Chapter 379: The Kitchen God's True Form; Shaoguang Fuyue Event Ends
(Because the title of the previous chapter does not match the plot, it is a false scam, so today's 6000-word double update)
After everyone's persuasion, Keqing finally felt relieved.
Xiangling's chef competition has come to an end, but there is still one thing that everyone has not completed.
The group traveled around during the Moon Festival, not only to prepare for Xiangling's competition, but also to learn about the deeds of the kitchen god Marcosius and his true appearance.
The facts have been investigated almost completely, but the truth is still to be revealed.
Because of previous speculation, everyone thought that the Kitchen God statue would reveal its true form in the final of the Chef Contest, so everyone decided to go and see the Kitchen God statue.
However, after arriving at the place where Ningguang stored the statue of the Kitchen God...
"There's no change?"
Keqing looked at the cracked rock in front of her in surprise.
After the intense and fierce chef competition, the stone statue of the Kitchen God has not changed at all and still looks like a huge stone.
The only crack was the one that had appeared earlier.
Xiangling scratched her head and said puzzledly:
"The competition is obviously very exciting..."
Paimon spread his hands and said, "Yes, such a fierce competition couldn't even wake up the statue of the Kitchen God?"
"It seems... at first, no one really said that this method could bring the statue of the Kitchen God into the world."
Ying looked at Jun Bai at this time, looking thoughtful.
Everyone looked at Jun Bai.
Jun Bai shrugged and said, "I never admitted this at the beginning. I just said that this was your own guess."
"..."
Everyone was speechless.
It seems like this is really the case...
[I thought Brother Bai was just being polite to us, but who knew he was serious...]
【Brother Bai is an honest man, and he speaks the truth.】
[To be honest, you are not kidding us...]
Keqing felt a little disappointed: "It seems... we are still not destined to be together..."
Paimon comforted her, "It's okay, Keqing, it's just that one method didn't work. We can try another way."
Ying also said, "Paimeng is right. The Moon Chasing Festival is still some time away. Let's think of other ways."
"Yes, Keqing, we will accompany you."
"Well, thank you."
Keqing's disappointment was comforted.
Suddenly, Xiangling remembered the recipe that Keqing asked her to copy.
Since there is no progress on the Kitchen God's matter, let's make Keqing happy somewhere else.
So Xiangling planned to prepare a surprise for Keqing.
She told everyone that she had something to do, then took the rice crust and went to borrow the stove from the organizer who had not left yet.
The organizers give a lot of face to the champions of the competition.
So after a while, Xiangling came back with the dish ready.
"Hmm? It smells so good, Xiangling, are you going to make something delicious?"
Paimon, who had a keen sense of smell, reacted immediately.
"Midomido~"
The second person to react was Iya.
Xiangling giggled, and then stuffed a spicy pork steamed bun into everyone's hands: "This is the dish that Keqing asked me to recreate, spicy pork steamed bun, you guys hurry up and eat it while it's hot."
"Xiangling..."
Keqing looked at the spicy meat steamed bun in her hand and was very moved, so she took a bite with great anticipation.
After just one bite, Keqing's pupils trembled and her eyes lit up.
[Hmm? With this prelude, is Keqing going to explode? ]
[Impossible, this is 12+, it is impossible to have a restricted level, but you can use your imagination and imagine that scene. ]
[Imagine? Sorry, I don’t have that imagination. I choose to turn right and look at other software. ]
"Yeah! Delicious!"
Paimon swallowed it in one gulp. After watching the whole game, she felt that she had become thinner due to hunger.
So just give it a rough taste.
Then Paimon looked at Keqing and said, "Although it is indeed delicious, Keqing, your reaction seems to be a bit excessive."
Keqing didn't say anything. She closed her eyes and savored the taste of her memory.
Ying swallowed the steamed bread and asked, "Keqing, are you okay?"
Keqing opened her eyes: "...Sorry, I'm being rude."
"Thank you, Xiangling, this is the taste I want."
"It's delicious and... incredible. It feels like I'm back to the time when I was with my grandfather."
It tastes like mom's, which is the highest praise for the chef.
However, Xiangling, who should have been happy, felt embarrassed and said that she had known how to cook this dish before.
"You can cook without a recipe? But isn't this dish from Keqing's grandfather's notes?"
Paimon wondered.
"Because this recipe was not originally created by my grandfather."
Keqing explained: "This is actually a recipe that my grandfather wrote down from an ancient book. It's a dish he has always wanted to recreate, but he has never succeeded because the recipe is incomplete."
[Keqing's grandfather never dreamed that the recipe he had been pursuing all his life would be found at Wanmin Hall...]
[Evaluation: It won't be like this if you have eaten at Wanmintang once. But the lost recipe... logically speaking, shouldn't it be in Fengdenglou? ]
[I think a restaurant that has been around for 3,000 years will not let any of its famous dishes be lost.]
[Is it possible that this is a dish, not a famous dish, so Fengdenglou did not include the recipe? ]
"Every time he tried to make this dish, he would let me taste it while it was hot... I really miss it, this is the taste."
Keqing sighed.
In a blink of an eye, her grandfather had left her for a long time...
Xiangling scratched her head and said:
"My dad also learned it from his dad. It is said that this dish has been passed down from generation to generation and has been passed down in our family for a long time."
Xiangling told everyone that this dish is called Spicy Meat Steamed Buns.
It is a folk dish that is easy to make and carry, especially suitable for eating while traveling.
"When I first met Guoba, the dry food I brought with me was this spicy meat steamed bread."
"The rice crust may have been eaten by then. I only ate two steamed buns, and the rest went into its stomach."
As she spoke, Xiangling touched Guoba's head.
Jun Bai bit the spicy meat steamed bread bite by bite, with complex emotions in his eyes, an emotion of nostalgia mixed with sadness.
What a familiar smell, Marcosius...
"Jun Bai? You don't seem to be in a good condition."
Ying looked at Jun Bai and asked with concern.
Yiya held Jun Bai's clothes with a concerned look in his eyes.
"It's nothing, I just suddenly thought of an old friend."
Jun Bai closed his eyes, then chuckled, rubbed Yiya's little head, and ate half of the spicy meat steamed bun in his hand.
Then, Jun Bai looked at everyone and said:
"This dish has indeed been passed down from generation to generation in Xiangling's family, but..."
"Its creator was Macosius, the god of the hearth."
"Eh?" x4
As soon as these words came out, everyone in the audience was shocked.
I never expected this dish to have such a legendary origin!
"Spicy meat steamed buns were actually invented by the Kitchen God?!" Paimon's eyes widened. He didn't expect that this snack had such a great origin.
"I never thought that my grandfather would have such a close relationship with the Kitchen God..."
Keqing quickly asked for the details.
"Before I explain this matter, I want to congratulate you first."
Jun Bai looked at the stone statue of the Kitchen God and chuckled:
"You stumbled upon the truth."
"Now, the statue of the Kitchen God is about to be reborn."
As soon as he finished speaking, the huge rock in front of everyone emitted a dazzling light, then slowly cracked, and finally...
boom!
[Diudiudiu—thump thump thump thump…thump thump thump thump…]
[Chapter 1: The Stone Monkey is Born...]
[The one in front, where did you get the voice? ]
[Armor explodes, but it's the Kitchen God. 】
[Wait a minute, who is in here? ]
“Exploded?!”
The statue of the Kitchen God hidden in the boulder is shaped like rice crust!
Xiangling was shocked: "Guoba?! Why is it you?"
Guoba opened his eyes wide and looked at the statue: "?!"
Paimon's eyes moved back and forth between the Kitchen God statue and Guoba, then fixed on Jun Bai and Yiya, and asked:
"Is the relationship between the Kitchen God and Guoba the same as the relationship between Jun Bai and Yiya?"
She didn't think about the equation that rice crust equals the Kitchen God, because Jun Bai had said before that Marcosius had died.
"Very close, but unfortunately not correct. The correct answer is——"
"Guoba is the former devil of the stove, Marcosius."
"Guoba is a demon?!"
Xiangling looked at her partner in shock.
"So that's how it is..."
Ying said secretly in her heart.
She had this idea from the very beginning, but due to various unexpected circumstances, she had never been able to ask it out loud.
[I was wondering why Xiangling's strength is much higher than that of a normal four-star character. It turns out that Guoba is the reason for her strength! ]
[Then Diluk's status can be changed. Now Guoba is a demon god, so Diluk is not qualified to be on the same level as Guoba. ]
[Diluk: You are out of my league, my family. I will be stripped of even the name Lu Guoba.]
At this time, Guoba was still looking at the statue.
"You asked me if it's noisy enough to wake up the Kitchen God. The answer is yes and no," Jun Bai explained to everyone.
To the Kitchen God, wishes and hard work are different things.
Hard work is technology, talent and experience.
But only wishes represent the purest power in people's hearts, so the Kitchen God has always been a people-friendly god who acts in accordance with people's wishes.
"Xiangling, the spicy meat steamed bread you just made fulfilled Keqing's wish."
"In addition to the answers, she gained more important beautiful memories that made her feel like she was standing shoulder to shoulder with her grandfather."
"The tremendous power that erupted when this wish was fulfilled resonated with the statue of the Kitchen God, causing it to reappear in the world in its former appearance."
"Ying is the one who has the most say on whether the power of will can achieve this."
Jun Bai looked at Ying, and Ying nodded.
In Inazuma, she and Shiba Kaoru fought against Lei Dianying together, and they were able to defeat Lei Dianying by relying on the power of their wishes.
Therefore, she has a lot of say in the effectiveness of her vows.
"Ah~ It seems that I came at the right time."
Gui Zhong suddenly appeared, then flashed to Guoba's side and said with a smile:
"How does it feel to see the statue of yourself in your prime? Look at it, isn't it majestic?"
"That guy Morax asked him to help make a stone statue, but it wasn't good at all. I made this one for you personally."
"Remember to thank me~"
At this time, Ah Ping, who was walking slowly, sighed:
"Don't tease Guoba. You know very well that he has forgotten everything in the past."
"Master chef."
Xiangling didn't expect that Aping was there too.
She came to Ah Ping and asked, "Master, what does the heyday that Lord Chen Wang mentioned just now refer to..."
"Remember the story I told you before about Marcosius? He has dedicated all his strength and wisdom to this land."
Jun Bai sighed:
“He lit the first night lamp with his own hands and let the aroma of food waft into thousands of homes.”
"He is both a demon god and the immortal who is closest to humans."
"It's a pity that fate is so cruel. His story was remembered by the people of Liyue, but it failed to stop his image from gradually fading away..."
--Reality
During Jun Bai's description, the player enters a cutscene.
"Demon of the Hearth" Marcosius was born from sparks from the collision of rocks.
He is in charge of fire and people's livelihood, and is a demon god who loves humans.
Thousands of years ago, the ancestors of Liyue established a settlement in Guiliyuan, named Guiliji.
Just as recorded in ancient books, Marcosius created clones and sneaked into every household to help make fire and cook.
Then, the demon god Phemix returned from Nirvana and was reborn from the ashes.
Marcosius showed great curiosity about this demon god of Nirvana who was dubbed the Demon God of Fengdeng.
So when Phoemix went out to war, Marcosius agreed to the request of Morax and Hagentus and accompanied Phoemix.
When the introduction reaches this point, the picture shows Phemix and the immortals going out to fight against demons.
People with sharp eyes have discovered that besides Marcosius, there are only five immortals, Yakshas and Ganyu, beside Phemix.
Phoemix won victory after victory in the Demon War, and more and more people voluntarily joined Phoemix's camp.
Finally, the Tianfeng Army was born, and under the leadership of Marshal Tianfeng, it shined in the War of Demons.
When marching and fighting, one is bound to encounter harsh environments.
Liyue at that time was not as peaceful and prosperous as it is today. It would not be an exaggeration to describe it as a poor and barren place.
During a western expedition, the god of the hearth, Marcosius, created a delicacy consisting of naan and meat sauce that could dispel dampness and cold and was easy to carry.
The Tianfeng Army used this food as marching rations to overcome the influence of the environment and won a great victory in the war, which laid the foundation for the Tianfeng Army's great victory.
Then, the scene shifts to the Layered Abyss.
A phoenix with flames wrapped around its body and an insect-like demon were fighting in the sky.
Finally, the insects fell into the void outside Teyvat, and the phoenix fell into the mountains again.
Before they could grieve over Phemix's departure, the remaining demons on the land of Liyue erupted.
Drought, flood, rainstorm, hurricane...
Earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, diseases...
The disaster that was unimaginable to people in peacetime caused irreparable damage to Liyue at that time.
At this point, the narrator changes from Jun Bai to A Ping:
"In the following years, there were disasters and diseases on earth. The Kitchen God no longer appeared frequently, but instead channeled all his power into the land to quell the disasters."
"The Kitchen God, having exhausted his power, lost much of his intelligence and became very small. When he finally said goodbye to us, he was no taller than a person..."
"He will tell the Emperor and the immortals about the dishes that will bring happiness and the secrets of the fire, and then he will go to the mountains and forests and fall into a long sleep."
[Liyue’s current happiness and well-being are all earned by the immortals and ancestors who sacrificed their lives...]
[This is why immortals can look down on humans. ]
[Keqing always slaps herself in the face every time she wakes up at night.]
[This war between demon gods is truly brutal. Even a strong nation like Liyue had to pay the price of two demon gods before it could settle down.]
The Kitchen God left this world, and rice crust was born.
On the day he woke up, Guoba ate the spicy meat steamed bread made by Xiangling.
Although he had forgotten the past, he was still moved by Xiangling, so he decided to follow Xiangling.
The Kitchen God visits present-day Liyue without anyone knowing, and sees vendors setting up stalls and hawking their wares early every morning.
Watching people going out to buy things and making fire to cook, it was no different from every day in the past.
Liyue, it has always been like this.
The scene starts from ancient Liyue and goes all the way to the present Liyue Harbor and Guiliji.
From Phoemis, Marcosius, to the Liyue Immortals, then Ganyu, Yanfei, and finally Ziwei and Qixing...
Every era has its representatives.
Ping Er:
"Wind and rain still bless, mountains and seas rejoice together, this is the blessing of heaven and earth."
Gan Yu:
"The stars have moved, the world has changed, but the world remains the same."
Condensed light:
"My fame and honor are with me, and I will live forever. Don't forget to walk around at night with a candle."
Ke Qing:
"All events of the past and present are stirring up the middle stream, and great plans are waiting for the newcomers."
What a beautiful painting of Liyue!
At this point, the story about the Kitchen God has been told and the cutscene has quietly come to an end.
After a family-friendly dialogue between the characters, the scene freezes on the reunion of Guoba and Zhongli in Wanmin Hall.
"Long time no see, old friend."
[The Time of Caressing the Moon·Part 2 Completed]
[The six emotions communicate with the seven immortals to congratulate the eight directions for the fragrance to spread to the nine heavens and be heard perfectly]