Chapter 20 The Forsaken Land and Pointy Ears on the Tip of the Tongue
The fat man threw a large lump of kneaded dough onto the cutting board. "Do you know how to roll out dough? Do you know how to wrap dumplings? If not, I'll teach you!"
"Roll the dough into a long strip, cut it into small pieces, flatten them, and roll them into circles..."
Under the fat man's guidance, several village women who were initially at a loss quickly got the hang of it. Although they had never seen this way of eating before, their fingers, honed by years of hard work, were remarkably nimble.
In no time, round, plump dumplings were arranged on the cutting board like gold ingots.
"Put it in the pot!"
The large black pot seized from the kobold camp came in very handy. Water boiled, and plump white dumplings were dropped in, bobbing and swaying in the bubbling water.
A few minutes later.
"It's done cooking!"
The fat man scooped up a bowl full of steaming dumplings with a large spoon and handed it to the old village chief first.
"Try it, old man. This is the taste of our hometown."
The old village chief, with trembling hands, accepted the rough pottery bowl with a chipped rim.
The dumplings in the bowl had thin wrappers and generous fillings, the color of the meat filling faintly visible through them. A warm aroma of wheat mixed with the scent of meat wafted over, making his eyes sting.
He took a small, careful bite.
"Sizzle—"
The scalding hot soup bursts in your mouth.
It was the soft, chewy texture of the flour, the savory flavor of the meat filling, and the stimulating sensation brought by the spicy spices I had never experienced before.
In that instant, the old village chief felt as if he had returned to sixty years ago, when he was still a child, when the world was not so hopeless, and his mother had once made him a hot soup with meat.
"Waaah..."
As the old village chief chewed, tears fell into his bowl.
"Delicious...it's so delicious..."
He wanted to say something complimentary, but his limited vocabulary prevented him from describing the taste. He could only lower his head and swallow deeply, as if trying to swallow this moment of happiness forever.
Other villagers also received dumplings.
For a moment, only the sounds of slurping and chewing filled the square.
The little girl who had been rescued by the husky earlier was holding half a dumpling, her mouth greasy from eating it. She looked up at the chubby chef with bright, sparkling eyes and asked in her childish voice:
"Uncle Fatty... is this food for the gods?"
The fat man paused for a moment, then burst into laughter, ruffling the little girl's dry, yellow hair.
"This isn't for gods. This is for humans. As long as you work hard from now on, you can eat this every day!"
At that moment, in the villagers' hearts, the image of this fat man with a fierce face and a kitchen knife instantly became more glorious than those lofty statues.
If this is what it means to be a follower of an evil god... then I'd be willing to let them be followers of that evil god for the rest of their lives!
...
However, the surprises were not over yet.
Just as everyone was sweating profusely from eating, the fat man brought out another huge plate.
On the plate were stacks of crystal-clear, trembling...green jelly?
"Come on, come on! Dessert after dinner!"
The fat man proudly introduced, "This is my special slime pudding, made by refining and boiling'slime gel' and sweet fruit juice found by Shennong through three processes!"
"Huh? A slime?"
Upon hearing the name, the players' faces turned slightly green. After all, they had personally killed those things—they were slugs!
"Oh, don't worry! It's been sterilized at high temperatures!"
The fat man grabbed a piece and stuffed it into his mouth. "Mmm~ bouncy! Smooth! And fruity! Amazing!"
A few daring players tried a bite.
"Holy crap? This is pretty good!"
"This tastes...like Xizhilang! And it's green apple flavored!"
"This is actually food? Every part of a slime is valuable!"
Seeing this, the villagers cautiously tried it too. The cool, sweet, and smooth texture was like a delicacy from heaven for them, who had never tasted sugar before.
The "Shennong" (a legendary figure in Chinese mythology) even took notes while eating: "Slime gelatin solidifies when heated and denatures when exposed to acid... It seems its main components are polysaccharides and proteins. Isn't this just natural gelatin? We can mass-produce jelly in the future!"
...
Just as the square was filled with jubilation, and everyone was sweating profusely from eating.
The last carriage, which had been tucked away in a corner and ignored for so long, suddenly stirred with a commotion; the elf had awakened.
"Holy crap! Guys, come quick! Someone's vanished into thin air!"
Hakimi North and South Green Bean, who was dismantling the carriage planks for firewood, suddenly exclaimed as if he had discovered a new continent, "What's locked in this cage... is top-notch!"
That shout drew everyone's attention.
"What kind of top-tier item? Is it a purple-grade piece?"
"Make way! Let me see!"
The players, holding their bowls, swarmed around it.
The huge black cloth on the carriage was lifted, revealing a fine iron cage covered with runes. Inside the cage, a figure was curled up.
She was a forest elf girl who looked extremely weak.
Although she was wearing a tattered linen dress, it did nothing to conceal her breathtaking beauty.
Her long, flowing silver hair, like moonlight, was somewhat disheveled and draped over her shoulders, with a few strands falling beside her pale, almost translucent cheeks, adding to her heartbreakingly fragile appearance. Her pointed ears drooped slightly in fear, and her eyes, which remained as pure as the purest emeralds even in dire straits, warily watched the crowd of onlookers.
In particular, her slender neck and the faint green magic patterns on her collarbone exuded a strange charm that was a mixture of holiness and depravity under the dim firelight of the temple.
At that moment, all the players were remarkably silent for three seconds.
Immediately afterwards, an even more intense wailing and howling erupted.
"Holy crap! This is an elf?! This model! This skin texture! I'm dead!"
"Wife! This is my wife whom I've never met before!"
"They're plotting to kill me! Who can withstand this 'battle-damaged' Pokémon?"
"Fatty! Hurry! Serve my goddess a bowl of dumplings! Thin wrappers and lots of filling!"
Eileen, trapped in the cage, was terrified by the group of humans with their fanatical eyes and who were spouting strange, incomprehensible words. Instinctively, she shrank back, hugging her knees like a frightened fawn.
On the high platform.
Li Wei sat on his throne, watching the players' reactions below, and nodded in satisfaction.
"It seems the money was well spent. Just this appearance alone can significantly increase the retention rate of these LSP players."
He had originally planned to go down himself to "show divine grace," but just as he was about to get up, he sat back down.
"No, I'm now the unspeakable supreme ruler. Personally feeding a spirit a bowl of dumplings? My prestige would instantly vanish. How am I supposed to lead the team after that?"
Li Wei's gaze fell on the cat-eared girl who was at the edge of the square, secretly licking the pudding at the bottom of her bowl while curiously looking around.
"Mia."
A majestic voice boomed in the cat-eared girl's mind.
"Meow?!" Mia was so startled that her hand trembled, and she almost dropped the bowl. She immediately stood at attention, her tail held straight up. "God, Your Majesty! I'm here!"
"Take a bowl of dumplings to that cage," Li Wei instructed calmly. "That's the gardener I bought... Tell her the rules."
"Yes, yes!"
Although Mia was a little afraid of the elf in the cage (after all, the pointed-eared elves were said to be very proud), since it was the god's order, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and go.
...
In front of the cage, the players gathered to watch the excitement, but because there were no quest prompts, no one dared to touch the rune lock on the cage.
"Excuse me! Excuse me, meow!"
Mia, carrying a steaming bowl, tried her best to keep a straight face and pretend to be very dignified as she squeezed through the crowd.
"It's Mia-chan!"
"The divine messenger has arrived!"
The players were very considerate and made way for them.
Mia walked to the cage and looked at the elf inside, who was even more beautiful and pitiful than herself. Suddenly, the fear in her heart lessened a lot.
A few days ago, she was huddled in a corner like this, starving to death. It was the gods who gave her a dried fish, giving her hope to live.
Now, it's her turn to pass on that hope.
Mia pulled a key from her waist, stood on tiptoe, and opened the cage door with a "click".
Eileen stared in horror at the girl with cat ears, her body tense, ready to fight back at any moment.
However, the anticipated attack did not occur.
The bowl of steaming dumplings was carefully pushed in front of her.
"Eat up, meow."
Mia squatted at the cage door, her two large, heterochromatic eyes blinking, her voice soft and sweet, yet she tried hard to imitate Levi's inscrutable tone:
"The gods said that no idlers are allowed here. But this meal... is a new employee perk."
"Join...the job?" Eileen stared blankly at the dumplings in front of her, the tempting aroma filling her nostrils and making her stomach rumble awkwardly.
"It's all about getting the work done!" Mia pointed to Shennong, who was going crazy not far away. "See that madman? The gods said that although he understands plants, he doesn't know how to take care of them. We need a real gardener."
"I heard that when you forest elves sing, seeds can sprout?" Mia tilted her head, her ears twitching. "If you can grow food, the gods say that from now on, there will be plenty of these dumplings."
Eileen looked into Mia's clear eyes, then glanced at the deep black mist on the distant high platform.
This is the territory of the evil god.
This place is filled with the aura of death.
These humans look terrifyingly insane.
but...
She lowered her head, looked at the bowl of hot soup, and tears suddenly fell down her cheeks.
During the months she was captured, all she heard was insults and all she ate was swill. Those self-proclaimed righteous humans treated her like merchandise, while the "gods" here sent a little girl, also a demi-human, to bring her a bowl of hot food.
She reached out with trembling hands, grabbed a scalding hot dumpling, and stuffed it into her mouth without a care for her image.
It smells so good.
After finishing one, she looked up, her emerald eyes still glistening with tears, but now filled with a newfound determination.
She looked at Mia, her voice hoarse but clear:
"I can farm...I can sing..."
She wiped the dust from her face, revealing a poignant yet hopeful smile:
"As long as you provide meals... I'll grow anything."
[Server-wide announcement: Congratulations! The special NPC [Wandering Forest Elf Eileen] has joined our faction!]
[Life Skills System Update: The [Plant Cultivation] section is now available!]
[Current temple population: 81 (including players).]
Looking at the new announcement on the heart-protecting mirror, and seeing the stunningly beautiful elf girl wolfing down her food, the players wore smiles of fatherly satisfaction.
"It's all set! From now on, we'll not only have dumplings to eat, but also elf girls to listen to our music!"
"This game was worth it!"