All Shen Ying did was yawn. By the time she started to react, she found herself thrown to the other end of the forest. There were nothing but trees around her. And then, she spotted a leaf waving around and something digging into the ground…

　　A radish? She stopped in her tracks. Was everything in this world made from the same mould? Why did everything look like moving radishes? She couldn’t help but prod at the carrot saying, “Hey, what are you doing?”

　　“Ji!” The radish huffed, slowly turning its fat, white body around. It faced Shen Ying and was visibly shocked. It quickly turned back and resumed digging rapidly. “Ji ji ji…” Without checking first if it had dug deep enough, the radish burrowed itself into the half-dug pit. Having gone as far as it could, it then picked up two handfuls of soil and dumped it atop its own head. After that, it stayed as still as it could.

　　“…” The corner of Shen Ying’s mouth twitched. She could almost hear the thoughts in the radish’s mind: You can’t see me, you can’t see me, you can’t see this radish… Was this a particularly stupid radish spirit?

　　She squatted down to study it from a closer distance. But all of a sudden, she heard a loud roar coming from her front. Something flashed before her eyes.

　　Shen Ying lifted her head and her field of vision was covered by a beast which stood as tall as a mountain. She didn’t know when or how it appeared. The beast had eyes that looked just like headlights, its gaze transfixed on the radish spirit in the pit.

　　In a flash, it opened its mouth and bit towards the ground.

　　The radish’s body had a slight green tinge to it at first, but now it was purely white. It could no longer pretend it was just a motionless plant. Just as the beast’s teeth hit the soil, the radish jumped out of the pit, panic-stricken. It started to run around in circles exclaiming, “Ji ji ji…”

　　It had no idea where it was headed. After making one complete circle, it crashed straight into a tree, the leaves atop its head swaying. The radish quickly gathered itself together and looked for an escape route. But to its frustration, there was nowhere it could hide. It then suddenly ran toward Shen Ying and burrowed straight into her clothes. Shen Ying felt it tremble beneath her garments. Just like an ostrich hiding its head underground, the radish left half of its white body exposed.

　　The beast stood back upright, its mouth full of soil. The radish had managed to escape and the beast’s mouth was filled with soil, while the ground had a huge hole where the beast bit into it. Outraged, it widened its eyes. The beast looked around before its gaze settled on Shen Ying. To the beast, Shen Ying was now an enemy who stole its food from right under its nose. The scales on its body began to flare and it bore its teeth in an attempt to intimidate Shen Ying.

　　Roar!

　　A gust of smelly air blew past Shen Ying’s face. The beast opened its mouth once again and made another move for the radish. This time, the beast seemed intent on swallowing Shen Ying together with it.

　　Shen Ying’s eyebrows shot up. She reached out and instinctively struck out with a slap.

　　“It stinks!”

　　There was a loud slap and the beast’s head was driven into the soil with the momentum of a metal ball, the huge impact creating an even bigger pit. Half of the beast’s body had disappeared into the soil along with its head. It didn’t seem like it could get out easily.

　　Its six legs, which were still above-ground, twitched a little before they went still…

　　Shen Ying frowned as she waved at the air in front of her nose. It was a while before the smell had completely dissipated; the beast had breathed out a substantial amount of air. Surveying the huge mass of meat in front of her, she considered whether beasts with smelly breath were edible.

　　It’s a pity that Chef isn’t with me. I’d better find Chef and Father Niu first. She gave up the thought of eating the beast and turned around, thinking of which direction she should head in to begin her search for the way back.

　　“Why are you following me?” But then she noticed a little tail following close behind her as she started walking—the radish spirit was hopping alongside her.

　　“Ji ji,” the radish replied as it shook the leaves on its head. It hopped quickly to catch up with Shen Ying and used its leaves to wrap around her legs, making excited noises as it went.

　　What does ji ji even mean? Shen Ying shook her leg to get rid of its leaves. “Run along and dig your little radish pit.” She didn’t even like radish.

　　“Ji…” It lowered its voice as the leaves atop its head seemed to go limp. It looked dejected.

　　Shen Ying couldn’t be bothered with it. She was just about to continue her search when she heard two familiar voices coming from not too far away.

　　“Shen Ying…”

　　“Master…”

　　The voices sounded out continuously, one after another. It sounded just like a soundtrack on repeat.

　　The corner of Shen Ying’s mouth twitched and she turned to face the direction of the voices. Passing by the beast’s corpse, she pulled it out of the soil and along with her. The surrounding trees were knocked to the ground as she haphazardly dragged the corpse along, throwing sand up into the air. The air in half of the forest began to fill with sand. Now she had a chef.

　　About five kilometres away, the group of three from the Upper Azure World…

　　“What was that sound?” Qing Yin paused to survey the surroundings. “What happened in front? Why is the air ahead filled with sand?”

　　“It looks like someone got unlucky and met with a beast,” Qing Lan replied. “From what we’ve seen, most of the beasts in this realm are at least twelfth-stage beasts, if not beast kings.”

　　“Ah! Then we…”

　　“We have no choice but to make a detour. Let’s go!”

　　——————

　　Lonemoon and Yi Qing still remembered the last time they spent forever looking for a certain someone who had been just across the river. Not wanting history to repeat itself, they took turns to call out to Shen Ying, making sure that they didn’t miss a single beat. They had been shouting for a full hour before they noticed Shen Ying, strolling toward them with boredom written all over her face. Behind her, she was dragging along… a mountain?!

　　(⊙_⊙)

　　“Master.” Yi Qing ran toward her, closing the gap quickly.

　　“Hey, Chef.” Shen Ying waved.

　　“What is this?!” Lonemoon studied the towering beast behind Shen Ying. Surely the roar they had heard earlier didn’t come from this beast…? “Why are you dragging this thing around?”

　　“It’s meat,” she replied matter-of-factly. Turning to Yi Qing, she said, “You haven’t eaten lunch, have you? Go ahead, Chef, pick the choicest part of this beast.”

　　The corner of Lonemoon’s mouth twitched. You’re the only one who wants to eat meat! You’re a foodie indeed—all you can think about is food.

　　“Master… this beast can’t be eaten,” Yi Qing painfully replied.

　　“Why not?” she asked. If she had known this earlier, she wouldn’t have wasted so much effort in dragging this beast along.

　　Lonemoon rolled his eyes and replied, “This beast is clearly toxic. It has poison all over its body. If you want to die, you can help yourself!” He stepped forward to take a closer look at the beast before he continued, “But…”

　　With a wave of his hand, Lonemoon summoned forth a blade of wind. He sliced through the beast’s head and broke open its huge mouth. A green light flashed from inside the beast and an emerald-coloured pearl floated out of it.

　　Lonemoon immediately casted a Dharma spell. The pearl seemed to vibrate in the same spot for a while before it finally floated into Lonemoon’s palm.

　　“This internal core is valuable. The internal core of a twelfth-stage beast acts as an antidote for hundreds of poisons.” He wielded his fire-element sorcery. In seconds, flames engulfed the huge beast. “Oh yes, where did you find this beast?”

　　Based on his experience, twelfth-stage beasts were experts at manifestation. They would never reveal their true form without purpose.

　　“Right over there,” Shen Ying pointed behind her. “Why do you ask?”

　　“Master,” Yi Qing began to explain. “Usually, where there are high-level beasts, there will be treasure. Now that this beast is dead, its treasures will be unguarded. They’re free for our taking.”

　　“Oh…” She understood now. She had killed the beast but she had not looted its possessions.

　　“Think carefully. Was there anything else where you found this toxic beast?” Lonemoon asked as he stretched his hand forward to show Shen Ying the beast’s internal core.

　　Shen Ying considered this quietly. Suddenly, she tore her clothes and bent over to pick up something from around her legs. “What are you taking your leg pendant off for?”

　　“Ji~” The radish was delighted to have been let loose from Shen Ying’s leg. It waved its leaves at its audience as a greeting.

　　The two of them stared at the radish in amazement. Together, they exclaimed:

　　“A Vegetation Spirit!”

　　“A Vegetation Spirit!”