Who told you I am an NPC

Even a long-lived species would be angered to a short life.

"Aren't you afraid you won't be able to find this 'Descender'?"

Lilian shook her head, "I've said it before, this is my destined 'Destiny'. I will find them no matter what."

Yan Yunqing understood now.

This was probably the game's way of sending a bound guide to the player, one that couldn't possibly be lost.

He pressed his temples. Following this logic, there was no other reason for the old village chief to think he was a 'Descender' either, other than the fact that he was a player, and in the story, he was this so-called 'Descender'.

Alright, it was pretty foolish of me to get hung up on these things.

Lilian and Yan Yunqing had a heart-to-heart in the corner, and having temporarily cleared the air, both of them felt much more relaxed.

Yuli was quite fast at roasting the meat. Not long after the two finished talking, Yuli brought out the roasted meat.

Watching the tiny Yuli, covered in sweat, stagger out with a huge platter, Yan Yunqing couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt, as if he were hiring child labor.

He sat here waiting to eat like an old man, while little Yuli toiled in the kitchen cooking for them.

Damn, my conscience hurts a little.

Yan Yunqing quickly stood up and took the huge plate from Yuli's hands, "Let me help you, hurry up and sit down to rest!"

Yuli wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, her cheeks were flushed, looking like delicious red fruits, "Brother, I'm not tired."

Yan Yunqing had brought back quite a lot of Lulu Pig meat. Yuli and Old Jason had already eaten; the portion just made was only for Yan Yunqing and Lilian. Considering Yan Yunqing said he could eat five jin of meat in one go, Yuli roasted a bit more.

After Yan Yunqing brought it all out and placed it on the table, he found the meat was piled high into a small mountain.

Yan Yunqing hesitated: He was indeed very hungry, but eating this much in one go, wouldn't it wreck his stomach?

Yuli watched Yan Yunqing with unblinking, expectant eyes.

Yan Yunqing got the hint, cut off a piece of meat with a knife and fork and stuffed it into his mouth. Feeling the delicious meat juice explode on his taste buds, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes and ruffle Yuli's head a couple of times, "Little Yuli is so amazing! The roasted meat you made is super delicious!"

Lilian also gave a thumbs up, "Super amazing!"

This straightforward praise made Yuli's cheeks even redder.

She shyly tugged at the hem of her little skirt, "Not at all, it's actually because Lulu Pig meat tastes good no matter how you cook it."

"But, can Lilian eat this too?" Yuli looked at Lilian curiously, "Isn't Lilian an elf?"

It was hard for ordinary commoners to see elves, and they had stereotypes about them: beautiful and powerful creatures living in the forest, growing up by eating wild fruits and drinking dew.

This stereotype couldn't be said to be entirely unrelated to elves.

Although the elven diet wasn't just wild fruits, and they did consume other foods, they were indeed all vegetarian.

Elves seemed to have a natural dislike for meat.

The Elf King in Yan Yunqing's memory was the same. He liked to eat all kinds of fruits.

The fruit platters in the background portraits of the Demon King's palace were basically all sent by the Elf King.

But Lilian was very different. Not only was her personality worlds apart from other elves, but her diet was also completely different.

She seemed to be able to eat anything?

Lilian stuffed a piece of meat into her mouth and answered vaguely, "Of course I eat it. If you've been hungry for a long time, you'll eat anything too."

"Besides, if I only eat wild fruits, I'll get malnourished, right? I still want to grow taller."

Yan Yunqing: "...After you elves reach adulthood, can't you decide for yourselves what you look like?"

Lilian paused, touched the ends of her hair, and said thoughtfully, "Eh, that seems to be the case. Strange, why was that my first reaction after hearing this question?"

Yan Yunqing was speechless.

I'm afraid you just remembered what some parent said to coax their kid to eat.

After a full meal, Yan Yunqing didn't waste the remaining Lulu Pig meat. He stored it all in his backpack, so he could take it out to nibble on anytime when he was out.

Time in the backpack was frozen. Roasted meat fresh from the oven would still be steaming hot even after a few days, making it an essential travel artifact for homebodies.

"Ah! Right!" Yan Yunqing suddenly thought of something, "Yuli, can you teach me how to cook?"

"Eh?" Yuli pointed at herself, "Me?"

Yan Yunqing nodded repeatedly, not feeling the slightest bit of shame in learning to cook from a seven-year-old child, "Yeah, yeah, can you?"

His life skill [Cooking] hadn't been unlocked yet!

"Of course!" Yuli agreed at once, "But I'm very strict, Brother A-Yan."

Yan Yunqing watched as a quest, [Learn Cooking from Yuli], appeared in his quest list, and nodded in satisfaction.

Great, after unlocking cooking, he could hand-craft buff dishes. He remembered he still had several recipes he collected while playing as the Demon King. Putting aside the buff effects, at least the taste was definitely better than bread.

Eating roasted meat every day was unrealistic and would get boring. It was better to be self-reliant and craft his own dishes.

***

Early the next morning, Yan Yunqing got up to learn from Yuli. After quickly completing the quest and receiving a pot as a gift from Old Jason, his [Cooking] skill was unlocked, just as Yan Yunqing had wished.

Immediately after, Lilian, Yuli, and Old Jason watched with their own eyes as Yan Yunqing put several Gugu Chicken eggs, a small bag of wheat flour, two cups of Curly Goat milk, and a small amount of sugar, all into that iron pot.

Under the bewildered gazes of the crowd, Yan Yunqing clumsily lit the fire.

"Huh? Wait, Brother A-Yan, don't you need to remove the shells from the Gugu Chicken eggs?" Yuli asked in confusion, "And why are you putting the cups and the bag of wheat flour into the pot too? Does this have some special meaning?"

Old Jason also wore a look of confusion.

Lilian, who was lying on top of Yan Yunqing's head, was just about to laugh at Yan Yunqing for still not knowing how to cook after learning from Yuli, when she saw a flash of white light from the iron pot in front of her. The things inside disappeared, replaced by a plate of cake exuding a sweet aroma.

Lilian was shocked: ???

Yuli's eyes widened: Wow!

Old Jason was silent: ...A Descender must have his reasons for doing things this way.

Yan Yunqing brought out the small cake, scooped a bite with a spoon, and tasted it. Mm, not bad, even better than the small cake the system gave him!

This was a small cake made by the great Demon King himself!

Lilian looked at the iron pot in disbelief, then at the small cake. After a moment's hesitation, her gaze shifted to Old Jason, who had made the pot.

Old Jason averted his gaze. Don't look at me, I just made a very ordinary iron pot. There's no way it could have such a magical ability.

Only then did Lilian look back at Yan Yunqing, her face full of disbelief, "You... how did you do that?"

This kind of sweet and delicious little dessert, could it be made just by putting Gugu Chicken eggs with their shells on, Curly Goat milk still in its cups, and unopened wheat flour and some sugar all into an iron pot and dry-boiling them together?!

Yan Yunqing felt that Lilian was overreacting. She didn't even show this kind of shocked expression when she saw him butchering the Lulu Pig before. He had just shown off a player's cooking skill a little, why did she find it so incredible?

"Just like that!"

Yan Yunqing gestured, "Put everything into the pot, light the fire, then wait for the progress bar to appear. When the pointer reaches the yellow area, click confirm, and it's done!"

[Delicious Small Cake]

Satiety +66, the sweet taste can slightly replenish stamina and lift one's mood. An essential little dessert for home life.

Lilian found it hard to understand, and could ultimately only attribute it to the 'Descender's' abilities again.

Strange, why are the 'Descender's' abilities so bizarre and varied? Is this how the 'Descender' is supposed to save the world?

Yuli's eyes were sparkling: "Brother A-Yan is so amazing!"

He concocted a few more small cakes in the same manner, and while he was at it, made a few other dishes for which he had the ingredients.

That day, Old Jason's home had a very sumptuous lunch.

In the afternoon, Yan Yunqing went out again.

The [Protect Sunset Village] quest had been updated.

[Protect Sunset Village]

The old village chief has told you about the tragedy from six years ago, and also informed you about the story of the Descenders. He hopes that you will stay and help the village through its difficulties should calamity strike. The old village chief seems to have little faith in the army from the capital. You are curious about this and decide to ask around with the other villagers.

Since the quest told him to go out and ask around, Yan Yunqing would certainly do so. He skillfully found a house, pushed open the gate to their yard without any sense of being an outsider, and met the eyes of Auntie Janice, who was feeding Gugu Chickens.

"Hi!" Yan Yunqing showed a bright smile, and without any sense of being an outsider, took (snatched) the feed bowl for the chickens from Auntie Janice's hands, "Good afternoon, Auntie Janice!"

"G-Good afternoon?" Janice was stunned by Yan Yunqing's robber-like method. She subconsciously wanted to take the feed bowl back, but her hand paused, a flicker of confusion in her eyes.

"Oh! It's you." Janice quickly showed a smile as well, "That's great, I was just worrying that no one would feed these cute little ones! You came at just the right time, can you help me feed the chickens?"

"Of course!" Yan Yunqing accepted this daily quest as a matter of course, not at all disdaining the fact that this daily quest's reward was only mosquito-leg-sized for him now.

He grabbed a handful of grain and sprinkled it on the empty ground to the side. The little chicks gathered at his feet immediately rushed over, pecking at the grain with 'dududu' sounds.

"Auntie Janice, I want to ask you something." Yan Yunqing asked while feeding the chickens, "Do you know about the battle with the demonic beasts in the village six years ago?"

Janice, whose job had been snatched, could only stand by and watch Yan Yunqing feed the chickens. Hearing his words, she paused, "Six years ago? Ah, sorry, I wasn't from this village before. I only married into here three years ago, so I don't really know about what happened six years ago."

"Oh, oh, so that's how it is!" As soon as Yan Yunqing heard this, he dumped all the remaining grain out, then stuffed the feed bowl back into Janice's hands. "Sorry to bother you. Oh right, I've finished feeding the chickens, no need to thank me, I'll come and help you again next time!"

After saying that, Yan Yunqing turned and left, thoughtfully closing the main gate of Auntie Janice's house on his way out.

Janice: ...???

Janice looked at the crazed chicks on the ground due to the sudden feast, then at the re-closed gate, feeling inexplicably small, pitiful, and helpless.