bookcurios Chapter 53 The heart is as still as water
Chapter 53 The heart is as still as water
The darkness before dawn always seems particularly long.
Outside the cave, the wind howled, like the roar of a beast, echoing in the empty valley. Inside the cave, the faint light of the fire flickered, reflecting two young and tired faces. Gao Xingchen bandaged the wound on his arm with a clean cloth, his brows furrowed, his eyes full of worry and confusion.
"Those judges, are they... really still alive?" Nan Li's voice trembled slightly, and her delicate face was full of anxiety.
Gao Xingchen was silent for a moment. He knew that any words of comfort would be pale and powerless at this moment. "We will definitely find out the truth and rescue them." His tone was firm, as if he was cheering himself up, and also as if he was making a promise to Nan Li.
They recalled every detail of the cooking competition, from the initial excitement and anticipation, to the tension and intensity of the competition, to the final chaos and escape, everything seemed to be just yesterday. Gao Xingchen tried to calm himself down, and he went over every detail of the competition in his mind, trying to find a clue.
"That letter..." Nan Li suddenly spoke, breaking the silence, "Do you remember what was written in that letter?"
Gao Xingchen nodded. The anonymous letter sent to Boss Xu only had one sentence on it: Be careful of dark cuisine. At that time, they didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it was just a prank by a competitor. Now, thinking about it, this letter may be the key clue to the whole incident.
"Dark cuisine... Could it be that the judges' minds are controlled by the dark cuisine?" Gao Xingchen muttered to himself, with an ominous premonition rising in his heart.
"But is dark cuisine really that scary?" Nan Li didn't know much about dark cuisine. She only knew that it was a forbidden cooking method that was said to be able to control people's minds, but she had never seen it with her own eyes.
"The scary thing about dark cuisine is not its taste, but its ability to awaken people's deepest desires and fears, making them lose themselves," Gao Xingchen explained. "If the judges are really controlled by the dark cuisine, then their situation will be very dangerous."
At this moment, a small paper crane flew in from the cave entrance and circled above their heads. Nan Li was quick to grab the paper crane and saw a few lines of small words written on its wings: Come to the ruined temple in the eastern suburbs as soon as possible, Xuan Feng Ling'er is waiting here.
"It's Xuanfeng and Ling'er!" Nanli exclaimed in surprise. They finally got in touch with the sect.
Gao Xingchen took the paper crane, looked at it carefully, and his brows relaxed slightly. Xuanfeng and Ling'er were their best friends in the sect. With them around, it at least meant that the sect was safe for the time being.
Without any hesitation, the two of them immediately set off for the ruined temple in the eastern suburbs. The ruined temple was located in a desolate wilderness outside the city and had long been in ruins, but for Gao Xingchen and Nan Li at the moment, it was a rare safe haven.
"Senior Brother, Sister Nanli, are you okay?" Ling'er asked anxiously as soon as they met.
"We are fine." Gao Xingchen shook his head. "How is the sect doing?"
Xuan Feng said solemnly, "The sect leader has ordered a blockade of the news. He announced to the public that you were out for training, but secretly he has sent people to inquire about your whereabouts and is also investigating the truth behind this matter."
Hearing this, Gao Xingchen and Nan Li felt a little more at ease. At least they were not fighting alone.
However, what they don't know is that a bigger storm is quietly approaching, and they are about to be caught in the center of this storm...
"Can those judges really recover?" Ling'er frowned slightly, her worry evident in her words. Gao Xingchen and Nan Li looked at each other, feeling mixed emotions. Although they had found a shelter, the shadow of the cooking competition still loomed over their hearts. The judges who were controlled by the dark cuisine and their distorted faces reminded them of the seriousness of the incident all the time.
"We will definitely try our best." Gao Xingchen said firmly, he would never allow the dark cuisine's conspiracy to succeed. Nan Li gently held his hand, silently passing on strength.
"Oh, look what this is?" Nan Li suddenly remembered something and took out an old book from the package. It was given to them by a kind proprietress when they were escaping from the inn. She said it was a recipe handed down from their ancestors and hoped it would be helpful to them. The situation was urgent at the time and they didn't have time to take a closer look, so they just stuffed it into the package.
"Recipe?" Xuan Feng took the book curiously and opened the first page. A faint fragrance filled his nose, refreshing him. The recipe paper was yellowed and the handwriting was simple and ancient, obviously very old.
"This is..." Gao Xingchen took a closer look and his pupils shrank. What was recorded in the recipe was not an ordinary dish, but a special dish called "Qingxin Yulu". It was said to be made with rare ingredients and special cooking methods, and it had the effect of purifying people's hearts and dispelling evil spirits.
"Qingxin Yulu, could it be..." Nanli covered her mouth, with hope in her eyes. If she could really make this dish, maybe she could save those judges who were controlled by the dark dishes!
"Without further delay, let's go find the ingredients now!" Gao Xingchen closed the cookbook with a determined look. He knew that this was a race against time, and every minute and every second was crucial.
So, with the help of Xuanfeng and Ling'er, Gao Xingchen and Nanli embarked on a journey to find the ingredients for "Qingxin Yulu". According to the recipe, they need to find "Yacon" that grows in extremely cold places, "Fire Ganoderma" that lives in volcanic magma, and "Mermaid Tears" hidden in the abyss of the deep sea.
This is a journey full of unknowns and challenges, with dense forests, towering mountains, and turbulent rivers, and every step is full of danger. But Gao Xingchen and Nan Li never give up. They support and encourage each other, overcome many difficulties, and get closer to their goal step by step.
After climbing over a steep mountain, the two exhausted people decided to take a rest. At this time, a strange fragrance floated from the depths of the valley. The fragrance was fresh and elegant, but it contained a strange energy that made people feel relaxed and happy.
"This fragrance..." Gao Xingchen and Nan Li looked at each other, and an inexplicable premonition surged in their hearts. They followed the fragrance all the way to the depths of the valley, and a simple wooden house appeared in front of them...
The door of the wooden house was ajar. Gao Xingchen knocked gently, and an old man with white hair and beard pushed the door open. The old man was wearing coarse linen clothes, but it couldn't hide the indifferent temperament emanating from him. His deep eyes seemed to see through everything in the world.
"Young man, was it the scent on you that attracted me out?" The old man smiled and motioned for the two to enter the house.
The cabin was simple and clean, with a faint herbal aroma in the air. The old man brewed a pot of tea, motioned for the two to sit down, and said slowly: "My name is Baiyun, and I have lived in seclusion here for many years. The smell of you reminds me of things many years ago."
Gao Xingchen and Nan Li looked at each other and told Elder Baiyun what they had encountered and the purpose of their trip. Elder Baiyun was silent for a moment and said, "The harm of dark cuisine is far greater than you think. It can not only control a person's body, but also corrode a person's mind, turning a person into a walking corpse."
"Then what should we do?" Gao Xingchen asked anxiously.
The old man Baiyun sighed and said, "If you want to fight against dark cuisine, martial arts alone are not enough, you also need a pure heart and superb cooking skills."
"Can you teach us?" Nan Li pleaded. She felt a powerful force from the old man Baiyun, which was the calmness and wisdom that came from experiencing vicissitudes of life.
The old man Bai Yun looked at the two young men in front of him. Their eyes were full of sincerity and determination, which reminded him of himself when he was young. He nodded and said, "I can teach you some cooking secrets, but whether you can succeed in the end depends on your own luck."
In the following days, Gao Xingchen and Nan Li stayed with the old man Baiyun to learn the art of cooking. What the old man Baiyun taught them was not only recipes and techniques, but also a respect for ingredients and an understanding of life.
Under the guidance of Elder Baiyun, Gao Xingchen and Nan Li devoted themselves to practicing cooking. They integrated their love for each other and their belief in justice into their cooking. Finally, they successfully made a series of dishes that could purify people's hearts. These dishes exuded a warm light, as if they had magical powers.
In order to verify the effect of these delicacies, Gao Xingchen and Nan Li came to a town controlled by the "Dark Alliance". The people in the town were numb and had empty eyes, as if they had lost their souls. Gao Xingchen and Nan Li distributed the delicacies they carefully prepared to the residents of the town, and a magical thing happened. After tasting the delicacies, people's faces gradually regained their spirits and their eyes became clear. They began to recall the good old days and began to resist the control of the "Dark Alliance".
Gao Xingchen and Nan Li were ecstatic, they finally found a way to fight against the dark cuisine! They decided to return to the sect, expose the conspiracy of the "Dark Alliance", and save those who were controlled.
However, just as they were about to leave, they received an anonymous letter with only one sentence in it: "There has been a change in the sect, leave immediately! Remember, be careful!"
Gao Xingchen and Nan Li felt anxious and uneasy. They knew that a bigger storm was coming...