Lotus thought for a bit before walking forward and placed the fungi on a large palm leaf before turning over to the barbequed chicken on the other palm leaves and frowned, "Ha... Little Jun. You wanted a barbeque. It's not good to be so picky about food. It is improper to be this disgruntled about other's food..."
"What's wrong with the food, Peony?" Trey looked to her in confusion.
Peony shook her head, "There's nothing wrong. It's just the taste isn't our palette, but, seeing that he asked you to prepare a barbeque, he should've expected to be tasting something new. My apologies. I've been too busy to properly teach him manners of humans as of late as well. So, the fault is not entirely his to blame."
"It's all right." Trey responded, "I'm not blaming anyone and I'm also not upset. Just worried."
"I see." Peony nodded her head, "It will be all right. I'll help with the cooking."
"I'd like to see the type of cuisine you eat as well." Trey said as he followed her to the table and cutting board that Little Jun had brought out.
Peony took some beansprouts she had come across and boiled it, then she went on to preparing multiple sauces. She even went on to preparing the remainder of the fowl.
She saw that Cater was busy with the fire and Riddle was cleaning up the fungi they gathered, which makes the cooking a little easier and less time consuming. It was only shortly later that the blanket before her was filled with many good dishes. She watched Little Jun already drooling from the sight of food as Cater said, "I don't think it's a good idea to eat yet, Jun. Or else, you might get scolded again..."
"It's fine." Lotus spoke up, "Just go ahead and eat first. There's still some meat left to cook. I'll join you guys in a bit. Besides, I just had a big meal myself, so I'm not really hungry."
Little Jun glanced up at her nervously as he knew it was a lie. Truth be told, she really didn't eat much with the students from Diasomnia. Mostly because she can't stop staring at Malleus all this time.
"It's fine. I'll take care of the rest." Trey brought up with a smile, "I heard that there's a lot of people back at your place. How about I make something for you to take back."
Lotus wanted to refuse, but she was dragged in by the others to the blanket. Lotus had an inkling back when she saw Little Jun present with everything laid out before them. If it had been others, she would not be considerate and leave the group, but these people were sought by Little Jun and they were also people who helped Yuu. Since Yuu now considered her family, she is hesitant on going against their wishes. So, she sat down next to them. She munched on the fungi salad she had cooked up as she watched the group just dig in chatting away. Lotus silently watched them interact with Little Jun. As Cater and Little Jun struggled with the portions of meat, Riddle was seemingly interested in the food she had made and also hesitant on the meat dishes as well. It would seem that he found it hard to break old habits. Seeing this, she spoke up, "Riddle, could it be that you're not used to eating cold fungi? Like mushrooms that prevent cancer. I'm more surprised to come across wood ear mushrooms during this season. They're usually found during the summer and autumn. High in protein and low in calorie like most mushrooms. This ingredient is good to strengthen one's hair and it's also tasteless. They're an ingredient of convenience as they can be preserved by drying them. However, you should avoid eating them when they're rotten. Let's just say they become the worst food poisoning to get. Preferably eaten within a day unless you store it in the icebox."
"Ice box?" Cater looked to her in confusion.
"I think she means refrigerator." Trey spoke up, "I believe that's an old method of preserving food. Seeing that the meat is this fresh, I'm assuming that you raised these peasants yourself, Peony?"
Peony raised a brow, "I have a place for livestock, but I'm not the one who raises them. I usually have other matters to deal with."
"I noticed you usually pulls things out of your ring." Riddle spoke up curiously, "That ring is magical?"
"It's called a spatial ring." Lotus explained, "They are created for storage usage and is common among cultivators. Of course, if I give it to you, you still won't be able to open it without my permission or that I cut my contract from it."
"You can form contracts with these rings too?" Cater looked to her in shook.
Lotus nodded, "That's how we can keep these rings to ourselves. Cutting contracts isn't easy either. In most cases, these rings only become available after the death of their owners. Then, a new contract can be made. Whatever is left in there would be available to the new contractor. I received mine from my father, so many things in there are from his generation. Not to mention, my father was not normal, so this ring is above average, which is why he passed it down to me before his passing."
"Wah..." Cater gasped, "Then, you must be pretty strong too."
"Just average." Lotus said with a frown, "However, for the last decade of centuries, strong cultivators have become fewer in number. Now, you can find people like that girl walking around the streets proclaiming to be the best. However, in truth, put her in the past, and she would be the weakest. Her cultivation is too slow and her bloodline is mediocre. Not to mention, with her scheming personality, she is bound to gather more enemies than allies to her side. Have you noticed the way her master acted around her? He spoke up for her, but didn't even give her a glance unless she achieved something every so often. Yet, he's accepts when others praises him."
"You mean to say that he's using her." Trey noted with a frown as he brought in the last barbeque chicken.
Lotus nodded her head, "People like these aren't few in number. Once she gains fame, he would gain fame from being her master and reap the benefits. However, if she loses her reputation, his reputation would be questioned too. When that happens, he would sever ties with her and toss her aside. To him, nothing matters more than himself and I've seen that far too often. It's a pity that I may have to end his life elsewhere outside of school."
"You'll kill him?" Cater gasped in horror when he heard this.
"Perhaps." Lotus responded, "That's unless we wait for him to die from natural causes or a stronger cultivator appears. However, I'm the only one capable of killing him. It's just, if I do that, the others will scatter and bring more annoyance to here."
Cater sighed in dismay, "If only we can have one of them be more lenient and let us off..."
"Oh?" Lotus looked up in surprise, "I do, actually. An ally amongst them, I mean."
"What do you mean?" Riddle looked to her attentive now that he's heard something good for the first time in a long time.
"Remember the guy in white? He's my sworn servant now." She explained, "I can promise you that he won't betray us as long as I tell him to help the students make their getaway back to their dorm if they ever get caught."
"Explain." Riddle said as his full attention was on her now.
"It's like this..." Lotus began her explanation.
When she was done, Cater's eyes lit up as he said in shock and relief, "Th-Then, he'll help us in the future if someone messed up?!"
"Hold on, Cater." Riddle frowned, "That means, we could still get caught and we don't know if he will always have the chance to bail us out."
Lotus nodded, "They'll always be watching and they have good memories. If they realize the person they finished is walking in and out of the dorms, they'll naturally be suspicious of him and oust him out. That's why you must still be vigilant."
"To think that they would be so bold as to poison their own members into joining..." Riddle scowled.
Cater nodded, "No matter how you think about it, it's just messed up. This Huo Wei is lucky to have caught your eye or else, he would still have to listen to them..."
Lotus frowned, "However, it won't last long. He needs medication from them to keep up the ruse. If they tamper with the medicine and he isn't reacting, they'll catching on quickly that he isn't taking his medicine and isn't affected by the poison. Huo Wei is skilled and can feign illness. However, it's nothing if there is solid evidence that he isn't poison. If they find out, he'll be outnumbered instantly and the leader isn't weak against him. If they become suspicious of him, the effectiveness of his next batch may weaken greatly, which won't match with his current act. So, the students needs to also keep up the act. Over the weekend, I managed to catch one of their other guy who was sent to call for back up. So, there's not many left."
Trey frowned, "If you keep doing this, they're bound to do something big against us."