Chapter 47

After meeting the four head chefs, Su Xing realized that there were always greater mountains and higher skies, and he no longer felt smug about surpassing Zhang Yu.

"What are you standing there for? Get over here quickly!" Li Dazui, who was preparing the pufferfish, suddenly scolded.

Su Xing frowned and said, "I'm coming."

"Little knife worker... hmpf!" Su Xing walked over, looking at Li Dazui, and inwardly sneered.

The special cooking room was exclusively for the ten head chefs, with an incredibly spacious area. Ten cooking stations were arranged in a circle, surrounded by all kinds of kitchen utensils and seasonings, everything one could need.

Li Dazui's cooking station was next to the first seat of the head chef. The first seat's station was different from the others; the other nine stations were filled with various utensils, but the first seat's station was completely empty.

"We have guests from the City God's Mansion. We need to prepare a VIP banquet with the theme 'Mountain Delicacies and Sea Treasures.' You need to carefully dissect the pufferfish and remove the poison sacs," Li Dazui coldly instructed, not pausing his work.

"Mountain Delicacies and Sea Treasures?" Su Xing asked.

"Mountain Delicacies and Sea Treasures, simply put, are precious ingredients from the mountains and the sea."

Li Dazui briefly answered, though he didn't like Su Xing, he still explained responsibly: "The pufferfish, when the poison sac is removed while it's alive, the meat becomes the freshest and most delicious. After the poison sac is removed, the pufferfish produces a miraculous substance that further enhances the already delicious meat."

"However, removing the poison sac while it's alive is extremely difficult. The pufferfish must not die, and the poison sac must not be broken! It's a great test of knife skills! I'm busy cooking other ingredients, so the task of removing the poison sac is yours."

"Remember, each pufferfish is more valuable than you. If you damage a few, you should know the consequences!" Li Dazui sneered, revealing a sinister look.

"So this is your real intention! Removing the poison sac while it's alive? Interesting!" Su Xing was not afraid at all, but rather eager to try.

According to records, the poison sac of the pufferfish contains refined yin energy, which can be used for cultivation.

Although the poison sac is highly toxic, as long as it's not soul-toxic, any highly toxic substance is trivial to ghosts.

The reason no ghosts have used the poison sac for cultivation is that the pufferfish is extremely rare and precious, originally from the River of Forgetfulness, and now only kept by powerful factions.

"You won't shed a tear until you see the coffin! Do you think removing the poison sac from a live pufferfish is easy? Without the guidance of the Old Lady of the Moon, you're bound to fail! Then, hmpf..." Li Dazui glanced at Su Xing, his mind filled with malice, but his face remained unchanged as he stomped his foot.

Suddenly, with a loud boom, the ground in the center of the ten cooking stations cracked open, and a water pool rose up, shimmering with a few pufferfish swimming inside.

"Pufferfish," Su Xing said.

"Grab them and remove the poison sacs while they're alive," Li Dazui said.

Su Xing nodded and went to the water pool without a word.

"He won't even be able to catch a pufferfish," Meiling stopped her actions and said to Gao Lao.

"I'm not so sure," Wen Shitian's voice came from outside the red door. He had returned, carrying a furry paw on his shoulder. Looking behind him, a huge man-bear was being dragged along.

"Want to bet?" Meiling said confidently.

Wen Shitian smiled but said nothing, dragging the man-bear to the cooking station. With a swift knife, the man-bear was dissected without a drop of blood.

Meiling's pupils dilated, and Gao Lao praised, "Shitian, your skills have improved. It won't be long before you can challenge the fourth seat."

"Still early. Everyone can see that Wan Shan's skills are outstanding. He has the qualifications to challenge the third seat but stays in the fourth seat," Wen Shitian shrugged.

"Hmph." Mentioning the fourth seat, even Gao Lao, the second seat, stiffened.

Leaving aside Wan Shan, Su Xing had already stood by the water pool for a long time, staring at the pufferfish in the water without blinking.

The head chefs' conversation was not hidden from Su Xing, so he also heard about the difficulty of catching the pufferfish. When Li Dazui learned the Old Lady of the Moon's knife technique, it took him half a month to catch a pufferfish.

"Will it self-destruct if disturbed? This is tricky," Su Xing muttered, hesitating. The pufferfish self-destructing was unexpected.

"How is it?" Meiling looked at Wen Shitian, giggling, and Li Dazui also paused his work, his mouth curling up to his ears, his eyes fiercely glaring, revealing his butcher's nature.

Suddenly, Su Xing moved, his arm flicking, his hand slicing through the water. The clear water seemed to have a mind of its own, actively avoiding Su Xing's hand.

Silently, without a splash, a lively pufferfish was caught in Su Xing's hand!

"......!"

All four head chefs were stunned, their mouths agape, their jaws almost dropping.

As Li Hanlin said, Su Xing always surprises his opponents. Whoever underestimates him is bound to be shocked and suffer!

Su Xing, while the pufferfish was still fresh, pressed it on the cutting board, picked up Li Dazui's knife, and sliced open the pufferfish's belly.

A shadow flashed, his hand reached into the pufferfish's belly, and he pulled out the poison sac. He then wiped over the wound, and a soft light flashed, the knife wound healed automatically, and the pufferfish was still lively!

"How is this possible!" Meiling screamed, and the most shocked was Li Dazui, who couldn't even make a sound, his throat gurgling.

He was right next to Su Xing, seeing Su Xing's smooth actions, and recalling his own miserable training, the difference was like heaven and earth.

Who is the one of the ten head chefs!

Li Dazui suddenly felt very wronged. When he trained to remove the poison sac while the pufferfish was alive, he received a lot of criticism from the Old Lady of the Moon. At that time, he was already a candidate for the ten head chef seats.

"Little Li, your chef's path is destined to stop at the last seat of the head chefs," the Old Lady of the Moon said to Li Dazui. Many years passed, and her words came true. After being selected as one of the ten head chefs, Li Dazui made no further progress.

"The feel is good." Su Xing secretly glanced at the reactions of the four head chefs, smiled, and naturally put the poison sac into his pocket.

"This kid..." Wen Shitian was embarrassed, noticing Su Xing's natural actions, feeling that he was bold, openly taking advantage of the situation in front of the four head chefs.

"I misjudged him." Gao Lao coldly snorted. Su Xing's skills were good, but they didn't impress him. He was surprised only because Su Xing exceeded his expectations.

To become the second seat of the head chefs, second only to the first seat and the head chef of the Imperial Kitchen, the Old Lady of the Moon, Gao Lao was no ordinary person!

"Continue!" With the opportunity to gain, Su Xing was motivated, smiling mischievously at the pool of pufferfish, imagining a pile of poison sacs.

Of course, this was purely Su Xing's imagination. There were only a few pufferfish in the pool, not enough for him to dissect.

Li Dazui looked at Su Xing's back, silent, seemingly recalling memories, feeling a special emotion, and not questioning Su Xing's shameful behavior, tacitly allowing it.

"Wow!"

Suddenly, a mournful cry caught Su Xing's attention.

This cry was very familiar, the cry of the ghost bird Gui Che.

The cry of Gui Che came from the adjacent special ingredient room. The walls had soundproofing, yet the sound still came through, indicating how much Gui Che was suffering, a sight too terrible to bear.

Su Xing was very curious, wanting to know which chef was so talented to make the notorious Gui Che cry so pitifully.

"Liluo is being naughty again. The theme is 'Mountain Delicacies and Sea Treasures.' What is she doing to Gui Che?" Meiling rolled her eyes, speaking irritably.

Liluo, the sixth seat of the ten head chefs!

Su Xing's eyes twitched. A VIP banquet with the theme "Mountain Delicacies and Sea Treasures" included mountain delicacies like the man-bear from the Yin North, a black panther at the Ghost Officer level, a thousand-year-old ghost mushroom, and... and sea treasures like the pufferfish, dead sea cucumber, yin abalone, and... even mobilizing more than five head chefs!

The head chefs of the City God's Mansion were not exclusive to the City God's Mansion. Many of the ten head chefs also served as head chefs in other mansions, making them very busy.

Excluding the first seat, the Old Lady of the Moon, and the fourth seat, Wan Shan, who traveled around, the other head chefs were mostly gathered today, jointly preparing "Mountain Delicacies and Sea Treasures"!

"What important person is the City God entertaining today? To go to such lengths!" Su Xing muttered, seeing so many ingredients, he also wanted to cook.

In his human life, Su Xing had worked in many professions, excelling as a chef and a killer.

After coming to the Underworld, with his pure ghost body, concentrated ghost thoughts, and the understanding of the movements of the Lady of the River, Su Xing's culinary skills had greatly improved, not inferior to the last few seats of the ten head chefs!

"The City God is entertaining one of the ten Yin Generals, 'Fish Gills,' today!" Li Dazui, who was cooking the live pufferfish, suddenly said.

"Huh?" Su Xing looked at Li Dazui in surprise, exclaiming, "One of the ten Yin Generals, 'Fish Gills'?!"

Fish Gills, one of the ten Yin Generals, oversees all fish ghosts in the world! His status is second only to the Ten Judges!

And today, Fish Gills was in the center of the City God's Mansion, the City God's Courtyard!

Now, the entire kitchen was busy preparing the "Mountain Delicacies and Sea Treasures" for the City God and the Yin General Fish Gills.

At this moment, the figure of a red fish flashed before Su Xing's eyes.

"Right, Fish Gills is a 'fish.' Is it appropriate for the kitchen to prepare 'Mountain Delicacies and Sea Treasures'?" Su Xing asked.

"Nonsense!" Li Dazui scolded, glaring at Su Xing, his eyes becoming strange again, sighing inexplicably, and continuing to cook.

"What's wrong with Li Dazui? Could he be in love with me?" Su Xing thought, his back hair standing on end, immediately keeping a distance from Li Dazui.

In the center of the City God's Mansion, the City God's Courtyard!

The City God, dressed in white, and the Yin General Fish Gills, wearing a fish-scale robe and lightly made up, two giants whose footsteps could shake the entire Underworld, sat in the armchairs, sipping tea and discussing state affairs with laughter.