NOVEL WEB chapter 173
173. The Righteous Hero, Leaving No Name Behind
On the surface, she said she didn’t know if they suited his taste, but every dish on the small tray was his favorite.
Lin Nuo felt this was no coincidence.
One coincidence is fine, two is pushing it, but everything being a coincidence is too much.
Especially the pastries, she directly chose the Flower Season Canned Brand pork floss buns.
Thinking of the Flower Season Canned Brand pastry shop, Lin Nuo observed a moment of silence for three seconds; it was all that wasp’s fault.
While cultivating at Tianling Mountain, Lin Nuo’s meals mainly came from two people, Li Ruoruo and Liu Shuqin, though mostly from Li Ruoruo, as she was the girl serving him. Liu Shuqin would occasionally show her cooking skills, which meant she sometimes helped in the Xuan Yun Sect’s kitchen, and Lin Nuo occasionally enjoyed her cooking.
However, since returning from the campaign outside Hu City, Liu Shuqin had been cooking more often, and each time she cooked specifically for him alone, sometimes even letting Li Ruoruo rest and taking over as Lin Nuo’s cook, becoming well-acquainted with his dietary preferences.
Lin Nuo highly approved of Liu Shuqin’s culinary skills. The saying that Liu Shuqin was fit to be a virtuous wife, as spread by Tianling Mountain’s Xuan Yun Sect, was not false at all. In terms of being virtuous, no one on Tianling Mountain could surpass her.
What did it mean for her to specially bring him his favorite dishes now?
Although Lin Nuo felt the urge and desire to dine, he still maintained his composure and calm.
He asked:
“Miss Liu, since you don’t know my taste, how did you choose these dishes?”
“I simply prepared the favorite food of someone important.”
“Someone important?”
“Yes, a very important person. It’s no harm telling you, isn’t there still one person left on the Poison Bee’s assassination list? Lin Nuo, my junior brother, is an extremely important person to me.”
Liu Shuqin placed the meal plate on the stone table in the pavilion, sitting opposite Lin Nuo, “My junior brother has been kind to me, or rather, without him, there wouldn’t be the me of now, nor the me lost in the past. If it weren’t for his guidance, I don’t know where I would be today. Thanks to Master Wu’s efforts in punishing the wicked and removing evil, my junior brother was spared some trouble. I’m very grateful to Master Wu. These dishes are my junior brother’s favorites, if Master Wu doesn’t like them, I can make something else for you.”
“No need, these dishes are full of color, fragrance, and flavor, there’s no need to make others. Thank you for your kindness, Miss Liu.”
Lin Nuo let Liu Shuqin leave the dishes behind, it would be a shame to take away such good food and meat.
Having arrived in Zhou Ling City, he had tasted many local delicacies, but frankly, he still missed the cooking of Li Ruoruo and Liu Shuqin, their dishes indeed suited his taste.
The dishes were placed before him, but with Liu Shuqin watching him, he couldn’t enjoy them just yet, especially since he was currently covering his mouth and nose with a cloth, which he would have to remove to eat.
“Master Wu, do the dishes not suit your palate? Why aren’t you dining yet?”
“The dishes and soup are still hot, I’ll wait a bit.”
“Oh, alright then.”
A gentle breeze passed by, and the bright flowers of the back garden fell. Liu Shuqin lightly lifted the hair at her side that fluttered in the wind, gazing at the flowers in the water just as Lin Nuo had done.
“Master Wu is quite remarkable, establishing his own sect at such a young age, and having a disciple of such high strength.”
“You flatter me.”
Lin Nuo noticed Liu Shuqin looking at the flowers in the water, wanting to grab a pork floss bun and toss it into his mouth, but he held back, worried she might turn around.
At that moment, Liu Shuqin seemed to think of something, turned around, and bowed slightly:
“Excuse me, Master Wu, I suddenly have some matters to attend to, I must take my leave for now.”
“It’s alright, Miss Liu, go ahead if you have matters to attend to.”
Lin Nuo replied calmly, thinking to himself that this was good, with her gone, he, Lin, would have the chance to dine. Otherwise, with her watching, he could only look but not eat.
Seeing Liu Shuqin walk away lightly, Lin Nuo finally felt at ease.
Alright, she’s gone, time to eat.
Should he call Ling Meng over to eat?
No, there’s no need to call her, she might not wake up, and even if she does, the food might not suit her palate, and even if it does, she might not be able to eat, especially without chopsticks.
Right, there’s only one pair of chopsticks and one spoon, no need to call her, let her continue her sweet dreams.
Lin Nuo took off the cloth, picked up the chopsticks, and started eating. It was the familiar taste, Liu Shuqin’s culinary skills were still beyond praise, the steamed turbot’s freshness, the cordyceps soup’s rich aroma, all seemed to be carefully prepared just for him, each dish deeply to his liking.
Lin Nuo indulged in the delicious feast, unaware that on the side of him, on that wall, there was a window. If someone chose the right angle, they could see him through that window.
And unbeknownst to him, Liu Shuqin had already gone to that window, her position just right to observe Lin Nuo dining.
Peering might not be honorable, but Liu Shuqin really wanted to clarify one thing.
Is this person named Wu Yingge actually Lin Nuo?
After Lin Nuo removed his headscarf, she observed every detail of his face and movements.
His facial contours were somewhat similar to Lin Nuo’s, but his skin was much darker, scarred, resembling someone who had been through the underworld, a weathered face lacking Lin Nuo’s spirited air.
Not to mention the attire. She had felt from the start that the pale grey cloak was vastly different from Lin Nuo’s white garb, making it impossible to identify him by his clothes.
One could deliberately change their face and attire, but dining habits are hard to alter.
Liu Shuqin saw it clearly: there was sauce on the plate, but she intentionally did not pour it over the steamed turbot, watching to see if Wu Yingge would do so.
He did not, just like Lin Nuo, who preferred to dip the fish in sauce rather than pour it over.
And the stew, where most would drink directly from the bowl with a spoon, Lin Nuo was different; he liked to pour the stew into a cup to drink, and would take a sip roughly after every three bites of rice.
This habit was also the same as Lin Nuo’s.
Other small details matched as well, along with his walking posture, height, and build, all points coincided.
This was no longer an illusion, but evidence.
But if it really was him, why would he disguise himself as another person in Zhou Ling City?
The reason could very well be his character and chivalrous style, handling matters with a low profile, not flaunting, chivalrous and righteous, never leaving his real name.
Liu Shuqin had heard of the assassin’s principles too; they wouldn’t go out of their way to kill someone not on the list. “Poison Bee” didn’t have Wu Yingge on the list, but they went to war with him, likely because “Poison Bee” knew Lin Nuo’s true identity and went to kill him, but was overpowered and killed by Lin Nuo instead.
Or perhaps Lin Nuo knew he was on “Poison Bee’s” hit list and took preemptive action, disguising himself as Wu Yingge to eliminate “Poison Bee.”
If it was the latter, then he would likely reveal his identity.
Indeed, he remains a strong figure, unassuming and low-key, chivalrous and righteous without leaving a name.