"Palm of the Universe. Please, enjoy, Young Master Yuwen." Zou Feng personally brought the dish before Yuwen Shuo.
He was quite satisfied with this creation; he felt his culinary skills had improved by another leap.
Yuwen Shuo smiled as he examined the bear paw, but he was in no hurry to pick up his chopsticks. Instead, he made a show of magnanimity. "How could I possibly enjoy such a fine delicacy all by myself..."
"Men! Divide half of this and let everyone have a taste!"
It was a Demon Bear, after all. The paw was large enough that even after splitting it in half, there was still enough for every member of the Hunting Team to have a small bite.
Seeing this, Zou Feng’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. He had long anticipated Yuwen Shuo would pull such a move.
’It doesn’t matter,’ he thought. ’The bear paw only contains the "catalyst." For anyone not afflicted with the same poison as Yuwen Shuo, it will only have a nourishing effect.’
Soon, the bear paw was distributed. Even Tian Yun and the constables received a share.
"Come, eat! Everyone, have a taste of your General Leader’s handiwork!"
The Hunting Team had no reservations about anything Zou Feng made. Almost as soon as Yuwen Shuo’s words fell, they immediately popped the bear paw meat into their mouths.
Yuwen Shuo’s guard, Wu Xing, also took a tentative bite. He was meant to test for poison personally anyway.
The constables, however, looked hesitant, not daring to eat just yet.
The moment the bear paw meat entered their mouths, the noisy camp seemed to freeze for an instant.
That was because nearly everyone who took a bite of the bear paw meat was momentarily stunned.
"AHHH—"
"OOHH—"
After a brief pause, all sorts of strange cries began to ring out. Many of them stared wide-eyed, their faces a mask of disbelief.
Seeing this, Yuwen Shuo’s first instinct was that the poison had taken effect.
He immediately spun to face Wu Xing, frowning. "Is it poisoned?!"
At this moment, Wu Xing also wore a look of utter disbelief, frozen on the spot.
Only when Yuwen Shuo questioned him did he jolt as if waking from a dream, his voice trembling. "It’s... it’s... it’s too delicious—"
Yuwen Shuo was taken aback, then snapped irritably, "Who the hell asked you if it was delicious?"
Only then did Wu Xing circulate his Gang Qi, thoroughly inspecting his body.
The result was, of course, exactly as expected.
"I haven’t found any abnormalities... Young Master, can I have another piece...?"
"..."
The entire camp erupted in a clamor, with everyone marveling that they had never eaten anything so delicious before.
To Zou Feng’s surprise, even Tian Yun was completely carried away. The heat generated by the bear paw, various medicinal herbs, and mushrooms made her face flush an even deeper shade of red.
"I never imagined General Zou possessed such incredible skill..." Tian Yun’s beautiful, misty eyes were fixed on Zou Feng, her praise utterly sincere.
Zou Feng smiled. "If Master Tian wants more, I actually made a bit extra."
There was more than one bear paw, and Zou Feng had cooked all of them from the start.
There was also a large amount of bear meat, definitely enough for everyone.
What followed was a feast of bear paws. Seeing how much everyone was enjoying themselves, the constables finally relaxed and joined in.
As for Yuwen Shuo, he had already started digging in with gusto.
Yuwen Shuo might not trust anyone else present, but he absolutely trusted Wu Xing’s judgment.
Watching Yuwen Shuo eat so happily, Zou Feng couldn’t help but smile as well.
’This meticulously prepared "Palm of the Universe" will serve as Yuwen Shuo’s last meal!’
After eating the bear paw, many felt uncomfortably hot and, as a matter of course, jumped into the stream to cool off.
Even Tian Yun found a secluded spot upstream, planning to wash up.
Zou Feng soaked in the stream, and seeing Chief Constable Xie Ding not far from him, he swam over to strike up a conversation.
’Yuwen Shuo has eaten his last meal. Once the poison seeps deep into his bones, I can find a chance to activate it and send him on his way.’
’As for Wu Xing, with me and Tian Yun together, taking him down shouldn’t be a big problem.’
’The only real wild card is these constables and their leader, the strongest one, Chief Xie.’
Xie Ding was a long-renowned Seventh Grade Expert in Yuan Guang County, his strength not much less than Tian Yun’s.
But what truly gave Zou Feng pause was the man’s reputation.
He was highly regarded in Yuan Guang County, having diligently captured numerous dangerous criminals, earning the deep respect of the county’s residents.
Therefore, Zou Feng was unwilling to silence an innocent man who had been forced into being a guard.
’I just hope Xie Ding isn’t too rigid. It would be best if he helped me see this through. If we’re all accomplices, things will be much simpler.’
"Chief Xie!"
Zou Feng swam closer and offered a cupped-fist salute.
Xie Ding seemed a bit surprised that Zou Feng would suddenly approach him, but he quickly returned the gesture. "General Zou!"
Zou Feng made some small talk, and seeing that Xie Ding didn’t seem hostile, he got straight to the point with a solemn expression. "This journey deep into Qifeng Mountain is likely fraught with peril. The places we’re headed are unknown territories where we could encounter a Demon Beast that even a Gang Qi Realm expert couldn’t handle at any moment."
"I was wondering if Chief Xie could persuade Young Master Yuwen... Since we’ve already achieved our main objective and hunted a Celestial Eye Cloud Pattern Deer, perhaps we should head back sooner rather than later. After all, this is for Young Master Yuwen’s safety..."
Hearing this, Xie Ding immediately shook his head with a bitter smile and pointed at himself. "Persuade him? Me?"
"The way I see it, even if the Governor of Jiangnan himself came, I’m afraid he couldn’t talk this... COUGH COUGH!"
In the end, Xie Ding managed to stop himself from saying the indelicate term.
However, his response was already quite satisfactory to Zou Feng.
It was clear that Xie Ding already harbored deep resentment toward Yuwen Shuo and was only going along with his folly because of the circumstances.
So, Zou Feng let out a deliberate sigh and said, "I, for one, would like to live a few more years. Many in our Hunting Team have families, old and young."
"If we encounter a situation that makes it impossible to continue the hunt, I might have to risk my life to protest, even if it means angering Young Master Yuwen. I can’t worry about that. I can’t just accompany him while he..."
Zou Feng also left his sentence unfinished, but he let a hint of viciousness flash across his face at the right moment.
This naturally caused Xie Ding to stare at him for a long while.
"You... You better not do anything reckless!"
"That Wu Xing... he’s not someone who can be suppressed by numbers alone..."
"As the Chief Constable of Yuan Guang County, I must also ensure that Young Master Yuwen can leave Qifeng Mountain safely!"
It sounded like Xie Ding was warning Zou Feng, but in reality, he was worried that Zou Feng couldn’t handle Wu Xing.
Admittedly, if Yuwen Shuo were to die in Qifeng Mountain, for any reason, everyone present would inevitably be in trouble.
But thankfully, these were chaotic times. Could the Governor of Jiangnan, Yuwen Boxi, really dedicate all his resources to investigating the death of his own disappointing son?
Therefore, as long as it was first made into an unsolved case with no clear target for revenge, it was impossible for Yuwen Boxi to take the extreme measure of throwing everyone present in prison during such a critical period.
If he really did that, the political enemies looking to bring down Yuwen Boxi would probably be happy enough to dance a jig on the spot.
Besides, rather than worrying about all the potential trouble in the future, it was better to worry about the most pressing problem at hand: not being killed by Yuwen Shuo’s games first.
Xie Ding couldn’t possibly fail to see which was the lesser of two evils.
"What are you saying, Chief Xie?
"I have no intention of being reckless. I am merely trying my best to survive and to ensure the brothers of this Hunting Team can return safely to their families!"
Xie Ding looked at him with a rather helpless expression and offered no further response.
Zou Feng didn’t say any more either. After a cupped-fist salute, he took his leave.
He knew Xie Ding was still conflicted and needed time to think it over.
But regardless of the outcome of Xie Ding’s deliberations, once things were set in motion and Yuwen Shuo’s death became an established fact, Zou Feng believed the man wouldn’t be stubborn enough to make an unwise choice.
After his bath, Zou Feng used his Inner Qi to dry his body and clothes and was about to sit down for his routine Cultivation.
But the next moment, he suddenly heard a wail from the Celestial Eye Cloud Pattern Deer from behind some nearby rocks.
However, after listening for a moment, it didn’t quite sound like a wail. In any case, the sound was very strange.
If he recalled correctly, Yuwen Shuo had used a special rope to tie the captured Celestial Eye Cloud Pattern Deer behind those rocks.
Yuwen Shuo himself was nowhere to be seen, but his guard, Wu Xing, was sitting cross-legged atop the rocks, postured to prevent anyone from approaching.
’So, what exactly is Yuwen Shuo doing to the Celestial Eye Cloud Pattern Deer behind those rocks right now?’