Chapter 207: How Do You Want It Cooked?

Chapter 207: How Do You Want It Cooked?

“I ran all over the place for so long. Can’t you cut me some slack? Using violence to solve problems is the worst approach!” Dan Marina said, annoyed, as she changed out of her clothes, which had turned into rags.

Loris was unmoved by Dan Marina’s complaints. “You brought this upon yourself. That’s the price of freedom.”

“Price or whatever~ I was just saying that earlier.” Dan Marina chuckled twice, the grievance on her face vanishing completely. She picked up a water basin nearby, took out a small container bottle, and poured all the water from it into the basin. The small bottle filled more than half of the basin. “Come, come. Let’s check how that little dragon is doing.”

As she spoke, traces of Zheng Yichen soon appeared in the water basin. “Huh? There’s another woman by his side?”

“…” Loris glanced sideways and said nothing.

Seeing her reaction, Dan Marina couldn’t hold back her words. “No wonder! There’s a reason you stick with him. Is it because of the little dragon that you have an interest in small ones? Why don’t you let him see your real appearance?”

“Shut up!” Loris shot Dan Marina a glance and silently watched Zheng Yichen’s movements. A Witch’s possessions were not so easy to take. That map was the perfect medium for Dan Marina to use this magic to track Zheng Yichen, something the little dragon was still unaware of.

“Fine, fine. I’m out there, risking my life in all sorts of dangerous places, while he seems to be living quite comfortably… Ahem, I’ll stop.” Noticing Loris’s increasingly unpleasant gaze, Dan Marina quickly cut off what she was about to say next.

One shouldn’t assume that someone quiet-tempered is easygoing. Dan Marina knew very well that the pseudo-loli beside her could actually be quite petty!

“This is really strange,” Zheng Yichen muttered, rubbing his chin as he looked down at Lily, who was holding a fairy tale book. He noticed the little loli’s voracious appetite was growing stronger by the day. Eating the Magical Beast Meat earlier seemed to have flipped a switch within her, awakening some innate nature.

Zheng Yichen later examined her body. Aside from an unusual increase in her physique, even her recovery ability had improved significantly. Minor scrapes and such would heal completely in just a few minutes. Once, while hunting Magical Beasts to restock their food supplies, Lily even showed great interest in raw meat.

This made him pay extra attention for a while. Later, he discovered that she couldn’t resist targeting a small animal one night. Although she did it stealthily, Zheng Yichen still caught her in the act. She had quietly sliced the small animal’s paw and secretly tasted its blood.

“How’s the drink I prepared?” Zheng Yichen asked.

“It’s sour and sweet. Very delicious,” Lily nodded gently, her tone somewhat absent-minded. She felt a mix of confusion and guilt—confused because Zheng Yichen seemed especially kind to her these past two days, putting more care into the things he made and occasionally preparing small treats for her; guilty because… she worried that her recent secretive actions might have been discovered.

“Want more?” Lily hesitated for a moment, looking at the small cup in her hand, then nodded slightly. After all, she was just a child, and her will power wasn’t very strong against the temptation of sweets, especially as her wariness toward Zheng Yichen kept decreasing.

Zheng Yichen poured her another cup of the drink. This cup tasted the same as the previous one. However, after taking a small sip, Lily’s eyes lit up. She drank it down much faster than before, smacked her lips, and looked eagerly at Zheng Yichen. “Any more?”

“…No, that’s all.” Zheng Yichen spread his hands and turned away, his expression grave. The first cup was normal; the second had additional ingredients, including the blood of a Magical Beast. Masked by the other ingredients, its flavor was identical to the first cup’s.

Yet, she had shown extra fondness for the second cup and even actively asked for more. Was there really something wrong with her constitution? Did she crave raw meat more than cooked?

With traits like these, could she truly be an Otherworld version of a Jiangshi…? Well, actually, there were Jiangshi in this world, but the Jiangshi of this world didn’t have any strong craving for blood. Strictly speaking, they were similar to undead beings—just Skeleton Soldiers with an extra layer of flesh, which, under the influence of Dark Power, wouldn’t decay further.

“Come, come. Look at my latest creation—steak. How do you want it cooked?” After hunting another bovine Magical Beast, Zheng Yichen casually sliced off a large piece of steak. After cleaning it promptly, he skillfully placed it on a grill and asked Lily.

“Can it be eaten… raw?”

“Hmm~ It’s fine if you pick a good part of the beef. For instance, this tender piece here—medium-rare is enough.” Zheng Yichen demonstrated for Lily, quickly passing it over the fire before popping it into his mouth… Tsk, he hadn’t chosen the wrong cut, but how was he supposed to know exactly how well-done it was?

Controlling the heat? Sorry, when Zheng Yichen grilled meat, he always used the first whiff of burning as his timer. Eating steak that still carried the metallic taste of blood… tsk!

“Then I’ll have it the way you did…”

“Alright!” Zheng Yichen repeated the process just as before. “Want any seasoning?”

“No, it’s fine like this. This is enough.” Lily stared intently at the Magical Beast beef, which still had a few traces of blood. “We shouldn’t use too much seasoning. It’s better to save some…”

“Hey, it seems the little dragon picked up quite an extraordinary little thing,” Dan Marina said with keen interest as she sorted through the materials she had collected during this time.

“What’s the matter?”

“The distance is too great, and the medium isn’t high-grade. The information I’m getting isn’t very accurate. What I can confirm is that the little girl should be a Corpse Puppet. However, it seems she was influenced by the little dragon’s power and broke free from the Undying Witch’s control. How reckless.”

Loris nodded. Reckless? It certainly was a bit reckless. Corpse Puppets might seem easy to create—the Undying Witch effortlessly produced two Towns’ worth of them—but as a unique Magic of the Undying Witch, one that to this day no one has been able to replicate or mimic, its technical complexity was considerable.

When the Undying Witch used it, everything was under control. Even when not needed, those Corpse Puppets could develop on their own, yet certain fixed aspects wouldn’t spiral out of control. But after Zheng Yichen used his own abilities to erase the possibility of Lily being controlled, some aspects were bound to change. The Undying Witch understood her power thoroughly—she knew how to use it and how to wield it deeply. Zheng Yichen couldn’t do that.

Therefore, losing control was often not a good thing. Whether the abnormalities Lily was showing now were beneficial or harmful, they weren’t there to observe the details, so there was no way to judge. “Don’t overthink it. She won’t cause any upheaval. No matter how she mutates, she can’t harm the little dragon, because… she now bears the little dragon’s mark.”