The North American Gourmet Demon Handbook

So, Li Shanze took a deep breath and said, "Xia Li, why don't you come and help me?"

"Huh, huh? Me?" Hearing Li Shanze's serious question, Xia Li's voice suddenly became less confident than before.

"Yeah, I might have encountered an undead wizard..." Li Shanze lowered his voice and said, "I need your help. I'll be at the Glass Palace soon. See you at the door of our suite."

"Ah? Uh-huh, okay." Charlie hesitated for only a second before agreeing, "But—"

Li Shanze smiled. He could hear the cunning in Xia Li's words. He certainly didn't mind Xia Li's conditions. "But?"

"But you have to accompany me to collect herbs. Since you said it's dangerous, you should protect me."

"Well, leave it to me."

Charlie smiled contentedly: "Hey, that's good. See you at the door of the suite."

…………

Gray's hand holding the lime was suspended in mid-air, and the pulp in the juicer oozed sour juice.

Looking at Anjie lying on the bed touching her left earlobe for the third time, for no reason, the lawyer suddenly felt that this action was a bit alienating.

"Charlie said she'd go out and gather herbs for your wound." Gray inserted a mint leaf into the ice, letting the water droplets on the edge of the glass slide to her fingertips. "Where exactly are you injured?"

Anjie's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't decided yet whether or not she should confess to her lover, let alone how to do so.

Anjie's mind was in a mess. She originally wanted to tell Gray everything that had happened to her as soon as she saw her.

But the sight of Gray and Li Shanze walking into the room side by side, talking and laughing, was like a heavy blow to her head, making her, who was already confused, dizzy and completely lost.

Therefore, Anjie could only reluctantly answer, "...My left leg. I sprained it."

The gears of the juicer suddenly seized, and the lime peels exploded in a spicy spray.

Gray stared at the phone bouncing on the counter, its black protective case vibrating towards the edge of the marble countertop.

Gray ignored the buzzing phone and said, "You called me out of the blue. Could it be that you just anticipated that you were in trouble?"

Anjie looked out the window at the snowflakes dancing wildly in the howling north wind. She forced a smile and said, "I was injured, and I felt I couldn't escape the FBI's clutches, so naturally I had to seek help from my lawyer, who has never lost a case."

Anjie felt that her smile was as pale as snowflakes blown here and there.

The phone stopped vibrating, and the light from the refrigerator flashed in Gray's eyes.

Gray noticed two fresh kiss marks on Anjie's slender neck. Although Anjie carefully covered them with a blanket and blonde hair, the always careful lawyer still noticed them.

The red marks hidden under the soft blonde hair looked like an unfinished Morse code. The lawyer wanted to know what the complete sentence meant.

Grey threw the ice cubes into the wine glass. The ice cubes hit the wall of the glass. In the silence, the echo was deafening. Grey's phone vibrated silently again.

After a moment of silence, the lawyer started talking about TV dramas: "I watched Blue Is the Warmest Color last week. In the sex scene in the blue classroom, the props team actually used real honey."

Anjie was silent for a moment. "...Ha, I should find a chance to watch it. Is it on Netflix?"

The phone stopped vibrating again. Gray looked indifferent. "You've never liked soap operas. You think they lack artistry. You say soap operas are often too exaggerated and lack space, just like—"

Gray paused, and they both said, "It's like kissing under an umbrella on a rainstorm. Your eyelashes will stick together."

After saying that, the two of them laughed together, but their smiles were somewhat forced.

"Want some, Margaret?" Gray asked.

Anjie shook her head subconsciously: "No, thank you."

Gray picked up the prepared Margarita, looked at the crystal clear wine glass, then raised her neck and drank the entire glass of light green wine.

Such a generous drinking attitude is completely inconsistent with her image as a meticulous elite lawyer.

Gray wiped the wine stain from her lips and sighed, "Ha, it tastes really good. No wonder you like this cocktail the most. I almost never drink so recklessly on a weekday. No, I want another one!"

After saying that, Grey casually picked up the bone china plate filled with lemons that was changed daily at the hotel bar, and gently felt the texture of the bone china plate with her thumb. The glaze surface groaned as she rubbed it, as if it was on the verge of breaking.

The phone vibrated for the third time. Gray had cut her index finger while cutting a lemon, and blood dripped onto the cutting board, staining it bright red.

"Oh, are you okay, Gray?" Anjie exclaimed. She struggled to sit up despite the pain. "I remember the Band-Aid was..."

"It's okay, Anjie, just take care of yourself. I only have superficial wounds, I can take care of it myself."

After saying this, the lawyer hurriedly fled the room and slammed the door.

Angel stared blankly at the wooden door of the room, saying nothing.

At the bar, Gray's phone stopped vibrating for the third time.

On the other side of the door, Gray leaned weakly against it, slowly slid down, and finally sat silently on the ground.

The lawyer put her index finger into her mouth; it tasted fishy, ​​salty, and had a rusty flavor.

It doesn't taste as good as a Margarita, she thought as she sucked.

…………

Li Shanze had no idea of ​​the extremely low tension between the lovers Angel and Gray in the suite. He returned to the Glass Palace and looked at the bright smile of the witch waiting in front of the suite, and his mood improved.

Xia Li walked towards Li Shanze and asked, "Hey, Li, where's your hat?"

"Ah, it died in the explosion of the Old Times Bar. Let us remember it deeply." Li Shanze said seriously.

"Haha, stop it." Charlie smiled. "Whatever you decide to do next, let's go buy you a hat first. You were coughing so badly earlier, you must have caught a cold from the cold wind."

Li Shanze originally wanted to explain that he was not coughing because of a cold, but when he opened his mouth, he realized that it was better not to explain.

"Okay, there is a gift department on the second floor. Let's go there." Li Shanze took a deep breath and said.

The two of them walked downstairs and went to the gift department on the second floor of the Glass Palace.

The lower floors of the Glass Palace were mostly rented out by the "Gods of War" production crew. However, after producer Tim Cohen was killed, the production crew was on the verge of disbanding.

To be more precise, the production team had been disbanded, but because they had to cooperate with the FBI investigation, everyone was forced to stay.

After several protests, people were allowed to move freely on the same floor; they were not allowed to go up or down the stairs, let alone leave the Glass Palace.

The air was filled with panic and anxiety, people were demoralized and looked dejected.

It is hard to imagine that they are the same group of people who threw themselves into the all-night revelry and extravagance last night.

Compared with the panicked crowd whose movements were restricted, Li Shanze was able to move smoothly thanks to his FBI credentials.

When he and Charlie passed by the studio, Charlie seemed to sense something and stopped suddenly.

Li Shanze followed Xia Li's gaze and saw the fluorescent vines parasitic in the crystal light tubes of the studio.

"That's the Tupana vine, which should only be found in the Amazon rainforest." Xia Li whispered to Li Shanze.

"Tupana vine?"

"The name comes from Tupa, the thunder god of the Tupi-Guarani indigenous people of Brazil. It specifically refers to the lightning vines that entwine the sacred tree on stormy nights. It is believed that they can absorb the power of the stars and transform it into a hallucinogenic fluorescence."

At this moment, the Tupana vine was withering at a speed visible to the naked eye - magically, although it seemed to be withering all the time, this withering seemed to have no end - and the withered vines turned into powder and scattered down, casting epileptic green spots on the Persian carpet.

Under the cover of the light spot, a disheveled executive producer stacked the unopened severance pay envelopes in an interlaced manner to form a cross shape.

A camera faithfully recorded his every move.

After concentrating on doing all this, he muttered to himself to the camera: "Tim said these spores can absorb lies...ah!"

He suddenly went mad and ran away screaming.

"Absorbing lies, is what he said true?" Li Shanze asked curiously.

"At least I've never heard that the powder from these vines is actually spores, nor that they can absorb lies." Charlie shook her head. "It seems more like hallucinogenic nonsense caused by the powder."

Li Shanze nodded. He naturally believed Xia Li's judgment. The man's symptoms looked similar to those of eating too many mushrooms.

"Wait a minute, Li, I have to put away the Tupana vine. Leaving it here will drive more people crazy." Charlie said.

Seeing Xia Li's eager look, Li Shanze thought that the witch might be excited to see this extremely rare plant and wanted to collect and study it.

Author's words: Thanks to (*О)σ for his monthly ticket

Thanks to NESeeker, Xu Shihan, and Wukong for their recommendations

064 Veritaserum

Watching Xia Li walk towards the Tupana vines, Li Shanze was still a little confused.

He didn't understand what Charlie planned to do with the huge, aggressive Tupana vine.

However, Li Shanze's doubts were immediately answered.

Charlie simply made a casual gesture and waved her sleeves. A gust of air rose, and the lights in the entire room flickered together, and then the Tupana vines disappeared.

In Li Shanze's eyes, Xia Li, with her black dress and long brown hair fluttering in the wind, finally coincided with the image of a witch - she was definitely not just a sweet and lovely young lady.

At this time, Charlie came back with satisfaction. It seemed that as a witch proficient in herbal medicine, she felt sincerely happy that she had harvested such a rare plant.

Li Shanze also roughly understood why he had never sensed the scent of herbs on Xia Li before - it seemed that she either had a spatial treasure that could store herbs, or she had some kind of spatial magic.

Charlie said with a smile, "Okay, let's go! Oh, and I remembered that this Tupana vine powder, besides being hallucinogenic, has a side effect: it makes people only tell the truth. Maybe that's what the gentleman just mentioned when he said 'absorbing lies'."

"Ah? Isn't this some kind of useful truth serum? This can't be considered a side effect, right? It can even be the main use of the Tupana vine?" Li Shanze said in surprise.

"No, it just makes people say what they think is the truth during hallucinations, which is very different from the real truth. For example, some people will admit that they are mushrooms because they are mushrooms in their hallucinations - so most of the time it's just nonsense."

Xia Li explained to Li Shanze seriously.

"My teacher said she used powder from this vine to assist in interrogations. Someone said something like, 'Before my mother died, she told me I was her illegitimate child with a Soviet spy. The evidence was on microfilm in her dentures.'"

"In fact, this 'mother' denture contains the formula for an antidepressant. She was once a whistleblower for Ceren Pharmaceuticals."

"And the illegitimate child rumors were a lie fabricated to cover up hereditary porphyria."

"As for the 'Soviet spy', he was actually a Russian piano teacher in the community and had nothing to do with the incident. Of course, he was indeed the illegitimate son of the Russian piano teacher."

"This type of interrogation wastes a huge amount of manpower and resources, but yields virtually no useful information. It's simply not qualified as a truth serum."

Li Shanze nodded. He had originally planned to use this truth serum to figure out what was going on, but now it seemed like he should just give up. "I see. I understand."

At this moment, a poodle ran into the studio, wagging its tail.

To Xia Li's surprise, Li Shanze took out his FBI ID in front of the poodle.

Li Shanze waved his ID at the poodle and yelled, "FBI! FBI! Officer, we're collecting clues!"

After the poodle was scared away, Li Shanze said with satisfaction: "Right, that's right, don't interfere with our duties, police officer!"

Xia Li looked at Li Shanze's somewhat dull eyes, which were exactly the same as the previous executive producer's. She rolled her eyes and realized something.

Li must have accidentally inhaled the hallucinogenic powder!

"Li, do you know me?" Xia Li asked tentatively.

"Well, you are Charlie Butner, the sweet and lovely witch lady." Li Shanze had a dull expression and a stiff tone.

Although the tone was dull, the sincerity was important, and the witch was extremely happy.

This straightforward, unconcealed compliment made Charlie's face blush uncontrollably. She patted her cheeks hard to calm herself down, and with great difficulty, she managed to suppress the upturned corners of her mouth.

Looking at Li Shanze, who was dumbfounded and had his mouth wide open, Xia Li forced herself to calm down and continued to ask tentatively, "Where do you think we are?"

"We are in the studio on the second floor of the Glass Palace." Li Shanze said as a matter of course.

"What's the weather like today?"

"The weather was terrible, with heavy snow."

After several attempts, Xia Li discovered that Li Shanze seemed to have accidentally inhaled a small amount of Tupana vine powder. Apart from mistaking a poodle for a police officer, he seemed to have no other hallucinations.

This is a godsend!

Charlie thought excitedly.

Xia Li fell in love with Li Shanze at first sight.

To be more precise, although she was initially frightened by the name of "Ogre", perhaps due to Stockholm syndrome, she almost fell in love with him in just one day.

But the ring on Li Shanze's left ring finger has always been a source of worry for Xia Li - for a witch lady who has received traditional medieval education, it is almost unacceptable for her to take the initiative to interfere in other people's marriages.

The witch, with a throbbing heart, decided to take advantage of this opportunity to see clearly what Li Shanze thought of his "wife".

"So, Mr. Li, what do you think of your wife?"

Li Shanze's originally dull expression changed. His face flushed and he shouted excitedly, "What wife? I don't have a wife! Alessia is a devil! A devil! She covets my soul and wants to eat me up completely!"

Hearing Li Shanze say this, Xia Li was both happy and sad.

Charlie was happy for herself.