Chapter 190: Chapter 190: Smoky Makeup, Little Fangs, This Bunny’s Blackened

I had originally planned to save the rabbit meat for the three little ones, but who knew they’d turn their noses up at it.

Having grown accustomed to cooked food, they couldn’t be bothered with anything raw and bloody anymore.

Civilized beasts, you see. They don’t eat their meat raw.

"Heh heh. Bunnies are just so cute... which of course means they need extra numbing spice and chili."

She had already thought up a catchphrase for this dish: "Bunnies are so cute, how could you possibly eat them?"

The line automatically played in Lu Wu’s mind in a cutesy, saccharine voice.

Huh?

’Did I just reveal something about myself?’

System: You’ve ruined my good name.

Prepping the rabbits was a bit of a hassle. First, you had to remove the fur and skin, pull out the tiny incisors, and take out the windpipe. By the end, you were left with a rabbit head that needed a censor bar.

It was palm-sized but surprisingly heavy.

The environment of the Green Origin Realm was perfect for raising rabbits; even a single head had a lot of meat on it.

Lu Wu soaked it in water to draw out the blood, having to change the water partway through. The whole process took quite some time.

In total, the three little ones had caught three rabbits.

Lu Wu expressed doubts about their hunting abilities. In response, the three little ones claimed they had been worried about her and had come back early.

So touching!

Still, deep in these old woods, Lu Wu couldn’t imagine running into any customers. Making extra would be a waste. Her attitude toward it was completely zen.

She didn’t let the rabbits’ bodies go to waste, either. She planned to store them to make spicy rabbit stir-fry later.

SLURP!

Lu Wu’s mouth watered as she flipped through the cookbook. It was a craving that only rabbit could cure.

When the water was mostly clear, Lu Wu fished out the rabbit heads.

Just then, Lu Wu narrowed her eyes, her gaze fixed on a nearby thicket. The three little beasts’ eyes shifted in the same direction.

’Oh no, there’s demonic energy... wait, no, that’s just a foxy smell.’

The fox: Stop badmouthing me! Just stop!

"Dear, I have a feeling we’ve been spotted,"

the female fox said, fraught with worry. She stroked her belly, a pang of regret hitting her as she looked over.

The female fox had never imagined that the Tiger Beast had a master. They had lived here for ages, and this was the first time they had ever seen a human.

Fortunately, the human’s gaze merely swept over their hiding spot without lingering.

"Let’s wait and see,"

the male fox said after a moment’s hesitation. ’We’ve come this far. I’m afraid I wouldn’t have the courage to come back if we left now.’

"Look, what’s that in the human’s hands?"

The female fox whispered, suppressing the horror in her voice as she huddled closer to her mate.

’No matter how I look at it, that thing looks like the head of a vicious little rabbit. Humans... so brutal.’

Lu Wu had noticed the fox couple right away, but she didn’t shoo them off. ’In a place like this,’ she thought, ’they might be potential customers.’

’Can’t be rough with the clientele.’

Keeping this in mind, Lu Wu placed the rabbit heads into a pot of clean water to blanch.

Slices of ginger and green onions to remove the gamey taste were essential, as was a splash of strong white liquor and a bit of salt.

Just a hint of the liquor’s mellow aroma was enough to be intoxicating.

As the water temperature rose, the color of the rabbit heads began to change, turning the brown of cooked meat. The censor bar faded away.

Once the rabbit heads were parboiled, Lu Wu removed them to drain and set them aside.

Next came the most crucial step for the numbing-and-spicy rabbit heads: stir-frying the seasoning base.

For the rabbit heads to be delicious, this step had to be executed with precision.

The freshly pressed rapeseed oil carried its own natural fragrance. She’d heard that some people loved inhaling its aroma.

A hot wok and cool oil—and plenty of it.

Then in went the classic trio—ginger, garlic, and green onions—to be flash-fried until fragrant.

As the hot oil coaxed out the spices’ fragrance, the aroma began to spread. The foxes, who had never encountered human society, twitched their noses. Sniffing the air, their eyes began to glaze over.

Whoa, this stuff really goes to a beast’s head.

Lu Wu moved quickly. The sauce base was already sizzling at the bottom of the wok, releasing its red oil. Then, chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns made their grand entrance—the more, the merrier.

The Glazed Fire roiled beneath the wok, its intensity shifting with Lu Wu’s every thought.

Once the spices were fragrant, Lu Wu tossed the rabbit heads into the wok and began to stir-fry them.

It was the first time the foxes had ever encountered the stimulating fragrance of chili peppers.

The female fox’s eyes immediately started to water.

"Dear, I can’t take it anymore."

Her voice was thick and nasal.

"Can’t take what?" The male fox was fighting the chili peppers’ assault. He was starting to suspect the human was trying to poison them with this stuff.

"I..."

"ACHOO! ACHOO..."

Before the female fox could finish, she let out a series of explosive sneezes.

They were so loud that Lu Wu couldn’t pretend she hadn’t heard them.

Her hand, holding the spatula, paused. Lu Wu looked over and beckoned. "No need to hide. Come on out."

Without waiting to see the two foxes’ terrified reactions, she returned to her cooking.

She added soy sauce and other seasonings in sequence, then poured in enough boiling water to cover the rabbit heads. All that was left was to let it simmer, waiting for time to work its magic and elevate the flavors.

Amidst the rising white steam, Lu Wu’s eyes were downcast, giving her the serene air of a world-saving Bodhisattva.

"Dear, what do we do?"

The female fox was in a complete panic. ’It’s all my fault. If I had just held on a little longer...’

She glanced down at her belly, her delicate, foxy face etched with worry.

She wasn’t afraid of dying, but her kits hadn’t even been born yet.

"I don’t think that human means us any harm."

The male fox managed to remain calm. He was analyzing the human’s intentions when he saw the three little ones looking right at him.

Even though the big tiger was disguised as a small cat, his stripes and scent still gave away his identity as En Hu.

Risking his life, the male fox wrapped his tail reassuringly around his mate, and the two of them stepped out from the thicket.

Lu Wu had trimmed the canopy overhead to let in more light. Now, shafts of sunlight dappled the forest floor. In the bright light, the Red Foxes’ fur seemed to glitter.

"Very beautiful foxes,"

Lu Wu commented.

A smile seemed to appear on the faces of the foxes being praised by a human, but they didn’t let down their guard.

The rabbit heads still needed time, so Lu Wu squatted down, propped her chin in her hands, and watched the two foxes. Her gaze paused for a moment on the female’s belly.

But even that slight pause was enough to put the female fox on high alert.

The power of a mother’s instinct was truly great.

"Relax, I’m not going to hurt you."

’My cookbook doesn’t have any fox recipes. At least, not yet.’

"I wanted to ask you, what’s the deal with these rabbits?"

She held up one of the cute, adorable... and headless rabbits.

The bunny: How rude!

After the rabbits died, the black aura around them had dissipated.

The male fox took a step, shielding his mate. His gaze shifted to Mimi.

"Meow!"

Mimi was licking a paw, playfully batting at Lu Wu’s wrist with his tail.

"Go on, spit it out. What are you looking at me for?"

With En Hu’s—er, En Cat’s—permission, the male fox propped up his trembling body and began to speak in a series of soft yips and cries.

Lu Wu’s mind began to automatically translate.

Apparently, a month ago, a fissure had opened up somewhere in the forest, leaking a large amount of black energy.

The fissure was right in the middle of the Rabbit Clan’s territory. The slow-witted rabbits didn’t sense any danger from it, so they paid it no mind.

Who would have known that over time, the rabbits would absorb the black energy, causing their temperaments to change drastically and their bodies to mutate.

They stopped eating grass and started eating meat.

Crucially, the rabbits empowered by the black energy became much, much stronger.

This corruption gave the bunnies power. It was like they had put on smokey eye makeup. They began hunting the very species that used to prey on the Rabbit Clan.

And thus, chaos ensued.

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