CHAPTER 689: CHAPTER 688: MUDDY WATERS

"Ah, back already?"

Hearing the rustling footsteps, Zhu Qing, who was humming softly while browsing through a gourmet magazine, turned her head.

Outside the small shop, the night had deepened.

The partially ajar door swung open, and Xia Yu entered the room, tossing a stack of documents onto the table before turning to enter the kitchen. He fetched some crisp spring water from the water jar to make tea, and when he returned with the steaming hot tea, he saw Zhu Qing stroking her chin, holding the documents and saying, "...this person looks somewhat familiar, remarkably like an old acquaintance of mine... surname Chen? Chen Yang?"

The more she examined, the more astonishment appeared on Zhu Qing’s face.

At last, she looked at the young man sitting there, leisurely savoring his tea with a relaxed and content expression, and asked strangely, "How did you suddenly start looking into the Chen family?"

"Since you are aware of the Chen family, Aunt Qing, keep an eye on them!"

"Keep an eye?"

"Uh huh, at the school festival, I encountered a suspicious guy. I didn’t expect that after testing him, I would find that I had caught a big fish. He was very vigilant, and if he appeared at the festival, his intentions must have been nefarious."

Zhu Qing’s expression changed from surprise to shock.

"Ah, are you saying that the Chen family is interested in the ’Jade Dragon Pot’?"

"That’s what you said," shrugged Xia Yu.

Dissatisfied with his attitude, Zhu Qing ground her teeth and said resentfully, "Oh, what a carefree life you lead, hmph! If I had known I would be on people’s minds all the time, I would have contacted Mr. Yan to escort me and send the ’Jade Dragon Pot’ back to the country!"

"But now that the ’Jade Dragon Pot’ has reappeared and has been tracked by those people, are you sure they won’t go mad?"

Xia Yu waved his hand dismissively, "Sending it back to the country, out of the question!"

"And besides, aren’t you here, Aunt Qing? If they can snatch the ’Jade Dragon Pot’ right under your nose, I’ll admit defeat, okay?"

He then silently offered a flattering comment.

Instantly, Zhu Qing’s brows lifted, and she smiled, "Well, you’re not wrong about that!"

She tilted her chin up confidently.

While he might have said so, after using the tea to wash away the day’s fatigue, Xia Yu retreated to his bedroom to contact Shinohara Shigetaro.

It was time to seek IGO’s help.

Especially for intelligence.

He needed IGO’s manpower to help keep an eye on the Tiger Head Association, also known as the Chen family as mentioned by Aunt Qing.

In this way, he could also have a warning in advance.

Beep beep!

After a long conversation and hanging up the phone, the Line app popped up with a new message. It was from Sen Tian Makoto, accompanied by a picture of a Chinese food cart stand under the sunset, starkly contrasting with the magnificent Chinese Restaurant across the street.

Not just the scale, but even in terms of customer numbers, Xingping Chuangzhen’s stall was completely dwarfed.

"The first day’s sales rankings are out, the top three in the Corridor Area are respectively Takeomi, the Isami brothers’ Italian snack stall, the Skewers Research Association, and the Curry Rice Research Association."

"In the Central Area, Senior Koga leading the Chinese Cooking Research Association deservedly took the top spot, far outpacing the second and third... Xingping’s stall ranked last in the Central Area, operating at a loss!"

Makki sent a cute expression with her tongue sticking out.

"Once the campus newspaper publishes the first day’s rankings tomorrow morning, Xingping, knowing he’s in last place, will probably feel even more pressure!"

Upon reading this, Xia Yu laughed, as this was an expected outcome, exactly like the original story.

"Let’s see what happens!"

He looked forward to the changes in the coming days.

...

At night, somewhere in Tokyo.

A male and female intelligence agent were reporting their observations to Lin Giant Lei Zhe, seated in an office chair.

"Your Excellency, the situation on the first day is as follows."

The middle-aged man spoke respectfully.

Here was a local Japanese gourmet, a well-known food chronicler, yet bowing submissively to Lei Zhe, which showed just how effectively the ’Gourmet Society’ had infiltrated Japan over the years.

Lei Zhe hummed indifferently.

"The most tightly guarded areas are the Tiqie Mansion and the farm, right?" he asked again, as if confirming something, his words carrying a chill.

"Yes!"

The female intelligence officer answered, dressed in a proper business dress. She was a journalist from a certain media outlet, who had virtually toured the entire Far Moon Campus today with her credentials and camera.

"These two places appear to have no defense, but whenever I tried to approach, I received timely warnings and obstructions."

Soon after, two intelligence agents left.

In the darkness, a woman dressed as a ninja suddenly emerged. Upon closer inspection, it was not difficult to recognize that this woman was the female special chef who appeared as Lei Zhe’s partner in the Sapporo event, possessing an unbelievable anesthetic power that easily dissolved the will of high-class invasive creatures like the ’Wine God Dragon,’ turning fierce beasts into mere delicacies on the dining table.

"Ying, go here!"

Lei Zhe stood up and pointed to a location on the Far Moon Campus map spread out on the table. His finger was pointing precisely at the heartland of Far Moon’s back mountain—

the Tiqie Mansion!

The female ninja nodded, "Understood!"

"However, we need the right timing!" Lei Zhe said, his eyes showing wariness. The Tiqie Mansion was equivalent to the palace of the Far Moon Kingdom. ’Food Demon King’ Tiqie Xianzuowen was there, so if the Far Moon Lineage had hidden the ’Jade Dragon Pot,’ it was most likely that Xianzuowen was the guardian of that treasure.

"In a head-on battle, we don’t stand a chance!"

Lei Zhe’s voice was low.

No one had ever seen ’Food Demon King’ Tiqie Xianzuowen in action.

Even the Gourmet Society, in their profile’s military strength assessment section, only wrote:

Extremely dangerous.

It is not advisable to contact or engage in conflict.

"The right timing?" The female ninja Ying’s cold face showed a hint of confusion, "So, shall we just wait?"

"No!"

"Opportunities are created!"

Lei Zhe’s smile took on a sinister edge as he seemed to think of something.

"Since it is a grand gastronomy festival, attracting hundreds of thousands of people on the first day, I naturally cannot miss out here in Japan. Hmm, I’ve decided, let’s go taste the skills of those students!"

The female ninja’s pupils narrowed slightly, seemingly grasping her superior’s plan.

This was...

a direct challenge?

...

The next day, they took the car arranged by the Tiqie Mansion and headed toward the Far Moon Region.

The vehicle didn’t stop at the campus area but went straight to the back mountain.

"General, you called for me?"

On the small wooden bridge in the courtyard of the main house, Xia Yu found Xianzuowen standing. Xianzuowen was feeding the koi in the pond, and at first glance, it seemed like all the fish in the pond were drawn in, creating a rather spectacular scene of fish vying for food.

Xianzuowen laughed heartily and passed the feed tin to him, "You give it a try!"

Xia Yu didn’t refuse. With a leisurely gesture, he grabbed a handful of small pellet feed to scatter into the pond. However, Tiqie Xianzuowen suddenly opened his eyes wide and grabbed Xia Yu’s wrist.

Just as Xia Yu felt puzzled, Xianzuowen gently shook his head, pinched a tiny pellet of feed, and tossed it into the pond.

Whoosh—

All the fish in the pond stirred up the water, creating waves.

Splashed with a drop of cold water on his face, Xia Yu looked at Old Man Tiqie and thought to himself how messy, why couldn’t the old guy just speak plainly?

"See, such a small bait can cause a feeding frenzy among the fish, let alone a treasure."

Xianzuowen said coolly.

Xia Yu scratched his face, unsure of how to respond.

"Be careful—"

Immediately after, Xianzuowen warned him, "Lei Zhe is coming. Just half an hour ago, he posted a message on his personal social media saying that he would visit the Academy Festival at Far Moon as Lin Chef!"

"As a Far Moon Director and guiding teacher of the Academy Festival Organizing Committee, you need to personally receive him!"

On the word "receive," the Far Moon General emphasized his tone.

A thick, solemn atmosphere loomed!

"The Gourmet Society, are they finally making their move?" Xia Yu took a deep breath, "What’s inevitable will always come!"

He nodded to Xianzuowen.

"Leave it to me!"