Chef God of the Wuxia and Fantasy World

"Amitabha, this old monk trusts you, benefactor." The sweeping monk put his hands together, grabbed a handful of melon seeds and cracked a few, then suddenly felt like talking. Recalling his past, he couldn't help but let out a sigh.

Ling Chi was startled, because the sigh actually carried a hint of feminine softness.

“Old monk, you…” Ling Chi looked at him with suspicion.

The sweeping monk came to his senses and said with a wry smile, "I didn't expect to be exposed." His voice was soft and delicate, completely like a woman's.

Ling Chi was dumbfounded, never dreaming that the Sweeping Monk was a woman.

"Your beard..."

"This is a disguise technique." The sweeping monk rubbed his jawline and quickly peeled off a thin human skin mask, revealing his true face.

The moment he saw her, Ling Chi's expression changed drastically: "Li Qiushui!?"

That's right, the Sweeping Monk's true identity was actually Li Qiushui.

"How is this possible!?" Ling Chi couldn't believe it. Shouldn't Li Qiushui be locked up in the Lingjiu Palace dungeon by Wu Xingyun right now?! How could she be here? And how could she be the Sweeper Monk!?

When Li Qiushui heard Ling Chi call her name, a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes: "I didn't expect you to have met my sister."

"Sister!?" Ling Chi was stunned, carefully examining 'Li Qiushui's' face.

From her eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, and ears to her face shape and age, she was exactly the same as Li Qiushui. Even if Wu Xingyun stood here, he would probably think she was Li Qiushui, but...

Ling Chi recalled the painting that Wu Yazi gave to Xu Zhu in the original novel, as well as the textual description of the person in the painting. He immediately focused his gaze on the area below 'Li Qiushui's' nose. Although it was not very noticeable, there was indeed a very small black mole.

Ling Chi blinked and said, "Have a laugh."

"..."

Li Qiushui chuckled lightly: "You are quite interesting, benefactor."

Sure enough, when she smiled, a dimple appeared at the corner of her mouth, and...

Ling Chi patted his head: "Idiot! Li Qiushui was disfigured by Wu Xingyun long ago, but this one in front of me isn't."

"I never expected you to be Li Qiushui's sister," Ling Chi said. "You must be much younger than Li Qiushui, right? Also, what's your name?"

“Li Canghai,” Li Canghai said, “I am seven years younger than my sister, and I am already eighty-one years old this year.”

Li Canghai, indeed Li Canghai. That makes sense, since Tianshan Tonglao is called Wu Xingyun, Li Qiushui's sister must be called Li Canghai. They are both names from "The New Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils: Tianshan Tonglao".

Fortunately, Wu Xingyun in this world did not fall in love with Li Canghai, and such a melodramatic plot should not have occurred.

"Today has truly been a day full of surprises." Ling Chi looked at Li Canghai's bald head and laughed, "You're quite ruthless, even shaving your head off."

"Since you've become a monk, why keep those worries behind?" Li Canghai sighed softly, "The past is like fleeting clouds, gone with the wind. I haven't thought about it for a long time."

Ling Chi handed her a handful of melon seeds: "Come on, tell me your story."

Li Canghai: "..."

"Are you bored? No problem, I have tea." A transparent glass teapot and two glass teacups appeared in Ling Chi's hand. The teapot contained steaming green tea. Ling Chi poured two cups and said, "This is green tea that I personally made. Try it."

A look of shock flashed across Li Canghai's eyes again, and he sighed, "Your ability to contain Mount Sumeru in a mustard seed is truly enviable."

"Stop pretending to be an old monk," Ling Chi said. "You're at most a nun now."

"..."

Li Canghai smelled the tea's aroma, which was very refreshing. He took a sip, and it was slightly astringent at first, but left a sweet aftertaste.

"Excellent tea!" Li Canghai exclaimed. "I have tasted many famous teas from all over the world, but none can compare to this one."

"Of course." Ling Chi was quite proud: "No one in the world makes food that tastes or tastes better than mine."

Li Canghai smiled slightly: "You should have this confidence, benefactor."

“Tell me about yourself!” Ling Chi said. “You’ve been putting it off for a long time.”

"..." Li Canghai asked, "How much do you know about me, benefactor?"

“Not much,” Ling Chi said. “All I know is that you are Li Qiushui’s younger sister, and although Wu Yazi married your sister, he loved you. He even made a life-size jade statue of you and stared at it all day, which caused discord between the couple. Your sister then seduced your brother-in-law’s apprentice, Ding Chunqiu, and they did something shameful. Your brother-in-law was so angry that he wanted to kill them, but they knocked him off a cliff, leaving him disabled for decades until he regained his ability to walk last year.”

Li Canghai's expression changed several times. He said, "I didn't expect so many things to have happened. My sister... sigh!"

"You didn't expect your sister to be so ruthless, did you?" Ling Chi sneered. "The worst is yet to come. After your sister got tired of Ding Chunqiu, her lover, she kicked him aside and ran off to Western Xia to seduce the emperor. Now she's the Empress Dowager of Western Xia."

“…” Li Canghai was stunned.

"But she didn't have a good ending either," Ling Chi laughed. "Your senior sister Wu Xingyun disfigured her face decades ago, and now she only dares to wear a veil in public. Fortunately, the old emperor died long ago, otherwise she would have fallen out of favor long ago."

Li Canghai: "..."

"In order to get revenge, she took advantage of the weakened state of Tong Lao's rejuvenation in February this year and went to Lingjiu Palace to seek revenge. However, she failed miserably and lost everything, getting herself killed in the process," Ling Chi said with a smile.

"What!?" Li Canghai's expression changed: "My sister..."

"She's dead." Ling Chi lied. Anyway, it wouldn't make a difference if he didn't wait two more months. That bitch Li Qiushui had to die. He was just announcing it in advance.

Li Canghai paused, a trace of sorrow flashing in his eyes: "Amitabha. All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, dew, and lightning; thus should they be viewed."

Ling Chi comforted him, "You're right. This world is just a dream, an illusion, and it will be destroyed sooner or later. It's good that you can see through it."

"Namo Amitabha..." Li Canghai silently recited the Rebirth Mantra once, and sighed softly, "Good deeds are rewarded and evil deeds are punished. My sister has only herself to blame, and she has no one else to blame but herself. I hope she can be a good person in her next life."

"I hope so!" Ling Chi said, "Let's eat some sunflower seeds and continue."

"..."

Li Canghai cracked a few melon seeds and said, "Back then, my sister, Wuyazi, and I lived in Langhuan Paradise for a few years. Later, due to some things, I left them and went to wander the world..."

While wandering the martial world, Li Canghai met a young man surnamed Murong. The man was incredibly handsome and had an outstanding temperament. The two traveled together, and it wasn't long before she was captivated by him. Later, they married and had a son, who was none other than Murong Bo, who was just sitting here eating and drinking heartily.

"..." Ling Chi's eyes widened, and he clapped his hands in praise: "What an amazing plot! No wonder you allowed someone like Murong Bo to secretly learn martial arts at Shaolin, but... maybe I was arrogant, and because of my appearance, you were afraid he would offend me, so you subdued him in advance. Isn't that right?"

Seeing Li Canghai nod, Ling Chi sneered: "I thought you were compassionate, but I didn't expect you to be a mother protecting her son."

Li Canghai shook his head and sighed, "Bo'er's father died young. I suppressed my grief and handled his funeral arrangements, but I couldn't bear it any longer and left Canhe Village. Originally, I wanted to become a nun, living a quiet life with a Buddhist lamp, but given the Murong family's ambition to restore their kingdom, I was worried that Bo'er would become greedy for Shaolin martial arts when he grew up. So I shaved my head, changed my clothes, and entered Shaolin Temple. I've been here for over forty years."

"I never expected a woman like you to have such foresight," Ling Chi exclaimed. "The Murong family has truly married a good woman."

Li Canghai shook his head: "What kind of good woman am I? I can't even bear the pain after my husband's death, and I have no heart to accompany my own son. If I had taught Bo'er to give up his ambition to restore the country back then, perhaps he wouldn't be like this."

“Many things are unpredictable, aren’t they!” Ling Chi poured her some more tea and said, “It’s just that you’re not as shameless as your sister. If you were to follow your sister’s example and seduce the emperors of Liao or Tubo, you would definitely become empress and then pave the way for your son.”

"..."

Li Canghai clenched his fists, why did he feel such a strong urge to hit someone?

“Actually, you do have a good option right now,” Ling Chi said. “Wu Yazi is all alone right now, would you like to consider it?”

Li Canghai paused for a moment, then shook his head: "I've already married and entered a Buddhist monastery, so I don't think about those things anymore."

“That’s a real pity,” Ling Chi said. “If Wu Ya Zi knew you were still alive, he would be overjoyed. After all, he became like this because he fell in love with you.”

Li Canghai smiled bitterly: "Since ancient times, beautiful women have often been the cause of trouble. I never thought I would be one of them."

"The reason why beautiful women are considered a source of trouble is because the men who possess them are not strong enough to protect their women; or they cannot resist the charm of women and become addicted to pleasure," Ling Chi said. "Don't believe those words; they are just labels that men put on women. Think about Liu Bang, Liu Xiu, and Li Shimin. They all had countless concubines and a multitude of beauties in their harems. Why did they achieve such great success? In the end, it's because they were strong enough that no matter how beautiful a woman was, she could not affect their hegemony."

Li Canghai looked at him with slight surprise: "I didn't expect you to speak up for us women."

"What's wrong with women?" Ling Chi said. "Women hold up half the sky, and I have great respect for self-reliant and self-loving women."

Seeing his sincerity, Li Canghai smiled from the bottom of his heart: "Your words are truly divine."

"A single sentence can make someone sacred?" Ling Chi laughed. "Then it would be too easy for people to become sacred."

“Of course not for men, but for us women, your words are sacred.” Li Canghai said solemnly, “If women truly have a day to hold up the sky, no woman will forget your words.”

“That day will definitely come.” Ling Chi smiled slightly and said, “Although that day will be long, believe me, within a thousand years, women’s status will be just as important as men’s.” He paused and sighed, “I’m just afraid that when that time comes, women’s status will be too high, and they will trample men underfoot.”

Li Canghai was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled, "You are truly witty, benefactor."

"You don't believe me?" Ling Chi looked at her. "Want to make a bet?"

Li Canghai laughed again: "No need, I believe you."

“You have to believe it.” Ling Chi recalled the status of modern women and was moved to tears.

Men are worse than dogs; no matter what they do, it's wrong in women's eyes. A man earning 5,000 a month is looked down upon by women who earn no salary; a man earning 10,000 a month is looked down upon by women who earn 3,000 a month; a man earning 50,000 a month is looked down upon by women who earn 8,000 a month. It's a good thing those women don't have wings, or they'd really be flying high.

Back then, wasn't he just...?

Sigh! It's a long story.

"Benefactor?" Seeing Ling Chi's sudden low spirits, Li Canghai was filled with doubt.

"It's nothing." Ling Chi waved his hand. "I was thinking about some bad things." He paused. "Personally, I still suggest that you stay with Wu Yazi. You are both from the Xiaoyao Sect. As long as your internal energy doesn't dissipate, living for a hundred or two hundred years is not a problem. Such a long time is too lonely for one person."

"Amitabha." Li Canghai said in a low voice, "Thank you for your kindness, benefactor, but my mind is made up and will not change."

"It's alright." Ling Chi smiled slightly and said, "I've taken a liking to you; your feelings don't matter."

"???" Li Canghai was taken aback: "What do you mean by that, benefactor?"

"You and Wuyazi will meet again someday." Ling Chi smiled slightly, stood up and said, "That day is not far away."

"..."

Chapter Seventy-Five: Reap What You Sow

After dealing with matters at Shaolin Temple, Ling Chi intended to head to Dali immediately, but as soon as he stepped out, he encountered Li Luo, who had come to Shaolin Temple to offer incense.

"Master Ling!" Li Luo was overjoyed and immediately stepped forward to greet Master Ling with a disciple's salute: "Student Li Luo greets Master Ling."

"..." Seeing that everyone around was looking over, Ling Chi said, "I'm not your teacher, don't do this."

“In the hearts of students, Teacher Ling will always be their teacher.” Li Luo said very respectfully, “I didn’t expect to meet Teacher Ling today. I wonder if Teacher Ling has something important to discuss? If not, would you like to come to my home for a few drinks? I have so many questions I would like to ask Teacher Ling.”

"..."

And so, Ling Chi stayed at Li Luo's villa for about ten days, answering his many math and physics questions. Then, using the excuse that she had other important business to attend to, she left for Dali after Li Luo reluctantly saw her off.

……

In Dali, while Ling Chi was visiting Li Luo's house, A Zhu and A Zi encountered some trouble.

It turns out that there were two other people who were granted the title of princess along with them.

Mu Wanqing and Zhong Ling are both their half-sisters.

Mu Wanqing is three and a half years older than A'Zhu, and Zhong Ling is half a year older than A'Zhu. Judging from their ages, Duan Zhengchun's first affair was with Qin Hongmian. However, considering Mu Wanqing's and Wang Yuyan's ages, Duan Zhengchun's relationship with Qin Hongmian probably only lasted a few months before he became involved with Li Qingluo. No wonder Qin Hongmian dreamed of killing Li Qingluo; she was a direct rival in love!

Gan Baobao is similar to Qin Hongmian; she was also deceived by Duan Zhengchun, who abandoned her shortly after winning her over and got together with Ruan Xingzhu. Now, these two unfortunate children are both at the Zhennan Prince's Mansion, but Qin Hongmian and Gan Baobao are nowhere to be seen.