The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 493 The Flame Heart Emblem
"Oh!!!"

In the spectator area, seeing Qin Lang successfully defeat his teacher, Xie Rui, who had been clenching his fists with tension, couldn't help but cheer, his face beaming with excitement, "Great, he won!"

"You rascal..." Cao Dongdong, who was about to cheer, looked at Xie Rui, who was even more excited than himself, and fell into deep thought. "Your teacher lost, why are you so happy?"

“Uh…” Xie Rui scratched his head awkwardly, “Because I also really want to know why Meng Yan had a conflict with the teacher back then.”

"As for the teacher losing, that's a minor issue."

“This is no small matter!” Zhao Qian suddenly covered her mouth and chuckled. “Look, your teacher is here.”

"Huh?!" Xie Rui hurriedly turned his head and saw Zhang Hui walking towards him menacingly with his fists clenched.

"Thump! Bang!"

"what--"

"Phew~ Serves you right for cheering for your opponent!" Zhang Hui twisted his wrist, and the frustration of being defeated by Qin Lang seemed to dissipate.

"Teacher..." Xie Rui covered his head, which was covered in bumps, looking aggrieved.

"Alright." Zhang Hui turned to look at Qin Lang, who was walking towards them. "You won this assessment."

"Take this first, even though you may not have come here for it."

Seeing the radiant Spirit Bearer's emblem that Zhang Hui took out from his pocket, Qin Lang smiled. "This emblem represents Mr. Zhang Hui's recognition of me as a Spirit Bearer of Stringfish City. I will definitely keep it safe."

As he spoke, he carefully accepted the badge that belonged to Zhang Hui.

It was a badge with an intricate and exquisite flame pattern as its main feature, and the words "Xianyu City · Yanxin" were written below the badge.

After carefully putting it away, Qin Lang turned his gaze back to Zhang Hui. "Mr. Zhang Hui, can you tell me about Meng Yan now?"

“Now that things have come to this, I will naturally accept the consequences.” Zhang Hui sighed, a hint of dejection on his face. “I have always been reluctant to talk about this because I have always believed that it is a stain on my career.”

“Meng Yan is a young man with great combat talent. He can learn the Spirit Eater tactics taught to him faster than his peers, and he can apply them in other situations.” Zhang Hui said softly, a hint of reminiscence in his eyes.

“Meng Yan is really amazing.” Xie Rui couldn’t help but nod. “When I first joined the Fire Spirit Arena, he hadn’t fallen out with his teacher yet. At that time, all the disciples in the arena admired him greatly.”

“Yes.” Zhang Hui nodded. “Back then, I always regarded him as my pride and thought that he could shine in the Food Spirit Battle Tournament in the future, and even eventually become the state champion or even the regional champion.”

"Unfortunately, that kind of thing happened later." Zhang Hui sighed. "One day, he took the initiative to come to me and said that he did not plan to come to the Fire Spirit Arena anymore, and that he felt that I was no longer qualified to teach him."

"what?!"

Qin Lang and the others were all startled.

Speaking to his teacher, who had diligently guided him, in such a manner was utterly ungrateful.

"He went too far!" Xie Rui clenched his fists, his eyes flashing with anger. "I never expected Meng Yan to be this kind of person!"

“The student surpasses the teacher,” Zhang Hui sighed. “I know very well that with Meng Yan’s talent, it’s only a matter of time before he surpasses me. If he really does surpass me, I can accept what he says.”

“But at that time, he clearly still had a lot of room for improvement.” Zhang Hui paused for a moment, “So I thought at the time that Meng Yan might have become a bit arrogant for some reason.”

"I was very angry, so I scolded him and gave him a hard time, and then I fought him with all my might to show him that he still has a lot to learn." "So, did you win the fight?" Qin Lang couldn't help but ask.

“That’s natural.” Zhang Hui snorted. “A battle where you go all out isn’t like the Spirit Master assessment where there are many against one, but where all the Spirit Eaters can participate. How could that kid possibly win with his strength?”

At this point, he couldn't help but sigh.

“I thought that if I beat him, I could bring him to his senses.”

"But I was wrong."

"Even after I won that battle, Meng Yan never came to the Fire Spirit Arena again, as if he had completely refused to accept my guidance."

"I was disappointed for a long time because of this, and I kept reflecting on whether I did something wrong in the process of guiding him, which led him to make such a decision."

“You don’t need to blame yourself.” Qin Lang shook his head. “I believe you are a very good teacher. The one who is wrong is Meng Yan.”

At this point, a hint of anger appeared in his eyes.

Although he never had a teacher who specifically taught him combat skills, he had studied cooking for a long time in his previous life. Although his cooking skills later surpassed those of his mentor, he always respected him as a teacher.

That's why he looked down on people like Meng Yan who didn't respect their teachers.

"Yes, teacher, Qin Lang is right!" Xie Rui nodded emphatically. "You have been so patient and meticulous in your teaching, all of us fellow students think you are a very good teacher, so it must be Meng Yan's fault?"

"But Mr. Zhang Hui, if that's the case, it can't be considered a stain on your record, can it?" Zhao Qian couldn't help but ask curiously. "He was just an ungrateful and despicable fellow. Just pretend you never took him as a disciple. Doesn't the Spirit Battle Hall have many other excellent disciples?"

“A stain…” Zhang Hui shook his head. “There is another very important reason why I consider this a stain on my career.”

"That is because of an accident later, I learned that Meng Yan had become a member of the treasure hunting team."

"A rare animal hunting team?!"

Everyone exclaimed in surprise, while Qin Lang revealed an expression of "I knew it."

He had been suspicious of the other party's fire attribute before, which is why he made a special trip to the Flame Spirit Arena to find out the specific details.

Now, Zhang Hui's words have confirmed his guess.

Meng Yan is a member of the Treasure Hunting Team, and he may even be the one who captured the chili pepper spirit!
“That’s right, it’s that criminal organization that’s wanted throughout the entire Dongyun region.” Zhang Hui nodded. “I trained a criminal, so I’ve always considered it the biggest stain on my career, and that’s why I’ve never mentioned it to anyone else.”

At this point, Zhang Hui sighed, "I have wanted to catch Meng Yan myself and bring him to justice many times."

"But unfortunately, he should have gone to another city long ago."

Xie Rui couldn't help but say, "But I only saw him today."

Zhang Hui was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened.

"What did you say?!"

(End of this chapter)