How to Bring Common Sense to Xianxia World - Chapter 238: The Party

“Alright, folks! Line up! Line up! The next batch of yours truly barbecue will be ready in half an hour!” Wei Chen shouted at the crowd as the people in line immediately began arguing among themselves.

“Whoever doesn’t line up gets kicked out of the party!” Wei Chen declared boldly as he continued striking the grill rack with his tongs.

He turned toward Zhang Niu, who was carrying a large jar of special barbecue dip sauce. His black tailcoat uniform was pristine, as though it had just come out of ironing.

“Alfred! Check the line. If anyone dares to cut in, kick their ass out!”

“Sir… I’m Zhang Niu.”

Despite the calm and polite correction, Zhang Niu still did as Wei Chen instructed. He walked down the line to inspect it.

Before the Barbecue he prepared last night will be ready, Wei Chen then started grilling the steak. The meat came from a Fierce Giant Boar. It was only a Foundation Establishment stage fierce beast, but with its enormous size, it provided plenty of meat, more than enough to feed the entire camp three times over.

And the quality of its meat was comparable to authentic Kurobuta, the king of pork. The Wagyu of pork. Its rose-colored, marbled meat was exceptionally tender and juicy. Combined with the sheer volume of meat it provided, it almost made him want to start farming them.

Unfortunately, it was a fierce beast and could not be domesticated.

He then turned toward the teenager who had hunted the creature. He and his people had bought the boar from the teen at a premium price, and he still felt that the deal had been a bargain.

“Hey! You! The lad who brought me the Fierce Giant Boar! Come to the front!” Wei Chen pointed at a small-built teenager who seemed to specialize in movement-type martial arts.

The teen was Little Third, from Mr. Jin’s Informant Hall.

He had been standing nearby, sipping beer and laughing with the group playing Uno.

“Ahhh! I’m coming, I’m coming!” Little Third quickly placed his beer mug on the table and rushed over with a plate in hand and stood at the front as instructed.

“Be prepared to be impressed, boy! This is my Texas-style barbecue!” Wei Chen declared, then turned to the side.

“Ding Lao! Bro! Take over the steak grill rack, I’ll take out the meat from the grill pit!” Wei Chen shouted to Ding Lao, who was guiding the amateurs at the steak grill rack nearby.

“Okay, bro!” Ding Lao flashed an okay sign before taking over the steak grill rack.

With the steak grill rack taken care of, Wei Chen turned toward the grill pit, the large industrial-looking steel smoker where he had prepared the barbecue overnight. He had lost some sleep keeping an eye on it, but as a cultivator, sleep was optional rather than a requirement for a healthy body.

Usually, he would glaze the barbecue with his special sauce, but this time he decided to go with Texas style instead of Kansas style. This was the first time he had gotten his hands on a fierce beast boar, and he wanted to know what it tasted like on its own. If it wasn’t good enough, he could always dip it in sauce later.

The moment Wei Chen pulled open the heavy steel lid, a wave of clean blue-white smoke drifted out, carrying the aroma of post oak, black pepper, and sixteen hours of slow cooking.

The heavenly, mouthwatering scent of Fierce Giant Boar spread throughout the area. If Wei Chen wasn’t the boss of most of the people here, they might have swarmed the barbecue pit and fought over the meat.

Inside, the brisket rested on the grate, dark as charcoal. Its bark was dry and cracked, but when he pressed a finger against the side, the meat gave a gentle wobble. The rendered fat beneath the surface had done its work.

“Damn… as expected of ingredients from the Cultivation World,” Wei Chen murmured under his breath.

The quality, the fragrance of the meat, and the rich smokiness surpassed anything he had ever experienced in his previous life.

“Alright, people! Line up! Stop drooling and bring out your plates!” Wei Chen called out once again, and the line immediately grew even longer.

Wei Chen lifted a large chunk of meat and tossed it into the air.

The Underworld Bone Claw materialized.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

With a few swipes of his claw, the tender, steaming barbecue meat was cut into perfectly even cubes before falling neatly onto a large wooden platter Wei Chen had prepared beforehand.

A mountain of barbecue quickly piled up. As the freshly sliced cubes exposed the juicy, tender meat beneath the bark-like exterior, the people waiting in line became even more restless.

Little Third barely managed to stop himself from drooling.

Wei Chen gave him ten cubes, while the next servings went to Ding Lao and Zhang Niu. These three were served first because they had been helping him with the barbecue party.

With a plate piled high with barbecue meat, Little Third quickly returned to his table and got his beer mug refilled at the draft beer station.

The sound of upbeat Western-style festive music filled the air, carried by the lively tunes of banjos, mandolins, and accordions. The atmosphere of celebration was infectious, and the laughter all around made people’s hearts bloom with joy.

Little Third immersed himself in the atmosphere, drinking beer and enjoying the moment.

At this point…

Little Third had effectively…

Forgotten his mission.

— Two Days Later —

The door to the secret meeting room opened, and a teenage boy in his late teens walked into the room with a broad smile. His stomach was swollen like a pig’s, as though he had eaten an entire roasted pig by himself.

Burp

Little Third burped, and the smell of alcohol drifted from his mouth.

“Ahhh, Mr. Jin! First Brother! Second Brother! Good morning! What a nice day, eh?” he said, his face flushed with intoxication and his breath reeking of alcohol.

Mr. Jin’s face immediately grew solemn.

“Little Third, don’t tell me you forgot about your job and went off to have something to eat.”

Little Third’s smile remained firmly on his face.

“Yes…”

“Er… I mean no! No! Of course not! This was part of the verification process!” Realizing he had almost exposed himself, he quickly shook his head.

“Oh? Then tell me!” Mr. Jin asked with a cold smile.

“Err… it’s like this, Mr. Jin.” Little Third quickly told Mr. Jin everything that remained in his memory after the power of alcohol had washed the rest away.

It turned out that Little Third had been hungry, so he hunted a boar before heading out to verify the information. Then, while he was in the middle of exsanguinating the boar, a patrol team caught him just as he was getting started.

One thing led to another. Young Master Wei of the Underworld Palace happened to need meat for a barbecue party, and the patrol invited him along since he had caught such a large boar.

And at the party, where wine flowed freely, people’s mouths became loose, allowing him to verify the information.

“So… it really is the Underworld Palace, huh?” Mr. Jin said with a smile, looking at Little Third as though he were a treasure.

— Meanwhile —

At the campsite, the party had come to an end, and now the people of the Underworld Palace had come through the teleportation array to begin searching for the tear in the world that might be underwater.

“From my experience, I think this tear only works one way. If it were two-way, then the water from the river would have already been affected and might have dried up by now,” Lian Cheng said to his coworker from the Underworld Palace.

Wei Chen watched the meeting. As a layman in artifact creation, he could only watch these people discuss among themselves and occasionally offer an opinion when asked.

While watching them argue about how to proceed safely, his eyes wandered outside the tent window toward the barbecue pit.

The thing was too small. It was unable to satisfy the demand if he ever got his hands on a giant beast like the one from a few days ago. Even if he wanted to create a larger one, he was not an expert.

His gaze shifted to Lian Cheng. Maybe this guy could help him.

Then he looked at Youqi, who was seriously reviewing the analysis report gathered from the river’s surface.

No, that wasn’t a good idea. Bothering workplace manpower for his personal project was not nice. No boss would like that.

Then his mind wandered to a certain prisoner who used fire and was still under house arrest back at the Thousand Treasure Pavilion.

Maybe that guy would be useful.

He needed someone who excelled at controlling fire, after all.

That guy should be able to control the fire for a grand Texas-style barbecue!

— Thousand Treasure Pavilion —

At the courtyard that Mo Xingyao had designated as the place to confine the prisoners from the Zodiac and the fake Underworld Palace, Zhang Tianlong was reading a book of poetry, immersing himself in refinement and calligraphy since he had nothing else to do.

Then, suddenly, he felt a shiver run down his spine for no apparent reason.