Chapter 2624 — You're an Alchemist Too?
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Just then, Wei Zhao finished reworking the last dish—the pork belly with preserved mustard greens—and came back out. Hearing the White Leader's question, he smiled and explained, "Ah, that. Well, the truth of it is this..."
With that, Wei Zhao recounted to the White Leader and his wife the story of his earlier visit to Guan Xuewen's house. Told in Wei Zhao's words, the tale naturally carried more than a little humor, and the White Leader and his wife were promptly amused; in the end, they let the matter of Guan Xin drop without further reproach.
"Haha, so that's how it was! Well then, perfect timing—let's see what Wei Zhao's cooking can do!" The White Leader picked up another slice of the pork belly with preserved mustard greens and carefully placed it in his mouth. This time, though, his confidence was badly shaken; he dared not swallow it whole as he had before, and instead savored it slowly. The result was that the moment it touched his tongue, the rich fragrance sent him hurrying to swallow the rest of the slice along with it, and he proclaimed, "Delicious! Better than Xinxin's cooking, even?"
The White Leader's wife tasted a mouthful of the sweet-and-sour mustard fish, served cold, and nodded to herself in quiet approval. Fixing a dish was harder than cooking one from scratch, after all—Guan Xin had already made the food nearly inedible, yet after Wei Zhao put it back through the pan, he had somehow turned it into a fine dish once more. What a level of culinary skill that must take!
This was not something any ordinary good cook could manage!
Guan Xin was now gazing at Wei Zhao with plain admiration. Last time, Wei Zhao had not lifted a finger, so she had had no idea he possessed such ability. Now, seeing him for herself, she felt her heart flutter all the more! No wonder her grandfather and her master both spoke of him so highly!
So when the White Leader declared that Wei Zhao outdid her in the kitchen, she was not the least bit offended—instead she felt rather proud. "Mm, Wei Zhao really is very capable..."
"Heh heh, I was worried that Xinxin might be unhappy if I made Wei Zhao the senior fellow disciple. Now it seems she won't be, eh?" the White Leader asked with a smile.
"Mm, of course not." Guan Xin nodded as though it were the most natural thing in the world, though her curiosity was roused. "Wei Zhao, you know alchemy too?"
"No." Wei Zhao shook his head outright. "My constitution is a peculiar thing. I can ignite and condense dan fire, but I cannot control its intensity or its temperature."
"Is it because your body lacks the wood attribute?" Guan Xin asked, slightly taken aback.
"No, not that. Probably I have too many attributes, so they end up in confusion," Wei Zhao said.
"Yes—Wei Zhao's body most likely holds too many attributes, and they do not blend well together, checking and constraining one another, and that is what produces this condition. These past days I have been poring over old texts left by my sect, hoping to find a reliable way to resolve it." The White Leader nodded. "So far I have found no clear lead, though I have noticed a few hints. What Wei Zhao's case lacks is a catalyst—if the several mutually opposing attributes within his body could be made to fuse and form a small circulation, the problem would untangle itself!"
"A small circulation?" Wei Zhao had not expected the White Leader to have found a means of resolution, and was rather surprised. "So that means it is still possible for me to practice alchemy—is that right?"
"Indeed!" The White Leader nodded. "You truly can practice alchemy, and my sect has seen similar cases in generations past. It is only that when I left back then, I carried away too few records—what I took was mostly material related to alchemy itself, not the accounts of strange and curious matters. Now, going back to ask would be impossible."