C79 — Tasting the “Delicacies

The waiter handed over the menu, and Mu Sichen and the other two took it and began flipping through it.

There was only one dish listed on each person’s menu.

Mu Sichen’s was called “Wings of Love in the Sky”, Chi Lian’s was “Forget-Worry Herb”, and He Fei’s was “Parade of a Hundred Ghosts”.

The names of the three dishes were straightforward descriptions of the feelings the customer would experience after eating them.

Mu Sichen had a vague idea of what was going on.

Pointing to his own menu, He Fei asked, “Isn’t my dish kind of… too different from theirs?”

The waiter replied, “Everything has been customized for you. Please rest assured — we know you even better than you know yourself. This dish will definitely help you uncover the hidden parts of your heart.”

He Fei didn’t believe that someone else could uncover the hidden depths of his subconscious. To him, it sounded like false advertising.

But at this point, all he could do was smile and say, “Alright, serve the food then.”

The waiter went to pass on the order. Mu Sichen exchanged a glance with Chi Lian, who then deactivated her ability.

Mu Sichen activated the “Eye of Truth” in his left eye. This eye had a wider field of vision than normal and could see things that ordinary people couldn’t. But it drained mental energy heavily and couldn’t stay active for long.

Through it, Mu Sichen saw the three customers at Table 6 waking up in a daze.

One middle-aged man savored the memory and said, “Why does today’s dish feel like it has less impact than usual?”

A middle-aged woman with him also said, “Yeah, it felt like someone yanked the dish out of my mouth halfway through. So disappointing.”

The waiter assigned to Table 6 came over and asked warmly, “How was your dining experience? Please rate it on the menu.”

The middle-aged man thought for a moment, then still gave a five-star rating. He added, “As delicious as ever, but next time, please find a way to make the flavor last longer so we can savor it more.”

“Is that so? Thank you for your valuable feedback. I’ll be sure to relay it to the head chef,” the waiter replied.

Once the exchange ended, the three people at Table 6 left the restaurant.

Mu Sichen couldn’t hear them — only observe — so he guessed the general meaning from their expressions and lip movements.

He watched the three leave the table, go downstairs, and eventually walk out of the Ideal Restaurant through the window view.

They really left.

Comparing the “Pillars” of Tongzhi Town and Dream Butterfly Town, Mu Sichen realized that the Pillar of Tongzhi Town could also let people leave — it was just that Tongzhi Town used strict rules to force people to return the next day. The Ideal Restaurant, however, didn’t.

Mu Sichen thought that maybe after eating here once, it was like getting addicted — you couldn’t eat anything else anymore, and would eventually come back.

This, too, was a method for a “Pillar” to maintain control over souls.

As he pondered how to deal with it, the waiter from Table 7 brought out their dishes.

All three dishes were exquisitely presented. Mu Sichen’s “Wings of Love” consisted of a pair of beautiful birds made entirely from vegetables, with a pink color theme. Chi Lian’s was a sky-blue cocktail — while blue foods tend to suppress appetite, drinks were different. The blue beverage evoked feelings of calmness and freshness.

Both of their dishes were visually appealing — but He Fei’s was different. A blood-red steak, blood-red tomato sauce, and a plate arranged in the shape of a blood-red skull. Holding his knife, He Fei stared at it for a long time, speechless.

“Please enjoy your meal,” the waiter said.

The unspoken message: You’re not leaving unless you eat.

He Fei lowered his head and sent a message in the group chat:

[@Mu Sichen, Are we really eating this? Is this stuff even edible? What kind of meat do they even use in these dishes?!]

Mu Sichen: “Wait a moment, let me see if I can figure it out.”

Mu Sichen covered his right eye, focused his mental energy, and stared intently at the dish in front of him.

The power of the “Eye of Truth” activated, allowing Mu Sichen to see the process of how the dish was made.

The power of the “Eye of Truth” requires two conditions to be activated: First, it must be able to see the actual object, and second, Mu Sichen must have some guess or suspicion about the origin of the item or what had happened to it.

If the guess was wrong, he wouldn’t be able to see anything.

Mu Sichen noticed the comment made by the three people at table 6, who said the dish lacked “aftertaste.”

Their appearance while eating didn’t look like they were eating, but more like they were dreaming. The phrases “lacking aftertaste” and “the flavor isn’t lingering enough” suggested that their dream was shorter than expected.

The only reason this could happen was that their dream had been stolen halfway through.

The ones who stole their dreams were Mu Sichen and the others.

Mu Sichen had enough evidence to suspect that the three dishes in front of him were the dreams of the three guests at table 6.

Sure enough, Mu Sichen’s guess was correct. The “Eye of Truth” showed him the entire cause and effect of this dish.

It started with the three people at table 6. After they received the menu and placed their orders, a transparent, jelly-like, invisible substance attached itself to the menu. This should be their dream.

The waiter from table 6 handed the menu over to the vegetable washing area in the kitchen. In the vegetable washing basket, the ingredients for the three dishes naturally appeared. These dreams had transformed into the appearance of different ingredients, but they were covered in dirt, and many of the raw materials were of poor quality, like the green peppers and tomatoes that seemed malnourished.

The staff in the washing area soaked the ingredients in clean water to wash off the dirt and impurities, leaving them to soak for several seconds. The water had some mysterious power, and after soaking, the ingredients became fresh and appealing, with large sizes, vibrant colors, and an enticing look.

Afterward, the dishes were transferred to the cutting area, where the final touches were added and the dishes were prepared to be served to table 6.

The guests at table 6 devoured the dishes in one go, closing their eyes to savor them.

Then, Mu Sichen and the others cut off their sense of touch. When they received the menu, another transparent, jelly-like substance flew out from above the heads of the three people at table 6 and attached to the menu.

Mu Sichen: “…”

The three guests’ beautiful dream had been stolen and transferred. This was probably the power of transfer.

The next part of the process repeated what had happened with table 6. The transparent jelly followed the menu into the washing area.

The difference was that the staff in the washing area paused for several seconds when they saw the dishes prepared for Mu Sichen and the others.

“This dish wasn’t just processed?” Worker A said. “The beautiful lines on this green pepper were made by me.”

Worker B: “I personally ground this ice ball.”

Worker C: “I personally turned this dried beef into a fresh steak.”

The employees in the washing area remained silent for a long time before simultaneously saying: “Should we take a break? We haven’t done repairs in a while.”

Mu Sichen noticed their lip movements, and just like the waiter at table 7, they said “repair” instead of “rest.”

The ingredients were sent unchanged to the cutting and cooking areas, and the staff in those areas received the menu, which clearly outlined the cooking methods. Then, the staff in those areas also paused for several seconds, and all of them simultaneously thought: “Should I ‘repair’ something?”

After seeing the past and present of these three dishes, Mu Sichen finally understood just how much trouble their seemingly simple copy-paste action had caused for the entire Ideal Restaurant.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that if they stayed any longer, the entire kitchen staff would come over to watch them.

Now came the real problem: whether or not to eat the dishes.

If they didn’t eat, they would likely have to confront the “Pillar” head-on. That would mean they might never find the Pillar and would instead be trapped by the rules of this place.

With their current strength, the three of them likely couldn’t be eliminated by the Pillar. However, the Pillar had domain powers—something even god-level monsters needed to dismantle from within in order to overcome. If the three of them attempted to fight the Pillar by force, it would be impossible to escape the domain.

At that point, the Pillar would trap them indefinitely, dragging things out until the Butterfly awoke—and they would all die in the dream, hand in hand.

If they did eat, they’d be consuming dreams, not real human flesh. Since it was only a dream, they could barely accept that.

The problem was that eating the dishes would expose them to two possible outcomes.

First, the dream might be tainted—they could be contaminated by an invisible force.

But Mu Sichen wasn’t overly worried about that. After all, it wasn’t their own dream, nor something born of their subconscious preferences. Falling into someone else’s dream made it easier to detach, and even if they were contaminated, it wouldn’t go too deep. A self-cleanse sticker or a “digging” skill would be enough to fix it.

Besides, there were still too few clues. The dishes might contain something useful.

That first outcome would actually be the best-case scenario. What Mu Sichen really feared was the second possibility—that someone might notice the dream wasn’t theirs.

If that happened, the result would be the same as not eating: the Pillar would discover them and trap them.

After weighing the pros and cons, Mu Sichen concluded that eating the dishes at least gave them a 50% chance of surviving. Not eating meant 100% certain death.

They could only gamble on that 50%.

Mu Sichen glanced at the bloody steak in front of He Fei and had a sinking feeling—with He Fei here, the chance of survival might not even be 50%.

Resigned, he sent a group message:

[Eat it. Be alert—there might be mild but manageable contamination in the dishes. Be mentally prepared, and you should be able to resist it.]

He Fei: [Easy for you to say. Is the issue just contamination? You try eating this. Could you swallow it?]

Mu Sichen: [Eat it. If you accidentally fall asleep afterward, remember to pretend you had a wonderful dream.]

Mu Sichen didn’t continue chatting with He Fei and missed his follow-up message: “If I eat this, I’m definitely having a nightmare.”

Putting away his phone, he smiled at the waiter and said, “The dishes look beautiful. I like them—let me try.”

Then he picked up his chopsticks and, though his expression showed anticipation, he was inwardly resisting as he ate the overly sweet dish.

Unlike Little Octopus, Mu Sichen didn’t have much of a sweet tooth.

He only drank cola for the crispness of the bubbles—he didn’t even want the sweetness.

But for some reason, this dish made him instinctively think of Little Octopus and Qin Zhou. After swallowing the first bite, he ended up finishing the entire plate with ease.

Seeing Mu Sichen begin to eat, Chi Lian steeled herself and drank the cocktail in front of her.

The drink wasn’t sweet, nor did it taste alcoholic—in fact, it barely had any flavor at all. But the texture was unusually refreshing, like walking into an air-conditioned room after a scorching summer day.

Chi Lian quickly finished the cocktail called “Forget-Me-Not.”

Watching his two teammates start eating, He Fei also gritted his teeth and went all in, summoning the appetite of a growing boy with bottomless hunger. With his eyes closed, he shoved a huge piece of steak into his mouth.

The overwhelming stench nearly made He Fei vomit, but thankfully the steak had a surprisingly good texture—it melted in his mouth. Beneath the stench was a rich, fatty aroma. He Fei forced it down with sheer willpower and a strong throat.

The moment they swallowed the food, all three of them fell into a dream.

Chi Lian’s dream was extremely simple: all her work was done, and her boss gave her a million-yuan year-end bonus.

Originally, the dream was supposed to go on—ending with the game pod app crashing and her never having to enter the game again—but she woke up right after getting the bonus.

That amount of money was so unreal she couldn’t even dream it. The moment she saw the check, Chi Lian slapped her boss and yelled,

“I knew it! You’re just feeding me fantasies with a fake check—look at it! Does this look like a real bank check? You drew this yourself, didn’t you? I’d rather you just hand me an IOU than this crap!”

Still grumbling, she woke up—only to meet the confused gaze of Server No. 7.

Chi Lian gave an awkward smile and said sheepishly,

“Sorry, I had a bad dream. Got a bit emotional.”

The server looked even more confused.

At that moment, Mu Sichen also woke up, and his expression wasn’t much better—if anything, he looked guilty.

“You okay?” Chi Lian asked.

“I had a bad—” Mu Sichen started, but seeing the server still standing there watching them, he quickly changed his tone and forced out an awkward but polite smile.

“—a not-too-bad dream.”

In his dream, he had met someone unimaginably beautiful—so beautiful their gender was indistinguishable, so breathtaking it made him fall in love at first sight.

The two of them went on a date, and just as they sat down at a restaurant table, the server brought out a plate of blue octopus. The octopus was still alive, its eyes dull and lifeless, staring at Mu Sichen with deep disappointment.

Mu Sichen was immediately flooded with guilt—like he’d been caught cheating. The shame was overwhelming, and he woke up right then.

Thinking back on the dream and the lifeless, betrayed gaze of the little octopus, there was no way Mu Sichen could call it a beautiful dream.

Neither of the two guests showed even a hint of joy on their faces. They looked like the dishes had left a bad taste in their mouths. The server’s face was filled with despair, and he turned his hopes to He Fei.

But He Fei was in even worse shape.

His teeth were clenched, his forehead was drenched in cold sweat, and he was trembling in his seat. He kept muttering things like,

“Get away from me. Don’t come any closer.”

This wasn’t a dream anymore—it was clearly a nightmare.

Mu Sichen became genuinely worried and considered waking him up.

But just then, He Fei let out a loud roar, and while still asleep, grabbed the table in front of him, lifted it high, and slammed it down with all his strength.

The crash jolted He Fei awake. The server, however, was already sitting weakly on the floor, unable to maintain his professional smile. Speaking into his earpiece, he said:

“I’m sorry, Head Chef… I didn’t sense any happiness from the guests. I feel deeply sad right now. I’m requesting leave—I need to be repaired.”

He Fei was awake, but clearly his mind was still trapped in the dream.

He began swinging the table wildly through the air, shouting at nothing,

“You damn ghosts! Coming for my life, are you? So what if I killed you? Look at you—all you can do is haunt me in dreams. I don’t care what you are, I’ll smash you all the same! Hahahaha!”

By the end of it, he had actually turned the nightmare into something of a victory dream.

Chi Lian sat frozen in her chair and quietly asked,

“What do we do now?”

“Run!” Mu Sichen said.

Things had clearly spiraled out of control. They were obviously about to be discovered—no way could anyone still believe this was their dream. What were they waiting for?

Time to run—now.

At the very least, they had strictly followed all of the restaurant’s rules—being seated, ordering, dining—every step had been executed by the book. According to the rules, no one hould be able to stop them now.

Mu Sichen held down the still half-delirious He Fei, forcing a strained smile at the weeping server and said,

“Your restaurant’s dishes are truly innovative and full of surprises. I’ve never tasted anything quite like it in my life. If I ever get the chance, I’d love to come back and try more. But right now, we’re absolutely full. We’ll be going now—and we’re giving everything five stars!”

Without waiting for a reply, he hoisted the still-not-fully-conscious He Fei onto his shoulder and bolted downstairs.

“Of all the thirty-six stratagems, fleeing is the best.” Whether or not they could seize the “Pillar” didn’t matter at the moment—survival came first.

 

But as soon as Mu Sichen reached the stairwell, a row of servers blocked the way.

He Fei had calmed down by now, and Mu Sichen, still carrying him, kept smiling and said politely,

“We’ve finished our meal, and we’re very satisfied with the dishes. May we leave now?”

The lead server replied calmly,

“You’ve always been free to leave. We just hope you might do us a small favor.”

 

“What kind of favor?” Mu Sichen asked warily.

 

The server said, “The Head Chef of the Ideal Restaurant has always sought to improve the dishes. He hopes guests can provide suggestions for improvement. The three of you seem to have… strong opinions. Would you be willing to meet with the Head Chef?”

 

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