Chapter 121: Is This Really Necessary?

The Rat was one of the steadier men among them, but even he could not help swallowing hard.

“Dinner’s ready!”

Even though they had all been impatient before, not one of them had moved. But at the Rat’s command, the whole group immediately fell upon the feast.

Each person eagerly stuffed the dish they liked best into their mouth.

In no time at all, pleasure spread across every face.

When they had eaten the fried rice with egg that Lin Xiao made, they had already thought his cooking was good. But now, looking back, that had been far too hasty a judgment.

Good? Lin Xiao’s cooking was nothing short of divine.

Lin Xiao was hungry too, and since he had cooked the meal himself, he naturally did not stand on ceremony.

He picked up a piece of stir-fried pork and put it into his mouth, only to frown almost at once.

“Ah, in the end the conditions are still limited. The taste is a little off.”

At his words, every gaze turned toward Lin Xiao in disbelief.

A little off?

Could he perhaps be any more modest in such an infuriating way?

They had never eaten anything this delicious in their lives, all right.

No one said another word. They simply kept devouring everything in sight, terrified that if they stopped even to talk, someone else would snatch it all away.

Before long, the entire thornback wild boar had been divided up and devoured by the group.

Lin Xiao: ∑(°口°?)

Were these people starving ghosts in their past lives?

That was an entire thornback wild boar!

By now, everyone except Lin Xiao had stomachs bulging round as drums, and that included the female members as well.

“So satisfied. This was the best meal I’ve ever had in my life.”

“Same.”

“Burp—! I knew the Pig’s cooking was good, but I never expected it to be this good. We really struck gold this time.”

“I thought all that had changed was that my stomach would no longer suffer under the Snake’s cooking. I never imagined I’d go straight from hell to heaven. Wuwuwu, I feel like I could die without regrets!”

“Hey, hey, hey! I’ll admit the Pig’s cooking is excellent, but you don’t have to step on me to praise him!”

...

Lin Xiao was very satisfied with everyone’s reaction. His hard work in the kitchen had not been wasted.

Still, weren’t their reactions a little too intense?

“Everyone, there’s no need to overreact. I can guarantee that as long as we have ingredients, every meal from now on will be no worse than this one.”

At that, everyone’s eyes lit up.

“Pig, from now on you’re my sworn brother from another mother!”

Compared with the group’s praise of Lin Xiao, a trace of inquiry flashed in the Rat’s eyes.

He had begun to have doubts about Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao had eaten less than the others, but not by much.

That was meat from a level-four spirit beast. The rest of them were level-five experts, so eating level-four spirit-beast meat was perfectly reasonable, and having no unusual reaction was normal.

But why was it that Lin Xiao, only a level-two cultivator, had eaten so much of that level-four spirit-beast meat and still seemed to have little to no reaction?

That could not help but make him suspicious.

After thinking it over, the Rat still did not ask directly.

Perhaps Lin Xiao had some secret he did not know about.

As long as Lin Xiao did not harm their interests, he would not dwell on the matter.

“All right, we’re full and satisfied. Time to get down to business. We didn’t come out here for a picnic; there are still tasks waiting for us to complete.”

At the Rat’s words, everyone’s spirits rose again.

“All right, boss, you didn’t eat any less than we did just now, so rest assured—we’ll get the job done properly.”

“That’s right. We should complete the mission well and find more spirit beasts, or else dinner tonight will be up in the air.”

“Ox, from now on you stay close and protect the Pig. Don’t let anything happen to him!”

“Haha! Mission guaranteed!”

After the joking ended, everyone became serious once more, and the group began exploring the level-five secret realm.

The members of the Battle Wolf Mercenary Group were clearly not entering this secret realm for the first time; they had long since mapped out their route.

Lin Xiao was placed in the very center of the team, after all he was the weakest among them.

While exploring, Lin Xiao did not remain idle.

There were many spirit herbs here—some could be used in cooking, while others were the herbs required for his own mission.

The Ox spoke very little. Seeing Lin Xiao busily gathering all sorts of things, he could not help but feel curious.

“Pig, what are you picking all these weeds for?”

Lin Xiao could not help rolling his eyes. Weeds? These were all treasures.

“These are excellent seasonings. They make food even more delicious. Look, this is hotroot grass; it tastes pretty similar to chili peppers. When there aren’t any chili peppers, it can be used as a substitute.”

As he gathered them, Lin Xiao explained the uses of each spirit herb to the Ox.

The others listened with great interest. They could not understand how Lin Xiao knew so much about spirit herbs.

To them, all these plants looked the same.

Several people standing beside him also helped Lin Xiao collect them, after all it affected whether they would get to eat even more delicious food.

Lin Xiao was happy to let them help. With extra hands, the speed increased significantly.

Besides, not all of these spirit herbs were seasonings; some were also items needed for the mission he had accepted.

Throughout the whole process, Lin Xiao kept his vision enhanced, afraid that if he were even slightly careless, he might miss something.

What he paid attention to was not only the nearby spirit herbs. He was also observing the surrounding terrain.

After all, this was a level-five secret realm, full of danger. Being cautious never hurt.

Just then, Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes. In the direction they were heading, there were more than ten wolf-type spirit beasts. Judging by their color and size, they should be ice-element Frost Giant Wolves, and all of them were at least level four spirit beasts.

“Everyone be careful. About fifteen hundred meters straight ahead, there’s a pack of Frost Giant Wolves—fifteen of them. Prepare for battle.”

The moment Lin Xiao spoke, everyone looked at him with disbelief.

“Pig? Are you sure?”

“You can see that far?”

It was not surprising that they doubted him. On open ground, trying to see a small object fifteen hundred meters away was already nearly impossible.

And this was a secret realm, with a complicated and tangled environment.

Yet here Lin Xiao was, detecting a pack of spirit beasts fifteen hundred meters away.

Seeing them would have been one thing, but he could even determine the number accurately, and even identify the species.

Was he trying to be ridiculous?

None of them believed it, and yet in such matters, it was better to believe and be cautious than to dismiss a possible warning.

The Rat also believed Lin Xiao would not casually fool them for no reason.

“Everyone stay quiet. Rooster, confirm it!”

The Rooster hurriedly nodded. She too had been holding back a breath of frustration.

In the past, she had been the one responsible for vigilance, listening to everything around them. She had not detected anything unusual, yet Lin Xiao had noticed it first. Wasn’t that a slap in the face?

Under normal circumstances, the range she monitored was a radius of five hundred meters centered on herself. Hearing anything from fifteen hundred meters away was only natural to miss.

Now that Lin Xiao claimed he had found something, she naturally had a way to investigate.

This time, the Goat focused her ability directly ahead, expanding her range continuously. With her level-five power, a single direction was not her limit at fifteen hundred meters.

Very quickly, the Goat had her answer.

She looked at Lin Xiao in utter disbelief.

“Report: there is indeed movement about fifteen hundred meters ahead. Judging from the source of the sound, there are quite a lot of them.”