Saga of the Sweets

They say that the more you cherish someone, the more effort you put in for them.

For example, if you were planning to cook something for your loved ones for the first time, you'd certainly want to pay special attention to detail.

But exactly which detail should he pay this special attention to? Qinghe wondered, cupping his chin in his palm and gazing contemplatively at the ingredients he'd gathered.

Since his parents had very eagerly asked to taste it, Qinghe had decided to make sweets again after a long time. And since this was the first time he would be making his special sweets for his parents, he wanted it to be memorable while also visibly showing how much care and attention to detail he had put into it for them.

But in what way should he do this?

And so, Qinghe pondered, deep in thought.

Just then, the door to the Feng residence's kitchen opened as the twins strode in. But seeing that Qinghe looked vaguely troubled about something, Fei Jin asked worriedly, "Senior Brother, what's wrong?"

After Qinghe made his home in the heavenly realm, the twins had also cultivated with all their might and succeeded in ascending within a few years. But then they were promptly sent back down by Qinghe to look after the sect for now and assist Chen Xiande whenever he succeeded Zhen YiLan as the next sect master. And so, the twins reluctantly headed back down as per their senior brother's wishes. Their only source of comfort was that at least their senior brother headed down frequently to join them in the sect too.

Occasionally, like now, the twins would come up to greet their beloved senior brother and spend a few days in the Feng residence. During this time, they would often join their kindred spirit Feng Chunyi—and sometimes Xie Xingye as well—and roam Heaven while seeding rampant chaos before tearfully having to head back down to the sect again on their senior brother's command.

But truthfully, Qinghe felt that if he didn't send them back down again, they, along with his mother and uncle, would have to be apprehended by his father for all the problems they caused due to their joint mischief-making. As his faithful son, Qinghe naturally wanted to avoid such an outcome.

Currently, in the kitchen, as they saw Qinghe frowning at the freshly rolled dough in deep thought, the twins couldn't help but feel confused.

"Jin-er, Yin-er, if I wanted to make my sweets in a special and different way, then how would you suggest I do it?" Qinghe asked in a serious voice.

The twins looked at each other, then Fei Jin began, "If Senior Brother wants to make it different, then how about trying a new type of filling?"

Fei Yin added in his whispery voice. "Or Senior Brother can try molding it into new shapes."

Qinghe frowned as he considered it. "I can try filling it up with something unexpected. But…what type of shapes should I make them into?"

Fei Yin hesitated, then slowly walked up to the table and borrowed the ball of kneaded dough that was sitting on the tabletop amid some flour. Pinching off two little balls from it, Fei Yin lightly pressed down and shaped the three pieces of dough into ovals, then added the smallest two ovals to the narrow side of the large oval in a 'V' shape.

Dusting off the flour clinging to his palms and fingers, Fei Yin spoke in his hoarse voice, "Well, I'm not very good with my hands, but maybe a cute little fish like this might do?"

Fei Jin piped up from the side, "But you might have to add a bit more detail to it than that to make it recognizable."

Fei Yin nodded to show that he agreed with his brother.

Qinghe looked at the simply done 'fish' shape curiously, then nodded. "Yes, I can do that. I will take some time to practice making sweets in this shape and then let everyone taste it."

The twins smiled brightly. It had been so long since their senior brother had made them these sweets! They couldn't wait to see what new version their senior brother would come up with!

But little did they know that what Qinghe had planned would leave them with mental scars for life.

For a while after that, Qinghe locked himself up in the kitchen every day and worked tirelessly, sweat beading on his brow and flour dusted on his hands and arms.

Seeing that it was taking their senior brother so much time, the twins couldn't help but wonder if he was particularly unskilled in this area. But no matter what Qinghe made in the end, all of his family was resolved to act as if it was the most beautiful and delicious thing ever.

And so, the days passed and it was finally time for Qinghe to bring out his new creations.

At this time, the entire family—except for a busy Xie Xingye and Zheng Xuan—was gathered at the table, both anticipating and dreading whatever would come.

As for Xie Xingye, under Feng Chunyi's instruction, he was currently acting as an undercover in the demonic deities' camp, with Zheng Xuan volunteering as back-up and support.

At present, on one side of the table sat Feng Huixin and Feng Chunyi. On the opposite side sat Wei Xiang, with the place beside him left empty for Qinghe. On one of the smaller sides of the rectangular table, Fei Jin and Fei Yin were peering at the nearing Qinghe eagerly.

Not willing to keep them all waiting for long, Qinghe carefully walked up to the table with stacked plates held in his arms. Then slowly, one by one, he placed a plate in front of each of his family, then took his seat beside his lover.

"I didn't expect this to take so long to perfect, but I'm finally done. Here are some fish-shaped sweets I made according to the twins' suggestions," Qinghe declared with a pleased smile.

The twins could only gape at their plates. This was definitely not something they'd suggested! It wasn't even close!

With wide eyes, the five people looked at the large sweet on their plate and felt unable to react.

Rather than being badly made as they'd expected, each fish-shaped sweet was exquisitely crafted and incredibly detailed―so much so that it was creepy!

Every minute aspect of the life-sized large fish was unnecessarily realistic, from the tiny, individual scales covering its body to even the minute lines on those scales and its fluted edges; the wide, gaping mouth seemingly gasping for breath in panic and the balefully glaring dead fish eyes that appeared to bulge out of their sockets in opposite directions; then there were the little wrinkles around the eyes as if the surrounding skin was pushed away forcefully from the eyeballs that were straining outward; and there was also the desperately twisting fins and tail as if the fish was in the midst of thrashing in its death throes…

Rather than a fish-shaped sweet, the thing on their plate looked more like the pale white, calcified carcass of a fish that had been frozen in the midst of being tortured to death.

Feng Huixin kept staring at the fish on his plate while trying to convince himself that this must indeed be edible and made out of flour, while Wei Xiang merely looked amused and helpless as his little lover once again did something unexpected. The twins wore twin expressions of horror on their faces as they failed to grasp just how that cute and crudely made fish shape that Fei Yin had shown had turned into…this.

Feng Chunyi had on an eerie smile as she looked at her plate. But as she leaned forward to curiously study the dish better, she ended up bumping the table lightly with her elbow.

Fei Jin Immediately let out a startled yelp. "It moved! Th-The fish's eyes…it moved! I-I saw it! It must be haunted! It's definitely possessed by evil spirits!"

Beside his brother, Fei Yin was also frantically nodding his head. "It…it really moved! I also saw it."

Chuckling cheerfully, Qinghe explained, "Yes, I know. And don't worry, it isn't haunted, I meant it to be that way. For the purpose of making them look more real, I just dug out little sockets in the fish's head and rolled little balls of sweetened dough before letting it harden and inserting it into those socket holes to act as eyes. This way, when the fish is lightly shaken, the eyeballs will really be able to rotate. Isn't it wonderful?"

The twins could only gape aghast. Wonderful? This was wonderfully traumatizing, all right! They'd rather these fishes be really haunted, since they would at least have an excuse to not eat this then!

Meanwhile, as Wei Xiang studied the fish, he realized that putting aside its grotesque appearance, the minty, milky scent of the sweet and its creamy white dough that looked like it would easily crumble and melt in one's mouth seemed really very appetizing. And already knowing Qinghe's skill with making these sweets, Wei Xiang was sure that this would be delicious.

As for its all too realistic shape, it didn't bother Wei Xiang much at all. After all, there were plenty of times he had swum in various waters in his wyvern form while gulping down actual fishes for a snack. As such, he didn't feel anything at the thought of having to eat this fish-shaped sweet except some curiosity and amusement.

And so, with a smile, Wei Xiang lifted his chopsticks to carefully break off a small piece of the fish's fin and began eating. As the sweet dissolved in his mouth and spread out a rich, milky sweetness, Wei Xiang's expression showed his obvious approval as his chopsticks descended onto his plate once again.

The others could only gape at him in wonder while Qinghe showed a happy smile.

The second one to pick up the chopsticks was Feng Chunyi. With an inquisitive glint in her eyes, she directly stabbed the fish in the middle and slowly pulled it apart. She always had the tendency to break her food into smaller pieces before consuming it.

But unexpectedly, when the fish was broken apart, strange things spilled out of its hollow belly.

Feng Chunyi squinted at the heap of small, identical stuff that had tumbled out of her fish. The pile consisted of tiny little pieces of dough that had the size and shape of curved rice, almost looking like very small beans. Tilting her head in puzzlement, she asked, "Oi, son, what are these little things inside supposed to be?"

Qinghe smiled happily at his mother and answered. "Maggots, of course."

A strange, horrified silence suddenly claimed the table.

Qinghe blithely continued, "I wanted to make the details as accurate as possible, and since I made the fish to look dead, I thought it would only be proper if I stuffed its insides with dough shaped to look like maggots. Doesn't it look more cute and realistic this way?"

Fei Jin and Fei Yin turned green while Feng Huixin had to grit his teeth and continue convincing himself that the fish-shaped sweet on his plate was really, truly, definitely edible…probably.

But Feng Chunyi only looked at her son with strange eyes as she heard his reasoning. Then shrugging, she lowered her chopsticks to begin picking up the little pieces of dough that were supposed to be the 'maggots' and started eating them.

As she chewed, Feng Chunyi felt the lightly sweet and creamy flavor washing over her taste buds, causing her expression to brighten as she immediately began to move her chopsticks with more eager vigor.

Beside Qinghe, Wei Xiang was also continuously moving his chopsticks, almost having finished half of the fish. He was surprised to find that there were even realistic 'bones' made of dough present inside, but it hardly fazed him this time.

Meanwhile, Qinghe was very pleased with his family's responses to this new version of his sweets.

His Xiang and his mother were obviously eating with such swiftness and relish that it was clear that they thought it tasted very good. As for his father and the twins, they presumably didn't dare to eat such a carefully wrought and detailed piece of art, which was why they showed such conflicting and difficult expressions when they looked at their plates.

Convinced that this was indeed the reason, Qinghe nodded to himself cheerfully, fully satisfied with his family's reactions to his creations.

Soon, Wei Xiang quickly finished eating and pushed his empty plate towards his beloved. With a small smile and warm eyes, he said, "Qinghe, love, it tasted very good this time as well. But having eaten such a large portion, I'm feeling a bit too full right now, so would you mind taking this to the kitchen for now in my stead? I promise I'll help clean up later."

Without thinking much, Qinghe easily nodded and carried the plate with the pair of used chopsticks towards the kitchen.

As soon as Wei Xiang determined that his little lover was out of hearing range, his smile vanished as he turned to the twins and ordered, "What are you doing staring at it like it will swallow you whole? Eat it, it's your precious senior brother's hard work."

Fei Jin and Fei Yin shook their heads with identical miserable expressions. "No, we don't want to!"

Wei Xiang gave them a sharp smile. "If you don't finish every crumb on your plates, do you believe me when I say that I'll shove that entire fish down your throats, headfirst?"

The twins shuddered, then nodded with teary eyes. This Brother Wei was mean enough to do just that, of that they had no doubt!

And so, the pitiful twins averted their eyes to be spared from having to see what they were eating as tears of misery dramatically dripped down their faces. With wronged expressions, they finally picked up their chopsticks and quickly began devouring the sweets. Those hateful, rolling eyes must definitely be eaten first, or it would haunt their nightmares forever!

As they chewed, they had to admit that though it looked like a denizen of hell, the sweet tasted like heaven itself. As expected of their senior brother to be able to put such a profoundly contrasting concept into his cooking!

Meanwhile, Feng Chunyi also turned to her husband. "Ah-Xin, this actually tastes very good, why don't you give it a try too? After all, our darling son made this for us. You wouldn't want to waste it, would you?"

Feng Huixin swallowed thickly, his apprehension visible in his eyes.

With a sly smile, Feng Chunyi leaned into her husband and began, "Ah-Xin, if you finish this, then I'll promise to give you a fun little gift tonight~"

Then leaning in closer, Feng Chunyi whispered something into her husband's ear. Whatever he heard made Feng Huixin flush from neck up as his eyes widened with disbelief.

Once she was done, Feng Chunyi gave a small kiss to her husband's now red ear and finally leaned back. "So, Ah-Xin, how about it?"

Without saying a word, Feng Huixin carefully picked up his chopsticks, took a deep breath before letting it out, then finally began eating the grotesque fish-shaped sweet with single-minded focus as if he was decimating the ranks of his sworn enemies. The sweet yet mellow burst of rich flavor in his mouth made it almost worth it too.

When Qinghe returned a few minutes later, he was glad to see that everyone had more or less finished more than half of the sweet on their plates. But why did some of their expressions seem strange?

Looking at the tearfully eating twins, Qinghe asked confusedly, "Jin-er, Yin-er, why are you crying?"

Wei Xiang answered in their stead, "They must think it tastes so divinely delicious that this is the only way they can express it."

The twins hesitated, then nodded in agreement, their mouths stuffed full of the sweet.

Seeing this, Qinghe beamed happily. Ah, so they liked it that much!

Then looking at a very seriously concentrating Feng Huixin, Qinghe asked, "Then why is Father eating with so much focus?"

Feng Chunyi grinningly answered, "He's just trying to savor every mouthful so that he can remember his first taste of his son's cooking for the rest of his life."

Qinghe's eyes lit up with joy that his father was enjoying this so much. As expected, his hard work really paid off! Look at how much his family was appreciating it!

Seeing his beloved's happy expression, Wei Xiang felt his heart melt even as he smiled wryly. "Qinghe, love, it's obvious how much effort you put into making these sweets, but it's such a shame that they'll get eaten and disappear so quickly. So next time, how about you make the sweets more simply and instead use your skills on clay to immortalize your ideas and showcase your wonderful talent? That way, we can all appreciate it for a long time, and you can also experiment with different materials and paint it however you want."

Hearing this, Qinghe's mind immediately filled with all the different types of fishes he could make out of clay and how much fun it would be. He could even paint the fishes' eyes white with red streaks to denote blood vessels and make it look even more realistic!

Nodding quickly, Qinghe replied, "Yes, yes, you're right! Since I'm spending so much effort anyway, then I should definitely make it count!"

As Qinghe busily planned his future creations in his mind, the others all heaved silent breaths in relief and shot gazes loaded with gratitude towards Wei Xiang. With this, at least there would be no more strange fish-shaped dishes from now on.

However, they soon realized that they had celebrated too quickly.

A few days later, thanks to Qinghe's efforts with clay, a new sculpture sat on the dining table as its centerpiece―a fish that was even more grotesque than the sweets.

Freed of the limitations of dough, Qinghe had let his creativity fly free and ended up making this fish very expressive and lively. The lower half of the fish laid flat over the table, its tail and part of the belly acting as the sculpture's base, while the rest of it curved upward in an arc. Rather than just the fins and tail, the entire body of the fish twisted as if in excruciating agony.

The fish's wide open maw gasped up at the ceiling as if screaming due to its unbearable suffering. Two round, white eyeballs protruded out of its head, both with bulging red blood vessels popping out of the white parts while soulless little black dots acted as its irises, the two eyes now seeming more ghastly than their doughy counterparts. Every line and curve of the sculpture expressed the fish's desperate writhing in excruciating detail while its eyes stuck out of its head on either side as if looking at those around the table with vivid horror, begging to be released from its torment.

And if someone ever bumped into the table it was on, the eyeballs of the fish would roll around in its sockets with an eerie rattle, seemingly as if it was haunted.

Inevitably, all the people of the Feng residence, except for Qinghe, ended up having vivid nightmares about grotesque fishes for the next few months.