“Wait”

The old woman stopped, turned around to see Fu Chen, and smiled. “Do you need anything, owner of the Abyss Restaurant?” 

Fu Chen nodded, “Did you enjoy your visit, Lang Ya, matriarch of the Lang Clan?”

Lang Ya wasn’t surprised with Fu Chen seeing through her disguise and smiled, “Yes, I really enjoyed your food. The chefs that work for me aren’t as talented as you. 

Fu Chen hideously smiled and shook his head. “It wasn’t talent that got me this far, I spent many years teaching myself how to cook. I’ve failed countless times and realised how satisfying it felt to succeed at something that you’ve worked hard on.”

Lang Ya asked Fu Chen a question. “Has Lang Yue been doing well in your care?”

He nodded and Lang Ya felt a weight lift off her shoulders, but then the next thing he said made her feel some sadness. “She’s decided to go by the name Fu Lian from now on.”

A minute passed by with the sound of footsteps and voices coming from other people on the street along with the cars that zoomed by. Strangely, the passersby on the same sidewalk seemed to avoid where Fu Chen and Lang Ya were standing. In fact, they didn’t even seem to notice the two people.

Fu Chen laughed, “It appears that the matriarch doesn’t want her heir back.”

Lang Ya sighed, “Lang Yue, no Fu Lian running away from the Lang Clan has made me realize my mistakes. The problems within the Lang Clan that I’ve always ignored have become too large. Rampant corruption, embezzlement, and faction wars have hindered the growth of my clan. I’ll need to put my foot down and become serious for once.”

She started feeling sadness at the thought of having to kill her own family. Realising her own feelings, she chastised herself. ‘I’ve grown too soft, where is the Lang Ya that slaughtered millions for the good of the empire?’

Noticing her troubled face, Fu Chen gave her a suggestion, “You can always pay me to wipe out your criminals, for the right price of course.”

“I might take you up on that offer.”

He took a bow and said some parting words. “Well, this conversation has gone on long enough. I’ll be heading back to my restaurant. Goodbye madam, I hope to see you again.” With those parting words, Fu Chen quickly entered the black doors of his restaurant. Lang Ya smiled with her mind made up on several decisions and walked away. The Lang Clan was going to be chaotic for a while.

----------

Fu Chen was preparing food for lunch service while Fu Lian was snacking on a waffle. Thinking of something, Fu Chen called out to Fu Lian. “Fu Lian.” Her head perked up and looked at Fu Chen who was currently filling a pot of rice with water. “What do you think about learning how to cook? I’ll teach you while I’m prepping food.”

Fu Lian nodded and looked excited. Yellow words started appearing. [Will I be able to cook as good as you?]

He laughed, “That depends on how well I teach you and how quickly you’ll learn.” In his head he thought, ‘It has been around a millennia since I last taught other people how to cook. I wonder how they’ve been faring in the upper realms.’

-------

“Clack”

A metal fork was dropped onto a plate of food. The man that dropped the fork sighed and turned towards a woman. “I wish the master were still here, we still aren’t able to reach his level of cooking.” 

The woman nodded, “He said that he was only going to take a quick stroll in the lower realms, but it has already been over a thousand years since he left.”

Laughing sadly, the man replied, “He’s an immortal being that probably thinks that a hundred thousand years is only a short period of time.”

“Bang!” 

“Cui Jia! Cui Ming! Get out and hand over your cultivation treasures!” 

A large group of people were standing outside of a shack staring greedily at the two people.

Cui Ming sighed, “How many times do we have to tell you? Unlike you people, we didn’t use any fancy treasures to reach the level we are at right now. It was through hard work and from our master pushing us to cultivate.” 

Cui Ming and Cui Jia shuddered when they remembered how their master harshly punished them whenever they slacked off too much.

Noticing how Cui Ming and Cui Jia barely acknowledged the group of people, the leader’s face grew red and shouted, “Attack them!”

Thousands of people charged towards the shack and like a scene out of a wuxia novel, a flash of light appeared. After it disappeared, everyone stopped moving. 

“Thud”

Bodies started dropping in and cubes of flesh dotted the ground. Cui Jia was seen holding a kitchen knife in her hand that had a drop of blood on it.

Cui Ming faced Cui Jia, “How many times do I have to remind you that killing people with your kitchen knife is disgusting even if you clean your blade thoroughly? That’s why the master gifted you a sword.”

Cui Jia pouted, “It’s alright, this is a knife that I made to use specifically for killing people. Besides, my knife skills are improving.”

Knowing that Cui Jia was right, Cui Ming sighed and looked back at his plate of food.

---------

Fu Chen was currently cleaning his kitchen while Fu Lian devoured her dinner. 

Lunch service had occurred with no problems and Fu Lian had gotten used to serving people. But then, several young masters had entered the restaurant a few minutes before dinner service ended. Abyss 1 politely turned them away, but they cursed at him and asked if he knew what clans they were from. Su Zheng and the Lang cousins had finished their satisfying food and saw the young masters swearing at the masked host. On impulse, Su Zheng prepared to punch the loudest young master, but was stopped by Fu Chen who told the troublemakers to return the next day. The young masters walked away cursing and talked about how he had offended their important clans. Fu Chen laughed, closed the restaurant, and started preparing food for the next day and a meal for Fu Lian. 

“Thud”

Fu Lian turned her head and saw Fu Chen placing vegetables on a cutting board. (Next time on RTD, Fu Lian will start learning how to cook.)