The scent of simmering pork broth and wild mountain ginger rolled across Taichu Valley like a warm, comforting wave.
Across every stone terrace, grassy hillside, and pavilion courtyard, ten thousand round wooden banquet tables were set with blue-and-white ceramic bowls. Red paper lanterns hung from the branches of ancient pine trees, casting a festive ruby glow over fifty thousand seated cultivators.
In the central kitchen compound, thirty massive cast-iron cauldrons bubbled under the night sky.
Grandma Chen stood on a raised wooden platform, directing fifty apprentice cooks with a polished wooden ladle. Beside her, Grand Demonic Elder Blood-Crow was working the dough station with superhuman speed. His hands were a blur of silver light, pinching paper-thin wonton wrappers around seasoned pork fillings at a rate of sixty dumplings per second.
“More scallions on table forty-two, Old Crow!” Grandma Chen called out.
“Right away, Grandma!” Blood-Crow yelled back, grinning from ear to ear. His brass Certified Good Person #148501 badge gleamed proudly against his flour-dusted chest. “Table forty-two gets extra broth, wild bamboo shoots, and a spoonful of roasted chili oil!”
A young apprentice looked at the former demon elder with hesitation. “Elder Blood-Crow, aren’t you tired? You have folded forty thousand dumplings without stopping to breathe.”
