Chapter 14: Freshness

Qin Wu kicked aside the obstructing bench and exploded forward instantly.

A dazzling sword light, like a sheet of moonlight, sliced through the air. His move was a killing blow, the sword edge aimed directly at his neck.

“Little brother, what are you doing?”

The burly man wore an expression of distress. Judging by his looks alone, he seemed like a diligent old farmer.

But at this moment, he used his bamboo hat to block the incoming sword force. It seemed that the straw hat, woven from wheat stalks, could not only block the attack but also sparked heavily when the two forces collided.

Qin Wu gripped the sword hilt, feeling the immense force transmitted through the blade, and was somewhat surprised.

It wasn’t because the man blocked his attack, but because, in his opinion, the resistance felt weak.

It seemed… he could kill him.

The burly man seemed to want to persuade him earnestly, but Qin Wu remained silent. He channeled spiritual energy into his long sword and unleashed the Mist Concealment Flowing Cloud.

The dense mist gradually spread out with the sword momentum. Using the mist for cover, his sword techniques became unpredictable, making it impossible to know where the stab would emerge from.

He could sense that the burly man had not a trace of spiritual energy on him; he should be an ordinary person who Cultivated martial arts. However, he himself was only at the first layer of Qi Refining, so the gap between them wasn’t huge.

But with the concealment of the mist, he ultimately held the advantage. Sensing the man’s opening, the long sword silently stabbed out, piercing the heart from behind.

After killing him, Qin Wu withdrew his long sword, and the mist dissipated.

The man’s corpse crashed to the ground, but not a single drop of blood flowed out. He looked down at the body, a strange feeling rising in his heart.

He felt it didn’t look like a corpse, but rather like shriveled side vegetables on a dinner plate.

Qin Wu turned his head toward the long table at the entrance of the eatery. The only remaining person seemed completely unconcerned about his companion’s death and was mechanically eating the spiced beef on his plate.

His heart sank.

It seemed killing that person would be useless.

The clouds and mist in the sky churned, and two giant chopsticks reached down again.

Qin Wu gripped his sword hilt, feeling anxious.

The only reason he dared to eat here was because he had Life Value; he couldn’t die easily. But who would have thought he would be trapped, unable to leave, dying again and again?

If his Life Value hit zero, he would be completely gone.

If absolutely necessary, he could use the panel’s teleportation to return to the Seventh Outpost. However, the dungeon of the Taixu Holy Land hadn’t been unlocked yet. Once he went back, he wouldn’t be able to return here.

This meant the plot point of the Holy Land recruitment would be completely ruined.

Qin Wu looked around, trying to find a way to live.

But no matter where he ran, he couldn’t escape. Finally, his gaze landed on the eatery.

He hadn’t entered this place yet.

The chopsticks descending from the sky were getting closer. Qin Wu turned and rushed into the eatery. As soon as he entered, he gagged from the stench of blood in the air.

In the corner, quite a few intact humans were bound, but their eyes were vacant; they had clearly suffered mental damage.

While no one was paying attention to him, Qin Wu slowly hid in the corner, simultaneously casting the Obscuring Concealment Technique to mask his aura and minimize his sense of presence.

“Old Zhu, serve the dishes! Serve them quickly!”

Many black shadows sat at the tables in the eatery. The figures he saw outside were probably these things.

They should be the real customers. The chef methodically handed plates to every black shadow.

“Don’t rush. All our ingredients are the freshest, so preparation takes time, but we absolutely won’t forget anyone…”

The chef mumbled incessantly, but his movements became even faster.

He reached behind his waist and pulled out a cleaver gleaming with cold light, grabbed the humans, and meticulously arranged them on plates before the customers.

They were still alive when they were eaten.

The chef grinned, revealing a mouthful of fangs: “Don’t worry, they’re all fresh…”

Watching humans being slaughtered wantonly as ingredients made Qin Wu extremely uncomfortable, but as he looked at the plates, an idea sparked in his mind.

This eatery’s selling point was providing the freshest ingredients to customers, which meant they had to be alive when put into the mouth.

What if he died before that happened?

Qin Wu was hesitating whether to stab himself when the entire eatery suddenly shook violently. Dust kept falling from above. With a loud roar, the roof of the eatery was clamped by two chopsticks and thrown away.

But the customers and the chef inside showed no reaction, as if they couldn’t see it.

The chopsticks clamped down from the roof, heading directly towards Qin Wu’s location. He gritted his teeth, deciding to take a gamble.

He drew his long sword from his waist, held it across his neck, and slashed down fiercely.

Consciousness faded again.

…

Outside the eatery, Qian Tuo looked at the dinner plate in front of the burly man in horror.

Just now, after Qin Wu said he was going to eat here, as he walked over and sat down, everything suddenly shrunk rapidly, turning into a dish on the table. Immediately after, the plate was placed by the proprietress in front of one of the burly men.

If Qing Xuanzi hadn’t been here, he suspected he might have been stuffed inside like Qin Wu.

“Senior Sister, will Boss be alright?”

Qian Tuo’s scalp tingled. He saw the burly man take food from the plate twice; this was already the third time.

It was a pity he couldn’t see the scene inside the plate now, but if the Boss was taken out this time, he would have to be buried with him!

Unexpectedly, Qing Xuanzi’s face showed deep confusion.

“He is the last remaining person of the Taixu Sect. I naturally won’t let anything happen to him, but…”

Qing Xuanzi hesitated for a moment. Every time she felt Qin Wu was in danger and wanted to save him, he would quickly turn peril into safety. She couldn’t figure out what was happening.

“Bang—”

The burly man in front of the plate suddenly slammed the table and roared, “Proprietress, what is going on! You clearly said the ingredients were the freshest, how did he die!”

“Oh dear!” The proprietress walked out of the eatery, looking troubled. “Guest, he was indeed alive when we served the dish. Perhaps he was scared to death by you. How can you blame us?”

“So you’re saying it’s my fault?” His expression darkened, and he stared grimly at the proprietress.

“Alright, alright! I’ll serve you a fresh plate again, won’t I!” She took the plate from in front of the burly man, casually dumped the contents onto the roadside, and walked back inside.

【Life Value – 10】

【Current Life Value: 46】

Qin Wu rolled on the ground and stood up in a sorry state. When he saw Qing Xuanzi and Qian Tuo, he froze for a moment, thinking he had fallen into a loop again.

Then he saw Qian Tuo stride over. Unlike the false feeling he gave in the loop, Qian Tuo’s face showed relief after escaping disaster: “Boss, you’re finally out.”

Seeing this, Qin Wu finally relaxed. After two seconds of silence, he asked, “What happened just now when I went to eat?”

Qian Tuo immediately recounted what he had seen and heard. Qin Wu raised his eyebrows in surprise upon hearing it; it turned out he really had become a dish on someone else’s plate.

“This young man…” Seeing Qin Wu outside, the proprietress walked out of the eatery again, her pupils deep.

“Have you paid for the meal?”

Both of them froze simultaneously.

“Since you threw the person out, how can you ask for meal money?” Qing Xuanzi glanced over lightly, her eyes cold without a trace of warmth.

The proprietress retreated a step warily and said with a cold face, “No money, then scram!”