Talisman Emperor
Chapter 12 – Spirit Chef
“Oh, it's Qiao Nan, and it's Pei Pei. ”
Bai Wanqing stretched out her hand to point at the man and woman, then turned to face the skinny old man, and introduced to Chen Xi in a low voice, “This is old man Ma, senior brothers Qiao Nan and Pei Pei. The three of them were all 3 leaf spirit chefs. ”
Chen Xi nodded and bowed. “It's nice to meet you, senior. ”
Liquid mud! Liquid mud!
No one paid attention to Chen Xi, and only the sound of delicious dishes within the frying pan resounded continuously.
Ever since he was born, Chen Xi had experienced countless occurrences similar to this, and he had long since set his disposition to be extremely tenacious. So he's not ashamed.
Bai Wanqing, however, could not accept it. He immediately walked up to old man Ma and suddenly grabbed the iron spoon in his hand as he said loudly, "Old man, can't you see, I came to recommend a disciple to you?"
Old man Ma fiercely glared and was about to light up when he saw Bai Wanqing glaring at him without letting in the slightest. He knew he could not do anything against this girl and could only say sadly, “Little Bai, stop causing trouble. This is a plate of roe-deer meat sliced in high quality! ”
As he spoke, his thin bamboo palm raised an iron skillet, then tilted the pan to pour the entire dish showing the bright luster of fresh chili onto the plate. The broth is oil red with pieces of meat combined with spices of various colors that are soft like silk. A very fragrant aroma adorns the air of this dish that is pleasing to the eye and also fragrant.
"Old Man, open your eyes wide and look! Chen Xi was skilled in making talismans, and had nimble control over the strength of her wrist and her acute perception. He was in the Innate Realm as well. Could it be that even such a natural talent is not worthy of being your disciple? ”
Bai Wanqing had long lost her simple and calm demeanor, she pursed her cherry lips as she said savagely and senselessly, "I don't care, you have to accept Chen Xi today!"
Old man Ma was startled and seemed to remember something as he laughed strangely. "Chen Xi's? It can't be a curse, right? ”
Qiao Nan and Pe Pei who were busy before the stove stopped all their movements after hearing this and looked at Chen Xi with strange expressions.
Bai Wanqing's body trembled, as he was furious. He really wished for nothing more than to strangle this damned old man to death from touching a soft spot. "How can you talk like that?"
His heart was deeply troubled as he looked towards Chen Xi. But what he noticed was Chen Xi lightly pursed her lips and said calmly, "It doesn't matter if I'm a curse or not; the important thing is I never expected that Senior Ma turned out to be so conventional. Auntie Bai, let's go. ”
"Oh. '' Bai Wanqing said, feeling a little embarrassed for bringing Chen Xi here.
"wait. "The two of them were only planning to leave when Ma's parents yelled angrily. “Who is conventional? Who cares if he is evil without the features of redemption, or very loving and compassionate? As far as I know, it's all rubbish! ”
The more he spoke, his voice grew louder until he practically roared. "What I received was a disciple, as long as he could inherit all of my culinary arts, who was so free to care about all of that?"
Bai Wanqing said with a pleasant surprise, "Then you plan to accept Chen Xi as your disciple?"
Old man Ma's face froze, doubtful and indeterminate.
Qiao Nan secretly winked at Bai Wanqing and spoke with a serious expression. "Sirr sister, accept him. I believe in someone beautiful being looked up to by Lady Bai! ”
Pei Pei's gaze was still attached to Chen Xi for a moment as he silently looked at Chen Xi with a seductive gaze. Only then did he plead with old man Ma with a sad expression. “Yes, senior sister. Chen Xi looked young and steady, and she was skilled at making talismans. Accept her. ”
Chen Xi was startled and kept silent, but a trace of hope appeared in her heart.
He had previously refused because old man Ma was mocking him. If he had to humble himself and plead with the old man, then even if he managed to take old man Ma as his master; if he still had to constantly suffer the ridicule of old man Ma, then even if he managed to take on old man Ma, then he would rather not have this opportunity.
Moreover, after hearing the roar of old man Ma, he understood that old man Ma was not as bad as he thought, and the hint of anger in his heart vanished without a trace.
It's not scary when someone is pushed aside, mocked, or insulted. What is frightening is when one lacks self-esteem, dignity, and lacks persistence! What is frightening is when one does not distinguish between good and evil, black and white, and cannot distinguish between right and wrong!
This was something his grandfather had said, and Chen Xi obeyed him forcefully from the time he was young until it was stamped into his marrow.
Old man ma gave a cold snort, then looked at Chen Xi and said, "Because of this, I will give you a chance. There's a blue tassel bamboo shoot, cut into pieces. ”
The entire sky blue tassel bamboo shoot was green like green jade and contained within it was a strand of spirit energy, yet it was one of ordinary fruits and vegetables.
Chen Xi moved to the stove. Placed in front of him was a glossy kitchen knife and bamboo shoots almost 2/3m blue bamboo.
“Skills of knives is one of the important methods to assess and evaluate the standards of spirit chefs. 30% stove, 70% cutting board; dishes cannot be made without knives. Old man Ma wants to test your knife skills, do your best. '' Bai Wanqing explained in a low voice, her clear eyes filled with an encouraging expression.
Chen Xi nodded. He picked up the blue tassel bamboo shoot and stared at it for a moment before quickly swinging his knife!
Cut it! Cut it! Cut it!
The dense sounds of the blade slicing through the cutting board echoed like a rhythmic drum. Chen Xi's wrists were as steady as a circular pine tree, and a shiny, sharp kitchen knife was precisely controlled by him to slice through slices of snow-white bamboo shoots that were as thin as a cricket wing.
Five years ago, Chen Xi replaced her grandfather for frequent cooking at home, so she was naturally very used to using kitchen knives. The pair with craft talismans all year round, the strength of the wrist and its precision are equally outstanding. At this moment, when he put his heart and soul into it, not only was his movement smooth and precise, even his speed was extremely fast.
Soon, the blue tassel bamboo shoots turned into a series of slices of snow-white bamboo shoots.
In the distance, old man Ma did not even glance as he said nonchalantly, "Steady wrist strength and precise knife skills, but unfortunately the thickness is different. Only half reach as thin as a cricket wing, barely better than most people. ”
The beautiful eyes of Pei Pei rippled with incredible splendor as she praised with a happy smile, "Sister Chen Xi, your blade skills are not bad. ”
Old man Ma glared at Pei Pei, then made a request with a stiff tone. "Cut into a thread!"
Chen Xi took a deep breath, then once again concentrated on the cutting board as he sliced it into threads. Clearly, the demand for the level of precision was even higher, so he did not care about being careless.
Cut, cut, cut …
The kitchen knife was like mercury spilled on the ground, as it descended at a higher frequency which was finer and tightly intertwined, and the bamboo shoots were very thin like flying hair.
Chen Xi felt as if she was making a talisman. The kitchen knife had become a talisman brush, the slices of bamboo shoots had turned into talisman paper, and each thread of bamboo shoots became a perfectly straight talisman mark like a sharp sword.
The talisman markings image seeks to flatten the ink mark, and every detail must be accurate and detailed, as it represents the entire talisman as a whole.
Slicing slices of bamboo shoots into thread is also the same, as it strives for the same length and thickness, and one's skill is clearly demonstrated between the quick movements of the blade.
In fact, the difficulty of slicing the piece becomes much lower than drawing talisman marks, as the image of the talisman marks varies outside of the straight line and has a different level of strength applied to each mark. The image of the talisman marks fully utilized the Dao of variation and shifting, and was far from so singular as the movement of slicing slices into threads.
Thus, after he had completely comprehended the level of strength and precision, Chen Xi's speed of cutting suddenly increased, and the kitchen knife looked as if it was going to live, dance to an exhilarating rhythm as he quickly moves forward.
"His movements were not fluid at first, but halfway through he actually understood the essence of it. Could it be that this child is the same as me, a genius in Dao culinary? ”Qiao Nan held her chin and pretended to be brooding.
"Fuck up! You are a shameless person! '' The nearby Pei Pei rolled his eyes, then looked at Chen Xi with an infatuated look and muttered. “A real man is the most handsome. Big brother Chen Xi, big sister is waiting for you to come love me, I will love you more than little sister Wanqing … "
This time even Bai Wanqing couldn't stand it anymore, two reddish clouds appeared on her delicate and fair face as she was angry from embarrassment. “Pei! Fantasize!"
Nevertheless, he was extremely happy in his heart, as Chen Xi was able to receive praise from Qiao Nan and Pei Pei had already far surpassed his imagination.
Old man Ma's eyes gleamed brightly, but his expression remained indifferent.
In Pine Mist City, as long as your living conditions are not bad, practically no child will want to cook in the kitchen, the, because cooking is considered to be involved in irrelevant work and a waste of time that would be better used to grow crops. Actually it was exactly like that, unless one reached the skill level to become a spirit chef. Ordinary people who worked as chefs were all servants, and as their masters, one only needed to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Thus, after seeing Chen Xi's skill in handling knives, old man Ma's heart was indeed slightly moved.
But this was still far from enough, as his culinary arts towered above everything in the entire Mist Mist City, and he himself was a 3-leaf spirit chef. Thus he would not rush at all when deciding on the person to become his disciple.
Chen Xi put down the kitchen knife. On top of the cutting board was a pile of twigs of light blue shoots that were as bright as snow. Each thread is smooth like cotton fibers and crystal clear, and very attractive.
"Chen Xi, that's great!" Bai Wanqing took the lead in praising him.
"Not bad . You have half my abilities from years ago, but you can already be considered a highly skilled person. '' Qiao Nan said very seriously.
Pei Pei first rolled his eyes at Qiao Nan who was shamelessly bragging, then used her fair and slender arms to hold onto her delicate and beautiful face as she muttered with an infatuated feeling, "Sister Chen Xi, I've fallen deeply in love with her sincere appearance. Oh, could this be a feeling I can't free? ”
Although he felt a little awkward when he heard the praise from the three, but Chen Xi still felt much more comfortable as he raised his head to look at old man Ma.
"Huh! Your knife skills still have a long way to go. Old man Ma's face stiffened as he walked forward. His left hand picked up the blue tassel bamboo thread and his right hand picked up the kitchen knife, then his wrist shook and a shocking scene appeared.
With a bamboo shoot thread in his left hand as a target, the kitchen knife that was nearly 30cm long danced swiftly in his hand, as it spread out the mass of the blade that looked like a snowflake, her skillful movements were natural and smooth.
Chen Xi's eyes were wide open, but completely confused by what he saw.
"He carved flowers!" Bai Wanqing explained in a low voice. “The engraving pattern on the ingredients is not only pleasing to the eye, but also allows the flavor to more easily enter the dish while cooking. Especially some types of flesh that were full of spirit energy, carving patterns on its surface allowed the spirit energy to be more easily absorbed. ”
Chen Xi suddenly understood, and quietly said to herself, "This old man Ma won't ask me to do this next, right?"
He felt a bit irritated, as the kitchen knife looked very large compared to a fine bamboo shoot thread like cotton fiber, and not to mention carving flowers on it, not to mention carving flowers on it, he'll probably be severe when it comes into contact with his knife .
Bai Wanqing gave a cold snort. "Huh! It was just an ugly bamboo shoot thread, what was the point of carving it? Don't worry, if Old Man Ma really asks you to carve flowers on bamboo shoots, then he deliberately makes it difficult for you. I really wouldn't agree to it! "
“I don't approve either. '' Pei Pei interrupted, and he deliberately glanced at Chen Xi as he spoke, with an appearance that said 'Sister will stand up for you. '
Qiao Nan raised his head high, and said solemnly, "Since the beautiful lady Bai does not agree to it, then as an honorable man, I also expressed my disapproval. ”
The figure of old man Ma twirling the knife froze, then he swung his hand to violently throw away the kitchen knife, and stomped his feet furiously as he howled. “Is it not enough if I accept this disciple? All I did was call him a name and you all ganged on me? "
"You said it yourself!" Bai Wanqing, Qiao Nan, and Pei Pei spoke together.
Chen Xi took all of this in heart, and the warmth she had never felt in a long time flowed in her heart. He knew that with just the skill level of the blade, if it wasn't for consideration for Auntie Bai, these people wouldn't even bother to glance at her at a glance.
He could not help but feel curiosity. Who was Auntie Bai? Not only was he acquainted with Instructor Meng Kong of the Pine Mist Institution, but he was also able to get along with three spirit chefs. She was nothing like a regular kitchen assistant.