Chapter 73: Rawr! Behold My Hungry Dragon’s Roar
Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Rawr! Behold My Hungry Dragon’s Roar
This was the last night they would spend in the Secret Realm.
The bonfire was burning, and sparks crackled and popped.
Building a fire in this environment just made things even hotter. But Qin Zhan and the others endured the feeling of nearly melting just for a taste of grilled fish.
Qin Zhan still remembered how Uncle Li had won them over with a single grilled fish meal, turning him and Lou Xiaotian into Boss Lu’s tools.
He still savored the memory of that crispy, fragrant, and tender grilled fish.
And now, with fish grilling over the bonfire, Qin Zhan had eyes for nothing else.
"Brush it with oil. More oil."
"Sprinkle the seasoning. I want cumin, add extra cumin."
"Quick, quick, quick! It needs to be flipped! This side is getting overcooked."
Qin Zhan barked a constant stream of orders at Jiang Yunhe. They had been eating food provided by Lu Wu this whole time, so they wanted to do something for her in return.
They would be the ones handling the grilled fish tonight.
Of course, the marinade for the fish and the blend of grilling spices had all been prepared by Lu Wu herself.
Even though all the prep work was done, Qin Zhan was still anxious. He hovered at the side, pointing and gesturing, trying to micromanage Jiang Yunhe’s progress.
"If you’re so good, you do it!"
Seeing the slightly charred belly of the fish in his hand, Jiang Yunhe had been looking for a scapegoat anyway.
Before Qin Zhan could react, Jiang Yunhe shoved the fish skewer into his hands and backed away from the bonfire, under the pretext of "cooling off."
"You..."
A stream of curses died on his lips, caught in his throat.
Scowling, Qin Zhan stared at the ruined fish. He stole a glance at Lu Wu. Seeing that she wasn’t looking, he turned his back to her, scraped off the charred bits with a knife, and brushed it with more oil to continue grilling.
’I can still save this. It should be fine.’
Watching Boss Lu cook was like watching a master at work; her movements were always so fluid and effortless. Qin Zhan had figured he could learn by analogy.
"Um... maybe we should start over with a new fish?" Lou Xiaotian suggested cautiously, looking at the fish which was now even more burnt.
’It’s pitch-black. Is that even edible?’
Boss Lu’s grilled fish was always perfect in color, aroma, and flavor. What Qin Zhan was holding, on the other hand, was a complete disaster.
"Ahem... You don’t trust me?"
In response to Lou Xiaotian’s doubt, Qin Zhan put on a stern expression. Lou Xiaotian shrank back and fell silent.
’As long as I don’t have to cook it, I’m fine,’ he thought.
Even without looking, Lu Wu knew from the acrid, burnt smell in the air that the trio’s attempt at grilling fish had failed.
It was a good thing she hadn’t been counting on them in the first place.
Lu Wu kept her head down, her hands a blur of motion. She’d have to salvage the situation to help Qin Zhan save a little face.
One by one, she set the skewers of fish to grill by the edge of the fire.
The setup was rustic, but as the high heat hit the secret-recipe seasoning, the spicy aroma it released was enough to make anyone’s mouth water.
Brush with oil, sprinkle with seasoning, flip.
The steps were exactly the same, but in different hands, the results were night and day.
The skin of the fish gradually turned a crispy golden-brown, while the meat sealed within remained tender and white.
This char-grilled fragrance not only enhanced the fish’s flavor but also made it look much more appealing.
The aroma of the spices permeated every inch of the fish, preserving its natural, fresh flavor while adding a unique barbecue essence.
Some say that the curling smoke from a barbecue is the very essence of mortal life.
And these wisps of smoke drifted on the wind, floating far into the distance.
As Lu Wu’s fish took shape, Qin Zhan’s was gradually ceasing to be fish at all.
He flipped it, and CLINK.
A pitch-black piece of cinder broke off the fish and fell into the flames.
Despite using the same heat, Qin Zhan had the unique talent of turning a grilled fish into a lump of charcoal.
He poked it, and a chunk fell off. Then, with a twitch of his hand, the branch skewering the fish snapped in two.
The entire charcoal-fish fell into the bonfire, instantly sending up a thick cloud of smoke.
Enveloped in the smoke, Qin Zhan began to cough.
"Cough..."
It started with a few small hacks, but soon he couldn’t hold it back. He turned his head and began coughing violently, patting his chest.
"COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!"
He had nearly choked to death on the thick smoke.
SPLASH!
It was a perfect demonstration of the saying "birds of a feather flock together."
A terrible teammate’s only rival, it seemed, was another terrible teammate.
Seeing the billowing smoke, Lou Xiaotian quickly doused the bonfire with a basin of water. The flames died, but the smoke only grew thicker.
Even Lu Wu was nearly caught in the disaster.
Luckily, her quick reflexes allowed her to snatch her own fish away from the disaster zone.
Holding her skewers of perfectly grilled fish, she looked at Qin Zhan’s soot-blackened face, her lips twitching.
"Pfft!"
In the end, she couldn’t hold it in. Lu Wu burst out laughing.
"Tsk. That’s it?"
Jiang Yunhe sneered, twisting the knife at the perfect moment.
The two words were the height of mockery.
The two "geniuses" stood there, patting the ash off their clothes, heads bowed, not daring to make another peep.
Still, out of the corners of their eyes, they kept glancing at the grilled fish in Lu Wu’s hands.
Impressing Boss Lu was out of the question now. They had to find a way to redeem themselves if they wanted to get any of that grilled fish from her.
And man, did it smell good.
Even the smell of burnt charcoal clinging to them couldn’t mask the savory aroma of the fish.
Thankfully, Lu Wu had never expected them to succeed in the first place.
She had intended to share the fish with them all along. Lu Wu raised the skewers, about to suggest they all split them, when a sharp crack echoed through the air.
Something was approaching at incredible speed.
WHOOSH!
In an instant, a black shadow flashed before Lu Wu. The moment it appeared, it coiled itself around the grilled fish in her hands.
Its pitch-black scales looked dull and dusty, with no hint of a sheen.
Its long, thin body held the fish in a death grip, refusing to let go.
It opened its mouth.
Its body was slender, but its mouth was enormous.
In a single gulp, it swallowed half a fish.
It was a small black snake, about as long as a forearm and as thick as a thumb.
With its tail wrapped around Lu Wu’s wrist, it devoured the remaining fish with astonishing speed.
It didn’t even spit out the bones.
It even swallowed the wooden skewers.
Like a whirlwind, at a speed no human could possibly match, the little black snake ate every last scrap of fish.
"HISS!"
*BURP!*
’Long is stuffed.’
’Long hasn’t eaten in many years. I was suppressed deep beneath this Secret Realm, forced to eat and drink nothing but lava all day. I was about to puke.’
’Thankfully, the flames that suppressed me vanished, so I could finally figure out a way to escape the lava.’
’I knew I had a lot of enemies, so I didn’t plan on revealing myself. The plan was to hide, then find a chance to get back to the outside world.’
’Once I’ve recovered, I’ll go back to stirring up trouble.’
’After all, I am an Evil Dragon.’
’And an Evil Dragon’s job is to do every evil deed imaginable.’
’But that damn bird still found me. It took advantage of the fact that I hadn’t recovered my full strength and beat the crap out of me.’
’Luckily, the bird wasn’t as strong as it used to be either, so I managed to find a chance to shake it off.’
’I was already starved after ten thousand years, and getting beaten up by that bird used up way too much of my Spiritual Power. I’m as thin as a dried-up husk.’
’Just as I was about to find something to eat, the hot wind carried a scent that made me drool all over myself.’
’I slurped up my drool and just followed the smell.’
’And I gotta say, it was delicious.’
"HISS!"
Still disguised as a black snake and mimicking its hiss, the Evil Dragon flicked out its tongue and licked Lu Wu’s wrist.
’Human, Long is hungry. Long wants more.’