Ding ding ding
Lin Mu woke up to the sound of the villa's bell ringing.
He stretched a bit as he got up to check.
"Sir, your lunch is ready," a servant at the door inford him.
"Alright, bring it in," Lin Mu said as he contacted Daoist Chu.
Monk Hushu was already in the villa, but the beast squad was nowhere to be seen.
'Did they go far?' Lin Mu wondered as he checked their connection. 'Not that far.' He could sense that they were a few kiloters away in the sea.
"Co back, lunch is here," Lin Mu spoke.
"We're coming!" Little Shrubby replied.
By the ti lunch was set up, the squad had returned.
"Where did you all go?" Lin Mu asked as he waited for Daoist Chu to return.
Monk Hushu was already sitting at the table, having heard the bell.
"We went to fish!" Xiao Yin replied.
"Yeah, we got a lot!" Xiao Yang added.
"So many fishes! And crabs! And shrimp!" Ashy chid in excitedly.
"We caught everything we could before moving further away," Little Shrubby replied. "The people of this place were helpful too! They kept on throwing bait to attract more beasts!" he added.
Hearing that, though, Lin Mu was sure it was not that simple.
But for the ti being, he didn't mind it and let it be.
CREAK
The door opened at this mont, and Daoist Chu and ng Bai swaggered in.
THUD
Monk Hushu, who was in the middle of eating so rice, dropped his bowl.
Lin Mu, too, was stunned, his eyes going wide.
"Whoa! So shiny!" Ashy's eyes lit up.
ng Bai looked like he had lost a bet with a jewelry store and decided to wear the entire inventory. His robes shimred, appearing as if they were woven from pure golden threads—so dazzling that they threatened to blind any poor soul who dared to gaze upon them for too long.
A massive golden chain hung around his neck, so absurdly large that it could double as an anchor for a small boat. His hair was tied up in the style of nobility, held in place by an ornate golden tortoise hairpin, which glead as if it were announcing its extravagant existence to the world.
His fingers were adorned with ten rings, each encrusted with gemstones so large that they could be mistaken for celestial artifacts. Rubies, sapphires, eralds—a veritable rainbow of wealth flashed every ti he moved his hands. And to top it off, he had several golden bracelets clanking on his wrists, a belt studded with jade, and—for so unfathomable reason—even golden anklets jingling with every step he took.
He looked less like a person and more like a walking treasure hoard.
"What... what did you turn him into?" Lin Mu asked, baffled by ng Bai's outrageously gaudy getup.
"Like it?" Daoist Chu asked, grinning like a mischievous fox.
"It's... too much," Lin Mu said, struggling to keep a straight face.
"Amitabha... This is brighter than the Buddha's statue at the temple," Monk Hushu murmured, bringing his hands together in prayer as if seeking divine protection from the sheer extravagance before him.
"You don't like it?" ng Bai asked, looking crestfallen.
"It's... not exactly what you'd want to wear outside," Lin Mu sighed. "Change into sothing simpler."
"Haha!" Daoist Chu burst into laughter. "I told you it would be funny!"
ng Bai's expression flipped instantly, turning into a wide grin.
"Yeah!" he laughed. "I'll go get changed." With that, he clinked and jingled his way back to the room he had picked out.
"So it was intentional?" Lin Mu raised a brow.
"I just wanted to see everyone's reactions. It was hilarious watching people stumble and fall when we walked through the city," Daoist Chu admitted. "The staff and the other patrons here were stunned too."
"Of course they were. He looks like he just raided a king's tomb and decided to wear all the loot at once," Lin Mu muttered, shaking his head.
"Don't worry, I got him a lot more clothes. There are more suitable outfits for daily life," Daoist Chu assured him.
"Fine..." Lin Mu sighed again. "Co sit."
"Yeah." Daoist Chu finally took a look at the food. "Wow, this is quite a spread."
The ten-ter-long banquet table was completely covered with various dishes. While it wasn't as extravagant as the als at the Four Fruits Restaurant, it was still impressive.
Once ng Bai returned in more reasonable attire, they began eating. Everyone had dishes they enjoyed, and even Monk Hushu had plenty of vegetarian options.
"This is shoo gooog," ng Bai mumbled with his mouth full.
"Gulp~ It's spicy and makes my mouth numb but still so good!" he added before shoveling in another mouthful.
"It's Mapo Tofu," Lin Mu inford him.
"I love it!" ng Bai declared before single-handedly demolishing the entire dish.
He then moved on to other spicy dishes, from braised snapper to goat spine soup, discovering a newfound love for Sichuan flavors.
Little Shrubby, anwhile, was busy analyzing every dish, ntally cataloging ingredients. He had developed an ability to identify flavors and ingredients with a single bite, making ntal notes for future reference.
The twins had their fill, while Ashy delighted in the special insect dishes. Crispy ants with a tangy kick, sweet custard-like Mallow Worms, and peppery scorpions cooked in their own venom—she happily devoured them all.
An hour later, they had finished everything, with the majority of the food disappearing into Lin Mu's bottomless stomach.
"Ahhhh~ that was nice," ng Bai said, letting out a satisfied burp.
"We got more things from the ocean too!" Little Shrubby announced, with Ashy translating.
"What did you get?" ng Bai asked.
"Lots of seafood! We can have them for dinner tonight!" Ashy said excitedly.
"How much did you get exactly?" Lin Mu asked warily.
"I can show you," Little Shrubby said before releasing everything he had stored.
THUD THUD THUD THUD
The banquet hall was instantly filled with a salty, fishy aroma as an entire mountain of seafood materialized before them, nearly consuming the entire hall.
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