Chapter 665 - 412: Familiar Taste and Unacceptable Reality

Chapter 665: Chapter 412: Familiar Taste and Unacceptable Reality

He remembered thinking at the time, ’I’ve only been gone for a few days, and such a bustling little shop has already opened up near the house.’

’Shops like this will probably become more and more common. Qin Muqing must have been inside buying groceries then.’

Lin Li raised his right hand, and a small paper bag appeared out of thin air. "Here, take this," he said to Qin Muqing.

"What’s this?" Qin Muqing took the small paper bag from Lin Li and asked curiously.

Earlier, while riding in the carriage, he had separated some of the pastries from the large bag Zhu Xinru had given him. "They’re pastries. I was visiting a friend’s house this morning, and she gave me some that her family’s Pastry Chef made. They’re delicious. You should try them later."

"Oh, they’re pastries!" Qin Muqing’s eyes instantly lit up when she heard this.

Back when she was still at home, she would spend her afternoons alone in the garden pavilion, eating pastries, drinking tea, and enjoying her leisure time.

Since leaving home, she had encountered one misfortune after another on her journey, and she certainly hadn’t eaten any pastries.

’It seems girls from any world love sweet pastries...’ Lin Li thought to himself when he saw Qin Muqing’s eyes sparkling.

"Let’s eat them together, Mr. Lin! I’ll go brew a pot of tea..." Qin Muqing said.

She could hardly wait to taste the pastries Lin Li had given her.

"I’ve already eaten. You go ahead... I’m going upstairs to take a nap now. If it’s not important, please don’t disturb me," Lin Li said.

He still had to go cause trouble for the Red Blood Gang tonight. Before the operation, he needed to rest well and build up his energy. He wanted to be in peak condition to deal them an even heavier blow than before, aiming to completely shatter their confidence this time.

"Okay." Qin Muqing nodded.

Once Lin Li went upstairs, she quickly took the grocery basket to the kitchen. A little while later, she returned to the living room carrying a freshly brewed pot of tea.

She sat down on the sofa, took a cup from the tea tray, poured herself some tea, and then opened the small paper bag Lin Li had given her.

"Huh?!!!"

Qin Muqing opened the small paper bag, and a look of surprise appeared on her plain face as she gazed at the exquisitely made pastries inside.

She reached into the bag and took one out. Looking at the delicate pattern on it, she knew it would take a great deal of effort for an ordinary person to create something like this.

For a regular Pastry Chef, taste was paramount. Expending effort on surface patterns was time-consuming and laborious, simply not worth the trouble. There was no need to do such a thing; a presentable appearance was good enough.

However, if a Pastry Chef was employed by a wealthy family to serve them exclusively, that was another matter entirely. The pastries they made had to satisfy the master of the house in both appearance and taste.

Qin Muqing’s red lips parted slightly as her pearly white teeth took a small bite of the pastry. She savored it carefully, the sweet flavor making her eyes crinkle in bliss.

’The Pastry Chef who made these must have trained at the Bailixiang Pastry Shop in the Capital City.

And this Pastry Chef has probably awakened some kind of Superpower. Only by using a Superpower during the baking process could the patterns be so beautiful and identical on every single pastry...’

As soon as Qin Muqing tasted the pastry Lin Li had given her, a familiar flavor instantly flooded her senses.

’Mr. Lin’s friend has a Pastry Chef trained at the Capital City’s Bailixiang Pastry Shop... They must be at least a very wealthy family...’

While Qin Muqing was eating the pastries with a blissful expression on her face, Lin Li was already lying down on the bed in his third-floor bedroom.

He was mulling over which direction to use for his surprise attack on the Red Blood Gang tonight when he drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

And as he slept, in another world, someone influenced by him was stepping into the treacherous wilderness.

「Blue Star.」

Traveling from the bustling city center toward the desolate wilderness, the farther one got from human civilization, the lusher the vegetation became. At the same time, the chirping of cicadas grew ever denser.

CHIRP, CHIRP, CHIRP...

WHOOSH...

The clamorous cicada song was silenced by a sudden gust of wind, as if a giant hand had clamped over their mouths.

But after the wind passed, the cicadas, quiet for only a moment, immediately started chirping again, one after another.

Wang Hao drove his car to the border between the human-inhabited safe zone and the wilderness.

CLICK.

After the car stopped, he unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door, and got out.

He scanned his surroundings. As far as the eye could see, there wasn’t another soul in sight. If not for the incessant chirping of the cicadas in the trees, the place would have been frighteningly quiet.

He took his phone out of his pocket, opened a GPS app, and saw that according to its directions, he just needed to proceed straight ahead to reach his destination.

Entering the wilderness alone was quite dangerous, but Wang Hao was personally quite strong, so it wasn’t as if he was afraid to go in by himself.

Moreover, the location of the signal from Liu Menglong’s phone wasn’t too far from the safe zone. With his strength, as long as he didn’t venture deep into the wilderness, his life wouldn’t be in any real danger.

Eager to find his friend’s whereabouts, Wang Hao didn’t hesitate for long. He strode forward, crossing the boundary between the safe zone and the wilderness.

RUSTLE, RUSTLE, RUSTLE...

Pushing aside the head-high thicket of grass in front of him, Wang Hao plunged in. He quickened his pace into a run, and the sound of branches and leaves brushing against his body echoed through the dense undergrowth.

The sky was clear, and the sun was unobstructed, its scorching rays beating down fiercely on the land.

The vegetation, looking somewhat listless under the baking sun, clung stubbornly to life. If it had consciousness, it would surely be wishing for the sun to set sooner.

Because two beings at the Peak of Tier Two had fought in this area previously, all the Mutant Beasts living here had fled.

For some time, the escaped Mutant Beasts wouldn’t dare return to live in this area. As a result, Wang Hao encountered no attacks from Mutant Beasts along his path.

Although not being attacked by Mutant Beasts was, on the surface, a good thing, for Wang Hao, who was experienced in wilderness survival, this did not feel like a good sign.

’Strange. Why haven’t I encountered a single Mutant Beast on this whole trip? Not even a First Rank Initial Stage one?!!!’

Thanks to the unobstructed path, Wang Hao reached his destination sooner than he had anticipated after entering the wilderness.

"This is the area." Wang Hao saw the app on his phone indicate that he had arrived at his destination. He put his phone away and began to search the area before him.

Not far ahead was a large swamp. The surrounding terrain was very flat, and such places in the wilderness were often watering holes for many Mutant Beasts.

For humans, a Mutant Beast’s watering hole is extremely dangerous. Under normal circumstances, such places are designated as areas to avoid.

Of course, if you were strong enough, you could take a chance at a watering hole like this one, which was relatively close to the safe zone.

However, the Exotic Beast Hunter Guild had issued a clear warning that there was no need for anyone to take such a risk.

Wang Hao searched carefully beside the swamp for about twenty minutes, but still found nothing.

He had an impatient temperament to begin with, and with the weather being so hot, he was on the verge of cursing out loud.

Just as his patience was about to run out, he spotted a flash of white in the distance.

The wilderness was lush and verdant, a sea of green as far as the eye could see. The sudden appearance of a patch of white in this environment made it impossible not to notice.

THUD, THUD, THUD...

Wang Hao quickened his pace. When he arrived in front of the white object and saw clearly what it was, the expression on his face froze completely. He muttered to himself,

"No, impossible... this... this definitely isn’t him..."