Shen Mo asked, “Not eating?”

Bai Youwei pouted. “This is a pre-meal snack.”

Shen Mo didn’t want to go. He frowned as he gazed at the distant lake water. “You’re trying to send me off to be a pre-meal snack for the mosquitoes.”

“Ahahahaha!…” Tan Xiao suddenly burst out laughing. “Brother Mo is so funny! A snack for mosquitoes hahahaha—hic…”

Bai Youwei’s small face fell. She turned around, propping herself on her cane, and headed back to the tent.

She said nothing, but her meaning was crystal clear: she wasn’t eating anymore.

The little miss was very proud—not only would she not eat lotus seed pods, she wouldn’t eat dinner either!

Shen Mo set down the map in his hands and said to Tan Xiao, “What you said earlier was quite right.”

“Huh? Which part?” Tan Xiao asked with wide eyes. “The funny part?”

Shen Mo raised his arm and leisurely removed his shirt. “You said it’s still better in the maze.”

In the maze, she wasn’t this difficult.

“…Eh? Brother Mo, where are you going? Are you really going to feed the mosquitoes?… Ah, take me with you, take me! I’ll catch some fish!”

…

Half an hour later.

Dinner time.

Bai Youwei sat by the fire with a large lotus leaf spread across her lap, happily peeling lotus seed pods.

The green outer shells of the lotus seeds fell in a rustling heap onto the leaf. She gave it a shake, dumping everything into the fire, and the bonfire released the fragrance of green grass.

After eating two lotus seed pods in a row, Shen Mo worried about her stomach getting cold and stopped her from eating more.

He dug out a baked sweet potato from the fire, placed it in a large ceramic bowl, peeled away a layer of ash-dusted skin to reveal the honey-orange interior, and gave her a small spoon to scoop it out and eat.

The sweet potato was piping hot, sweet and glutinous inside. Scoop a bite, blow on it, then swallow—so soft and sweet that even her teeth felt sticky.

Teacher Cheng served her a bowl of mung bean soup. It had no rock sugar, so the flavor was a bit bland, but it was perfect for cutting through the sweetness of the baked sweet potato.

Bai Youwei ate and drank until, without realizing it, she felt completely satisfied and comfortable.

Tan Xiao gnawed on a sausage while poking the fire with a wooden stick. “Don’t you all think we’re like some kind of team now? Doesn’t it feel a bit like the Journey to the West? Hey~ They faced eighty-one tribulations to obtain the true scriptures, we’re playing games to collect puzzle pieces.”

Teacher Cheng smiled and sighed upon hearing this. “The ‘Great Tang Records on the Western Regions’ says: ‘In the great sea of life and death, who shall be the boat and oar? In the long night of ignorance, who shall be the lamp and torch?’ If we few have fortune this time, we can also emulate Xuanzang and become a lamp and torch for all suffering beings in this bitter sea.”

Tan Xiao didn’t quite understand, but found the four-character phrases in his words quite interesting. He suggested, “Old Cheng, you’re so cultured—why don’t you come up with a team name for us!”

Teacher Cheng was slightly stunned. “What team name?”

“How can you not even know this?” Tan Xiao counted on his fingers to give examples. “The Dark Mysterious Duo, the Three Sages of Kunlun, the Four Vajra Guardians, the Five Elders of Kongtong, the Six Immortals of Peach Valley, the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan… these kinds of names.”

Teacher Cheng had a sudden realization. “Oh, let me think about it…”

Bai Youwei ate while enjoying the show. Cheng Weicai, such a serious and proper teacher, was actually following Tan Xiao’s train of thought and earnestly thinking of names.

“We have four people from different places who’ve come together to become one family. How about we call ourselves… United Family of the Four Seas?”

“Ah…” Tan Xiao said, “That doesn’t really have much imposing aura. Think again.”

Cheng Weicai: “In ancient times there were the Four Treasures of the Study—brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. We could each take one character and combine them.”

“Oh, let me think too…” Tan Xiao pondered. “Flowers, Birds, Fish, and Insects? …Jackal, Wolf, Tiger, and Leopard? Demons, Monsters, Ghosts, and Ghouls? Hey, why aren’t there any good four-character phrases?”

Bai Youwei couldn’t hold back anymore and laughed out loud. “Call it Old, Young, Sick, and Disabled!”

Tan Xiao: “…”

Cheng Weicai: “…”

Shen Mo poked at the fire and asked coolly, “So which one am I in Old, Young, Sick, and Disabled?”