"It’s rude to interrupt when someone’s telling a story," she said, glaring at Tu Xiao’an.

"Alright, go on. I won’t interrupt."

The woman with the widow’s face said calmly, "The next morning, the villagers found the main gate to Wu Qingshan’s home wide open. He was lying naked on the ground, his body covered in snakebites. He was dead."

"Furthermore, not a single snake was left in his Snake Cave."

After a long pause, she said nothing more. Tu Xiao’an stared at her blankly. "That’s it?"

"That’s right. The story’s over," she said with a chuckle.

Tu Xiao’an asked curiously, "Don’t tell me you’re the woman in red from the story?"

"Because that Snake Catcher was cruel by nature, you came out to deliver justice for the snakes?"

Tu Xiao’an had heard stories about Snake Catchers and snakes since he was a child, but hers was a little unusual. The new twist was the snake turning into a woman to get revenge.

It was a bit like the legend of Lady Bai, except one repaid a kindness while the other sought revenge.

This woman had previously said that whatever kind of fiend Tu Xiao’an was, she was the same. Now, she had told him a story about a snake turning into a woman to take revenge, which was a clear, if subtle, hint about her true identity.

’If this woman is a snake, then what kind is she? And what’s her Level?’

’She’s probably even more powerful than an Ascended Snake King. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have failed to see through her with my Insight.’

The proprietress with the widow’s face gave him a strange look. "What does that have to do with me? It’s just a story. A story about a snake, that’s all."p>

"You’re not the woman in red from the story?"

"Of course not. It’s not like I’m a Snake Spirit," she said, rolling her eyes with a look of utter speechlessness.

He had to admit, her ugly disguise was incredibly realistic, almost enough to pass for the real thing. But her eyes couldn’t be faked. They were clear and bright, like stars in the sky.

If you only looked at her eyes when you spoke to her, the experience was quite pleasant.

"If you’re not the woman in red from the story, then may I ask, what was the point of you going on and on about it for so long?"

’Tu Xiao’an really couldn’t figure her out. She was even more unpredictable than he was.’ 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

She fluttered her eyes, blinking three times. "There’s no point. It’s just for fun. Isn’t it nice to have a story to listen to while you eat your noodles?"

"Heh..."

Tu Xiao’an sneered. ’I’d have to be an idiot to believe you. That story can’t be so simple.’

"Eat your noodles. They’re about to get cold."

"I’m not eating. I’ve lost my appetite." Looking at that widow’s face, Tu Xiao’an truly had no appetite whatsoever.

"Hey pal, are you really not going to eat those perfectly good noodles?" an older man from a nearby table suddenly leaned over to ask.

Tu Xiao’an replied, "I’m not. What about it?"

"If you’re not going to eat it, then let me have it. Don’t let it go to waste. I’ll pay for it," he said, then looked at the proprietress with the widow’s face. "This doesn’t count as breaking your rules. He’s not eating it, and it would just be thrown out anyway. What a waste! You might as well give it to me. I don’t mind that it’s leftovers."

These noodles were so good that people couldn’t get a second bowl even if they begged. How could they be thrown away? It was a blasphemous waste!

The proprietress’s ugly face grew cold. "My rule is that each customer can only eat one bowl of noodles per week, understand? If he doesn’t eat it, that’s his business. It will be thrown out, not given to someone else."

With that, she picked up the noodle soup from Tu Xiao’an’s table and poured it straight into a trash can.

"Proprietress, what are you doing?! Such good noodles, and you just dumped them!"

The old man looked like he wanted to cry but had no tears. He leaned over the trash can, not moving for a long time, looking as if he wanted nothing more than to fish the noodles out of the garbage.

Tu Xiao’an was stunned to see that many other customers were now staring at the trash can with the same desperate expression as the old man.

In their eyes, these noodles were no longer just noodles. They had been elevated to a higher plane, comparable to the meat of a Dragon.

Watching her dump the noodles, Tu Xiao’an suddenly had a flash of insight. "I think I understand why you have a rule that a person can only eat one bowl of noodles at your shop per week."

"What’s so hard to understand about that?" she said with a chuckle. "If you eat any delicacy every day, it eventually becomes as tasteless as dregs. The things you can’t have are always the best."

"That’s why I made the ’one bowl a week’ rule. I want those who have eaten my noodles to think about them every day, to crave them, and to have to wait a whole week to eat them again. That’s the only way they’ll cherish it."

Tu Xiao’an shook his head. "That’s only part of the reason. You use Awakened Creatures to make your broth. The soup base contains pure Energy. When normal people eat it, their strength skyrockets, their circulation improves, and their physical condition is significantly transformed."

"To put it bluntly, your noodles and soup are a powerful restorative. But with any powerful restorative, if you consume too much at once, a weak body can’t absorb it. It does more harm than good. That’s why you made the one-bowl-a-week rule."

The concept of a weak constitution being unable to handle potent remedies is simple. An ordinary person can’t just eat as much of a broth made from Awakened Creatures as they please. Eat too much, and if your body can’t absorb it, it becomes your death warrant.

You can’t become fat from a single bite; it has to be a gradual process. It’s the same with these noodles. You eat one bowl, and your body spends the week slowly absorbing its power, which is how you get stronger and stronger.

Having figured this out, Tu Xiao’an’s gaze toward the woman with the widow’s face softened considerably. ’She really has gone to great pains for them.’

"You’re thinking too much. I’m just worried that if these people eat too much and their bodies can’t take it, they’ll faint in my shop and cause unnecessary trouble."

She wore an expression that said she couldn’t care less if those people lived or died.

Tu Xiao’an just smiled. He was certain that was the real reason. Otherwise, why would she bother using Awakened Creatures to make broth?

’She’s clearly trying to do good deeds and accumulate merit, like a divine physician practicing medicine to save the world.’

Tu Xiao’an was also curious where she caught so many Awakened Creatures to make her broth.

’This woman was becoming more and more unfathomable.’

"Have you heard of the Demon Management Bureau?" Tu Xiao’an asked suddenly.

Upon hearing this, she fell silent and simply looked at Tu Xiao’an, not answering.

"I paid a visit to the Demon Management Bureau a few days ago," he continued.

The proprietress with the widow’s face gave him a peculiar look. "Then you must be lucky, not only avoiding detention but also coming out in one piece."

"I didn’t commit a crime; I’m a law-abiding citizen," Tu Xiao’an said. "You mentioned earlier that today’s broth was from a murderous dog in the East City, and that’s why you caught it to make soup. Do you only catch Awakened Creatures that have committed crimes?"

"Tsk. I’m not a police officer, so why would I care about that? If I run into one, I catch it and make broth. I don’t care what it did."

Tu Xiao’an asked with a curious look, "In that case, have you ever caught a human Martial Cultivator to make soup?"

’There were stories of buns made from human flesh. At her place, it could be human-flesh noodle soup. The flavor would be endless.’

"You want to try some?" The proprietress with the widow’s face looked at Tu Xiao’an seriously.

Tu Xiao’an thought for a moment. "I could give it a try. I’ve never had it."

’As for humans, he’d just eaten one yesterday. And a great beauty, at that. Swallowed her whole in a single gulp.’

Suddenly, Tu Xiao’an felt that his own mind was becoming a bit twisted. He was constantly switching back and forth between his human and Snake identities.