheng was confident in his cooking skills.
But Ji Yan and Lü Shaoqing remained unmoved, their wariness lingering.
Lü Shaoqing gestured to Ji Yan, "Eldest Brother, go ahead."
Ji Yan returned the gesture, "You're the junior, you first."
Neither wanted to be the first to try it, both insisting the other go first.
Xiao Yi, puzzled by their hesitation, asked, "Eldest Brother, Second Brother, what are you afraid of?"
"Master put a lot of effort into making this meal. As disciples, we shouldn't waste his hard work."
"It smells delicious. What could possibly go wrong?"
Ji Yan and Lü Shaoqing both replied, "You try it first."
Shao Cheng, clearly annoyed, waved them off, "Don't mind those two idiots. Xiao Yi, you go ahead and eat."
Without further hesitation, Xiao Yi picked up her chopsticks, smiling happily. "Then I won't be shy."
She reached for the dish Shao Cheng had proudly introduced, "I'll try the 'Immortal Maidens Chasing the Moon' first."
"It smells amazing!"
But as soon as Xiao Yi put the mushroom in her mouth, her expression shifted dramatically.
The initial taste was overwhelmingly bitter, as if she had just swallowed a hundred bitter herbs. The once-promising mushroom tasted like wood that had been left to dry in the sun for ten thousand years—tasteless, dry, and hard.
Xiao Yi's face twisted in confusion. Is this even edible? Did Master accidentally use aged wood instead of mushrooms?
Instinctively, she wanted to spit it out.
Seeing this, Shao Cheng quickly urged, "No, no, chew it more! There's a surprise waiting for you."
Reluctantly, Xiao Yi bit down again, hoping for a better outcome. And indeed, a liquid started seeping out from the mushroom. Could this be the redemption? she thought, her hopes rising.
But instead, an utterly nauseating taste surged forth, a foul flavor that seemed to assault not just her body, but her very soul. It was as if she had bitten into a rotten corpse, utterly revolting.
Her body trembled, her eyes rolled back, and she couldn't take it anymore. She ran to the side and began vomiting.
"Gag..."
Having spent nearly a month in the Sword Cave, living off basic fasting pills, Xiao Yi didn't have much in her stomach to throw up. Yet, the nausea was so intense that it felt as though she might expel her very soul.
After several moments of retching, Xiao Yi collapsed, pale and trembling. Worse yet, the feeling of nausea didn't fade after she had thrown up; it clung to her like a curse, gnawing at her very being.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she wept. "This is too much..."
Why hadn't she listened to her senior brothers? Why had she been so naive?
Master's cooking truly is unparalleled… unparalleled in its horror.
Lü Shaoqing and Ji Yan watched her with sympathy.
"You'll learn your lesson now, won't you?" Lü Shaoqing remarked.
"Only a fool wouldn't," Ji Yan agreed.
"You're not going to eat anymore, are you?" Lü Shaoqing asked.
Ji Yan shot back, "Do you want to?"
The two exchanged a look and laughed in unison, "No need."
With their junior sister serving as the unfortunate test subject, it was now evident that the dishes were inedible. Even Shao Cheng wouldn't force them to eat after seeing Xiao Yi's reaction.
Shao Cheng, on the other hand, stood there in disbelief, watching his youngest disciple retch. Is my cooking really that bad?
Trembling, he picked up a chopstick full of food and tasted it himself.
He didn't throw up, but he quickly fell into a deep state of self-doubt.
Meanwhile, Lü Shaoqing stood beside the still-retching Xiao Yi and asked, "Want to try some of the other dishes?"
Tears streaming down her face, Xiao Yi whimpered, "Second Brother, stop mocking me."
She regretted everything. Why hadn't she heeded her senior brothers' obvious warning signs?
Lü Shaoqing smiled mischievously, "I'm not mocking you. Really, why not try some more? The aroma is great—how could it taste bad?"
"Ugh…"
Xiao Yi cried even harder, her tears flowing freely.
"Second Brother, you're laughing at me."
Lü Shaoqing chuckled, "Now you understand the consequences of not listening to your elders, don't you?"
Xiao Yi nodded vigorously, "I do, I do…"
"Good. Then go ahead and finish the rest of the dishes."
"Waah!" Xiao Yi burst into louder sobs.
Ji Yan, unable to watch any longer, smacked Lü Shaoqing out of the way and said to Xiao Yi, "Alright, stop crying. You're done throwing up, aren't you?"
Xiao Yi paused, surprised. Indeed, though she still felt nauseous, the urge to vomit had passed.
She glanced at Lü Shaoqing, who continued to smile. Could he have made me cry on purpose, just to make me feel better?
Her feelings toward Lü Shaoqing were conflicted—this second brother of hers was truly hard to love and even harder to hate.
Ji Yan added, "Master's cooking has lingering effects. You'll feel queasy for a day or two, so just bear with it."
Hearing this, Xiao Yi's eyes welled up again. I have to endure this awful feeling for another day or two?
Why had I been so foolish? Xiao Yi was on the verge of tears again, wishing she could travel back in time to slap some sense into herself.
Just then, a voice rang out from outside.
"Shuangyue Valley's Xia Yu requests an audience!"