deltrittennovels Chapter 698 Inviting Guests to Ziran Hall
Chapter 698 Inviting Guests to Ziran Hall
Chapter 698 Inviting Guests to Ziran Hall
There are three great joys for ordinary people: meeting an old friend in a foreign land, the wedding night, and passing the imperial examination.
Ghost cultivators face three great misfortunes: becoming a civil servant, becoming a civil servant in the City of Eternal Life, and being forced to become a civil servant in the City of Eternal Life.
Of the five people, only Hao Jiejie was in high spirits; the rest of them looked as if they had lost their parents.
"Haha, to congratulate us on successfully landing, let me treat you to something delicious," Hao Jiejie said generously.
Wang Tianhai's steps were unusually heavy; he could feel the merciless fate tightening around his throat.
He could have lived a carefree and immortal life, conquering others with his martial arts, but his wonderful life was shattered when he met Hao Jiejie: "No, food cannot comfort my wounded heart."
Hao Jiejie: "If one meal isn't enough, then two meals will do."
"hehe."
"We're going to Zirantang, the most expensive, most luxurious, and most delicious restaurant in Yongsheng City. The queue will stretch for 500 years."
Wang Tianhai raised his eyelids: "Is it appropriate for you to use a meal from 500 years in the future to make empty promises to us?"
Hao Jiejie draped her arm over Lin Xiaohe's shoulder and said with a dashing air, "As long as I go, there's no need to queue."
"Why should I?"
Hao Jiejie curled her lips into a smug smile: "Because I'm the head chef of Ziran Hall!"
I knock!
What are you still hesitating about? Why did everyone become civil servants? Isn't it all Hao Jiejie's fault?
She ate a few meals, no problem!
Ziran Hall is located three miles east of the Naihe Bridge.
That was a building complex.
The main building consists of five buildings, connected by flying bridges and railings, with light and shadow interspersed, and varying in height. From a distance, they look like a group of giant beasts draped in red gauze crouching on the banks of the River of Oblivion.
Each building has a Naihe Lantern hanging from its eaves. These are ghostly blue orbs of light formed from will-o'-the-wisps, strung together with threads of rebirth. Nine lanterns hang from the eaves, swaying in the night breeze, illuminating the entire street with a bluish glow, and even the faces of the passing ghost messengers glow with a blue light.
The main gate is three zhang high, and the gateposts are made of dark reddish-brown wood from the bottom of the River of Oblivion, which feels cool to the touch.
When Lin Xiaohe and her group arrived at the entrance of Ziran Hall, they couldn't help but look up at the huge white bone hanging above the door.
The white bones exuded a chilling aura, and it was impossible to tell which part of the body they came from, but this one piece of bone alone was longer than the five people combined.
It's hard to imagine how magnificent and imposing the owner of these bones must have been!
Two characters were engraved on the bone, filled with cinnabar, and the handwriting was flamboyant, but it didn't quite match the name.
【Zirantang】
These three words always remind Lin Xiaohe of cumin beef and barbecue skewers.
Below the skeleton hung a couplet: the first line read, "Even in the underworld, there is the warmth of life," and the second line read, "In my drunken stupor, I know not how long it will last." The horizontal inscription was obscured by the tongue of a hanged ghost, and only upon close inspection could one discern the three characters: "Let us drink this cup."
"Come on, come on, don't be shy. I've already told them to give us their private room."
Passing through the main entrance into the main hall, you are greeted by a display cabinet filled with wine jars.
Hao Jiejie picked up a jar of wine without any hesitation: "This is called Forget-Me-Not White. The base flavor is Meng Po Soup, plus the spices I carefully prepared."
After saying that, she glanced at Lin Xiaohe seemingly unintentionally. When Lin Xiaohe caught her on the spot, she not only didn't dodge, but also winked mischievously, showing a shameless frankness.
Hao Jiejie gently stroked the wine jar on the treasure pavilion: "This is the Three Lives Intoxication brewed with the honey of the other shore flower, and the Soul-Stealing Dew distilled from the black mist of the City of the Dead. Of course, the most precious thing is the tea made with the ashes of the Book of Life and Death of the City of Eternal Life, called 'One Stroke to Cure,' which can make you temporarily forget the thing you regretted most in your life."
"Most of our customers order this and it's all settled; most of them end up crying after drinking it. Would you like a jar?"
Wang Tianhai shook his head: "My biggest regret is meeting you." The bald monk fiddled with the beads in his hand: "Whether I regret it or not, it's all part of my experience, and it's all part of what I've achieved."
On the stage in the center of the hall, a ghost was singing "The Return of the Soul" in a hoarse voice. On the pillars flanking the stage was inscribed a couplet: "On stage, the actors feign tears and laughter; off stage, the ghosts are truly drunk and sorrowful."
The group didn't linger in the lobby; they went up to a private room on the second floor through a curtain made of skulls.
Each private room has a name, the best one being called "Human World," with a window facing the River of Oblivion, where you can see the ghosts lining up on the Bridge of Helplessness.
Hao Jiejie dismissed the waiter in the private room and took out a large iron pot, about half the height of a person, from her treasure bag.
The black iron pot is simple and unadorned.
The inside is shiny and well-moisturized.
She then took out a wild boar tail that was half a foot thick at the bottom, took the meat close to the bone and a little bit of fat from it, and pounded the meat into a pink paste with three parts fat and seven parts lean with more than twenty consecutive slaps.
This scene made Wang Tianhai grimace.
In one of his past lives, he was reincarnated as a wild boar. Thanks to his cleverness, he was not chopped into mincemeat like Sister Hao.
Wang Tianhai wanted to speak up for the poor pig, but when he glanced at Hao Jiejie, who was focused and wholeheartedly engaged in cooking, he didn't dare to say anything.
When Hao Jiejie starts cooking, she is very different from usual. She has an unparalleled control over her area of expertise and an domineering aura that says anyone who dares to disturb her is doomed!
Hao Jiejie then took out a beast egg that was as big as two fists, mixed it with the minced meat, and added some chopped wild onions.
She rendered the remaining pork fat into lard using a large iron pot over a low flame.
Watching the white fat melt into golden oil, Lin Xiaohe raised her hand to brush away the fragrance gathering at the tip of her nose and said to Hao Jiejie:
"Can ghost cultivators also smell and taste delicious food?"
How can such ordinary ingredients and cooking methods produce such extraordinary results?
The bald monk and the mute boy's eyes were practically popping out of the iron pot; they didn't hear Lin Xiaohe's words at all.
Upon hearing this, Wang Tianhai paused. Didn't Lin Xiaohe know whether ghost cultivators could enjoy delicious food? Was he not a ghost cultivator?
Oh dear, this is a big problem.
He knew that someone chosen by Hao Jiejie couldn't possibly be an ordinary ghost cultivator!
Hao Jiejie only had eyes for that big iron pot.
After the oil was rendered, she picked out the fat residue, then squeezed out small pork meatballs and dropped them one by one into the oil.
Listening to the constant sizzling sounds from the pot, and the aroma of fried meatballs bursting in the hot oil, her heart slowly calmed down.
Facing the fragrant oil from the pot, Hao Jiejie gently curled her lips.
She raised her hand, and spiritual energy gathered in her palm, plucking the fragrance as if strumming a zither string, making the fragrance even richer and purer.
The aroma was exceptionally strong, and the entire [Zirantang] became quite quiet.
Overwhelmed by the aroma, Wang Tianhai drooled all over the place.
Whether delicious food can increase one's cultivation level is completely irrelevant. It's because these meatballs are just too delicious!
There are over 100 meatballs in the pot, how should we divide them?
Lin Xiaohe: "I want fifty."
"No way!" the others shouted in unison. "Divide them equally! 23 for each person!"