SailorStar9: Well, I've uploaded Chapter 35, and here's Chapter 36. So, read and review. Come on boys and girls, is it so hard for you to leave a review other than putting this on your favorited lists and alerts?
Disclaimers: Me no own, you no sue.
Chapter 36: Final Battle, Shou An's Revenge
"Don't you think this is a curious twist of fate, Mao?" Shou An's voice bombed as the roof opened. "Hailing from the mouth of the Yangtze River, deep in Szuchuan's mountains. Both of us, who lived there for over a decade, are now meeting here at the river's end in Shanghai, where a long journey of four thousand miles ends. It's been a while, Mao!"
"Shou An!" Mao recognized the elder chef. "Shou An... is my opponent?"
"Anego, who's this Shou An guy?" Shilou asked.
"I'm told he was the best student of Master Pai, Mao's mother." Mei Li replied.
"Yes." Sanche nodded. "As I recall, he was a crook who absconded with all of Kikkako's money, eventually causing Master Pai to die of overwork."
"And after Master Pai's death, Mao challenged Shou An for the position of Kikkaro's head-chef." Shell added. "Mao defeated him in a battle involving a Mystery Mapo Tofu. Shou An lost his cooking license, and was never seen again. I guess he was in the Underworld all this time."
"While in the Underworld, I've heard about Shou An, the young genius from Szuchuan." Leon admitted. "He rose through the Underworld's ranks at an unprecedented pace."
"You can't ask for a better set-up for the contest than this." Shan smirked.
"Shou An!" Mao barked. "Why are you with the Underworld?"
"Why indeed?" Shou An echoed. "Did you think there was anywhere else I could turn to after losing to you? After I lost everything, only the Underworld, with its Black Qilin insignia, welcomed me. And as an Underworld member, I finally found the dream that I've been searching for! Mao, let me you a new reason why I, an Underworld chef, must fight with you once again."
"F-Father!" Sanche gaped, seeing the side wall slid open to reveal the unconscious and bound Tang Li.
"The winner of this contest will gain the Legendary cookware, control of the Shanghai Cooking Guild, and save Li Tang's life." Shou An smirked. "So it's all up to your cooking now, Mao! Rule people with cooking. It was this Underworld slogan that inspired me more than anything else. I specifically requested to spearhead the invasion of Shanghai. If, by some chance, you happen to defeat me again, I will once again lose everything. But if I win, Li Tang dies. Not only will I gain control of the Shanghai Cooking Guild, but my future in the Underworld will be assured. Furthermore, I will be able to see you suffer in the knowledge that the head chef of Ryuchin, and the father of your friend, die because of your weakness! To defeat you. To make you grovel before me. This will be the glorious starting point for my dream's fulfillment!"
"Why must you always be like this?" Mao demanded. "Why? Shou An. You're always using cooking to further your own ambition!"
"Don't proselytize to me!" Shou An snapped, only to find his kick blocked off by the sheath of Ya Xue's saber. "My cooking skills rank among the best there is, and yet Pai never treated me with the respect I deserved!" he continued ranting. "And thanks to you, her son, I even lost my license to cook! How would you know about dreams? The shame The pain that I had to go through! It's all your fault! Yours and your mother Pai's! The pain from the blows I received to my body and spirit, I'll give them all back to you! I'll hold my dream in my hand, while you suffer the hellishness of defeat!"
"Second Release," Ya Xue unsheathed her blade, the sword glowing with a bluish aura. "Dancing Snow. First Enactment: Rain of the Ice Petals!" she summoned a hailstorm of ice flowers and sent them flying towards Shou An's shirt, shredding the cloth to reveal the scars on his chest.
"Hey judges!" Shilou snapped. "Aren't you're all from Shanghai, just like Sanche's father?! You don't mind having someone like this Underworld bastard taking control?"
"Listen boy." Master Zhang stated. "In Shanghai, might makes right. Underworld or Overworld, it doesn't make a difference to us. We will judge this fairly."
"Do you understand now?" Shan snorted. "Unlike the cushy outside, merely surviving the Underworld is a feat by itself."
"Don't you even bother hoodwinking me, Shan. I know just what the Underworld ambitions are!" Ya Xue glared, her blade was now trained on Shan. "Shanghai is merely a stepping stone; your real target is the Forbidden City!"
"How dare you!" Shan barked. "You have no proof! Impossible..." she was stunned to see the embossed badge in Ya Xue's hand. "You're..."
"That's right!" Ya Xue barked. "I'm Huo Ya Xue, daughter of the former leader of the disbanded Crimson Iron Corps, Huo Ting Feng! Your master knew would be the first in line to remove any inside or outside threats to the Emperor, so you had your insider pour honey in the former Emperor's ears and had my father framed for a crime he didn't commit! You then systemically had the former Emperor decree the total disbandment of all four Inner Court Corps!"
"Well then, let me show you the theme for the fourth..." Marin cleared her throat.
"You stay out of this." Mao leveled a glare at Marin. "Very well. The pain of these wounds, and the painful memories of my mother's death: let us resolve the shared past which has torn us to shreds. But as the owner of this emblem, I will say this!" he pulled off the cloth that hid his 'Super Chef' mark. "This contest is not the start of your dream! The end of your four thousand mile journey through the Yangtze in Shanghai will also be the end of your corrupted dream! There is only one ingredient that can resolve our past differences."
"You mean the same ingredient that bound us that day in Kikkaro?" Shou An smirked.
"Tofu!" both chefs chorused.
"So the theme is tofu." Master Zhang mused. "Well, it seems pretty anticlimactic after all the excitement in this tournament. I mean, for you to just use tofu that's pre-made."
"How's this?" Master Hu suggested. "How about starting from scratch, by making the tofu itself from soybeans?"
"Good." Master Zhang nodded. "Looks like it's settled. It's eleven in the evening right now." he looked at his pocket-watch. "It takes about eleven hours to make tofu from soybeans. Adding a cooking time of about five hours, means that tasting begins sixteen hours from now. That will be tomorrow afternoon at three."
"There's a small kitchen at the bow and at the stern." Shan explained after the judges left to take a reprieve. "You will each make your preparations in there."
"Why is that I always find you blowing on a gum-leaf whenever you are alone?" Sanche asked, amused, having heard Ya Xue exit the room after Shilou and Mei Li had sent the others to take a nap as they watched over the soy beans. "But I'm surprised," he admitted. "To know that your father is actually the famous Huo Ting Feng. Children grew up hearing legends about him."
"Sorry, I'm just..." Ya Xue sighed.
"Upset, frustrated, or angry?" Sanche suggested.
"All of the above." Ya Xue sighed again. "After dad got killed, I didn't have the time to grieve properly."
"You know it isn't good to bottle up your feelings all the time." Sanche advised.
"We better get back." Ya Xue suggested, already having an inkling where this conversation was headed.
"Wait." Sanche stopped her and pulled her into a short kiss. "I just want to let you know about my feelings." he told her.
"What is it, Mei Li?" Shell barked, the others rushing into the kitchen when they heard Mei Li's scream the next morning.
"Wh-what is this smell and heat?" Leon looked around.
"Eh?" Mao was shocked to see the heated stove. "Why is that on the stove?"
"We fell asleep, and when we woke up, the pot was here and stinking like this." Mei Li explained. "A-and the soybeans turned into this." she lifted a handful of the destroyed beans.
"Wait, that looks exactly like natto!" Shilou exclaimed.
"Natto?" Mao echoed. "You mean the fermented soybeans in Japan that your mother spoke of? Oh crap. This is it. This is rice straw." he dug out the bundled straw. "It's chock full of a germ called B. subtilis natto that's used to make natto!"
"Someone put this with the soybeans, and set it on the stove to help cultivate the germs." Ya Xue realized.
"You didn't notice anything yesterday, Shilou?" Shell demanded.
"Actually..." Shilou stammered. Both Anego and I got sleepy after being stung by mosquitoes."
"It wasn't a mosquito." Leon spotted the red mark on Shilou's neck. "That looks like a needle wound. Someone pricked you with a needle containing a sleeping potion. The Underworld does this sort of thing."
"It's got to be Shan." Shell snapped. "Nobody else would do something this cheap!"
"Thank you, Shilou, Mei Li." Mao suddenly chuckled after musing for awhile on the table. "Thanks to the sleep I got, my head is much clearer now. Out of misfortune comes an idea that turns it into providence. Shan! Thanks to you, I'll be making the tofu dish of the century!"
SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.