ARLQLCC chapter 14

 

Thanks to everyone’s hard work, the mountain of trays, bowls, and chopsticks was washed clean one by one.

There was no place in the cafeteria courtyard where all of them could sit together, so after washing the dishes, they returned to the dining area.

Su Ji took out the remaining chilled mung bean cakes from his storage artifact, placed them on the table, and invited everyone to try them.

For cultivators who swung their swords more than a hundred times a day, washing dishes was not particularly tiring. But Su Ji appreciated their help, and since it was not yet time to prepare dinner and there were still quite a few mung bean cakes left, he brought them all out.

They were all close friends from the Yunxian Sect. Normally, any two of them could chat endlessly when they met, and now that they were gathered together eating fragrant pastries, they naturally started talking again.

Yun Xicheng was, as always, the one who talked the most, going from one topic to another without repeating himself.

Su Ji sat nearby with the kitten in his arms, occasionally laughing along when he heard something interesting.

The afternoon passed amid everyone’s laughter and cheerful voices.

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Yunxian Sect.

The midday sunlight was bright, falling on the treetops and eaves and outlining them in gold.

After classes, the Yunxian dining hall was usually packed, with long lines stretching out the door. But today, there were far fewer disciples dining than usual.

Only a sparse handful of disciples carried their trays back to the dining area. Even the most popular dishes still had plenty left.

The servant responsible for serving food was secretly puzzled. Since the dining hall had opened, this was the first time he had encountered such a situation.

He looked at the dishes in the food basins in front of him, which had barely sold, then glanced at the dining hall entrance, where no disciples had entered for a long time. Setting down the serving spoon, he hurried to the back kitchen.

Although it was called the back kitchen, there was not much related to actual cooking. Instead, one section had been specially partitioned off and furnished with many soft chairs and tea sets meant for leisure and relaxation.

A corpulent man with a face full of fierce flesh was sitting in an expensive soft chair, resting with his eyes closed in obvious comfort.

As soon as the servant saw him, he immediately put on a fawning expression. Clasping his hands and bowing, he approached the man and said respectfully, “Chef Lin, this humble one has something to report.”

The fat man known as Chef Lin opened one eye and tilted his head slightly, signaling the servant to continue.

Having received permission, the servant immediately pointed toward the front hall of the dining hall and recounted his observations from the entire noon. “It’s like this, Chef Lin. Normally, such a small matter would not be worth disturbing you, but this matter is truly too strange, so I thought I had to report it to you truthfully.”

Chef Lin was pleased by the flattery and waved his hand. “What’s so strange? Tell me.”

The servant smiled obsequiously and quickly said, “Chef Lin, as you know, our dining hall is usually packed at mealtime. The line can stretch all the way to the sect gates.”

“But today, for some reason, the number of disciples eating in the dining hall suddenly dropped by more than half. Not even one-third of the dishes prepared this morning were sold!”

“At first, I thought perhaps the elders and instructors lectured longer than usual, which was why so few people came. But after waiting for a long time, not a single additional disciple showed up!”

“Tell me, isn’t that strange? There’s only one dining hall in the entire sect. If the disciples aren’t eating here, where could they possibly go?”

When he finished speaking, Chef Lin, who had been reclining lazily, slowly sat up. His eyes, nearly hidden by fat, gradually widened as he stared at the servant with a vicious look.

The servant still had a smile on his face at first, but seeing that terrifying expression, he immediately wiped it away and stammered, “Chef… Chef Lin, how about this humble one goes to investigate what’s going on and reports back to you? What do you think…?”

Chef Lin snorted coldly. “No need. I’ll go with you.”

With that, he slammed the table and rose from the soft chair. As he stood, the fat on his round belly jiggled twice, making the servant’s eyelids twitch involuntarily.

Chef Lin walked in front, and the servant did not dare pass him. Following behind, he stole glances at the man’s expression.

This Chef Lin had arrived just a month ago. The moment he came, he forced out the previous head chef and firmly occupied the position.

Although the servant’s status was not high, he had worked in the Yunxian Sect long enough to build his own network. After asking around, he learned that Chef Lin had become head chef so quickly entirely because of his relationship with the sect’s Second Elder.

Everyone in the cultivation world knew that aside from the alchemy hall and artifact forging hall, the dining hall was where the most money could be made.

Relying on the Second Elder’s backing, Chef Lin began major renovations the moment he arrived, carving out a section of the back kitchen for his personal enjoyment.

At the same time, the quality of ingredients used in the disciples’ meals was downgraded, but the reported costs remained the same as before. The extra silver all went directly into Chef Lin’s pockets.

Many people working in the dining hall were fully aware of these matters, but because of the Second Elder behind him, not a single one dared report it to the sect for fear of bringing disaster upon themselves.

The servant was smooth and tactful. Although he looked down on this Chef Lin, who was so fat he could practically roll away, he still did not dare offend him.

Besides being lazy and gluttonous, Chef Lin also had a terrible temper. In front of the Second Elder, he was humble and cautious, but toward servants, he was domineering and overbearing. The servant was afraid that one wrong word would get him kicked out of the dining hall.

So now, seeing Chef Lin’s furious expression, he followed timidly, not daring to say another word.

They went all the way to the front hall, where Chef Lin saw with his own eyes the desolate scene the servant had described. The dining hall was practically empty. His already unpleasant expression grew increasingly darker, while the servant behind him did not dare utter a single sound, deeply regretting having reported this matter.

Never mind receiving a reward—judging by Chef Lin’s expression, it would already be fortunate if he was not cursed to death.

Chef Lin left the dining hall and brought the servant to the place where disciples usually attended classes. The classrooms were empty, and there was no sign that lessons had run overtime.

His face dark as water, he then went to Yun Terrace.

This was the square where disciples usually practiced swordsmanship. Aside from a few disciples still cultivating in small groups, there was no one else to be seen.

Chef Lin visited nearly every place where disciples might gather. With each place he checked, his expression grew uglier. After circling the entire sect, he returned to the dining hall entrance.

By now, the servant no longer dared say another word. If there had been a crack in the ground, he would have crawled into it immediately.

Looking as though a storm was about to break, Chef Lin said bitterly, “It’s clearly mealtime. How can no one be coming to eat? Did all these disciples vanish into thin air? Or have they found a new place to eat, so they no longer come to our dining hall?”

The servant was the only one present. Wearing a miserable expression, he answered cautiously, “Th-this… Chef Lin, there’s only one dining hall in the Yunxian Sect. How could there be a new place to eat… Haha… Maybe the disciples received some mission today and aren’t in the sect?”

Chef Lin snorted coldly. The fierce flesh on his face made his expression especially vicious. “What mission could send more than half the sect’s disciples outside? You really can come up with anything.”

The servant’s legs began to tremble, and he hurriedly slapped himself. “Yes, yes, yes! This mouth of mine—it doesn’t understand anything and only spouts nonsense!”

Looking at his appearance, Chef Lin’s eyes revealed a trace of mockery. Just as he was about to speak, lively sounds suddenly came from the teleportation array behind them.

He immediately turned around.

A previously abandoned teleportation array was glowing with white light, and disciples wearing the uniforms of the Yunxian Sect emerged one after another.

He watched for quite a while, until half a quarter of an hour later, when the last of them finally came out.

The servant looked on from the side, his heart turning cold.

He had just claimed there was no other dining place, yet these disciples were now stepping out of the teleportation array with satisfied expressions, clearly full and content. Without even glancing at their own dining hall, they each went about their business.

Then he looked at Chef Lin’s expression. His brows were knitted so tightly that his already narrow eyes were almost completely buried beneath the fat.

Finally, two female disciples emerged from the teleportation array. They were holding takeout bowls in their hands. The distance was not far, and the servant could see clearly that the bowls were filled to the brim with food.

As the two female disciples walked closer, their casual conversation became perfectly audible.

“Senior Brother Yun was right. That cafeteria is really delicious. I haven’t eaten this full in a long time!”

“Good thing you were clever and had Chef Su pack the food directly when we got it. Otherwise, if we’d waited until after eating to get takeout, all the dishes would’ve been gone.”

“Well, there were so many people. Half of our sect went, and disciples from other sects might also join in. I already asked around. Chef Su doesn’t open for dinner, so of course we had to grab it quickly.”

“Chef Su’s food is so much better than our sect’s. It’s like heaven and earth. Thank goodness Senior Brother Yun discovered it. Otherwise, we’d have to keep eating this inedible food for many more years!”

“I heard Senior Brother Yun say today that Chef Su is preparing to launch his own pastries in the next few days!”

“Really? Then we’ll have to go early. If we’re late, we definitely won’t get any.”

“Absolutely. Come on, let’s go show off to the people who failed to get takeout!”

The two of them walked away happily, completely unaware that the two men standing by the roadside had heard every word.

Chef Lin stared viciously at the teleportation array and spat, “What kind of bullshit Chef Su? Some country bumpkin who crawled out of nowhere dares to steal my business!”

As he spoke, he strode toward the teleportation array. Looking at the words still flashing across it, he found them glaringly offensive.

He circulated his spiritual power, condensed it into a vortex, and hurled it at the teleportation array.

After several sharp crackling sounds, the light on the array gradually went out, and the spiritual energy within the formation dissipated as well.

He had directly destroyed the teleportation array.

The servant’s face turned pale, but he did not dare object and stood silently by the roadside like a quail.

Even after destroying the teleportation array, Chef Lin was not satisfied. He spat at it again and cursed, “Let’s see how you steal my business after I destroy this damned teleportation array!”

He cursed all the way back to the back kitchen.

The servant followed behind him step by step. After glancing several times at the now-useless teleportation array, he comforted himself inwardly: Even if Chef Su of Linggu Mountain really does have a partnership with the sect, so what? Chef Lin has the Second Elder backing him. Destroying a single teleportation array shouldn’t be a major issue.

After repeating this to himself several times, the servant wiped the sweat from his forehead and returned to the serving area.

But if one looked carefully, his legs were still trembling uncontrollably.

 

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