Chapter 88 - 83: Destruction Plan

Chapter 88: Chapter 83: Destruction Plan

The rainstorm stopped in the middle of the night. By the time Ning He set out the next morning, the sky was already crystal clear.

She had cleaned out all the Dragon Red Fruit pits last night. They filled a whole drawer, and Ning He’s backpack could only hold half of them. After wrapping the remaining half tightly in a bag and stuffing it into the deepest part of her wardrobe, she shouldered her heavy backpack and set off.

This time, Macken was leading a culinary tour group.

Whenever there was a rainstorm, Beiluo City’s reservoir would open its gates to release water, and the upstream rivers would also discharge floodwaters. As a result, a massive amount of various fish, shrimp, and crabs would appear in the downstream river channels, making it the perfect time for a feast. The campsite for this trip was the same as the previous two, which suited Ning He perfectly.

Macken and a few of his men returned in less than an hour with dozens of pounds of fresh catch. Ning He and Uncle Hansha immediately fired up the stoves.

Among the harvested fish and shrimp were a few new mutated species. The system recorded them all, which was an unexpected bonus for Ning He.

The system’s cooking instructions were clear. Under Ning He’s intentional guidance, Uncle Hansha picked out some tender, boneless fish and river eels as thick as an arm for grilling. The fish was sprinkled with scallions and ginger to bring out its fresh, sweet flavor, while the river eels were brushed with Ning He’s rich sauce, turning out incredibly succulent. A type of hand-sized giant river shrimp was made into a pasta sauce—garlic butter shrimp. The fish with rougher meat was mashed, mixed with cheese, coated in egg wash and breadcrumbs, and fried into cheese fish sticks. Paired with Ning He’s tartar sauce, they were crispy, savory, and not at all greasy, making them a perfect snack for all ages.

Ning He used her own roasted pepper seasoning to make roasted pepper mutated giant grass carp and steamed some garlic vermicelli shrimp. Pairing it with rice wine, she cooked an incredibly fragrant and spicy crab dish. Finally, she chopped the eight-clawed soft-shell turtle—which the guests were too intimidated to eat—into sixteen pieces and stewed it as a working meal for Macken and his crew.

After several collaborations, Uncle Hansha had gradually let Ning He take the lead while he played a supporting role. Everyone was happy to see this arrangement. Not only had the out-of-town tours with Ning He achieved an incredibly high satisfaction rate—booking Black Panther Company’s culinary tours up to three months in advance—but the big-pot meals Ning He cooked for the crew every time were absolutely delicious. Even Uncle Hansha ate them with great relish, so how could he have any complaints?

Today, Macken arranged a short boat sightseeing tour in a safe water area for all the guests. Although the range was small, the guests were obviously very satisfied. Even Ning He felt envious watching them.

After the rainstorm, the mountains looked freshly washed, and the sun shone brightly. With the blue sky above and clear water below, leisurely rowing a boat was such a poetic and beautiful experience. In this world, an experience like this was the ultimate luxury. Even celebrities on social media platforms would post photos of such trips. The wealthy young lady they hosted last time even brought a dedicated photographer to take pictures the entire time. It seemed that no matter the era or social status, people’s desire to compare themselves to others remained exactly the same.

The lunchtime culinary feast was a great success. The kabayaki eel and spicy crab were the highlights of the meal, eaten so cleanly that not even a drop of sauce remained. Ning He herself was very satisfied. Not only did these mutated crabs have a high meat yield, but the meat was also incredibly fresh and sweet, hardly inferior to sea crabs. Marinated in advance with rice wine, the resulting spicy crab was thrillingly hot and flavorful while perfectly retaining the crab meat’s original plumpness and sweetness—far exceeding her expectations.

After the feast ended, the braised soft-shell turtle stewed in the large pot with spiced marinade had become tender and falling off the bone, deeply infused with flavor. Paired with white rice, Johnny felt like he could devour ten bowls of it. As for the shape of the meat chunks that would usually deter average people, it didn’t cause the slightest psychological burden for folks like them. A huge chunk of meat went in, a small piece of bone came out; as long as it tasted amazing, that was all that mattered.

While they took turns gorging themselves, Ning He carefully calculated her plan for later. She had brought a massive bag of Dragon Red Fruit pits. With people closely following her from the front and back, it would be quite difficult to throw them away unnoticed. She needed an excuse to step away halfway through the trip to handle it. That wouldn’t be hard; she just had to say she desperately needed to use the restroom. Even if someone followed her, the distance would definitely be far enough for her to sneakily do what she needed to do.

With a plan in mind, Ning He quickly finished her lunch in a few bites, feeling a bit left wanting more at the end. The giant soft-shell turtle had been stewed for long enough that the broth was full of gelatin, making it slightly sticky on the lips. Fresh, fragrant, and slightly spicy, it was absolutely divine when mixed with rice.

After lunch was settled, Ning He asked Macken for permission to take a stroll outside. Although he still hadn’t figured out exactly what she was trying to do, and she had already roamed this area two or three times in a row, Macken didn’t ask a single question. He simply arranged for Johnny and another subordinate to accompany her. Johnny was now quite familiar with Ning He and treated her with exceptional politeness. He was very enthusiastic about acting as her bodyguard and didn’t find it troublesome in the slightest.

The three of them soon walked into the dense forest. After the rainstorm, the soil in the woods was wet, making them trudge unevenly and slowing their pace. This area wasn’t particularly dangerous, and since the three of them had been here twice before, they were in a relaxed mood and even chatted in low voices.

"...I told Grandpa Miao all about the dishes you made. He praised you for being talented and amazing, and said he definitely has to meet you once he recovers from his illness," Johnny said with a wide grin.

"Really? I’d really love to meet Grandpa Miao too. I heard he used to be a highly renowned head chef in the First Ring."

"Not just highly renowned, he was the absolute best. Grandpa Miao was the only master chef in all of Beiluo City who was proficient in every single cuisine. The head chefs in those restaurants nowadays were nothing but apprentices trailing behind him back then." Johnny’s face bore obvious disdain as he spoke. Clearly, he had a big problem with those people.

Ning He was quite interested in these old tales and pressed him with a few more questions, but Johnny seemed unwilling to go into the details, so she simply dropped the subject. After all, now wasn’t the time for an in-depth discussion anyway.

After walking and stopping for half an hour, Ning He felt they were far enough from the base. She stopped in her tracks and clutched her stomach with an embarrassed expression. "Um... I need to use the restroom. I ate too much just now."

Johnny didn’t find anything unusual about this. He looked around and pointed to a small raised dirt mound to their front right. "Go behind there!"

Ning He naturally had no objections. The three of them quickly arrived in front of the dirt mound.

"We’ll wait for you here."

Ning He nodded and walked briskly behind the mound.

This seemed to be the edge of the dense forest. A dozen meters further ahead was a steep drop-off, and the sound of rushing water could be heard.

Ning He quickly observed her surroundings. After confirming there was nothing unusual, she hurriedly squatted down and took off her backpack. The moment she crouched, her nose caught a whiff of a sweet fragrance, but she paid it no mind. She swiftly unzipped her bag, revealing a bulging cloth sack inside.

Ning He brushed aside the thick layer of leaves on the ground, used her small portable shovel to roughly dig a hole, buried the cloth sack inside, and covered it with mud and leaves. Mission accomplished.

Just as she was about to stand up, a thought flashed across her mind. After a brief hesitation, she summoned the system store and bought a few mutated Dragon Red Fruit pepper seeds. She wanted to test whether these seeds were truly as resilient in a natural environment as the system claimed, and whether they could survive.

Ning He took out a plastic tube of powder from her bag, emptied its contents, and placed the seeds inside. Freeing up her hands, she picked up her small shovel again, ready to dig another hole.

But just as she swung the shovel, she felt a gust of wind sweeping up from behind her head. Instantly, alarm bells rang in her mind, and she instinctively threw herself forward.

A foul, bloody wind slashed through the air.

Ning He caught a glimpse from the corner of her eye, and her entire body instantly broke out in goosebumps.

It was a monster half the height of a human, with the body of a snake and the face of a toad. It was flicking a bright red forked tongue, and a pair of vertical pupils filled with dangerous intent locked onto her. Its cheeks puffed in and out, and one of its legs impatiently scratched at the ground, looking ready to launch an attack at any moment.

Ning He instinctively wanted to scream, but to her horror, she found her throat couldn’t make a single sound! Before she could calm down, the monster leaped up again. Too slow to react, Ning He could only watch helplessly as danger descended, crying out in her heart, "I’m doomed!"

However, the situation took a bizarre turn.

The monster leaped into midair, but then it suddenly shot out its tongue, wrapped it around a high tree branch, changed direction, and bounded away to another spot.

Ning He blinked. Before she could figure out what was happening, the ground beneath her suddenly trembled. Then, the surrounding trees began emitting creaking sounds one after another, all tilting and collapsing toward one side.

Standing guard outside, Johnny and his companion had waited for a while. Just as they were about to ask Ning He how much longer she would be, they noticed that the treetops on the other side of the dirt mound looked somewhat abnormal.

"Is she coming out?" Johnny guessed out loud. But the next second, his eyes widened, and he sprinted forward like a cheetah.

"Quick, a landslide! It’s dangerous!"

However, before he could reach the back of the dirt mound, a massive SPLASH echoed from the water below.

Johnny roared and leaped onto the slope in a few strides. The dirt mound before him was reduced to an empty shell. The other half, along with Ning He, had vanished into the surging rapids below.