Chapter 5: Taste what these fingers can do

By the time the last of the cooks had presented themselves, the dining hall had settled into a comfortable rhythm. The guests were no longer sitting in the stiff silence of a formal gathering. Wine was being poured, dishes were being passed around, and conversations had begun to overlap naturally.

At the Liang family’s table, an older man was complaining about the price of spirit herbs while his younger brother calmly told him that he was the one who had insisted on buying them early.

"I bought them early because you said the price would rise."

"I said it might rise."

"You said it would."

"I was wrong."

The older man stared at him for a moment before shaking his head and taking another drink.

Across from them, two younger members of the family were discussing a recent martial arts tournament, arguing over whether the winner had actually deserved his victory.

"He won three matches."

"He won because his opponent slipped."

"Twice?"

"The floor was wet."

"It was an outdoor tournament. Of course the floor was wet."

Nearby, several members of the Azure Cloud Sect were speaking more quietly. Their conversation was less animated, but every so often one of them would lean closer to say something that made the others smile.

The Yun Merchant House had settled into its own conversation. The young master sat beside an older relative who was explaining something about a shipment coming through the western roads.

"We should have sent another escort."

"We already sent twelve."

"And four of them were injured."

"Three."

"Four."

"The fourth one fell off his horse."

"Which happened while protecting the shipment."

"That doesn’t make it an injury caused by bandits."

The young master sighed.

"It doesn’t matter. Just hire better riders next time."

The older merchant gave him an amused look. "Easy to say when you’re not the one paying them."

"I am the one paying them."

"Exactly. That’s why you should be more careful with your money."

The young master opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, a servant entered the hall.

The conversations nearest the entrance gradually faded as the servant approached the head of the table.

"Master."

The manor master turned toward him.

"The main course has been completed. It will be brought out shortly."

The master’s entire expression changed.

He straightened in his seat, his earlier irritation momentarily forgotten as genuine excitement appeared on his face.

The young master of the Yun Merchant House noticed and raised an eyebrow.

"So this is the dish you’ve been waiting for."

The master gave him a confident look.

"You’ll understand when you taste it."

The young master chuckled and turned back toward his family.

"I suppose we’ll see."

A moment later, the doors opened again.

Several servants entered carrying large trays, followed by Charlie.

He walked at an unhurried pace, completely unconcerned by the number of people staring at him. The master was among the first people he noticed, and judging from the expression on the man’s face, their encounter earlier had not improved his opinion of Charlie.

Charlie didn’t particularly care.

He continued into the dining hall, with the servants following behind him and carrying the dishes he had spent the last hour preparing.

As they reached the first table, Charlie stopped, allowing the servants to move around him and begin placing the dishes before the guests.

The room gradually quieted as everyone watched.

While waiting, Charlie’s eyes passed over the guests once more.

The young master of the Yun Merchant House had already noticed him.

For a moment, neither of them said anything.

Then the young merchant’s face lit up.

"It’s you."

Charlie smiled.

"Good to see you again."

The young master laughed softly, apparently still surprised by the coincidence.

"I didn’t know you worked here."

"Neither did I."

That earned a laugh from the young merchant before he turned back toward the relative sitting beside him and continued their conversation.

Once everyone had been served, he stepped forward.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the main course."

He gestured toward the dish before them.

"I prepared it myself."

There was a murmur of interest around the table.

One of the members of the Liang family looked at him with particular curiosity.

"And what is your name, young man?"

Charlie straightened slightly.

"My name is Charlie Kirk."

The name drew a few curious looks.

"And which family are you from?"

Charlie glanced toward the master. The man’s expression had already begun to tighten.

Charlie smiled politely.

"I’m simply a humble person who was kindly brought into this household by the master."

The master’s eyebrow twitched.

The young master of the Yun Merchant House noticed immediately and had to hide his amusement behind his cup.

"Then you must have quite a remarkable talent for cooking if the master has brought you into his household."

Charlie gave a modest nod.

"I do my best."

He looked around the table.

"Anyway, you’ve all been waiting long enough. Please, go ahead and taste it."

The young master of the Yun Merchant House had just lifted his chopsticks when an elderly voice stopped him.

"Young Master."

He paused and looked toward the oldest member of the Azure Cloud Sect.

Elder Guo Shenyuan sat near the end of the table, his long white beard resting neatly against his robes.

"It would be inappropriate for you to taste the main course before the elders."

The young merchant glanced at the dish, then back at Elder Guo.

"They’ve already been eating since the beginning."

Beside him, Lin Meiyue, one of the younger Azure Cloud Sect disciples, gave a small nod.

"He does have a point, Elder."

Zhao Wenhai, seated across from her, quietly agreed.

"We’ve all been eating the other dishes for quite some time."

Elder Guo gave the two of them a stern look.

"You young people seem to have forgotten the meaning of courtesy."

The young master smiled.

"Not forgotten. I’m simply saying that if you want the first taste, Elder, you only need to ask."

He lowered his chopsticks and gestured toward the dish.

"Please."

Elder Guo regarded him for a moment before reaching for his own chopsticks. He carefully picked up a piece of the main dish and placed it into his mouth.

The young merchant waited for his reaction, while the others at the table watched with varying degrees of curiosity.

The manor master, however, wasn’t looking at Elder Guo. His eyes remained fixed on Charlie, who stood a short distance away, straightening the sleeve of his chef’s robes. Charlie adjusted the fabric around his wrist, smoothed his collar, and eventually glanced back at him. Their eyes met for a brief moment. Charlie merely tilted his head, as if wondering what the man was staring at, before turning his attention back to Elder Guo.

The old man was still chewing.

For a few seconds, nothing seemed unusual. Then his fingers tightened around his chopsticks, and a faint tremor ran through his hand. It spread gradually through his arm and into his shoulders until the movement became impossible to ignore.

"Elder Guo?"

Lin Meiyue leaned toward him, her earlier smile disappearing as she watched his trembling hands. Zhao Wenhai moved closer as well, his expression becoming serious.

"Elder, are you all right?"

Elder Guo didn’t answer. His eyes had widened, fixed somewhere far beyond the table, while the piece of food remained in his mouth.

"What happened?" Lin Meiyue asked.

Zhao Wenhai glanced at the dish, then toward Charlie and finally the manor master. "Could there have been something in the food?"

Han Yucheng was already half out of his seat.

"Poison?"

The word immediately changed the atmosphere around the table. Several guests turned toward Charlie, while others looked to the manor master for an explanation. The master remained silent, his expression difficult to read.

Charlie didn’t move.

He simply watched Elder Guo.

The old man’s lips began to tremble as he tried to speak.

"Th-this..."

Nothing else came.

He swallowed with difficulty and tried again, but the words came out broken and barely intelligible.

"Th... this..."

His chopsticks finally slipped from his fingers and landed against the table.

"Elder!"

Lin Meiyue reached for his shoulder.

"What’s wrong?"

"Should we call a physician?" Han Yucheng asked.

"Wait," Zhao Wenhai said, though the confidence in his voice had disappeared. "Elder Guo, can you hear us?"

There was no response.

The trembling continued, but the expression on Elder Guo’s face had begun to change. The tension slowly disappeared from his features, replaced by something none of them could understand. His eyes remained wide, yet there was no fear in them now. If anything, he looked strangely peaceful.

Charlie noticed the change immediately.

Something warm stirred deep inside him, spreading through his body before settling somewhere around his abdomen. A strange sensation brushed across his mind, and before he could make sense of it, the familiar voice appeared.

[Heavenly Culinary Arts activated.]

[Effect triggered: Taste Trance.]

[The target has entered a temporary state of heightened sensory pleasure.]

Across the table, Elder Guo’s trembling suddenly intensified. Lin Meiyue tightened her grip on his shoulder.

"Elder Guo, say something!"

The old man opened his mouth.

Still nothing.

And then, slowly, a blissful smile appeared across his face.

That was when everyone at the table became genuinely frightened.

Before Charlie could say anything, the scrape of a chair against the floor cut through the shouting. Han Yucheng had drawn his sword, the blade flashing beneath the lantern light as he stepped forward and pointed it directly at Charlie.

"You. What did you put in that dish?"

Charlie glanced at the sword and then back at Han Yucheng. "I cooked it."

"Don’t play games with me." Han Yucheng’s grip tightened around the hilt. "Our elder is barely able to speak, and you expect us to believe this is some coincidence?"

"Han Yucheng."

The young master of the Yun Merchant House rose from his seat. His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried enough authority to make several people turn toward him.

"Lower your sword."

Han Yucheng didn’t move. "The elder is in danger."

"Which is exactly why waving a sword around the person who prepared his food is a poor choice." The young merchant stepped between them, keeping his eyes on Han Yucheng. "We can question him after Elder Guo has been taken care of. Right now, we don’t even know what’s wrong with the elder."

"He could have poisoned him."

"And you could be wrong."

The two stared at each other for several seconds before the young merchant finally said, "Put it away."

Han Yucheng’s jaw tightened, but after a moment he lowered the blade, though he kept one hand on the hilt.

"Someone get a physician," the young merchant ordered. "And give Elder Guo some space. Crowding around him isn’t going to help."

The Azure Cloud Sect members immediately began moving around the elder, trying to make room while servants hurried to find a physician. Charlie remained where he was, watching the confusion unfold, until the world around him suddenly disappeared.

Charlie found himself standing in an endless white space.

[Demonstration of Heavenly Culinary Arts: Taste Trance.]

A scene appeared before him, almost like a moving painting. Charlie watched a cook prepare a dish and serve it to a martial artist. The moment the man tasted it, his expression changed completely. His eyes closed, his breathing slowed, and his entire body relaxed as though the rest of the world had simply ceased to exist.

[Taste Trance temporarily heightens the target’s sensory perception.]

The scene shifted. The same martial artist sat cross-legged, his breathing deep and steady as Qi began circulating through his meridians with unusual smoothness.

[During the trance, the target’s mind enters a highly receptive state. Depending on the target’s constitution and cultivation, the effect may temporarily stimulate Qi circulation and improve the body’s ability to access its existing potential.]

Charlie watched as the martial artist’s Qi grew stronger before the scene changed again. This time, an injured cultivator consumed the dish and entered the same trance. His breathing gradually stabilized, and the Qi within his body began moving more efficiently.

Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"So it’s not poisoning them."

[Correct.]

The demonstration continued, showing the martial artist eventually opening his eyes with a look of complete satisfaction.

[The effect is temporary. However, awareness of the external world may become significantly reduced while the trance is active.]

Charlie folded his arms.

"So that’s why the old man looks like he’s been possessed."

[His current condition is consistent with Taste Trance.]

The white space vanished.

The dining hall rushed back into existence all at once.

"Elder Guo!"

"Give him some space!"

"Where is the physician?"

Charlie blinked once, then looked toward the old man again. The fear that had been building in his chest disappeared. If the system was telling the truth, Elder Guo wasn’t dying. He was simply experiencing the first effect of Charlie’s Heavenly Culinary Arts.

Charlie stepped forward.

"I think I know what’s happening."

Several heads turned toward him. Han Yucheng’s hand immediately returned to his sword, but the young master of the Yun Merchant House raised a hand before he could draw it again.

"Let him speak."

Charlie ignored the tension and approached Elder Guo, crouching beside him to study his condition. The old man’s body was still trembling, but his breathing remained steady, and there was an almost peaceful expression on his face.

"Elder Guo?"

There was no response.

Charlie watched him for another moment before looking toward the others.

"He’s not poisoned."

Han Yucheng’s expression hardened. "Then what is wrong with him?"

Charlie glanced back at Elder Guo.

"I’m about to find out."