Chapter 399: Poisonous, Ruthless, and Devastating

There was no need for Lin Dong to remind him again. Once Feng Yue had swallowed all the cucumber pieces, Qiao Tianhao reached for the stir-fried bamboo shoots with peppers beside him, picked out a piece of just the right size, and roughly shoved it into Feng Yue’s mouth.
Although Lin Dong was eager to find someone, he could only put the upgrade task aside for now and stared intently at Feng Yue’s face.
The third dish, the fourth, the fifth… He took just a taste of each plate, yet Feng Yue’s expression remained unchanged as he endured the impact of these seven dishes, his face showing anger and frustration. However, his growing resistance—perhaps unnoticed by Feng Yue himself—could still be sensed by Qiao Tianhao, who was focused solely on finding ways to enjoy things even more.
After taking a bite of each of the seven dishes, Qiao Tianhao reached for the first plate of stir-fried peppers with cucumbers.
“Just taste it. Eating too much pepper can cause internal heat,” Lin Dong said casually.
Qiao Tianhao felt disappointed but dared not argue.
Feng Yue was even more disappointed and also dared not speak up.
“It’s getting late. Take Senior Feng to rest!” Lin Dong waved his hand. “Let him stay in your room.”
“Stay in my room?”
Qiao Tianhao was stunned. Feng Yue wasn’t much better; the frequency of his eyelid tremors clearly showed his unease.
“Any objections?” Lin Dong glared at Qiao Tianhao, unwilling to explain. There was no need to explain to Qiao Tianhao—just enough intimidation was sufficient.
“No, no! The owner’s decision is always the wisest.” Qiao Tianhao shook his head repeatedly. Originally, bringing Feng Yue back to his room to torment him slowly might have seemed strange, but it was still a good thing. The problem was that Feng Yue was a near-peak powerhouse. Staying together meant Peng Qiao would have more opportunities to help him regain his strength.
Qiao Tianhao wasn’t stupid. If he were to witness Feng Yue regain his strength, killing himself would be the best option. He felt that life at Lin’s Inn, though often involving beatings, was still quite comfortable overall.
There was no point in dying so young at just over twenty.
Feng Yue’s lips twitched slightly, but his endurance was still good enough for him to ignore Lin Dong’s decision.
“Good, no objections. Go! Have Cheng Bao prepare those seven spicy dishes three times a day and bring a bowl of plain rice to your room,” Lin Dong said leisurely. “Eating too much pepper can cause internal heat, so you can only let Senior Feng smell these dishes…”
“Lin Dong!” Finally, Feng Yue lost his temper completely.

He suddenly stood up, creating a strong wind pressure. His eyes snapped open, glowing like those of a fierce tiger, enough to intimidate any coward. Lin Dong paid no attention to this toothless tiger and said calmly, “Three meals a day—white rice is enough. It replenishes energy, nourishes the stomach, improves circulation, and prolongs life. In just three to five months, Senior Feng will be full of energy again. As for the rest, Qiao Tianhao, I don’t need to say more, right?” “No need, no need! The owner is wise—too wise!” Qiao Tianhao quickly shook his head, his admiration no less intense than Feng Yue’s anger at that moment. The owner’s move was truly ruthless and cunning. It was visible and tangible, yet unattainable. For someone who relied on chili peppers for food and had already tasted Feng Yue’s skills, this was an agony worse than death itself. Feng Yue no longer had the strength to glare at Lin Dong. Once he regained his strength, his first target would shift from Qiao Tianhao back to Lin Dong. Lin Dong raised his eyebrows slightly, and Qiao Tianhao understood immediately. He grabbed Feng Yue by the back of the neck and lifted him up like a chick. “Owner, enjoy your meal!” Qiao Tianhao also realized that it was better to live a few days happily rather than die immediately. Heaven wasn’t going to take away such a troublemaker so soon. “Get lost!” With a wave of his hand, Qiao Tianhao hurriedly left with Feng Yue. What remained was waiting. Lin Dong didn’t like to let success or failure depend on time. But plans are made by humans, while success depends on fate. What needed to be done had already been done; the rest could only rely on luck. In just a few years, he had acquired an inn worth six or seven million taels, spirit stone fans and heaters equivalent to mountains of gold and silver, and strength at the first stage of Heart Reversal… The greatest credit undoubtedly went to the inn system, but luck also played a huge role. After all, Yun Lan, Old Ding, Peng Qiao… and various spiritual materials for cultivation all relied on luck. Lin Dong felt his luck was quite good. Not long after Qiao Tianhao left, Lin Dong stood up as well. Ignoring the food on the table, he strode toward the front yard. Ma Chun’s ability was proven once again—in less than half an hour, the area around the dormitory building returned to silence, as if nothing had happened. Glancing at the rows of rooms in the yard and seeing Ma Chun’s door wide open, Lin Dong headed down to the dormitory building. Extending his senses, it wasn’t long before Ma Chun, who was giving instructions to a staff member on the second-floor corridor, came into view.

Climbing the wooden ladder with a creaking sound, Lin Dong made his way up to the second floor.
“Boss!” Ma Chun noticed Lin Dong right away and said, “Everything’s under control. I’ve arranged for Wang Kai to stay overnight in the guest building to prevent any further problems.”
“Good work,” Lin Dong nodded in approval and ordered, “If you have nothing else to do, come down with me. I need to talk to you about something.”
“I’ve already finished my tasks,” Ma Chun patted Wang Kai’s shoulder and walked over to Lin Dong.
“Boss, about the disturbance earlier…”
As he went down the stairs, Lin Dong explained, “I fought against Senior Feng just now. I’ve captured him and handed him over to Qiao Tianhao.”
“Handed him over to Qiao Tianhao?” Ma Chun was completely confused. He had already heard about capturing Feng Yue from Yu Linglong, but handing him over to Qiao Tianhao was beyond his understanding.
“We’ll discuss this later!” After reaching the bottom of the ladder, Lin Dong asked, “How many guests are there in the guest building today?”
“A total of 73 rooms are occupied, with 96 guests,” Ma Chun replied without hesitation.
“There was such a big disturbance tonight—you must have seen it, right?” Lin Dong asked.
“Yes!” Ma Chun nodded.
“Did you notice anyone who seemed uneasy or anxious? Someone whose reason for it had nothing to do with tonight’s events?” Lin Dong added.
“Well…” Ma Chun was at a loss. “Everything happened so suddenly tonight. Everyone was preoccupied with that, so I didn’t pay attention to that aspect.”
“It’s okay. Early tomorrow morning, go and greet each guest, using tonight’s incident as an excuse.” After thinking for a moment, Lin Dong decided, “Also, first identify which guests will check out in the near future. Start with them, then move on to those who plan to stay longer. If you find anyone who’s extremely anxious, inform me right away. This is very important—more important even than the competition with Fenglin Restaurant.”
“Understood!” Ma Chun became serious.
Lin Dong had full confidence in Ma Chun’s ability to observe people, so he waved his hand and said, “Alright, go get to work!”
Ma Chun nodded and rushed to the lobby to get the ledger.
Back in his room, Lin Dong thought for a while before sitting cross-legged on the wooden bed. He placed a branch of the Lingyun tree beside him and entered a meditative state. Sixty percent of his spiritual energy was already filled in his dantian. If the inn system could reach level eight in a short time, it would take five months to reach the second stage of the Heart Reversal phase.

Originally, after reaching the first level of the Heart Reversal Phase, one could take Hanfeng Fruit or Wenledan. According to Lin Dong’s previous plan, that was indeed when taking them would begin. At this stage, the wasted medicinal effects weren’t too significant. But after Qin Mengtai arrived, his plans changed as well. In just five months, his strength had risen from the ninth level of the Mind Spirit Phase to the first level of the Heart Reversal Phase. Explaining this with him already being at the late stage of the ninth level of the Mind Spirit Phase was barely plausible. But to go from the ninth level to the third level of the Heart Reversal Phase in just five months was almost unbelievable. There was no other explanation except for the use of top-tier spiritual pills and materials that aided in cultivation—materials that even someone like Qin Mengtai would covet. Such things would inevitably lead to greater conflicts. Since Lin Dong’s strength wasn’t yet sufficient to compete with the Tianjian Sect, he naturally tried to avoid any irreconcilable conflicts. Therefore, he could only wait until Qin Mengtai and the others returned to the Tianjian Sect. The next day at noon, Lin Dong, who had been practicing tirelessly, was interrupted by Ma Chun’s knocking. Ma Chun’s visit wasn’t due to any news regarding Lin Dong’s instructions, but rather something related to the Maple Forest Restaurant. Early that morning, the Maple Forest Restaurant posted a notice stating that its head chef would merge with the former head chef of Hongfu Restaurant. The spiritual beasts and materials that Hongfu Restaurant once had in greater abundance could now be found at the Maple Forest Restaurant. Additionally, thirty private rooms on the third floor of the Maple Forest Restaurant each received an extra portrait of a beautiful woman. To match this, the Maple Forest Restaurant also sent out a large fleet of carriages with giant billboards, distributing flyers to everyone they encountered and displaying them along the streets. With double the number of chefs and thirty more portraits, it was clear the Maple Forest Restaurant was determined to win over all the wealthy and high-end customers who had left Hongfu Restaurant. In response, the Lin’s Inn certainly couldn’t sit idly by. Although the inn’s experience points were already at full capacity, more guests wouldn’t increase those points. At this stage, there was no need to engage in a head-on battle with the Maple Forest Restaurant, but they also couldn’t let the Maple Forest Restaurant continue to thrive. Otherwise, once the Maple Forest Restaurant turned those customers into loyal ones, winning them back would require twice or even more effort and resources. As for the portraits, Lin Dong estimated that it would take about half a month before the Sixth Prince sent someone to retrieve them from the Maple Forest Restaurant. Thus, this advantage of the Maple Forest Restaurant didn’t need to be taken seriously—just a slight restraint would suffice.

What’s left is that the number of chefs has doubled. According to the original plan, it was only necessary to bring in some chefs from various places and the KeLai Restaurant, and with the signature dishes newly developed by Cheng Bao, things would be stable. Additionally, by offering free small gifts like silver or gold nail clippers, they can counteract the influence of the ShiNuTu. Even if they can’t overshadow the FengLin Restaurant, at the very least, the HongFu Restaurant’s wealthy and ultra-wealthy customers certainly won’t be completely attracted to another restaurant in such a short time.

As for the FengLin Restaurant’s other two tactics— the gymnasium and the new signature dishes—the former is bound to fail, while for the latter, just one of the Lin Ji Inn’s key strategies is enough to overwhelm it.

Lin Dong roughly estimated that by the time the FengLin Restaurant runs out of all its tactics and the inn successfully reaches level eight, unleashing all its remaining strategies together would create an overwhelming force.