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The cultivator who rushed down the mountain road had a high level of cultivation. Du Heng could not tell his level. He had a handsome face and a noble temperament. The wide Taoist robe he wore made him look like a banished immortal. He had beautiful silver hair. When he rushed down the mountain road, Du Heng felt as if he saw Jing Nan or Feng Gui.
The visitor stopped in front of Du Heng. He stared at Du Heng's backpack with disbelief in his eyes.
Du Heng looked at his face and then at the snake that was still twisting in front of him. He asked weakly, "Um...Fellow Daoist, is this the snake you raised?"
Is he in trouble? Du Heng awkwardly pinched the snake in Xiaoxiao's claws. Wow, the snake's seven inches was thicker than Du Heng's arm. The big snake was heavy, and it took some effort to stop its twisting body.
Du Heng carefully handed the snake to the monk: "Here... I'm sorry, it seems to be dying. Do you think it can be saved?"
The monk opposite looked at the crushed snake head, glanced at it and said calmly: "It's hard for even gods to save it."
Du Heng wished there was a crack in the ground for him to crawl into. He put the snake on the ground and bowed to the monk solemnly: "I'm sorry, things have come to this. Let's discuss what to do?"
No matter who started the trouble, the snake was dead now. Du Heng thought that if the other party did not go too far, he could use some spirit stones to resolve the matter. As the saying goes, less trouble is better than more trouble, he did not want to cause trouble. But if the other party went too far, he would not give in.
Xiaoxiao was furious when he heard this. He jumped out of the basket and burst into a burst of earth-shaking chirping sounds. Du Heng didn't understand most of Xiaoxiao's chirping sounds, but based on Du Heng's understanding of Xiaoxiao, he should be cursing.
The monk opposite looked at Xiaoxiao who was cursing and jumping up and down in surprise. He actually smiled. After Xiaoxiao finished cursing, he said to Du Heng: "Is this your spiritual pet?"
Du Heng said, "He is my family, not just a pet." So don't think of using Xiaoxiao to compensate his snake. To be precise, it was the snake that started it first. What do you call this? He was killed because of his lack of strength. He deserved it!
The monk saluted Du Heng and said, "I am Tai Shuhong, an inner disciple of the Beast Control Garden." Du Heng saluted in return, "Du Heng, a servant in the dining hall of Shenxiu Peak."
Upon hearing Du Heng's identity, Tai Shuhong looked at Du Heng in surprise for several times. He asked in confusion: "With your level of cultivation, why would you choose to do odd jobs?" And he was doing odd jobs in the dining hall. Isn't this a waste of talent?
Du Heng smiled and said, "I originally wanted to be an outer sect disciple, but the sect didn't want me, so I could only sneak in and do odd jobs."
Tai Shuhong looked at Xiaoxiao who was still furious. He sighed and said, "What a pity! With your level of taming spirit beasts, it would be no problem for you to become a core disciple in our Beast Taming Garden."
Xiaoxiao was standing on the snake and jumping up and down. He heard Du Heng and Tai Shuhong chatting. He got even angrier: "Chirp chirp!"
Stop chatting and listen to him! He is the victim, okay? They can't be the scapegoats just because he killed the snake!
Tai Shuhong looked at Xiaoxiao tenderly: "What's his name?" Du Heng introduced: "His name is Xiaoxiao."
Tai Shuhong said, "Your Xiaoxiao is very powerful. He crushed the head of a fourth-level red flame python on the ground with one claw. When Xiaoxiao grows up, he will definitely become a very powerful spirit beast. Is he... the cub of Dapeng Jinchi?"
Du Heng looked at the patch of hair on Xiaoxiao's head and said, "Ah... I guess so."
Du Heng wanted to know why things turned out like this. As the victim, Tai Shuhong did not pester him or ask him to pay money or his life. Instead, he took out nuts that the Yu Beast Garden Feather Tribe liked to eat to treat Xiaoxiao. Xiaoxiao, who had no moral integrity, stopped cursing immediately when he saw the nuts. He squatted in Tai Shuhong's arms and let him touch them. He touched a handful of nuts and ate a bite of them. His cheeks became round from eating so much.
Tai Shuhong was holding Xiaoxiao in his arms and feeding him food, while Du Heng was squatting on the ground skinning a snake.
Tai Shuhong said, "This red flame python has been acting strange these days. It keeps running towards Shenxiu Peak. I didn't understand why it did that at first, but now I understand. It wants to eat your Xiaoxiao. If it had known this would happen, it would have probably stayed away."
Du Heng folded the skin and put it aside. He chopped off the snake's head and comforted Tai Shuhong: "Don't be too sad. Come to the dining hall later. I'll treat you to snake meat stew."
Tai Shuhong smiled and shook his head: "I'm not sad, I didn't like it in the first place. It was too greedy. It devoured countless feather tribes in the Beast Control Garden over the years. Some high-ranking feather tribesmen were harmed by it before they even hatched. If it weren't for the sect's rule that cultivators who raise spirit beasts must not harm them, I would have killed it long ago. Now that it died in the hands of the feather tribe, it can be regarded as revenge for the little feather tribesmen before."
Du Heng laughed: "What do you call this? Karma." No wonder Tai Shuhong was so easy to talk to and even gave him snake meat. It turned out it was because he didn't love him.
Tai Shuhong gently touched Xiaoxiao's down and said, "Xiaoxiao is very well taken care of. Can I ask you how you take care of it? There is also a young golden-winged roc in the Spirit Beast Garden. It has been raised for more than 200 years, but it is still weak and fragile."
Du Heng thought for a while and said, "It's nothing special, but my Xiaoxiao is not picky about food." As he spoke, he stuffed the snake meat into the storage bag, and he dug a hole and buried the peeled off internal organs.
He wrapped the snake's head with snake skin, tied it with a rope and handed it to Tai Shuhong. The skin of Chi Yanmang could be made into a very good magic weapon. Since he was dead anyway, he had to leave something for Tai Shuhong.
Tai Shuhong took the snake skin and stuffed it into his storage bag. He picked up Xiaoxiao and said, "Come on, I'll take you to get the ingredients."
During the conversation just now, Tai Shuhong already understood why Du Heng came to the Beast Garden. Before, there were people who came to the Beast Garden to ask for food that the spirit beasts didn't eat, but he drove them away because he thought it was troublesome. Now that he saw Du Heng, he felt that Du Heng and he got along very well, so for Xiaoxiao, he would also give him some food.
The Beast Garden is located halfway up the Shenzao Peak. There are eight or nine palaces of different sizes in the woods on the mountainside, where various spirit beasts are kept. There is a corridor hidden in the mist on the upper part of the mountainside leading to Shenxiu Peak. Du Heng can take a shortcut through the corridor when he goes back.
Tai Shuhong introduced: "Shenxu Palace originally did not have a beast garden. Sword cultivators were so focused on their practice that few would raise spirit beasts." Du Heng looked at the continuous palace and asked in surprise: "Then why did they raise spirit beasts later?"
Tai Shuhong said, "That's because of our peak master. The peak master had a close friend who loved spirit beasts and raised a lot of them. After his close friend passed away, the peak master took over his spirit beasts. Later, he developed feelings for them as he raised them, and then the current Beast Taming Garden was established."
Du Heng sighed: "Such a big garden, there are so many spirit beasts in it."
Tai Shuhong looked at Du Heng and said, "We don't have many spirit beasts. We don't have enough experience raising spirit beasts. The spirit beasts we raise are very delicate. It's okay to act delicately to relieve boredom, but when something really happens, it's no better than the spirit sword in your hand."
As they were talking, Tai Shuhong brought Du Heng to a square in the middle of the palace. There was an old tree on the square, and its branches blocked out the sun. Looking up, you can see many birds on the tree. These birds are big and small, colorful, and you can hear their chirping before you get close.
There were three large stone troughs under the tree, filled with large and full nuts, mixed with a lot of pure rice and brown rice.
Tai Shuhong said: "The bird food in the stone trough must be replaced every day." Spiritual beasts love cleanliness and will not poop while eating like ordinary birds. Therefore, even if there is some leftover grain in the stone trough, it is very clean.
As they were talking, the servants cleaned out the nuts and magical rice from the three stone troughs. Du Heng estimated that there was enough bird food left in the three stone troughs to fill a whole load.
The servants put the replaced bird food in a basket and replaced it with fresh rice and nuts. Tai Shuhong said to Xiaoxiao, "Do you want to eat?"
Xiaoxiao nodded hurriedly: "Chirp." This guy used to curse people, but not long after, he became friends with Tai Shuhong.
Tai Shuhong smiled and put Xiaoxiao on the stone trough: "Eat it." The servants looked as if they had seen a ghost when they saw Tai Shuhong's smile, but Du Heng didn't think there was anything wrong. Tai Shuhong was such a good-looking man, he looked even better when he smiled.
Du Heng casually asked, "Where are the bird food that was replaced?" Tai Shuhong said, "Give it to the servants. Do you need it?"
Du Heng nodded his head in the same way as Xiao Xiao. Yes, why not. There are so many nuts and rice. We can go back and wash them and cook porridge directly.
Tai Shuhong said to Du Heng in a serious tone, "I'll have someone deliver food to Xiaoxiao every day, okay? Just let me go see him, okay?"
Du Heng smiled and said, "You don't have to send food. You can come and see us anytime you want. Our Xiaoxiao likes new friends the most."
Xiaoxiao, with a mouth full of nuts, raised her head and made a choked chirping sound, which was considered as her acceptance of Tai Shuhong's identity as a new friend.
Tai Shuhong gave a shy smile: "That's good."
Xiaoxiao was quacking in the stone trough. Not only was he quacking, he was also openly stuffing things into his storage bag. Du Heng knew what he was doing at a glance. Xiaoxiao was bringing snacks back to Nian Nian Sui Sui and the others.
Tai Shuhong said to Du Heng, "Let Xiaoxiao eat here. I'll take you in to get food."
This time it was Du Heng's turn to be surprised: "Hey? Didn't you already give it to me?" The nuts and magical rice in the stone trough were enough for Du Heng to cook a lot of meals.
Tai Shuhong said calmly: "Those are snacks for the Feathered Tribe. Not all birds eat nuts and spiritual rice. Most birds and spiritual beasts eat meat."
Du Heng followed Tai Shuhong into the palace. As soon as he entered the palace, he heard the barking of dogs and the roaring of tigers. The sounds were very close, but when Du Heng looked around, he only saw the magnificent palace. Not to mention the tigers, he didn't even see a single tiger hair.
Tai Shuhong suddenly stopped and said, "Wait a moment." Du Heng only felt a gust of wind passing in front of him, and he didn't know when Tai Shuhong had grasped a golden sword in his hand. The sword seemed to have cut through something, and the magnificent palace in front of Du Heng twisted like a phantom and disappeared.
What appeared before his eyes was a vast forest, and the wood spirit was coming towards him, and Du Heng felt comfortable in every pore. However, before he could take a few more breaths, an eight-foot-long tiger jumped out of the forest.
The tiger roared and rushed towards Du Heng, and Tai Shuhong stood in front of Du Heng. A strong sword energy swept out, and the giant tiger that flew into the air fell to the ground, with its ears pressed against its scalp.
Tai Shuhong said: "Step aside, this is a guest."
The giant tiger swung its tail and looked at Du Heng angrily, then retreated to the side. The huge tiger was as well-behaved as a kitten.
Du Heng couldn't help but applaud Tai Shuhong: "How amazing!"
Tai Shuhong's cheeks were slightly red, and he said implicitly: "It's okay. Come with me."
259
After walking along the path in the forest for a while, he saw the same stone trough under the big tree, but this time the trough was several times larger, and what was piled inside was not nuts, but various animals!
Among them were young chickens with hair, whole pigs, sheep and cattle that had been stabbed in the neck and bled. It is worth mentioning that these pigs, sheep and cattle were all domesticated, which Du Heng was familiar with, and not the mountain maggots and Kui cattle he had eaten before.
Tai Shuhong said to Du Heng: "These are the ingredients that were just replaced this morning. You can take half of them."
Du Heng laughed and said, "How can I use half of it? I will be very grateful if you can give me a pig."
Tai Shuhong looked at Du Heng seriously and said, "It would be a waste if we don't take them away. Most of them were left yesterday. Meat is not like nuts. If you don't finish them, they will go bad. Instead of wasting them here, why don't you take them and make something for Xiaoxiao to eat."
Du Heng shamelessly went up to drag two pigs, three sheep and a cow. He thought his canteen would not have to worry about food for the next two days. He only regretted that the food storage room in Shenxu Palace did not have a time-stopping function like his refrigerator, otherwise he could have dragged more back.
Du Heng held Tai Shuhong's hand and expressed gratitude: "Uncle Tai, you are so kind. Can I invite you to have lunch in the dining hall at noon?"
Tai Shuhong's face was slightly flushed, and the man who looked like a banished immortal was so shy that he stuttered: "Can we go in the evening? I have something to do at noon."
Du Heng gave a thumbs up and said, "You must come in the evening. I will ask Xiaoxiao to pick you up then."
Hearing that Xiaoxiao was coming to pick him up, Tai Shuhong smiled even more: "I can go by myself, don't let Xiaoxiao come, it will be very dangerous."
Time was urgent, so Du Heng had to go back to make lunch. Tai Shuhong sent Du Heng and the others to the corridor, and he said, "After the corridor is Shenxiu Peak, you can go down to the second dining hall. I will leave ingredients for you in the morning, just remember to come and get them."
Du Heng nodded repeatedly: "I remember. Come to dinner tonight!"
The two sides of the corridor were surrounded by clouds and fog. The legs of the timid people would tremble if they looked down. Du Heng was sighing that the people who built the corridor were so amazing that they could even build such a thing!
After walking for a while, he turned around and looked behind him, only to see Tai Shuhong still standing there, looking at the backs of Du Heng and the others. Du Heng waved at him, and Tai Shuhong turned around and left.
Du Heng said to Xiaoxiao, "He must be very lonely." For some reason, after seeing Tai Shuhong, Du Heng felt that he was very lonely.
Xiaoxiao burped with a nutty taste: "Chirp." He would no longer be lonely. Xiaoxiao decided that when he has time in the future he would come to the Beast Garden more often to accompany Tai Shuhong. Just for the delicious food Tai Shuhong gave him, this deal was a good deal!
There was actually a pavilion in the middle of the corridor! There were actually two people in the pavilion. Du Heng looked closely and found that one of them was an acquaintance.
He was happy: "Jiang Shangzhou! I got the ingredients!"
Jiang Shangzhou was leaning against the pillar of the pavilion, and next to him sat an old man with white hair and a youthful face. Seeing the old man, Du Heng bowed respectfully and said, "Hello, Sword Immortal."
Jiang Shangzhou was unhappy: "Why do you call him Sword Immortal when you see him, but call me by my real name when you see me? You are treating me differently." Du Heng glared at Jiang Shangzhou. How could a teenager like him have the nerve to compare himself with the old Sword Immortal?
Look at this old sword master, with a faint sword energy lingering around him. This is the appearance of a master who has reached a certain level of cultivation.
The old swordsman stroked his white beard with a smile. He looked Du Heng up and down and said, "You are the little Du that Yizhou mentioned, right? Well, you are a good person. Are you from Shenzao Peak?"
Du Heng smiled and said, "Yes." Du Heng looked at Jiang Shangzhou with a smile. It turned out that Jiang Shangzhou had such a cute nickname?
The old swordsman nodded with a smile: "Okay." He stood up and said to Jiang Shangzhou: "I won't say more to you, you can do it yourself."
Jiang Shangzhou rolled his eyes: "Got it."
The old swordsman said to Du Heng with a smile: "Come to Shenzao Peak when you have time." Du Heng nodded: "Okay."
The swordsman disappeared into the pavilion. Jiang Shangzhou snorted, "He's just putting on airs. Du Heng, ignore him. By the way, did you get the ingredients?"
Du Heng walked towards Shenxiu Peak: "Hehehe, I don't have to worry about food these days. I met a very good monk in the Beast Garden, and he will save meat for me in the future. I also picked up a lot of chicken heads and stalks today. After I finish eating the stalks, my dishes will be served."
When Du Heng was planning to send a pig to Chef Zhu of the Second Dining Hall, he heard Jiang Shangzhou's voice: "Did you meet Tai Shuhong?"
Du Heng nodded: "Yeah, you know him too?"
Jiang Shangzhou said, "Yes, there are very few people in the entire Shenxu Palace who don't know him. That guy is a demon cultivator." Du Heng thought of Tai Shuhong's silver hair and said, "Ah, so that's it."
Jiang Shangzhou said: "In any case, stay away from him. Tai Shuhong is very dangerous."
Du Heng disagreed: "How dangerous is it?" Jiang Shangzhou asked: "Do you know Phoenix?"
Du Heng and Xiao Xiao turned around and looked at Jiang Shangzhou at the same time: "Ah? Tai Shuhong is a phoenix?" Jiang Shangzhou said: "He is a demon cultivator who can be compared with the phoenix. I think if he goes to the demon world, he will be the demon god of the feather tribe."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xiaoxiao kicked Jiang Shangzhou in the face: "Chiu!"
Bullshit, the most powerful bird in the world is his uncle! No objection accepted!
Jiang Shangzhou had a red bamboo leaf-shaped footprint on his face. He followed the two men awkwardly: "Hey? Why are you kicking people like a bird? Wait for me... No one believes the truth these days."
Du Heng finally had the chance to show off his skills. When he arrived at the dining hall, he began to prepare the ingredients. Time was limited, so he was not good at disemboweling chickens, so he cleaned up a few chickens, then peeled off the pig and cow skins and took out the meat from the legs. He would slowly clean up the remaining ingredients in the afternoon when he had time.
Today's meat dishes include braised lion's head, braised chicken nuggets, boiled beef and stir-fried chicken head and chicken stalks. Of course, a soup is indispensable. Today's soup is radish and pork ribs soup.
Thanks to Tai Shuhong, everyone will have spare ribs in their bowl today!
Du Heng worked hard, frying meatballs and chopping chicken, filling six large pots. He no longer wanted to apologize to the diners that he had no ingredients!
Jiang Shangzhou moved a small stool and sat down with a wronged look on his face: "I actually have to help you deal with the vegetable stems that others don't want..."
The stems of the radish are covered with thorns, which prick people like the thorns on the shell of a chestnut. However, if you tear off the dense thorns, you can reveal the tender meat inside. It is worth mentioning that after tearing off the outer skin of some stems, the meat inside is bluish-white, while some are light pink.
Jiang Shangzhou complained, but he worked quickly. After a while, he processed a bunch of stalks, enough for stir-frying at noon. However, he couldn't stop, because Du Heng wanted to make kimchi with the extra stalks.
Du Heng said regretfully: "It would be great if Shenxu Palace had a formation that could stop time. We could embed it in the room and the food put in it would never go bad." Just like his refrigerator, how practical.
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Shangzhou said, "What are you thinking? Only demon cultivators know the magic that can stop time. Only demon cultivators can practice this kind of magic that defies the heavens."
Du Heng was puzzled: "Why?" He originally thought that formations that could stop time were very common.
Jiang Shangzhou said, "It's because of the different toughness of the flesh. Demon cultivators are much stronger than human cultivators in cultivation. Ordinary demon cultivators have a cultivation level above the Golden Core after they transform, not to mention those demon cultivators with noble bloodlines. What about human cultivators? They have to overcome tribulations one by one, starting from refining equipment and building a foundation. Demon cultivators have demon cores in their bodies. They know the techniques that human cultivators know, and they also know things that human cultivators can't. Although they don't want to admit it, demon cultivators are really favored by the way of heaven."
Du Heng was frying meatballs, the golden meatballs piled up in the wooden basin. Xiao Xiao was pestering Du Heng to fry small meatballs again, saying that small meatballs were good and could be eaten right after they were fried.
Du Heng fried a large bowl of small meatballs. The golden meatballs were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and they made your tongue almost swallow them. Jiang Shangzhou was still explaining the differences between demon cultivators and human cultivators, and Du Heng had already handed him a small bowl of meatballs: "Want to eat?"
Eat! Anyone who doesn't eat is a fool! Jiang Shangzhou immediately stopped his bitter words and reached out to pinch a fried meatball into his mouth.
After eating just one meatball, Jiang Shangzhou's eyes were full of stars: "What kind of delicacy is this?! Isn't this too good?!"
Du Heng continued frying meatballs with a smile: "These are the meatballs that Xiaoxiao likes."
Jiang Shangzhou said: "Give me a few more pills, and I'll help you promote it."
Du Heng smiled and put a dozen meatballs in Jiang Shangzhou's bowl: "If you want to eat it, just say it directly, don't beat around the bush." He was still promoting it, but in the end, didn't it just go into his stomach?
Jiang Shangzhou stood up, holding the bowl and ran out: "I'll help you promote it!"
Du Heng looked at the unprocessed chicken head bubble stems on the ground and said speechlessly: "Actually... he just doesn't want to deal with the chicken head bubble stems, right?"
After the meatballs were fried and cooked in the pot, Du Heng finally had some free time. He sat on a small stool and continued to process the chicken head and soaked the stems. From time to time, he would look up at the stove in front of him.
From left to right, the pots were cooking rice, braised beef tendon, stewed lion's head, braised chicken, and carrot and pork rib soup. The last pot was empty, waiting for the meat and vegetables to be processed so that he could stir-fry some chicken head and soaked chicken stalks.
Du Heng was full of confidence. He prepared a lot of food today, enough for 60 people! He would definitely satisfy the monks in the training ground at noon today! And he had enough ingredients for dinner. Thinking of this, Du Heng felt relieved, and the feeling of frustration in the past two days disappeared.
Du Heng put the processed chicken head soaked stems in a basket on the side. He touched the heads of wonton and glutinous rice cake and said: "People, their potential is forced out."
I was still worrying about the ingredients in the morning, but now I can already smell the delicious food. If it weren't for Wang Guanshi's pressure, Du Heng would still be circling around those side dishes at noon. What is this called? This is called losing something in one place but gaining something in another!
Xiaoxiao was eating meatballs with a slurping sound. He chirped at Du Heng twice and patted his storage bag. Du Heng knew that Xiaoxiao wanted to tell him that his snacks were running out.
Du Heng smiled and said, "Can I make you some nut crisps when I'm free this afternoon?" Tai Shuhong gave him a lot of nuts and spiritual rice. Du Heng picked out seven or eight kinds of nuts, which were just right for making some snacks for Xiaoxiao.
Just as Du Heng was thinking about the nut cake, he heard Ding Lu's voice: "Is Du Heng here? I'll give you three errand boys, take care of them."
Du Heng put the chicken head and the stems on the ground, and he stood up from the kitchen. His eyes fell on the back of the serving table, and Ding Lu sniffed: "What delicious food are you making? It smells so good."
Du Heng froze as if struck by lightning. He looked behind Ding Lu in disbelief. Aren't those three people standing against the light Xiaoyu and the others? Yes, they were Xiaoyu and the others with smiling eyes!
Ding Lu said: "Don't stand in the kitchen anymore, come out and lead the people, these three servants..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Du Heng stepped over the kitchen counter. He jumped over the serving table and rushed behind Ding Lu in three or two steps.
Ding Lu was startled: "Ouch." How could Du Heng be so fierce? He almost knocked him away.
Du Heng rushed to the arms of the person standing in the middle: "Xiao Yu!"
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