Rēn knew that the moment he betrayed the Dark Cooking Society, retaliation would come immediately.
He had no intention of relying on the Light Culinary World either—otherwise, he would have returned to Yangquan Restaurant long ago.
If he wanted to, Yangquan Restaurant would definitely take him back. But he also understood that doing so would only drag trouble back with him. In the end, he chose to fight alone.
That was how Rēn had been in the original story as well. Even after losing the knife skills duel, he planned to leave on his own. It was only when Liu Maoxing noticed something was off that Rēn finally revealed his true objective.
Now, no one had seen through him.
So Rēn had no choice but to rely on his own methods to deal with the Dark Cooking Society.
The first people he targeted were the members of the Dark Cooking Society branch he belonged to. He slipped sedatives into their food.
Within the branch, Rēn's authority as a Lin Chef was extremely high. Even though he had already lost and would eventually have to pay a price, the exact punishment still depended on the Five Tiger Stars' decision.
Until then, his status remained intact.
With that level of access, sabotaging them was easy. But Rēn was not someone who delighted in killing. He didn't go for their lives—he only used sedatives.
After knocking out everyone in the branch, Rēn reported the location of the Dark Cooking Society branch directly to the authorities. From there on, it was no longer his problem.
The authorities had never dared to strike directly at the Dark Cooking Society's headquarters, but branch sites were a different matter.
That was why Dark Cooking Society branches were usually hidden extremely well. They never imagined that a Lin Chef would betray them… and poison them from the inside.
The branch was wiped out.
In fact, there was more than one Dark Cooking Society hideout in Guangzhou, but Rēn's knowledge was limited. He could only expose the ones he knew about.
Once one or two hideouts were destroyed, the remaining branches naturally stopped making any reckless moves. In a way, Rēn had bought himself some time.
After that, his plan was to use his understanding of the Dark Cooking Society to hunt down their branches one by one and uproot them.
Of course, what he was doing was little different from suicide.
The Dark Cooking Society's influence was far too vast. It wasn't just the people in the open—there were plenty of their informants buried inside the Chefs' Union and even within the government.
Rēn might manage to destroy a few branches, but fighting alone would inevitably lead to a dead end.
He wasn't Kael.
Kael possessed absolute strength—enough to ignore all schemes outright. Whether the Dark Cooking Society came at him openly or from the shadows, Kael could deal with it effortlessly.
Rēn didn't have that luxury.
The moment the Dark Cooking Society traced his movements, death would be the only outcome. Rēn had probably thought about this himself.
He simply redirected all his hatred toward the Dark Cooking Society.
Strictly speaking, that wasn't entirely wrong.
Rēn was selfish by nature, but how many people in this world truly lived without self-interest?
It was only after joining the Dark Cooking Society that his selfishness had been amplified without limit. In that sense, the blame really did lie with the Dark Cooking Society.
Their environment demanded either ruthless cruelty or cooking skill strong enough to suppress everything. Only then could one survive.
Perhaps Rēn had already decided to pay for Luo Xie's death with his own life.
He even left the Seven-Star Knives at Yangquan Restaurant, knowing that what awaited him next would be extremely dangerous.
Rather than letting the Seven-Star Knives fall back into the Dark Cooking Society's hands, it was better to leave them with Yangquan Restaurant.
Kael had originally planned to deal with Elder Guan that very night. But because of Rēn's actions, the elders of the Chefs' Union also began moving collectively.
In a way, it gave Kael an even better excuse.
After all, if you'd already struck at a Dark Cooking Society branch, then it was perfectly "reasonable" for the Dark Cooking Society to retaliate, wasn't it?
What surprised Kael was Rēn's decision to place the Seven-Star Knives in Yangquan Restaurant.
"It looks like we all misjudged that kid, Rēn. Maybe this time, he came back for the Ever-Soul Knife not to serve the Dark Cooking Society at all."
Master Luo shook his head as he looked at the Seven-Star Knives on the table. Back then, he had held Rēn in high regard—otherwise, he would never have promised to hand over the Ever-Soul Knife after Rēn returned from his studies.
It turned out his judgment hadn't been wrong.
Although Rēn had joined the Dark Cooking Society, his current actions clearly stood on the side of the Light Culinary World.
"We may have wronged him," Zhou Yu said, frowning. "But what he's doing now…"
He knew exactly what kind of consequences Rēn's actions would bring. This was suicide—dragging a few enemies down with him before dying.
It was hard to imagine just how deeply Rēn hated the Dark Cooking Society to go this far.
"Are we really going to do nothing?" Meili Zhou asked softly.
She had already sensed Rēn's predicament from her father's words. She didn't want to see her former friend die like this.
"What can we do?" Zhou Yu sighed and shook his head. "We can't even find Rēn's whereabouts right now. And no matter what, he's still a member of the Dark Cooking Society."
"The Chefs' Union in Guangzhou may trust him, but what about other regions? We don't even know where he's gone. The Chefs' Union elsewhere won't intervene so easily."
If Rēn had sought their help directly, they might have been able to protect him.
But now, there was no opportunity at all.
If Rēn were still in Guangzhou, things might have been different. Once he left, they had no way to help him.
At Yangquan Restaurant, the atmosphere was heavy because of Rēn.
When night fell, Kael finally made his move.
He went straight to the Guan residence.
He hadn't forgotten the killing intent Elder Guan had shown him after the competition.
But the moment Kael arrived, he discovered that Elder Guan had already disguised himself and slipped out.
That caught Kael off guard.
Sneaking out in disguise late at night clearly had nothing to do with Chefs' Union business.
Curious, Kael didn't strike immediately. Instead, he followed him.
Soon, Kael tracked Elder Guan to the foreign district.
This wasn't the Qing Dynasty—there was already contact with the outside world.
In the original story, Liu Maoxing had competed with Bazhelu. In the end, Bazhelu set Yangquan Restaurant on fire and bribed Elder Weng from the Chefs' Union, who arrested Liu Maoxing without even investigating.
If Liu Maoxing hadn't resolved Guan Qiulan's situation, he would have died back then. Although Admiral Li later exposed Elder Weng and Bazhelu, if Liu Maoxing had simply waited, he would've been dead long before that happened.
"Well, damn. I thought only Elder Weng was connected to this guy. Turns out Elder Guan is involved too."
Kael was genuinely surprised.
Soon after, he overheard their conversation—and the more he listened, the stranger his expression became.
Elder Guan had come for one reason: to deal with Kael.
He had asked Bazhelu to kill Kael and then hand over the legendary kitchenware.
Kael was speechless.
Elder Guan couldn't even use the kitchenware himself. If he got it this way, all he could do was hide it in secret.
And with the nature of legendary kitchenware, hiding it in this world was impossible. Sooner or later, it would resurface for some "special reason."
This was nothing more than human greed.
Just like corrupt officials—some of them hoarded absurd amounts of wealth they never dared to use, hiding it away until everything collapsed and they were exposed anyway.
What was the point of that kind of greed?
There was none.
But human nature was exactly like that. Even knowing they couldn't use it, even knowing that once something went wrong they'd be finished, they still couldn't stop themselves.
Elder Guan was no different.
To avoid exposure, he even hired outsiders like Bazhelu. Kael guessed that once everything was done, Elder Guan would probably silence Bazhelu as well.
At first, Elder Guan had considered using the Dark Cooking Society. But he quickly rejected the idea.
They were enemies, for one. More importantly, the Dark Cooking Society was too powerful. They also needed the legendary kitchenware, and afterward, Elder Guan would never be able to clean them up.
Bazhelu and his people were different.
Even if Bazhelu died, it would only cause minor trouble—something Elder Guan could deal with at minimal cost.
That was why he chose Bazhelu in the end.
As for how to kill Kael, swordsmanship would do just fine.
Unfortunately for them, Kael now knew everything.
He had no intention of letting them off.
The moment Elder Guan left, Kael slipped straight into Bazhelu's room. With a single strike, he killed him, then used a few techniques to make it look like sudden death.
For someone who had fully inherited Kaiyu's legacy, this was trivial.
Less than a minute later, Kael was already chasing after Elder Guan.
Since Elder Guan had chosen to walk alone at night, getting attacked wasn't exactly surprising.
Kael soon caught up to Elder Guan, who was hurrying home.
Without a word, Kael struck.
One blow landed on Elder Guan's head.
Pain flashed through Elder Guan's mind before darkness swallowed him whole.
Looking at the unconscious Elder Guan, Kael directly destroyed his nerves. Elder Guan would wake up—but he would be permanently paralyzed, unable to move.
Kael also rendered him mute.
He didn't bother with anything else.
Afterward, Kael tossed a Dark Cooking Society mark onto the ground and left.
Elder Guan's physique was decent, and Guangzhou's climate was mild. Spending a night outside wouldn't kill him.
By morning, someone would find him.
As for Guan Qiulan, Kael didn't need to inform her. Once Elder Guan was discovered, she would naturally know who was responsible.
Time passed, and dawn arrived.
Elder Guan was quickly discovered by early risers.
Seeing the Dark Cooking Society mark—and realizing the victim was Elder Guan—people immediately reported it to the authorities.
He was sent home by the guards, and the best physicians in Guangzhou were summoned.
After all, he was the head figure of the Guangzhou Chefs' Union. His status was not low.
"Doctor, how is he doing?"
After a long while, the physician finally emerged from Guan's room.
Their expression was grim.
"His life is not in danger," the doctor said slowly. "But his body is completely paralyzed. His vocal cords also seem to have been destroyed by some unknown method. My medical skill is limited—I can't cure this."
The doctor shook his head helplessly. Kael's methods were beyond him.
"Paralyzed… and mute?"
The elders present were stunned.
It was hard to believe that the once-healthy Guan had been reduced to this overnight.
"Damn the Dark Cooking Society! How dare they!"
Another elder slammed his fist onto the table.
Given the Dark Cooking Society mark at the scene, everyone naturally assumed it was their doing.
After all, the Dark Cooking Society was always high-profile. Whenever they acted, they deliberately left their symbol behind to intimidate anyone who dared oppose them.
"It must be retaliation for us wiping out their branch," another elder said grimly. "But Elder Guan too… why would he sneak out dressed like that in the middle of the night?"
If Elder Guan had stayed home, this might never have happened.
But going out alone at night had made him an easy target.
In fact, there was another death discovered that morning—Bazhelu.
But the final diagnosis was sudden death.
Given his body type, that wasn't unusual, so no one paid much attention to it.