I was a charlatan in India

"Eat something else, eat something else."

Surya was somewhat embarrassed and beckoned the monks to divert their attention.

The monks initially felt they were being targeted, but seeing Surya's reaction, they were clearly quite surprised themselves.

I don't know if the servants messed it up, or if they've never even eaten it before...

The monk next to Aqilou tugged at his robe.

"Senior brother, you said..."

They knew each other inside and out, so there was no need to ask specific questions. Ajita's abilities would naturally tell his junior brother what he wanted to ask.

However, Acharya shook his head, his smile somewhat subtle: "I don't know."

How could he not know?

Surya had never eaten the merit ball.

And the origin of this merit ball is none other than the divine messenger Shenhe!

With a strong sense of crisis, Ajita wisely cut off the investigation.

Amitabha Buddha, this humble monk knows nothing about it.

Driven by curiosity, he reached for the Masala merit ball, but this time, his movements were noticeably less urgent.

Aqilu Tuo didn't say it explicitly, but his junior brother seemed to understand.

In his mind, his senior brother was omniscient.

If he says he doesn't know, it's because he feels he might offend someone and doesn't want to answer.

The answer that would offend people the most is obvious.

That idiot Kshatriya must have never eaten the merit ball before!

"Cough, cough..."

Sure enough, a sharp cough soon followed.

"Aqilutao, this dish..."

Mahata probably guessed it; it probably wouldn't taste good either.

Speaking of which, the divine messenger just now used meat to evade the danger, which clearly shows that he knew something was wrong with this thing.

Aqilu Tuo racked his brains to save face for Suriya as much as possible.

"This dish is seasoned with classic local spices, which, when paired with the flavor of the 'merit ball,' are truly..."

Just then, the cook was carried over by two soldiers.

"Did you make this merit ball?"

The cook, seeing this, knew something was wrong.

He forced a smile and replied, "Yes, young master, I did it."

"Okay, okay, okay!"

Suriya said "good" three times in succession, his tone becoming increasingly unfriendly: "Did you make all these merit orbs?"

The cook suddenly realized what was happening and quickly dragged all his colleagues into the mess.

"In reply to... young master, these were made by the other cooks on duty, it's really..."

"Bang!"

Surrey slammed his hand on the table: "What are you all standing there for! Everyone in charge of cooking today, call them all over here!"

The cook's face turned ashen.

Could it be... could it be that... someone got sick from eating it?

This……

Father, Mother, your unfilial son is afraid that today...

Seeing the cook's expression, Mahakasyapa reached for the dishes in front of him, while secretly using his supernatural powers to transmit a message to his disciples.

"eat."

This is a concise and to-the-point order.

If they don't save face for Surrey, these cooks might not have a good outcome.

His disciples were not incapable of enduring hardship, and upon hearing their master's instructions, they all sprang into action.

Seeing this, Mahata said in a huff.

"You don't need to force yourselves to eat. There's something wrong with this dish; it wasn't my intention at all."

"I will host another banquet later; I will certainly not treat everyone unfairly in this matter!"

This is a matter of face!

Mahata quickly tried to smooth things over.

"Lord Surya, you may not know this, but our Buddhist community is austere, and the dishes served today are already delicacies."

Delicious my foot!

I can just walk down the street and take a dog, let it paw at it a couple of times, and it'll taste better than this!

Mahata was spouting nonsense with an earnest tone.

"Furthermore, monks do not lie."

"This merit ball is indeed the first time we've ever seen one. It's truly an eye-opener. Amitabha."

The disciples responded in unison, "Amitabha."

"No!"

Surrey emphasized, "Tomorrow, I'll treat everyone to another meal. I'll personally oversee the process, and I'll make sure you enjoy authentic Varanasi cuisine!"

"Thank you very much."

Mahata thanked him while swallowing the food whole.

He had a bad feeling about Surrey's personal oversight.

Actually, cacti themselves aren't that bad to eat; they're quite bland. The problem is that Shenhe's original design was really unethical.

Whether it's shredded ginger, an extra amount of masala spices, or a thickened salt broth, none of these are normal seasonings. As long as you rinse off the seasonings, it's still edible.

Moreover, this merit ball is indeed rare; it is the first time the monks have ever seen one.

Of course, I'll never eat it again.

The hardest thing to swallow was the rice; the cactus thorns in it were really...

Soon, a group of cooks stood dejectedly in front of the courtyard.

With Mahata's intervention, Surya was no longer as angry as before. What he couldn't accept was not the poor hospitality, but the loss of face.

Now it seems that these monks haven't seen much of the world, which changes the nature of the matter.

That's acceptable.

However, he still pointed to his table and questioned, "Which dishes did you all make? Go and get them yourself!"

Although those who were preparing the regular dishes were a little nervous, they quickly brought out their finished products. Only the four people responsible for cooking the merit balls looked worried.

As chefs, they naturally tasted what they made and knew whether it was good or not.

The problem is, this was made according to Da Tian's recipe!

They gritted their teeth and did their part in the short term.

Surya walked up to the cook carrying the merit ball and patted his fleshy face.

"Do you know that by cooking like this, the young master should have broken your legs and made you feed the hunting dogs!"

"However, you guys are lucky; the things you made are barely acceptable to the high monk."

"So, young master won't make things difficult for you. Just eat the food you made yourself. Whatever's left over today, you'll have to finish it all. Any problems?"

"No, no problem!"

The chefs were suddenly jolted awake.

This is far too lenient; they thought they were going to be executed today.

Especially those who made the merit balls.

Knowing full well that what I was making was a pile of garbage, I had no choice but to follow this bizarre recipe and suffer this undeserved disaster. I felt both wronged and fortunate.

In any case, it's a good thing that I'm alive.

Everything else is negotiable.

As for the remaining people, they could roughly guess what had happened.

After all, this merit ball is a rare item. They had tasted it before it was served and felt that it shouldn't be cooked this way; it should be prepared differently.

Now that I'm involved, I feel angry and gloat over my colleagues' misfortune.

Serves you right for messing around and giving me a false alarm.

We'll see how you eat it later!

"Get out of here, go wait over there!"

Surya returned to his seat and began working on the fish, but he never touched the plates of merit balls again.

Judging from the monks' expressions, none of these dishes tasted good, which was quite easy to tell.

The banquet was somewhat awkward.

The local specialties from Surya and Shenhe remained untouched.

On the monks' side, only Mahakasyapa and Ajita ate relatively cleanly; the rest of the disciples also had most of their food left.

Honestly, it's a miracle they could even eat half of this culinary abomination.

"Come on, it's your turn, get to work!"

Surrey pointed at Shenhe: "Start with that table! Look, the Divine Envoy hasn't touched a single bite!"

Shenhe, somewhat helpless, tried to smooth things over for his servant.

"Lord Surya, I just have a craving for meat. Actually, the cooking of this Merit Ball is indeed the authentic way the Order does it."

"……Um?"

Surrey's hand froze in mid-air.

"Um."

Shenhe repeated, "The Merit Ball does indeed have this cooking style; within the cult, it's called... 'Remembering Bitterness Rice'."

His tone was very certain.

"Yes, it's a meal to remember the bitter past."