Divine Level Witch Doctor

Zhao Yuan followed Lin Xue toward the school gate, with Yang Zi and Wu Yan close behind them.

After just a few steps, Yang Zi glanced sideways at Wu Yan, frowned, and said, ”What are you following us for? To be a third wheel? Xiaoxue is treating her benefactor to a meal; she didn’t invite you.”

”Aren’t you following too?” Wu Yan said, looking aggrieved.

Yang Zi huffed and retorted, ”How can you compare yourself to me? I’m Xiaoxue’s best friend!”

”And I’m Third Brother’s good brother!” Wu Yan argued back.

Yang Zi waved her hand dismissively. ”Enough nonsense. Just stop following us. Go on, get lost!”

Helpless, Wu Yan could only stop in his tracks. He watched their departing figures and sighed heavily. ”I never would have guessed... So Third Brother is the real hidden master of picking up girls! We tried everything we could think of and couldn’t even get the Sweetheart Goddess to look our way, but the moment he shows up, she makes the first move and eagerly invites him to dinner... It’s infuriating to see how easy he has it!”

Many others around them shared Wu Yan’s opinion. While sighing in despair, some felt they shouldn’t suffer alone and decided to drag others down with them. They all pulled out their phones, snapped pictures of the trio walking away side-by-side, and posted them on the school forum.

In an instant, posts like ”Shocking News! Sweetheart Goddess in Passionate Embrace with Mystery Man!” and ”Heartbreak! Sweetheart Goddess Suspected to Have a Boyfriend!” flooded the school forums, setting off wave after wave of heated discussion. As time went on, the rumors grew more and more outrageous, and the post titles became increasingly sensational. Shameless, bottom-of-the-barrel fake news and gossip like ”Sweetheart Goddess and Mystery Man Go Out to Get a Room” and ”Mystery Man with a Girl on Each Arm, Suspected Threesome, So Jealous!” began to pop up, attracting countless eyeballs.

While shocked and heartbroken, people were also scrambling to find out the mystery man’s identity and background. Some were clamoring to take the mystery man as their master to learn his girl-chasing skills, hoping to bag a goddess of their own. Others angrily declared they were going to smash the windows of the mystery man’s house. And then there were the troublemakers, who agitated to form a group to jump the mystery man and vent their bitter hatred...

That night, the West Hua Medical University forums were in an uproar over two consecutive pieces of major news.

Zhao Yuan, the cause of both major news stories, was completely unaware of any of it.

After leaving campus, led by Lin Xue and Yang Zi, they arrived at a hot pot restaurant. As they were about to enter, Zhao Yuan hesitated. ”Maybe we should just find a random roadside stall. I have a big appetite, so hot pot isn’t very cost-effective.”

”This hot pot place is delicious. Besides, you’re my benefactor. How could I possibly treat you to a roadside stall?” Lin Xue gave Zhao Yuan no chance to refuse, pulling him inside. Yang Zi joked from the side, ”Don’t worry, it’s an all-you-can-eat hot pot buffet. Fifty yuan per person. Just eat your heart out. The more you eat, the more you get your money’s worth.”

”Oh, is that so?” Zhao Yuan smiled. ”Then I can relax.”

The three of them entered the hot pot restaurant, chose a table, and went to get their food.

Lin Xue and Yang Zi were girls with small appetites, so they returned to their seats after getting some beef and vegetables. Zhao Yuan was a different story. Since this was a fifty-yuan all-you-can-eat buffet, he was naturally going to eat his fill. He stacked dozens of plates, one on top of the other, until they formed a small hill, and every single one was piled with meat—for someone practicing the Four Saints Technique, a meat-heavy diet was necessary to meet his body’s demands.

Zhao Yuan’s mountain of food not only stunned the other diners in the restaurant but also gave the staff quite a shock.

In all their time running the restaurant, they had never seen someone carry so much food at once. A waiter immediately came over and reminded him, ”Student, our restaurant’s rule is you only take as much as you can eat. If there’s too much food left in the pot at the end, there will be an extra charge.”

Zhao Yuan nodded. ”Yes, I know. Don’t worry, I can definitely finish all of this.” He kept the second half of his thought to himself: ’This is just an appetizer. I’ll have to get a lot more later.’

Luckily, the waiter didn’t have the Mind Reading Technique, or he would have thrown Zhao Yuan out on the spot!

At first, Lin Xue and Yang Zi were laughing and chatting with Zhao Yuan. But as he ate, and ate, the two of them fell silent, staring in utter shock as Zhao Yuan continuously stuffed food into his mouth.

It wasn’t just the two of them; the other diners in the hot pot restaurant were also dumbfounded. As for the waiters, they were completely stupefied. They had seen big eaters before, but never *this* big of an eater. Was this man even human? Could he be a Taotie disguised in human skin?

”How many plates has he eaten? He’s still going!”

”I don’t know the exact number, but I know he’s already gone up to get food five times with a large tray. And each time, the stack of small plates on that tray had to be at least thirty-some, if not forty!”

”Damn, I’ve seen big eaters, but never *this* big! One guy eating a hundred-some plates... The owner of this buffet is probably going to be eaten into bankruptcy!”

The whispered conversations of the people around him reached Zhao Yuan’s ears, causing his face to flush slightly, but the pace of his eating didn’t slow down one bit. It was his own stomach, after all. If he didn’t eat his fill, he’d be the one going hungry. As for what other people said, he couldn’t control it, so he let them talk.

Another half an hour passed before Zhao Yuan finally cleaned out the pot and put down his chopsticks.

”Are you... finished? Would you like to get any more food?” Lin Xue asked meekly, having been in a state of shock for some time.

”No need,” Zhao Yuan said, patting his stomach contentedly. ”Can’t get too full. Eighty percent is just right.”

”You’re kidding, right? You ate all that, and you’re only eighty percent full?” Yang Zi’s jaw dropped as she exclaimed, ”Is that stomach of yours even human? Are you sure you’re not a bottomless pit?”

”Ah Zi, what a thing to say,” Lin Xue said, quickly tugging on Yang Zi’s sleeve and apologizing on her behalf. ”Zhao, please don’t be angry. Ah Zi didn’t mean anything by it; she was just too surprised.”

”It’s fine, I don’t mind. My appetite really is a bit big,” Zhao Yuan said, scratching his head.

’A bit big? It’s completely inhuman!’ Yang Zi retorted in her head.

After a short rest, Lin Xue got up to pay the bill. Zhao Yuan had intended to pay, but Lin Xue refused. In her words, she was treating her benefactor to a meal to express her gratitude, so there was no way she could let him spend money. Otherwise, her gratitude wouldn’t be properly conveyed.

As they were leaving the hot pot restaurant, the owner rushed out from behind the cash register, found Zhao Yuan, and stuffed several coupons into his hand, pleading pitifully, ”Student, these coupons are for that other all-you-can-eat hot pot place down the street. Next time you want hot pot, please go to their restaurant. I’m running a small business here, I really can’t afford to serve you!”

The owner was genuinely terrified. The amount of food Zhao Yuan had eaten by himself was equivalent to what ten or twenty people would eat. If he came a few more times, the owner would definitely go out of business!

Zhao Yuan was mortified. In fact, just a moment ago he had been thinking that getting so much food for fifty yuan was a great deal and that he could come back often. But after what the owner said, he was too embarrassed to ever return.

After seeing the trio off, the owner immediately gathered all his employees. With a grim expression, he instructed them, ”Did you all get a good look at that kid? If he ever comes back, you have to find a way to keep him out. I don’t care if you have to lock the doors and pull down the security gate!”