Luo Hua’ian looked at her lush Fragrant Mountain, where birds sang and flowers bloomed.

In the eyes of ordinary people, this mountain was a barren mountain with rocks and dead grass everywhere. But in her eyes, this mountain was full of vitality.

Fragrant Mountain was a place of great feng shui¹, rich in spiritual energy. There was no place with more abundant spiritual energy within a hundred mile radius.

The Kitchen God discovered this place and happily settled down here, planting flowers and plants on the Fragrant Mountain. In order to prevent humans from straying in, he also set up some smokescreens to hide the view.

Fragrant Mountain grew a vast variety of fruits and vegetables. These produce, imbued with spiritual energy, were sweet and refreshing, far superior to those sold in the market. When she was learning to cook under the Kitchen God, she used only fruits and vegetables she had grown herself.

The Kitchen God went out to travel a few years ago and left Fragrant Mountain to her before leaving.

The quality of the fruits and vegetables here was so good that even a legendary beast like her was tempted. She often planted and ate them to satisfy her cravings. Fortunately, the Kitchen God was generous and never charged her any money, letting her eat as much as she wanted.

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse in the night sky. The environment was extremely quiet. A breeze blew by, and the vegetables, fruits, and melons emitted a fresh fragrance.

Luo Hua’ian picked up the bucket and slowly watered the vegetables and fruits. While she was watering them intently, she muttered to herself, “My dears, whether my little restaurant can make money and whether Pixiu can regain her glory depends on you.”

Her cooking skills were so good that the Kitchen God himself has approved it, and these were all high-quality vegetables and fruits.

It would be hard for her to lose money running a restaurant!

Vegetables and fruits: “…”

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

The Jiangcheng Aeronautics University campus was enormous, boasting eight cafeterias. However, the food in the first seven cafeterias was notoriously poor each in their own ways. During the campus expansion, the university leadership had high hopes for the Eighth Cafeteria. Although located in the southeast corner of the campus and somewhat out of the way, the Eighth Cafeteria was the largest and had the most money invested in it.

The main structure of the Eighth Cafeteria was a beautiful four-story building that could accommodate nearly 10,000 teachers and students. Behind the Eighth Cafeteria was a large, sparkling lake. The surrounding greenery created a tranquil environment.

The Eighth Cafeteria was nestled against the mountains and stood beside water. It was incredibly beautiful.

During the construction period, the teachers and students of the whole school were full of anticipation for it. After fierce competition, a wealthy contractor finally won the contract to operate the Eighth Cafeteria.

But within a few days of opening, strange things started happening at the Eighth Cafeteria. First, an employee said that he was the last one to leave that night, but as he was locking the restaurant doors, he heard a lot of people talking and walking around inside the Eighth Cafeteria.

All the employees thought he was overthinking it.

But as time went by, more and more strange stories appeared.

Some people also began hearing the sound of footsteps in the empty cafeteria, saw water streaks appearing out of nowhere, and smelled the sudden fishy smell of water.

The reputation of the Eight Cafeteria being haunted gradually spread, and employees resigned one after another. The operator also abandoned the Eighth Cafeteria. The Eighth Cafeteria soon became an ‘unspeakable’ place among teachers and students, providing them with hot topics for after-dinner conversation.

… …

The school leaders attached great importance to this and held many meetings to discuss how to solve the problem of the Eighth Cafeteria.

Vice-Chancellor Ling was very unhappy when he heard these rumors. “These are all fantasies made out of nothing. There can’t be ghosts in this world.”

The Director of the Logistics Department wiped sweat from his forehead and said, “But those employees’ stories were so convincing that they scared everyone around them. Now no one dares to operate the Eighth Cafeteria. Even if there is no ghost, it has become a situation where three people talking conjures a tiger².”

Vice-Chancellor Ling came from the military and didn’t believe in these nonsense.

During military training last year at Jiangcheng Aeronautics University, a bump appeared on the playground. Many students stumbled over it. Rather than blaming their own lack of attention, they attributed it to unscientific causes. Consequently, numerous posts discussing the supernatural and the uncanny appeared on the school forum.

“I clearly noticed that the ground was uneven, but I always fell when I walked over it. There’s something wrong with the ground!”

“I heard that many schools are built on cemeteries. Jiangcheng Aeronautics University should be one of them.”

When Vice-Chancellor Ling heard these messages, he immediately frowned and drove the school’s armored vehicle to flatten the bulge.

After that, no one fell in that place again, and Vice-Chancellor Ling’s serious and upright style became more and more popular.

Vice-Chancellor Ling simply didn’t believe what the Eighth Cafeteria staff were saying. His brow furrowed, and he spoke impatiently, “The Eighth Cafeteria is clearly a very good cafeteria, yet it’s being slandered by rumors. Many students are afraid to go there. If this situation is allowed to escalate, it will affect the school’s reputation. Chancellor Wen, I’m requesting that someone be brought in to investigate.”

Chancellor Wen held his teacup and smiled gently, “I have already arranged for someone, we will go with them when the time comes.”

“Who is it?” Vice-Chancellor Ling asked curiously.

“People from the relevant department,” said Chancellor Wen.

Jiangcheng Aeronautics University was a nationally renowned institution, and its Chancellor was no ordinary person. In recent years, spiritual energy has revived, mysterious creatures have awakened, and paranormal events have become increasingly frequent. Chancellor Wen has heard of these events. After encountering the incident at the Eighth Cafeteria, his keen intuition suggested that something was amiss, and he requested an investigation be conducted by the relevant authorities.

The Director of the Logistics Department swallowed nervously and said, “Chancellor, do we all need to go?” He was a bit behind the times and not a staunch materialist like Vice-Chancellor Ling. Too many people were talking about the rumors about the Eighth Cafeteria, which made him feel a little scared.

Chancellor Wen nodded with a smile, a sense of responsibility filling his heart. “Students are very concerned about the situation at the Eighth Cafeteria right now. As school officials, there’s absolutely no reason for us to hide behind students. Whether this supernatural incident is true or not, we need to answer their questions and resolve their doubts.”

The two top school officials had a strong sense of responsibility and took the lead to go to the Eighth Cafeteria. The other three subordinates had no choice but to agree, regardless of whether they were willing or not, and reluctantly went with them to investigate.

Mythical Beast Cafeteria translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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Chapter 2.2 — Do You Not Want To Stick To Me?
Chapter 2.3 — Do You Not Want To Stick To Me?
Chapter 2.4 — Do You Not Want To Stick To Me?
Chapter 3.1 — This Dish Will Corrode My Willpower
Chapter 3.2 — This Dish Will Corrode My Willpower
Chapter 4 — Do You Want to Operate the Eighth Cafeteria?
Chapter 5.1 — Don’t Go Near the Aero U’s Cafeterias!
Chapter 5.2 — Don’t Go Near the Aero U’s Cafeterias!
Chapter 6.1 — Alas, I Don’t Have the Knowledge
Chapter 6.2 — Alas, I Don’t Have the Knowledge
Chapter 6.3 — Alas, I Don’t Have the Knowledge

FOOTNOTES:

1. Feng Shui, it’s a traditional form of geomancy from ancient China which claims to harmonize the flow of energy between people and their surroundings, in order to harness luck and stave away misfortune. ↩︎
2. Three people talking conjures a tiger. Idiom. A rumor that’s repeated enough times becomes fact. ↩︎