Little Cooking Saint – 0249 – Meaty Pork Crackling Noodle (d)

Chapter 249 Meaty Pork Crackling Noodle (d)

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Gumihou

 

The Eighth Realm.

Opposite the coast of the Wuji was an island shrouded in mist. At a certain courtyard, Demon Vines fluttered and swayed with the sea breeze as sounds of a guqin thrummed through in the air. A woman dressed in green [1] stroked the strings. The sounds vibrating through the air was like a hoarse cry. At times, it was as though the strings were screeching in protest. It was not very pleasant music.

The wide leaves swayed and fluttered, the thick, durable foliage occasionally suppressed the unpleasant noise, giving relief to the creatures around.

Just then, the gate to the Demon Vine courtyard opened. A tall, handsome man glided in, followed by his entourage. His brilliant white hair made him stood out in the group. [1] A dark red dot on his forehead drew attention from his hair to his face, highlighting his looks even more. No man on the island could match him in terms of looks.

“After so many years of practising, your qin is still so unpleasant,” disregarding his elegant looks, the man stuck a pinky into each ear and made a show of plugging them as he approached. “Just stop it, stop that awful sound and have mercy on those cute little souls around you,”

The woman looked up expressionlessly. [2a]

At the sight of the man, she threw the guqin aside with a dull note. “You still have old geezer hair.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? I am a Master of Illusions. The whiter our hair, the more powerful our arts,” the man flicked his long white hair and a bowl of medicine appeared on his palm. “Old rules still apply, drink it yourself.”

The woman sneered, “Must you come and personally give this poison to me every year? Why not just kill me!”

“There’s no point saying this to me. I am merely a collaborator with the Tan-Tai Clan. They come to me for medicine and I personally deliver the goods under the specified conditions. Whether you drink it or not is up to you. If you have any grievances, speak to your husband. Leave me out of this,” the man drawled unconcernedly.

Then, he continued, “Speaking of which, seeing your love-hate revenge kill and be killed drama is getting rather tiring. Where did you find the energy for all this drama? Aren’t you weary at all?”

“Humph,” the woman grabbed the bowl and swallowed the medicine down in one gulp. Then, she threw the bowl onto the table. “Since you [3] are bored of the old drama, shall I introduce a new play to you?”

“Oh?” the man flashed her a look. “Even stuck in such a place, you still have the ability to ‘Call up a Moth’ [4]? Well, well, I have nothing better to do anyway. Please, do indulge me,” [2b] [5] A sudden change came over the woman. Gone was the sneering, half-crazed look as she sat down and smiled across the table as though there was no broken bowl between them. [5] She calmly stared at the white-haired man until he too sat down before her.

[5] When he did, she leaned forward with a glint in the eye and said, “Huan Mo, do you remember the lost twin? It turns out she’s not dead.”

[6] “The lost twin… Tan-Tai Chu’s twin?”

[6] “That one. Well, Tan-Tai Chu is on her way to kill her as we speak,” she smirked meaningfully, “after a little encouragement from me, of course.”

Huan Mo frowned, “I can’t imagine [6] Tan-Tai Chu obeying you, encouragement or not.”

[6] “Psh, I have my ways,”

[6] “Go on,”

[6] “I told that ridiculous creature that the reason why she’s so powerful was that she has absorbed her sister’s blood and soul. That unimaginative blockhead is now thinking that she’d be replaced by her twin if she didn’t kill her as soon as possible.”

[6] “What makes you believe that’s what she thinks?”

[6] “She’s been fed on arrogance and pride ever since the Tan-Tai Clan acknowledges her as a great talent. That one is desperate to be unique. Even if I don’t instigate it, knowing that her sister is somewhere out there will become a thorn in her heart sooner or later. If that little sister ever has the opportunity to surpass the older one… well, how interesting would it be?”

Huan Mo stared at the woman who was staring earnestly at him with sparkling eyes. She looked as though she was in [5] ecstasy as she imagined the chaos this news would bring to the clan. He touched his chin and said curiously, “No matter what, those girls are your blood relative. Surely your sister’s daughters are innocent in this?”

“Innocent?” the woman laughed. Her bright and brittle voice shattering the atmosphere. Finally, still giggling, she wiped the corners of her eyes and said, “My blood sister, my twin, slept with my husband and secretly gave birth to those brats. If they are innocent, what am I? Those shameless dogs and bitches! This is my retribution!”

As expected, she cannot be reasoned with.

Huan Mo sighed, “Matters of love and hate really muddles the mind. How annoying. Hmm, did the older sister really [9] drew out her the younger sister’s soul?”

If this was true, she would be even more frightening.

“How can that be? Not everyone could be like Senior Ye Dan [7],” the woman had recovered from her hysteria and appeared perfectly calm as she continued. “I intended to take both girls away to threaten that shameless pair. However, when they caught up with me, I killed both girls in anger. Well, tried to anyway. Sadly, the only thing I managed to do is pull out the soul of the younger one. Since she was useless to me, I tossed her into the sea of clouds.”

[8] Once she started speaking, it was as though she could not stop. Huan Mo stayed silent until she stopped.

When she did, he prompted interestedly, “You pulled out her soul?”

The woman laughed, “Hehe, without the soul, the body is merely a stupid vessel with nothing inside. However, it looked like that thing not only managed to live but also Cultivate as well. Some outsider must have seized the body and reborn itself into it… otherwise, without a soul, that body could only drool and eat.”

Huan Mo coughed. He remained silent for a long time.

Then, he said, “If the soul is gone, the person occupying the body cannot be Tan-Tai Chu’s sister. Yet, you still send that girl after her? Whether that person dies or not, Tan-Tai Chu had already fallen into your trap. To have such a vicious aunt, what pitiful girl.”

He stood up.

“Then again, this will be my first meeting with a reborn soul. A soul who could successfully seize a body and develop the ability to Cultivate must have fairly strong mental powers. Perhaps I should go and have a look. Who knows, she might meet the qualifications of becoming my disciple.”

Now that the idea had occurred to him, he was impatient to have a look at that soul. He had travelled far and wide, searching endlessly for someone to inherit his craft. The idea that his search might be over soon excited him. No matter what, he must take a look at this girl.

After Huan Mo turned and left, the woman stared at the unnaturally white hair with [10] narrowed eyes. So, Huan Mo wished to intervene?

[10] That Master of Illusions must be interested in the soul occupying that vessel. Heh, if that girl is taken in as a disciple… Tan-Tai Chu’s enmity would mount even higher.

How lovely, the bigger the trouble the better. The Tan-Tai Clan is rotten in the roots anyway. Sooner or later, a powerful blast of wind would topple this top-heavy tree.

With happy thoughts in mind, the woman picked up her guqin and struck the strings violently. The harsh sounds of the qin radiated outwards. Most of the noise was muffled by the swaying leaves fluttering in the ocean breeze. Nevertheless, some sound still managed to escape and struck the ears of nearby people causing them to wonder who was crying in that hoarse and terrible voice… however, because there were very few people around, not many actually heard that terrible noise…

 

When Huan Mo left the island, evening had fallen and the sun cast golden rays that dyed his white hair gold. However, a sharp eye would notice that there was no shadow under his feet. The sea breeze blew past him, whipping up his clothes and sending a swirl of flower petals over… the petals passed right through his body before collapsing to the ground.

There were two ways to get into the Ninth Realm from the Eighth Realm.

First, through a teleportation array that led to the most prosperous human race city in the Ninth Realm. The second way was through the Lightning Tribulation, such as the one that tested the mettle of the Divine Tea. However, this kind of sneaky method depended on the very rare Divine Tribulation so most people just use the teleportation array.

For people who wish to enter the Eighth Realm from the Ninth Realm, the same method applies.

After ten days or so of travel, San Pang finally reached the Ninth Realm Teleportation Array.

 

[Gumihou: Is this… a telenovela? Sister’s hubby slept with twin sis; twin sister gave birth to a pair of twin girls and then died; enraged, aunt tries to kill her nieces, but managed to kill neither. However, one was lost while the other one was brought up to call her mother (but she’s the aunt) and was now the heir to the father’s clan. The mother, who was really the aunt, was now confined and made to drink mystery medicines. Somehow, the missing niece is found. One sister is instigated by mom, who’s really her aunt, to kill her no longer missing twin sister… who was not really her twin sister since her real sister’s soul is gone and some strange outsider is now occupying her body…]

 

Gumihou is keeping track so that you don’t have to ~

 

凝氣	Condensation Stage	Stage 1
化丹	Core Transformation	Stage 2
凝丹(46)	Core Condensation	Stage 3
化神(52)	Divine Transformation	Stage 4
成嬰	Nascent Formation	Stage 5
合體	Unification	Stage 6
返墟	Revert Decay	Stage 7
歸真	Original Purity	Stage 8
成仙	Become immortal	Stage 9

 

[1] Added Details for Dramatic Purpose: To paint a more vivid picture of the place

[2] Deleted Stuff:

[a] …the two obviously knew each other. And the woman knew in her heart that he would come…

… since it’s kind of obvious, delete.

[b] …I’m idle anyway…

Author appeared desperate for readers to understand that this guy is bored. Repetition awkward, delete.

[3] Adjusted Detail for Logistic Purpose: switch from ‘since you like drama’ to ‘since you’re already tired of the old drama’ since it is more in tune with Huan Mo’s original statement.

[4] Call up a Moth: Conjure up something from nothing.

[5] Adjusted Details for Dramatic Purpose: Draw back mom’s excitement and enthusiasm. She might be excited, but ‘stared at the man scorchingly’ seemed at odds with ‘hint of excitement’. Is it obvious or not obvious?

Rely on SPOOCS regulation to reign in overly dramatic emotions and mimic treatment of similar scene back at Chapter 230, Note 7.

Gumi assumes the scene was to create drama and not be dramatic for the sake of drama. Restraint in the beginning would give more impact when she goes on a crazy rant later.

[6] Adjusted Details for Dramatic Purpose: dialogue is very stiff and unnatural. Fixed it up a bit so that it flows more naturally as per both characters’ characteristics.

[7] Senior Ye Dan: Is Shiyu’s dead master. Also, please refer to Chapter 73 for reference to a certain book called the <<Soul Drawing Book>>

[8] POV – Huan Mo: switched from mother’s POV to Huan Mo. Focussed on her actions and getting Huan Mo to develop proper deductions via her behaviour.

[9] Various terms were used to denote ‘soul sucking’, ‘soul drawing’, ‘soul devouring’. Since the book is <<Soul Drawing Book>>, assumed Huan Mo was referring to a particular technique rather than just random soul sucking.

[10] Adjusted Details for Dramatic Purpose: Smooth out the woman’s thoughts into something coherent. It just… contradicts itself too much. Author-san trying to use mom to make sure readers know that Huan Mo is looking for a disciple? Even though this information already appeared as ‘Huan Mo’s thoughts’. Switched out uncertain thoughts with gleeful thoughts.

 

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