The Journey of Immortal Cultivation
Chapter 28: The Banquet at Old Huang’s House

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: The Banquet at Old Huang’s House

Miss Ning is no ordinary person, he had already known this.

But why, when the demon was lurking at the scene, was it Miss Ning, who had no cultivation foundation at all, and not Junior Yu or Junior Sister Shi, both cultivators, who discovered it?

The demon was so fast, even Junior Yu couldn’t catch up, so why could Miss Ning see it so clearly and distinctly when it flashed behind a pillar?

Quan Shifang had never been so curious about someone before.

Only after Old Huang pondered for a long time and rubbed his bleary eyes, he finally said gently, "It seems that the Gao Family from North County has servants using this pattern." Families with a bit of status would have their servants wear clothing embroidered with the family’s emblem for convenience when handling affairs in the county.

So, was the demon hiding at the Gao Family’s house? Shi Jishan said, "Then what are we waiting for, let’s go directly to the Gao Family and exterminate it."

Quan Shifang shook his head: "No rush. Let’s not startle the snake and hurt others, which would be unfortunate. We’ll surveil them these next few nights. It’s best to lure it out."

The members of Chaoyun Sect nodded in agreement, though internally they disagreed: "Senior Brother Quan is too soft-hearted. Even if a few mortals get hurt, what’s the big deal? We need to deal with this trouble swiftly; there are important matters waiting back at the sect."

After discussing for much of the day, the delicious foods on the table were almost cold. Ning Xiaoxian, seeing this, felt heartbroken. As the discussion finally wrapped up and Old Huang picked up his chopsticks, she promptly followed suit. Old Huang enjoys lively gatherings, and despite having distinguished guests, he arranged for everyone to sit together around the dining table. Interestingly, Old Huang placed his grandson to his left and seemed to purposely place her to his right, frequently turning to her with a beaming smile to chat casually.

Among those at the table were cultivators who hadn’t yet broken through to the Golden Core Stage, all young and without the need to maintain a certain demeanor like at Chi Xiao Sect; why would they abstain from meat? Quan Shifang was steady but very sensible, and had long informed his grandfather, "Don’t abstain from meat or vegetables," so the variety of dishes on the table was remarkably rich, and also Ning Xiaoxian’s most lavish meal since she had traveled through time.

Old Huang himself was a food enthusiast. He was entertaining his beloved grandson and the disciples of the Immortal Sect, and he had long instructed his chefs to strive for perfection in preparing the meal.

He employed two top chefs, reportedly poached with a hefty sum from a renowned restaurant in Central Province. The food they cooked was so delicious that if it were rated second in Siping County, no one would dare claim first. Looking at the dishes on the table, Ning Xiaoxian knew that the money Old Huang spent on hiring the chefs was not wasted.

Just by tasting the Ginseng Chicken Soup that was just served, she knew that it must have been simmered slowly with an old hen of at least ten years, and for no less than six hours. Due to the common belief that there is arsenic within the head of chickens older than ten years, it was already chopped off.

Furthermore, the first round of chicken soup had already been discarded. What the guests were drinking was the second round of simmered broth, which was clear, sweet, and not greasy. The chef added premium ginseng and codonopsis, enhancing the flavor with licorice and longan meat. Ning Xiaoxian could also taste the exquisite flavor of dried fungi, although she did not see any in the soup, suggesting that it was part of the chef’s proprietary secret recipe.

Logically, an old hen ginseng soup must be cooked in a deep clay pot, and the lid should not be lifted during cooking to ensure the full aroma of the chicken is extracted. But aside from her kitchen utensils left at the fifth level of the God Demon Prison, only Shallow Water Village would have such a culinary divine artifact. It appears there are indeed many capable people in the world; Old Huang’s chef knew some technique to maintain the aroma of the chicken so thoroughly.

This soup, when sipped, first reveals the fresh essence of the chicken, followed by the refreshing fragrance of the herbs down the throat. After warmly swallowing, a sensation of warmth arose and spread through the organs and viscera. When chewing on the chicken meat, it was tender and smooth, devoid of the old hen’s toughness, leaving only a refreshing fragrance in the mouth.

Old Huang has a sweet tooth, and therefore his chef also went out of his way to prepare a dish called "Grape Pine Nut Fish".

Outside of Siping County, Su River welcomes special guests each year during the water-abundant season: a type of three-eyed large fish that swims upstream to return. These fish, having spawned and matured upstream in the Su River, will venture into other water systems, but they assuredly return upstream at their most robust to lay eggs. People wait on the shallow river banks upstream to catch them when they jump. The timing must be precise because fish that fail to jump upstream are not robust enough and their meat isn’t worth catching; once they jump upstream and begin to mate and lay eggs, their bodies become thin and consuming them is like chewing dry wood, with no flavor whatsoever.

The timing of Quan Shifang’s return home was excellent, coinciding with the abundant water season of the Su River, when the fish were at their most succulent.

After descaling the fish, the chef carefully deboned it, leaving only large intact pieces of fish meat. Then, with the skin-side down, he cut the fish into flowery patterns using a diagonal knife and needed to ensure each pattern was a beautifully uniform diamond shape. This required superior knife skills; the fish skin should be cut to the brink but not through, otherwise it wouldn’t bend perfectly during cooking, and the cuts on the fish should be clean and uniformly sized.

Afterwards, the chef would marinate the fish with fine seasonings for at least two hours, then coat it with starch and fry it skin-side down in hot oil. Once cooked through, the whole piece of fish meat would contract into a beautiful shape, with the flesh splaying outward and bulging like grapes.

At this moment, vines are arranged on the plate, and the fish meat is placed under them, draped with a well-cooked tomato sauce, making it look very much like grapes hanging on a trellis. As for the pine nuts—roasted in the pan and sprinkled on the fish—this dish combines sour, sweet, salty, and umami flavors. Although the sauce is rich, it doesn’t mask the sweetness of the fish. Most importantly, the dish is entirely boneless from start to finish, making it very suitable for an elderly and robust person like Old Huang. Others who tasted it also showered it with praise.

The table was also filled with numerous precious ingredients. Ning Xiaoxian, who needed to transform her constitution, could no longer subsist on just vegetables and fruits like before; her body required substantial nourishment, and these dishes were exactly what she needed. Ever since consuming Cloud Fragrant Rice and Fierce Beast Meat, she was highly sensitive to changes in her internal energy. Now, with a few sips of the warm Ginseng Chicken Soup and several bites of the fragrant wild boar meat, she quickly felt warmth in her body. As they say in Huaxia, "every cell is rejoicing", so she knew that the efficacy of these ingredients was being fully realized.

All of this, of course, was thanks to Old Huang. She was already sharp-witted, and now she constantly amused the old man, how could she not make Old Huang brim with happiness? He ended up talking to her more often than to Quan Shifang.