They reached the great hall, a massive structure built from black stone and ancient wood. Inside, a feast was already being laid out by a flurry of servants. Roasted fish, river fowl, strange fruits, stead vegetables, and what looked like so kind of large, grilled lizard.
Xin Yi’s mouth watered despite the chaos. It actually looked......really good. Which was excessively shocking due to the fact that they were beast n.
Mo Yan gestured to a low table. "Sit, female. Eat. Then we’ll talk."
Xin Yi didn’t need to be told twice. She practically dove for the table, grabbing a piece of roasted fish and shoving it into her mouth.
It was delicious. Flaky, seasoned with so kind of herb she didn’t recognize, and perfectly cooked. Wow, these beast n already knew how to cook.
"Oh my god," she moaned, her eyes closing. "This is amazing."
When she opened them, both Mo Yan and Qing Lin were staring at her with identical expressions of intense focus.
"What?" she asked around a mouthful of fish.
"Nothing," they said in unison.
[DING! (¬‿¬)]
[System Note: They’re watching you eat like you’re the most fascinating thing in the world. This is what peak Alpha behavior looks like. Enjoy your dinner, Host!]
Xiao Long scrambled onto the cushion next to her, reaching for a piece of lizard. "Pink Skin, can you teach how to make the Liquid Gold? I want to feed it to my dad so he stops being grumpy!"
"Your father isn’t grumpy," Mo Yan said, though his scowl suggested otherwise. "I’m.....serious."
"Uh? You’re always grumpy," Xiao Long confird, biting into his food.
Xin Yi let out a snicker, but quickly covered her mouth when the two snake beast n yanked their heads to look at her.
Okay, bad idea.
"Alright," Xin Yi said, setting down her fish and looking between the two Serpent Kings. "Let’s establish so ground rules. Rule Number One: I am NOT a possession. I am a person. A human person who just wants to teach people how to not die of scurvy and maybe, maybe, go ho soday."
"Ho?" Mo Yan’s eyes narrowed. "Where is ho?"
"Very, very far away," Xin Yi said vaguely. She didn’t even know if she could actually return. "Rule Number Two: No more talk of ’taming’ or ’claiming’ or whatever weird Alpha nonsense you serpents do. I’m already marked by Hei Yan, which apparently ans sothing in this world."
"It ans you’re claid," Qing Lin supplied. "But as I’ve told you several tis, and as Mo Yan has confird......marks can be challenged."
"Well, nobody’s challenging ANYTHING until I finish eating!" Xin Yi grabbed another piece of fish. "Rule Number Three: If you want to teach your people anything, you ASK. Nicely. With please and thank you."
Mo Yan leaned back, his massive fra sohow everything else look tiny. "And if we don’t agree to your rules?"
Xin Yi pulled out the tiger claw Feng Huang had given her, waving it in the air. "Then I call the Tiger, and YOU deal with him."
Both serpents recoiled slightly.
"You have a Tiger’s summoning claw?" Mo Yan asked, his voice dropping.
"Yep! Feng Huang, the Tiger Alpha gave it to . Said if anyone ’breathes on too hard,’ he’ll co back and burn everything down." She smiled sweetly. "So. Do we have a deal?"
There was a long, tense silence.
Then Qing Lin started laughing. "She has got you cornered, Mo Yan."
Mo Yan’s scowl returned, but there was a glimr of respect in his yellow eyes. "Fine. We’ll play by your rules, little female. For now."
"My na is Xin Yi," she said firmly. "Not ’little female.’ Not ’Pink Skin.’ Xin Yi."
"Xin Yi," Mo Yan repeated, testing her na, like he was savoring each syllable. "Very well. Xin Yi. Eat. Rest. Tomorrow, we’ll discuss what you can teach my people."
"And then I go back to Qing Lin’s territory," Xin Yi added. "I still have seven days left on my deal with him."
"Six days," Qing Lin corrected. "And yes. She returns with ."
Mo Yan’s jaw clenched. "We’ll see."
"We’ll SEE?!" Xin Yi threw her hands up. "Oh my god, you serpents are IMPOSSIBLE!"
Xiao Long tugged on her sleeve. "Pink Sk— I an, Xin Yi? Can you tell a story while we eat? Uncle Qing said you know stories about ’trucks’ and ’televisions.’"
Xin Yi looked at the little boy’s eager face and felt her frustration lt. "Sure, kiddo. But only if you promise to stop climbing on like a jungle gym."
"Deal!"
As Xin Yi launched into an explanation of what a television was (to the utter confusion of everyone present), Mo Yan and Qing Lin exchanged a look over her head.
"She’s mine," Mo Yan mouthed silently.
"Over my dead body," Qing Lin mouthed back.
Neither of them noticed Xiao Long rolling his eyes. "Grown-ups are so strange. They act more like children than we children actually do," he muttered, reaching for more food.
[DING! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧]
[Quest Update: Survive Dinner With Two Serpent Kings!]
[Status: SUCCESS!]
[Reward: 500 Survival Points, 1 New Headache, 1 Adorable Snake Child Attachnt]
[New Quest Unlocked: The Black Water Challenge!]
[Objective: Teach the Black Water tribe without starting a war between Mo Yan and Qing Lin!]
[Ti Limit: 3 Days]
[Good luck, Host! You’re going to need it! ☆]
Xin Yi groaned internally but kept smiling as she told Xiao Long about cartoons.
Seven days turned into six. Six is about to turn into who-knows-how-many. At this rate, I’ll never get back to Hei Yan. That poor cat is probably a mud statue by now.
But for now, there was food, a curious child, and two very competitive Serpent Kings who kept trying to out-serve each other by piling more and more food onto her plate.
It could be worse.
Probably.
Maybe.
Okay, definitely worse when they start arm-wrestling over who gets to sit closer to .
"BOYS!" Xin Yi snapped as Mo Yan and Qing Lin literally started pushing each other. "PERSONAL SPACE! NOW!"
Neither of them moved.
Xin Yi sighed and reached for more fish.
It was going to be a long three days
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