"Why did you have to do that?"
After leaving the Secret Garden of the Flower Leaf Child, Agunas was somewhat dissatisfied as he spoke to Veronia, who was walking at the back of the group with a small parasol. Hearing Agunas’s words, Veronia glanced at him with a look that showed she disdained to explain. Feng Yuan turned his head to look at the two Divine Beasts. Fortunately, they hadn’t really started arguing, it seemed that Veronia didn’t want to bother with him.
Yun You glanced at Cen Chudie and noticed that she was just in a low mood and there wasn’t any other problem, which was a relief. Looking at Feng Yuan, who was teasing Xiao Ji, it seemed that he wasn’t affected by the recent incident. However, Qi Chen seemed to be lagging behind, apparently talking to Ah Mu. Thinking it over, Yun You spoke up,
"How about we stop at that clearing up ahead?"
Feng Yuan, who was leading the way in front, turned his head and said,
"We could, but are you guys hungry already?"
Their plan was to follow the stream upstream, and when they got tired, they would rest on the spot while also preparing a wild meal. If it got too late, camping out was also an option. At most, they would have Xiao Ji go back to send a message. Seeing Feng Yuan’s puzzled expression, Yun You smiled slightly and said,
"Yes, what do you think?"
"Then let’s stop there. I was still hoping there would be something special ahead," Feng Yuan said somewhat regretfully. Cen Chudie understood that Yun You probably did it for her, wanting to divert her attention to food so she wouldn’t think about what had happened there, knowing full well her appetite and clearly understanding that such a short distance would not make her hungry so quickly.
"Thanks for that~"
Feng Yuan said somewhat embarrassingly to Little Green Snake, feeling like he hadn’t really taken good care of it. Every time he needed help, he would go to it, while Little Green Snake, who was working with Big Cat to move things out of the small space, looked at Feng Yuan, shook its head, and chuckled. Feng Yuan then organized the cooking tools.
Since Little Green Snake’s small space was big enough, they had stuffed most of the cooking tools inside. Granny Mianlan, upon seeing this, had been somewhat surprised and asked,
"Are you guys planning to move houses?"
Yun You picked up a big soup pot and said,
"It might take a bit longer, do you mind?"
"No worries, we’re not hungry anyway. Take your time, though the main meal might be a bit troublesome," Feng Yuan said, glancing at the sky as the afterglow of the sunset made him feel a bit guilty. Qi Chen glanced at Feng Yuan and said without words,
"Aren’t you going to help?"
Although they weren’t hungry at the moment, if they kept delaying, it might become problematic later, and surely, they couldn’t all rely on Yun You alone, could they? Scratching Xiao Ji’s neck, Feng Yuan chuckled and said,
"What about you?"
"I’ll definitely help too, but... don’t blame me if I don’t do well," Qi Chen said, his confidence faltering. It couldn’t be helped, compared to Feng Yuan, the food he made was barely edible; he really didn’t have much practice, and he wasn’t very interested in cooking either—it was just too far removed from him.
"Preparing all these ingredients... seems a bit much, doesn’t it?" Cen Chudie looked at the ingredients being taken out by Little Green Snake and Big Cat and said with a bit of a headache. Feng Yuan glanced at the little lizard beside her and said,
"Why not just make more of its food? Such a simple solution."
"Is that really okay?" Cen Chudie said somewhat apologetically; the lizard’s appetite was not small, and preparing food for it could take quite some time. Feng Yuan glanced at Cen Chudie and said,
"What’s the issue? Since you’ll be making it yourself anyway, but wait until we’re done before you start."
"That’s so disheartening." Cen Chudie seemed to complain as she spoke, and Yun You laughed and said,
"Don’t worry, I’ll help you out once I’m done here."
"No need, no need! I was just joking." Cen Chudie hastily waved her hands to decline, and Feng Yuan chuckled mischievously, saying
"Do you need any help?"
"No! You would definitely add extra ingredients!"
Cen Chudie was quite certain as she vigilantly stared at Feng Yuan, that guy had a history. Qi Chen, speechless, glanced at Feng Yuan, never expecting he really enjoyed playing pranks, even Cen Chudie could guess what he would do.
"Who said that! I just make your food more special!"
Feng Yuan somewhat unhappily retorted as Qi Chen glanced at him and said,
"Special as in horrible tasting?"
"How would you know... Who said that! It’s a unique taste! What if the little lizard likes it?"
Hearing Feng Yuan’s words, the Venomous Salamander lying next to Cen Chudie rolled its eyes, not believing a word. Although it hadn’t interacted much with Feng Yuan, Cen Chudie had told it to be wary of the food he gave, not knowing how he would spike it, but to definitely be cautious. Even the Mianlan Baby from Cotton Orchid Manor had been tricked by him, a creature that normally disliked no particular food was frightened by his concoctions, and now would tremble at the mere mention of his specially prepared dishes.
"If you really intend to concoct horrible tasting food, it’d probably work on anyone."
Agunas resignedly looked at Feng Yuan and said, there was nothing he could do about it, that guy knew too much, even Spirit Beasts that generally weren’t picky about food would likely not be spared.
Feng Yuan pouted, mumbling discontentedly,
"You make me sound like a villain..."
"Indeed, Yun You’s food tastes better~"
Feng Yuan said, his eyes shifting to Cen Chudie. Ignoring him, she responded,
"So what? I’m not as good at cooking as she is."
"But I didn’t expect it would come to eat."
Feng Yuan looked at the Flower Leaf Child eating the food and said, they had just seen the Flower Leaf Child passing by while they were preparing the food and Feng Yuan casually invited it to join them. Surprisingly, it gladly accepted. However, Feng Yuan thought this was also nice, given its personality, aside from its friends among the Spirit Beasts, it could probably also get along well with some humans.
Moreover, that Flower Leaf Child had been in contact with humans for a long time, quite different from those Spirit Beasts that hadn’t had any human interaction.
"Is that a problem? You were the one who invited it, and now you complain?"
Cen Chudie glanced at Feng Yuan somewhat discontentedly. Then, smiling, Can Can said to Feng Yuan,
"I didn’t say that, just worried there might be some issues before, but it seems fine now."
"Of course, and she might even come by to check on it occasionally."
Cen Chudie looked at Yun You, who was sitting and watching the Flower Leaf Child eat, and said with an inexplicable tone, not knowing if it was the Flower Leaf Child’s situation that resonated with her, anyhow, she felt that Yun You seemed particularly concerned about it.
"That’s also nice, for both parties."
Feng Yuan smiled and said, seeing Yun You quietly talking to the Flower Leaf Child. Cen Chudie smiled slightly and said,
"Indeed, it’s definitely better than staying all the time with Granny. I’m not saying Granny is bad, just..."
"Aren’t you guys there too?"
Feng Yuan looked at Cen Chudie quizzically. Besides her, Cotton Orchid Manor had many other staff members; otherwise, they couldn’t go out and have fun. Although the military academy recruits didn’t need their room service, they still needed to take care of meals and public area cleanliness.
"We are, but apart from Granny needing her to run errands, it seems like Yun You always stays at the manor."
Cen Chudie thought and said, they had invited Yun You out too, but apart from the few times Granny overheard and forcibly required her to join, she mostly declined. As to whether staying in Cotton Orchid Manor all the time was good or not, they couldn’t really say, only that whenever possible, they would try to find excuses to take her out for a change.
"Shall we continue on later?"
Looking at the starry sky, Cen Chudie asked Feng Yuan, not realizing it had already gotten dark. Scratching his head, Feng Yuan glanced at Yun You and said,
"Let’s not, it’s too late, and I am worried Granny might be concerned. Besides, there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly interesting ahead."
Feng Yuan glanced at a creek disappearing into the forest and said, originally they had just found a random place to have fun, without any particular destination in mind, and they could return anytime. Plus, having seen the Flower Leaf Child’s secret garden, he felt that was already enough.

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