The Three Realms' Top Restaurant - chapter 16
The fuse of the Great War of the Three Realms had burned to its end. On the second day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the first minor skirmish broke out in the Cultivation World.
In the original novel, the cause of the Immortal-Demon War was the villain massacring the Cen Clan, which led to a crusade by the immortal sects.
But this time, the Demon Realm was certain that the mysterious person who killed the Annihilation Demon Lord was from the Cultivation World, and they used this as an excuse to provoke war.
The moment I heard the news, I fell into a daze. It felt as if no matter how the timeline shifted, the Immortal-Demon War was a predestined anchor.
The cause of this war could be the massacre from the original work, or it could be an ant someone stepped on while passing by.
The Heavenly Dao had arranged countless Fate Tracks for this world. Everyone’s destinies were intertwined, seemingly sketching out infinite possibilities. But in the end, the fate of the entire world would converge at this moment, heading toward a singular conclusion.
For the first time, I spaced out while cooking and burned a whole pot of food.
Yu Qing worriedly carried me out of the kitchen, leaving Big Hei inside to spray water and extinguish the fire.
Song Changshan crouched before me, patiently wiping the soot from my face.
“If the Shopkeeper is tired, why not take another day off today?”
I blinked uneasily. “I have a bad feeling.”
Was the bug the System mentioned really the villain?
I felt as if I were touching a corner of the truth in the dark, but because I knew too little, I could only let that flash of inspiration vanish.
Seventeen days after the Immortal-Demon War broke out, the Monster Domain joined the struggle.
But this time, the Monster Domain didn’t side with the Cultivation World. Instead, they acted like fence-sitters, helping both sides.
It was as if they were constantly adding and removing weights from a scale, countering an unknown external force that kept the balance swaying.
In the second month of the Immortal-Demon War, the entanglement of the three races did not lead to widespread slaughter as it had in the original work.
It was as if two chess players were constantly competing. One side held the advantage of time and place but was arrogant and conceited, while the other side moved cautiously, disrupting every one of their opponent’s moves.
Consequently, the arrogant side was enraged.
The System wanted to eliminate the bug, so it kidnapped me.
The bug wanted to put everything back on track.
As a result, that bastard also set its sights on me.
In the third month of the Immortal-Demon War, Gray Street-which wasn’t supposed to be involved in the plot yet-suddenly erupted in a riot.
Before sunset, a loud explosion echoed from the woods outside Gray Street.
Amidst the disputes of three different factions, an ordinary forest containing nothing but firewood somehow became a “Spirit Gathering Land” in their eyes.
This was bad.
My sixth sense sounded an alarm; I instinctively felt this wave was coming for me.
I immediately grabbed my pots and pans, prepared to drag my family along and run.
But compared to me, who had instantly adopted a refugee look, the other three in the restaurant seemed much more composed.
All of them were good-looking to begin with, and now, paired with this indifferent attitude, they looked even less like ordinary people.
However, now was clearly not the time to admire their beauty.
I picked out the sturdiest pots and made them balance them on their heads.
“The forest is to the north. We’ll wait for dark and run south. Keep the pots on your heads; they can save your lives at a critical moment.”
The south led to the Demon Realm. Although it wasn’t safe, it was better than staying in a war zone…
Actually, it wasn’t much better.
Seeing my dejection, Yu Qing’s already frost-cold face seemed to whip up a level-ten blizzard. “I clearly told them they weren’t allowed to come this way.”
Big Hei was also so angry he smashed a chair. “Bullshit Spirit Gathering Land! It’s a glaring piece of bait, yet they actually took it!”
Me, wearing a pot: “?”
Song Changshan, the only one who took my pot: “I don’t understand what they’re saying. Could they be keeping secrets from the Shopkeeper?”
Yu Qing and Big Hei turned their heads at the same time.
One had “shameless” written on her face, while the snake’s face practically screamed “disgraceful.”
Big Hei said in disbelief, “At a time like this, you’re not still thinking about kidnapping Sister back to the Demon Realm, are you?”
Kidnap… back?
I turned back blankly and realized that at some point, Song Changshan had untied the white silk wrapped around the back of his head.
A pair of white eyes, like silver moons, slowly opened. They were holy and dignified; when his eyelashes trembled, it felt as if the fate of the world was within his sight.
If I remembered correctly, there was only one person in the entire original novel who was born with white eyes.
My brain stalled on the spot.
Because of this brief delay, ill-intentioned soldiers from three factions had already stormed into Gray Street.
The restaurant door was kicked open, and the Blood Moon in the sky shone into the hall.
Before I could even feel terror at the sight of the Blood Moon-which was exactly the same as the one in the original ending-the human cultivator who kicked the door open changed his expression. He bowed almost subserviently toward Yu Qing with his sword in hand.
“Sword Venerable, I… I didn’t know you were here. Please forgive me.”
Behind the human cultivator, a figure with a pair of bull horns on his head was about to impatiently lead his men into the shop.
Hearing this, the bull-horned man looked up, but upon seeing Big Hei next to Yu Qing, he fell directly to his knees.
“Mon… Monster Emperor!”
