’It’s already roasted so perfectly, and it’s still only fifty percent as good as the original?’

Andre felt himself starting to get used to Lin Chen’s habit of shaking his head every time he finished a dish.

Lin Chen didn’t waste any words. He grabbed the pan and placed it under the duck’s tail end, then pulled out the skewer that had been used to seal the cavity. He plunged his knife in and sliced downward, creating an opening.

A torrent of fragrant, scalding-hot juices burst from the opening like a breaking dam, carrying with it a stream of sliced mushrooms.

"So much juice?!"

Andre stared in shock at the thin layer of juices pooling in the pan. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out how there could be so much liquid inside the duck’s cavity.

This wasn’t his first time eating a King’s Down Duck. He’d had his fair share of other wild ducks and pheasants, too.

With normal roasting methods, you could forget about juices; you were lucky if the meat was cooked through without turning out tough enough to get stuck in your teeth.

"I poured that in. It’s pre-seasoned. You can think of it as a marinade."

After emptying the ingredients from the duck’s cavity, Lin Chen laid the bird flat on a clean leaf. With the sharp tip of his knife, he sliced into the joint connecting the leg and breast, effortlessly separating the two thighs.

With the legs out of the way, he had much more room to work with the knife. He moved it up to the lower breast near the tail and cut in at an angle.

With no apparent effort, just a gentle pull, a slice of duck meat with its skin, as thick as a chopstick, came away.

He moved the tip of the knife up and continued to slice diagonally, keeping the same thickness.

His movements grew more and more fluid. He went from taking two or three seconds per slice to one slice per second, moving so fast his hands almost blurred into afterimages.

In no time at all, as Andre watched, half of the roast duck had been carved into uniform slices, each piece of meat attached to a layer of skin.

"What kind of technique is that? It’s incredible!"

He’d lost count of how many times he’d gasped in amazement today. This time, he didn’t even care. Before Lin Chen could dig in, he took the initiative, holding the small pan up to the camera for a close-up.

"Check this out, everyone! Look at this incredible roast duck, this exquisite knife work! This is an Alaskan forest roast duck, made in the style of a Great Xia roast duck!"

The duck legs were guaranteed to be delicious; that was an indisputable fact. And since he’d already eaten two, he wasn’t in a hurry for them now. Instead, his curiosity was completely focused on the plate of duck breast before him.

The pan-fried duck breast from half an hour ago had been tastier than his own attempt, but to be honest, it was still breast meat. It could only be so tender—at best, just a fraction more tender than pan-fried chicken breast.

But this platter of breast meat, carved from the whole roast duck, looked like a completely different story.

The skin glistened with oil. Though the surface was slightly charred from the roast, the layer just above the meat was still distinctly translucent.

The thinly sliced breast meat was a tender pink, its surface brimming with juices. It was cooked through perfectly, but not a moment too long. The control over the heat was so precise it seemed to have been cooked to the absolute perfect point of doneness.

Just by looking at it, he could tell the texture of this duck breast would be completely different from the pan-fried version.

Having already eaten almost two pounds of food, he wasn’t actually hungry anymore, to be honest. At most, he just felt a craving.

If he forced himself, he could certainly finish another half a duck, no problem.

But the issue wasn’t whether he could eat it, but how he would get through the remaining six days after waking up tomorrow with an empty stomach.

Even after witnessing Lin Chen prepare everything with his own eyes, he still didn’t think he could replicate so many dishes. They required far too much skill.

The one thing he could learn, though, was the underground pit oven. Even just using a similar method to roast meat would surely be tastier than cooking it directly over a fire.

As he pondered how he would get through the next few days, he unconsciously picked up a slice of duck and put it in his mouth.

"?!"

The unexpected tenderness and juiciness made his eyes fly open, snapping his thoughts back to the present.

"How is this roast duck so tender? It’s so tender it’s practically on par with the leg meat... No, that’s not right. It’s even more tender! I can tear it apart just by pressing my tongue against it!"

He chewed a few times, and the crispy skin burst with flavorful oils, mingling with the savory, juicy, tender breast meat. A subtle, fruity aroma from the wood smoke erupted with it.

Thanks to the marinade of mushroom and berry juices, the flavor grew more savory and the meat grew juicier the deeper he went. The more he chewed, the more fragrant it became, and the brighter Andre’s eyes shone.

"I swear, this is the most tender duck breast dish I’ve ever had in my entire life, bar none!"

"To take it a step further, I’d say it’s the undisputed king of all poultry breast dishes!"

"I used to wonder why Great Xia’s roast duck was so famous. Now I get it! When something is this popular, there’s always a good reason. I strongly recommend everyone go try it!!"

A simple roast duck had opened the door to a whole new world for Andre.

He started wolfing down the food from the small pan as if he hadn’t eaten in days, stuffing handful after handful of sliced duck into his mouth.

"Can you finish all that?"

Lin Chen gestured to the other half of the duck. "If you can finish it, I’ll slice the rest for you. It doesn’t taste as good if you just tear at it."

"No, no," Andre waved his hand frantically, his words muffled. "I can’t, I really can’t eat another bite. Including this duck leg, I’ve eaten over two pounds of meat, plus a few hundred milliliters of thick soup. My stomach’s about to burst!"

"Is that so..."

Lin Chen nodded skeptically. After a moment’s thought, he still carved up the remaining half of the duck, wrapped it in leaves, and tied the package shut with some dry grass.

"Then take it with you for breakfast tomorrow. You don’t come all this way just to leave empty-handed. Besides, winter’s coming, so I need to conserve firewood. I don’t plan on cooking tomorrow morning."

Not one to be wasteful, he broke apart the remaining duck carcass, tossed it into the pot, and started making a broth. That would be his dinner.

"In that case, I’ll gladly accept! Lin, I’ll definitely be back in seven days!"

Andre had been about to make a polite refusal, but as soon as he heard there would be no breakfast tomorrow, he agreed without a second thought.

’Duck this delicious will be great even when it’s cold. No matter what, it’ll be better than anything I can make. I can definitely take it to go.’

Just as he was licking the last of the grease from his fingers and reaching for the enormous remaining duck leg, ready to savor the final delicacy of the night, the instincts honed by years of wilderness survival suddenly kicked in.

In an instant, a chill ran down his spine and the hairs on his arms stood on end. He had the distinct feeling of being watched by something dangerous.

He whipped his head around, peering through the gaps in the branch-woven fence.

In the endless darkness, a pair of gleaming green eyes was staring intently in their direction.