Chapter 36: How Are Those Without Malatang Supposed to Live!
The first to rush over to the bubbling Malatang pot were the familiar regulars.
Long Ya’s crew, along with Lilin and Lina.
They were among the very first to ever taste Boss Ling’s food, and their reverence for her was matched only by their absolute trust.
How could anything new she cooked up be anything short of incredible?
In the blink of an eye, all ten stools lining the long table were claimed.
Those who missed out shouted in dismay, “Long Shi! Aren’t your hands moving a little too fast?!”
“Seats are limited—first come, first served, alright? Just wait until we’re done before you come over~” Long Shi waved back smugly.
“Boss, Boss! How many skewers are there? They won’t eat them all, will they?!”
The ones left standing pressed forward anxiously.
Even if they hadn’t fully grasped what “converts toxins into energy” meant, it definitely cleared poison from the body!
Ten skewers were only five coins—just one coin more than a roasted potato. These Malatang skewers looked bursting with flavor, and you could taste all kinds of different vegetables!
“There are four hundred and sixty skewers ready for this morning,” Ling Jing said, setting out disposable plates with dipping sauce for the seated ten.
Once she sold through this batch and had points in hand, she would skewer another round.
Five hundred skewers might not be enough to go around, but as a newly introduced dish, it was more than sufficient to show the customers just how delicious it was.
“Hear that? Over four hundred skewers! We can’t eat all of them, so come back in a bit!” Long Shi winked theatrically, only to catch a punch from Long Ya.
“Boss, what’s this?” Lina asked, peering at the plate placed before her.
“It’s a dipping sauce,” Ling Jing explained. “Take the skewers out of the pot and dip them into this before eating. The sauce is complimentary. Hold onto your sticks; we’ll tally them up at the end.”
“Whoa! Thank you, Boss!” Lina cradled her plate, her eyes fixed on the crimson broth roiling in front of her, gulping as she tried to choose.
While she was still picking, Long Ya had already seized a skewer without hesitation. Following the boss’s instructions, she swirled it through the sauce on her plate and shoved it into her mouth.
Crunch.
She had pulled a skewer of lotus root.
The crisp lotus root, drenched in the rich, numbing-spicy broth, completely electrified her taste buds.
The sesame paste in the sauce carried the sharp fragrance of scallions and garlic, colliding with the spicy kick soaked deep into the lotus root. The rich, nutty notes paired with fiery heat—it was so delicious she felt she might bite off her own tongue.
Absolute perfection!
When had she ever eaten lotus root this good?
She didn’t even have time to say a word before fishing out her next skewer.
This one was a… mushroom?
Biting down, a burst of spicy soup rich with milky, savory undertones erupted in her mouth, carrying the delicate freshness of the mushroom.
Her tongue burned hot, and Long Ya’s cheeks flushed pink.
Spicy—it was genuinely spicy.
A tongue accustomed to years of completely bland rations stung at the sudden assault of chilies.
Yet it felt utterly exhilarating.
Behind the spice came pure, savory depth, seeping straight through her pores and coursing through every limb.
She had never eaten anything like this; even before the apocalypse, she had never seen food prepared in such a way!
“Whoa, is this sliced potato? It tastes completely different from the roasted ones!”
Old Hu held a skewer of potato slices. Freshly simmered, the slices retained a slight snap, enveloped in an incredibly rich coat of sesame sauce.
“It’s tingling my tongue!”
Lina took a bite of cabbage. The leaves had completely soaked through with broth, hitting her palate with an explosion of fiery flavor.
Beads of sweat formed on the little girl’s brow after just one skewer, but she immediately went fishing for the next.
Long Qian ate a skewer of sweet potato. The sweet and spicy flavors melded seamlessly, prompting her to flash Ling Jing an immediate thumbs-up.
“This bracken fern is incredible! Not bitter at all.”
“Try this bamboo shoot—it’s so fresh and tender!”
“The sweet potato is the best! Sweet and spicy together—who gets it?!”
…Those who hadn’t managed to snag a seat watched the group devour skewer after skewer like ravenous beasts, caught between sheer jealousy and deep frustration.
Some settled for buying the one-pot stew instead, while others settled even further and bought roasted potatoes.
Still others spun on their heels, yelling, “Just wait till I earn some coins and come back to stuff myself with skewers!” before darting off toward the farmland with their sacks.
Voices shouted after them, “Hey, wait up! We agreed to group up in fifteens before heading out!”
A swarm of scavengers hurried along after them.
Another group lingered inside, swallowing their drool as they bought roasted potatoes, taking them out to the benches by the entrance to eat out of sight.
Dammit! Why could they still smell that intoxicating aroma even out here by the door?!
How were those who couldn’t eat the Malatang supposed to live through this!
Sniffing the scent drifting through the air, they took savage bites of their pickled white radish.
Crunch, crunch, crunch—
…
Was this real?
How could this possibly be real?!
Trailing at the back of the crowd, Vaughn couldn’t bring himself to believe his own eyes.
From the moment he caught sight of the white light and the building nestled inside, shock had seized him.
What was this white light, and why could it completely shut out the emerald mist?
And this charming wooden cottage… In the wasteland, every structure beyond the city walls had long been pulverized by mutated beasts and flora. How could anyone possibly build a house in a place like this?
A demon, surely.
When humans fell into utter despair, beautiful illusions were bait laid by demons.
A trap to lure people in and swallow the only remaining value they possessed—their very lives.
Yet…
Standing inside the shop, he wondered: why would a demon sell food to people at such pitifully low prices?
And actual plant-based ingredients, something people hadn’t dared dream of for years.
Could these things truly be eaten?
Yes. One glance at the people around him made that clear.
Not only were they edible, but they could also purge toxins.
Vaughn had witnessed the sickly emerald hue fading from his neighbors’ faces with his own eyes, but only now did he understand why.
He simply couldn’t comprehend it.
Precious food that possessed detoxifying properties was being sold for… only four coins?
And this place even accepted contaminated produce, trading it for real currency.
Vaughn couldn’t begin to fathom what this mysterious woman—the boss everyone spoke of—was truly after.
By the time he snapped out of his daze, he had already followed the outward rush of people all the way to the farmland.
Unprepared, he had nothing with him except the small pouch he normally used to hold salvaged crystals, which he now used to gather contaminated potatoes.
No, he still didn’t believe it.
Vaughn thought to himself.
How could such a good thing exist?
Potatoes rotted through with toxins could be exchanged for hard currency?
Ever since these plants mutated, they had become grotesque. Over a decade had passed; by all rights, they should have rotted into the soil and vanished without a trace long ago.
Yet whether it was crops or the untended weeds and flowers of the wild, everything had gained terrifying vitality after the fall.
They refused to die, and even in death, they did not decay.
Unless devoured by other mutated flora, they remained frozen in place forever.
Just like the wasteland outside the South Wall—so many mutated plants had been stripped of their vitality by Awakeners without being cleared away in time that, under the toxic influence of the emerald mist, the area had warped into a deadly swamp.
The fact that the South Gate had been sealed permanently was proof enough.
So why had such a bizarre place appeared here and now?
The doubts in Vaughn’s heart grew heavier by the second.
Yet his body waged a silent war against his skepticism, carrying the scavenged potatoes over to the Item Exchange Box.
Clatter, clatter—
It really traded them for coins.
He held the two City Coins in his hand, turning them over and over.
The conviction in his heart wavered.
Vaughn still had seven City Coins on him. Carefully stashing away the two new ones, he followed the example of the others and walked into the shop.
He dropped coins into the box and took a roasted potato from the roaster.
It felt hot in his hand.
He brought it close and sniffed.
Savory and fragrant.
He took a careful bite.
—It was truly the taste of potato.
So good.
A strange warmth seemed to be flowing into his body.
Vaughn froze where he stood.
Ever since he had escaped death by the skin of his teeth, he had ceased to believe in hope, in the future, or in anything else.
He didn’t trust other people, and he didn’t believe this damned life would ever get better.
So why, right when he was on the verge of dying…
Had he been allowed to taste a hot, fragrant roasted potato like this?
Could it be…
He turned his gaze toward the woman currently heading through another doorway inside the shop.
Had the gods finally heard their prayers…
And brought forth light?
