boyutpedia Chapter 297 Stove!
Chapter 297 Stove!
"Oh, right," the old master turned to leave, then seemed to remember something, turned back, and looked at Nie Lingfeng with a smile, adding, "Go back and check on Xiaoyun. Just now, Lingyu transmitted a message saying that the girl seems quite interested in that 'Purple Copper Eight Trigrams Furnace' in my alchemy room, and is circling around it."
The smile on Nie Lingfeng's face froze instantly.
Purple… a purple copper octagonal furnace?! The one the old Celestial Master used for alchemy?! That thing is said to be an antique from the Celestial Master's Mansion, passed down for hundreds of years, incredibly precious! Even Zhang Lingyu can only look at it from the sidelines, not daring to touch it! Xiao Yun… she's actually circling around it?! Σ( ° △ °|||)︴
"Master! This junior takes his leave!" Nie Lingfeng, no longer caring about the aches and pains throughout his body, hastily bowed to the Master and turned to sprint towards the courtyard at an even faster pace than during their earlier sparring session! He had only one thought in his mind: Little Ancestor! You absolutely must hold on! That furnace is absolutely forbidden! Absolutely forbidden! (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)
Watching Nie Lingfeng disappear like a man on fire, the old master stroked his beard, a mischievous smile appearing on his face.
"Master, that purple copper Bagua furnace..." Zhang Lingyu, who had appeared beside him at some point, asked hesitantly.
"It's alright." The old celestial master waved his hand and laughed, "That furnace is very sturdy, the little girl won't break it. Besides, how will she know what she can and can't play with if she doesn't bump into things? Ling Feng is a top-notch boy in terms of temperament and resilience, but his ability to take care of children still needs some practice. Haha..." With laughter, the old celestial master's figure gradually blended into the mountain mist.
Zhang Lingyu was left alone, standing on the wrecked cliff face, looking in the direction where his master had disappeared. He thought of Xiao Yun, who was probably in the alchemy room "watching" the purple copper octagonal furnace, and Nie Lingfeng, who was rushing back in a hurry. Finally, a very rare, complex smile appeared on his gentle face, full of sympathy and a hint of schadenfreude.
It seems that Brother Nie's "refinement" is far from over.
At this moment, Nie Lingfeng was praying frantically in his heart, his feet barely touching the ground, wishing he could fly back to the courtyard immediately.
Xiaoyun! My little darling! You absolutely must wait for Daddy to come back before you start! That stove! It's really expensive! And very old! If you break it, even if you sold your daddy, I couldn't afford to pay for it! (´；ω；｀)
Nie Lingfeng practically fled for his life, speeding back to the courtyard. His heart was pounding with anxiety; his mind was filled with terrifying images of Xiaoyun clutching that supposedly priceless, ancient bronze octagonal furnace, possibly imbued with some kind of formation or elixir energy—either trying to knock it over to use as a slide, climbing inside to see if there was anything "good" inside, or throwing stones into it for fun. Just thinking about it made his vision blur, and he quickened his pace even further, nearly knocking over a young Taoist priest sweeping the roadside.
"Xiao Yun! Your subordinates... no, your mouth... no, anyway, keep the furnace!" Nie Lingfeng's voice preceded his arrival. He slammed on the brakes at the entrance of the courtyard, panting as he peered inside—
The anticipated scene of the furnace collapsing and the alchemy being overturned, leaving a scene of utter devastation, did not occur. The courtyard was quiet, even excessively quiet.
Chen Duo was sitting on a small stool under the eaves, holding a pale yellow little dress belonging to Xiao Yun. She was clumsily but carefully mending a small tear that had appeared out of nowhere. Sunlight shone on her pale but serene profile, softening the cool aura she exuded.
And Xiaoyun...
Nie Lingfeng quickly scanned the area and finally spotted his target in a corner of the courtyard.
Instead of wreaking havoc on the seemingly deadly bronze octagonal furnace, the little girl squatted by the wall, with several earthenware pots and bowls of varying sizes that she had "borrowed" from the kitchen (Nie Lingfeng suspected she had taken them by force) in front of her. Scattered around her were a pile of colorful pebbles, a few oddly shaped fallen leaves, a few wilted wildflowers, and a small clump of dark, seemingly soil-like stuff.
She was intently stirring something in a large earthenware pot with a small twig, muttering to herself, "Candy...flower...mud...stir...fragrant..."
As Nie Lingfeng approached, he felt a sudden twitch in his stomach. Inside the earthenware jar, red (crushed flower petals), yellow (some kind of wild fruit?), black (mud?), and gray (stone powder?) were mixed together, forming an indescribable, bubbly, and strangely sweet-sour (?) earthy paste.
"Xiaoyun... what... are you doing?" Nie Lingfeng asked cautiously, suppressing the strange smell, but secretly relieved. Thank goodness, she was just playing with mud (?), not dismantling the Old Master's alchemy furnace. Playing with mud is good, playing with mud is safe... maybe? (；一_一)
Hearing the sound, Xiaoyun looked up, her face and hands covered in the colorful "ingredients," but her big, bright red eyes sparkled. She proudly held up the sticky twig, saying in a clear voice, "Papa! Yunyun is cooking! It's delicious! For Papa and Jiejie!"
Nie Lingfeng: "..." Looking at the unidentified, pasty substance bubbling continuously in the earthenware pot, he felt even more nauseous than when he had just been hit several times by the Old Master during their sparring session. (￣□￣；)
"Yunyun... sweetie, this... doesn't look like it's edible..." Nie Lingfeng tried to dissuade her in the most tactful way.
"It's edible! It smells delicious!" Xiaoyun protested, pouting, and held up the branch to Nie Lingfeng's mouth, "Papa, have a taste!"
"No! Daddy's not hungry! Really!" Nie Lingfeng was so startled that he quickly took two steps back, almost bumping into Chen Duo behind him.
Chen Duo had put down her needlework and walked over at some point. She looked down at the appalling "dish" in the earthenware pot, blinked her emerald eyes, and then, with a flick of her finger, gently dipped a tiny bit into the paste. Under Nie Lingfeng's horrified gaze, she placed it under her nose and sniffed it lightly.
Nie Lingfeng held his breath, ready to rescue (or escape) at any moment.
"It smells earthy, like rotten leaves, and... like rotten fruit," Chen Duo analyzed earnestly, her tone as calm as if she were analyzing a medicinal herb. "You can't eat it. It'll give you a stomachache."
Xiaoyun was stunned. She looked at the "delicious food" she had painstakingly "cooked" and then at her serious-looking sister Chen Duo. Her big, golden-red eyes quickly filled with tears, and her little mouth trembled as if a torrent of tears was about to burst forth.
"But," Chen Duo changed the subject, reaching out to gently pat Xiao Yun's mud-covered head, her voice still calm, but less cold, "the color is beautiful. The idea is good."
Xiaoyun's pent-up sobs abruptly stopped. She blinked her large, teary eyes, looked at Chen Duo, and asked, choking back tears, "Re...really? It's beautiful?"
"Yes." Chen Duo nodded firmly, pointing to the colorful paste in the earthenware pot, "Red, yellow, black, mixed together, like... a sunset."
Sunset? Nie Lingfeng's lips twitched as he tried to find the beauty of "sunset" in that indescribable mess... but failed. He had to admire Chen Duo's ingenuity (or perhaps her unique aesthetic sense?). At least, Xiaoyun had stopped crying.
"Hehe..." Xiaoyun burst into laughter through her tears, wiping her face with her dirty little hands, instantly turning herself into a little cat covered in smears. She looked smugly at the "evening glow" in the earthenware pot, no longer insisting on letting anyone "taste" it, and continued stirring it enthusiastically with a twig, muttering a new "recipe": "Add some green... sparkly..."
Nie Lingfeng let out a long sigh of relief, feeling as if he had just undergone a mental and physical ordeal no less challenging than sparring with the Old Celestial Master. He looked at Chen Duo and gave her a grateful look.
Chen Duo shook her head slightly, indicating that she was alright. She sat back down on the small stool, picked up her needle and thread, and continued mending the little garment. In the sunlight, her pale fingers held the tiny silver needle; her movements were still clumsy, but she was exceptionally earnest.
Watching the two girls, one big and one small, one earnestly "creating" bizarre dishes and the other quietly mending clothes, Nie Lingfeng suddenly felt that the pain in his body and the weariness in his heart seemed to have been quietly soothed by this mundane and somewhat comical daily life.
If... nothing else happened.
"Papa! Look! Yunyun made a new dish!" Xiaoyun seemed to have lost interest in the "Sunset Paste" and turned her attention to a smaller ceramic bowl next to her. She stretched out her two little paws and picked up the ceramic bowl, which contained a small pile of round, colorful mud balls that she had rolled into.
"This is... meatballs?" Nie Lingfeng had a bad feeling.
"Mmm! Rainbow dumplings!" Xiaoyun nodded vigorously, presenting them to Nie Lingfeng like a treasure, "Papa, eat!"
Nie Lingfeng looked at the colorful "rainbow dumplings" covered in grass clippings and unidentified fibers, and his stomach churned again. "Yunyun, this... Daddy's really not hungry, and... they're made of mud, we can't eat them, they'll make us sick."
"It's edible! Yunyun made it, it's delicious!" Xiaoyun insisted, standing on tiptoe and trying to hold the bowl even higher.
Just as Nie Lingfeng was pondering whether to politely decline again or simply make an excuse to leave, Chen Duo spoke up once more.