RIIDMDR chapter 16

 

Nan Xu was disappointed that he hadn’t been able to test the potion’s effectiveness, but then he realized that he might be faster. In fact, he might have saved his life, which made him feel lucky.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard in the yard, followed by the dull thud of heavy wood hitting the ground. In just a few seconds, Tingchuan appeared at the kitchen door. He glanced at the wild boar demon in the kitchen, frowned, and shifted his gaze to Nan Xu.

Nan Xu was tearing cabbage leaves with his hands when he felt someone watching him. He looked toward the kitchen door, met Tingchuan’s gaze, and grinned. The weight of his anxiety finally lifted. He breathed a sigh of relief, his back soaking with sweat.

Tingchuan hadn’t actually been staying at the inn that long, and Nan Xu didn’t know him well. But Tingchuan’s presence was completely different from that of the two wild boar demons. He loved being lazy and was a bit of a foodie, but he despised harboring evil intentions.

Seeing Nan Xu unharmed, Tingchuan’s furrowed brow relaxed slightly. These two wild boar demons were obviously no good. The human, unaware of the perils of the demon world, had no defenses against them. If they were attacked by these demons, it would be difficult to find another human who could cook a meal imbued with spiritual energy.

His gaze was cold and sharp as he turned to the eldest wild boar demon. “Who let you into the kitchen? Do you want to cook?”

The eldest wild boar demon had learned his lesson from Tingchuan and didn’t dare challenge him, much less reveal the malicious intent he had just directed at Nan Xu. He looked at his younger brother, whose saliva was practically dripping into the pot, and said, “Come take a look at the dishes.”

“You’ll leave after you see them,” Tingchuan said impatiently.

The eldest wild boar immediately pulled his younger brother out of the kitchen. With the two muscular men gone, the kitchen seemed to empty instantly. Nan Xu smiled at Tingchuan, hinting at gratitude. His temper, which was often annoying when he talked too much, was surprisingly endearing at that moment.

Tingchuan walked into the kitchen, glanced at the dishes in the pot, and noticed the fish still on the stove. His expression was filled with disdain.

Nan Xu had assumed that Tingchuan would return to the courtyard to catch up on sleep after his visit, but he stayed inside to help out.

After kneading the dough, Nan Xu rolled it into small balls and soaked them in water. When the chicken was almost cooked, he formed the dough into pancakes and placed them on the iron skillet.

“I left my sickle on the mountain, right next to the tree I felled. Did you see it?” Nan Xu asked, remembering something.

Tingchuan hummed and replied, “I brought it back.”

Ever since he had been in the inn’s warehouse, he had known how poor Nan Xu was. Seeing the tools left in the mountains, he took them back. Otherwise, Nan Xu wouldn’t have found them and would have been heartbroken.

“That’s good,” Nan Xu said.

As they chatted intermittently, Nan Xu’s heart, which had been briefly agitated, gradually calmed. Soon, several dishes were ready.

He packed the dishes into two portions: one for the two wild boar brothers seated at the stone table and one for him and Tingchuan at the bamboo table.

The two wild boar brothers were tempted by the food, but they didn’t dare approach the kitchen because Tingchuan wasn’t around. They sat at the stone table in the courtyard, looking at each other. Knowing that demons have good hearing, they didn’t mention the incident in the kitchen. They just sat there, swallowing their saliva.

Finally, the meal arrived. A large pot of chicken hot pot sat in the center of the table, overflowing with broth. Not even a thin layer of crispy dough soaked in broth could mask the aroma. The milky white fish broth, sprinkled with scallions, resembled beautifully carved jade. Its delicious aroma filled the air, making one salivate. A plate of emerald-green cabbage in vinegar added freshness and elegance to the meal. The forest mushrooms were fresh and tender, and the fried sweet potato fries were golden and crispy. Each dish was a delicacy that the two wild boar demon brothers had never encountered before.

Back in Tingchuan, everyone couldn’t help but glance at Nan Xu twice, aware of the rich array of dishes.

Nan Xu simply shrugged, feeling a sense of pride, albeit inexplicable. China’s cuisine is endless, and the same ingredients can be used to create countless flavors. Had he really exhausted his culinary skills in just a dozen days? Impossible!

The two wild boar demon brothers nearly bit off their tongues during their meal. Only when their plates were completely empty did they regain consciousness and feel spiritual energy surging through their stomachs.

The two brothers looked at each other, both aware that something strange was happening to their bodies. Their eyes widened.

Had they just taken some kind of magic elixir?

It had been a long time since the two brothers had absorbed such pure spiritual power, and their thoughts were rekindled. They thought about the food on the table, but there was only one strip of something they had never seen before. Could it be a spiritual creature from this mountain?

Despite the brothers’ squabbling, Nanxu and Tingchuan remained peaceful. Nanxu occasionally explained the origins of a dish to Tingchuan, who returned the favor by serving him a bowl of soup.

After feasting and drinking, everyone retired. Nan Xu took a short nap, moved the green onion seedlings from the corner to the ground behind the house, and put up a fence around the two grape saplings to protect them from demons.

After finishing all this, he sat on the doorstep to study the new encyclopedia feature in the system.

At the bottom of the homepage was a new “Encyclopedia” option. Clicking it revealed a page divided into two functional areas: a drawing on the left and a magnifying glass on the right.

Nan Xu clicked the icon on the left first, revealing a grid-like background and a pop-up window.

[Received Drawing*1, Unlocked New Recipe — Pottery.]

After closing the pop-up window, Nan Xu saw a small section of the grid background light up. It was pottery. Clicking on the pottery revealed densely packed characters that clearly outlined the traditional method of making pottery without mechanical assistance.

Nan Xu had long cherished ceramics. Back when they were ubiquitous, he hadn’t considered them precious. It was only now, in our current living environment, that he realized how much convenience human civilization had brought to people’s lives.

After watching the production process from beginning to end, Nan Xu felt that with a few more attempts, he would probably succeed. He realized that if he could create those containers, his quality of life would improve dramatically.

This new development was a real surprise!

Unable to find the second recipe, Nan Xu reluctantly exited the page and clicked the magnifying glass icon. In the middle of the page, he saw only a rectangular grid with a green line of light sliding from top to bottom. It looked familiar, like the scanning interface of a mobile app he used to use.

Nan Xu’s gaze fell on the pepper seedlings by the fence. Since they were growing slowly, he hadn’t had time to transplant them to the vegetable patch yet. He walked over and squatted down. Sure enough, the pepper seedlings appeared in the rectangular grid in his mind. After a few seconds, the grid shrank and moved to the top left corner of the page. Lines of text appeared in the blank corner on the right.

[Chili Pepper (B): Prefers sunny, warm environments. It is tolerant of heat but intolerant of cold and drought and thrives in fertile, well-drained sandy soil. The fruit can be eaten or used as a seasoning, and the whole plant is used medicinally to dispel wind and cold and relax muscles and tendons.]

So this is what an encyclopedia looks like! Nan Xu was instantly excited. He scanned various items and plants in and around the courtyard, and descriptions appeared for each one. Great! This meant that all the remaining resources in the mountains could be put to good use. It was like a huge pie falling from the sky and landing right in his lap.

Furthermore, the letters after the variety names seemed to indicate quality. The dried sweet potato chilies distributed by the system were Class A; the seedlings he grew from dried chili seeds were Class B; the rice sent by the Bird Tribe was Class D; and the bamboo table he made was… Class F.

Nan Xu didn’t know if there were lower levels, but it was clear that the system wasn’t showing him any favor.

Nan Xu bustled around, having a blast, and felt increasingly that this feature was a wonderful gift from the system. He was so happy that he couldn’t help but laugh and had forgotten about Tingchuan sleeping in the courtyard. The fox’s ears twitched. With drooping eyelids, he looked at the somewhat disturbed human, bewildered.

They say that extreme joy begets sorrow. Soon, Nan Xu’s laughter died abruptly when he accidentally clicked on the number in the upper right corner.

[Number of inquiries this week: 9/10.]

Nan Xu: …

He noticed the number decreasing, but didn’t think much of it. Still, he couldn’t help but scan the area. If his calculations were correct, it was only Friday today, and there were still more than two days until the end of the week.

Nan Xu counted on his fingers for a long time, finally sighing in resignation. He tilted his head and saw Tingchuan slumped in the recliner with his eyes half-closed and a lazy, scrutinizing gaze on him. Feeling a little embarrassed, Nan Xu silently picked up the bamboo basket and hoe and left the yard.

The pottery recipe states that firing pottery doesn’t require particularly high temperatures. Nan Xu planned to dig soil from the stream and build a kiln in the east corner of the yard to burn charcoal. Baskets of dirt were piled in the yard. After pouring stream water into the mud, he added some grass and continued to mix. Once the mud and grass were blended, he formed a circle with the mixture. Then, he piled on more mud to raise the kiln walls until they were thigh-high. He cut a few holes in the bottom of the kiln for ventilation, filled it with firewood, and formed a funnel shape with mud until only a palm-sized opening remained. Only then did he stop. He went into the kitchen, retrieved a flint, and lit the firewood in the furnace.

Soon, the wood in the furnace began to burn, the flames steadily growing. When plumes of smoke rose from the bottom of the kiln, Nan Xu sealed the bottom ventilation holes with mud and closed the roof.

After a busy afternoon, Nan Xu’s face flushed with heat. He fanned himself with a crude banana leaf fan. He stared at the furnace for a long moment to make sure it wasn’t cracked. Then, he prepared to build a pottery furnace nearby.

The clay and water were transported one trip at a time. Perhaps because they hadn’t slept well in the mountains the other day, the two wild boar brothers didn’t get up all afternoon. Tingchuan woke up and left the yard; his whereabouts were unknown.

By dusk, Nan Xu had built a cylindrical stove half the height of a man next to the earthen kiln. The stovetop was nearly a meter in diameter. If the firing was successful, firing a regular-sized pot should be easy.

Nan Xu planned to make a few test bowls and plates by mixing the clay he had dug up with wood ash and charcoal. He planned to mold them tonight and allow them to dry for a few days while the charcoal burned.

When Tingchuan returned with the rabbit at dusk, Nan Xu had a collection of objects of varying sizes spread out before him.