Gourmet of Another World

While Bu Fang was watching the thundercloud, the plate of aromatic spicy and sour shredded potatoes had been finished off.

The master chef and Liu Mu took turns to scoop out spoonfuls of potatoes, enjoying the dish happily. They were intoxicated. They never thought that an ordinary dish could be so delicious and that a dish they had eaten so many times would touch them so deeply. Were the spicy and sour shredded potatoes they used to eat all fake?

When Liu Mu picked up the last slice of potato and threw it into his mouth, the plate of spicy and sour shredded potatoes was finished.

“Good… It’s so good!”

Liu Mu smacked his lips and looked at Bu Fang in surprise. ‘Is this the Bu Fang whose cooking skills are on the same level as mine? Could it be that he was improving his cooking skills when hiding in his little rented room over the last few days?’ he thought to himself. ‘But… How could he have improved so much in such a short time?’

Good cooking skills came from the accumulation of learning and practice over a long time, and every world-class chef had devoted decades to one particular craft. And yet, Bu Fang had become too good!

The master chef wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. The look in his eyes was somewhat complex. Just now, he was asking Bu Fang not to slack off, but now the latter had exhibited cooking skills that put him to shame.

Was this the Bu Fang he knew? He had been thinking highly of Bu Fang because when compared with Liu Mu, Bu Fang was more passionate about cooking, but he never expected that the passion would turn into cooking skills so quickly.

“Are you starting to be enlightened? Or did you get some secret cookbooks?” the master chef smiled and said jokingly. He no longer looked at Bu Fang as a junior. With just the spicy and sour shredded potatoes, Bu Fang could already finish his apprenticeship.

“From today on, you can cook on your own…”

Bu Fang nodded and did not think too much of that. His cooking skills were already beyond the master chef’s imagination. Both his understanding of cooking and his focus were not something that the average person could comprehend.

What concerned him now was who was restricting him. He had just cooked a serving of shredded potatoes, and yet he was warned with lightning punishment.

‘Could it be that…’ Bu Fang narrowed his eyes slightly. After bidding farewell to the master chef, he left the kitchen and came to the rooftop of the old building across the street.

As he stood there with the breeze blowing at him, he looked up and stared at the vast sky. It was cloudless. The thundercloud left as fast as it had come. Down below was the busy street, and around him, tall buildings rose toward the sky. The air of a modern city was filling his lungs.

Bu Fang was in a slight trance, but he quickly recollected his composure. Narrowing his eyes, he bent his knees. A terrible force exploded out from his legs as they straightened. In the blink of an eye, he shot into the sky like a rocket, rushing into the clouds with a sonic boom.

The wind was messing his hair, but Bu Fang did not mind. He wanted to see what was restricting him. Was it the Will of the Great Path, or perhaps some mysterious beings?

He had created quite a noise, and the old building shook when he kicked it to shoot up into the sky. Many people inside thought an earthquake had struck and ran out to the street, while others cursed loudly to vent their anger.

Before long, Bu Fang had rushed into the clouds. A strong wind was blowing at him, and a heavy pressure fell on his shoulders. He had almost broken through the restriction, but he could feel that once he did that, the Earth would be destroyed. The strange feeling made him hesitate, and eventually, he gave up.

When he rushed out of the atmospheric layer, his clothes were already torn. With the momentum, he stood in the starry sky for a while and glanced around. His eyes shone brightly as he stared straight into the cosmos, looking at the distant stars and the vast expanse of space, trying to find the mysterious force…

Unfortunately, everything appeared to be peaceful and calm. Bu Fang frowned. He could not find anything unusual. Then, the pressure on him made him fall back to Earth.

His ears were filled with the whistling of the wind as he plunged like a meteor at great speed. Some satellites hovering around captured the scene, and it immediately panicked many people.

“What is that? A meteorite? But why is the meteorite shaped like a man?”

…

Bu Fang landed on the ground with a boom, and wisps of white smoke could be seen rising from his body. His control of the force was perfect, as he did not cause the ground to break even though he had fallen from such a great height.

Whatever Earth’s secrets might be, Bu Fang felt it was imperative that he find the Artifact Spirits and return them to the God of Cooking Sets. Only in this way could he embark on the path of becoming the perfect God of Cooking.

Another rain of spiritual energy began to fall. The icy cold rainwater patted on Bu Fang’s face, freshening him. There was definitely something strange about this rain, but Bu Fang could not tell where this strangeness came from at the moment.

He returned to the rented room, changed into a new set of clothes, and went to the restaurant. It was lunch hour, but the restaurant’s business was quiet as usual. It did not reflect the master chef’s cooking skills.

The master chef sat in a chair, making tea and reading a book, while Liu Mu was playing with his phone in a corner. They were used to being without customers. If this were to go on, it would not take long for the restaurant to close down.

“Oh, you’re back?” The master chef smiled when he saw Bu Fang. “Let’s eat, then. I had thought of asking you to cook us a meal.”

Liu Mu put away his phone. He was already very hungry. However, just as they were about to eat, a footstep came through the door.

Bu Fang’s expression remained unchanged as he picked up some vegetables with his chopsticks, while Liu Mu went up excitedly to greet the customer at the master chef’s instruction.

“Welcome! What do you like to eat? We serve dishes from all eight major cuisines… The chef in our restaurant can cook any dish!” Liu Mu said with a smile, his face beaming with energy.

The customer walked straight into the restaurant and sat down on a chair. He was wet all over, and when the rainwater evaporated, wisps of spiritual energy rose from him. There was something strange about him…

Liu Mu stopped smiling. At this moment, he thought of the rumors about people with strange power and ghosts that were going viral lately. His face grew dark slightly.

“Your chef can cook any dish?” The customer’s head was bowed as he chuckled. His voice was a little cold. Suddenly, he reached out a hand, pulled down the zipper of his vest, and took out a carp that was still twitching and spitting bubbles.

“Make a dish with this fish…”

“We… This restaurant does not accept ingredients brought by customers,” Liu Mu said with an unsightly face.

“When I ask you to cook it, you will do as I said… Don’t give me all that bullshit! If you failed to cook it well…you will all die with the fish!” the customer said, his head still bowed. As he was talking, rainwater dripped from his vest and fell on the floor, filling the air with an eerie sound.

“I… I…” Liu Mu’s head was blank. ‘What did this guy just say? If we fail to cook it well… we will all die with the fish? He must be joking, isn’t he?’

“Go now!” the man snapped, his voice seemingly capable of stunning one’s soul.

Liu Mu shuddered. With a splash, the fat carp flew into his hands. The slippery and cold touch made his face turn white with fear. He was in a dilemma now, not knowing whether he should take the fish or not.

“This fish… I’ll cook it.” The master chef put down his bowl and chopsticks and stood up, frowning. The restaurant finally had its first customer of the day, but it was one who came with his own ingredient… It seemed that the restaurant was really well on the way to closing down.

He came to Liu Mu’s side, reached out a hand, and caught the fish.

“Oh, this is a fat fish… How do you like me to cook it? Fish Head Tofu Soup?” The master chef smiled. There was a flash of surprise in his eyes as he pinched the carp. He had never seen a fish so fat, not to mention that it was still so lively after leaving the water for so long.

“You decide… Cook it well, and you’ll be rewarded. Otherwise, you will die with the fish.” The man’s head was still bowed.

Bu Fang picked up a slice of meat, ate it, then glanced at the customer.

The man seemed to sense the gaze. Slowly, he raised his head. Droplets of water fell from his wet, tangled hair. He had a pale, bloodless face, and his eyes seemed to glow with a ghostly green gleam.

Bu Fang looked at the man, then at the fat fish in the master chef’s hand. At the moment, the chef was walking toward the kitchen with the fish. He was very confident in his cooking. In fact, he itched to cook the fish as soon as he saw it.

Liu Mu was a little afraid when he saw the master chef enter the kitchen, so he shrank back to Bu Fang’s side. For some reason, he found that he felt safe when staying beside Bu Fang. He pulled out his smartphone, opened the browser, and started to search for something…

While he was searching, Bu Fang rose to his feet, turned, and stepped into the kitchen. He felt something strange in that fish.

“The strange event of the city of Jiangdong: The Luming Restaurant at Peace Road found all its chefs, including its master chef and apprentice chefs, dead!”

“The owner of Baiyu Restaurant at Tianxin Street is missing, while the chefs all died in a tragic yet bizarre way…”

“Bizarre events plaguing chefs? Strange fish scales were found in the restaurant where chefs died tragically…”

Liu Mu’s face turned pale. As he read the news, his heart began to beat faster and faster. He knew Luming Restaurant. It was a very popular restaurant on Peace Road. He was familiar with the Baiyu Restaurant as well… Although the latter’s business was not as good as the first one, it was not bad either.

However, the chefs in both restaurants were dead, and… many fish scales were found? Fish scales?

Liu Mu’s lips were shivering. He suddenly felt his hands slimy and disgusting, so he quickly wiped them on his clothes. He looked up, wanting to tell Bu Fang the news. Now, only Bu Fang with his unflinching face could make him feel safe.

But Bu Fang was nowhere to be found when he raised his head. The restaurant was very quiet. The only sound was the sound of his own breathing and the sound of rainwater dripping from the customer’s vest to the floor.

‘Dammit… How could you leave me alone here?!’ Liu Mu wanted to weep. Grabbing his phone, he was about to get up and run into the kitchen as fast as he could when a pale hand came resting on his shoulder.

Liu Mu stammered, “I…”

“Be quiet… You’re very noisy.”

A hoarse voice rang out. Shaking violently, Liu Mu jerked his head and looked to his side. He immediately saw a pale face, a pair of ghostly green eyes, and wet hair that tangled together, dripping with water. At this moment, the green eyes were staring at him from less than an inch away…

…

In the kitchen, the master chef put the fish in a basket. He was good at cooking fish dishes. At first, he thought of making Fish Head Tofu Soup, but then he realized that the dish did not need the whole fish. Fearing that the customer would accuse him of wasting the fish, he changed his mind.

He decided to cook Boiled Fish, which was one of his best dishes.

Instead of processing the fish, he went ahead to prepare the other ingredients. From a large fridge, he took out cucumbers, bean sprouts, black fungus, and some other things. Then, he chopped them and set them aside on a plate for later use. After that, he began to prepare the Boiled Fish’s soup, which was the most crucial part of the dish.

When Bu Fang walked into the kitchen, the master chef had already begun to process the fish. Holding a sharp knife in one hand, he grabbed it out of the basket to remove its scales.

Bu Fang stood at the kitchen’s entrance and watched with an indifferent face.

The master chef was methodical in his movements. He scraped away the fish scales, which flew in all directions and made a faint noise as they fell to the floor. After the scales, he removed the bones, sliced the fish, and sent them into the wok for a hot oil bath.

Sizzle…

A spoonful of hot oil was poured into a stainless steel basin. The shredded cucumbers and black fungus could be vaguely seen in it, and after sprinkling in some chopped scallions, the Boiled Fish was ready to serve.

Carrying the basin, the master chef turned around and saw Bu Fang. That gave him pause.

“Hey, Bu Fang. Why are you here? I’ll bring this to the customer. Help me clean up the kitchen,” he said, smiling. After that, he walked past Bu Fang and left the kitchen.

Bu Fang turned his head and glanced at the Boiled Fish in the stainless steel basin. His eyebrow arched a little. Then, he walked up to the stove.

The floor was littered with fish scales, while fish bones scattered the stove.

Bu Fang took a deep breath, reached a hand into the basket, and… pulled out a lively fat fish. It was the same fat carp the strange customer had brought. At this moment, the fish was grinning at him.