Reborn in Japan as a Chef God
Chapter 376 - 375: Conquered (Part 1)

Chapter 376: Chapter 375: Conquered (Part 1)

"Raccoon!"

This horrifying scene, like straight out of a monster TV drama, was unfolding right before his eyes. Even Xia Yu, who was usually fearless, couldn’t help but stagger back in shock.

He did have his suspicions.

But a suspicion is only that, whether it was last night’s dream or today’s peculiar judges. Xia Yu consciously guided his thoughts in a hopeful direction.

In other words, he was playing dumb.

Feigning ignorance.

However, the scene where the old man transformed into a raccoon forced Xia Yu to admit he could no longer feign ignorance.

The veil had been lifted—this non-human world truly existed!

Henceforth, to avoid would be cowardice. Xia Yu took a deep breath, and in less than half a minute, he managed to compose himself, his heartbeat gradually stabilizing.

"Lord Li!"

Meisha cried out in shock, covering her mouth. Seeing Xia Yu backing away, pale and shocked, she immediately pursed her lips, positioning herself between the boy and the judges, blocking his view.

She signaled the three remaining clear-headed judges with her eyes, her look filled with urgency.

At this moment, Meisha felt an indescribable panic.

After all, Yuchuan Temple was Kamakura and even Kanagawa Prefecture’s most mysterious place, rarely visited by people, and hardly seeing any lively humans throughout the year.

She had grown up in Yuchuan Temple, living among a host of bizarre creatures, but she had never truly had any human friends.

Although she went to elementary, middle, and high school in Kamakura, she was famously considered a country bumpkin. Always wearing her braided pigtails and large black glasses until she went to Capital City for university—only then did she remove her glasses, undo her braids, and learned to dress up, gradually gaining confidence.

But Meisha disliked the hustle and bustle of Capital City. Thus, after graduating from university, she resolutely returned to Kamakura, living with her grandmother to protect and serve Yuchuan Temple.

Wouldn’t such an ascetic life feel lonely?

Meisha asked herself countless nights.

It certainly was.

But making friends also frightened her. Her "super-hearing" gave her the formidable ability to detect the nuances in others’ emotions and perceptions through their slight gestures or unintentional murmurings.

The slightest hint of dislike from others was always immediately apparent to her.

Despite his youth, Xia Yu was one of the rare friends she could actually talk to.

If you were to look at Meisha’s list of contacts on LINE or her phone, you would find very few friends and numbers; Xia Yu was one of her few friends who she also connected with via LINE and Twitter, and even had phone conversations with.

Therefore, what panicked Meisha was the possibility that after this incident, Xia Yu might silently disappear.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

She had a close friend once, but after her friend came across something indescribable and fell severely ill, she moved away and lost all contact. Meisha thus learned to protect people she cared about.

"Lord Li!!"

Meisha called again, finally awakening the raccoon lost in his culinary fantasy.

Sensing the strange atmosphere.

When the old raccoon came to his senses, he clearly paused, even in his non-human form, capable of speaking in a comical tone.

"So delicious, truly delicious!"

He couldn’t resist giving a thumbs up, praising, "Meisha, you were right, this sashimi is indeed a rare delicacy!"

Saying this, the old raccoon’s saliva flowed freely.

He reached out with his chopsticks again to tear off another piece of fish from the back of the Mystical Turtle Ice Sculpture.

Suddenly, his chopstick-holding hand trembled, and he realized something was wrong!

His arm, wrist, and even his hand were all furry!

"Ah!"

The chopsticks fell, and the old raccoon immediately covered his head with both hands and scrambled under the judges’ table.

"I’m sorry, Meisha!" his voice conveyed his panic.

Beside him, the Red-clothed woman sighed.

"Let’s call it off here,"

She stood up, intending to leave, having lost interest as it seemed the raccoon had easily revealed its true form in front of others, committing a taboo of Yuchuan Temple.

Yuchuan Meisha’s cheeks were filled with anger, and even sharper were the piercing, cold lights flashing in the eyes of Yuchuan Abbot.

"Indeed, there’s no need to continue."

The young monk in the third seat nodded and rose with his palms pressed together.

"What a pity, I thought I was going to have a full meal."

The fifth seat holder, carrying a smoking pipe, an androgynous figure, chuckled softly with a gender-neutral voice. As they stood up, they flipped their smooth, lustrous black hair over their shoulder, exuding a complex aura of grace and heroism.

"I’m sorry,"

From beneath the judges’ table came the trembling voice of the old raccoon.

It seemed the raccoon had incited everyone’s anger.

Suddenly, a clear voice interrupted, stopping the judges from leaving,

"At least, try my sliced raw fish before you go!"

Upon hearing this,

the red-clothed woman, the young monk, and the tall androgynous figure simultaneously stopped, casting a fascinated look at the youth who had stepped out from behind Yuchuan Meisha.

"Aren’t you afraid?" the androgynous figure asked lightly, casually puffing on their smoking pipe.

"Afraid?"

Xia Yu shrugged, not answering directly, but solemnly said, "I’m a chef. I only know I should satisfy the guests and make sure they leave content."

"Very well, I will try your dish... it’s called sliced raw fish, right?"

Putting down their smoking pipe, the tall figure smiled and picked up a clean set of chopsticks from the table.

"Hisss!"

A thin slice of raw fish, picked up with the chopsticks, left the figure stunned for a few seconds before complexly consuming it.

"Whoo, whoo, whoo..."

A cold wind from the Extreme North Heavenly Country blew, lifting their smooth, black hair.

They were astounded.

Gazing forward into the snowy world,

"I want to try too!"

The young monk was the second to return to the judges’ table. He didn’t sit but stood with chopsticks, tearing a slice of raw fish into his mouth and chewing.

Crack!

The chopsticks suddenly snapped in his hands, his half-naked upper body emitting wisps of chill, and the fire snake tattoo on his back was coated with a layer of ice crystals. The previously lifelike fire snake, seemingly swimming, suddenly stiffened.

"Hmph, I want to see how you, ’the youngest top-class chef in Neon’s history,’ compare to our Meisha!"

The red-clothed woman snorted, crossing her legs as she sat back down.

She likewise picked up her chopsticks.

"Thump!"

As the fish dissolved on her tongue, the red-clothed woman heard a grand bell tolling from heaven!

The sound echoed across the vast icy plains.

The red-clothed woman was profoundly moved, along with her, the equally stunned young monk and the tall figure with flowing hair.

Boom.

At that moment, a huge shadow fell from the sky, and a gust of wind howled.

A massive foot, like a hill, landed not far from them on the ice, instantly spreading cracks all around. However, the ice layer of the ice field was very thick, and the foot did not break through the ground.

Even more striking was that the owner of the foot was a Mystic Turtle, slowly carrying a series of palaces!

The bell sound was coming from the palace group.