He glanced at Lu Yang and then at Meng Jingzhou, slowly asking, “Did you come up with these names?”
Lu Yang nodded, “I named it ‘One More Time Barbecue.’”
Meng Jingzhou also nodded, “I called it ‘Thank You for Your Business Barbecue.’”
Man Gu felt that his name, ‘Yang Yang Yang Barbecue,’ was rather plain in comparison.
Man Gu opened the name Lu Yang suggested first, and according to the rules, the barbecue shop was called “One More Time.”
“By the way, does anyone have a way to hide our presence?” Lu Yang asked.
While on the street, Lu Yang noticed that many people had different breathing patterns and affinities for spiritual energy, which clearly indicated they were cultivators. However, when he used his spiritual sense to scan them, he couldn’t determine their levels of cultivation.
It was reasonable for a few people to be stronger than him, but it was impossible for everyone to be stronger.
Yanjiang County was different from Taiping Town; there were quite a few cultivators, but it wasn’t to the point where everyone was at the Foundation Establishment stage.
Lu Yang thought for a moment and realized that a cultivator's strength determined their status. If they wanted to navigate the martial world without being bullied, they either needed to be exceptionally strong or able to conceal their strength so others wouldn’t dare to act rashly.
By going out without any disguise, they were practically announcing to everyone that they were newcomers.
If they wanted to blend in with the demonic sect, they needed to act like seasoned veterans.
“I have a method; we used it when hunting back home,” Man Gu said, pulling out a sheepskin scroll from his pocket.
“Wild prey is very cunning; they run at the slightest disturbance. To successfully hunt, you need to hide your presence and set up an ambush in advance.”
Man Gu belonged to the Man tribe, a prominent clan in the wilderness, and he was the one with the highest bloodline status.
The Man tribe didn’t just have Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment members hunting; even Golden Core cultivators would go out to hunt.
For the Man tribe, hunting was not just about filling their stomachs; it was also about gathering rare materials.
“However, when using this secret method, you can’t move around; if you do, it will fail.”
The greater the restriction, the greater the effect. The concealment effect recorded on the sheepskin scroll was among the top three.
“I have a regular concealment spell; you need to be a whole level higher than me to see through your cultivation level,” Meng Jingzhou said, taking out a bamboo slip from his jade pendant. It had been stored for who knows how long, yet it still had a faint bamboo fragrance.
The quality of the bamboo also indicated that the spell recorded was quite remarkable.
Meng Jingzhou’s jade pendant held many spells and abilities he brought from home, so many that he didn’t have time to learn them all.
Lu Yang looked at Meng Jingzhou in surprise. “Aren’t you the one who ran away from home? Where did you get all these good things?”
“My sister secretly gave them to me.”
“Alright then.”
The three of them began to learn the concealment spells. All three were exceptionally talented, and this kind of simple spell was easy for them to grasp. In just over half an hour, they had learned most of it; the rest was just practice.
Lu Yang clasped his fists in thanks, “Once I learn new spells, I’ll definitely teach you!”
Despite how easy Man Gu and Meng Jingzhou made it seem, Lu Yang knew these two concealment spells were definitely rare. Their trust in each other was evident.
Meng Jingzhou laughed heartily, saying Lu Yang didn’t need to worry, and Man Gu echoed similar sentiments.
…
“Hey, I remember this was a tea house; now it’s a barbecue shop?” Under the night sky, two wandering heroes stumbled upon what used to be a tea house, now replaced by a barbecue shop with an interesting name.
“One More Time Barbecue, it smells so good.”
The first hero sniffed the air, the aroma of barbecue wafting toward them, making it hard to resist.
“Shall we grab a bite?”
“Let’s go in.”
The two quickly agreed and walked into the barbecue shop.
As soon as they entered, they were stunned by the lively atmosphere. Customers were chatting and laughing, enjoying skewers and drinks, the noise so loud it felt like the roof would lift off. A strong man was running in and out with skewers, clearly a waiter.
Was such a strong waiter there to prevent customers from skipping out on their bills?
“Is this new shop really this popular?”
The two were curious; a shop that was this busy must have a good reason for it, and they couldn’t miss out.
They were lucky to find the last empty table.
Once seated, a waiter named Lu Yang approached with a small notebook, wearing a standard service industry smile. “Hello, what would you like to eat?”
“Two pots of wine, a plate of boiled peanuts, thirty lamb skewers, thirty beef skewers, and two servings of baked potatoes… all mildly spicy; we can’t handle too much spice.”
Lu Yang nodded as he wrote it down and then sent a thought to Man Gu, “Can you adjust your recipe? The barbecue is too delicious; it’s attracting so many people. How are we supposed to keep an eye on Qin Yuanhao?”
Lu Yang didn’t expect Man Gu’s secret recipe to be this effective. On the first night, a few customers came; the next day, there were several tables; by the third day, it was fully booked. Now, on the fourth day, after the two heroes took the last table, there were already people lining up outside.
Lu Yang suspected that by the fifth day, people might start reserving tables or sharing tables, and by the thirtieth day, they could open a chain store in the neighboring county. A year later, they could have two hundred chain stores in northern Central Continent, and three years later, it would be all the rage across the entire Central Continent, and five years later, they might even go public… if there was such a thing here.
Man Gu’s recipe was fine, right? He didn’t sneak any forbidden ingredients into the sauce, did he?
That was just a joke; Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had tasted Man Gu’s cooking before, and there were no forbidden ingredients. It was indeed delicious, but they hadn’t expected it to attract so many customers.
Later, Lu Yang realized that he had been eating top-quality delicacies at Tianmen Peak, and his taste had become spoiled. For him to say something was delicious after being used to such fine food meant that Man Gu’s barbecue recipe truly had its unique charm.
In short, they absolutely couldn’t let the shop get any busier.
“It seems pretty busy downstairs; do you want me to help?” Meng Jingzhou’s lazy voice drifted into their ears.
Right now, Meng Jingzhou was the only one on the second floor keeping an eye on Qin Yuanhao.
“Just stay upstairs and watch Qin Yuanhao; don’t come down and cause trouble!” Lu Yang warned. If Meng Jingzhou went downstairs, it wouldn’t just be as a waiter.
From what he knew of Meng Jingzhou, he could turn serving dishes into a stand-up comedy routine.
Meng Jingzhou yawned widely, making anyone listening feel drowsy. “But it’s really boring on the second floor. It’s been four days, and Qin Yuanhao hasn’t shown any signs of leaving home; he’s either meditating or meditating again, without any entertainment.”
“I think we might as well pretend to be street performers. I could go to Qin Yuanhao's house and perform a stand-up routine while you do a big drum act. While we distract him, Man Gu can set up a listening talisman or something.”
Lu Yang and Man Gu ignored Meng Jingzhou.
The best way to deal with a chatterbox was to simply ignore them.
Seeing no one was paying attention to him, Meng Jingzhou had to change the subject. “Man Gu, are you really not considering making the skewers taste worse?”
Man Gu had his own principles. “Our family has been in the barbecue business for eighteen generations. I can’t ruin the reputation of the Man tribe’s barbecue in my generation!”
(End of Chapter)