Junior Sister is skilled in subduing demons.

Chapter 154 Two Divine Beasts
Qingzhu Xiaozhu (Clear Bamboo Cottage)

Sunlight filters through the gaps in the bamboo leaves, casting dappled shadows that fall like scattered gold across the windows of the bamboo house.

With the guidance of several experts at the Purple Bamboo Banquet, Anzhi had mastered the basic operation of four skills: Splitting Light Demon-Slaying Sword, Spirit Wind Shadow Step Kill, Ice Soul Demon-Sealing Array, and Illusionary Eight Trigrams Array.

So today, Anzhi is going to take a break and give herself a vacation.

Anzhi woke up slowly to the sound of birdsong. She stretched and got up to open the bamboo window.

In the courtyard of the bamboo house, Lingjizi placed a bundle of bamboo slips on the bamboo table, which was still shrouded in mist from a distance.

At this moment, Tuantuan and Duoqi were also chasing and playing around the table, looking very happy.

Anzhi quickly washed up and went outside the bamboo house, but Tuantuan and Duoqi had already disappeared...

Anzhi's plan for today was simple: to cook bamboo rice for Lingjizi and the editor-in-chief herself. This skill was taught to her by the bamboo weaving elder, so she was eager to try it.

An Zhi first carefully selected several bamboo stalks of moderate thickness and with relatively regular nodes in the bamboo forest, and then carefully cut the selected bamboo stalks to the appropriate length with a knife.

After cutting down the bamboo, Anzhi sat on the grass and carefully used a knife to smooth the edge of one end of the bamboo node. Then he carefully removed the septum inside the bamboo, leaving a smooth and hollow space inside the bamboo tube.

After processing the bamboo tubes, it's time to prepare the ingredients.

Yesterday, Anzhi visited several experts in the bamboo forest and obtained some ingredients such as glutinous rice, cured meat, shiitake mushrooms, and peas. She first washed the glutinous rice and set it aside to drain. Then she cut the cured meat into small pieces and sliced ​​the shiitake mushrooms. Everything was prepared in an orderly manner.

Then, Anzhi put the drained glutinous rice into the bamboo tube, followed by the chopped cured meat, mushrooms, and peas, along with appropriate amounts of salt and other seasonings. He then gently stirred the mixture with chopsticks to ensure that each grain of glutinous rice was coated with the aroma of the seasonings and fully blended with the other ingredients.

After the ingredients were filled, Anzhi found some bamboo leaves and wrapped the opening of the bamboo tube tightly, binding it tightly with thin bamboo strips to ensure that the ingredients would not leak out during the roasting process.

With everything ready, Anzhi found a relatively open and safe spot in the bamboo forest, lit a small fire, and carefully placed the wrapped bamboo rice near the fire to slowly roast it.

Soon, an enticing aroma began to waft from the bamboo tube—a wonderful blend of the soft, sticky glutinous rice, the savory aroma of cured meat, the rich flavor of shiitake mushrooms, and the sweet fragrance of peas.

Deep in the bamboo forest, Tuantuan, who was playing with Duoqi, was the first to keenly detect the fragrance. It ran happily towards the source of the aroma, and Duoqi followed. Its round body quickly darted through the bamboo forest, making the bamboo leaves rustle. Its heart and eyes were full of the delicious food that was about to be eaten.

Tuantuan ran wildly and rushed to Anzhi's side first. After stopping, it immediately raised its head and kept sniffing the increasingly rich aroma of bamboo rice: "Mommy, what is this?"

Seeing that Tuantuan looked like she needed to be fed, Anzhi rolled her eyes: "You're having a lot of fun with Duoqi, aren't you? When did you remember you have a mom?"

Tuantuan didn't understand what Anzhi meant and kept sniffing the bamboo rice with her little nose.

Before long, Duoqi slowly appeared to the side. It quietly watched Anzhi and Tuanzi, but its eyes would occasionally glance at the bamboo rice that was emitting an enticing aroma, and its tail would sway gently.

Seeing that Tuanzi and Duoqi were attracted, Anzhi couldn't help but laugh and say, "Oh dear, it seems that the temptation of delicious food is really irresistible. Come on, you two should try some first."

As he spoke, Anzhi first picked out some soft and glutinous parts from the bamboo rice and placed them in his palm, then handed them to Tuanzi. Tuanzi's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly stuck out his little tongue, gently rolled it up, and licked the food into his mouth, chewing it with relish.

Anzhi then shared some of the bamboo rice with Duoqi. Duoqi first carefully smelled it, and then slowly licked it with his tongue, squinting his eyes slightly as he ate... noon.

Anzhi tidied up the yard, and Duoqi and Tuantuan suddenly ran towards the bamboo forest. Looking up, they saw Lingjizi and the bamboo weaving old man slowly walking towards them...

"Hahaha, what a virtuous girl! I can smell the fragrance of your bamboo rice from afar, hahaha." The old bamboo weaver rode on his bicycle, carrying a jar of pickled bamboo shoots.

Anzhi hurriedly stepped forward to greet him: "No, no, I still haven't mastered your cooking skills, so I'll just have to make do with this today."

As he spoke, Anzhi led the two to the bamboo table and chairs where bamboo rice was placed. At this moment, the aroma of the bamboo rice became even stronger, wafting through the air.

Duoqi lay obediently beside Lingjizi, while Tuantuan rubbed against the bamboo weaving old man's lap.

"Wow, thank you for the love from the bamboo weaving master." Anzhi took out the pickled bamboo shoots brought by the old editor, and then carefully untied the bamboo strips binding the bamboo rice and peeled off the bamboo leaves that were wrapped around it.

Instantly, a wonderful aroma, steaming hot and mixed with the soft and sticky texture of glutinous rice, the salty fragrance of cured meat, the rich flavor of shiitake mushrooms, and the sweet aroma of peas, wafted over.

"Oh my, the aroma is so tempting! Anzhi, your skills seem quite good!" The old bamboo weaver praised with a smile, his eyes full of anticipation as he looked at the enticing bamboo rice.

Anzhi was a little embarrassed: "Hehe, my skills are not very good, I hope you two seniors will not find it offensive."

……

In the quiet bamboo cottage at midday, Anzhi, Lingjizi, and the bamboo weaving old man sat together, happily enjoying bamboo rice, discussing Anzhi's cultivation, and reminiscing about the grand occasion of the Purple Bamboo Banquet.

Not far away, Duoqi saw Tuantuan holding a bamboo tube of rice, enjoying it immensely, with a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth and a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"Hmph, Tuanzi, look at you, all you do is eat bamboo all day long, you never have any other tricks up your sleeve, you're such a country bumpkin." Duoqi mocked deliberately.

Tuanzi was happily chewing on the bamboo part of her bamboo rice when she heard Duoqi's words. She was stunned. A hint of doubt flashed in her big, dark eyes, followed by a surge of anger.

"Awooo!" Tuanzi roared angrily. It couldn't stand such ridicule. Its round body suddenly stood up, and all its fur stood on end, making it look like an angry little hedgehog.

Before Duoqi could react, Tuanzi waved its chubby little paws and pounced on Duoqi, landing on him in one go. Its little paws kept waving, scratching and clawing at Duoqi.

Duoqi didn't hold back and took a big bite of Tuantuan's hind leg...

"Don't run, you dog."

"Why don't you go after him, you chubby guy?"

……

Seeing Duoqi and Tuanzi fighting again, the old bamboo weaver shook his head and said, "Hahaha, these two little rascals are both naive and playful, and they won't submit to anyone..."