I Became Great Xuan's Luckiest Person by Stir-Frying Ghosts

[Ancient-Era Street Life + Metaphysical Cuisine + Bickering Couple + Mystery and Comedy + Rise from the Bottom]

Su Banxia hadn't eaten in three days when her creditor crushed her last half-head of cabbage underfoot. That night, a headless evil spirit came to her door, carrying its own head.

Most people would run from a ghost. She caught the savory aroma of black-boned chicken cooked to tender perfection.

Stuff it with garlic to remove the gamey taste, peel off the membrane and trim away the sinews, then score it diagonally with a knife. Stir-fry over high heat. Toss it three times; one more, and the meat will turn tough.

After one plate of "Sizzling Double Crunch," the wicked people who owed her money tripped and broke their legs, while stolen silver hidden for years rolled right to her feet.

Only then did Su Banxia realize: ghosts who died violent deaths bring wealth, hanged ghosts change fate, and water wraiths boost one's fortune. The fiercer the ghost, the more her destiny improved. But if the heat wasn't right, any resentment not fully cooked away would linger inside her, too.

So she hired a hapless swordsman who left a trail of collapsed buildings wherever he went and somehow attracted ghosts like no one else, then shouldered her iron wok and opened a restaurant.

He lured the ghosts; she wielded the ladle.

One ghost, one dish; one wrongful death, one debt to settle.

Until black scales crawled across her wrist, and the gods beyond the nine heavens finally opened their eyes.

"Grow up quickly, my dinner."

Su Banxia sharpened her knife.

"We'll see who eats whom."