At noon, the group indeed enjoyed a feast of stir-fried hazel grouse and braised rabbit. Although there were a lot of them and there wasn’t quite enough to go around, Shopkeeper Lin’s culinary skills were extraordinary. The dishes were so flavorful that one spoonful of food mixed with a bowl of rice was entirely satisfying. After the meal, a layer of bright red broth still floated in the clay pot. Luo Tietou and Zhao Liu quickly took out their bread and dipped it in the sauce, bit by bit, until they had eaten it all.

“So satisfying, truly satisfying!” Luo Tietou exclaimed as he lay on the grass, rubbing his stomach. If every mission in the future could be accompanied by Shopkeeper Lin, he was willing to be out on the road every single day of the year. How could that be called hardship? It was pure enjoyment.

“One hazel grouse was still a bit too little, not enough to eat. How about we go hunt a few more later and have Shopkeeper Lin cook the same dish again tonight?” Zhao Liu suggested in a hushed tone.

“I think that’s a good idea. Since we’ve already hunted them, even if Shopkeeper Lin doesn’t like making the same dish twice, she’ll have to do it. Game meat needs to be cooked fresh, that’s when it tastes the best.” Luo Tietou agreed, smacking his lips as if he could still taste the lunch they had eaten in his mouth.

The handsome man glanced at them without speaking, clearly giving his silent approval.

After resting for half an hour, the convoy set off again. As they passed through a dense forest, Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou heard the sound of small animals rustling in the underbrush and immediately grabbed their bows and arrows to give chase. They had already decided to hunt more game to enjoy a good meal that evening.

The handsome man merely looked back once and didn’t follow them. After moving forward for a while longer, he began to sense something was amiss and was just about to instruct the coachman to slow down when an arrow suddenly struck the spot near one of the horses pulling the carriage, startling the others as well. Some reared up while others neighed loudly, creating chaos. Fortunately, the coachman quickly grabbed the reins and calmed the frightened horses. Otherwise, Shopkeeper Lin would have suffered a great loss.

However, the fact that the goods were unharmed didn’t mean the situation was any better. Suddenly, over a dozen men emerged from the thick underbrush, all armed with broadswords and bows. They were clearly seasoned bandits.

The handsome man immediately moved closer to Shopkeeper Lin’s carriage and whispered, “Don’t resist. Just go with them for now. Zhao Liu and Luo Tietou are still behind us. They’ll think of a way to rescue us.” Although he was highly skilled in martial arts and could easily deal with a dozen bandits, there were too many people in the convoy for him to protect everyone.

Lin Dan tapped the window with her knuckles, signaling that she understood.

The entire group, along with the carriages, was herded up the mountain by the bandits. There, a small stronghold had been built with five or six mud-brick houses surrounded by wooden fences. It looked rather crude, clearly the result of these bandits hastily setting up a base while on the run. Though still small in scale, it would undoubtedly become a major local threat in three to five years if left unchecked.

Lin Dan’s hands were bound with rope and she stumbled forward while counting the number of bandits. The five or six mud-brick houses couldn’t accommodate many people. Based on what she had seen along the way, this was a small bandit den with only about twenty or thirty members. Some women, likely captives, were laboring nearby, their faces showing numb expressions. After being pushed into the largest mud-brick house, a fierce-looking man immediately approached and asked gruffly, “Did we get anything good this time?”

“Mother f*cker, it’s all just pickled vegetables and dried goods, not worth a penny!” One of the bandits spat, then added, “Luckily, we did snatch up three fine ladies. Brothers will have a good time tonight.”

The bandit leader, who had been somewhat disappointed, suddenly broke into a lewd grin when he saw Lin Dan and the other two girls. “Well, well, well, their skin might not be that fair, but those figures are something else!”

Lin Dan, who had spent many years traveling, was in excellent physical shape. Her slender waist was tightly cinched with a cloth belt, making her chest appear fuller and her hips more prominent. Her healthy, vibrant beauty stood in stark contrast to the sickly, delicate appearance that was fashionable at the time, yet it was uniquely alluring. She had seen her share of danger and remained calm, but her servants angrily cursed, only to have their mouths quickly gagged and be shoved to the ground.

The handsome man looked up at the bandit leader, a dark glint flashing quickly through his eyes.

Lin Dan gave her companions a reassuring look before slowly saying, “Perhaps the chief doesn’t know, but I am from a lineage of imperial cooks. I’ve also learned some skills from my father. If the chief spares my servants, I’m willing to stay and cook for your men.”

She had no illusions that these ruthless bandits would let anyone go, but she said so to divert their attention. To ordinary people, an imperial cook was someone they could never hope to meet in their lifetime. If they happened to encounter one, wouldn’t they be curious? As long as they were curious, Lin Dan could buy more time, and with time came the chance to escape.

“You’re a descendant of imperial cooks?” The bandit leader’s lecherous grin indeed faded and he eyed Lin Dan with surprise.

“My grandmaster was an imperial cook and my father was once the head cook at the Yongding Marquis’s residence.” Lin Dan explained.

Her family had served both the Emperor and the Marquis of Yongding. Those two were people that others couldn’t even dream of meeting! The bandit leader’s gaze towards Lin Dan gradually changed and after a moment of contemplation, he said, “How do I know if what you’re saying is true? It just so happens that the village recently seized two cows. If you slaughter them and prepare a dinner that satisfies everyone, I might consider releasing your people.”

“Then I must thank the chief in advance.” Lin Dan cupped her fist in response. “Slaughtering a cow is quite a task. I would like to ask the chief to release my two maidservants so they can assist me.” If Shaoyao and Dujuan were left behind, who knew if some bandits might not be able to resist bullying them? How could Lin Dan be at ease?

The task of slaughtering a cow was both dirty and exhausting, so the bandits naturally didn’t want to do it themselves. Moreover, since Shaoyao and Dujuan were only about twelve or thirteen years old, small in stature, and posed no threat, they were quickly released. The remaining people were tied up tightly and thrown into the woodshed.

After the bandits left, Xiao Zhu wriggled like a worm to the side of the handsome man and quietly asked, “Big Brother, do you think Zhao Liu and Luo Teitou will find our tracks? When will they arrive?”

The man lay quietly on the ground, his eyelids slightly closed. He replied in a low voice, “They’ll find us. Just wait until nightfall.”

Xiao Zhu still felt uneasy and looked up at the window, murmuring, “I wonder how Manger Lin and the others are doing now.”

———pr


Lin Dan was doing quite well at the moment. She was squatting on the ground, carefully sharpening a knife and occasionally testing the sharpness of the blade with her thumb, her expression very serious. The two bandits who had been watching her with hawk-like eyes gradually relaxed as they saw that she was only focused on lighting the fire, boiling water, and sharpening the knife, without saying a word to the two little maidservants or sneakily observing the surroundings. They eventually sat down nearby and started chatting.

The two cows were very strong and their hides were well-maintained, clearly stolen from the farms at the foot of the mountain.

After sharpening the knife, Lin Dan circled the two cows a few times, inspecting them from top to bottom as if selecting her target. When the two bandits saw that she was finally ready to slaughter the cows, they hurried over to watch the spectacle. Slaughtering a cow requires skill, and even three or five strong men often struggle with it, let alone a woman.

The two bandits didn’t offer any help, just stood on the side sneering, their eyes full of malice.

But soon, Lin Dan’s actions made their hearts go cold. She chose one of the cows and had the two maidservants lead the other one away, covering its eyes with a cloth to avoid it becoming agitated. Then, with a swift motion, she plunged the knife into the remaining cow’s neck, severing the carotid artery before stepping back to calmly rinse the blood from the knife’s tip.

About five meters away, the sturdy cow slowly collapsed without even a chance to cry out, blood gushing from its neck, quickly staining the ground red.

The two bandits were stunned, while Lin Dan didn’t rest. After the blood was drained, she scalded the cow’s hide with hot water and scraped off the hair. As for the remaining stubborn stubbles, the two maidservants used heated iron rods to scorch them off, the smell of burning flesh and hair filled the air, making the bandits’ scalps tingle.

Once the cowhide was completely cleaned, Lin Dan plunged the knife into the cow’s belly, skillfully slicing it open and making the internal organs spill out onto the ground. She meticulously sorted them into clay pots, then cut through the joints, dismembering the cow in a few swift motions. A three-hundred-pound cow was processed in less than an hour, her movements precise and ruthless.

The two bandits no longer dared to underestimate Lin Dan. Shrinking back from the blood-soaked ground, they thought in unison, This woman should just remain a cook. Bringing her to bed would be dangerous. She might slit our throats in the night without us even knowing.

“Big Brothers, how many people are in your village?” Lin Dan casually asked as she tossed the last piece of beef into the pot.

“Why do you ask?” The two bandits, now wary, were even more guarded.

“I need to know how many people to cook for, so I can prepare enough food for everyone.” Lin Dan wiped the splashes of blood off her face with a cloth, her expression calm.

That reasoning was sound. The two bandits counted in their minds before answering, “There are about twenty or thirty mouths to feed. Cook more.”

Lin Dan nodded and asked no more, carrying the beef into the kitchen with the two young girls. She cut the beef into two-inch cubes, marinating it with soy sauce, cooking wine, salt, and other seasonings. She also prepared the cow hooves, rumps, ribs, and bones, setting them aside for later.

“Sister Lin, how are we going to escape?” The two young girls, unable to hold back any longer, whispered into Lin Dan’s ear.

“First, let’s make this meal.” Lin Dan replied calmly as she peeled garlic, her expression steady.

There was no use panicking, so the two girls resigned themselves to washing the vegetables for the side dishes.

An hour later, the beef had finished marinating. Lin Dan poured half a jar of vegetable oil into a large pot, heated it to about eighty percent, and then slowly added the beef, stirring it with a spatula. Once the meat was half-cooked, she took it out and set it aside, poured out the remaining oil, washed the pot, added fresh oil, and fried ginger slices and scallions until fragrant before adding the half-cooked beef. She then added soy sauce and star anise, continued to stir-fry, and after fifteen minutes, added water to simmer. Once the broth began to boil, she removed some of the firewood and let it simmer again over low heat.

With the beef stew nearly done, she cleaned the beef tendons, cut them into strips, and fried them in the pot. She was planning to make another dish— braised beef tendons. The two young girls were thoroughly convinced, never expecting that even after being captured by bandits, their master wouldn’t forget to cook. They couldn’t understand what she was thinking. Was life more important or cooking more important?