CHAPTER 31: CHAPTER 31: AN UNEXPECTED GAIN

Sun Wu had learned his lesson. From then on, no matter what Chen Xu asked him to do, he obediently complied.

Chen Xu stood by the oil lamp, flipping through the account book, and casually asked, "Was the thing earlier tasty?"

"Tasty? Tasty?" Sun Wu was initially puzzled, hesitantly speaking while trying to sneak a glance at Chen Xu’s expression.

He saw that the young man didn’t even lift his eyebrows, and Sun Wu’s heart seized with a sudden pang of fear. He hurriedly faked a series of exaggerated flattering smiles: "Tasty! Oh, incredibly tasty. I, I have never tasted anything so world-shatteringly delicious in my life, I, I..."

Sun Wu forced a smile, while inwardly his heart was bleeding. He recalled the strange powder that had been forcibly stuffed into his mouth earlier.

He suspected it was this powder that put him under Chen Xu’s control, but at this moment, even understanding the cause was futile.

Having already experienced the soul-wrenching agony once, Sun Wu didn’t wish to go through it again. He mustered all his life’s wits, carefully observing and flattering.

"Crispy, fragrant, sweet; it was extremely delicious. Hehe, Mr. Chen... um, um, is there any, any more?"

[Likes +1+1+1...]

Six likes in a row, Sun Wu said in one breath.

Chen Xu subtly raised an eyebrow. This test wasn’t for nothing; it turned out that even such a bizarre spiritual food like Soul-Devouring Powder could indeed earn likes.

Although Sun Wu was forced to like due to Chen Xu’s beating, perhaps due to genuine emotional turmoil, some of those likes came from the heart. As a result, more than half of Sun Wu’s likes were recorded in the Food Cauldron Celestial Book.

And soon, Chen Xu discovered something even more interesting.

Sun Wu was an ordinary mortal, with no outstanding qualities in Essence, Qi, and Spirit, yet his daily like limit wasn’t just 5 points.

Chen Xu checked the Food Cauldron Celestial Book and immediately understood.

If the food given was spiritual, even if the target was a mortal, having tasted this spiritual food would grant a mortal a daily like limit of 100!

Of course, based on the basic principle that even passersby could accumulate likes just by praising the food Chen Xu made, the like limit for spiritual food was also favored.

When the target of praise was spiritual food, the daily like limit for an ordinary passerby was 10 points.

Chen Xu, like a navigator discovering a new continent, was suddenly intrigued.

He simply ordered Sun Wu, "Continue."

Sun Wu, always on tenterhooks, mentally tense, upon hearing Chen Xu’s command to continue, quickly recited the meticulously gathered flattering phrases: "Just now, that powder was exceptionally delicious. Not only was it fragrant, crispy, smooth, and sweet, but it also melted in the mouth..."

Continuing to observe, seeing that Chen Xu’s expression remained calm, Sun Wu became more vigorous.

"It’s like jade flakes and qiongyao, filling the mouth with saliva.

Heh, hehehe, even like falling snow from the Yao Terrace, more elegant than the plum cake of Six-Flower House and more enchanting than the cold food powder of the Golden Gift Building..."

[Likes +1+1+1...]

Initially cautious, Sun Wu then applied force. Once he started, he couldn’t stop, spewing words like a torrent.

Truly worthy of being the Chief Shopkeeper of Boya Studio in Jichuan County, he had a tongue that was like blooming lotus!

[Likes +1+1+1...]

With unceasing likes, Sun Wu wanted to show his loyalty in front of Chen Xu; as long as Chen Xu didn’t say stop, he didn’t dare pause for even a moment.

Even when he started becoming pale and his face turned bitter while speaking.

Eventually, his face twisted into a painful smile, mixed with a hint of green, to the point that his mother wouldn’t recognize him, yet he kept on praising.

"Such a thing should only exist in the heavens, how many times can one taste it in the world?"

Wuwuwu...

Sun Wu was crying in his heart.

[Likes +1+1+1...]

Accumulate 100 likes, earning 10 free attribute points, and 100 points of fireworks value all into the pocket.

Excellent!

Suddenly, Chen Xu said, "Tell me, where have you hidden all my silver?"

Sun Wu’s endless chatter came to an abrupt halt. He opened his mouth, wishing he could slap himself for that crying fit he had in his heart earlier!

Wasn’t he just praising how delicious it was until he ran out of words?

Come on, let him continue praising.

He could keep going for another three hundred rounds.

But Sun Wu didn’t dare defy Chen Xu, even though his bitterness already permeated his entire being.

Yet even the number one miser must bow down in the face of extreme terror.

Sun Wu wiped his tear-streaked face, crawled on the ground to the bookshelf, rummaging through the bottom of the shelf, peeling off a seemingly seamless board from underneath the books.

The board was a six-petal flower-shaped wooden plank.

He held the wooden plank, crawled again under the desk, and felt around the floor, this time lifting off a perfectly square blue brick, under which was a six-petal flower-shaped recess.

Sun Wu placed the flower-shaped wooden plank into the recess, heard a very faint click.

He opened a small low cabinet on the right side of the desk, pulled out another board from the cabinet, and retrieved a wooden box from a mechanism space beneath the board.

Chen Xu watched all this silently, feeling a begrudging admiration for Sun Wu’s ability to hide things.

There were so many layers of hidden mechanisms. Without Sun Wu’s confession, who would ever think to look here?

From this, Chen Xu realized a truth: the Soul-Devouring Powder was just too useful!

Unfortunately, he had only managed to make one portion, and the key ingredient of the Soul-Devouring Powder, [One part pleasure, three parts lament], was rather peculiar.

Chen Xu couldn’t help but ponder how he could acquire more of [One part pleasure, three parts lament]?

Afterward, Chen Xu took a total of three hundred and sixty-seven taels of silver from Sun Wu.

His original intent was to strip him clean, to rob him thoroughly.

To this end, Chen Xu repeatedly used the control technique, causing Sun Wu agony to the point of breaking down multiple times.

Sun Wu, in tears and snot, banging his head on the ground, explained in profound regret: "Mr. Chen, spare my life, I truly have nothing more! Blame it on my past sinister thoughts, encouraging Miao Chao to visit the Heilu Temple once, that temple, that temple..."

With a determined heart, Sun Wu finally exposed his greatest secret: "In the Heilu Temple, there is a goat-headed mountain deity. Ever since I saw it once, I’ve dreamt every night of being devoured by goats. Only by burning incense and offering silver coins on the first and fifteenth can I escape this nightmare.

It’s not that I wanted to be stingy, I was just constrained with no other choice, wuwuwu..."

Saying this, Sun Wu finally wept out loud in sorrow.

The keyword "Heilu Temple" immediately reminded Chen Xu of the "Heilu Mountain" he had heard about and the precious sheep touted by a mutton vendor on South Market Street!

That sheep had always made Chen Xu inexplicably uncomfortable, though he could never figure out why.

Hearing Sun Wu mention Heilu Temple and bring up nightmares of "being eaten by goats", and recalling Mr. Zhou mentioning the Beast Creation Skill, Chen Xu suddenly connected all the dots.

Right, he passed by South Market Street yesterday morning.

At that time, he had already awakened the Food Cauldron Celestial Book and had the ability to see food entries, but when he gazed at the sheep heads on the vendor’s stall, no food entries appeared.

Why did the sheep heads have no entries?

The answer was as evident as ever, and Chen Xu’s heart shivered.