noffsinger Chapter 44: Eating Noodles
Chapter 44: Eating Noodles
The noodles have arrived.
Old Liu's hands were still trembling, but decades of hard work had been etched into his bones.
The six bowls of noodles had a clear, rich broth that shimmered with an oily sheen.
The noodles are distinct and uniform in thickness, making them authentic knife-cut noodles. They are thin at the edges and thick in the middle, resembling willow leaves soaked in a rich, white bone broth.
The braised pork belly is generously drizzled with sauce, and consists of large, tender, and flavorful pieces of pork belly. The sauce is a bright reddish-brown, with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, and it exudes an enticing savory aroma while steaming hot.
It was served on the side with a large plate of thinly sliced, spiced braised pig snout, which was crispy and delicious;
The other large dish was braised pig tails, which were rich in dark brown color, tender, and falling off the bone.
Simple food, yet it reveals solid skills.
Xue Bufeng picked up the bowl, tasted a sip of soup, and nodded.
Then pick up a chopstickful of noodles, put it in your mouth and chew slowly. It's chewy and smooth, with the wheat aroma mixed with the umami of the bone broth. It's truly a rare and excellent skill.
Unfortunately, even the best wine needs advertising.
Such excellent craftsmanship is being neglected in this dilapidated house.
Hua Baifeng couldn't wait any longer, eating with sweat dripping from her nose, and mumbling praises between bites:
"Old man, your noodle soup is really good. What did you put in it?"
Thousand-Handed Rakshasa ate more politely. Although he frowned and didn't quite like the environment, he had to admit that Old Liu's cooking was excellent.
Yuanyuan, Bingbing, and Xiao Shen ate quietly, taking small bites, their postures elegant.
The corpses on the ground were still there, emitting a faint smell of blood.
But the people at this table ate with focused and calm attention, as if the dead were just side dishes to them, not only not disgusting, but even more appetizing.
Old Liu huddled behind the stove, his heart pounding with anxiety, as if he had seventeen or eighteen buckets of water inside him.
He dared not look at the corpses, much less at the group of menacing figures eating as if no one else was around.
He just hoped these people would finish eating quickly and leave, so that his little noodle shop could return to its mundane days, where he only cared about the texture of the noodles and the saltiness of the braised meat.
The man in black in the corner had stopped looking at them at some point, and was just sitting there with his eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to all the turmoil around him.
The taciturn boy had long since disappeared, seemingly vanishing into the deepening night.
He left silently, just as he had come.
It was completely dark.
The small shop was lit only by a few oil lamps, casting long and short shadows that looked like ghostly figures on the mottled walls.
In this eerie calm—
A sound came from outside.
At first, there were scattered footsteps, which gradually grew closer and became dense and heavy, like rumbling thunder before a sudden rainstorm.
Interspersed among the sounds were the clash of weapons, heavy breathing, and suppressed, angry whispers.
Judging from the scale of the event, there must be quite a few people coming.
Old Liu shuddered and instinctively peeked half his head out from behind the stove, looking towards the door.
Upon seeing this, he almost collapsed to the ground with his legs giving way.
The narrow alley outside the door was packed with people!
The torchlight flickered, illuminating faces that were filled with anger, ferocity, curiosity, or tension.
At a glance, there are probably dozens or even hundreds!
Many of these faces were the "new customers" who had been coming and going in his shop in the past few days.
They have now returned, bringing even more people with them.
Under the firelight, swords gleamed and shadows flashed, a chilling aura filled the air.
The small noodle shop seemed to be instantly surrounded by a raging storm.
The atmosphere in the store suddenly became tense.
Hua Baifeng stopped eating, licked the grease from the corner of her mouth, and her eyes lit up.
The Thousand-Handed Rakshasa slowly wiped the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, his eyes growing even colder.
Yuanyuan and Bingbing exchanged a glance, put down their chopsticks, straightened their bodies slightly, and subconsciously moved closer to Xue Bufeng.
Xiao Shen had already stood silently beside Hua Baifeng, his gaze calmly fixed on the door.
Even the man in black in the corner had to glance at him to see who it was.
However, Xue Bufeng seemed completely unconcerned.
He continued eating noodles, picking up a piece of perfectly braised pig snout, putting it in his mouth, savoring its crisp, chewy, salty, and savory texture, then taking a sip of noodle soup and letting out a satisfied sigh.
They paid no heed to the approaching storm outside the door.
The footsteps stopped at the door.
The crowd parted, and Lin Anshan, who had fled in panic earlier, still looked shaken as he bowed and led someone in.
The person being led was a young man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old.
He was tall and imposing, wearing a brocade robe embroidered with cloud patterns, covered with a black fox fur coat, with a jade crown on his head and a long sword hanging at his waist.
He was handsome with a face like jade, sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and a dignified appearance. He certainly had an extraordinary demeanor and could be called a jade-faced gentleman.
At this moment, however, a layer of frost settled between his brows, and his eyes were as sharp as a hawk's.
Behind him, twenty or thirty people filed in, crowding the already cramped shop.
Among these people were wealthy young men dressed in fine clothes, with a similar temperament to Lin Anshan. They all seemed to be of similar status, but they all respected the handsome young man, which showed that he was no ordinary person.
There were also rough, unruly men with bare chests and fierce faces, men with sharp expressions who looked like servants and guards, and even a few older men with bulging temples and steady eyes, who were clearly martial arts seniors with some reputation who had been invited to provide support.
All eyes were focused on Xue Bufeng's table and the several corpses on the ground that had begun to grow cold.
His eyes held surprise, horror, anger, and deep apprehension.
Lin Anshan leaned close to the handsome young man's ear and whispered a few words quickly. He pointed at Xue Bufeng, Thousand-Handed Rakshasa, Hua Baifeng, and the others, his face showing lingering fear, and his fingers trembling.
That handsome young man—of course, everyone could guess that he was Qin Zhong, the only son of Qin Xiaoyi of Tiedan Town, and the closed-door lay disciple of Abbot Xinhu of Shaolin Temple, whom others had mentioned earlier.
That certainly has style.
However, this young master Qin, who was known as the Jade-Faced Divine Fist, now had a gloomy face and was no longer as dashing as before.
His gaze lingered for a moment on Thousand-Handed Rakshasa's face, a face that still shone brightly even now. Then he stepped forward, past Feng Tianming's gruesome corpse, his eyes like knives, fixed on Thousand-Handed Rakshasa's face. His voice was low and questioning:
"You are the notorious bandit, the Thousand-Handed Rakshasa?"
His tone was unfriendly, and he carried an intimidating presence that seemed out of place for his age, clearly indicating that he had been in a position of power for many years.
The Thousand-Handed Rakshasa put down his handkerchief, looked up to meet his gaze, and sneered:
"It's none of your business."
Qin Chong frowned, clearly displeased with her attitude.
But without saying much, his gaze shifted to Hua Baifeng, who was resting her chin on her hand, looking on with amusement. It lingered for a moment on her other hand, which bore the Azure Demon Hand, before he said coldly:
"Was it you who killed Feng Tianming just now? Using the Azure Demon Hand?"
Hua Baifeng blinked her big eyes, her face full of innocence:
"What else could it be but the Azure Demon Hand?"
She suddenly stretched out her hand and waved it in front of Qin Zhong, grinning as she said:
"I also have the Green Magic Hand, the White Magic Hand, the Blue Magic Hand, the Red Magic Hand... Which color magic hand do you want to see?"
This almost mocking reply caused Qin Zhong's face to darken completely, and anger surged in his eyes.
A suppressed commotion erupted from the crowd behind him, with many people showing anger on their faces.