After thinking about it for several days, Mo Xuan was finally able to eat the crayfish he had been longing for.

On the banks of the River of Oblivion, Xu Milu picked out the snarling crayfish, scrubbed them clean one by one, then used scissors to cut off a quarter of their heads at an angle, removed their whiskers and the dirt from their brains, and soaked them in water for later use.

Since the picnic location has been changed to the underworld, Xu Milu doesn't find it troublesome. She simply plans to make two kinds of spicy crayfish: spicy and garlic. However, crayfish are difficult to flavor, and to make them delicious, a large pot of ingredients is needed.

No need to peel the dried ginger. Slice the ginger into thin slices and then into shreds. Mince the scallions. Peel a large amount of raw garlic and mince it into a bowlful of garlic paste. Shred the flame mandolin chili peppers. Soak the dried Sichuan peppercorns in water for later use.

Mo Xuan sat cross-legged on the ground, tending a fire, holding up a dry piece of firewood to show her:

"Look, Madam Xu, the firewood in the underworld is indeed different from that in the mortal world; it grows in rather strange shapes!"

Xu Milu was cutting chili peppers when she heard this and looked up, startled.

The firewood was freshly collected by Chen Xiang. It was all dry wood, about the thickness of a child's arm, wrinkled and dry. At first glance, the bark patterns on it looked exactly like distorted, screaming human faces.

She turned to Chenxiang and asked, "Junior brother, where did you find this firewood?"

“Just now I saw people cooking over a fire on Ironback Mountain. Hundreds of ghost soldiers were cooking meat soup around a large cauldron. The cauldron was ten feet high and ten feet wide. Oil was being boiled in the cauldron, and firewood was burning at the bottom. There are many thorns on the mountain, and this firewood was gathered from the mountain.”

Chenxiang threw the dry firewood in his arms to the ground, casually picked up a piece of wood and tossed it into the fire. The dry wood caught fire immediately, as if hot oil had been poured on it, and a blue-green flame immediately rose up in the fire.

[Ugh... Ugh... Ugh... Ugh...]

The firewood crackled and popped as it burned, and the dry wood in the fire began to writhe and emit mournful howls.

"It really is firewood from the underworld; it even makes some noise when it burns! Interesting, it's really quite interesting."

Mo Xuan couldn't resist throwing another piece of dry firewood into the fire, and the flames leaped up again.

Xu Milu felt that something was wrong, but since people in the underworld also used this thing to start fires, it shouldn't be a problem.

"Ughhhhhh... Ughhhhhh... Ughhhhhhh..."

Accompanied by a strange howl, blue-green flames licked the bottom of the pot. Xu Milu poured hot oil into the pot, threw in the flaming mandolin chili threads and soaked peppercorns and stir-fried them. After the numbing aroma of the peppercorns spread, she added minced ginger, minced scallions and minced garlic and stir-fried them together.

Once the spices in the pot release their aroma, add the freshly prepared crayfish, half a bowl of Sichuan peppercorn water, two tablespoons of cooking wine, two tablespoons of soy sauce, two tablespoons of salt, and half a tablespoon of sugar. Cover and simmer for ten minutes, and the crayfish shells will gradually turn a bright jujube red.

"This dish is very difficult to flavor, so it needs to be simmered for a while longer. You all said that eating too much sesame flatbread left your mouths feeling tasteless. Once it's cooked, the spicy crayfish with cold wine will make your mouths water just thinking about it."

Xu Milu, relying on her strength, stirred the large pot of stir-fry with ease. Each crayfish was coated in broth under various spices, and the heads of the crayfish, soaked in chili peppers, still showed a little bit of bright yellow roe. When the pot was opened, the aroma of Sichuan peppercorns became more and more intense, almost to the point of being pungent.

As soon as the dish was ready, Mo Xuan almost couldn't wait to grab a crayfish and stuff it into his mouth, refusing to spit it out even though he was scalded and screaming.

"It tastes wonderful, it tastes wonderful!"

"These shrimp have been raised on egg yolks for several days, making them plump and healthy, and they've also expelled all the impurities from their bellies. Then, stir-fry them with the finest spices, how could they not taste good?"

Xu Milu picked up a shrimp, and with a little force from her two fingers, the shell separated from the body, revealing the white shrimp meat inside.

Eating crayfish is just like eating snails. The best way to eat them is to first suck out the broth from the crayfish head and feel the intense spiciness of the "Flaming Mandolin" burst on your tongue. Then, use your teeth to tear apart the tender, firm crayfish meat. The meat is chewy yet smooth, a true explosion of flavor.

"With snacks to go with the drinks, how can we not have cold wine? Look at mine."

Mo Xuan took out two unopened jars of wine from his sleeve, blew on them, and frost covered the jars. The wine poured into a bowl was tinged with cold air.

Xu Milu took a sip of the wine in her bowl and felt a cool sensation travel from the tip of her tongue to the back of her head. The spiciness in her throat also dissipated considerably.

Suck on the spicy broth, chew on the chewy shrimp meat, and sip the icy cold wine. While admiring the flowers, they chatted about everything under the sun, as if they were in a fairyland rather than an endless hell.

...

...

The three of them ate heartily and were very happy. Before long, they had eaten more than half of the crayfish in the pot.

"Ah—yawn!"

"Ah—yawn!!!"

Suddenly, a muffled sneeze like thunder came from the side. Xu Milu looked closely and found that it was Ox-Head and Horse-Face, who had been supervising the ghosts moving the mountain.

Although she didn't recognize the Ox-Headed Demon, she knew the Horse-Face Demon was a regular customer, so Xu Milu recognized him immediately and stood up to greet him:

"It turns out that the Horse-Faced Rakshasa was right in front of us. My fellow disciples and I were admiring the flowers here when we suddenly felt like making some snacks to go with our drinks. The smell is a bit strong, but the taste is absolutely superb. Would you like to try some?"

When Horse-Face saw that it was her, his face showed a mixture of surprise and joy, and his horse-like face stretched out a bit:

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!