Kael knew that the person responsible for safeguarding the Garuda Knife had been named Chen Jian, the inheritor of Chen-style mapo tofu. In Shu City, Jian had been a well-known figure.
Kael's target was the Garuda Knife. Although he already knew the knife was hidden somewhere within a waterfall, finding it wouldn't actually be that difficult.
With Kael's current strength, a thorough search over enough time would eventually turn it up. Still, since a map existed, why bother wasting that effort? It would be much simpler to just get the map.
The problem was that Jian was already dead.
He had left behind three children: the eldest, Yuli; the second, Kong; and the youngest, Meiling.
Chen Jian understood his children's personalities well. He knew that once he died, conflict between them would be inevitable.
So before his death, he arranged for Chen Kong and Chen Yuli to each open their own restaurant. As for Chen Meiling, she was entrusted with the map to the Garuda Knife.
What Jian hadn't anticipated was just how vicious the struggle between his son and daughter would become. His intention had been simple: let them each run their own business. Competition was inevitable, but at least neither would have to worry about making a living.
Instead, as their businesses grew larger, the two began to sabotage each other.
Human desire was like that. Once a certain switch was flipped, there was no turning back.
In truth, this wasn't entirely Jian's fault. He knew full well what his children were like. While he was alive, things were manageable—but once he died, a power struggle between Kong and Yuli was inevitable.
That was precisely why he separated them in advance. He just never imagined they would still end up colliding head-on.
Objectively speaking, both of them were already living extremely well. With the Chen-style mapo tofu name behind them, they were considered the legitimate lineage. Even running solo, they naturally held an advantage over outsiders.
Yet neither of them cherished this inheritance. They insisted on fighting until one side was completely crushed.
What puzzled Kael, however, was that the two had chosen completely different business paths. By all logic, they shouldn't have crossed each other's lines at all.
Yuli's approach was thin margins and high volume. In the original story, when Liu Maoxing and the others arrived, Yuli's shop could sell over five hundred plates of mapo tofu a day, priced at just ten coins per serving.
That price was actually very low. Normally, mapo tofu sold for ten to twenty coins. Given that Mapo was a legitimate Chen-style shop, pricing it at twenty coins would have been perfectly reasonable. Yet Yuli deliberately cut the price down to ten coins, greatly expanding the number of customers who could afford it.
On the other hand, Kong was the one Kael found truly strange.
At this point in time, an ordinary person earned only a few dozen coins a day—roughly ten thousand coins a month at most. That was for common folk, excluding the wealthy.
And yet, Kong priced his mapo tofu at three hundred coins per serving.
That was an absurd price.
Even the most expensive mapo tofu usually cost no more than twenty coins. Kong's price was over ten times higher—and despite that, he was still selling six hundred plates a day.
That was completely abnormal.
Kael could understand the idea of pursuing a high-end market. After all, for certain products, brand value mattered far more than the item itself. With Chen-style mapo tofu's reputation, there was some justification for building a premium image.
But once you chose the high-end route, you were effectively giving up on volume.
Especially in an era where life was so difficult for the average person. Wealthy individuals existed, but they were few in number.
Yet Kong's sales were actually higher than Phoenix Mapo's, which relied on low prices and high volume. That alone was suspicious.
Sensing that something was off, Kael's interest was piqued. He decided to observe Kong's restaurant—Mapo Palace—and see what was really going on.
The map to the Garuda Knife was in Meiling's hands. If Kael wanted it, he would inevitably have to deal with this family. And although Liu Maoxing and the others hadn't arrived yet, Kael had already heard that tensions between the two shops were steadily escalating.
Kael first went to Phoenix Mapo. He didn't go inside. From a distance alone, he could already smell everything.
With his Super Senses, he didn't even need to taste the food to understand its quality.
In the original story, Kong accused Yuli of using problematic ingredients, claiming she covered it up with heavy seasoning. But through his heightened sense of smell, Kael knew the truth—Kong was smearing her.
The tofu Yuli used wasn't great. It didn't even reach average quality. But given how low her prices were, that was perfectly understandable. When you were selling at rock-bottom prices so ordinary people could afford it, compromises were inevitable.
The chefs working under Yuli weren't particularly strong either. From Kael's perception, they were only close to upper-intermediate level.
Still, with a unique recipe, the Chen-style brand, and extremely low prices, it was enough to draw massive crowds.
In the original story, when Phoenix Mapo sought outside help, the first person they invited was also an upper-intermediate chef—only to be replaced later by Liu Maoxing and Lan Feihong.
After confirming Phoenix Mapo's situation, Kael moved on to Mapo Palace.
That was where the real problem revealed itself.
Compared to Yuli's shop, Mapo Palace was deeply abnormal.
The chefs here were only intermediate-level—nowhere near upper-intermediate.
The ingredients used for the mapo tofu weren't particularly high-grade either. They were better than average, but only just.
With ingredients and skill like that, even with the Chen-style name, selling a single plate for three hundred coins was absurd. There was definitely something fishy going on.
In later times, many restaurants chose the high-end route, but only a small fraction survived. Those that did used top-tier ingredients, hired top-tier chefs, and paid great attention to ambience.
Mapo Palace had almost none of that.
The only thing it truly possessed was the Chen-style mapo tofu brand.
And yet the place was packed.
Soon, Kael noticed another detail—many of the diners here had a much stronger presence than ordinary people. Clearly, these weren't common folk.
"So there really is something going on," Kael thought. "These people are obviously organized. But why do this? Is it just to prop Kong up?"
Judging by Kong's smug expression, he probably didn't even realize these customers were fake. That meant another faction was pulling the strings.
Kael could think of only two possibilities: the Dark Cooking Society, or the Taiji Cuisine Realm.
Between the two, the Dark Cooking Society was far more likely. Members of the Taiji Cuisine Realm were scattered across the land, but they preferred to stay hidden, not act so blatantly.
This kind of operation had the Dark Cooking Society written all over it.
Jian had once been entrusted with guarding the Garuda Knife. The Dark Cooking Society would never ignore a legendary kitchen utensil.
Even though Master Ruoh also had a copy of the map, it was never a big secret who had been assigned to guard each piece of legendary kitchenware.
With Jian dead, he obviously wouldn't have taken that secret to his grave. He would have passed it on to his children.
That made this the perfect time for the Dark Cooking Society to move.
Yuli, while hot-tempered, was still a straightforward businesswoman. Kong, on the other hand, was arrogant and overconfident—far easier to manipulate.
Once he opened his shop, the Dark Cooking Society latched onto him. They secretly inflated his restaurant's status, crushing Yuli in the process.
Their goal was simple: find out who held the secret of the Garuda Knife.
They could have kidnapped all three siblings and tortured them—but there was no guarantee anyone would talk. To be safe, the best approach was to let the most useless one win, consolidate control, and then squeeze the truth out of him at leisure.
As for the money spent, it was insignificant compared to a legendary kitchen utensil. And once Kong was dealt with, all that money could be reclaimed anyway.
Kael, coming from a later era and armed with vast information, plus his understanding of this world, arrived at this conclusion almost instinctively. Otherwise, he couldn't think of any reason a faction would go to such lengths.
Kael decided to wait and see where these people went after they finished eating.
Their acting was convincing. If not for Kael's ability to sense their strength, he would never have guessed they were all in on it together.
After some of them left, Kael followed one quietly.
They wandered through the city, splitting up along the way. Kael kept his eyes on a single target.
Eventually, the man led him to a large courtyard. On the surface, it looked like a normal residence—but Kael clearly sensed powerful auras beneath it.
There was definitely something hidden underground.
In a well-concealed spot, Kael spotted the unmistakable emblem of the Dark Cooking Society: a black qilin biting down on a cleaver.
"So it really is the Dark Cooking Society. Then they must be after the Garuda Knife."
Although Kael's abilities were inherited from the Dark Cooking Society, he felt no goodwill toward them.
Originally, Kael had planned to use his Domineering Chef's Heart to directly subdue Kong and Yuli, force them to reconcile, and then obtain the map from Meiling.
Now, he changed his mind.
That plan was too troublesome.
Sometimes, it was better to be simple and direct.
Night fell quickly.
Kael didn't bother finding a place to stay. Instead, he returned straight to Mapo Palace.
Kong was still awake, sitting in his room counting money.
He wasn't yet making as much as he would in the original story, but earning over ten thousand coins a day was already enough to satisfy him.
Just as he was basking in his success, the window suddenly flew open.
Kael leapt in.
Kong was terrified. He tried to resist—
—and found himself lifted straight off the ground, Kael's hand clamped around his throat.
Kong was tall and broad, and with his improved lifestyle, he had grown quite overweight—well over a hundred kilograms.
Yet Kael hoisted him up effortlessly.
Kong struggled, grabbing at Kael's hand, only to realize it was like an iron vise. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pry it loose.
"Sp… spare me… I… I have money… let me go!"
Deprived of air, he could only choke out broken words, desperately trying to buy his life.
"You're smart—using money to save yourself," Kael said calmly. "Relax. I don't want your life, and I don't want your money. I'll let you go. Just remember—don't scream. Or this knife might end up buried in your head."
Kael drew a blade, then tossed Kong to the floor.
"Huff… huff…"
Gasping for air, Kong greedily inhaled, confusion written all over his face. If Kael wasn't here to kill him or rob him, then what did he want?
"W-what do you want from me?" Kong asked shakily.
"You'll find out soon. Come with me. You're going to meet two people."
With that, Kael grabbed Kong by the collar and leapt straight out the window.
"Aaaah!"
Being dragged off a third-floor building, Kong nearly screamed himself hoarse. Kael shoved a wad of cloth into his mouth without a word and sped away.
Kong's pupils shrank in terror.
He had never experienced anything like this.
They had jumped from the third floor—and landed as lightly as a falling feather, without a sound.
Even more terrifying was Kael's speed.
Even on horseback, Kong had never moved this fast.
And Kael was doing it with one hand, carrying him along like luggage.