A heretical cultivator in Bureau 749, I'm the fiercest at pulling out tendons and skinning peop

Let's rewind to more than ten years ago.

Back then, Ji Zuodao was still a baby, not yet grown tall, with a bit of baby fat still on his face, but the sly glint in his eyes was already beginning to show.

His three mentors were incredibly skilled, but when it came to raising children... they were truly clueless.

The master chef was busy studying, while the second master chef was busy sharpening his knives.

The third master's exact words were: "Kid, the mountains are so big, the forests are so deep, there's food everywhere, do you still need me to feed you? Go find it yourself!"

Therefore, Ji Zuodao's childhood was mainly about a "survival challenge".

In the Ailao Mountains, the barren mountains and treacherous waters, poisonous insects and miasma are all appetizers.

The real main course is the creatures that have become spirits and have acquired spiritual power.

How could a baby like him dare to roam the mountains looking for food?

I'm afraid that if I just go out for a stroll, I'll become some kind of mountain demon's dessert.

He's able to make a living mainly thanks to two "external advantages".

First is the Dog Lord, second is the Empress.

Doggy is a very honest dog; every now and then he'll bring back some wild game.

A half-dead rabbit, a pheasant with a broken neck still thrashing about, and occasionally a roe deer stunned by a swat with its claw.

The meat is real meat.

But Dog can't cook!

This old dog's cooking philosophy emphasizes "original flavor, cooked over a strong fire".

The specific procedure is to throw the prey into the fire and burn it until the fur is charred, the flesh is black, and the outside is charred while the inside is still raw. That's when you're done.

That taste...

Ji Zuodao almost cried when he took a bite of the "charcoal-grilled whole rabbit" made by Dog Master.

The outside was smeared like a stick, so hard you could barely crack it with your teeth; inside it was still bloody, and the fishy smell was overwhelming.

It would be better to just hold a live rabbit and eat it directly!

At least it retains its original flavor and has a touch of wild sweetness.

The Empress's place has delicious food.

Osmanthus cake is sweet but not cloying, fresh flower cake is crispy and fragrant, and various kinds of candied fruits are so sweet they'll make your teeth ache.

But those were all snacks, tea refreshments, refined but not filling.

Ji Zuodao's stomach is like a bottomless pit.

I went to the Empress's place for a snack, but that was just enough to fill my stomach. By the time I got back to the mountain, I was hungry again.

Moreover, she wasn't the only one in the goddess's cave; there was also a litter of fluffy fox cubs eagerly waiting to be fed.

If Ji Zuodao were to eat as much as he wanted, those little foxes would be starving and crying.

Once or twice, the Empress would laugh and pat his head, saying, "You half-grown boy will eat your father out of house and home."

After this happened many times, the Empress also got a headache seeing her children with their bellies sunken and their eyes brimming with tears.

Even with his thick skin, Ji Zuodao couldn't bring himself to compete with a litter of fox cubs for food every day.

The method of absorbing some essence of the sun and moon to get through the "energy-saving mode" in the past has become completely ineffective since I started practicing that evil tendon-strengthening method.

hungry.

I'm extremely hungry.

I was so hungry that my stomach was practically touching my back, so hungry that everything looked edible, so hungry that I dreamt of gnawing on rocks at night.

What's worse, the large tendons on his body, which have been partially refined and lie dormant beneath his skin like black snakes, won't listen to reason.

They also need to "eat" and "be raised"!

Ji Zuodao was starving, but he could still endure it and persevere.

But these black tendons were starving...

They really dared to "eat" Ji Zuodao!

From the inside out, it slowly erodes his flesh and blood.

The feeling was painful, hungry, and damnably, a kind of absurd despair of "eating yourself."

Ji Zuodao often woke up hungry in the middle of the night, feeling as if the black tendons in his stomach were alive, twisting together as if preparing to rebel.

The meat gurgled and simmered, as if they were discussing, "This kid didn't pay his rations today, guys, shall we eat? Which piece of meat should we start with?"

Then, things took a turn for the better.

Ji Zuodao discovered the mandrill.

It was a dark and windy night... well, actually it was just an ordinary afternoon.

Ji Zuodao was so hungry that he felt dizzy and picked up fallen wild fruits at the edge of the forest to fill his stomach.

They stumbled upon a mandrill that was sticking its rear end out and secretly rummaging through a wild beehive.

The mandrill was also alert. Upon discovering someone, it jumped three feet high in fright, landed on one leg, turned its head, bared its teeth at Ji Zuodao, and made threatening "gurgling" sounds.

According to the normal script, a teenager facing a legendary ferocious mountain demon alone in the deep mountains should be so scared that he wets his pants and runs away.

But Ji Zuodao was so hungry at the time that his eyes turned green.

He looked at the mandrill, which was about the size of a half-grown child, all skinny and seemingly without much meat.

This thing...

He doesn't look like he can fight very well?

And it has honey in its hands!

There are desserts!

then……

And that was the end of it.

Driven by extreme hunger, Ji Zuodao unleashed astonishing fighting power.

There was no particular method involved; it simply relied on the resilience and toughness brought by "cultivating life" to withstand the two claws of the mandrill.

Then a hungry tiger pounced on it, pinned it to the ground, and began to beat it mercilessly with its fists.

While he was beating her, he was also thinking:

Meat!

Live, moving meat that comes to us on its own!

After beating the mandrill until it was only twitching with exhaustion, Ji Zuodao grabbed it by the scruff of its neck, picked up the honeycomb that was covered in mud but still smelled sweet and tempting, and dragged it unsteadily toward the direction of the stream in his memory with burning eyes.

That evening, by the stream, Ji Zuodao completed his first cooking attempt.

If you don't have a pot, heat up a thin stone slab and fry them.

If there are no seasonings, just squeeze on the remaining wild honey from the honeycomb.

When that piece of mandrill leg meat, sizzling and golden brown from being fried on a stone slab, glistening with an enticing amber sheen after being brushed with honey, was stuffed into my mouth...

Ji Zuodao cried.

Seriously, tears just started streaming down my face.

It's hot, and it smells delicious.

The meat is firm, chewy, and has the unique succulence of wild mountain spirits.

The honey, sweet and mellow, perfectly neutralized any potential fishy smell.

Especially the few strips of flesh near the neck and back, with clearly defined fibers.

After being grilled on a stone slab, it curls slightly, becoming crisp and tender upon first bite, and increasingly fragrant with each chew. The aftertaste even carries a subtle, indescribable, almost fermented wild fruit aroma...

From then on, the mountain goblins of Ailao Mountain ushered in their "era of natural enemies".

No one knows how terrifying a hungry baby who has mastered "a hundred ways to eat a mandrill" can be.

Especially since this little baby later learned, without being taught, to set traps, use feints, surprise attacks, and trip people up...

They specifically target lone individuals who don't seem very bright.

Today I'll cut off a pork tenderloin to cook in hot pot, tomorrow I'll take out a pig brain to pour hot oil over it, and the day after tomorrow I'll dismantle a thigh to grill and gnaw on...

With ever-changing styles and discerning tastes.

The number of mandrills in the Ailao Mountains has thus drastically decreased.

From previously descending the mountain in large groups, arrogantly, to later appearing sporadically and fleeing at the first sign of trouble.

In recent years, they have almost disappeared.

The local villagers thought it was a manifestation of the mountain god or a change in the environment.

Only a very few mandrills who escaped by chance deep in the Ailao Mountains back then and are now "old mandrills" remember that terrifying period when they were dominated by a human cub.

At this moment, beside the campfire.

Ji Zuodao looked up at the mountain demons hanging upside down in the trees, baring their teeth and exuding an aura of fear and anger, and his smile became even more sincere and radiant.

He licked his lips, as if he could already smell the exquisite aroma of meat that haunted his memories.

His eyes were so tender they could melt your heart, and his voice was filled with the joy of revisiting a familiar place and reuniting with old friends.

"Really..."

"Long time no see."

"I've missed you all so much."