Chapter 45: White Lies

As soon as Lin Qi announced that, the group of Varin tribe members stepped forward one after another. The tribe leader also slowly walked over and carefully observed the soup in the cooking pot. He would not taste it until Lin Qi took the first sip.

Obviously, he was afraid that Lin Qi would poison them, so they had to see that Lin Qi was fine after eating it before they dared to try it.

In order to prove their innocence, Lin Qi used a wooden spoon to fill a bowl and drank it all in front of everyone.

The tribe leader smiled and nodded slowly.

Then, he went forward and signaled for the other tribe members to taste it.

It was not cooked by the system so the taste was still lacking. Many Varin tribe members drank a mouthful then placed their bowls aside.

“Master, it seems that your culinary skills have deteriorated over time!” Jin Lingling said softly.

Lin Qi calmly said, “Don’t worry, this is my first time cooking this kind of cuisine. What I’m worried about now is not the taste but about saving our lives!”

Thud!

Suddenly, a clear sound was heard. Everyone’s gaze was focused on the tribe leader behind them.

The tribe leader’s expression was dull. The bowl of soup had fallen to the ground.

“Sir…”

Everyone surrounded him. They saw that the tribe leader’s eyes were open, but he seemed to be deep in thought. His lips were slightly trembling.

“D*mn it! It must be the two of you who poisoned him!”

“Yeah, if something happens to the leader, you two won’t be let off so easily!”

The tribe members immediately surrounded Lin Qi and Jin Lingling once again.

Jin Lingling hid behind Lin Qi in fear and said in a trembling voice, “I already warned you… Now we are even more doomed!”

Lin Qi also felt quite confused. He narrowed his eyes and thought to himself, ‘That’s impossible, I followed the system’s formula to the letter. Although it tastes a little disgusting, it shouldn’t be poisonous, right?’

Everyone was forcing them back step-by-step一their eyes were filled with hostility and they were all gritting their teeth.

“Stop!”

The tribe leader shouted. The tribe members all halted and asked, “Sir, are you okay?”

The tribe leader sighed and shook his head. “I’m fine. It’s just that this bowl of soup reminded me of the past. It’s still fresh in my memory.”

Both Lin Qi and Jin Lingling instantly breathed a sigh of relief. They thought that they were going to die here.

It turned out that the soup just reminded the tribe leader of his past, and that could not help but ease the tension in the air.

“Ahem.” They saw the tribe leader clench his fist and cough lightly into it. Then, his left hand slowly stroked his long beard as he recalled what he had experienced in the past to everyone.

When the Varin tribe was defeated by the empire, the remaining Varins fled all over the mountain range. The tribe leader was one of them. In order to avoid the Holy Knights of the empire, he could only choose to run to the foot of the mountain. However, because there were many demonic beasts obstructing him from the area, he had no choice but to fight.

He fought with the demonic beasts for two days and two nights. His body was covered in wounds and he fell to the ground unconscious. Later, when he woke up, he found that he had been saved by a hunter at the foot of the mountain.

The hunter saw that his body was very weak, so he quickly went up the mountain and risked being attacked by the demonic beasts to gather some ingredients. Just like Lin Qi, he boiled them in a big pot and turned them into soup.

He still could not forget the taste.

Once he started to heal, he said goodbye to the hunter and went up the mountain. There, he found the rest of his tribe members and they rebuilt the Varin tribe.

After the incident, when he went down the mountain to thank the hunter, he found that the hunter had left a long time ago, so he never tasted that soup again.

What Lin Qi had cooked tasted exactly like that soup from his past. Although the other tribe members saw it as regular soup, the tribe leader recognized the taste immediately. He asked Lin Qi, “Who taught you this dish?”

Lin Qi made up a random reason. “My uncle in the village at the foot of the mountain taught me.”

The tribe leader suddenly became excited and grabbed Lin Qi’s shoulders with both hands, “Your uncle was my savior in the past!”

“What?” Lin Qi immediately became confused, and the expression on his face was also stunned.

“Master…”

Lin Qi only reacted after Jin Lingling nudged his arm. He scratched his head and smiled. “Is… Is that so? I’m sorry, my uncle has been gone for a while.”

“What?”

The tribe leader paused and asked, “He… He really left?”

Lin Qi pretended to be sad and nodded. “Yes, my uncle left.”

“Ah, what a pity. I thought I could see him again, but it’s fine now. You’re his nephew, so you’re related to him by blood.”

Lin Qi nodded and pretended to wipe his tears. “Then… Then do you believe our identities now?”

“The fact that you can cook this soup proves that you have nothing to do with the empire.”

With the tribe leader’s words, the members of the Varin tribe let down their guard around Lin Qi and Jin Lingling, and then warmly welcomed them.

“By the way, what are your names?” The tribe leader slowly stroked his beard.

“My name is Lin Qi, and this is my student, Jin Lingling.”

“Lin Qi?”

The tribe leader began to get a little puzzled. He said, “I remember that the hunter’s surname was Fang!”

“Err… He isn’t my biological uncle, but he treats me like family.”

Only then did the tribe leader reluctantly accept his answer and did not ask any other questions.

Jin Lingling leaned close to Lin Qi’s ear and said, “Master, you really know how to lie. I have to be more careful with you in the future!”

Lin Qi flicked her forehead with his finger.

“If I didn’t tell those lies, we would be dead by now.”

Jin Lingling covered her forehead, stuck out her tongue, and smiled. “Hehe, that’s right. Anyway, thanks to you, Master, we are fine.”

The Varin tribe loved to sing and perform together. They looked nothing like what Yu Meng described. They were just an ordinary mountain tribe.

It seemed that such rumors stemmed from the empire itself, but that had nothing to do with them.

“Oh right, I remember you mentioned that you are here to find five-star magic essence, correct?” The tribe leader asked.

Lin Qi nodded. “Yes, we are here to find five-star magic essence, but we haven’t found it even after searching for quite some time.”

“Haha, of course you can’t find it. This essence can only be found in the body of a five-star demonic beast. However, I think the two of you can’t even handle a three-star demonic beast, let alone a five-star one!”

Then, the tribe leader stood up and said, “Please wait a moment!”

Then, he turned around and walked into the tent. After a while, he came out with a box.

“This is?”

The tribe leader opened the box, and there was a sparkling white magic essence inside. That was the five-star magic essence he needed.

“This is what you’re looking for, correct? I will gift this to you!”

The tribe leader handed the five-star magic essence to Lin Qi, which caused Lin Qi to be at a loss for what to do.