Chapter: Barbecue Business
Fifty residents of Bailu Town gathered around the pile of bird meat and threaded it onto bamboo skewers.
The bird meat—as high as a small hill—turned into 100,000 skewers in just half a day.
Cheng Yu sprinkled water on the skewers, then froze them with freezing magic and stored them in the system warehouse for later use.
The grill wasn't ready yet. He'd have to wait until it was finished before going to the Northern Fortress.
Ivennie, with long green hair and a gentle, lovely appearance, walked over to Cheng Yu carrying a pottery jar. "Master Cheng Yu, the black earthworms you wanted—Sister Mina and I only dug up this much."
There was half a jar of black earthworms in the pottery jar. Each black earthworm was about as thick as a chopstick. They tangled and wriggled together, secreting sticky, foul-smelling fluids.
According to the recipe for pickled earthworms, freshly dug black earthworms didn't need to be washed. Instead, salt and MSG were sprinkled on them for pickling—focusing on authentic flavor.
The pickling time was half a month.
After the earthworm corpses completely rotted and fermented, he'd add the other three ingredients in fixed proportions.
Cheng Yu took the pottery jar and added a certain proportion of salt and MSG into it.
The black earthworms' skin was stimulated by the salt. They twisted and squirmed wildly, secreting large amounts of body fluids.
Cheng Yu sealed the jar's mouth with oil paper, placed it in the shade of the manor, and let it ferment.
"Master Cheng Yu, those cavalrymen took away the demon corpses this morning and didn't clean up the scene. There's still a lot of demon brain matter at the edge of the farmland."
Looking toward the edge of the farmland, Ivennie's eyes showed slight disgust.
"I'll deal with it."
Crossing the cornfield, Cheng Yu came to the edge of the farmland.
Over a hundred demon soldiers yesterday had all been killed by Cheng Yu's headshots.
Shattered skulls, blood and flesh residue, eyeballs, and brain matter were splattered everywhere. The scene was a mess.
Ordinary people would definitely feel nauseous seeing this bloody scene.
However, as a chef who often dealt with flesh and blood, Cheng Yu wasn't fazed by the gore and brain matter.
He picked up half of a demon soldier's brain from the ground. The brain was white and tender like tofu.
Chinese people had a wide-ranging menu. Before crossing over, there'd been a dish called roasted pig brains—pig brains placed on fire and roasted like barbecue. He'd also heard of people eating monkey brains. They'd cut off a monkey's head, make a small hole on top, insert a straw into the hole, and suck it raw without any cooking.
I wonder which tastes better—demon soldier brain, pig brain, or monkey brain?
Such a question appeared in Cheng Yu's mind.
However, Cheng Yu was just curious. He himself had no interest in eating brains.
At that moment, footsteps came from the woods outside the farmland.
A burly demon soldier walked out of the woods and appeared not far from Cheng Yu.
There was a large tract of dense jungle between Bailu Town and the Northern Fortress.
The demons who'd invaded the Black Sun Empire yesterday hadn't been completely wiped out. A few demon remnants were still wandering in the woods.
The demon soldier saw the demon brain remains scattered all over the ground. A trace of fear flashed in his dark eyes.
Then he looked at the half demon brain in Cheng Yu's hand and spoke in a fearful tone. "You... what are you doing?"
"Uh... thinking about a problem," Cheng Yu said.
"What problem?"
"Which is more delicious—demon brain or pig brain?"
The demon soldier felt suffocated.
Brother, do you hear yourself?
Which is more delicious—demon brain or pig brain?
You're a demon!
Cheng Yu seemed to see what the demon soldier was thinking. He walked toward the demon soldier, explaining as he went. "Don't look at me like that, and don't be scared. I'm a chef by profession. It's my professional habit to think about which ingredients taste better."
The demon soldier stepped back and roared in fear. "Don't come closer!"
Demons were notoriously brutal on the Celsis Continent.
However, when this demon soldier saw Cheng Yu, he seemed to see the most terrifying demon in the world.
"Okay, I won't get close to you."
Cheng Yu stopped.
The demon soldier was stunned for a moment. Why didn't this devil come over?
The fly-swatting magic array had already condensed in Cheng Yu's palm. He slapped forward.
Before the demon soldier could react, his head exploded with a bang.
So much blood and flesh residue needs professionals to deal with.
Cheng Yu borrowed dozens of dogs from Bailu Town, led a large group of them to the farmland edge, and had them lick clean all the demon blood, flesh residue, and brain matter.
Unknowingly, two days passed.
Cheng Yu went to the blacksmith shop in Bailu Town.
When the blacksmith shop owner saw Cheng Yu, he immediately greeted him with a smile. "Boss Cheng Yu, your grill is ready!"
Cheng Yu picked up the grill and examined it. The iron was thick and the quality was good.
He pulled out forty silver coins and paid the blacksmith.
After leaving the blacksmith shop, Cheng Yu went to the market and bought over 300 kilograms of charcoal.
You couldn't use open flames for barbecue—open flames would burn it. Only charcoal would work.
In the afternoon, Cheng Yu closed the manor gate and took Mina and Ivennie to the Northern Fortress in a carriage.
He didn't know where Charles had gone to hang out. He didn't bother caring.
The carriage drove along a wide gravel road with dense woods on both sides.
The further north they went, the colder the surrounding environment became.
In the distance, the magnificent Snow-Capped Mountains were visible. The ridges were covered with snow year-round, like a powerful wall separating human and demon territories.
Some said this mountain range had formed naturally. Others said it was the work of a certain god. So much time had passed that no one knew how the Snow-Capped Mountains had formed.
The carriage stopped at the foot of the Snow-Capped Mountains. A mountain road winding upward like a giant snake led to the fortress on the mountain.
There was a soldier on duty every few meters along both sides of the mountain road.
Cheng Yu and the others got off the carriage in front of the mountain road. The carriage returned along the same route.
"Who are you? The Northern Fortress is a military stronghold. You're not allowed to enter."
The soldier pointed his spear at Cheng Yu and the others.
"My name is Cheng Yu, and I'm a cook. I won't go into the fortress on the mountain. I'm setting up here. If you want to eat barbecue, you can come buy from me."
"Hmph~ We're soldiers with iron wills. We'll never eat while on duty."
Don't underestimate our soldiers' willpower, fool!
The soldier on duty threw a disdainful look at Cheng Yu.
Ignoring the soldier on duty, Cheng Yu took out the barbecue grill from the system warehouse, placed it on the side of the road, put charcoal in the grill, and lit it.
He pulled out cumin powder, chili powder, MSG, salt, sesame oil, and other seasonings and placed them on the platform on the right side of the grill.
He set the frozen Black Shadow Crow meat skewers next to the fire, using the residual heat to thaw them.
After the charcoal fire was burning well, Cheng Yu took out ten bird meat skewers and placed them on the grill.
He brushed sesame oil while grilling and sprinkled cumin powder, chili powder, salt, MSG, and other seasonings.
Cheng Yu had max-level cooking skills. His control of heat and seasoning amounts had reached perfection. The roasted meat skewers filled the air with fragrance, making the soldiers on duty along the mountain road drool.
However, the soldiers were on duty. No one dared leave their posts without permission.
One soldier swallowed hard, unable to resist the temptation. He looked at Cheng Yu hopefully. "Friend, your barbecue smells amazing. I wasn't hungry, but just smelling it made me hungry."
"Want a skewer? Twenty copper coins each," Cheng Yu smiled.
"Twenty copper coins a skewer? That's expensive! Why don't you just rob people?"
The soldier thought Cheng Yu's barbecue was too pricey.
"This is Black Shadow Crow meat, with unique barbecue seasoning, plus I'm a chef with max-level cooking skills. Twenty copper coins a skewer is very cheap."
"Then give me one to try."
Because the soldiers were on duty and couldn't leave their posts, Cheng Yu had Mina take a skewer of barbecue to the soldier.
The soldier looked around like a thief. Seeing no superior nearby, he quickly pulled out twenty copper coins and gave them to Mina.
While his superior was away, the soldier shoved all the barbecue on the bamboo stick into his mouth, his cheeks bulging. He quickly threw away the stick.
The surface was crispy and delicious. The inside was soft and juicy. The meat was fragrant in the mouth. The sizzling tender barbecue blended perfectly with the cumin spices, supplemented by the fragrance of sesame oil, giving an ultimate taste bud experience.
"Ah~ This smell~ My soul is sublimated~"
The soldier on duty closed his eyes and savored the wonderful aroma of the barbecue.
[Positive Emotion Value +6]
Cheng Yu gained 6 points of positive emotion value.
The other soldiers on duty saw his expression and asked, "Brother, is it that good?"
"It's delicious! Really delicious! Just a bit expensive."
Twenty copper coins could buy almost two kilograms of pork.
Seeing there were no superiors around, the other soldiers on duty paid for barbecue.
Mina and Ivennie brought barbecue to the soldiers and collected money.
The soldiers cried out when eating Cheng Yu's barbecue.
"God, it's so damn delicious!"
"It smells so good! So tasty!"
"The gloomy life of guarding the border is suddenly full of sunshine!"