God Realm Beast Sealing House 5
"Understood, esteemed guests. Rest assured, I will arrange everything perfectly." The Pavilion Master of Listening Wind bowed slightly and asked, "But what about the price?"
Xue Linchuan took out a piece of openwork gold leaf, waved it, and asked, "Is this enough as a deposit?"
“Enough, enough,” Tingfeng Tower Master stepped forward and took the gold leaf, her face beaming. “Do you two esteemed guests have the leisure to hear some interesting tales from recent days? I would gladly offer them to you without charge.”
"Tell me about it." Xie Guijin used a small silver fork to pick up a piece of watermelon and put it in her mouth.
"The biggest news today is that the Great Emperor Shennong, together with the rulers of all realms, has issued a divine decree to hold the Six Realms Chef King Competition." Seeing that Xie and Xue both looked interested, the Listening Wind Pavilion Master had a better understanding of the situation and continued, "I heard that the winner will receive the title of Six Realms Chef King, the blessing of the judges of the Six Realms, and the Shennong Food Cauldron made by Shennong himself."
While instructing that a few small butterflies be brought over, Xue Linchuan slightly raised his chin, signaling the Listening Wind Pavilion Master to continue speaking.
Upon seeing this, the Wind Listener said, "For this competition, three chefs will be selected from all walks of life. Three days later, they will travel together to the Divine Realm of Lieshan to compete. At that time, the Great Emperor Shennong, the rulers of the six realms, and representatives of the common people of the six realms will serve as judges."
Xue Linchuan picked up a walnut from the plate, peeled off the hard shell along the crack he had cracked open beforehand, cleaned off the outer skin, and put the milky white, plump kernel into the small dish that the maid had just brought.
"A representative of the common people?" Xie Guijin put down her small silver fork and wiped her hands with a silk handkerchief.
Seeing that Xie Guijin was interested in this topic, Tingfeng Louzhu quickly added, "It is said that in order to increase the fairness and fun of the competition, the chef selection for each round will also adopt the method of live cooking, and thirty representatives of the common people of this round will taste the dishes on the spot to determine the final contestants. The judges must have something to say during the selection."
With a slight upturn of his eyes, he glanced at Xie Guijin without any sign of impatience and continued, "After the competition, the chefs will elect representatives of the common people. They will choose the most fair and professional representatives in their hearts. The top ten representatives of the common people who receive the most votes from all walks of life will travel to the Lieshan Divine Realm together three days later."
Xue Linchuan moved the small dish full of walnut kernels in front of Xie Guijin and said with a smile, "I suppose after the finals, the civilian representatives will be re-elected. What will be the prize for the one with the most votes?"
"It's a gourmet house jointly created by all the chefs who participated in the finals after the competition," said the Wind Listener, folding his hands gently. "It's made with rare ingredients from the six realms and maintained by magic, so it won't spoil or decay. It's said that to follow the cycle of cause and effect, the winners need to pay to buy the gourmet house. This money is the chefs' reward. Don't worry about the different currencies in the six realms, and don't pay too much. Just a token amount is fine."
Having heard what she wanted to hear, Xie Guijin finished the walnuts on the plate and moistened her mouth with tea, feeling satisfied, she got up and left with Xue Linchuan.
The owner of Tingfeng Tower personally escorted the two out of the tower. After they boarded the carriage, he curtsied and watched the carriage slowly drive away.
Back in the building, the Master of Listening Wind did not instruct his subordinates to find someone who could speak well, as Xie Guijin had requested. Instead, he ordered his subordinates to find out the origins of Xie and Xue.
The subordinate accepted the order and left, quickly returning to report: "It is the third young master and sixth young lady of the Marquis of Duanjin's family. They are on the Marquis's orders to go out for training and are passing through this place."
The Duanjin Marquis's residence was renowned throughout the land for its uprightness, propriety, and meticulousness. It was rumored that the Duanjin Marquis and his wife were extremely strict with their children.
The Listening Wind Pavilion Master understood. It must be because the elders in the family were strict. The brother and sister had never heard praise since childhood. The brother doted on his sister and used the experience to spend money to let his sister hear a few nice words.
A single gold leaf is not much to the young masters and ladies of the Marquis's mansion.
Of course, for someone who only wants to hear a few nice words, this deposit is a bit high, but it's not too much for Tingfenglou to accept.
Knowing what was going on, the owner of Tingfeng Tower ordered people to find someone who was good-looking, well-read, good at reading people, eloquent, and able to flatter and fawn.
Such people are hard to find, so the Wind Listener wasn't in a hurry. She ordered her subordinates to find six or seven people by tomorrow morning, and after she had vetted them, they would be sent to the mountain villa in the suburbs.
That's a story for later. Right now, Xie Guijin and Xue Linchuan had lunch at a restaurant in the city, and then hired some servants to take back to the manor.
He first ordered the servants to go and settle in, and then, when the sun had set a little at midday, they would come out to clean and arrange the manor.
Xie Guijin sat in the pavilion and whispered to Xue Linchuan, "The people from Tingfeng Tower are still keeping watch. They don't seem to mind the heat under this blazing sun. The owner of Tingfeng Tower is really cautious."
“The world is dangerous, and our appearance was abrupt and our requests were strange,” Xue Linchuan smiled good-naturedly. “It is normal to send someone to follow us secretly in order to be on the safe side. By now, Tingfeng Tower should have found out that we are the young masters and ladies of the Duanjin Marquis’s mansion. They will probably recall their people soon and will not send anyone again.”
“The strange thing was that we were doing it before,” Xie Guijin said, resting her chin on her hand. “When they found out that we were using the guise of training to travel without any servants, yet we bought a manor and spent a lot of money to have old friends say nice things to us, wasn’t that even stranger?”
“Yes,” Xue Linchuan lowered his eyes and looked at Xie Guijin, his eyes filled with tenderness. “However, the Lord of Tingfeng Tower is a smart man and will not pry into the matter.”
The afternoon sun was shining brightly, and a gentle breeze was blowing.
Memories flooded back: when Xie Guijin was a child, her grandmother would fan her with a palm leaf fan and hum nursery rhymes to lull her to sleep during her afternoon nap at her maternal grandmother's house in the summer.
In countless moments of isolation, helplessness, and despair that followed, Xie Guijin hummed this nursery rhyme to get through it all.
Later, as she grew older, her life gradually improved.
Yet, she would still unconsciously hum this nursery rhyme at many moments.
When she is happy, sad, disappointed, or grief-stricken, she will unconsciously hum a few lines.
Perhaps it was because this seemingly difficult time travel mission was progressing well, or perhaps it was because the sunshine and breeze at this moment were too similar to those in my memory.
Xie Guijin hummed a couple of lines involuntarily.
Xue Linchuan, who was standing to the side, naturally took over the conversation.
Xie Guijin, who was still feeling a bit lazy and was about to fall asleep with her eyes half-closed, suddenly woke up with a start and asked in surprise, "Why can you sing this? This is a song that my grandmother composed herself."
Xue Linchuan was at a loss upon hearing this. He tried to search his memory but found nothing. Under Xie Guijin's cold gaze, he stammered, "I... I can't remember."
Xue Linchuan lowered his head, covered his head, and bit his lower lip so hard that it bled.
Seeing this, Xie Guijin felt sorry for him and said, "If you can't remember, that's fine. Don't force yourself."
Xue Linchuan seemed not to hear, and with one hand on his forehead and the other clutching his chest, he slid off the stone bench.
Xie Guijin was startled and quickly stepped forward to put her hand on Xue Linchuan's shoulder: "What's wrong? Where do you feel uncomfortable?"
Xue became lost in self-awareness and was unable to respond.
The system shouted: "Host, his ability fluctuations are very strong, I detected something is wrong, you must stop him quickly."
Having no other choice, Xie Guijin could only try to form a hand seal and place two fingers on Xue Linchuan's brow.
Xue Linchuan transmigrated into the body of a divine general with the power of judgment in the Temple of Justice. He possessed profound magical power and was skilled in both defense and offense.
Xie Guijin transmigrated into the body of a goddess, specializing in guarding the seal of ferocious beasts. Her magical power was not low, and she was skilled in sealing techniques. Although her offensive capabilities were not weak, it would not be easy for her to break through Xue Linchuan's automatically activated protective defense.
Fortunately, even though he had lost consciousness, Xue Linchuan remained completely unguarded against Xie Guijin.
Having finally stabilized Xue Linchuan, Xie Guijin withdrew her spell, her shoulders drooping, and all the muscles in her body relaxing.
Xue Linchuan lost his support and fell backward.
Xie Guijin caught him in time and half-hug him.
The system cleverly spoke up: "Host, he's fine, he's just unconscious. Don't wake him up; a nap will help him recover."
Upon hearing this, Xie Guijin used magic to transport Xue Linchuan back to his room, placed him on the bed, and covered him with a blanket.
She sat by the bedside, watching Xue Linchuan and thinking to herself, "I need to put the matter of restoring his soul on the agenda. What does Erlang Shen mean by saying that the one who tied the bell must untie it? Those gods are so annoying, always making sarcastic remarks for no reason."
Then he thought, "Now that I'm in the realm of gods, I wonder if I can ask a deity for help, and who should I turn to?"
Xie Guijin was lost in a jumble of thoughts.
The system said with exasperation, "Host, stop staring at him! You can't be obsessed with men! You have to do your mission, remember?"
"Oh dear, that scared me to death out of the blue," Xie Guijin ignored the first two sentences and retorted, "It's only noon on the second day. Be honest with me, how much have I done since yesterday? I can't even catch my breath."
Xie Guijin patted his chest and said, "Oh, sorry, I forgot you're not human, and you have no conscience either."
"Host, you've changed. You weren't like this before. In the first world, the human realm, you hardly rested for a moment. During those seven days, you barely slept, and you never complained about the hardship or the exhaustion," the system said dejectedly.
"That's because one thing after another happened at the time, and I was also threatened with death by you. I didn't know what your mission completion standards were, so I could only give it my all," Xie Guijin said irritably. "But I'm a human being, not your system. I need to rest to complete the mission, do you understand?"
"In the previous world, the Demon Realm, you had a full two days of rest, which was equivalent to working five days and resting two days. But in this world, you've only been here for a day and a half and you're already looking at men," the system complained.
"Don't start twisting the facts and spouting nonsense!" Xie Guijin wanted to strangle the system: "I just brought him in, and he's been sitting here resting for less than ten minutes. What do you mean by 'looking at men'? Am I a pervert?"
"I'm so angry! I'm not doing the mission anymore!" Xie Guijin fumed and ran to her room, where she lay down on her bed.
"Hey, host, how can you be like this? Can't you have a sense of urgency? Can't you face the pressure of life and death properly?" The system felt extremely aggrieved, thinking it was the most pitiful system in the world.
"No, shut up." Xie Guijin pulled the blanket up, closed her eyes, and turned over to sleep.
The system wanted to say more, but it knew that if it said even one more word, Xie Guijin would manually mute it.
The system had no choice but to swallow its anger and sulk in silence.
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