Ellie had a look of surprise when she saw the Starlight crab parched up on Yang Qing's shoulder. Despite its tiny size, its white shiny lustre coupled with its golden radiance made it eye-catching. Its look soon turned from surprise to unveiled greed.
The Starlight crab was pulled out of its euphoric state when it suddenly sensed a dangerous aura locking on to it. On reflex, it shielded the wisdom pearl of the cyclone arc prawn using one of its claws, as it used the other in preparation for an attack.
On seeing Ellie's unconcealed greed, it firmly clasped the wisdom pearl in between its claws as the other claw grew with a deep golden glow surrounding it as if charging up for an attack. The starlight crab seemed to have misunderstood Ellie's target and thought she was after the wisdom pearl in its possession.
Even if Ellie was multiple levels stronger than it, it was determined to fight back. It had suffered a ruthless beating for the pearl, there was no way it was going to hand it out without a fight. It was determined to fight to the bitter end.
"Is it brave or just recklessly stupid?" Yang Qing wondered as his gaze fell on the starlight crab that was just at the brink of charging a preemptive strike on Ellie.
"I think rather than increasing its strength, based on how it does things, I should help it increase its ability to take a beating. Otherwise, with its strike-first personality, it will definitely die prematurely before it's even able to be a competent pond guard.
Though if it does die, it's meat..slurp..no no no, starlight is my guard, a comrade…slurp …..but what if....no , no …Yang Qing focus, focus...Ellie getting beaten, Ellie getting beaten...Your pond being full….Ellie getting beaten…"
Yang Qing repetitively muttered 'Ellie getting beaten' like a mantra for almost a minute before he finally stopped when some clarity returned to his eyes. It was in good time too because Starlight had already leaped off his shoulders, charging straight at Ellie who had a mocking eager gaze on her.
"Stop it you two," Yang Qing said as he pulled back the Starlight crab that was already in midair. The crab was still reeling its claws but it didn't take long for it to recover from its combative state. As for Ellie, she did what she did best, which was lower her head in fake submission and remorse whilst cooking up something in her head that she will definitely pull at a later time.
Yang Qing could only sigh at this. Before the starlight crab grew strong, he would have to protect it from Ellie which would be another added chore in addition to ensuring Ellie didn't steal from him.
"Maybe I should have her stay at Yi Jie's abode in the meantime. She is always well-behaved around him for some reason," Yang Qing tentatively thought, increasingly feeling that this was his best play. Otherwise, with his upcoming schedules, he would barely have any time to rest, let alone play mediator between two reckless spirit beasts.
Yang Qing decided to push the matter to the back of his head and focus on the most important task, grilling the redears and bluegills that he had caught from the lake.
He quickly got to work as he expertly gutted them, cleaned their innards with the spring water rice wine, and then stuffed some herbs, onions, and other condiments in that space. He then proceeded to slowly roast them over a gentle white flame he had produced.
Due to their nature as yin-based spirit beasts, they were extremely sensitive to flames. Any misstep in temperature control and the whole meat would disintegrate into ash. Yang Qing used his palace sense to make sure he smoothly controlled the flames as he evenly spread it around the fish's body. After twenty minutes of slow, gentle, all-around burn, all the fish he had on hand were beautifully roasted.
They had a golden hue to their skins and produced a waft of smoke that was mouthwatering. All party members present, except for Starlight, were affected by the smell. Yang Qing and Ellie had glittering eyes with an accompaniment of drool, while the man who had firmed himself to continue acting like a corpse, had his nose involuntary move a few times before he finally opened his eyes and directed it towards the perfectly roasted fish Yang Qing had lined up over a few large plates.
As for Starlight, the fish might have well-been dung compared to the pearl it was currently making crab noises to. Everything else seemed to pale in comparison to the pearl.
"I may not be a match for the chefs at the Thousand Flavors restaurant and the like but this isn't too shabby If I do say so myself," said Yang Qing as he smugly admired his work.
He sprinkled a few more condiments on it that produced a sizzling sound as they burned from the heat coming from the roasted fish.
"Now it's done," Yang Qing said with a smile as he poured himself a cup of the spring water rice wine.
"Ellie you get five, Starlight you get…well forget about it."
Yang Qing decided against giving Starlight anything when he saw the look of disdain he got from it before it hurriedly returned its gaze to the pearl.
"Ellie you get seven then.... and wipe that 'you're unfair' look off your face or I will reduce it to two."
Yang Qing calmly berated Ellie once he noticed she was about to complain about the distribution. If Starlight had accepted Yang Qing's offer, he would have received five just like Ellie. Ellie in typical Ellie fashion had expected to get the lion's share of Starlight's bit. She expected to receive three or four with Yang Qing getting one or two.
She thought it was only fair, since she was the kite here and fish was like the primary food for any kite. Out of principle, she deserved the biggest share and she also had those fake wounds to heal. In her mind she had every justification to get more but all that was shelved the moment Yang Qing threw a threatening look at her.
"Just you wait, Yang. A thousand years isn't too long for a kite to get its revenge," Ellie vengefully thought as she did her best to conceal her true thoughts. Too bad she never how horrible she was at it. Her internal thoughts were as clear as day to Yang Qing.
Yang Qing decided to ignore her as he would deal with her like he always did. Nothing a swift punch to the head couldn't fix. When the time came, he would give her a generous helping of it.
"What about you? Still going to pretend to be dead or are you going to join me? They are really good and I have good wine to go along with it. If you still want to take your life, you can do so after you've filled your stomach," Yang Qing said as he placed aside a plate that had seven roasted fish in it.
The man was still silent as he cast a gaze in Yang Qing's direction. He still didn't say anything as he had this forlorn look to him. Even though he seemed to be looking at Yang Qing, his mind seemed to be elsewhere.
A few minutes elapsed like that without him saying anything and his gaze fixed on the area Yang Qing stood.
Yang Qing sighed at this as he set aside his plate and placed a wine urn filled with spring water rice wine, next to it.
He gave Ellie her share who swiftly grabbed it and disappeared off to the other side of the lake as if afraid Yang Qing would steal from her.
Yang Qing calmly sat down and picked a roasted fish from his share. As the chef and the fisherman, it was only reasonable for him to have a bit more compared to the rest. He had ten, no eleven... since he took the extra fish left over when he evenly split Starlight's share between Ellie and the man stuck in a gaze.
A tranquil silence engulfed the place as Yang Qing and Ellie enjoyed their fish in separate corners, while Starlight had finally gotten over its earlier excitement and had begun refining the wisdom pearl.
As for the crippled core formation expert, he had at some gotten up and was seated in a lotus position with his gaze still trained on where Yang Qing stood when he made his offer to him.
"Ruo'er would have loved this," the man suddenly said as he got up and walked towards Yang Qing in slow weak steps.
Yang Qing didn't say anything as he continued to calmly enjoy his drink and meal.
"Fellow daoist, forgive me for my earlier rudeness, I would like to thank you for saving my life. Despite my intent, it was rude of me to make that statement when you showed me kindness.
For that, I Ma Yuan I'm deeply sorry for my shameful behavior and thankful for the concern and help you showed to a complete stranger such as myself. I have nothing else to offer other than my bow, I hope you don't take offense," the man said in a gentle stable tone that didn't seem to match his weakened state.
Though he struggled with it, he was still able to give Yang Qing a ninety-degree bow. Yang Qing made no move to stop him, as any interference by him would have likely had a negative effect. The bow may not seem like much but to that man, that bow seemed like it was his entire possession and self-worth. The only thing he had on him worth giving, and denying him that, would be shattering whatever little he had left to him.
Yang Qing cupped his fists in acknowledgment as he slid over the plate he had set aside for him along with the wine urn.
"Many thanks for the offer," Ma Yuan said as he slowly sat down and grabbed one of the fish on his plate. He gave it a long stare before he took a bite of it.
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