Chapter 481: Rest

Gu Qing Shan couldn’t imagine that Badleg Barry was such a person at all.

Such a person… might not be able to expect what he himself does next.

Others will find it even harder to predict his behaviors.

Gu Qing Shan could already feel a bit difficult.

“Thank you for sharing that” he said to the old man.

“It’s nothing, just a bit of small talk” the old man smiled and said.

“Then I’ll go back to rest”

“Hm, I’ll tell you when we get there”

“Alright, thank you”

They said their goodbyes.

Gu Qing Shan entered his room and closed the door.

There had been too many things happening lately that were completely out of his expectations. He really needed a peaceful environment to reorganize himself.

He looked around.

There was nothing in the room.

It was a completely sealed space. There wasn’t even a light, there wasn’t even the most basic table waiting for him.

This was a completely empty room.

Gu Qing Shan was confused.

An organization the level of the Spire Keeper Association wouldn’t provide such simple living accommodations, would they?

While he was thinking that, a candle lit up in the darkness.

The candle slowly floated towards Gu Qing Shan.

A gentle female voice echoed around the room.

[Welcome, esteemed guest]

[Your species is: Human]

[Currently using the Law of Recollection to extract the environment in which you feel most relaxed]

The voice disappeared.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths.

The female voice returned.

[The following environments have been extracted:]

[Number 1: Rainbow bar;]

[Number 2: Confederate capital outskirts mountaintop mansion, first room on the second floor]

[Number 3: Bai Hua sect’s Orchid Hall]

[Number 4: the Freedom Confederate’s slums, 5th Avenue Charity Apartments, 22nd floor, room 2203]

[Please select the appropriate environment to ensure the most enjoyable trip possible]

Gu Qing Shan thought for a bit.

“5th Avenue” he said.

[Yes, environment selected, this journey and facility package is provided by the Spire Keeper Association, please enjoy your trip]

The female voice went silent.

The candle light also disappeared.

The room returned to darkness.

But something had already silently changed.

Gu Qing Shan released his inner sight to observe the room again.

This was a back-alley-shaped narrow room.

There was no distinction between living room and bedroom, only enough space to put a single bed and cupboard, everything else had to be stacked on top of them.

There wasn’t even a toilet.

A single light bulb hung from the ceiling, but the half-broken bulb itself was covered in dust.

Even in the slums of the Confederate, such living conditions were the very bottom of the barrel.

Gu Qing Shan silently stared at his room.

He just stood there without saying anything, seemingly immersing himself in nostalgia.

The room itself also remained silent, as if it was waiting for him to finish.

It wasn’t until a faint light slowly peered into the room at Gu Qing Shan let out a heavy sigh.

He walked to the window and looked outside.

All around him were dark skyscrapers, only occasionally would there be some sporadic light.

This was the slum.

Electricity was a precious thing, and the people here were already used to living while saving it.

His gaze extended a bit further.

The county’s shopping district and administrative district, on the other hand, were full of light.

Gu Qing Shan went blank for a while longer.

Some old memories were resurfacing.

The time of his childhood, his adolescence and his youth, they appeared one by one in his mind.

『 I grew up by myself 』

To a few people, these were nothing but pretty words used to flaunt their personality or a decoration to their façade.

But to Gu Qing Shan, these four words represent genuine memories of loneliness and bitterness that cannot ever be forgotten.

He was an orphan.

He only had himself to depend on for everything.

Gu Qing Shan turned around and walked to the end of his bed.

After a second of search, he held a low-quality bottle of liquor in hand.

Sure enough, it’s still where it used to be.

This was the lowest quality of distilled liquor, a mere 5 Credits per bottle, precious and beloved among people of the slum.

A clear bottle with transparent clear liquor, the paper label outside had been rubbed so many times that it was already falling apart, the words on it were blurred and hard to read.

This bottle was something he had kept for over half a year, left to be opened on his 18th birthday.

Even such minor details are perfectly replicated to fit my memories, the Spire Keeper Association’s technology is nothing short of real magic.

No wonder the Demi felt anxious when he found that he was told he didn’t have enough boarding fee.

Gu Qing Shan uncorked the bottle without hesitation.

He tilted his head up as he drank directly from the bottle.

Strong.

Bitter.

Those tastes lingered in his chest without fail, some of it was even welling back up.

Despite being low quality liquor, this bottle held his memories from long ago, giving Gu Qing Shan emotions that he hadn’t felt for a long time.

Thinking of the past, Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but shake his head.

He took sip after sip from the bottle, until there was only half of it left.

Feeling a bit impulsive, Gu Qing Shan walked to the side of his bed and lifted a layer of cloth.

Charcoal, a long metal box for grilling, metal wires used to skewer meat, as well as various spices neatly lined up.

This was what Gu Qing Shan used to earn his tuition fees.

He was quite talented when it came to cooking and cocktail mixing.

Or you could say that he had excellent instinct when it came to his sense of taste, a 1-found-in-100 expert.

When he was still only a teenager, the Freedom Confederate Gourmet Association officially recognized a Beef rib recipe he created.

They were the highest authority in culinary evaluation of the Confederate.

For this, he even received 2 Merits from Impartial Goddess.

At the time, Gu Qing Shan was only 15 years old.

Others of the same age were still immersed in their own day dreams.

But Gu Qing Shan had already managed to make a name for himself in the food industry, founding his own food stall.

If he wasn’t obsessed with Mechs and dreamed of going to university, he would’ve already become a world-class chef.

After lighting up the coal, he started preparing his grilling utensils.

He tapped his Inventory Bag to take out a few vegetables and meat from the cultivation world, carefully prepared them before skewering them on the wires.

In just a few minutes, the [Gu family BBQ stand] had reopened.

The never-ending queues of customers it used to have was no longer here.

This time, both the owner and the customer were only himself.

Or not.

A transparent feminine figure appeared from the void of space, silently landing next to Gu Qing Shan.

Shannu.

“Aren’t you a sword cultivator, gongzi? You also know how to cook?”

Shannu was surprised looking at how used to this Gu Qing Shan was.

“Swordsmanship is to eliminate enemies, cooking is to make a living” Gu Qing Shan answered.

Just like before, he carefully slathered the meat with sauce, rubbed them with various spices and counted every second it took until he had to turn the meat over.

These ingredients all came from the lavish and rich cultivation world, not only did they contain spirit essence, but they’ve also gone through careful pre-preparation by Qin Xiao Lou, so the quality was top-notch.

Through Gu Qing Shan’s grilling, the first skewer of meat quickly gave off an alluring smell.

Gu Qing Shan removed and gave it to Shannu.

“Try some of my cooking”

“Hm”

Shannu’s body slowly turned from transparent to real.

She had turned from a sword spirit into a human female.

After using [All Beings Equal] a few times, Shannu had already mastered the secret to turning into a human.

Receiving this first batch of grilled meat, she lightly sniffed it before eating.

“How fragrant”

Shannu praised it.

While eating, Shannu curiously looked at the room.

“Gongzi, is this where you stayed before?”

“That’s right”

“A simple place” Shannu commented.

“When I still lived here, there are moments where I didn’t even have time for a meal”

“So even gongzi had a time when you struggled so?” Shannu smiled and asked.

At this point, Gu Qing Shan had just finished grilling a portion of kidney flowers. (1)

He tasted it.

So good!

The same taste it always had.

Gu Qing Shan slowly smiled.

He took the bottle of distilled liquor in hand and took a large sip.

Alcohol and barbeque was always the best combination.

For the next while, Gu Qing Shan forgot about everything else and immersed himself in cooking and grilling.

At the end, he made a portion of soup, giving a bowl to Shannu.

“The soup tastes good” Shannu looked at Gu Qing Shan while sipping it.

Gu Qing Shan didn’t quite understand her gaze: “What is it?”

“If there’s ever a time when you no longer need to fight, will gongzi open a restaurant?”

“Why wouldn’t I need to fight?” Gu Qing Shan smiled and asked.

“If the calamity of the apocalypse is over, then there would no longer be a need to fight”

“That’s not true”

“How so?”

“I will always seek to become stronger, never stop moving forward for anything”

“But if the demons are all gone, there would be no meaning in preparing to fight to that degree” Shannu didn’t understand.

“Shannu, think a bit about the people of the Suspended world”

Shannu recalled for a bit and spoke, a bit shaken: “I was wrong, the heart of the people are scarier than any demons”

Her graceful appearance was dyed in a look of sorrow.

Gu Qing Shan glanced at her and smiled: “There’s no need to be too cynical, the heart of humans can be really terrible when they are bad, but can also be very good when they are not”

“For example?”

“The quadrillion dead people deciding to sacrifice their own Merit to protect the human realm until the very last moments”

Shannu nodded and went into thought.

After a while, her scowl began to loosen.

Gu Qing Shan also poured a bowl of soup for himself, slowly sipping it.

After enjoying such a wonderful dinner, his tense mind could finally relax, even if it was only just for a bit.

Forming the hand seal to create water, he washed all his tools, putting them back exactly where they were before. Only after that did Gu Qing Shan finally sit on his bed.

While meditating, he also began to think about everything that had happened lately.

Originally, he intended to return to his world after the Suspended world was dealt with.

Who would’ve thought there would be so many unexpected events.

Super Dimensional world…

It seems I’ll have to reorganize my understanding of the worlds once again.

Gu Qing Shan only went into thought for a few short moments.

Then he fell asleep.

As Shannu heard the sound of his stable breathing, she silently turned to look at his sleeping face.

She twirled and turned into a sword, hovering in the middle of the room.

She was protecting Gu Qing Shan.

Note:

(1) Kidney flowers: A Chinese dish made from goat kidneys, think Haggis