The fierce tiger circled the cave entrance twice more, confirming that there was indeed an invisible barrier preventing it from entering. It couldn’t help but roar angrily a couple of times.

…You’re doomed! Feng Miaojun thought to herself.

Sure enough, while the tiger’s roar still lingered, Yun Ya’s sleeve moved slightly, and a rainbow light shot out with lightning speed, piercing directly into the tiger’s eye!

Right behind the eye was the brain. No matter how strong the tiger’s life force was, being struck in a vital spot silenced it immediately. It fell without making another sound, twitched twice, and then lay still.

Yun Ya had indeed been awake.

After the tiger had called out twice, Feng Miaojun could no longer pretend to be asleep. She acted as if just waking up in confusion, rubbing her eyes and saying: “What happened? Oh, what a huge tiger!”

Yun Ya glanced at her and chuckled lightly: “It came to die in someone’s place.”

Feng Miaojun’s heart skipped a beat, but her face remained the picture of innocence as she peered outside: “Is there someone else out there?”

She got up and walked outside, deliberately avoiding Yun Ya’s right side, where the flying sword was concealed. Remembering how she had been moving around in front of the divine sword all evening, her scalp tingled slightly.

She had been feigning sleep earlier to let the tiger test Yun Ya’s capabilities for her. If he had been so severely injured that he couldn’t move and was merely bluffing her, she wouldn’t have been polite. Even if she couldn’t take his life, she would have taught him a lesson about not messing with Miss Feng.

But now, heh. Just seeing the speed and power with which the divine sword had flown out, she wasn’t confident she could have blocked it.

Even a lean camel is still larger than a horse.

This sword strike was also meant for her to see. Yun Ya said with playful interest: “There’s no one, this is called ‘killing the tiger to warn the monkey.'”

Since he didn’t spell it out, she quickly laughed it off: “It’s so late, where would there be monkeys…” Damn him, was he indirectly calling her a monkey? “May I ask, how should we handle this tiger?”

“Eat it.”

She suddenly understood. So this was why Yun Ya hadn’t let her go hunting earlier. The smell of blood on him was too strong, and he hadn’t burned his blood-soaked clothes, which would inevitably attract carnivorous beasts. They wanted to eat him, so he simply waited for them, or rather, conserved his energy while fresh meat walked right up to his door.

This man was truly ruthless, scheming even against wild beasts. Feng Miaojun thought to herself, yet she had to give him a thumbs up: “The Imperial Preceptor is indeed far-sighted.” Using himself and her as bait.

The fire had been relit. She drew her dagger, gutted and butchered the fierce tiger, dug out several good pieces of meat, casually rubbed on some salt, and was about to place them over the fire to roast. But Yun Ya stopped her: “Wait, go to the small bottle for a moment.”

She didn’t understand but obeyed. A while later, when she emerged from the small bottle, her hands were full of bottles and jars.

This time, what he had asked her to bring out wasn’t medicine or strange insects or herbs, but seasonings!

On her first visit to the small bottle, she had only glanced briefly at the back kitchen, completely unaware that the great demon king’s kitchen was so well-stocked with condiments!

From left to right, they lined up half the wall—it was quite a spectacular sight. She observed and saw that there were even several types of chili sauce, categorized by spiciness from mild to intense. The spiciest one made her want to cry just from smelling it.

Her mind was full of bubbling questions, and she didn’t hesitate to voice them: “What are you… going to do with these?”

“Stew soup,” he pointed at the salted meat chunks. “Tiger meat is rough, gamey, and smelly. It doesn’t taste good even when roasted.”

With such severe injuries, was he still concerned about whether food tasted good? But now he was the boss, and Feng Miaojun had no choice: “Please instruct me?”

So under the guidance of the great Imperial Preceptor Yun, she took a large pot to blanch the raw meat to remove impurities and blood clots, then set up another pot of clear water to stew the meat. Besides regular seasonings and several medicinal herbs, he also had her add some hawthorn.

During this time, he ate the beggar’s chicken that had been cooked under the fire. Feng Miaojun had been somewhat successful this time, but she hadn’t thought about seasoning before wrapping it in mud. Though the chicken meat was tender, it was bland and tasteless. Yun Ya didn’t complain about her cooking but had her fetch one more thing from the small bottle, which transformed the mediocre into the marvelous.

“Ch-chili powder!” That reddish powder with its familiar scent—wasn’t it chili powder?

She widened her eyes, watching as Yun Ya produced a small silver-handled knife from somewhere, elegantly cutting the meat, dipping it in the seasoning, and then putting it in his mouth.

She had no time to observe how proper this handsome man’s dining etiquette was because her stomach let out a loud and prolonged sound:

Gurgle.

Feng Miaojun was greatly embarrassed. She had been hungry for a long time, and now smelling the aroma of chicken meat, she could no longer endure it and swallowed her saliva several times.

She looked at him with her large, watery eyes full of pleading, resembling a begging cat or dog. Yun Ya glanced at her, cut off a chicken leg, and pushed the rest to her: “Go ahead and eat.”

Feng Miaojun didn’t stand on the ceremony and grabbed it. Having hot food to fill her stomach after more than ten hours, the happiness was so overwhelming that she wanted to howl to the sky.

“It’s delicious!” She imitated Yun Ya by dipping the meat in the seasoning while praising her zero-foundation culinary achievement. How talented she was! Her first attempt at beggar’s chicken was such a success!

Yun Ya lowered his eyes, wiping his fingers clean with a white cloth. He agreed with her statement. The Juya bird, worthy of being a tribute bird of good fortune, left a lingering fragrance in the mouth when chewed. Its taste was several times better than ordinary pheasant. Em—

Should he get more in the future?

“Why did Mo Tizhun take you as his disciple?”

She was enjoying her meal when this unexpected question made her choke for a moment: “I saved Master’s life once, so he took me as his disciple.”

“At Sweet Water Village?” Yun Ya supported his chin with his hand, examining her carefully. “Just because of that?” He had heard all those stories about Mo Tizhun taking her as a disciple.

Of course, they were all so-called official explaKingdoms, standard answers.

“What do you mean by ‘just’?” she muttered. “How many people get the chance to rescue the Imperial Preceptor?”

“You don’t seem very respectful toward him,” Yun Ya’s eyes held an examiKingdom that made her extremely uncomfortable. “What’s interesting is that Mo Tizhun, that old-fashioned man, seems not to mind.” Mo Tizhun was traditional in his ways, with a set of rules to follow. How could he allow his disciple to be disrespectful?

This guy’s powers of observation were truly frightening. Feng Miaojun rubbed her hands: “I’m the youngest, so Master is more indulgent with me.” Both Tie Xinning and Xu Fengnian were already quite old when Mo Tizhun took on his third disciple. Who knew that this guy would rebel and be killed? Externally, it was announced that the much younger Feng Miaojun would take his place.

It wasn’t just that the elderly favored the youngest child; masters also tended to show more affection for their final disciples.

“Is that so?” Yun Ya said indifferently. “But from my perspective, he doesn’t seem to have much of a master-disciple bond with you. Otherwise, how could your cultivation be limited to this level? You can’t even use any of his signature secret techniques or famous treasures.”

His gaze was too penetrating. Feng Miaojun remained silent.