There was the sound of the wind whirling past his ears. Gu Zuo sensed his own scalp being blown numb. He attentively watched the ground flying away at high speeds, and the trees on both sides were practically blurred into pieces of thread — Clearly, his patron's speed was incredibly fast. In less than a minute, his patron stopped. After that, he jumped up and the two landed in a tree.
Gu Zuo was placed on a branch.
Tianheng pressed a finger to his lips, and gave a silent order.
Gu Zuo's conditioned reflex was to cover his mouth and nod his head.
Gongyi Tianheng gave a subtle expression where he was unable to restrain a smile.
Gu Zuo understood the reason for his patron's movement, but there was nothing he could do about it. What was he supposed to do if he accidentally screamed when he was confronted with a wild beast? Or he could forget about getting rid of the source of his cowardice.
Tianheng was very familiar with Gu Zuo's way of thinking. Watching him without a word, he stamped with the bottom of his foot and turned around. His whole body resembled a gigantic bird and floated to another large tree.
Gu Zuo couldn't take his eyes off him.
He recognized this technique! He remembered it was called the “Heavenly Eagle Steps” [1] and it was a relatively special technique. It allowed a cultivating Houtian martial artist to borrow the power to glide.
Truly, at this moment in time, there was nothing more suitable than this.
Gongyi Tianheng took a moment to observe a little, then he used the moment of the heavenly eagle steps again. He moved from the trees to the ground, straight towards a wild beast that was gnawing at an ox-shaped corpse near a shrub!
That wild beast seemed to have the shape of a boar. Its body had a fire-like mane and its tusks were about thirty centimeters long. It was very ugly. It was currently in the middle of feasting and didn't pay much attention to its surroundings. Thus, in the blink of an eye, Tianheng dropped onto the creature's back and his right fist directly smashed into the top of its head!
Gu Zuo nervously held his breath.
How much force did his patron's strength generate? In the villa, they used stone blocks for testing and it seemed he could lift a thousand kilograms… In the modern era, the most one could weight-lift was about a hundred kilograms. [2] His patron was ten times as strong. So smashing that wild beast's head silly shouldn't be too great a problem?
However, Tianheng probably did that just to get a feel for it. This punch didn't exert a hundred percent of his power. Only, even though it was like this, the skull of that wild beast suffered a heavy strike. It suddenly bellowed, and its body swayed somewhat. It started bucking incessantly as if it was trying to throw the enemy off its back.
After that, Tianheng seemed to have accurately grasped his strength. His legs clamped onto the wild beast's back and he used his fist, directly hitting the same place again — One could hear the sound of a loud rumbling. A big, b.l.o.o.d.y hole was smashed open by that strike on the wild beast's skull!
Gu Zuo subconsciously let out a breath and closed his eyes a few times.
One punch from his patron…was just plain ruthless.
This was completely inconsistent with his outward appearance, okay?
A wild beast with its head smashed open naturally lost its life. Thus, with its legs askew, it fell to its side.
Gongyi Tianheng was prepared early on. His body stayed upright, and he securely dropped beside it.
Then, Tianheng took out a piece of brocade cloth from his sleeve. He used it to wipe the red and white matter from his right hand and casually tossed it aside. He slightly raised his head: “Ah Zuo, can you tell if this is enough to eat?”
Gu Zuo lightly sighed: “…More than enough.”
Tianheng laughed in response. He jumped again and easily fished Gu Zuo up in his arms, before placing him back down on the ground.
Gu Zuo was a little curious: “Young master Tianheng, how are we going to carry such a big wild beast?”
Gongyi Tianheng grinned: “Rest a.s.sured, Ah Zuo.”
Following that, Gu Zuo knew how to rest a.s.sured.
His patron simply tied the wild beast to a rattan pole, which was thrown behind him. He just carried it on his shoulders. And Gu Zuo, just like before, was kept under his patron's armpit, but actually, it didn't affect anything at all…
Then, the sound of the wind blew past his ears, and just like now, Gu Zuo didn't know how to react. The scenery before his eyes already became familiar to him. They'd returned to their original location. Hey, patron. Even while burdened with a large wild beast, this speed wasn't any slower than when we set out.
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Xu Wenhe and Dragon Two already set up pitfalls, pitched the tent, and even replenished the bonfire's firewood, making the flame even larger.
Gu Zuo was very embarra.s.sed from being carried like this and struggled a little bit.
Gongyi Tianheng took the hint and quickly released his arm.
Gu Zuo promptly hopped down.
Afterwards, Tianheng unloaded the wild beast, creating a rumbling sound as it was cast to the side.
Xu Wenhe applauded: “Young master is very skilled!”
Gongyi Tianheng raised an eyebrow, and wasn't very talkative.
It was nothing but a Bone Forging realm wild beast. He was a Meridian Condensing second stage martial artist, so it should've been very easy. Yet, since a subordinate praised him, he should just accept it.
Gu Zuo, who was crouching nearby, expressed approval of Xu Wenhe's words.
He went with his patron, intending at first to watch his patron's appearance when he saw blood. Also, he went to see if he himself could be frightened when he confronted a genuine wild beast. The results afterwards weren't too bad. Nevertheless, what was previously mentioned was just putting it nicely. His patron still didn't wait for him to get a clear look at that wild beast. Before he could sense any fear, it was already crushed to death.
Moreover, his patron had completely adapted to it!
Even his original fear of the wild beasts transformed into admiration for his patron's initiative. There basically weren't any opportunities for him to toughen up… Truly, he was a little speechless.
Gu Zuo sighed again.
He was also brought along by his patron to get some first-hand experience, but what was his role to play? There was nowhere for him to shine. After that, Gu Zuo's vision drifted, landing on that wild beast. It was dripping blood again, but none of it splashed on his patron's body.
That's right. He recalled the matter of contributing to his “patron's charm.”
Merely…he didn't recognize this wild beast.
When he was in genuine trouble [3], Gu Zuo discovered that he was really too deficient in his knowledge base.
After thinking about it, Gu Zuo saw that the bonfire was burning even hotter. Dragon Two wanted to start a barbecue right away. Gu Zuo asked at once: “Mister Xu, do you know what this wild beast is?”
Here, he was a little more mindful.
Since there was a guide, there were just some things he didn't ask his patron. Even if he always thought his patron knew everything… But, in the end, this was the first time his patron left home. If his patron's answers were lacking, then wouldn't that cause his patron to lose face? He was better off directly asking Xu Wenhe.
Gongyi Tianheng faintly smiled with a meaningful gaze.
Gu Zuo sensed it, and forced a couple of laughs.
Sure enough, Xu Wenhe over yonder replied: “This is called a blazing wild boar [4]. When it's born, it can generally be compared to a Blood Refining martial artist. Once fully grown, it's comparable to a Bone Forging martial artist. After that, whether it's capable of breaking through again all depends on each wild boar's luck and apt.i.tude.”
Once Gu Zuo heard this, he began thinking.
He wasn't familiar with the appearance of the blazing wild boar, but once he became aware of it, he would understand it. Within his medicinal cuisine recipes, there were many kinds that could use this sort of ingredient. Among which there were several types of wild boar meats that were food products suited to Houtian martial artists.
If there wasn't anything else, he could exhibit his skills now?
The others weren't capable, but when it came to medicine refinement, he still had some confidence.
With his mind set, Gu Zuo turned his head. His eyes shined brightly as he looked to his patron.
Tianheng found it a little funny: “Ah Zuo has something to say? Go ahead and say it.”
Gu Zuo spoke bluntly: “How about I make young master Tianheng's dinner?”
Tianheng grinned: “You certainly can. Then, I'll have to ask Ah Zuo to hold nothing back.”
Gu Zuo blushed a little: “I'll do my best.”
After he finished talking, he pretended to go behind the carriage and brought out many pots, basins, and tons of medicinal ingredients — Of course, this was what he originally took out from his storage s.p.a.ce. Among the people around his patron, only the most loyal Dragon One and Dragon Two knew that he also had a storage device. It currently had to stay hidden from Xu Wenhe, whom he currently wasn't familiar with at all.
Gongyi Tianheng noticed his prudence, and gave a satisfied smile.
Immediately following that, Gu Zuo initiated “sous-chef butchers the hog” [5].
In actuality, after he mastered his minor art: supple bones and beautiful petals, a type of blade technique developed from within, which was specialized in meticulous ingredient handling. When each cut was fully utilized, there was an extremely natural rhythm throughout the process. If one were to carefully watch, the vestiges of those blade techniques resembled the times when he used his hand arts.
Gu Zuo concentrated his attention, and roughly fifteen minutes later, he cut all the available parts of the blazing wild boar into pieces. Then, they were divided into several piles.
Because they didn't lack money and the blazing wild boar really wasn't an especially precious wild beast, the things like its fur, tendons, and eyes were all discarded. And most of its internal organs contained fire poison. Unless if one had a method of completely removing the fire poison, then one would be infected after eating it. Most of all, the boar's heart contained pure fire essence, but there the fire poison was at its fiercest.
Gu Zuo considered his patron's health, and he wasn't ready to eat these things. After thinking it over, he simply threw it away. Although the boar meat had the fire attribute, he would use the five elements in the other medicinal ingredients to neutralize it. This would only leave a faint fire remnant [6] to warm and mend the body. This guaranteed that it would be harmless to his patron's health.
As for Dragon Two and Xu Wenhe… In any case, making a few more servings wasn't troublesome.
After selecting his dietary and medicinal ingredients, Gu Zuo began to work.
First he boiled a cauldron full of untainted water, then he carved the wild boar meat into tiny [7] slices. He made over thirty six hundred slices, which were all selected from the boar's choicest meats. The dark red pieces of meat held traces of blood, which emitted faint fire remnants.
Subsequently, Gu Zuo exhibited his minor art: supple bones and beautiful petals. He took the rest of the chosen medicinal ingredients and mixed them with these slices of meat. Grasping, hitting, and kneading: various gestures with all kinds of hidden meaning.
Not long after, these originally dark red meat slices became completely different. Each slice slightly shined. It looked like they had the l.u.s.ter of red agate gems.
When the nearby Xu Wenhe saw this, he clicked his tongue in wonder: “I never expected Pharmacist Gu had such culinary skills.”
He didn't know that this world also had medicinal cuisines. And he didn't expect that the time he was kneading and grasping was a kind of hand art. He only thought it was a skilled technique and exclaimed in admiration just then.
Gongyi Tianheng laughed: “Ah Zuo's talent is extraordinary. Although, he can't currently refine pills, he can already refine potions. Normally, he'll blend medicinal and dietary ingredients and the meal would have quite the taste. Wait a moment and Wenhe can properly sample a bit.”
Just as Tianheng was speaking, the water was already boiling over the bonfire. Gu Zuo didn't panic or get confused. He divided the cooked boar meat and medicinal ingredients into batches according to when he cast them into the boiling water.
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[1] 天鹰步 - Tian ying bu, direct translation.
[2] A weight lifter obviously can lift more than a hundred kilos, but the author probably just used this as a benchmark for comparison. Disregard the technical details.
[3] 摊上事儿 - Tan shang (arranged for someone, usually with a negative connotation) shi er (matter, something).
[4] 烈火荒猪 - Lie huo huang zhu, direct translation.
[5] 庖丁解猪 - Pao ding jie zhu, from the phrase 庖丁解牛, which refers to a skilled form of craftsmanship, to do something effortlessly through tons of practice.
[6] 火意 - Huo (fire) yi (idea, thought, intent). I'm using remnant to evoke a feeling of a diluted aftertaste.
[7] Each piece was 一寸长 an inch long and 一分厚 about 0.13 inches thick.
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