Universe Infinite Canteen

Riding the Undying Divine Crane, the three of them took less than ten minutes to return to the Candle Clan's residence.

Shrouded in a layer of clouds, as the three of them arrived, the clouds split in two, revealing the small valley below.

Inside the valley, there were farmlands, fish ponds, and houses with courtyards; besides these, there were also buildings that didn't quite match the backdrop of this book, such as windmills, steam workshops, aqueducts, public toilets...

However, what stood out the most was the huge stone stele in the center of the village, with text appearing on it from time to time.

"He's writing quite fast today. He's not even getting writer's block."

The Undying Divine Crane landed in the open space in front of the stone stele, and Zhu Jiu jumped down.

Shortly after, a group of children ran over, surrounding Zhu Jiu and shouting, "Brother Zhu Jiu, Brother Zhu Jiu, you went to Fengming City, didn't you? Did you bring back any tasty treats?"

"Off you go, off you go. We have important guests today, so there will definitely be plenty for you, but you still should eat fewer snacks and save your stomach for the feast later."

Zhu Jiu waved away the group of children and then said to Ma Lu and Old Wang, "I will go and inform the Clan Chief. Please wait a moment, esteemed guests."

After speaking, he hurriedly made his way to a small courtyard opposite the stone stele. With nothing better to do, Ma Lu looked up at the stone stele beside him.

He saw that text was still continuously emerging.

—Yun Potian retracted the Heaven Measuring Ruler, and stood dumbfounded in front of the ruins, thinking to himself what have I done. He frantically threw himself towards the remnants of the mountainside walls, his mouth continuously calling out Shangguan Xiaoxiao's name, yet no one responded.

Only when he saw a wisp of blue garment amidst the debris.

The pain, it was too excruciating!!! His heart felt like it had been struck fiercely.

The world was heartless, treating everything as straw dogs!

Yun Potian, clutching the blue garment, was overwhelmed by indescribable grief. In such immense sorrow, he suddenly grasped a part of the Cultivation Technique in the Heaven Measuring Ruler that he could never fathom before.

Heaven Measuring Ruler, 2nd Level! Breakthrough!!!

Goodness, Ma Lu let out a cry of amazement; not satisfied with annihilating someone's entire family, he even had the audacity to make a breakthrough right above their graves while the incident was still fresh.

This was indeed a bit too much!

However, Ma Lu was somewhat curious about the 2nd Level of the Heaven Measuring Ruler. If the 1st Level was comparable to the Fighting Saint, the 2nd Level must take it to a higher level.

But with this breakthrough, wouldn't his combat power also inflate? Could it be that Zheng Qian plans to open up a new map after 600,000 words?

As Ma Lu pondered this, footsteps sounded from behind, and he turned around to see Zhu Jiu walking towards them with a beautiful woman in her early thirties.

The beautiful woman bowed slightly towards Ma Lu and Old Wang, "Boss Ma, Chef Wang, welcome to our valley. My name is Zhu Qingqing, and I am also the Candle Clan Chief."

"The Candle Clan Chief is younger than I expected," Ma Lu exclaimed in surprise.

Zhu Qingqing smiled lightly, "The things in the book cannot be taken literally. According to the time outside the book, I'm actually over three hundred years old, and I have been on Earth for almost a hundred years."

"Has it really been that long? I had no idea before."

"That's because we as characters from the book cannot leave the novel, and outsiders only think of us as characters within the story."

"And we're constantly changing too. You see us as Candle Clan members, trading with the Shangguan Family in this book, but in the next one we might have changed our identity to becoming a disciple of a martial arts sect, or a citizen of a small town in a foreign land."

"Sounds like that kind of life could be quite interesting."

Ma Lu's eyes twinkled, "Does Boss Ma also want to live in a book?"

"No thanks. I'm quite happy with my life outside, my relationships are smooth, I have a successful career, and I've got tens of millions in savings." Ma Lu said.

"If you'd like, you could also have a lot of wealth here."

"But your steamed buns here are also expensive," Ma Lu said.

"What's most important is that I want to be the protagonist. I don't like playing a supporting role in someone else's story. However, since you asked me like that, it seems there's a way to turn ordinary people into book-world inhabitants."

"Right, there was a disappearance at the mental hospital before, someone who ran into the book and never came out again. That's related to you guys, isn't it?"

Zhu Qingqing did not confirm or deny, "Boss Ma, you're a winner in life in the outside world, but you must also know that many people want to escape from there. They'd rather live in this ridiculous novel, because to them, the real world is more like a prison."

"Um... I'm not here to accuse you of anything, but while I understand keeping adults here, there's no need for children, right?"

"Children?" Zhu Qingqing paused for a moment, "Only three people have come here, and the youngest is forty-five, suffering from schizophrenia and heart disease. The rest of the children are our own."

"Eh," now it was Ma Lu's turn to be embarrassed. He chuckled wryly after a moment, "Alright, looks like she fooled me again."

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter now. How many people do you have, any dietary restrictions?" Since Ma Lu had already met the real deal, he was ready to start work.

"There are 73 people in the clan with no dietary restrictions," said Zhu Qingqing. "Make more sweets though, there are many children here and they all fondly remember the cupcakes they had in 'Traveling through Thousands of Mountains and Rivers.'"

"No problem, I just happen to have brought plenty of eggs and fruit too."

Ma Lu had Old Wang take out a Collection Bag from his chest and followed Zhu Jiu to a kitchen.

Zhu Qingqing had already sent out the signal, calling the members of the clan back to the valley, and the Candle Clan members still in the village were also bustling about, hanging lanterns under the eaves, and setting up a stage in the open space.

According to Zhu Qingqing, the Supporting Role Festival was a traditional celebration for book-world inhabitants, without a fixed date, and held every seven relocations.

The aim was to pray for a safe distance from strife and to live a happy and peaceful life outside of the Eye of the Reader, in the capacity as supporting characters.

But in reality, they also knew that as supporting characters, they couldn't influence the Big Writer's creative process.

So it was just an excuse to have a good meal and some fun.

Apart from the regular dishes, Chef Wang this time also used the radio mangos that Ma Lu brought back this week and made mango cheesecake mousse, caramel upside-down apple tarts, and Snakeberry cotton candy.

Sure enough, the group of kids who had been blocking them in front of the stele earlier had their eyes shining as they devoured the treats.

The residents in the valley also brought out their homemade fruit wines, eating and drinking, and by the end, everyone was blissfully drunk.

And the performances on that stage were one after another. Besides the regular singing and dancing, the most popular event was the unusual artifact display.

The nature of these artifacts was somewhat like the night sky torn by laughter, all created due to the Big Writer's exaggerated descriptions or typographical errors, resulting in things that defied common sense.

For example, there was Qinggong that could make one ascend to the sky by stepping on one's own feet, a small stone that, once thrown, would keep rolling without stopping, and someone who, while traveling, picked up fragments of the Great Way left behind after being shattered... In short, it was an eye-opening experience for Ma Lu.