Gourmet of Another World

Panda Novel

The wriggling cursed snake kept crawling up Bu Fang’s arm. He narrowed his eyes.

Many people in the surroundings were staring at him, as if they were looking at his arm. When they saw the wriggling cursed snake, they all breathed out a sigh of relief.

Bu Fang raised his eyebrows slightly. He could read the unspoken words from their faces: “This man is cursed as well… Now everyone is cursed… Good…”

He did not know where the curse had come from. Silently, it had crawled up his arm. It was worth noting that Bu Fang was a Heavengod now. Although he was not as strong as a Chaotic Saint, his mental force could sense the slightest noise and movement, let alone a cursed snake.

The divine power in Bu Fang began to surge. Controlled by him, it poured out to envelop the curse on his arm. He planned to force the curse power out of him.

However, under the perception of his mental force, the divine power was corroded and dissolved as soon as it approached the curse. ‘What is going on?’ Bu Fang was shocked. Apparently, this curse power was much stronger than that in Nethery.

“It’s useless… Hit by the curse of Void City, your energy will be slowly devoured… Unless you can obtain the food given out by the city.”

Suddenly, a hoarse voice rang out. Bu Fang paused and turned his head. It seemed that because he was also struck by the curse, the attitude of those around him had softened considerably. Perhaps they thought Bu Fang had also become one of them.

“This is the supreme curse of Void City. The curse in District D is the strongest. The further you go into the city, the weaker the curse power becomes…”

The speaker was a middle-aged man, all skin and bones. However, the bones in him were glowing brilliantly. He was looking at Bu Fang with a pair of rather blank eyes.

“The food given out by Void City?” Bu Fang did not understand. “There’s no chef in this city, right? Where did the food come from?” he asked.

“Who told you there are no chefs in Void City?” The man gave Bu Fang a suspicious look. Then, he moved, walking slowly toward the city. Every step he took was laborious, as if he would collapse at any time with fatigue.

“Void City is the land of exile for all the universes. The Queen of Curses doesn’t even care about the lives that have been banished here… She built the city, and only those who resisted the curses could survive.

“According to the Queen, this is the self-redemption of those who have been exiled. The curse power will keep devouring your divine power, and eventually, it will drain all your divine power…” The man looked at Bu Fang with pity in his eyes.

Bu Fang froze. He could not believe that he was pitied by others.

The man did not say too much to Bu Fang. Soon, he joined the stream of people and disappeared, as if he was numbly doing what he was supposed to do.

Bu Fang glanced at the curse power on his arm. It was indeed growing and corroding his divine power. It took him a lot of his divine power to resist and negate every corrosion. “This is interesting…” The corners of Bu Fang’s lips lifted slightly.

Foxy pulled at his hair, then raised a little paw and pointed at her short arm. Bu Fang glanced at it and saw a black mark emerge on it as well. Shrimpy twisted its buttock and exposed its tiny tail. There was a black curse on it, too.

Whitey’s mechanical eyes flashed, and it scratched its head. Perhaps it was the only one among them who was not hit by the curse. After all, Whitey was not a living being.

Bu Fang pressed on with Foxy and Shrimpy, stepping on the ground in District D. This was a dark and evil city. The surroundings were piled with corpses. People died at every moment because of curses, so dead bodies were a common sight in the city.

They came to a place where there was no one else. Bu Fang shook his hand. Immediately, an oyster pancake emerged. He gave it to Foxy and Shrimpy. Then, he ate one himself.

As soon as the oyster pancake entered his stomach, a stream of warm energy rose from his belly, roasting his insides like an oven. Bu Fang looked at the cursed snake on his wrist. It seemed to be in pain and was wriggling, but soon, it returned to normal.

It proved that the oyster pancake was useful. It could suppress the curse, but… the effect was not significant. Bu Fang nodded. He had at least some estimation of the strength of the curse power.

However, he was not in a hurry to get rid of it. Once he expelled the curse, he might appear out of place in this city, and it would only increase the difficulty of him finding Nethery.

After calming Shrimpy and Foxy, Bu Fang left the quiet corner.

Suddenly, a deep rumble rang through District D, sounding like the sound of a heavy horn. It excited those who walked numbly. Like waves, they rushed frantically toward the center of the district.

“What’s going on?” Bu Fang paused. He could sense the changes in the emotion of the people around him. It was as if the horn had roused the desire in them.

One figure after another ran past him at great speed. Those who were banished to Void City were not ordinary people. At least, their strength and cultivation base were extremely fearsome. There were even Saints of the Great Path among them.

Bu Fang followed the crowd and came to the center area of District D. People with blank faces queued up in lines as if waiting for something. Each of them took out a shabby bowl and was holding it as if holding the whole world.

Bu Fang squinted at them from across a distance. Foxy jumped, rolled, and stood atop his head, putting a paw over her eye and looking at the crowd as well.

“That’s…” Bu Fang paused when he saw the scene.

At the center of the district, the city gates flung open, and one figure fully clad in black armor after another walked quickly out of it. People with blank faces clustered around the gates, looking hopeful.

The clatter of wheels moving across the hard ground filled the air. Then, a huge, heavy wooden cart was pushed through the gates. Hot steam rose from the cart, and a strange scent wafted out of it.

Bu Fang was very sensitive to scent, and he smelled it in just a flash. “Weird… It doesn’t smell good, but it doesn’t stink either…” he said.

The wooden cart was swaying. On top of it were many black pots, which were as huge as pools and contained a kind of sticky black liquid. There were also bits of white things floating and flashing in it.

‘Could this be the food mentioned by the guy?’ Bu Fang thought to himself.

An uproar broke out suddenly. It was as if the food had turned those people crazy—they kept shouting and knocking the bowls in their hands. It was a terrible and shocking scene.

There were many wooden carts, distributed along the city walls of District D. Bu Fang thought for a while, then took out a blue-and-white porcelain bowl and joined the queue.

“One by one… Don’t rush,” said a hoarse voice. Some stooped old men were stirring the food in the black pots.

Bu Fang’s line moved forward steadily. One by one, those who got their food held their bowls like madmen, ducked to the side, reached their hands into the bowls, grabbed the food, and shoved it into their mouths.

The sticky black food was emitting a bizarre scent. Bu Fang squinted at those people. The delighted look on their faces made his heart grow heavier. Foxy hugged his head tightly as if she was telling him that she did not want to eat that thing.

At last, it was Bu Fang’s turn. He put one hand behind his back, held the bowl with the other, and came up to the wooden cart.

“Oh?” The one-eyed old man who was in charge of ladling the food turned his head and stared at Bu Fang. “A newcomer?” he said, revealing a mouth of yellow teeth.

Bu Fang glanced at him and said nothing.

The old man laughed in a hoarse voice that could make the hair of those who heard it stand on end. “Enjoy the food. You will fall in love with the taste…”

A wooden ladle fell, and the sticky black food was flung into Bu Fang’s bowl, flowing slowly. “Since you’re a newcomer, I’ll give you more… Don’t let your stomach go empty…” The old man grinned, fixing his shining eyes on Bu Fang.

“What is this?” Bu Fang asked, frowning. Clearly, this was not some cuisine.

“This is a delicacy in Void City… A delicacy bestowed by Her Majesty the Queen to her servants!” said the old man.

“No talking.”

Suddenly, a cold aura spread. Bu Fang focused his eyes. A black spear fell abruptly, its sharp tip pointing at the old man’s neck as if it was going to poke a large hole through his throat.

“Please forgive me, my lord…” The old man dropped to his knees hastily and bowed at the man clad in black armor.

Bu Fang furrowed his brows. The armored figure glanced at him and put a tremendous amount of pressure on him. “Take your food and leave now,” the guard said. After that, he turned and continued patrolling.

Bu Fang exhaled. Holding the food, he left the wooden cart. The distribution of food continued. There were simply too many exiles in District D. He brought his food and walked to a corner.

Not far away, a few men, holding bowls and kneeling on the ground, were eating their food crazily. When they had finished their food, they kept licking their bowls as if they were going to break the bowls with their tongues.

As if they had discovered Bu Fang, these men looked up at him with a greedy look in their eyes. Suddenly, they roared, then jumped to their feet and rushed toward him.

“Food! Give me your food!” They drooled as if they had gone insane.

However, before they could close in on Bu Fang, they were stripped naked by Whitey and then flung away.

Bu Fang ignored them and carefully studied the food in his bowl. It was flowing slowly, emitting hot steam. Black like ink, it was speckled with dots of white light.

He reached out a finger, dipped the tip into the sticky black liquid, and pulled it out. He rubbed the liquid between his fingers. It felt hot and coarse like sand. It made him feel somewhat strange.

With his cooking skills, he actually failed to recognize what it was. He did not want to eat such a thing, but… He glanced around, exhaled deeply, and chose to take a small sip.

The black liquid flowed into Bu Fang’s mouth. In a flash, he felt as if a warmth had coated the inside of his mouth. Then, his throat moved as he swallowed. He heard a rumbling sound, as if something had exploded in him.

Bu Fang’s pupils constricted. He found that the bowl of… food actually tasted quite delicious. It was a bit like caviar, but the texture was more delicate. He thought it would taste awful, but it actually tasted good. Moreover, he felt the curse power in him was greatly suppressed after eating it.

That gave him pause. He lifted his hand and looked at the wrist. The cursed snake had shrunk as if it had fallen into a deep sleep. However, he also noticed wisps of black energy rushing into the snake, making it grow stronger while sleeping.

Bu Fang’s heart skipped a beat. Without hesitation, he poured the rest of the food in the bowl onto the ground. Those crazy men immediately crawled over and licked the food into their mouths.

Bu Fang’s expression was somewhat ugly. This food was simply a chronic poison. After eating it, the cursed snake would become stronger and stronger, and eventually, it would kill the men.

Rumble!

Suddenly, a terrible fluctuation of energy erupted. Bu Fang threw his head back.

A black divine dragon was flying in the sky with a figure standing on its back. It was a woman. She glanced indifferently at District D and showed a look of disgust and disdain. Then, riding the black dragon, she flew past District D and headed toward the deeper districts.

‘It’s the woman who attacked me earlier…’ Bu Fang exhaled. ‘A Chaotic Saint.’ Glancing at the messy situation around him, he thought he had to come out with a way to leave District D.