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Chapter 7: The Mysterious Customer
(Inside the Spicy Tiger Tavern, the clatter of dishes, rising steam, and the spicy scent of food filled the air. Xiao Feng stood behind the cooking table, calmly chopping onions.)
🔊 Gu Lang (lying under a table, half-asleep):
— Kid, if the customers keep coming like this, I'll never get any rest! This is torture, not a journey!
🔊 Xiao Feng (smirking):
— Eat, sleep, complain. Those are your top three skills.
(Just then, the tavern door creaked open. A tall man in a long cloak, his face hidden beneath a wide hat, walked in slowly. His footsteps were lighter than wind.)
🔊 Tavern Owner (whispering):
— This one's... weird. Never seen him before.
(The man walked straight forward, not even sitting. He stopped beside the counter.)
🔊 Mysterious Customer:
— I'm looking for a taste... one I had only once in my life.
But I've never forgotten it.
🔊 Xiao Feng (raising an eyebrow):
— A taste you had once? What was in it?
🔊 Mysterious Customer:
— The scent of death.
But the taste of life.
(The tavern fell silent. Even Gu Lang opened his eyes.)
💭 "Scent of death? What kind of order is that?"
🔊 Xiao Feng (calmly):
— Fine. I'll cook it.
But if you die, I'm not responsible.
(He entered the smoky kitchen. This time, he picked ingredients he'd never dared use before: bitter mountain root, wild black pepper, and dry unknown leaves.)
(Steam thickened. The stew turned somewhere between red and gray. The smell was strange... something between what you kill, and what saves you.)
(He placed the bowl in front of the customer.)
🔊 Mysterious Customer:
— That smell… exactly the same…
(He took one spoonful. Swallowed. Then slowly leaned forward and whispered into Xiao Feng's ear:)
🔊 Mysterious Customer (softly):
— If you still don't know who you are…
You will soon.
(He turned and left. No sound. No name. No coin.)
(After the door shut, a folded paper fluttered down onto the table. A recipe? No...
A map. A strange one, leading