The Xiezhi on the other side was not polite to Ji Yuan at all, and the words "otherwise I'll eat it all myself" did not seem to be a joke. Ji Yuan left for a while, and when he came back he found that there was obviously less fish meat. On the face of the illusory man, the mouth of the Xiezhi on the scroll kept moving, and the illusory hand picked up another large piece of fish meat with chopsticks and stuffed it into the painting.
"Not bad, not bad. It smells good and tastes even better. Ji Yuan, your cooking skills are also an incredible magical power. An ordinary fish made of the essence of water has been transformed into something magical in your hands. It's a pity that this magical power cannot be used to collect food. But it's also good, very good! Tsk tsk tsk... Woo woo..."
Xiezhi praised the dish highly, and freely controlled the phantom hands to pick up fish meat continuously. He tasted the flavor in his mouth and chewed it quickly before swallowing it, repeating vaguely words like "delicious, delicious" over and over again.
Ji Yuan smiled and thought to himself: "Who said that this cooking skill can't recruit people?"
"As long as you think it tastes good, I'm afraid that my cooking skills won't be up to par and you, Xiezhi, will despise me. But you should be more gentle with your actions and eat with some proper manners..."
"Hahahaha... I don't care about how he eats or sits. You, Ji Yuan, are also bound by these rules. There's no need for so many rules."
The more Ji Yuan talked, the more diligently Xiezhi picked up his chopsticks. He would often only start chewing quickly after two or three large pieces of fish entered his mouth, while his chopsticks had already reached into the bowl again.
Ji Yuan saw that something was wrong and quickened his pace. Although he looked very gentle while eating, he was not slow at all when he picked up his chopsticks. This was something he had practiced. Although today he was mainly inviting Xiezhi to eat fish, Ji Yuan had no intention of eating less.
However, 30% of Ji Yuan's attention was always on the Confucian scholar and other people who were looking at the rich and powerful over there, so he was unable to give his full strength.
"Delicious, delicious. I'll try this fish soup again!"
While chewing fish in its mouth, Xiezhi reached out and opened the large sand basin with a lid on one side. As soon as the lid was opened, it was as if a seal was opened, and a rich and fresh fragrance gushed out, and an illusory glow seemed to spread around the sand basin.
"Great! It turns out the real essence is all in this pot of fish soup!"
Xiezhi couldn't wait to pick up the bowl, filled it up with a soup spoon, and even used chopsticks to pick up the shark fin and the large piece of meat underneath, as well as the fresh meat on the cheek of one of the fish heads.
Ji Yuan raised his eyebrows and looked at Xiezhi.
"You guys, after sleeping for so long, you actually know how to eat!"
"Hey, thank you for the compliment!"
Xiezhi answered and gulped down a big mouthful of soup. On the scroll in front of him, the mythical beast in the painting actually emitted a faint red light, and a hint of intoxication appeared on the beast's face.
"This is one of the best things I've ever eaten, it's really good... If I'm trapped here just for today, it seems to be worth it!"
Ji Yuan grinned, said "thank you" and then added.
"These are the only two fish I have. It's useless for you to flatter me."
“Hahahahahahaha…”
Xiezhi laughed loudly and happily. He was very satisfied with the taste of the fish and fish soup, but he was even more pleased with Ji Yuan's attitude towards him, Xiezhi. If it were someone else, who would dare to say that he, Xiezhi, was flattering
"Ji Yuan, you have transformed two mere fish made of water essence into something magical. Let's catch something even more amazing in the future. I will do the cooking and you will cook. Isn't that fun?"
Ji Yuan was stunned for a moment, looked at the Xiezhi scroll and asked subconsciously.
"What's more amazing?"
The Xiezhi on the scroll seemed to be approaching the frame, with a majestic animal face pasted on the drawing paper.
"For example, the eggs of the phoenix, the tendons of the dragon, the hooves and tongues of the mountain goat, the legs of the deer, the meat of the armadillo..."
Even Ji Yuan, who was at that state today, couldn't help but break out in a sweat when he heard these words. If it weren't for his extraordinary concentration and the unified control over his body and soul, he would have probably broken out in a cold sweat.
"Forget about these things. Mr. Ying and I are close friends. How can I eat dragon tendons? And I have a song called "Phoenix Seeking Phoenix" which was given to me by the phoenix. How can I take the phoenix eggs?"
Xiezhi looked at Ji Yuan seriously and nodded.
"That makes sense. Then the dragon and phoenix will not be considered!"
Ji Yuan could only shake his head and smile. When he looked down, he found that a considerable amount of fish meat was visibly missing. It turned out that the Xiezhi kept talking and was not slowing down its eating speed.
On the other side, apart from a few guards who were cleaning the already clean stove and were busy taking food and dishes from the carriage to prepare for cooking, everyone else, including the Confucian scholar and several other relatives, were all attracted by the smell of fish from Ji Yuan and Xiezhi, and many of them were swallowing their saliva frequently.
Xiezhi spoke without restraint, and some of his words were heard by others. It was completely inaudible what he said about the essence of water, but the fact that he ate dragons and phoenixes raw was really scary. Moreover, the large bowl of fish meat was shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye, while Ji Yuan and Xiezhi, who were sitting at the table, did not even have a bulging stomach, which was also very horrifying.
"Master... if these two are not masters, they may be aliens... should we set off immediately?"
The leader of the guards had a bad temper towards Ji Yuan and Xiezhi before, but of course he has come to his senses now. The two people in front of him are obviously very strange, and their actions are not like those of warriors at all. In the Southern Wilderness, although monsters and ghosts do not appear every day, normal people still know something about them, and there are some folk ways to avoid them. The most common one is to pretend not to know and stay away.
The scholar was still holding a cup of tea brought by Ji Yuan. The tea was still warm and it was the right time to drink it. He waved his hand to signal the guards to be patient. He was feeling worried before and didn't want to leave immediately after seeing these two people.
"I think those two gentlemen must be experts. I will ask for their advice later. By the way, go get the good wine we have prepared. I will also prepare the venison we hunted yesterday and let them taste it."
"yes!"
The leader of the guards could only obey the order and continue to be cautious and vigilant towards Ji Yuan and Xiezhi. Even though the two people in front of him might be masters, it was more likely that they were encountering villains.
"By the way, sir, please wait a moment."
The guard walked quickly towards the carriage and came back soon with something covered with cloth. He placed it on the ground on one side, which was hidden by the table and people. He lifted the cloth and revealed a birdcage with two canaries in it.
The guard quickly reached out from the cage door, grabbed a canary, then used a silver needle to touch the tea in the scholar's teacup and put it into the canary's mouth. The bird could not wait to smell the fragrance of the tea and opened its mouth to hold the silver needle and suck the tea into its mouth.
When the canary was being fed tea, Ji Yuan and Xiezhi noticed it, but they just looked at it with disdain.
Canaries are a type of bird with high spirituality. They are particularly sensitive to scents and can use them to identify filth and toxicity. These two are especially so. They have been specially trained by mages, and their method of identification is very simple, which is to test the poison on themselves.
After waiting for a while, the canary that was put back into the cage showed no signs of abnormality. Its eyes even seemed bright and it looked very happy.
"Master, this tea should be fine."
The scholar was waiting for these words. After hearing them, he blew on the surface of the tea lightly, then took a sip. His eyes suddenly lit up, and he drank the tea in one gulp. The moment the tea went into his stomach, he felt a warm current entering his stomach along with the fragrance of the tea, and then flowing into every part of his body.
"Good tea..."
After drinking the tea, the scholar was almost certain that he had met a master. Maybe this master was waiting for him here specially. A wizard once said that true masters are hard to find. Nine out of ten of those seen in the market are not skilled enough, and a considerable number of them are scammers.
The scholar had a strong intuition in his heart, so he stood up and walked quickly to the table of Ji Yuan and Xiezhi, bowed his head and kowtowed.
"I am Li Ping, and I used to be the governor of Yangshan County. Now I have resigned and am now a layperson. I have been troubled for years and have not been able to resolve my problem. Today I have met two masters, and I hope you can give me some advice!"
Ji Yuan turned around and looked at the Confucian scholar, but before he could say anything, Xiezhi sneered first.
"Have you ever been a high-ranking official and need to tell us?"
This sentence made the scholar stunned for a moment, and then a little embarrassed. It was Ji Yuan who helped him out. He sat on the stool while holding the chopsticks and casually returned the greeting.
"Sir, you don't have to be so polite. Get up quickly. If you have anything to say, wait until we finish eating the fish. There is no rush."
"That's right, eating is the most important thing in the world!"
Xiezhi echoed the words, but he didn't stop talking or doing anything.
"yes!"
The scholar retreated again and sat at a table closer to him, waiting. When a guard came over, he just waved his hand to signal him.
Ji Yuan ate for a while longer, and his movements slowed down. He drank two more bowls and then put down his chopsticks, leaving Xiezhi to finish his meal on his own. He then stood up and walked to the Confucian scholar, waiting for him to stand up and salute.
"Is it okay for Ji to sit here?"
"Please help yourself, sir!"
"Well, tell me, what's going on?"
Ji Yuan sat down at the table and stretched out his hand to the side, and the teacup and teapot next to the fish basin slowly flew over.
The scholar calmed down a little and started to tell the story quickly.
"Sir, my Li family has been a single-line family for generations. In my generation, we have not given birth to any children. My wife and three concubines have been pregnant several times, but they have all had miscarriages. My family has invited many masters to perform many rituals. There have also been gods who can call the wind and rain. They all said that my family is blessed with great fortune and there is nothing wrong. There is no reason why we have no children..."
Ji Yuan frowned slightly.
"I see from your aura that you should have the aura of descendants now."
"Yes, sir, you are right. My wife is indeed pregnant now, but this pregnancy... Others are pregnant for ten months, but my wife has been pregnant for almost three years, and the baby has not been born yet..."
Ji Yuan's previous feeling of uneasiness suddenly became much stronger. He knew without even having to calculate that the fate of this fetus was probably very ominous.