Who Let Him Cultivate Immortality

Chapter 54: Naming the Store

After identifying their target location, Lu Yang and the other two regrouped and analyzed, “Judging by Qin Yuanhao’s walking posture and breathing rate, his cultivation should be in the late Foundation Building stage.”

“He lives in an ordinary residence, not a large one, and it doesn’t seem like he has servants. It appears he lives alone.”

“We should stay nearby to observe him for a while. First, to understand his habits, so we won’t be completely clueless if asked about him after infiltrating the demonic sect. Second, to follow him and see if we can find the location of the Yanjiang Rudder.”

The Barbarian didn’t understand, “Qin Yuanhao has so many followers, why don’t we follow these people to find the location of the Yanjiang Rudder?”

Meng Jingzhou dismissed this idea, having more knowledge about the demonic sect, “Those people have no cultivation. They are Qin Yuanhao’s followers, true, but not members of the demonic sect. Joining the demonic sect is not as easy as you think, and whether these people even know Qin Yuanhao is part of the demonic sect is questionable.”

“However, where should we hide to observe him? There are no inns nearby, only a few tea houses and taverns. We can spend the day in a tea house, but what about at night?”

The demonic sect prefers to operate at night.

Lu Yang was also troubled, but then his eyes lit up when he caught sight of a tea house with a “For Rent” sign, “This tea house is in an ideal location. The second floor can be used to observe Qin Yuanhao. We could rent this tea house and use it as a front to monitor his movements!”

Meng Jingzhou nodded, then asked, “What kind of store should we open?”

“Although it’s a disguise, it needs to be convincing. I’m not good at brewing tea, so we definitely can’t continue with a tea house. I have an elder at home who is skilled in linguistic spells, and I’ve learned a bit of storytelling, singing, and performing from him.”

Meng Jingzhou, always professional, suggested, “I propose we open a comedy club where I can perform stand-up comedy.”

Lu Yang admired Meng Jingzhou’s talents, “But comedy shows are popular during the day, and there won’t be many people at night. The best option is to find a nighttime business, something entertaining, lively, where people can drink and have fun. This way, we can observe Qin Yuanhao from the second floor without him noticing us.”

Meng Jingzhou blushed, hesitating but mostly excited, “A nighttime business, do you mean you want to open a…”

Lu Yang nodded, “Exactly, I’m talking about a barbecue restaurant.”

Meng Jingzhou: “…Right, that’s what I was thinking too.”

Lu Yang had a good idea. Barbecue is simple to start with, and even if inexperienced, one should be able to master it after burning it a dozen times or so.

“I can take care of the barbecue.” Barbarian Bone grinned confidently, pulling out a piece of paper from his bosom that read “Ancestral Barbecue Secret Recipe.”

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were very familiar with this recipe; it was the same one that required one hundred contribution points to redeem from the exchange list!

Barbarian Bone laughed heartily, “Back home, I often grilled wild beasts myself, like black bears, wild boars, and rabbits. I noticed that many people in the Dao Seeking Sect buy a lot of food, but there are few barbecue restaurants, so I posted the ancestral barbecue secret recipe.”

At that moment, Lu Yang wondered who would be so bored as to put a barbecue recipe on the exchange list. So, it was you who posted it!

“Did anyone buy it?” Meng Jingzhou was curious.

Barbarian Bone honestly replied, “A senior brother told me that after buying the barbecue recipe, he went on a mission with a senior sister. He used the barbecue to capture the senior sister’s heart.”

Meng Jingzhou: “…”

I shouldn’t have asked.

Barbarian Bone revealed a slight smile and said, “Moreover, there’s another advantage to opening a barbecue shop.”

“What is it?”

Barbarian Bone summoned two specters: “I don’t have to do it myself; I can let these two specters barbecue in the kitchen, and I don’t even have to pay them a salary, which is very convenient.”

This way, they wouldn’t even need to hire a server, saving money while maintaining secrecy—a truly thorough consideration.

Having learned from Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou for so long, Barbarian Bone had picked up a thing or two.

Lu Yang firmly refused to admit that Barbarian Bone had learned anything from him.

Barbarian Bone studied the secret recipe overnight. His hometown was in the wilderness, and many ingredients in the original barbecue recipe were unique to the wilderness. Barbarian Bone needed to figure out which ingredients could be substituted.

“Do you guys eat grilled insects or grilled cow eyes?” Barbarian Bone suddenly asked.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou shook their heads in unison, persuading Barbarian Bone to stick to items within the general public’s acceptance range.

Barbarian Bone uttered an “Oh” and pondered briefly. First of all, he considered himself a normal person; therefore, since he could accept these items, anything he could accept should be acceptable to normal people as well.

Case closed.

Barbarian Bone decided to keep grilled insects, grilled cow eyes, and a series of regionally unique barbecue materials on the menu, hoping the people of Yanjiang County would like them.

The next morning, Meng Jingzhou displayed extraordinary financial ability by purchasing the entire teahouse.

“Wait, I thought we agreed to rent?” Meng Jingzhou acted so quickly that Lu Yang hadn’t even reacted before the teahouse was registered under their names.

Lu Yang looked at Meng Jingzhou in astonishment, wondering if he planned to run the business for a lifetime given that they were only on a mission for a few months.

Meng Jingzhou confidently stated, “I always use my own things. If I can buy it, I definitely won’t rent! We can always sell it after the mission is completed.”

Seeing Meng Jingzhou pay so readily, the original owner of the teahouse gladly packed up and left.

After the owner left, a serious question arose—what should they name the barbecue shop?

“I propose calling it Little Meng’s BBQ Shop,” Meng Jingzhou suggested.

Lu Yang glanced at Meng Jingzhou disdainfully, “That name is too common. I propose calling it Three Bowls Can’t Make It Over the Pass BBQ Shop. Eating skewers, drinking, and then going up the mountain to fight tigers, it’s perfect.”

Meng Jingzhou and Barbarian Bone shook their heads in unison, not finding it suitable at all.

Barbarian Bone, rarely voicing a different opinion, said, “The name Three Bowls Can’t Make It Over the Pass is too long. How about using our tribe’s style, like Ha Ha Ha BBQ Shop, or He He He BBQ Shop?”

Lu Yang had heard about the naming conventions of the wilderness tribes. This method of naming was considered quite advanced even in the forward-thinking Martial Sect: He He He Weapon Shop, Ho Ho Ho Tavern, Ao Ao Ao Brothel…

“How about calling it Crossing Tribulation BBQ Shop?”

“Or Immortal Ascension BBQ Shop.”

“I think Light Boat BBQ Shop is nice.”

“Who names a barbecue shop so elegantly?”

After some discussion, they had to reluctantly admit a fact: none of them were good at naming.

“Forget it, let’s each write a name on a piece of paper, shake it, and whoever’s name comes out, that’s it,” Lu Yang proposed a solution, which was agreed upon by the others.

Considering Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were quite cunning, it was safest to let Barbarian Bone shake the papers.

Barbarian Bone cupped his hands around the three small papers, shaking them up and down. Opening his thumb, two of the papers flew out.

He opened one and found it written, “Try again.”

With a puzzled look, Barbarian Bone opened the other paper, which read, “Thank you for your patronage.”

Barbarian Bone: “???”

For a moment, Barbarian Bone’s mind couldn’t make the connection; he was supposed to be naming the shop, not participating in a lottery… right?

(End of the chapter)