The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 517 The Serpent's Eater

"Is this the location mentioned in the intelligence report from the treasure hunting team?"

Upon receiving the intelligence, Qin Lang and his group set off immediately. As they got out of the car, Cao Dongdong looked at the flat grassland in the distance and the vast, silent sea, and couldn't help but curl his lips, "It's all flat here, what could we possibly find?"

"That's hard to say." Qin Lang smiled and shook his head. "I have a strange feeling that we will definitely gain something here."

The moment he stepped off the bus, a familiar "whoosh" sound echoed in his mind, and the twenty-first painting in the Traveler's Book was successfully completed.

Having checked in so many times, Qin Lang had gained some understanding of the landscape paintings that appeared in the Traveler's Book, and these paintings often had a deeper meaning.

For example, a painting like this, corresponding to the birthplace of the precious spirit, is not without reason. That's why he was so certain that he and his companions would gain something.

“That’s right, I also believe in Qin Lang,” Zhao Qian chimed in with a smile.

"Look, there seems to be something different over there." Tang Yu looked around, and then suddenly his gaze locked onto a certain area by the lake.

"That looks like... a small field?"

"Go and see."

Qin Lang's eyes lit up, and he quickly pulled the others toward that direction. As they got closer, the small patch of land became clearer in their eyes.

The fields were plowed into parallel, slender strips, which, when viewed from the side, formed a standard wavy line. Above the wavy line were patches of low-lying green plants, on which hung tempting red chili peppers.

Before we even arrived, a faint aroma of chili peppers wafted over.

"It's a chili pepper field!" Qin Lang's eyes lit up even more.

The hunting team speculated from their intelligence that this might be the place where the chili spirit was originally born, and there just happens to be a chili field here.

This is clearly not a coincidence.

He couldn't resist walking closer, standing on tiptoe, reaching over the fence to touch one of the growing chili peppers, and then picking it.

After taking a careful sniff, Qin Lang's smile deepened.

The chili peppers here are of the same quality as, and perhaps even better than, the finest ones, most likely due to the influence of the rare spirit.

Just then, a somewhat unfriendly voice came from not far away from them.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Qin Lang turned around and looked at an old man wearing a straw hat who was looking at him with a somewhat angry expression. "Who gave you permission to pick these chili peppers?"

"I'm sorry..." Qin Lang quickly apologized, "I got a little agitated for some reason just now, and my behavior was indeed inappropriate."

"Hmph!" The old man snorted and snatched the chili pepper from Qin Lang's hand. "This batch of chili peppers is growing well; I was planning to use them for seed."

Upon hearing this, Qin Lang's heart stirred.

"Excuse me, is this chili pepper field yours?"

"Of course." The old man shook the hoe he was carrying on his shoulder. "This chili field was cultivated by me personally."

"Every single chili pepper here was grown by me personally."

"I just heard you say that this year's batch of chilies is growing well. Does that mean that the chilies planted in previous years were not of this good quality?" Qin Lang quickly asked.

"Pretty much." The old man nodded, stroking his beard. "The fertilizer I was using before stopped production this year, so I formulated a new one myself. I didn't expect it to improve the quality so much." A hint of pride appeared on his face. "If this fertilizer formula can be widely adopted, I'm sure I'll receive recognition and a promotion from the association!"

Qin Lang's lips twitched slightly.

While proper fertilizer is indeed an indispensable part of crop growth, the improvement in food quality is obviously not solely due to fertilizer.

But speaking of which…

From the moment the old man appeared, he had a vague sense of familiarity with him, and then the old man mentioned the association's commendations and promotions…

Qin Lang couldn't help but take a few more glances at the old man, and then his eyes widened in disbelief. "You are Mr. Jia Long!"

Jia Long is one of the top food recommenders in Xianyu City.

Unlike ordinary food recommenders, Jia Long's test type is a rather uncommon type of ingredient - snake!

Therefore, when Qin Lang was reading the introduction of the food recommenders at the String Fish Market, he paid more attention to this old man who was known as the "snake food recommender".

“That’s right, it’s me.” Jia Long nodded slightly. Seeing the egg on Qin Lang’s shoulder, it was no surprise that Qin Lang recognized him.

"Hello, Mr. Jia Long," Qin Lang quickly said. "My name is Qin Lang, and I'm a tourist from Tianhua Continent..."

"Your name is Qin Lang?" Jia Long interrupted Qin Lang's self-introduction, looking at him with a strange expression. "I know you."

“Yesterday, the hunting team’s base was wiped out, and the chairman commended you at the meeting. I never expected you to appear before me today…” Jia Long paused slightly at this point.

"Even if you help catch the criminal, you can't steal my chili peppers!"

"...Mr. Jia Long, this is a misunderstanding." Qin Lang shook his head, both amused and exasperated, and explained the whole story to Jia Long.

"I just picked a chili pepper to check its quality."

Hearing this, Jia Long looked disappointed. "You mean, the reason my chilies are of such good quality this year isn't because of my fertilizer, but because of Zhenling?"

“…Mr. Jia Long, you are a food recommender, so you should know a lot about ingredients.” Qin Lang looked at him helplessly. “Could you be thinking of fertilizer?”

“Alright.” Jia Long sighed. “I know it’s unlikely, but when people get old, they always tend to have fantasies about unrealistic things.”

"Besides, I really want to be promoted to Level Two Food Recommender." He muttered to himself, then glanced at Qin Lang. "Alright."

"Since it's a misunderstanding, let's just let it go."

"Go find Zhenling, I'm leaving."

"Wait!" Qin Lang called out to Jia Long, a smile on his face. "Mr. Jia Long, it's fate that we met. May I try your test?"

Jia Long stopped in his tracks.

"My assessment?" He turned to look at Qin Lang, his expression filled with suspicion and uncertainty. "Since you know me, you should know the subject of my assessment, right?"

"Among the top food recommenders in Xianyu City, my assessment type is too niche, so I can count the number of assessors I receive each month on two hands. Even Old Xu, who raises such a rare breed of blue-spotted sheep, is more popular than me."

"Are you sure you want to conduct my test by using snakes as a cooking ingredient?"

"I'm sure." Qin Lang nodded seriously.

(End of this chapter)