Chapter Sixty-Nine:

Just as Wang Hou's head was swaying, I sharply noticed that a "thing" was cushioned underneath this guy's neck.
It was not a pillow; it was hidden right behind Wang Hou's neck.
Filled with curiosity and vigilance, I reached out, gently lifted Wang Hou's head, and pulled that thing out from under his neck.
Immediately after, as I looked at the "item" in my hand, my expression froze instantly.
Along with this freezing expression, I also realized the gravity of the problem, and furthermore, I knew that the "food curse" afflicted upon Wang Hou was probably not as simple as I had imagined.
Because at this very moment, what I was holding in the palm of my hand was actually... a "white-faced doll" with Wang Hou's name written on it.
Someone, while Wang Hou was unconscious, had placed this doll behind the back of his head—a face doll with his name written on it.
At this time, the white-faced doll had already been flattened by Wang Hou's neck; its limbs were twisted, smiling yet crying, with a ferocious expression. Its two blood-red eyes were still distinct, staring blankly straight at me, exuding an indescribable sense of eeriness.
On the belly of the white-faced doll, two Han characters the size of soybeans were written in pine soot ink—"Wang Hou".
Looking at the face of that face doll, a surge of terror involuntarily welled up in my heart, followed by anger and a grim smile!
Another face doll?
Faced with this doll, it inevitably made me think immediately of that old woman all dressed in black who called the white-faced doll in her hands "son".
Because of the appearance of that old woman, my former squad leader's corpse had undergone a bizarre revival and turned into a desiccated mummy; and also because of the appearance of that old woman, I had been ambushed by Li Douniu and the cat formation, nearly losing my life.
In short, within the Zhao Family Mansion, aside from the Heaven Master Duan whom I already heavily suspected, this old woman was the most elusive and the most inscrutable.
Why did she disrupt my former squad leader's funeral? Why did she constantly clutch a white-faced doll in her hands? And why did she call it her son?
Most importantly, what on earth was her purpose in targeting the Zhao family time and time again?
Just as I was lost in deep thought, unaware of how much time had passed, the bedroom door was pushed open by Zhao Shuihe.
She walked in uninhibitedly and called out to me, "Your girlfriend treats you pretty well, you've got to cherish that..."
Shuihe's words trailed off halfway when she saw the face doll in my hand.

The light-hearted smile on her face... also suddenly stiffened.
I exchanged a glance with her, and then went straight to the point, asking, "What on earth is a 'food curse'?"
The concept of a food curse was something I had first heard from Old Nineteen, the "four-eyebrowed eccentric". I only knew that this kind of "curse" could cause people to fall into a coma or die, and that it was an extremely formidable "curse". Moreover, this curse did not originate from some Taoist priest or Gu sorceress; rather, it was a "dark rule" adeptly utilized by the chefs of the Five Organs Temple.
Yet, what it actually was, I did not understand.
Since Zhao Shuihe had previously solemnly promised me that she could cure Wang Hou's "curse", she ought to know about it, and she should fulfill her promise.
Looking at my solemn expression, Zhao Shuihe was inevitably infected by it as well. She quietly closed the door of the small room, leaned against the door frame, and took out her coin, rolling it back and forth. After a brief pause, she said to me,
"Food curse is a general term. What we commonly know as 'Gu', 'poisons', 'medicines', 'tonics', and even 'schemes' related to food can all be regarded as a kind of curse. In fact, a food curse is a piece of 'fire-art jargon', specifically referring to 'food' used to plot against wealth and take lives."
Such food is not meant for people to eat, but rather a tool used to seek profit or even kill.
Therefore, they are "curses"!
The origins of the initial "food curse" were quite miscellaneous, but the primary source was "Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica".
Legend has it that in ancient times, the Yan Emperor Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs daily and encountered seventy-two poisons, risking his life to identify medicines and delicacies that could be used to cure illnesses and prolong lives for the people of Huaxia.
Before his passing, Shennong compiled his lifelong experience into China's first medical book, "Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica", leaving behind blessings for future generations. And those who practiced the study of herbs gradually evolved into the two professions we are familiar with today—"Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners" and "chefs".
I pondered in puzzlement, "In other words, Chinese cuisine chefs and TCM practitioners are actually two melons growing from the exact same vine?"
Zhao Shuihe nodded, and further told me that since ancient times in China, there has been a saying called "medicine and food share the same origin". The meaning is very simple, implying that many foods can be used as medicinal materials, and many medicinal materials can also be consumed as food. Among both TCM practitioners and chefs, this theory is extremely popular and has endured without waning down to the present day.
I nodded, naturally aware of these things.
Only then did Zhao Shuihe officially tell me about the so-called food curse and its history.
She said that because medicine and food share the same origin, during the Spring and Autumn period, after the chef profession formed a scale, a group of ulteriorly motivated "Cooks" (Puding) rediscovered this "special" use of food based on their own culinary experience.
These uses were naturally murder and the acquisition of wealth.
These people were very daring, and at the time, they were attached to the powerful and noble, possessing a certain degree of influence as well.

Therefore, under the support of their masters, they conducted experiments on slaves and prisoners of war, carrying out a deep "development" of the special uses of food, which subsequently formed the special skill of using food to poison, kill, scheme, and even divine.
These skills were collectively known as food curses.
The emergence of the "food curse" was rapidly welcomed by the ruling classes of various states during the Spring and Autumn period. Because they discovered that people who mastered the food curse acted with eerie stealth and extremely high efficiency, making them excellent assistants for engaging in intrigue and staging assassinations.
Consequently, these chefs who mastered the food curse were called "Dark Cooks" (Anpao), where "Pao" meant chef.
To put it bluntly, they were assassins evolved from chefs.
The organization of Dark Cooks was the first organization composed of chefs in Chinese history. One could even say they were the predecessor of the Five Organs Temple.
At this point, Zhao Shuihe emphatically stressed a single sentence: "Because of the great passage of time, the organizational structure, operational principles, and leading figures of the 'Dark Cooks' are no longer known. I only know that after the 'Dark Cooks' were formed, they split up very quickly, gradually being co-opted by the monarchs of various states and forming small, localized factions."
Saying this, Zhao Shuihe let out a long sigh and stated, "After that era came to an end, the 'Dark Cooks' also became history. However, their food curses were consciously preserved by generation after generation of the ruling class, and were used in many famous palace coups that followed."
Listening to Zhao Shuihe's words, I asked half-incredulously, "What you're saying sounds quite mystical. How come I've never heard my squad leader mention that there was such an assassination organization composed of chefs?"
Zhao Shuihe did not answer me directly, but instead asked me, "Do you know about 'Zhuan Zhu'?"
Her words turned my skepticism into grave contemplation.
I knew of "Zhuan Zhu"; this person was one of the five great assassins of antiquity, known for a fierce and violent disposition. His greatest feat was using a "Fish-gut Sword" hidden inside the belly of a roasted fish to assassinate the King of Wu during a banquet. His immense daring and ruthless execution were chilling to the bone.
Therefore, I asked Zhao Shuihe, "I know him, the warrior who used the 'Fish-gut Sword' to assassinate the King of Wu. Don't tell me he was a member of the Dark Cooks! This plot is too cliché."
Zhao Shuihe still smiled and replied, "Of course he wasn't, but don't you think there's a problem with that piece of history?"
I shook my head. I was no historian, so naturally I didn't know what problems there might be.
As expected, Zhao Shuihe smiled and then told me the "truth" as she understood it.