From a country cook to a master chef

"Where did you just say this was?"

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Jue, feeling his strength gradually returning, forced himself to sit up from the straw mat.

"In reply to my benefactor, this is Lingyunwu in Lanzhou, the location of the Xingxiu Sect," the woman replied respectfully.

Upon hearing this, Lin Jue looked around and realized that he was in a reception room.

However, the place was covered in cobwebs and dust, looking like it had been abandoned for a long time.

Looking at the woman again, she was placing a large iron pot, about a foot in size, on the firewood, with an unknown viscous substance cooking inside.

A fragrant aroma wafted around, suggesting that the contents of the pot must taste quite good.

Seeing Lin Jue's wary and prying look, the woman didn't mind. She stirred the food in the pot while explaining with a smile:

"My benefactor, there is no need to worry. Although this place has declined, it is still relatively safe. After my sister rescued you last night, she is currently on the mountain looking for medicinal herbs to heal your wounds."

"Lingyunwu still has plenty of herbs to treat your injuries, so please rest assured."

"decline? Sister?"

The woman's words puzzled Lin Jue greatly. Could it be that the person who saved him was not the woman in front of him?

But he could see very clearly that the woman in front of him was none other than the herb-gathering girl who had begged him to save Wu Yanzi last night.

Steam rose from the pot, and the woman quickly bent down and blew on it twice. Seeing that it was almost cooked, she picked up two wooden sticks to prop it up, and then took out a bowl and chopsticks from the cabinet next to her, filled a bowl, and handed it to Lin Jue.

"This is Lanzhou's famous 'Hujiangmian' (a type of noodle dish), my benefactor, please give it a try!"

After taking the food from the woman, Lin Jue realized that it was actually noodles, but there wasn't much soup in it, and it looked a bit sticky.

Watching Lin Jue slowly savor his noodles, the woman smiled slightly and said:

"My benefactor, you may not know this, but the Xingxiu Sect was originally a small to medium-sized force in Lingyunwu. As the war between Dawu and Zhanbo became increasingly difficult, the sect was summoned by the imperial court, and all the senior brothers in the sect have gone to the front line. No letters have been sent back since then."

Everyone knew the truth of the matter, and gradually, the weaker senior brothers and sisters in the sect left the Xingxiu Sect one after another, and the entire sect declined.

Now, only two disciples of the Starry Constellation Sect remain to guard this place.

Lin Jue looked at the woman in surprise, then calmly said, "These two disciples must be you and your sister, young lady!"

"Um!"

The woman nodded slightly, as if she had touched a sore spot, and did not continue speaking.

Just then, a woman walked in from outside the door, wearing a white dress with cloud patterns and carrying a bamboo basket.

Lin Jue glanced over and was taken aback.

These two sisters look exactly alike!

No wonder I almost couldn't tell who was who and mistook the woman cooking for the herb-gathering woman from last night.

"Young master, you're awake!"

When the woman in the white dress saw Lin Jue wake up, she quickly stepped forward to take his pulse and check his injuries.

After a quick pulse check, the woman's eyes lit up, and she said with a happy expression, "Young master's injuries have been completely healed. I have never heard of such a thing before. Given the injuries you sustained last night, you should have needed at least half a month of rest to recover."

"Young master, you are blessed by the heavens; these medicinal herbs I gathered are now of no use."

The woman's voice was soft and gentle. After speaking, she pulled her younger sister aside, whispered a few instructions, and then the woman smiled and ran towards the door.

"I have yet to ask your names, ladies."

"Ah, didn't my little sister tell our benefactor?" The woman covered her mouth, somewhat flustered.

Lin Jue scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "However, I don't think I've asked her either."

Coming to her senses, the woman smoothed the strands of hair that had fallen across her forehead and smiled leisurely, saying, "My name is Zhao Shuhui, and that was my younger sister, Zhao Shuying."

Upon hearing this, Lin Jue nodded, clasped his hands in a salute, and said, "I am Lin Jue, a disciple of Zhong Liang in the inner courtyard of Tianwu Mountain."

"So it's Senior Brother Lin. I'm so grateful to have met you last night. Otherwise, I'd probably be dead at the hands of that villain." Zhao Shuhui murmured, her voice filled with gratitude.

Upon hearing the woman recount what had happened the previous night, Lin Jue frowned, looked up at Zhao Shuhui's beautiful face, and asked in a somewhat cold voice, "Last night's events unfolded too hastily. Would Miss Zhao be willing to recount them in detail?"

Lin Jue's words startled Zhao Shuhui. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke:

"It's a long story, and it all started with my younger sister, Shuying."

Zhao Shuhui couldn't help but sigh, then smiled sadly and murmured, "Brother Lin, you don't know, but my sister suffers from a rare disease. Every full moon night, her whole body is covered in frost, and she suffers from the pain of being invaded by the cold."

I had hoped that joining the Xingxiu Sect would provide a cure for her, but things didn't go as planned. The elders of the Xingxiu Sect could only reduce my sister's condition to once a year, but even so, each flare-up was still excruciating, driving her to the brink of suicide.

At this point, Zhao Shuhui suddenly seemed to remember something and became speechless for a moment.

Seeing that she seemed to have something difficult to say, Lin Jue pondered for a moment and then asked bluntly, "What exactly happened last night after I was knocked unconscious by Han Wenqiao's Hundred Ghosts Soul-Devouring Curse?"

Lin Jue's words surprised Zhao Shuhui greatly. She quickly got up, took a storage bag from the cabinet behind her, and handed it out with a smile:

"The Hundred Ghosts Devouring Soul Curse only works on the cursed target, and has no effect on others. After Senior Brother Lin was cursed and fell into a coma, his body began to twist and twitch strangely. I dared not get close, and could only stay by his side until he stopped having those strange reactions, before I carried him back to Lingyunwu."

My senior brother Wuyanzi had already passed away due to his severe injuries, and I buried him in that forest.

This storage bag belongs to Senior Brother Wuyanzi. As for Han Wenqiao's storage bag, it was completely corroded by the blood from last night and was not preserved.

After hearing what Zhao Shuhui said, Lin Jue was stunned. After a long silence, he finally let out a long sigh and showed a hint of regret.

"Fellow Daoist Wuyanzi finally broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage, but who would have thought he would die at the hands of a Core Formation stage old monster? Truly, life is unpredictable!"

"Everyone has their own destiny. Perhaps this is a kind of liberation for Brother Wuyanzi," Zhao Shuhui comforted Lin Jue with a calm expression.

After a few sighs, Lin Jue buried his head in eating the remaining noodles in his bowl.

He secretly guessed that his rapid recovery was due to the mysterious scroll.

So after finishing his noodles, he went to a quiet place by himself and took out the mysterious scroll from his storage bag to examine it carefully.

As always, as his gaze gradually fell upon the house hidden in the mountains and waters, he was instantly transported into the world of the painting.

When he returned to the courtyard of that family, Lin Jue's gaze was instantly drawn to the unfinished game on the stone table in the stone pavilion through the fence.

A white piece has suddenly appeared on it.

After a reversal of fortune, a glimmer of hope for a comeback is emerging.

"..."

Lin Jue was startled. Could it be that there was someone else in the painting besides him?

If not, how can we explain the changes in this endgame?

"This junior is Lin Jue. May I ask which senior is here? Would you please show yourself?"

Lin Jue bowed respectfully towards the small courtyard that had never been opened before.

However, after waiting for a long time, no one answered his question.

Even so, Lin Jue's heart was still full of doubts.

Faced with the bizarre changes in the endgame, Lin Jue no longer dared to try to break into the courtyard as before. After waiting in vain, he slowly withdrew from the world of the painting.

Looking at the mysterious scroll in his hand, now tinged with an air of eeriness, Lin Jue rubbed his nose vigorously, unsure of what to do. After standing there pondering for a long time, he could only sigh helplessly and toss the scroll back into his storage bag.

Outside the dilapidated hall of the Xingxiu Sect.

Lin Jue wandered all the way here, and just as he was about to enter, he was suddenly blocked by something.

His expression changed, and he tentatively approached to take a look, only to be surprised to find that the entire hall seemed to be blocked by a transparent protective shield, blocking all entrances.

"A formation?"

Lin Jue was startled, but when he thought that the entire Xingxiu Sect now only had two female disciples with low cultivation levels left, he felt relieved.

"Junior sisters, it's me. May I ask if you could open the formation and let me in for a moment?"