Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 300: Chef Wukong, You Went Out Again?
The large pots used for hot pot, since the last time they were used at the Flat Peach Banquet, he had stored them in the inventory of the Imperial Kitchen.
"Would you like to join us? I have specially purchased ten more portions of ingredients from Shopkeeper Chen."
Haotian said, focusing his gaze on Sun Wukong’s face smeared with the smudge of cooking smoke, "I, too, would like to talk with Chef Wukong."
"Ten portions of ingredients?!" Sun Wukong’s interest was instantly piqued.
The last time he had hot pot was when his master made it anew, and he had been craving it for some time.
Compared to eating the dishes his master made, his cooking, might as well not be done!
Without hesitation, Sun Wukong turned and injected a burst of mana into his clones.
"Continue with the cooking, do you understand?" Sun Wukong spoke.
"Yes!"
All the clones responded in unison, their hands still moving steadily without any sign of panic.
Watching this scene, Haotian was also filled with surprise.
The cooking process was clearly incredibly cumbersome and meticulous. Normally, ordinary clones would definitely not be able to accomplish it, except for external incarnations or the Good Corpse clones.
Sun Wukong’s type of clone, Haotian could sense, was certainly not an ordinary cloning technique.
But then, thinking of Shopkeeper Chen’s unexpectedly awakened divine skills, Haotian also understood, especially since Sun Wukong had been learning from Shopkeeper Chen for ten years.
Even though he mainly focused on culinary arts, the number of divine skills Sun Wukong could awaken in just those ten years was probably not to be underestimated.
This was evident from Sun Wukong’s ability to beat Nezha and Tian Peng in battle.
"All right!" Sun Wukong washed his hands with clean water, "Let’s go!"
With that, he carelessly led the way out the door.
"Chef Wukong!" The Food God and Stove God greeted Sun Wukong with a salute as they saw him.
Sun Wukong nodded, "How are your dishes coming along?"
"We are in the middle of preparing them!" the Stove God replied, "Elder Immortal Taibai has arrived, and we just exchanged a few words."
Hearing the Stove God’s words, Sun Wukong also noticed the amiable old man with a white beard and cracked a smile, "Ah, it’s you!"
Gold Star Taibai flicked his horsetail whisk and bowed, "This humble old man pays respects to Chef Wukong!"
"The last time we parted, it was my first time seeing you!" Sun Wukong said, very familiarly, as he stepped forward and patted Gold Star Taibai on the shoulder.
"What brings you here today?"
Gold Star Taibai nodded and bowed, and upon seeing Haotian emerge from the rear kitchen, he paused before speaking, "This humble old man has come accompanying His Majesty."
"Then let’s go together!" Sun Wukong cheerfully called out. He had a fairly good impression of the white-bearded old man.
"Chef Wukong? You’re going out again?!" The Food God and Stove God were shocked, as if recalling something, their faces inadvertently showing a look of horror.
Because without Sun Wukong, the immortals were unsatisfied with their cooking and had beaten them up. That incident was still vivid in their minds, and they truly did not wish to experience it again.
Seeing the two deities’ expressions, Sun Wukong also realized the reason and, apologetically scratching his head, laughed, "I’m just having a meal in a partition of the Imperial Kitchen, not going far."
"Moreover, those clones have already been filled with my mana. They’ll be fine for three to five days without issue, guaranteed to be flawless!"
Sun Wukong assured them, as last time was indeed a big mistake on his part, or else that situation wouldn’t have occurred.
Besides, he had underestimated the zeal of the Heavenly Court immortals when it came to feasting.
"I see," the Two Deities said uncertainly, nodding their heads and hoping nothing was amiss!
Last time, after they left Chaos Residence having eaten their fill of Shopkeeper Chen’s food, they discovered that Chef Wukong’s clone was still around; they thought it would last at least the day, so they opened the Imperial Kitchen as usual.
However, half-way through the queue of immortals, Chef Wukong’s clone suddenly vanished, leaving them completely dumbfounded.
With no other choice and like ducks forced onto a perch, they tried to fumble through the cooking by clumsily imitating what they had seen, hoping to muddle through. However, they had overestimated their own abilities, and the immortals were simply not buying it.
Especially those immortals who had waited a long time and were about to be served, their resentment ran deepest. And so, after being punished by His Majesty the next day, these were the individuals who acted most enthusiastically.
"You two continue prepping the ingredients. I’ve already left behind four clones inside; if there’s any issue, talk to them directly, or if something’s wrong with a clone, come straight to me. I’ll be in the next room," Sun Wukong instructed them again for good measure.
"Yes!" the Food God and Stove God dared not delay.
"Your Majesty, Taibai, let’s go! Old Sun here will take you to get the pots for hotpot!" Sun Wukong said with overflowing enthusiasm, as if he were hosting them at his own expense.
"Alright," Haotian nodded, unconcerned about Sun Wukong’s rudeness, and replied promptly.
The monkey and two men left from the rear door together.
"Your Majesty, please take care!" the Food God and Stove God said hastily while bowing.
"This is the place!" Sun Wukong led Haotian and Taibai to a storeroom, blew a breath of Immortal Qi, and the door lock opened automatically.
Inside, every kind of kitchen utensil was in full array, nothing was missing, and among them, one section was most conspicuous.
Because the pots weren’t just neatly arranged, they also had some odd shapes, and they were, in fact, specially designed for hotpot.
These had been commissioned by Sun Wukong from the celestial blacksmith in anticipation of the previous Flat Peach Banquet, forged by Immortal Craftsmen with exquisite workmanship.
With a flick of his hand, the one in front flew straight out and landed in Sun Wukong’s hand.
"This thing is really quite extraordinary," Haotian commented, sharing his opinion. This was the first thought he had when he first saw a hotpot.
Before that, he had never seen such a strange method of eating.
But he had to admit, it was delicious!
"This was specifically invented by my master for hotpot!" Sun Wukong lifted his head slightly, full of pride.
"Shopkeeper Chen is truly talented!" Haotian praised sincerely, feeling that Shopkeeper Chen seemed capable of anything, no challenge too great.
Upon Haotian’s remark, Gold Star Taibai, the consummate sycophant, immediately chimed in.
"His Majesty is right, Shopkeeper Chen is indeed gifted with profound Divine Skills, utterly unique in all the Three Realms," Gold Star Taibai said, stroking his beard confidently.
The reason he spoke so was absolutely not without basis; although his cultivation wasn’t particularly high, his experience over the years serving His Majesty had accumulated substantially.
Not even counting his culinary skills, the fact that he possessed the ability to awaken Divine Skills was something no other notable figure in the Three Realms could accomplish.
"Of course!" Hearing Haotian and Taibai praise Chen Nuo, Sun Wukong couldn’t help feeling delighted, since after all, this was his master!
Having secured the pot, Sun Wukong led Haotian and Gold Star Taibai through an alternate route into a side room.
Otherwise, walking out in the open when that group of queuing immortals saw them, it would’ve been very embarrassing.
Pushing the door open, stepping into the room, Sun Wukong placed the copper pot onto the table, summoned water with Mana and added fire to heat it.
Both were ordinary water and fire; otherwise, the eating pot couldn’t withstand it, since even though it was forged by Immortal Craftsman, its material was still Mortal Iron.
After setting up the pot, Sun Wukong called out, "Alright, it’s ready."
Hearing this, Haotian took big strides, being the first to sit down in a chair.
