ARLQLCC chapter 36

As soon as these words came out, the air inside the barrier seemed to freeze. The smile at the corner of Tu Yan’s lips slowly retracted under Chu Zhaoye’s icy gaze. His excited, forward-leaning posture gradually straightened back up, returning to his usual state of looking straight ahead without glancing sideways.

What’s going on… did I guess wrong?

On the surface he looked calm, but cold sweat was pouring down his back.

Why is the boss looking at me like this… am I still going to survive today?

Why is he still looking at me… I shouldn’t have asked that.

Time felt like it had passed for a hundred years. Apart from the birds chirping without awareness in the courtyard, only the laughter and chatter from the small kitchen could be heard.

Tu Yan was now deeply regretting that he hadn’t followed along to help earlier. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be enduring this death stare right now.

After a long while, Chu Zhaoye’s voice sounded faintly beside his ear, “Why are you asking this?”

Tu Yan swallowed and carefully said, “Be-because… I’ve never seen you treat anyone this well before, boss.”

Chu Zhaoye frowned: “Is it very good?”

Tu Yan: “……”

Isn’t it good? You’re practically giving him the Demon King position, and you still say it’s not good!!!

Tu Yan: “It’s… it’s pretty good. You even split your palace and directly gave him half of it, boss.”

Chu Zhaoye: “It’s just a piece of land. Does that count as very good?”

“…………” Tu Yan said tearfully, “And the storage space treasures, you also said you’d let him keep them.”

Chu Zhaoye: “I don’t use those. They’re just sitting there anyway.”

Tu Yan closed his eyes in despair.

You don’t use them, but I do! Why don’t you give me some?!

He didn’t dare say it, so he could only say miserably: “Th-then, boss, when are you planning to reveal your identity and bring Su Ji back to the demon race with us?”

Chu Zhaoye answered without hesitation: “No.”

Tu Yan: “?”

Why not again?

Chu Zhaoye: “He might get angry.”

Tu Yan: “Th-then…”

Chu Zhaoye: “Wait a bit longer. You hold things down in the clan for now.”

Tu Yan still tried to fight for it: “But…”

From the small kitchen came the aroma of food. The barrier around them suddenly dissolved. Chu Zhaoye turned around and jumped down from the stone stool, not giving Tu Yan any chance to speak, and rushed straight into the kitchen like a streak of smoke.

Tu Yan was left standing there alone, completely shattered.

……

Chu Zhaoye had not been chatting with Tu Yan outside for long, and Su Ji had only just prepared two dishes. The pigeon soup was simmering in individual stew pots for each person, exuding a rich aroma.

The yin-yang hotpot base was already prepared. The hotpot ingredients were being handled by Yun Xicheng and the others. Su Ji was currently making fish soup for Chu Zhaoye. Seeing him come in, he put down the spatula and bent down to pick him up.

A familiar soapberry fragrance surrounded him, carrying Su Ji’s body temperature. Chu Zhaoye rubbed against him contentedly.

Su Ji petted him indulgently and placed him back into his usual position against his chest, then continued cooking.

Chu Zhaoye liked this position very much, because no one else could enter it except him. The demon race’s excellent hearing allowed him to clearly hear every beat of Su Ji’s heart, giving him an inexplicable sense of peace.

At this time, when Tu Yan asked him when he would return to the demon race, Chu Zhaoye felt resistance from the bottom of his heart.

His spiritual energy had already recovered to the early stage of Tribulation Transcendence. In at most two days, he would recover to the late stage. Logically, with the demon lords becoming restless, he should return to show himself and intimidate them.

But returning to the demon race would inevitably mean separation from Su Ji. Although he said he could bring Su Ji back, he knew in his heart the other party might not be willing to go with him.

This trip to the demon race would definitely not be something of one or two days. If he were gone for so many days, and a few more “Yan Shao No. 3” and “Yan Shao No. 4” appeared around Su Ji, he wouldn’t even know.

Chu Zhaoye felt a bit deflated. His two front paws rested on Su Ji’s collar as he stared blankly at the spatula stirring in the pot.

But soon his attention drifted to the fish soup in the pot.

The amount of fish soup wasn’t much. In fact, because the clay pot was quite large, it didn’t even reach one-third of the spatula’s height. At most, it would fill a single bowl.

And he guessed right—it ended up being just a single bowl.

The soup was thick and milky white, the meat fresh and fragrant.

Su Ji had taken the most tender and most spiritually rich part of the deep-sea fish. That piece of top-grade fish meat was turned into this bowl of fish soup, with faint traces of spiritual energy rising with the steam.

Chu Zhaoye recognized this kind of deep-sea fish. It came from the abyss at the center of the Boundless Sea in the demon race, a harmless species.

Unlike other creatures in the Boundless Sea, it had no offensive means of protection. Instead, all its spiritual energy was concentrated in its flesh. It survived by speed and terrain advantages.

Although it was the weakest fish species in the Boundless Sea, it could move freely in the abyss. Once it escaped into the abyssal zone, its predators had no choice but to give up.

Because its spiritual energy was stored in its meat, its taste was also far superior to ordinary fish.

When Tu Yan craved it, he would catch a few and send them to the palace kitchen.

The most concentrated spiritual energy in this fish was located three inches beneath the skin at the center of the belly. A palm-sized piece of meat alone could rival some top-grade pills.

Now that piece of meat had been stewed for a long time, all its spiritual energy fully integrated into the soup, making it fragrant and rich.

After the fish soup was finished, the pigeon soup still needed time. So Su Ji served the fish soup first and let everyone start eating hotpot.

Dishes were brought onto the stone table one by one. Tu Yan, who had been questioning his life earlier, was instantly drawn by the intoxicating aroma.

The hotpot base was placed in the center—one side spicy red oil, the other a boiling tomato broth with diced tomato bits. Each person had a dipping sauce in front of them. Tu Yan eagerly rubbed his hands together and put a slice of fish into the tomato pot.

Because the fish and rabbit were too large, the stone table couldn’t fit everything. Yun Xicheng even found a small cart from the kitchen just to hold the ingredients. After a flurry of preparations, it was finally time to enjoy the meal.

The only bowl of fish soup was placed in front of the little cat.

Su Ji didn’t rush to eat. Afraid the kitten would think it was too hot, he scooped a small spoonful, cooled it, and began feeding it.

Tu Yan didn’t notice at first. Like someone who hadn’t eaten in hundreds of years, he quickly devoured half the fish slices on his plate. His eating speed was so fast that people were afraid to sit next to him, so he ended up sitting across from Yue He and the others.

The imposing image of the Demon Venerable instantly collapsed. Yue He’s mouth twitched as she watched him shoveling fish into his mouth while hissing from the heat, thinking her earlier nervousness was a bit foolish.

It seemed rumors couldn’t be fully trusted. What murderous, unpredictable Demon Venerable—all of that was defeated by Su Ji’s cooking.

Tu Yan finished a plate of fish in the blink of an eye and was about to return the empty plate for more when he looked up and saw that Su Ji’s bowl was completely empty. He wasn’t even eating himself, just feeding Chu Zhaoye fish soup one spoon at a time, even praising him after each bite: “Ma Tuan is amazing.”

Looking at his boss again—the blissful, radiant expression on his face—and he still said he wasn’t greedy for Su Ji.

Tu Yan silently placed his plate down and decided to come eat more meals in the next few days to console himself before returning alone to the demon race.

Now he fully supported Chu Zhaoye bringing Su Ji back. After all, once you’ve eaten Su Ji’s cooking, going back to barbecue every day was unacceptable.

He needed a way to get Su Ji to willingly follow his boss back, preferably to settle in the demon race permanently.

Even though Su Ji didn’t know his boss was Ma Tuan, in order for the boss to adjust better after regaining human form, he had to build goodwill for him.

That way, he could eat Su Ji’s dishes every day.

…

After feeding Chu Zhaoye, the pigeon soup in the kitchen was also ready. Everyone went in to get theirs, and the meal was eaten happily.

Not a single ingredient was left. After everyone was full, the leftovers all went into Tu Yan’s stomach.

He really wasn’t lying—he really could finish it.

Su Ji, who always thought Tu Yan was joking, was shocked and asked the question everyone else wanted to ask: “You eat this much… you really don’t get bloated?”

Tu Yan, still drinking soup to ease the spiciness, lifted his head from the pot. His lips were red from heat.

“Nope. That’s my normal appetite.”

Su Ji was puzzled: “A human stomach isn’t that big. You’re eating enough for three people already.”

“You said it yourself—human stomachs aren’t that big.” Tu Yan chewed on the tender pigeon meat and said with a relaxed squint, “But I’m not human.”

Su Ji: “……”

Right. Tu Yan was from the demon race.

Although he didn’t know the other party’s true form, it was normal for demon beasts to have larger appetites.

The others also looked like they finally understood.

After confirming Tu Yan wouldn’t overeat himself to death, Su Ji stopped worrying and continued feeding the kitten soup.

Yun Xicheng left first. He didn’t have matches in the afternoon and went with Yun Che to discuss Su Ji’s teaching arrangements with the Great Elder. Yue He returned to her residence. Yan Shao left for sect affairs.

Only the sound of Tu Yan eating remained in the courtyard.

Even though they knew he ate a lot, Su Ji still glanced over repeatedly. “Demon Lord Tu, does your… boss usually not feed you?”

Tu Yan paused. Chu Zhaoye also lifted his head.

His mouth was greasy and his eating posture was far from elegant.

Coughing once, Tu Yan grabbed at the air, pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped his mouth as if covering something up. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly remembered his plan to improve Chu Zhaoye’s image.

He immediately sat upright and casually said, “No! My boss is very good to his subordinates. When I come over to freeload meals, he never scolds me. He even lets me pack food back for my partner! Knowing I can’t eat spicy food, he specifically told the kitchen not to make spicy dishes!

When I got tired of barbecue, he even spent a lot of money hiring several top chefs from the cultivation world. He’s a kind, gentle, considerate, and very good boss! Oh right, Su Ji, my boss is called Chu Zhaoye. Do you want to meet him?”

Su Ji: “……”

Chu Zhaoye: “…………………”

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