Gensokyo.
Returning to Gensokyo with the windbreak grass, Yukari did not delay for a moment.
She widely distributed hero invitations, inviting youkai to a banquet.
Especially for Miss Iizuna Maru of Youkai Mountain, she sent thirteen gold plaques in quick succession, saying she wanted to apologize for previous events and asking her to please grace the banquet with her presence.
Iizuna Maru was so dazed by the sweet talk that she thought Yukari had actually changed her nature.
It wasn’t until she arrived at the banquet venue in her finery that she realized Yukari was still Yukari; she should never have harbored unrealistic fantasies about that old thing.
The other youkai who arrived early felt the same way.
You’re telling me this pile of plant roots on the ground is edible?
But once they were there, they could forget about leaving.
Yukari had activated a barrier; no one was getting out today until all this stuff was eaten!
Well, what else is there to say, brothers?
You’ve already set up a barrier, so there’s nothing left to say but to call people over.
The more people there are, the less each person has to eat.
Better you than me; trick as many as you can.
With this mindset, all the youkai in Gensokyo were tricked into the barrier.
At this moment, the phrase ‘abetting the predator’ was perfectly illustrated.
“Actually, you don’t need to look so miserable.
Although this thing tastes a bit bitter, it is indeed edible and can even be used to treat illnesses.” The head chef for this banquet was Eirin Yagokoro.
After all, when it comes to knowledge of medicinal ingredients, no one in Gensokyo can compare to her.
The role of head chef was rightfully hers.
Bringing out all the clay pots from Eientei, Eirin Yagokoro began brewing medicine in front of everyone…
Yes, brewing medicine.
Five qian to two liang of fresh windbreak grass and fresh Dichroa root, boiled down from three bowls of water to one, and it’s ready to serve.
To avoid wasting the hard-earned ingredients, Eirin Yagokoro personally stood by the clay pots to ladle out the medicine for the youkai.
The youkai, forced to wait in line, accepted the bowls with bitter faces and drank, then began frantically eating fruit to try and suppress the bitterness in their mouths.
This taste was bitterer than their very lives.
Regret.
They were filled with immense regret.
Why did they believe the words of that old schemer Yukari and come to some ‘Stardew Valley First Ingredient Tasting Convention’?
Not a single word out of that Old Hag’s mouth was true.
This Stardew Valley must be Eirin Yagokoro’s hometown or something; who starts farming by planting medicinal ingredients?
Far away, fishing by the sea in Stardew Valley, Shiki had no idea he was already famous in Gensokyo.
Everyone had come to know Shiki through a bowl of medicinal soup for treating hypertension, leaving a lasting impression in the hearts of the youkai.
“Why aren’t you drinking?” Eirin had specifically saved a bowl of concentrated, extra-strength medicinal soup for Yukari, but the latter kept standing to the side with no intention of drinking.
This made Eirin Yagokoro quite annoyed.
What’s the meaning of this?
If you don’t drink, you’re looking down on me.
“This soup…
no, this ingredient is extremely precious and should be left for everyone to taste.
I’ll sacrifice my share and not drink it.” After observing Yakumo Ran and Chen’s tails go stiff from drinking a bowl of the soup, Yukari had wittily hidden to the side, thinking that with so many people, Eirin Yagokoro might forget her.
As it turned out, the other woman came right over carrying the medicinal bowl.
“That won’t do.
Our Gensokyo is one big family.
We share joys and sorrows; no one can be left out.
Drink!” Eirin Yagokoro held the bowl quite far from Yukari.
She was afraid the shameless old thing would attack her to try and knock the bowl over, so she only threatened her from a distance.
“No, no, look how long you’ve been busy.
This bowl of ingredients should rightfully be drunk by you.” Yukari slowly backed away, but soon bumped into a wall—a wall made of the people.
“No!
Let go of me…
gulp, gulp, gulp, bleh!” Pinned to the ground in a cross armlock by a group of powerful youkai, Yukari struggled frantically, but it was no use.
Eirin Yagokoro cruelly shoved a funnel into Yukari’s mouth, and a bowl of medicinal soup with a triple dose of Coptis was poured right in.
“Bleh!” Have you ever seen a kitten kicking its legs?
Yukari, who always presented a mysterious, elegant, and onee-san image, was now frantically kicking her legs on the ground, looking very lively indeed.
Those around her were either laughing or taking photos; not a single person showed any sympathy for the Yukari on the ground.
This was the daily life of Gensokyo: a group of beautiful girls who had lived for countless years sabotaging each other.
“Is it really that bitter?
This seems like a perfectly normal bowl of medicine to me.” Eirin Yagokoro sat to the side and took a sip, not feeling any particularly bitter taste.
On the other side.
Unaware of what was happening in Gensokyo, Shiki was in a state of peaceful tranquility, fishing by the sea.
Actually, it would be better to fish in the lake below the Mines; the fish there didn’t have as much strength as those in the sea because the water was calm, and they were also dumber.
But he had no bait.
He could still pick up a few shells on the beach to use for fishing, but there was nothing by the lake.
It’s not like any fish would enjoy eating windbreak grass.
Shiki’s luck was quite good today.
Not only did he have a full meal of horseradish Scallop meat, but he also used the Scallop remains to catch five fish.
Counting the four fish he caught before, he now had nine, only eleven fish away from completing Chen’s invitation quest.
So that he could pet the cute cat in the future, Shiki didn’t eat a single one of these fish, saving them all in a chest.
He planned to invite Chen and Miss Ran for an all-fish feast when the time came.
Walking on the way home, Shiki noticed that many small green round fruits had grown on the bushes lining the road.
These were unripe salmonberries, a type of berry with a 15-day growth cycle.
Salmonberries, also called raspberries, come in red, gold, and black when ripe.
They have a sweet and sour taste and have a very high yield in Stardew Valley.
You can harvest dozens of units of salmonberries just by walking around during the ripening season.
Selling them isn’t very profitable because the price is so low, so they are generally used to restore stamina in the early stages.
Ding-dong!
While walking, Shiki suddenly heard his phone’s customer service backend chime.
He quickly pulled it out and clicked in.
Yakumo Ran: Image.jpg ??
Shiki zoomed in on the image.
The content was a photo of Yukari darkly twisting and writhing while kicking her legs on the ground.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Shiki made the most correct choice and saved the photo to his phone.
After a few seconds, the image was recalled by Yakumo Ran.
She sent a smiley face emoji and stopped speaking.
Shiki: “Okay dear, bye.” After replying to the last message, Shiki put his phone away and continued walking back as if nothing had happened.
He could probably guess why the mysterious and elegant Miss Yukari had ended up like that; it seemed the taste of that windbreak grass was indeed not very good.
He picked a few mushrooms along the way.
These plain-looking mushrooms usually grow under trees and are a bit tough, but the flesh is good.
Biting into them feels like eating raw Scallop meat, and the taste is decent.
He went to the field and picked a handful of garlic sprouts—this garlic should be ripe in a couple of days.
Taking out the large pot Yakumo Ran had left for him, he prepared the garlic sprouts and mushrooms to brew a bowl of mushroom soup, which served as his dinner for the day.