The Journey of Immortal Cultivation-Chapter 929 - 509: Late-Night Visitor

She reached out and pointed to the fireplace, sparks flew, igniting the firewood, and the flames immediately surged, quickly driving away the chill.

Huangfuming finally saw something novel, his eyes lit up and said: "Hey, what’s this?"

"This is called a fireplace." Western homes often build fireplaces for warmth; she had always longed for the feeling of family gathering together to enjoy warmth since childhood. So after moving here, she also had one built according to her requirements. "The fire place is built into the wall, it’s safe and warm, and takes up less space, but you have to make a chimney above that leads straight to the roof, otherwise the smoke will fill the house."

Her body was not affected by the weather, but she liked the color of flickering flames, which gave her a sense of security, a habit she developed as a mortal.

Huangfuming rubbed his hands, indeed feeling his body warm up quickly: "This thing is really nice. I’ll get someone to make one at home too."

"If your cultivation reaches the Foundation Establishment Stage, you won’t be bothered by the cold or heat, why do you still need it?" Ning Xiaoxian pulled out a stack of ledgers and threw them onto the desk, sat down, grind the ink, and started writing.

She didn’t invite him, but he naturally found a Taishi chair to sit down, sipping tea: "You’ve long passed the Foundation Establishment Stage, why do you have a fireplace here?"

"For the nearly forgotten memories, perhaps." She replied casually and said no more, focusing on checking the accounts. She didn’t have the patience to entertain children, and boys of Huangfuming’s age were playful and restless. If left sitting for a while, he’d surely get bored and go back, right?

This Taishi chair was a bit big for him, unable to lean against the back, not very comfortable to sit, but he still sat with a straight posture. Neither of them spoke, making the study quiet for a while, with only the occasional rustle of paper pages.

She guessed right, after sitting for a while, Huangfuming felt bored, looked around at the simple layout of the study, then stared straight at her, as if there were flowers growing on her face.

After returning home, she changed into a spacious light white deep clothes with green sleeve patterns, without even a belt, hiding her curves within the clothing, with shoulders as if cut from jade. The desk in front was large, if contrasted, it made her seem small, her freshly washed hair fell fluffy on her shoulders, unable to hide the graceful lines of her snow-white neck.

She concentrated solely on the ledger, occasionally frowned, without glancing at him, Huangfuming felt with her presence here, the entire room was filled with peace and tranquility, even his original restlessness slowly settled down, becoming calm. He had seen prettier girls, but had not encountered this kind of casual and unrestrained unique temperament.

Ning Xiaoxian knew he was staring. If an adult man dared to look at her that way, she would have already thrown a dagger, but he was just a minor, so she endured for a while, finally raised her head and said: "Haven’t your elders taught you that staring at someone like this is impolite?"

"He looks at people more impolitely than I do." He said honestly, "Besides, there’s nothing else in this room to look at or play with."

"Sorry my study is so boring. Maybe you should go back and rest, it’s quite late." She did not hesitate in giving the order to leave.

"No."

"Huangfuming." She finally couldn’t bear it anymore and put down her pen, "Why did you suddenly run to my home, what’s the matter?"

He kicked his legs twice, dropped his head, and muttered: "I have nowhere else to go."

"..." Young master, could you please not switch from arrogant mode to dejected mode this quickly, it’s too much of a change for her to handle. "Your peers..."

"Everyone surrounds me for certain reasons, even seemingly weak Jin Manyan." Suddenly he raised his head, interrupting her, "When I’m upset, I don’t want to see them."

"You’d rather squat on a stranger’s territory?" It’s occupying, occupying stranger’s territory.

What do you mean squatting, he’s not a dog! "You found the Bliss Flower for me, so you’re not a stranger, at least compared to others in Hidden Stream."

So, is this another unfortunate result of misplaced kindness? "Be honest, did you sneak out?"

"No!" His eyes were full of sincerity, "I left a note in Master’s room."

"..."

It seemed there was only one way, which was to grab him by the collar and throw him out. She was contemplating when suddenly a strange "growling" sound came from the study.

It’s been a long, long time since hearing that sound, ever since she left the body of a mortal, and none of her companions were human.

The young handsome boy in the Taishi chair suddenly blushed.

"Ning... Sister." He hesitated about how to address her, cleared his throat, trying to maintain his composure, "I’m hungry."

"... There’s thousand-layer cake on the table downstairs." Would this brat also want her to help change diapers?

"Cold, not tasty." Originally he didn’t like sweets, but heard girls loved this stuff.

Indeed, that box of thousand-layer cake’s lid was already opened, probably frozen hard now. She knew cultivators in the Qi Refinement Realm didn’t have the fasting skill yet. Besides, the food in Hidden Stream was terribly unpalatable, even she couldn’t stomach it, this kid was used to fine clothes and food, probably hadn’t eaten well since coming here.

She was feeling a bit soft-hearted, especially when this little ghost looked at her pitifully with those big, fluttering eyes. She had always had the least resistance to small animals like kittens and puppies that looked frail and pitiful...

But all her cooking equipment, including utensils and rice, oil, meat, and vegetables, were stored in the God Demon Prison. The kitchen in this small building only had... only...

She rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache in her temples. This little ghost could pester people to death: "Do you like sweets?"

"Yes!" he lied through his teeth. At home, he’d rather let the servants feed the chickens.

"...Alright then, just wait a moment." She got up to head downstairs, and Huangfuming immediately followed, criticizing her:

"Leaving the guest aside is no way to treat a guest!"

Could she strangle this brat and then dig a hole to bury him on the spot? After all, the Bashe Forest was so vast, and he probably wouldn’t mention in the note to his Master that he had come here... Everything was perfect, and no one would know the murderer was her. But why was she still heading to the kitchen step by step?

"Your kitchen is quite basic, it seems your culinary skills aren’t up to much." He stood in the small kitchen, looking around and clicking his tongue, making his Huangfuming-style commentary.

No kidding, all her equipment was in the God Demon Prison. The kitchen was not just basic; it was utterly lacking, with not even a decent pot. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"You’re right. What I cook is so bad it could poison people." She said with a half-smile, "You better not eat it."

"How can that be, I’m hungry!"

She stood in place, took a deep, deep breath, and barely suppressed the urge to throw him out again, then started rummaging around. What she wanted to make required very simple ingredients, and she distinctly remembered that, though basic, the kitchen did have these materials.

Here, found it. The next one, found it too. Hmm, there’s also flour.

Huangfuming stood beside her, pointing at the things she placed on the table: "What is this?"

This kid doesn’t know the five grains from each other? "Wild chicken egg. You haven’t seen it before?"

He pouted: "Never seen... this kind before."

Figures; with chefs always preparing everything for him, it’s no surprise this young master hasn’t seen a raw egg.

"And what is this?" He pointed at a jar with a paste-like substance, which Ning Xiaoxian heated with her power into a golden liquid that looked thick and viscous. She handed him a bamboo chopstick: "Try a bit yourself."

If anyone dared hand him such simple chopsticks under normal circumstances, they’d be ordered to be beaten severely. But extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures; Ning Xiaoxian turned her head to see him placidly trying a bit of the golden liquid, putting it in his mouth.

"Honey." He smacked his lips again, showing a bit of childish cuteness, "It’s fragrant, with a slight tartness, lychee... honey?"

Surprised, she raised an eyebrow: "Oh, your taste is quite sharp!" Deep in the Bashe Forest, the lychee trees were blooming, and this honey was freshly brewed, fragrant and rich with the unique sourness of lychee. But only a true gourmet could detect this subtle sourness that was almost non-existent. Truly wealthy families care about the way of eating, focusing on nurturing and health, becoming more and more selective with food. Just as a tycoon may love indulging in lobsters and abalone, five-star hotel chefs consider ordinary fresh vegetables and tofu the hardest to make well. Guess who they are cooking for?

This little fellow before her wasn’t just from a wealthy family.

Seeing her surprised expression, he slightly raised his head, humbly saying: "Not at all, my tongue just works well."

What a strange kid, unable to recognize eggs yet able to discern the type of honey.

"And what is this powder?" He continued to ask tirelessly.

"Flour, low-gluten."

"Low... what?"

"Nothing." It’s impossible to explain to him.

While talking to him, she quickly cracked the eggs into a bowl, added some powdered sugar and honey, then whipped them over approximately forty-degree hot water. Thanks to her Divine Skills practice, making this sweet dish back in Huaxia would be exhausting without a mixer; doing it manually would be backbreaking!

She kept whipping until the egg mixture thickened, then lifted a bamboo chopstick to observe it, before sieving in the flour and adding a few drops of rose flower dew that she had extracted herself, mixing them into an extremely fine and smooth batter.

Huangfuming looked at this bowl of batter, wrinkling his nose disdainfully: "You’re not going to make me eat this, are you?" That would be worse than eating Hidden Stream’s meals, which are at least cooked. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation tickets and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)