Fishing
“If only Qiao Xue was here,” Xiaoshuai bemoaned because Mu Yu got lost again. “It’s all Mu Yu’s fault for not taking Qiao Xue with us yesterday.”
“Shut up. It was a daunting task just to get us out of there. Besides, Long Xingyun wouldn’t hurt her. Focus on fishing out an inkfiend ape.”
Mu Yu created a luxury small boat out of Wood Spirit, decorating it with a tall linden tree he was lying under for some refreshing air.
“You make it sound as if fishing for them is finding grains of sand in a desert,” rebuked Xiaoshuai, wagging his tail in the water to fish for an inkfiend ape.”
From the tree, the dragon vine yawned. “Rodent, you’ve been at it for hours already, yet you still haven’t found anything.”
“You catch one, then, genius! I’m the only one here who can manipulate spiritual qi to smell like what they like to bait them in. You think I want to do this? What if the ape wants to have a Mini Xiaoshuai Junior with my irresistible self?”
“Just reject her. It’s not as if it’s the first time you’ve rejected someone. Remember what happened at Second Heaven,” responded Mu Yu.
“Inkfiend apes are different to other fiend beasts; once they fall for you, they’ll never have a change of heart.”
“I’ll scare her off, then,” proposed the dragon vine.
“Okay, Mr. I Can Only Scare Ignorant Baby Fiends, I’ll have you know inkfiend apes won’t stop at anything when it comes to fighting for love!”
“By the way, Dragon Vine, aren’t you a mighty true dragon? Why are you plateauing at level five?” Mu Yu inquired.
“Because the slacker never trains properly,” Xiaoshuai answered on behalf of the dragon vine.
“What? I diligently absorb Mu Yu’s spiritual energy in secret daily…”
“The heck? You a parasite?” Mu Yu asked, surprised to hear that.
The dragon vine rubbed its head against Mu Yu’s arm. “I’ve never thought well of any human or fiend except for you.
“Should I feel accomplished, then?”
“I just don’t think you’ll be bothered. Back on topic now. I don’t know why I can’t ascend to level six in spite of accumulating so much spiritual energy. I don’t know if something is missing or if we dragons cultivate differently to other fiend beasts. I haven’t found the correct way to cultivate yet.”
“Hahaha, Big Earthworm, no dragon sleeps to cultivate. He still can’t even assume human form. All those dragons he calls frauds are superior to him if you ask me. They have instructors, while Big Earthworm doesn’t.”
“Why would I assume human form and sacrifice my dominant aura? Besides, you can’t assume human form, either!”
“Says who?”
“What? You can morph into a human, Xiaoshuai?!”
“Obviously. Humans don’t look as good as me, though, so I don’t use a human form. Also, I’m not a fiend or fiend beast,” Xiaoshuai said with his chest.
“What are you, then, a stack of crap?” ridiculed the dragon vine.
“You’re the stack of crap around here! I’m a divine… divine… divine beast!”
“Divine beast of retardation.”
“You know, I’m just realising how little I know about you two despite all the time we’ve spent together,” remarked Mu Yu. “Xiaoshuai, show me your human form?”
Xiaoshuai bit his finger and mused to himself. “I haven’t decided which human looks good enough, so I’ll pass.”
“Yours truly here is as good as they get,” claimed Mu Yu, patting his face.
“You? I’d rather not,” mocked Xiaoshuai.
“I’m handsome!”
“Not as handsome as me.”
As the trio engaged in a debate over the definition of “handsome”, an energy signal approached swiftly and capsized their small boat, spurring Mu Yu to use Wood Spirit Sword as a platform while he grabbed Xiaoshuai and the dragon vine.
Thick blue tentacles with spikes on them extended out of the water, and out came a rock-sized head. The height of the inkfiend ape with sixteen tentacles attached to its upper body was over a dozen metres.
“Xiaoshuai, what level did you say they are?”
“Normally four!”
“What level is this one?”
“Just seven.”
“Just?! I asked for a normal one! I was going to let them go after borrowing some of their ink! What did you fish for a level seven one for?!”
“I can’t choose who falls for me? Be reasonable!”
The inkfiend ape paid no heed to Mu Yu or the dragon, instead, focusing intently on Xiaoshuai. The two of them hissed back and forth, and then, suddenly, the big fiend beast leaned its face in close to Xiaoshuai and blushed!
You can’t be serious… Do fiend beasts even compare the difference in size between them and Xiaoshuai? What the devil? Mu Yu reactively blurted in his mind.
“She said most inkfiend apes don’t like her because she’s too strong and that I’m the only one who signalled I had feelings for her,” translated Xiaoshuai, then shouting into the sky, “Is it a crime to be handsome?!”
“Ask for her ink!” badgered Mu Yu.
“She said she could take us straight to the island since she knows the way. Having said that…”
“What?” pestered the dragon vine.
“She wants to,” – Xiaoshuai placed his knuckles together and pressed one thumb on top of the other – “after we get back.”
“Okay, deal!” declared the dragon vine.
“Shut your big mouth!”
“Xiaoshuai, look at the bigger picture,” goaded Mu Yu.
“Exactly. Sacrifice is inevitable in life. You have my support. Plus, I want to see how Xiaoshuai Junior looks,” added the dragon vine.
“Objection!”
“You can have the crown’s spirit milk.”
“Objection!”
“Plus thirty drumsticks.”
“Deal!”
Xiaoshuai and the dragon vine climbed onto Mu Yu’s shoulder. The inkfiend ape hissed bashfully and then scooped them up onto its broad shoulders.
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