I Can See Your Combat Power
Chapter 1081 - Chapter 1081 Chapter 375 The Hardest Lung Cleansing

Chapter 1081: Chapter 375: The Hardest Lung Cleansing Chapter 1081: Chapter 375: The Hardest Lung Cleansing With an inexplicably solemn heart, Tang Luo pushed the ghastly pale pig lung into his mouth. The lung, softened by the medicinal liquid, disintegrated upon entry, its unique organ flavor and aroma flooding his taste buds and brightening his eyes.

After gnawing on corn stalks for days, Tang Luo’s mouth had grown utterly tasteless. Now, simply chewing on the unseasoned pig lung, he felt an inexplicable sense of happiness.

Of course, the delightful taste Tang Luo was experiencing was also because the pig lung had been exceptionally well-prepared, with none of the typical gamey odor.

Having grown up in luxury with exquisite delicacies, Tang Luo had tasted and seen much, and as someone well-read, he knew too well how complicated it was to properly prepare a pig lung.

According to the Culinary Scripture, among pig offal, washing the lung was the most difficult: first, one had to rinse out the blood from the lung’s passages and remove the outer membrane. After thorough beating and scraping, and then hanging to dry, the most complex steps were removing the tubes and cutting away the films. Only by completing all these intricate steps could one produce a piece of pig lung ready for cooking.

One could boil the lung in strong alcohol for a day and a night until it shrank within the broiling liquid, resembling a white lotus floating on the surface of the soup, which, served with seasoning, would melt in the mouth; or one could shred the lung and stew it until tender in chicken broth; alternatively, one could stew it with snow pears for a gentle approach, providing the effects of calming coughs, expelling phlegm, clearing heat from the lungs, and replenishing insufficient lung qi.

Because the preparation of pig lung was so labor-intensive, even the kitchens of Tang Mansion did not make it often.

But at the moment, whether from hunger or the blandness of his taste buds, as he chewed on the faintly medicinal pig lung, Tang Luo found this unseasoned offal to be nothing short of a heavenly delicacy, a top-tier delight.

He ate one bite after another, and in just a few moments, he had finished the entire pig lung, even shamelessly licking his fingers.

After smacking his lips, he grabbed the intestines from the plate with Yun Black Spiritual Power, about to put them in his mouth, but as if he remembered something terrifying, his face stiffened, and he placed the almost-bitten intestines back on the plate.

Yet, as the Void Stomach, newly awakened by the pig lung, continuously sent hunger signals to his brain, the uncomfortable Longxi’s Pride could only manipulate the Yun Black Spiritual Power to turn his body away from the platter and, with unwavering will, immersed his consciousness in his body to control the Spiritual Power and begin the significant task of actively repairing his meridians.

After a while, Brother Tian, having washed up and changed into clean clothes, walked into the room with hands clasped behind his back. Noticing the untouched pig intestines and seeing Tang Luo turned away from the platter, he asked, puzzled, “What’s the matter, you didn’t like the pig intestines, so you turned away?”

“Could you help me turn back around?”

Withdrawing his consciousness from the Star Core, the first thing Tang Luo did upon opening his eyes was to ask Brother Tian for help. As a frugal and prudent young man, Longxi’s Pride never stinted on tasks that could save Spiritual Power with a mere request.

Brother Tian walked over to the bed with a sigh, disdainfully extending two fingers to grab Tang Luo’s shoulder to flip him over, while asking, “Speaking of which, with all your meridians broken, how did you even turn over in the first place?”

“Thank you.”

With Brother Tian’s assistance, Tang Luo turned over, glanced at the now lukewarm pig intestines, and said indifferently, “The pig lung was really well prepared, not a trace of gamey smell. The reason I didn’t eat the pig intestines is not because I’m squeamish or scared. It’s just that considering the cleanliness of your medicine on the difficult-to-handle pig lung, it seemed unnecessary to even try the intestines!”

“Really?” Brother Tian’s expression showed a hint of skepticism. “Are you sure it’s because it’s unnecessary to try, and not because you can’t get over a mental hurdle?”

“Of course, it’s because it’s unnecessary!”

Tang Luo answered with resolute conviction, “Besides, I’ve already had a bag of corn cobs earlier. The intestines just came at the wrong time!”

With an expression full of righteousness matched with a tone slightly tinged with regret and those sincere, remorseful eyes, Brother Tian almost believed him–if only Tang Luo’s stomach hadn’t chosen that exact moment to gurgle loudly.

“Well, then I’ll be taking this away!”

Suppressing his laughter, Brother Tian carried away the plate of pig intestines, and as the gatehouse door closed, a series of irrepressible laughter erupted.

Just hearing those sounds was enough to conjure up the image of Brother Tian rolling on the ground in mirth.

With a face ashen, Tang Luo stared disconsolately at the ceiling. After a long while, he made a vow through gritted teeth, “This power is great for nothing but trouble. Once I’m healed, the first thing I’ll do is dig out this ‘Void Stomach’ and toss it away!”

The main stomach, which was just now rumbling, seemed to have gotten a fright and suddenly retracted, making the sorrow on Longxi’s Pride’s face all the more pronounced.

…

Early the next morning, Brother Tian cooked another pot of marinade, putting all the cleaned offal into the stewpot, and then squatted beside it, constantly adjusting the position of the marinade ingredients and the stewpot’s heat.

As the marinade slowly came to a boil, a unique aroma wafted from Brother Tian’s courtyard, and to maximize the fragrance, Brother Tian played a clever trick.

He first trapped all the wafting aromas with a cloud screen, waiting until the stew was well-cooked by evening before releasing all the trapped scents at once.

At this time, when the workforce from every household was returning and the housewives were beginning to cook dinner, the savory fragrance overpowered them. After a hard day’s work, how could the men resist?

Feeling their mouths water and their bellies rumble, they followed the strong scent straight to Brother Tian’s doorstep.

If it had been any other neighbor, these hungry men would certainly have gone up to knock on the door to inquire about the delectable meal, hoping to note the recipe for their wives to replicate, even if they couldn’t snag a bit of meat for themselves.

But at the gate of Brother Tian’s home, people didn’t have the courage to knock–except for Sixth Aunt, who had just bought a large, fat pig from Brother Tian and now approached, cradling a bowl of food covered with a slice of pork.

As these were neighbors you’d see all the time, the crowd immediately gathered around Sixth Aunt upon her arrival.

To the men, Brother Tian was once a gang leader of the Qingtian Gang at East Market, and even though the gang was now disbanded, Brother Tian’s prestige remained. Even though he had always been amicable towards his neighbors, they still felt more awe than affection for him.

But some old women seemed to be naturally bold or maybe more intuitively sharp. They could clearly sense which people truly posed a threat to them. Usually, even the sight of hooligans would scare them into staying quiet, but they felt no fear towards a former gang leader like Brother Tian, whose presence was even more commanding.

They interacted with him more freely than some rough men, sometimes even visiting his home. In the eyes of those living in the alleys of East Market, Sixth Aunt was such a woman.

Therefore, seeing Sixth Aunt arrive, everyone asked in a clamor, “Sixth Aunt, you’re closest with Brother Tian, do you know the origin of this delicious aroma?”

“This old lady is also puzzled!” Sixth Aunt, who had come to deliver a meal, sniffed and expressed her confusion at the astonishing fragrance coming from the courtyard.