Mythical Luo, starting with the fox spirit

Yang Ping'an left the bamboo forest and headed towards the location of Dongfang Huaizhu in his divine sense.

Shenhuo Mountain Villa, Huai River Bamboo Forest.

The mighty Huai River, as it flows through this wide expanse of water, is also filled with surging footsteps.

The banks of the Huai River are lush and verdant, with bamboo forests everywhere, growing along the winding Huai River towards the endless horizon.

Nestled in the lush bamboo forest, several bamboo houses sit beside the Huai River. A bamboo dock extends into the water, and a small boat with a black awning is moored to the dock, drifting with the current.

Two people, one big and one small, each held a handful of bamboo shoots and teased the birds in the bamboo grove. The chirping of the birds rose and fell, creating a lively scene.

The two men scattered a few grains of bamboo rice, watching with great amusement as the birds eagerly scrambled for the food.

As Yang Ping'an walked through the bamboo forest, the rustling of the bamboo leaves startled several bamboo rats that were feeding. They fled in panic toward their burrows.

Looking at the plump bamboo rats, Yang Ping'an thought, how could he let such a gift slip away?

With a thought, Yang Ping'an lifted the six fattest bamboo rats into the air and then used a thin bamboo strip to tie their hind legs together.

Yang Ping'an carried the string of bamboo rats and slowly walked towards the bamboo house in the forest.

The bamboo rats struggled desperately, trying to bite through the bamboo strips with their sharp teeth, but their bellies were too big, preventing them from bending over or reaching the bamboo strips on their legs. They swayed back and forth in vain.

After feeding the birds for a while, Dongfang Qinlan scattered all the bamboo rice in her hand. The birds all gathered around Dongfang Huaizhu, making her a little bored.

Dongfang Qinlan did not disturb her sister; they had agreed beforehand to each take a handful of bamboo rice.

After using up her bamboo rice, Dongfang Qinlan sat in front of the bamboo house, propped her head up, and watched Dongfang Huaizhu, who was still teasing the birds, for a while. Then, she looked around boredly.

Suddenly, Dongfang Qinlan's eyes lit up as she saw Yang Ping'an emerge from the forest path.

"Brother Yang, you've finally come to play with me and my sister!" Dongfang Qinlan ran towards Yang Ping'an from the bamboo house and shouted happily.

Yang Ping'an was stunned as he held the string of bamboo rats. He hadn't expected Dongfang Qinlan to have such a deep impression of him.

"What delicious food did you bring?" Dongfang Qinlan ran up to Yang Ping'an, trying to find the snacks he had hidden on his body.

"Little sister, stop fooling around." Dongfang Huaizhu turned around with some joy upon hearing Dongfang Qinlan's voice, interrupting Dongfang Qinlan's impolite behavior.

"Long time no see." Yang Ping'an greeted Dongfang Huaizhu with a smile, then held up the plump bamboo rat in his hand and waved it in front of Dongfang Qinlan. "Look what this is?"

"Ah, just a few bamboo rats that look good but aren't edible." Dongfang Qinlan looked at the few plump and cute bamboo rats and was a little disappointed that Yang Ping'an hadn't brought her any snacks.

"Little sister, don't tease Brother Yang." Dongfang Huaizhu scattered all the bamboo rice in her hand to the birds on the ground, walked up to Yang Ping'an, and pressed down on the ahoge (a stray hair) on Dongfang Qinlan's head with one hand.

"Brother Yang, you've arrived! Why didn't you let me know?" Dongfang Huaizhu felt a little shy, thinking that she hadn't had time to dress up and was all bare-faced.

"Haha, I've been saying I'd come visit you guys often, but I haven't had a chance until now. I came as soon as I had some free time." Yang Ping'an looked at Dongfang Huaizhu, who was dressed without makeup, still radiant and beautiful, with even more innocence in her eyes, and his heart fluttered.

"Brother Yang~" Dongfang Huaizhu blushed under Yang Ping'an's intense gaze, her fair cheeks and slender neck flushed with an indelible blush.

"Haha, Qin Lan, don't underestimate this bamboo rat. I'll show you what I can do." Yang Ping'an was attracted by the beautiful Oriental Bamboo, but when he saw her big, watery eyes, he came to his senses.

With strong willpower, Yang Ping'an looked away, squatted down, and stroked Dongfang Qinlan's little head.

"You can cook?" Dongfang Qinlan shook her head, shook off Yang Ping'an's large hand, and looked at Yang Ping'an with suspicion, who didn't seem to know how to cook.

"I'm known as the Little Culinary Prodigy of the Yang Family, just you wait and see," Yang Ping'an said confidently, standing up and patting his chest.

As Yang Ping'an spoke, he picked up the string of bamboo rats and walked towards the lower reaches of the Huai River.

Dongfang Qinlan quickly caught up with Yang Ping'an, watching curiously as he dealt with the bamboo rats.

Dongfang Huaizhu suppressed her shyness and waited for the blush on her face to gradually fade before chasing after Yang Ping'an, wanting to help him deal with the bamboo rats. Only her crystal-clear ears still had a trace of redness, proving that Dongfang Huaizhu was not as calm as she appeared.

Yang Ping'an walked to the Huai River, casually whittled out a bamboo knife, and with a flurry of blades, he disemboweled, skinned, and removed the bones from the several bamboo rats that had already been knocked unconscious, quickly cleaning them up.

By the time Dongfang Huaizhu and Dongfang Qinlan reached his side, Yang Ping'an had already used the clear stream water to clean the tender bamboo rat meat in his hands.

Seeing that Dongfang Huaizhu wanted to help, Yang Ping'an smiled and handed her the bamboo knife and two portions of bamboo rat meat. He then whittled a new bamboo knife and found a smooth, flat stone, cleaned it, and used it as a table.

Dongfang Huaizhu took the stone table, burned it with divine fire, and then placed the two portions of bamboo rat meat on the stone table. He held it down with one hand and carefully cut the bamboo rat meat with the other.

Watching Yang Ping'an and her sister slicing bamboo rat meat on either side, Dongfang Qinlan was also eager to try it herself.

"Qin Lan, go and gather some dry branches and bamboo leaves for starting a fire later. Also, find me a fresh bamboo." Yang Ping'an saw Dongfang Qin Lan eager to get started and instructed her to prepare for the barbecue.

Dongfang Qinlan immediately forgot about cutting the meat and ran off to pick up bamboo branches.

With his superb swordsmanship, Yang Ping'an wielded the bamboo knife with speed, precision, and steadiness, cutting the bamboo rat meat into equal-sized, finger-width strips of meat with alternating layers of fat and lean.

After Yang Ping'an finished slicing four portions of bamboo rat meat, he looked at Dongfang Huaizhu and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Dongfang Huaizhu's bamboo knife slashed crookedly across the bamboo rat meat, leaving behind winding, looping slices of meat.

"What are you laughing at? What's so funny? I can't cook." Dongfang Huaizhu heard Yang Ping'an's laughter, her face flushed with embarrassment and anger, and she glared at him threateningly.

"Okay, okay, I won't laugh anymore, pfft hahaha~" Yang Ping'an covered his mouth with his hand, and couldn't help but laugh when he saw Dongfang Huaizhu cut the bamboo knife crookedly again.

Dongfang Huaizhu dropped the bamboo rat meat in her hand, picked up the bamboo knife, and glared fiercely at Yang Ping'an, who was still laughing. Her murderous aura was palpable, but her face was actually not threatening at all; she looked rather fierce and cute.

"Let me teach you how to make the cut." Yang Ping'an suppressed his laughter, otherwise it wouldn't be good if he really angered Dongfang Huaizhu and drove her away.

"You need to hold the bamboo rat meat down first, spread it open with your hands, and then use the back half of the bamboo knife to cut it diagonally. This way you can cut it more neatly."

Yang Ping'an personally demonstrated and instructed Dongfang Huaizhu on how to cut meat with a bamboo knife. Dongfang Huaizhu followed his example and tried again.