Chapter 2076: One Must Be Willing to Try
Cockscomb Flower City.
This city was slightly different from the two they had visited before. The religious object of worship here was the cockscomb flower.
It wasn't a plant as Xu Huo understood it, but a fleshy growth shaped like a flower that sprouted from the crown of a mutated wild chicken. Photos of the "cockscomb flower" were plastered all over the streets, and it wasn't exactly pleasing to the eye.
"Is this a flower? It looks like tangled worms." The Painting Woman expressed deep confusion.
A passing local immediately enlightened them. It was because, long ago, they had gone to war with another city and were poisoned. Most of the city's inhabitants were afflicted with a slow-acting poison and could only wait for death when someone accidentally ate a wild chicken with a flower crown...
"There were times of hunger before, but generally no one ate that ugly thing. Not only was it ugly, but its flesh was also knotted together like thick, white, wriggling maggots. It could still squirm after being butchered for half an hour. What normal person could eat that? Except for people driven mad by the poison..."
Seeing the two outsiders staring at him with strange expressions, the passerby quickly got back to the point. "Unexpectedly, it happened to cure the poison. Later, the news spread. After we were saved, we retaliated in kind and dumped the same poison into the enemy city, then watched them suffer the effects."
"But they were lucky. Players don't care about ordinary people's lives, and we weren't heartless enough to watch an entire city die, so we had to make the cockscomb flower public."
"And now? We've renamed ourselves Cockscomb Flower City, and they've renamed themselves Cockscomb Flower City too, even establishing the Cockscomb Flower Religion just like us."
A rather sudden religious belief.
"And then? Did you make up?" The ones listening to the gossip weren't just Xu Huo and the Painting Woman, but also other newly arrived players. A young man who looked very sunny and cheerful asked.
The passerby glanced at him. "How could that be possible? They believe in their way, we believe in ours. Just because we both worship the cockscomb flower doesn't mean we forget our generations of hatred. A lot of people died during the war!"
The sunny young man admired him greatly. "So it's a blood feud! And yet you still saved that city. Your magnanimity and character are top-notch!"
The passerby waved his hand with a smile. "It's nothing. We're not petty people. You're from the outer zone, right? I run a small shop. The meat from my farmed flower-crown chickens is delicious. Everyone who's tried it says it's good. How about coming for a taste?"
The sunny young man was shocked. "Aren't flower-crown chickens your saviors...? Didn't you even establish a religion for them? You don't worship them, you cook and eat them?"
"We do worship them." The passerby patted the cockscomb flower on the bulletin board. "What does worshipping the flower have to do with the chicken?"
Indeed, the bulletin board only showed the top of the flower-crown chicken's skull, with the huge fleshy flower taking up most of the space.
But the passerby wasn't finished. He added, "Besides, we established a religion for it. It should give back to us, right? One thing at a time."
The sunny young man was speechless, but the Painting Woman remembered the boss's earlier words. "Didn't you just say no normal person would eat it?"
"Oh, that was a long time ago. These are improved breeds now. Besides, I guarantee you won't see it before it's cooked and served. Don't worry." The passerby came over to recruit them.
The sunny young man and the two other players listening didn't move. Xu Huo, however, took a step forward and said with a smile, "Just for your highly creative story, I should go and give it a try."
The passerby boss was delighted, boasting that while many people nearby made flower-crown chicken dishes, none were as delicious as his. He even claimed that quite a few outer zone players had come back for seconds.
This piqued the curiosity of the others. Not about how delicious it was, but whether anyone would actually eat something so disgusting.
This was clearly the boss's usual tactic for attracting customers. There were already several people sitting in the shop.
"It sounds disgusting. Can it really be edible?" The sunny young man was still a bit apprehensive after sitting down.
"Stories are a mix of truth and lies. What he said might not be true." The female player who had followed out of curiosity chimed in. After sitting down, she opened her watch terminal, saying she wanted to go film the muscle that could still squirm after half an hour.
The sunny young man also wanted to see. After hesitating for a moment, he went. But he came back out with a green face just a few seconds later. He sat down silently, and only after a long while did he speak. "I think even if I went mad from poison, I wouldn't eat that thing. Did someone really cure the poison by eating a flower-crown chicken like the boss said?"
"Three months ago, this place was called Sea Flower City. It only took three days from the proposal to the official name change." Xu Huo said.
The sunny young man finally caught on. "That hasty?"
In reality, the two cities had never actually fought a proper battle. Their most intense action was a war of words on the message collection terminals. As for the poisoning, it had indeed happened, but it was because nearby plants had mutated, contaminating both cities. The flower-crown chicken did cure the poison, so the two cities in the same boat decided to rename themselves together.
After learning the whole story from the local message collection terminal, the sunny young man sighed. "So the blood feud was just a few years of online arguments. That's an eye-opener."
Just then, the boss brought over three large basins of chicken, grinning from ear to ear. "Fresh out of the pot! Smells great!"
"It does smell good." The sunny young man craned his neck to look. "It doesn't look that disgusting anymore."
"That's all thanks to my skill." The boss was full of pride. "I guarantee you'll want a second helping after the first."
The sunny young man wasn't as repulsed as before. "The boss is pretty generous..."
He tentatively picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. Two seconds later, he bent over and spat it out, his face twisted in disgust. "It's wriggling in my mouth... Ugh..."
The boss slapped his forehead and yelled back towards the kitchen. "Has this chicken been dead for half an hour yet?"
The assistant chef poked his head out, his style matching the boss's. "The customers couldn't wait! So what if it moves? Some people even buy candy that jumps around in their mouth on purpose! Cross-border fusion, new trend! It might even become our signature dish!"
The boss laughed along. "Right, right! The outer zone folks will definitely love it!"
"Outer zone folks are still people." The sunny young man was thoroughly disgusted. But when he turned around, he saw Xu Huo and the Painting Woman already eating. He was shocked and confused. "How can you eat that?"
"Life is about being willing to try." Xu Huo comforted him. "More importantly, I didn't see what the chicken looked like before, and it's been dead for over half an hour."
The sunny young man suddenly stood up and grabbed the boss by the collar. "Did you do that on purpose?"
The boss laughed it off. "Don't get so worked up, young man. I'll treat you to this meal."
He pulled the man back to his seat. "You can't eat the meat, I'll get you two vegetarian dishes. And you, I told you not to look, but you insisted. These days, there are still plenty of people who don't believe in bad luck."
After saying this, he went back to the kitchen. The sunny young man was too angry to leave, but after a moment, he suddenly remembered something. "What about that female player who went in earlier?" (End of Chapter)