Chapter 82

As I stood at the door of the classroom, I took a deep breath and firmly held the letter containing the secret that my mother had given me.

"Hey, I need to take a closer look!"

"Why is that?"

The step-grandfather, who received my question and expectant gaze, asked for a detailed diagnosis with a surprised look on his face.

Suddenly, the step-grandfather's movements quickened.

He started by taking my pulse at my wrist, then moved to my ankle, neck, and back, and finally to my temples. From the step-grandfather, who is the Poison King, came an exclamation of amazement.

"This is truly remarkable!"

With the step-grandfather's exclamation, I looked at my wife, Jiege Qing, and smiled.

'You said you trusted me, right? I'm the kind of guy who gets praised as remarkable by the Poison King!'

Thinking about it, that was the case.

Other than being a chef, I had to struggle on my first night in this strange situation.

Originally, this was the normal treatment.

"Wait, so if I just open the lower and middle dantians and practice a bit, I can achieve enlightenment. Is that what you're saying?"

Step-grandfather, you're quite the storyteller.

You make people feel up and down, like a skilled talker.

The situation was so good that my mood naturally improved.

'Am I about to become a celestial being and my wife is already a celestial maiden? Is that it?'

While I was happily imagining a rosy future, I heard the step-grandfather's voice.

"No, it's a bit late to start learning martial arts, and the problem is that the flow of qi in the upper dantian is... How should I put it? If I must name it, it could be called a 'reverse heaven body' (逆天肢體)? Qingyun, you're a good person, so you wouldn't do anything to defy heaven... What a bizarre situation."

'What, a body? Reverse heaven?'

The feeling of being a great sinner who defies heaven made me jump in surprise.

However, listening to the story from the step-grandfather, the Poison King, made me a bit suspicious.

Being reborn is supposed to be in accordance with the natural order, but I felt like I had come back in time or to a different world.

'Not a salmon or anything... Damn...'

"Could it be? Then?"

"What makes you suspicious?"

"After I almost drowned and lost my life about three years ago, I had some vague memories that kept coming back. Could it be that?"

I couldn't say I was reborn, so I made a vague excuse. My wife, who seemed surprised by my words, asked urgently.

"Then, could there be a big problem with the upper dantian!?"

Her voice was filled with alarm, as if a bigger problem had arisen while trying to solve her issue.

"No, you've lived well so far. It doesn't seem to be a major problem... Not much is known about the upper dantian. It's only known to have a significant impact on the heart and qi. Qingyun, have you become more sensitive or insensitive to anything after being saved?"

Thinking about it, there was something.

"Recently, I've become, well, very sensitive."

"Really? What to?"

"Seems like my intuition has become almost supernatural... I guess that's the effect."

'Well, in the harsh Central Plains, it's fortunate to have developed such intuition for survival.'

Though I was a bit disappointed, I decided to be content with this survival skill.

***

After the interview with the step-grandfather, the Poison King, I trudged back to our quarters.

Both my wife and I walked with heavy hearts.

After talking with the step-grandfather and my wife, I realized there was one more thing I had become insensitive to.

It was not reacting much to the deaths or corpses of bandits or others.

'What, I'm not a psychopath or anything...'

In the martial world, it's not bad to not be shocked by a single death, but being a psychopath is problematic.

At least, I wasn't insensitive to other emotions, which was a relief.

As I headed to the kitchen, I glanced at my wife, who was walking dejectedly beside me, and tried to comfort her.

"Don't be too disappointed. We've only confirmed one method so far. There must be other ways, so let's never give up. Understand? I will never give up on you."

"Grandfather..."

I pulled my wife into my chest, and in the moonlight, her blue eyes shimmered like the Milky Way.

After a moment, she spoke with a determined look.

"Grandfather, go in first. I'll be back after meeting Sister Tang for a bit."

"Sister Tang? Isn't she resting because she's sick?"

"Just, I'll check if she's sleeping well and come back."

Then, my wife started walking back the way we had come.

'Isn't Sister Tang's quarters in the opposite direction?'

"Madam, isn't it that way?"

I asked, thinking she might have taken a wrong turn in the dark. My wife, looking flustered, replied.

"Yes, this way is also a path."

"Is that so? Then be careful. I'll go to the quarters first."

"Understood, Grandfather."

I thought there might be another path I didn't know about, so I headed to the quarters without much concern.

***

Early in the morning, I got up to prepare a nourishing dish for Tang Yingying, who said she could only recover by eating the food I made.

Looking at the bed, I saw my wife sleeping.

She hadn't returned to the quarters until she fell asleep, but when I woke up, she was lying beside me.

I quietly got up, carefully covered her with a blanket, and headed to the kitchen to think about what to make for a nourishing dish.

'In the Central Plains, a nourishing dish for patients would be snake soup, turtle soup, or dog meat... in my previous life.'

In my previous life, the dishes that guests often ordered for body nourishment at the hotel were turtle soup, snake soup, or dog meat.

The choice of meat varied depending on the symptoms.

Even in an era where people knew that all meats were proteins and fats, stories about which meat was good for what were popular.

Snake soup was known to boost the energy of patients who were weak, making them feel like they could get up immediately. Turtle soup was known to replenish energy, aiding slow recovery. Dog meat was known to help those who had been sick for a long time, boosting their energy.

'The snake dishes I know aren't for patient recovery.'

Though the Tang Clan had plenty of snakes, I thought they might cook snake soup better than I could, so I decided to make something else.

'Then, dog meat? I've never made dog meat dishes... and dogs?'

I realized I had never seen a dog in the Tang Clan, so I asked a maid who helped in the kitchen.

"Are there any dogs in the Tang Clan?"

A Tang Clan warrior, who was guarding outside, answered my question awkwardly.

"Mr. Liu Qingyun, dogs don't last long in the Tang Clan. They die easily because of their sensitive noses to the poison scents..."

"I see."

'Thank goodness I told Deokgu to come later.'

Deokgu was supposed to arrive with the warriors, Jialian, and the maids. If I had brought him without knowing, it could have been a disaster.

Thinking I should tie Deokgu outside the Tang Clan when he arrives, I sighed in relief.

Even a beggar-hunting dog could have been lost in vain.

'So, ultimately, turtle soup (甲鱼汤)?'

"Is there a turtle in the Tang Clan?"

"There are a few in the pond in the back garden. Why do you ask?"

"I'm thinking of making a nourishing dish for Sister Tang, who has just recovered from illness, and I need a turtle."

"A turtle?"

We were having a long conversation about turtles when the step-grandfather's voice came from outside.

As they say, old people don't sleep much in the morning.

"What? You're making a nourishing dish for Yingying? I'll go catch one right away!"

The old man rushed to the back garden and, after a short while, brought back a turtle as big as a human head.

"Is this enough?"

"Yes, it's plenty."

I took the turtle and headed to the well next to the kitchen.

There's one really annoying thing about learning Chinese cuisine.

Usually, chefs receive ingredients, but some ingredients for Chinese dishes are delivered live. Especially turtles.

There's a strange logic that a chef's work starts with catching the ingredients.

'I'm not a butcher...'

I smiled bitterly, remembering my first time catching a turtle.

A red memory.

'When you cut off the head, the turtle dances...'

Now that I'm used to it, I decided to process it quickly.

The turtle, which had grown fat by eating carp in the pond, had a crescent-shaped pattern on its shell near the head.

- Thud

I drained the blood and split the turtle in half by striking the part where the carapace and plastron connect, then separated the meat.

The part with the most meat on a turtle is the muscles in its limbs.

Also, the liver is essential for the dish I'm about to make.

After separating the liver and meat, I discarded the rest and took the prepared turtle to the kitchen to start cooking.

First, I cut the turtle meat into bite-sized pieces and prepared them. Then, I heated oil in a wok, added sliced onions and minced ginger, and stir-fried them until the aroma was fully released.

- Sizzle

The fragrant smell of ginger and the sweet aroma from the stir-fried onions.

I added the turtle meat and liver, seasoned with salt, and continued stir-frying.

- Sizzle, Sizzle, Sizzle

I stirred the wok to flip the stir-fried turtle meat and, after adding enough water, planned to simmer it for an hour with a chicken in a cheesecloth.

Then, I remembered an important ingredient.

I rushed out of the kitchen to find the step-grandfather, but he and the step-grandmother were already waiting outside with a table and chairs.

They both smiled awkwardly at me.

"Hmm... Why did you rush out so suddenly?"

"Did you sleep well, Qingyun? Hmm..."

The step-grandfather and step-grandmother, who seemed awkward, were waiting for me.

They were apparently waiting for the dish, so I asked if the necessary ingredient was available in the Tang Clan.

"Do you have any Cordyceps sinensis (冬蟲夏草) in the Tang Clan?"

"Cordyceps sinensis?"

"Yes, it's a nourishing dish, so..."

"No, what kind of dish requires Cordyceps sinensis? Qingyun, do you know that Cordyceps sinensis, along with Korean ginseng and deer antler, is the most expensive medicinal herb? Even if you have money, it's not easy to get..."

The step-grandmother asked in surprise.

It seemed she couldn't understand why such a precious ingredient would be used in a dish.

However, the step-grandfather, the Poison King, who genuinely cared for his granddaughter, generously said,

"No, that much is necessary for Yingying's nourishing dish."

A short while later, Aunt Huaying brought the Cordyceps sinensis at the step-grandfather's instruction.

"I brought it because you suddenly asked for it..."

The Cordyceps sinensis was carefully placed in a gold-framed box, indicating its preciousness.

When I took a handful, the three of them were so surprised that their eyes widened. I gently released my grip and took out half, asking,

"Is this very expensive?"

I wondered how expensive it could be to cause such a reaction. Aunt Huaying replied with a trembling voice,

"About five taels of silver for one Cordyceps sinensis?"

"Really?!"

'A small root, four for one tael of gold?!'

I was so startled that I humbly took out even more from my hand.

The thought of five taels of silver going into Yingying's mouth at once was unimaginable.

'Yingying, it's not because I'm stingy. The more you live, the more you need to save.'