CFSMS -Chapter 175 Pre-Made Meals Are Fast

Without the protection of spiritual energy, free-falling from a great height was basically the same as skydiving without a parachute.

In other words, it was suicide.

But Lu Wu didn’t want to die.

Her face pale, she watched the ground rushing closer and closer. Suddenly, a gust of wind lifted her stall from below. At the same time, the large wings recovered and stabilized her in midair.

Then she slowly descended.

The moment her feet touched solid ground, her legs turned weak.

She could barely stand.

“Urgh!”

I want to throw up!

Lu Wu pounded her chest for quite a while before finally suppressing the nausea.

Looking around, she realized she seemed to be deep within an untouched mountain forest. Towering trees surrounded her in every direction.

Tianfo Temple was located among an endless chain of mountain ranges, and some of those mountains had never even been explored by the temple’s disciples.

She couldn’t find a single trace of human activity nearby.

The thought that she might have crashed into an uninhabited wilderness made her want to shout at the heavens.

Stop messing with me!

She pulled out her One-Realm Communicator and checked it.

Sure enough—it wasn’t working.

Could Qingyuan Realm have network outages too?

This area was also within the influence of the Demon-Sealing Formation. Lu Wu looked around and felt like singing a mournful farewell song to herself.

Just as her thoughts were spiraling, a faint crack sounded nearby.

It was the sound of a dry branch being stepped on.

Lu Wu immediately looked toward the source.

All she saw were swaying branches.

No one was visible.

“Is someone there?”

She asked the most primitive question possible.

Her voice drifted into the distance, but no reply came.

“Um… I just happened to pass through here. I didn’t mean to disturb anyone.”

She offered an explanation.

The only response was the wind weaving through the forest.

Just as Lu Wu began to suspect she had imagined it, a hoarse voice spoke.

“Do you have anything to eat?”

A hungry ghost?

The thought flashed through her mind.

“Yes!”

She answered immediately.

But as soon as the word left her mouth, her expression turned awkward.

“Though… I can’t actually take it out.”

Spiritual energy was sealed here. Her storage pouch couldn’t be used.

“Tsk…”

The voice carried a hint of irritation.

Then Lu Wu saw a wisp of black energy drift toward her.

It looked leisurely, but before she could even think about dodging, it struck her.

At that moment, Lu Wu’s only thought was:

What pose should I fall in to make my corpse look presentable?

Farewell, customers.

Your Boss Lu is setting sail for the afterlife.

With that tragic thought, she closed her eyes.

Yet after being struck by the black energy for quite some time, she felt no pain.

Nothing seemed different.

Except…

She could suddenly communicate with her storage pouch again.

“Hurry up.”

The voice urged impatiently.

Lu Wu immediately took food out of the pouch.

A half-cooked roast chicken.

After thinking for a moment, she also took out a cup of milk tea.

She had made it during her spare time.

Food stored inside the pouch wouldn’t spoil, and whenever she felt lazy, she liked eating what was essentially pre-made food.

The moment she took everything out, the pouch became unresponsive again.

“Um, Senior… I need some fire.”

She rubbed her fingers together.

Even her Glass Flame couldn’t be used here, so she could only ask this hungry-ghost senior for help.

“What a hassle.”

The voice sounded even more impatient.

A strand of black energy shot toward a pile of dead branches.

The wood instantly burst into flames.

The warmth from the fire soothed Lu Wu’s thoroughly frightened heart.

Since she wasn’t dead yet, she still wanted to struggle for survival.

Taking a few cautious steps forward, she placed the milk tea on the ground.

“Senior, the roast chicken will take a little while longer. This milk tea can be enjoyed right away.”

“It tastes really good. Think of it as an appetizer before the meal.”

After setting the cup down, Lu Wu retreated to the fire and began feeding it more wood while roasting the chicken.

The marinated chicken quickly responded to the heat.

Its sauce-coated brown skin soon began sizzling with oil.

Fat slowly rendered out.

Focused entirely on roasting, Lu Wu suddenly heard sounds behind her.

Gulp.

Gulp.

The sound of someone drinking milk tea.

Clearly, that mysterious senior had already begun enjoying it.

The voice was so close that she felt she could see the person’s face if she turned around.

Yet a powerful sense of danger gripped her.

Turning around would get her killed.

She rotated the chicken.

The tender, juicy meat had been thoroughly infused with aromatic spices, and now the flames elevated those flavors even further.

The pungent fragrance of chili peppers rose together with the fire.

“Achoo!”

The senior who had apparently upgraded himself into a floating spirit behind her sneezed.

Then came a sinister voice.

“What are you doing? Trying to poison me?”

Behind Lu Wu stood a figure completely shrouded in black smoke.

Only a pair of crimson eyes remained visible as they stared at her slender back.

The gaze seemed to be evaluating the best way to dispose of her.

One hand slowly rose.

Yet the weight in that hand made him hesitate.

After being sealed here for so long, he had long forgotten the taste of worldly food.

He had never heard of this beverage called milk tea.

But…

It was delicious.

The sweetness awakened memories from a thousand years ago.

The cool, sweet liquid flowing down his throat impacted his entire being.

For the first time in ages, he felt alive.

Only the living could truly savor delicious food.

He had to admit it.

That single cup of milk tea alone made him somewhat reluctant to kill this unlucky little girl.

Hearing his words, Lu Wu shuddered.

A chill ran down her spine.

She was afraid that one wrong answer would make him strike.

“It’s chili pepper. The smell is a little strong, but it adds a lot of flavor to roast chicken.”

She explained.

Silence followed.

After a pause, Lu Wu cautiously asked,

“Senior… don’t tell me you’ve never heard of chili peppers?”

That shouldn’t be possible.

Qingyuan Realm had discovered chili peppers were edible a long time ago.

“Continue.”

The other party awkwardly changed the subject.

Lu Wu could hear the discomfort in his voice.

Spices were an essential part of cooking, and Lu Wu knew them well.

Once the topic shifted to food, she became especially talkative.

“Senior, you probably don’t know this, but chili peppers can be used in so many ways. Back when I was selling snail rice noodles…”

She began enthusiastically recounting stories from her days running food stalls.

As she spoke about customers whose lips had swollen like sausages from eating spicy food yet still refused to give up on chili, a warm smile appeared on her face.

She was grateful to have met those customers.

They had given her a sense of belonging in this world.

And so she rambled on and on.

Meanwhile, her hands never stopped working.

The chicken was large and plump.

As time passed, the skin turned a golden brown.

It became taut and glossy, covered in tiny crispy blisters.

The rendered fat formed a glistening sheen across the surface.

Crunchy.

Juicy.

Dripping with oil.

Amid the swirling smoke, the rich aroma of roasted fat filled the air.

The flames forged armor for the chicken.

Time itself became the perfect catalyst.

Lu Wu poked at the fire.

The flames crackled merrily.

The fragrance lingered without dispersing.

Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!

Animals from the surrounding forest had been attracted by the aroma.

Yet the moment they sensed the black figure, they fled in terror.

Seeing this, Lu Wu nearly burst into tears.

I want to run away too.

“It’s done!”

A short while later, Lu Wu placed the roasted chicken onto a broad leaf beside the fire.

Pre-made meals really were fast.