With the Blade

"They are really too brutal!"

Du Chengfeng had just returned when he heard the grievances of the neighbors.

It was clear that during his absence, the neighbors had been severely troubled by Wu Zhao—although after hearing the exact reasons, Du Chengfeng didn’t have much to say. After all, he knew Wu Zhao’s temperament. Previously, when he was trying to influence the local populace, Wu Zhao hadn’t done anything to the people he influenced and adhered to the rules.

However, these people sought out the slave army trained by Wu Zhao to resist external enemies and even proactively asked to be trained but couldn’t withstand it, which was somewhat...

"But it’s still understandable, I suppose."

Thinking about the methods he had seen Wu Zhao use before, Du Chengfeng pondered and could understand the neighbors.

Not to mention the neighbors, even he might not have been able to endure it in the past. After all, in Wu Zhao’s view, as someone from the Yin people, those who understand obedience the most are naturally slaves. In other words, the method Wu Zhao used was the method used by the Yin people to train slaves in the past—clearly, it’s what Wu Zhao was most familiar with, almost effortlessly.

Du Chengfeng even speculated that the reason Wu Zhao used this method might be because he had some experimental intent, just like the slaves under the Yin people once fantasized about a world without the Yin people, Wu Zhao seemed prepared to try to see if the slaves could construct some kind of special environment through the power of imagination.

However, Du Chengfeng was not optimistic about Wu Zhao’s attempt. After all, the people here might be a bit different from those Wu Zhao was familiar with. Just like now, although Wu Zhao’s treatment of those hooded people could already be considered brutal, these people not only didn’t express any resentment but even began to develop some admiration for Wu Zhao.

"But if it’s like this, you can’t go back."

Thinking of this, Du Chengfeng felt that to return to Forget Sorrow Village, he might still have to rely on himself.

However, when it comes to constructing a fantasy world, he actually had no clue.

"Maybe I’ll just eat first."

After thinking it over, Du Chengfeng made a decision.

Whether things work out or not is still uncertain, but life goes on regardless, and besides, after eating prison food for this period, he was craving something else. As for the so-called local cuisine of Yellow Sand City... In Du Chengfeng’s view, it was not much different from prison food.

"Flatbread and mush, do you usually eat this stuff?"

Seeing the meal the neighbors brought him, Du Chengfeng slapped his forehead.

Strictly speaking, this stuff was indeed a bit better than prison food; at least the bread was soft and not hard enough to kill a dog, and there was even some mush for flavor—only what Du Chengfeng could not tolerate was that this mush was also made of beans, just with a little animal fat added, which the locals considered a decent meal.

"Ah? You’re talking about eating meat?"

After Du Chengfeng expressed his doubts, the elderly woman who made the meal was taken aback.

Most of the time, there was no meat on a commoner’s table; only when they occasionally caught some game would there be some meat added to the table—naturally, the simplest method was roasting and then flavoring with sauces.

Many people didn’t even know how to steam or boil since none of them had suitable pots.

As for beef and mutton, which were common ingredients in Du Chengfeng’s eyes, in Yellow Sand City, only the nobles could afford such delicacies, and as for cooking methods, these were circulated only among the nobles and hardly reached ordinary people.

"Then let’s slaughter two sheep; everyone can have some."

Unable to tolerate this meager fare, Du Chengfeng decided to show off his skills a little, partly to satisfy his cravings and partly to raise everyone’s culinary standards.

"Anyway, there are no more nobles in the city, but someone should eat the meat... Besides, you all shouldn’t follow the training any longer, just come help me instead, help me make a pot."

Due to the lack of iron-smelting technology, naturally, the most commonly used were large bronze pots or clay pots. Although neither were suitable for stir-frying according to Du Chengfeng, they could manage when it came to making stew.

Upon hearing this, the neighbors of Yellow Sand City looked at Du Chengfeng with even more gratitude and understanding.

The gratitude came from not having to train anymore; this giant man saved them from the brutal clutches of the hooded people, practically saving their lives. As for understanding... mentioning eating like the nobles, and even suggesting eating two sheep right off the bat, it was no wonder he was so big.

Indeed, eating meat makes one stronger, taller, and more powerful, even in a remote place like Yellow Sand City; everyone understands this principle.

So the question arises, if everyone knows the benefits of eating meat, why don’t they eat it daily? Is it because they don’t like it?

"That is to say, the nobles here have monopolized meat, thus depriving these people of the chance to become stronger..."

Upon realizing this, Du Chengfeng suddenly felt that this place was not much different from Southern Chen.

Although there was no Evil Qi here, and no embargo on weapons of Evil Qi, the local nobles had restricted the power of these commoners in another way—think of it this way, it’s only justifiable that those nobles were strung up by the neighbors, not letting everyone eat meat, isn’t that courting death?

Of course, Du Chengfeng did not advocate vegetarianism, nor did he have the habit of hoarding food. Just like now, he was preparing to distribute this large pot of soup to everyone.

Boiling lamb soup was not a troublesome task for Du Chengfeng’s current culinary skills. Although missing many necessary seasonings, fortunately, the local lamb was of good quality, his butchering skills were excellent, and the lamb came out neither gamey nor strong-flavored. With a bit of radish added and some salt sprinkled, a delicious dish could be prepared.

And there was another advantage to boiling soup.

That is, as long as water is continuously added, the soup would never run out.

But the neighbors didn’t notice this. They only saw the giant man throw mutton and processed sheep offals into the pot, soon producing an endless supply of soup. Clearly, only two sheep were slaughtered, not even enough for the nobles for two days, yet now, all the neighbors in Yellow Sand City received a bowl of lamb soup, everyone shared.

"This is a miracle! This giant must be a messenger of God!"

Realizing this, they only grew more and more reverent of the giant man.