Chapter 22: He and the "Ji Fuguang" in the book...
Breakfast?
Sheng Zhiyi was momentarily stunned, then suddenly realized that this was a perfect opportunity to complete the mission.
Why wait until noon to eat? Wouldn't it be faster to eat in the morning?
She quickly replied, "I haven't used it before, I haven't used it before. Senior brother, how about you have breakfast with me?"
Before Ji Fuguang could refuse, she quickly walked to the stone table next to her and took out several plates of prepared dishes from her storage bag and placed them on it.
Learning from her previous experience of the pastries crumbling into crumbs, she carefully positioned the dish this time and applied a simple heat-preserving spell, so the dish is still warm and fragrant.
After setting out the bowls and chopsticks, Sheng Zhiyi warmly invited Ji Fuguang over.
The two sat facing each other on either side of the stone table. The early cherry blossom branches beside them were slender and graceful. According to Ji Fuguang, this early cherry blossom tree was unique and had not changed for thousands of years.
A mountain breeze swept by, bringing wisps of cool mist. A few pear blossoms drifted down, their subtle fragrance lingering in the air.
Spring is not yet over, but the willows are already green.
This scene is like a meticulous yet freehand painting, exquisite and elegant.
Ji Fuguang gently picked up the jade chopsticks, lowered his eyelids, glanced at the dishes on the table, and said with a smile:
"Junior Sister's cooking is really..." He paused for a moment, "...quite creative."
The table was covered with a layer of chili peppers: spicy shredded chicken, boiled fish...
It was bright red and hot, with a salty, fragrant, and spicy aroma; it looked perfectly fine.
There's only one thing—it's not suitable to eat in the morning.
In the rich, spicy flavor, any poetic sentiment has long since vanished without a trace.
Sheng Zhiyi smiled and said, "Senior brother, eat more."
She thought to herself with satisfaction, "Ji Fuguang, just eat." She ate without making a sound.
In the original book, Ji Fuguang appears to be a bright and upright person, but he is quite good at eating spicy food and can be described as someone who can't live without it.
Therefore, her choice to cook these dishes can be described as catering to his preferences.
Fearing that Ji Fuguang might be too embarrassed to start eating, Sheng Zhiyi turned the plate around and placed several very spicy dishes in front of him.
"If my senior brother enjoys the food, then all this work wasn't in vain."
"In that case, thank you very much, junior sister."
Ji Fuguang moved his chopsticks, picked up a little fish and put it in his mouth. After chewing, he slowly swallowed it. His movements were elegant and composed, which was perfect.
He can be so restrained even when faced with his favorite food; he truly deserves to be called the male lead.
Seeing that he finally started eating, Sheng Zhiyi also lowered her head and began to eat.
She couldn't handle spicy food as well as Ji Fuguang, so she also made a less spicy dish, shredded pork with garlic sauce.
For a moment, the aroma of food filled the air atop Shuanghua Mountain, and a sense of cooking filled the air.
After finishing her meal, Sheng Zhiyi put down her chopsticks and comfortably patted her stomach.
More than half of the dishes on the stone table were still left, except for the shredded pork with garlic sauce, which was almost empty.
Ji Fuguang had already finished eating; he was just sitting there occasionally picking at some food to eat with Sheng Zhiyi.
Seeing that Sheng Zhiyi had finished eating, he also put down his chopsticks.
Seeing this, Sheng Zhiyi quickly stood up to prepare to clear the dishes, saying, "Senior brother, don't get up, I can do it."
She made a cleaning gesture with her hands and washed the dishes and chopsticks clean.
While tidying up, he said, "Senior brother, the food was alright this time, wasn't it? I'll cook for you again next time. What dishes do you like? Spicy chicken cubes? Mao Xue Wang (a spicy Sichuan dish)?"
Upon hearing the notification sound indicating that the task was completed, Sheng Zhiyi was in high spirits. She rattled off more than a dozen dish names, all of which were heavily oiled and spicy.
After talking for a while, she belatedly realized that Ji Fuguang had no reaction at all, so she looked up at him.
Ji Fuguang looked at her with a strange expression and spoke softly.
"Why would my junior sister think... I like spicy food?"
? ? ?
Sheng Zhiyi stared at Ji Fuguang in bewilderment and shock, her hand halfway through forming a magic seal before stopping.
Does Ji Fuguang not like spicy food?
By the way, he didn't eat much of the food placed in front of him earlier; instead, he went to the trouble of picking up more shredded pork with garlic sauce.
Ji Fuguang doesn't like spicy food; he prefers sweet flavors!
Suddenly, a strange feeling ran through Sheng Zhiyi's entire body.
She suddenly realized a fact that should have been discovered long ago.
Ji Fuguang is a living, breathing person.
This sounds a bit funny. Ji Fuguang can frown, smile, and talk; he looks like a human being no matter what.
However, it seems that Sheng Zhiyi never considered Ji Fuguang as a human being before.
He is a description in the book, a piece of paper, an idealized projection that ordinary people cannot achieve.
But he was not alone.
Seeing her dazed, Ji Fuguang smiled and said, "Why are you so surprised? It's not that I can't eat spicy food. The dishes that Junior Sister made today tasted quite good."
He comforted her for a few moments, told her to continue practicing swordsmanship, and agreed to teach her spiritual energy cultivation techniques the next day. Then he flew towards the library on his sword.
Sheng Zhiyi remained alone on Shuanghua Peak. She looked around as if she were seeing the place for the first time.
At the summit of the mountain stands a secluded courtyard, lush with flowers and trees, where a hot spring seems to be hidden.
Outside the courtyard was a cold pool, its water chilling to the bone, and a layer of cool mist hung over it all year round.
I don't know where the pear blossoms are planted, but occasionally a gentle breeze blows by, bringing a few petals with a faint fragrance.
Perhaps the pear blossom scent on Ji Fuguang's body was absorbed from this place.
Ji Fuguang is not just a few lines of text in a book; he is a living, breathing person, and this is the place where he lived.
The fragments about Ji Fuguang from other people's accounts were pieced together by Sheng Zhiyi bit by bit.
Born into the mortal realm as a lowly servant, he was initially quite unremarkable before unexpectedly awakening his lightning spiritual root. He first entered the outer sect, then the inner sect, and finally became the sect leader's disciple.
Previously, these were just settings in the book, but now I suddenly feel that Ji Fuguang must have had many hardships along the way.
He wasn't a perfect gentleman; he could be sarcastic, stubborn, lightly tease, and also pretend not to know, deliberately playing pranks.
He doesn't like spicy food, but he likes sweet food.
He is not the "Ji Fuguang" in the book; he is simply himself.
Realizing he had made a fool of himself by cooking such spicy food, Ji Fuguang barely ate anything, only taking a few bites with his chopsticks.
Sheng Zhiyi frowned. No, she had to make sure Ji Fuguang ate something he liked again!
Ji Fuguang liked sweet things, so she went down the mountain and went to Qiyun City, where there was a place that served excellent buttered snails.
She had heard others say that this pastry was complicated to make but tasted excellent, and that it would definitely suit Ji Fuguang's taste.
After quickly finishing practicing her sword moves, Sheng Zhiyi rode her sword down the mountain.
Qiyun City is dozens of miles away from Tianyan Mountain, making it the closest city to Tianyan Mountain.
Sheng Zhiyi stood at the city gate and looked up.
The towering bluestone city wall has a plaque on it with the three large characters "Qiyun City" written in a vigorous and powerful style.
The streets were bustling with people, shoulder to shoulder, and occasionally a cultivator would fly by on a sword.
This shows how bustling and lively the place is.
This was Sheng Zhiyi's first time coming down the mountain, and she couldn't help but feel a little curious as she slowly walked into the city and looked around.
The long street was wide enough for two horse-drawn carriages to pass side by side. The buildings on both sides were covered with fish-scale tiles, cypress beams, and paved with blue bricks, the joints between the bricks being straight, tight, and clearly visible.
The pedestrians on the street were neatly dressed, many wearing fine silks and satins, and their expressions were relaxed and content.
There were many vendors setting up stalls along the street and calling out their wares, and many shops had their doors wide open, attracting customers.
Sheng Zhiyi noticed that many shops placed a table next to their doors with a huge teapot on it and clean teacups stacked on the table for passersby to fetch water to drink.
It is indeed a place with simple and honest folk customs, where people can live out their old age in peace.
There was a stall on the street displaying hairpins and jewelry, and Sheng Zhiyi went over to take a look.
On the pristine white linen, the handmade headdresses are novel and unique in style.
Seeing her interest, the female merchant dressed in plain clothes immediately picked up a hairpin and said:
"Master, look at this hairpin. It is made from pearls produced in the North Sea. It is round and translucent with a slight purple sheen, giving it a naturally noble appearance."
She glanced at Sheng Zhiyi's face and said:
"A silver chain and pink jade beads hang below, lively and charming, which would suit you well."
Sheng Zhiyi picked up the hairpin and examined it closely. It was indeed exceptionally exquisite, with large and thick pearls that did not look old-fashioned at all.
In the past, she would have bought it.
But when she came down the mountain, she had already made up her mind that this trip to Qiyun City was specifically for Ji Fuguang, and she would deal with other things after she had bought them for Ji Fuguang.
Therefore, she smiled apologetically at the woman and said, "No need for now, I'm just taking a look."
The woman seemed to have a very good temper, and she smiled and said, "Please feel free to look around, Immortal Master. If you find anything you like, please feel free to play with it. It is my honor that you would patronize my stall."
Sheng Zhiyi was looking down when she suddenly heard a voice beside her.
"Are these pearls from the North Sea?"
She turned her head slightly and saw a wealthy businessman in his thirties or forties, dressed in a silk robe and looking somewhat prosperous. He must have overheard their conversation and that's why he spoke up.
The woman smiled and nodded, "That's right, these pearls were all purchased before the Lunar New Year, and they are North Sea pearls."
“I have a piece of advice for you,” the wealthy merchant said, gesturing to the headdresses on her stall. “You should put these things away for now. The price of North Sea pearls is about to rise.”
The woman looked puzzled, and Sheng Zhiyi, who was listening nearby, also found it strange.
The wealthy merchant said, "The news hasn't come over yet. I just came from Beihai and only just found out about this."
He paused, then said, "The area near the North Sea has been attacked by demons! Dozens of fishing villages around here that rely on pearl harvesting for a living have been ravaged by blood, with not a single survivor!"
"What?" Both the woman and Sheng Zhiyi were startled.
The wealthy merchant glanced at Sheng Zhiyi and nodded slightly, "I'm sure the Immortal Master will soon know the news. News travels fastest in the immortal sects."
He was afraid that saying these things in front of the cultivators would seem like showing off, so he deliberately flattered Sheng Zhiyi.
Sheng Zhiyi didn't care about that and anxiously asked, "What happened?"
The wealthy merchant said, “I have made many friends while trading near Beihai. One of them was an outer disciple of a certain sect in his early years and had some knowledge of cultivation. However, his cultivation did not improve for a long time, so he left the sect and started a business selling pearls.”
He said that he went to one of the fishing villages to buy pearls that night. On a whim, he stayed overnight on a fishing boat and listened to the waves. In the middle of the night, he was suddenly awakened by a noisy sound and got up to check.
"The entire coastline was engulfed in flames, which burned into the sky, turning the dead of night into day, as if they were burning the very heavens! Amidst the flames, screams of agony echoed from the elderly, women, and children, a sound too painful to bear."
"He was both surprised and furious. Relying on his cultivation level, he drew his long sword and approached in his fishing boat."
"But then they saw a group of people, surrounded by black mist and dripping with blood, laughing loudly at the fishermen struggling in the fire."
"Fishermen rushed over with tridents used for spearing fish. They kicked the man to the ground and stepped on his chest. His bones couldn't bear the weight and made a cracking sound. The fisherman's eyes bulged bloodshot, and finally, with a muffled thud, he died like a ripe fruit."
"His heart was literally crushed!"
The female vendor frowned, unable to bear hearing such bloody and brutal things.
The wealthy merchant shook his head, clearly deeply distressed. "My friend was discovered by the demons and barely escaped with his life. He told us about it and advised us to stay as far away from the North Sea as possible."
The woman said incredulously, "How could the demons suddenly appear? I've never heard of them before!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
