At this moment, the arena was dead silent.
Everyone held their breaths and stared at the two people on the stage. Who would have the last laugh when they were at the end of their rope?
"Can you still move, Miss Huai Zhi?"
Guo Shouque asked first, examining Huai Shi's pale face. "Can you still stand up? Do you still have the confidence to win? "
"Of course —"
Huai Shi replied with the words of the past, "Who would be fooled by your strong appearance?"
"Even if you are strong on the outside but weak on the inside, you are still the same, right?"
Guo Shouque shook his head in understanding. "The battle between the chef and demon is very cruel, Miss Huai Zhi. Even if you know my weakness and successfully forced me to the weakest point, do you still have the strength to make dishes? Do you still have enough strength to defeat me? "
It was just as he said.
Huai Shi had reached his limit.
After making two dishes that exceeded his standard and being suppressed and eroded by two Daos, the divinity of his Young Arbiter of Life had swelled to the verge of collapse.
If he didn't find a chance to rest and wait for this baseless miracle to gradually dissipate, Huai Shi's ego would probably be dissolved by the divinity represented by Huai Zhi and completely disappear from this world.
The cruelty of the battle between the chef and demon lay in this.
When you saw the hope of the end, you might have already exhausted your strength in the long run and be unable to cross the final cruel distance.
He quietly fell into the darkness.
But the premise of this assumption was that Huai Shi really exhausted his strength and couldn't get up again, falling in front of the end.
He had waited for so long, racked his brains and put in so much effort. Wasn't it just for the moment when he was closest to victory?
How could it end here?
At that moment, Miss Huai Zhi raised her eyes, and her smile became playful and happy.
"It doesn't matter."
She said, "I don't need to do anything anymore."
Because the final dish had already been placed on the stove when the competition had just started!
At this moment, behind Huai Shi, on the cooking table, there was a pot of water that had been added since the start of the competition. It was simmering over the fire, and a low boiling sound could be heard.
Hot steam slowly rose from the pot lid and filled the air. However, there wasn't any expected aroma.
It was plain and moist, filling the tip of his nose.
Everyone's spirits were lifted and their curiosity was piqued.
The final product was completed.
This was Huai Shi's plan from the very beginning. He hid in Guo Shouque's blind spot and finally delivered a fatal blow to the enemy.
The last straw was enough to break the camel's back.
Everything that happened before was just for this moment.
This time, when Huai Shi propped himself up and lifted the lid of the pot, no glaring light gushed out from within. Only the moist heat brought about waves of subtle warmth.
There wasn't the slightest hint of smell, nor was there the slightest hint of mysticism.
It was just … a pot of boiling water!
Everyone subconsciously stood up and looked carefully. However, no matter how they looked, they could only come to one conclusion — there were no condiments, no processing, and no changes.
It was like a pot of boiled water!
Now, the water in the pot was almost boiled. There was only a large bowl left.
When it was poured into the bowl in front of Guo Shouque, his cracked face revealed an indescribable blankness and dullness. Immediately, he felt an unprecedented absurdity.
"What is this?"
Guo Shouque's shoulders shook. He laughed, revealing his broken teeth. "Is your so-called fatal blow this pot of boiled water? No, you can also say … it's this old man's favorite boiled cabbage? "
"Sorry, there's no cabbage in the ingredients."
Huai Shi reached out and picked up the soup dumpling that was still emitting a scalding heat from the bottom of the pot. He weighed it in his hand and threw it on the table. A crisp and heavy sound was heard.
It was like heavy objects colliding.
The soup dumpling filter bag's opening was disconnected, and the hidden materials inside rolled out. They had beautiful or simple textures, rolling on the smooth table, revealing their appearance.
Stones.
"See?" Huai Shi smiled. "At best, it's just a few stones. Don't take it to heart."
This was the decisive dish of Huai Shi Suzi.
Stones and boiled water, a pot of soup made of stones.
In the long silence, Guo Shouque did not speak. He did not even show any displeasure or anger. He just reached out and picked up the bowl of boiling water that had boiled stones.
He sniffed the heat carefully, and the omen of uneasiness in his heart became stronger and stronger.
"I'm afraid … it's not just stones, right?"
He stared at the hot water in the bowl. His dark pupils contracted slightly, and his expression became meaningful.
"Drinking more boiled water is good for the body, isn't it?"
Huai Shi sat opposite him, stared into his eyes, and told him solemnly, "Guo Shouque, this is the last work I've made for you.
Now, it's your turn — "
Guo Shouque lowered his eyes and did not hesitate anymore.
He picked up the bowl and swallowed the hot water in it, not afraid of the scalding temperature.
But what was surprising was that the hot water, which had just boiled not long ago, did not seem hot at all after entering the mouth, nor was it ice-cold. Instead, it had a comfortable warmth. The curling heat spread from the mouth to the nasal cavity, and the breathing was smooth in an instant.
He felt refreshed.
However, the taste was exactly the same as he had expected.
It was bland and tasteless!
It was clearly just a bowl of boiling water. How could there be any other taste?
But when he swallowed it for the second time, a strange taste emerged from the bland taste. It was a little bit, but the taste was too thin to distinguish.
It just felt so familiar …
Was it the taste of stones? Was it the taste of boiling water? Or was it something else?
He paused for a moment to distinguish carefully, but he could not find the origin of the taste between the slight bitterness of the stones and the blandness of the boiling water.
It was as if the taste came from himself!
"It is said that a long, long time ago."
On the opposite side of the kitchen table, Huai Shi picked up the stone used for stewing soup on the table and examined the fine lines on it. She softly said, "An old monk brought three young monks to a small town."
"The old monk's name was Zao Kong, and the young monk's name was Fu Lushou."
"They crossed the mountains and came here. They were hungry, thirsty, and hungry. But everyone in the town closed their doors. It was cold and bleak, and no one was willing to give alms. "
"Then, the old monk said to the young monk — go and tell these kind people that we are newcomers and have nothing. We can only cook a pot of stone soup as a gift for everyone."
"Everyone was very curious about how Stone was going to cook the soup, so everyone crowded around the place. They saw the old monk light the firewood, throw the stone into the water jar, and boil the water. "
Huai Shi's gaze rose from the stone and fell on Guo Shouque's face, "At this time, the old monk said that it was a pity that there was no salt, otherwise the stone soup would be more delicious. At this time, some busybodies volunteered to take out their own salt —"
No one said anything.
There was no need to say more about the plot of the story.
If there was no salt, add salt. If there was no pepper, add pepper. If it felt better to have meat, why not throw it in?
Everyone in the town contributed an insignificant portion to this pot of stone soup.
In the end, everyone tasted a wonderful taste that had never been used before.
"Stone has no value, Guo Shouque."
Huai Shi announced in a low voice, "You have to put in the ingredients of this soup yourself."
Now, please put in something that can defeat you into this empty stone soup!
With the purest stone and water as the ingredients, after a long night of thinking, countless attempts and practice in the Book of Destiny, he finally completed this pot of pure stone soup.
This was Huai Shi's decisive work!
It didn't matter if it was bland and tasteless. Everything had to be experienced from nothing.
After a long time of boiling, Huai Shi had pushed the stone to the top of the mountain.
As long as something was accidentally put in and broke the fragile balance, the stone would roll down from the top of the mountain with an unstoppable roar and smash everything.
In the moment of curiosity, the following development was already determined.
No matter what was put in, it would reach the 'destination' that Huai Shi had carefully set.
In the end, what Guo Shouque obtained from it was the most distant, thinnest, and cruelest miracle in the world.
It was the thing that Huai Shi had spent 18 years painstakingly pursuing, the thing that he had been searching for since he was born, but he still couldn't grasp and possess.
— The illusion of happiness.
In the blink of an eye, the bland stone soup in his mouth was stained with the color of memories.
At the edge of the cliff of hell, Guo Shouque was unprecedentedly weak. He had lost the resistance to this guidance.
The stone soup in his mouth was rapidly changing, becoming cold. In the end, it turned into an unexpected poison and slid down his throat.
This familiar tingling and shock pulled him back along with time and fell into the deepest part of his memories.
He returned to the time when he thought he was the closest to perfection and the most powerful.
He returned to the day when he was completely defeated by his own student!
The work that he was most proud of was mercilessly defeated by him, who had used all his skills, from cold dishes to platters, from soup pots to roasts, from inside the game to outside the dish …
When his most trusted student blew the horn of rebellion, he ushered in defeat when he was at his strongest!
Since when did that child grow up to be an adult?
He felt puzzled from the bottom of his heart. Since when did that child's means of games surpass his own? Was it because of aging? Or was it because of his laziness?
None of them were right.
It was only because that child was stronger than he had imagined … than he had imagined!
That was all.
At this moment, Guo Shouque's fate as the Cooking Demon Yi Ya ushered in the end.
Now, the Cooking Demon, who had unknowingly turned from a teenager to a man, thought of Guo Shouque, who was on the verge of death, and walked over step by step. He knelt on the ground, lowered his head, and bowed to him.
He was grateful from the bottom of his heart.
"Thank you for taking care of me for so many years, teacher. Thank you for teaching me everything, and thank you for trusting me." He said softly, "But I don't want to follow your arrangements and become the Cooking Demon anymore."
When he raised his head, his eyes were filled with unprecedented vigor. He solemnly and solemnly told the old man in front of him, "Other than cooking, because there are more important things to do in this world."
Just looking at that naive expression, Guo Shouque couldn't help but feel sad for him from the bottom of his heart.
For his naivety, and also for his own weakness.
Didn't he know that as long as he was alive, he would never be able to avoid the fate of being the Cooking Demon Yi Ya?
"Stupid, too stupid. I will … take revenge on you, at all costs, idiot! “
He widened his eyes and used all his strength to angrily rebuke, "Do you want people to know … that you, that you are a student of the evil Taoist like Guo Shouque?"
"Why!"
He asked angrily, "Why don't you kill me?"
In the long silence, only the sound of the rain outside the house could be heard.
That man just knelt on the ground and looked at him quietly. His smile gradually became gentle.
"Do you still need to ask, teacher?"
He bent down and hugged the old man in front of him without any defense. Even if he was hiding his final attack, he had to tell him the answer.
"Because compared to cooking, compared to everything in this world, I respect and love you more."
What kind of stupid words were that?
It would only make people laugh!
Are you really a student of mine?
Are you really the Cooking Demon Yi Ya?
At that moment, countless dark and vicious words appeared in his mind along with anger. He couldn't use words to criticize his comical and laughable behavior, nor could he correct his student's naivety and stupidity.
But now, at this moment, even just thinking about it, Guo Shouque couldn't help but want to … smile.
Happiness.
If there was a moment when he had obtained happiness, it must have been at that moment, right?
When he was hugged by that child, he actually felt that even failure was no longer important. When he was sure that his respect and love came from the bottom of his heart, what he experienced was supreme joy and happiness.
Why did even he become so stupid?
Guo Shouque didn't know, but just the memory made him feel fulfilled. It made him understand what the so-called happiness was, and he couldn't give it up.
He was intoxicated in this fleeting and indescribable sweetness, and he didn't want to wake up again.
Again and again, he lingered.
Even if it dissipated so quickly, and when it left, it became so cold.
Until the last wisp of warmth fell into his throat.
This short dream completely dissipated.
Guo Shouque lowered his head in a daze and stared at the empty bottom of the bowl, as if he was petrified.
In the dead silence, only the murky water droplets fell into it.
It made a faint echo.
On the stands, everyone was frozen in place, and they stared hard with their eyes wide open. They couldn't believe what they saw, and they couldn't believe it …
Until the stooped old man finally raised his face, revealing the embarrassing wet marks on his cheeks.
Tears.
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