Start practicing from Mr. Fox

Chapter 114 Kitchen God Noodles, Wang Village Ghost

"Fellow?"

The Iron Pot Demon was stunned for a moment, his eyes filled with excitement, and he rubbed his hands together in front of him.

"Can a monster like me be considered a fellow Daoist of a True Person?"

"We are all living beings, and we are all cultivating. What difference is there between humans and demons in essence? Even if I were a true immortal, let alone not being a true immortal, it would be right for me to call you a fellow Daoist."

Chen Ji smiled.

"Then... I'll address you as Fellow Daoist."

The iron pot demon was overjoyed, even refusing the money offered by the ghost next to him for more noodles, and instead grabbed the loose silver coins and slapped them back.
"I'm in a good mood today, so you can have these noodles!"

Only after finishing speaking did he ask Chen Ji what the good place he mentioned was.

"A Taoist temple."

"..."

The Iron Pot Demon stared in disbelief, dropping his chopsticks to the ground.

"Fellow Daoist, are you perhaps mocking me? Right now, all the Taoist temples in the land are calling for the extermination of demons; how could I dare to go?"

"This Taoist temple is different from other Taoist temples."

"What's the difference?"

"The abbot of this Taoist temple was also a chef who entered the Taoist path. He loves to study dishes and can cook all kinds of dishes with different abilities."

"For example, the Bagua Tofu that I ate was made by this abbot using cloud-entwined beans from Qingliang Mountain. Long-term consumption can make one feel light."

"I have also cooked dishes that can grant one supernatural powers after eating them."

"You've truly grasped the essence of magic?"

The Iron Pot Demon was shocked.

"nature."

Chen Ji waved his hand, conjuring up clouds and mist, and then explained the abilities of the bamboo shoots in the clouds to the Iron Pot Demon.

"Is that so? The art of cooking is indeed extraordinary. I have seen too little! My cold noodles are just enough to fill my stomach. I can't compare to such a master."

Iron Pot Demon looked down at the cold noodles in front of him, his eyes filled with envy.

"He is indeed a master, and even in terms of cultivation, he is a true immortal."

Chen Ji replied.

"However, fellow Daoist, there is no need to be modest. The food you make with ordinary wheat flour is delicious for both humans and ghosts, which is already quite remarkable."

"Once you meet this master and learn from him, you might one day have that ability yourself."

"really?"

"At least it's better to have someone to discuss and debate with than to figure it out on your own. Fellow Daoist, you probably don't have any cultivation methods either, so you're just missing someone to discuss with, right?"

“It is true”

The Iron Pot Demon remained silent for a few moments, then sighed.

"Alright, since you've said so, I'll go and see. If this master doesn't mind and is willing to discuss the Dao with me, it will be my good fortune. Even if I can't make a name for myself in the future, it would be good to have a stable place to make a living in this temple."

"You'll know when you get there, but I can't go anytime soon. I have other things to take care of, so I'll have to go a few days later."

"No rush, I'll wait until you have time, fellow Daoist. I'll go stay outside town for now, and come over when you're free..."

"Why go through all that trouble? I have a place to stay in town."

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you, fellow Daoist."

"It doesn't matter."

Chen Ji waved his hand and stared at the large pot on the top of the Iron Pot Demon's head.

"If you feel bad about it, fellow Daoist, just make us a few more bowls of locust leaf cold noodles."

"Of course, even if you hadn't asked, I would have done it. However..."

"what?"

"I can make other things too. Fellow Daoist, do you only like to eat locust leaf cold noodles?"

"Something else would be better! Come on, this isn't the place to talk, let's go back and discuss it!"

After a while.

Inside the small courtyard of the pharmacy, the Iron Pot Demon stood there, regretting that he had said he could make other things too.

Why not just make locust leaf cold noodles? Why do we have to serve a whole courtyard of monsters like this?

The Clasp-Bearing Lord has no physical form, cannot eat even in its imagination, and can only smell things; it is the simplest of creatures.

The loach demon was alright; a bowl of locust leaf cold noodles could keep it occupied for quite a while. It even revealed its true form, lying in the bowl, and at first glance, it looked like a side dish of pickled loach.

Can……

The Iron Pot Demon looked at the fox demons and wondered how there could be such voracious fox demons in the world.

The other three, who had only eaten six or seven bowls, were so full that they lay on the ground.

One of them ate more than twenty bowls in a row and still wasn't satisfied. Its belly didn't even bulge out. After putting down the bowl, it wanted another one.

But the Iron Pot Demon was originally a porridge distributor and couldn't bear to see customers go hungry. Since the pharmacy had plenty of rice and flour, he made three pots and only stopped when he had used up all the locust leaves.

"It's no use, it's really no use, we've run out of locust leaves, we can't make it anymore."

Looking at the flour in the basin, the Iron Pot Demon sighed with relief that he could finally rest.

Unexpectedly, the fox that ate the most stopped and looked at him.

"Fellow Daoist, is it possible to continue making this if we have locust leaves?"

"Of course, but you have to use fresh locust leaves, dried ones won't work."

"I have some! Fellow Daoist, would these be suitable?"

Bai Ba put down the bowl, stretched out its paw and pulled a large handful of locust leaves from its mouth, placing them on the ground.

The Iron Pot Demon glanced at the locust leaves, his eyes widening in disbelief at what he was seeing.

The locust leaves on the ground seemed to carry a faint spiritual energy, and upon closer inspection, one could even see the spiritual energy flowing on the leaves.

All the other demons in the courtyard stared blankly at the locust leaves on the ground.

After a long silence, Baojiejun slowly spoke.

"Bai Ba, if I'm not mistaken, these should be the leaves from Senior Huai's body, right?"

"Exactly!"

Bai Ba said smugly.

"This...you didn't take advantage of Senior Huai's clone going out to pluck his leaves, did you?"

Upon hearing this, Miss Bai also turned her head to look, pondering this possibility.

If it were any other little fox, they probably wouldn't have done such a thing, but it's hard to say if it were Bai Qi or Bai Ba.

"Of course not!"

Bai Ba shook his head repeatedly.

"They were picked by Senior Huai when those squirrel demons were still around, because they were scratching Senior Huai's back and said it was affecting his growth."

“I thought these were all good things, and it would be a waste if they were blown away by the wind, so I might as well collect them. I didn’t expect they would come in handy.”

After saying that, he looked at the Iron Pot Demon.

"Fellow Daoist, can these be used to make cold noodles?"

"This is amazing! To be honest, I've never seen locust leaves of this quality before. This cold noodle dish... regular flour is..."

The Iron Pot Demon gritted its teeth, as if it had made a decision.

"Well, these locust leaves are fine to use with this flour, so it's not a waste."

As he spoke, he reached into the pot and groped around.

After a while, he took out a small bag of flour.

It didn't look particularly white, but just smelling it was incredibly fragrant, even making the demons and humans swallow hard.

"The flour smells so good!"

"I can't even imagine how delicious a bowl of cold noodles would be made with this flour!"

"I can eat two big bowls of rice just from the smell of this flour!"

"Nonsense, why eat rice when you have flour? Wouldn't it be better to just eat noodles?"

The little foxes drooled and stared longingly at the iron pot demon.

The mudfish demon and the embracing gentleman are pretty much the same.

Chen Ji and Miss Bai exchanged a glance, realizing something even more. This flour was no ordinary flour; it was probably no worse than the rolled-up beans, and might even be better.

The Iron Pot Demon nodded in satisfaction at the reactions of the other demons.

"I can tell from your expressions that this flour is the right choice. I got it from the Kitchen God."

"The Kitchen God?"

All the demons in the courtyard were stunned.

The Kitchen God is a renowned deity, the most frequently seen god among people, yet the most inconspicuous in daily life. He is a truly legitimate and respectable deity.

How could it possibly be related to that little demon, the Iron Pot Demon?

"This... I don't know either. It's just that on the day I gained sentience, I saw someone watching me from the stove. They said it was a cause for celebration that I had gained sentience and that I should cultivate diligently. They even gave me a bag of flour, but the amount was too small, and I've been reluctant to eat it."

Even Chen Ji and Miss Bai couldn't help but glance at this.

I'm amazed that this iron pot demon truly possesses great fortune.

It's one thing to be able to gain wisdom and cultivate through merit and golden light, but to receive a gift from the Kitchen God is an extraordinary opportunity that will surely lead to something extraordinary in the future.

Looking at the bag of flour again, after thinking for a moment, he still advised the iron pot demon to take it back.

"Your locust leaf cold noodles are already very delicious with regular flour. This flour was a gift from the Kitchen God. You should keep it until you have achieved some success in your spiritual practice or when it is worth using it."

"No need!"

The Iron Pot Demon shook its head, refusing to take it back.

"Since you've brought out such high-quality locust leaves, I wonder what the effect would be if we didn't use this fine flour to match them."

"Since that person was able to make such food, I'd like to try it too."

Having said that, Chen Ji and the others couldn't persuade him any further, so they waited to see what the Iron Pot Demon could do.

This time was different from before.

The water was well water that had been purified by the moonlight, the flour was a gift from the Kitchen God, and the locust leaves came from the body of a locust tree demon.

Iron Pot Demon also put a lot more effort into the preparation than before.

Crush the leaves, mix with flour, knead the dough...

With each step, a rich aroma of wheat wafted out, mixed with the crisp scent of locust leaves, making the people in the courtyard feel as if they hadn't eaten anything, swallowing their saliva as they looked at the pot.

Fortunately, the Iron Pot Demon was extremely quick, and made a new batch of cold noodles in less than half an hour.

"Please, a few of you, have a taste."

The iron pot demon stepped aside, revealing several bowls of fragrant cold noodles.

Since it was made to eat anyway, Chen Ji didn't stand on ceremony. He thanked the Iron Pot Demon, picked up a bowl, and slurped it down to eat.

Just one bite, and it felt completely different from before.

Besides the fragrance, there was also a sense of vitality flowing through my body, and the blockages in my meridians and muscles were miraculously cleared up.

The effect was even more pronounced on Bai Qi and Bai Ba, whose wounds from being hit by stones had miraculously healed.

"What a trick!"

Chen Ji's eyes lit up.

This cold noodle dish can actually heal wounds!
This single effect alone makes it a panacea.

I don't know if this is due to the effects of the locust leaves or the flour given by the Kitchen God.

However, there's no need to ask too many questions.

Ultimately, it was the Iron Pot Demon who made the locust leaf cold noodles that achieved this effect, so the credit still goes to the Iron Pot Demon.

After finishing the bowl, Chen Ji cupped his hands in greeting.

"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on your ability to research spiritual food. Although the conditions are somewhat demanding, you have made progress."

Iron Pot Demon then looked at Chen Ji.

"I must thank you for giving me the locust leaves, otherwise I wouldn't have had such spiritual food."

The human and the demon were exchanging compliments when Miss Bai couldn't stand it anymore and reminded the people of Wangjia Village that they were already outside, thus interrupting them.

"Fellow Daoist, please rest first. I need to take care of some matters."

As I went outside, I happened to see the group of people from Wangjia Village who had come here that day.

The number of people was much smaller than last time, and when they saw Chen Ji come out, their faces were filled with excitement.

"Master Chen, you've finally come out! That monster is causing trouble again! People are almost dying!"

"what happened?"

Chen Ji raised an eyebrow.

Based on the descriptions given by the villagers of Wang Village that day, the demon probably only wanted to occupy a place of worship and shouldn't harm anyone.

The burly man hurriedly explained what had happened.

It turned out that the villagers of Wangjia Village had come to invite him that day but failed. When he returned, he saw that the ancestral hall and the memorial archway were in a mess, which made him furious.

The eldest son of the main branch of the Wang family couldn't stand it anymore. He shouted that demons and ghosts were just things in novels and stories, and that living people couldn't be afraid of them. So he found a torch and rushed into the ancestral hall to burn everything he could see.

Fortunately, the villagers stopped them from actually burning down the ancestral hall.

But the ghost wouldn't let him go. It kept coming into his dream to question him about why he burned down the ancestral hall, calling him an ingrate and insisting that he take him to guard the hall to see who the real ancestors were.

He woke up in the middle of the night, said this sentence, and then fell asleep again.

The village doctor examined the patient but couldn't find anything wrong, only saying it looked like a dissociative identity disorder.

“If it weren’t for the fact that twelve hours have already passed and our lives would be in danger if we continued, we really wouldn’t dare to bother you, Daoist Master.”

"In that case, I'll go with you."

Chen Ji said slowly.

It was agreed beforehand that it would be dealt with, but now it's just being done a little earlier, so there's no problem.

When the villagers of Wang Village heard Chen Ji agree, they hurriedly expressed their gratitude.

The burly man also ordered someone to quickly call over a mule cart.

"Aren't you worried someone's going to die? Why are you riding in a mule cart?"

The burly man's face froze for a moment, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"We wanted to prepare a horse-drawn carriage, but it has been requisitioned by the government. We can only find a mule cart. Please make do with it, Taoist priest."

"It's not that I'm taking a ride, I just felt that time was of the essence, so I went there first and figured I'd figure it out later."

Chen Ji waved his hand, looked at the crowd of Wang Village, and pointed at the burly man.

"Come closer, I'll take you over to see what's going on."

"what?"

The burly man stood there, stunned, not understanding what Chen Ji meant.

Chen Ji sighed, offered no explanation, and simply grabbed his arm, taking a step forward.

A gentle breeze swept through the courtyard, and Chen Ji took a step on the wind, soaring into the air and leaving behind a sentence that drifted slowly down.

"We'll go first, you just need to get there as soon as possible."

The crowd on the ground had never seen such a scene before. Chen Ji, along with the burly man Teng Yun, immediately knelt down and addressed him as "Immortal" and "True Man".

The burly man next to Chen Ji was so frightened that his legs went weak and he didn't dare to breathe.

Standing amidst the wind and clouds, he closed his eyes and after a long while, he regained consciousness and cautiously asked Chen Ji if this was flying.

"It's not really flying; it just borrows a bit of the wind's power. If there's no wind, the spell won't work."

"But if you're not afraid, open your eyes and see where you'll get to your village."

The burly man trembled, slapping his forehead and gritting his teeth, but instead of answering, he tried to kneel down.

"Master... such magic is so powerful that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a true immortal."

"I was blind to your true nature when I tested you earlier, and I hope you won't take your anger out on the ordinary villagers..."

Chen Ji simply shook his head upon hearing this.

“You’re just being cautious, that’s not wrong. Let’s find out where the village is first. I’ll go to the ancestral hall to deal with this ghost.”

"over there!"

Upon hearing this, the burly man didn't dare to say anything else and struggled to open his eyes wide to find the location of the village.

In an instant, he stared at a village at the foot of the mountain and called out.

Chen Ji nodded to indicate that he understood, then, as the wind subsided, he steadied himself and was already in front of the ancestral hall.

Looking around, the ancestral hall indeed exuded a strong ghostly aura.

(End of this chapter)