You Should Have Eaten It

Ye Zuliao huffed impatiently, sitting on the side of the fountain and playing in the water.

It had been thirty minutes. Thirty minutes and Lord Gulon had not eaten more than a single piece of the 100 Grand. He would pick at it with the tips of his claws, careful not to break it, and then suck the tip of his claw that had barely touched the chocolate.

Ye Zuliao had never seen such a method of eating. It took savoring to a whole new level- to a point where it was just a joke. An utterly unfunny joke.

'What chocolate is he even tasting!? This hybrid beast is messing with me, I know it!'

Meanwhile, in Lord Gulon's head: 'This 100 Grand is divine! Truly a Bussin'-Bussin' Tier food! Beyond excellent! Beyond delicious! A brown piece of heaven- ah shit, that sounds wrong!'

Lord Gulon picked at his chocolate without a car in the world, doing his utmost to make the moment last as long as he could. He saw Ye Zuliao wallowing in impatience and suffering in annoyance, but he could not care less. For Lord Gulon, this was what life was all about.

'What greater thing could there be in life than this? Good food is the essence of divinity!'

Ye Zuliao saw the smug look on Lord Gulon face. He frowned and dashed the water with his hands, but no amount of bitching, moaning or groaning, could change the fact that he had to wait.

He had to wait until Lord Gulon was finished... Or did he?

When the thought came to him, he smiled and sinister lights flashed in his eyes and reflected off his teeth. Ye Zuliao ran a hand through his hair and adjusted his posture, puffing his chest up and pounding on it a few times. "Listen hear you, I don't care how good that chocolate tastes!"

Lord Gulon's eyes landed on Ye Zuliao's tiny body, unamused but uncaring.

"You better get to it right now! Know why? I'll tell you why! It's cause I'm a disciple of L-"

Before he could finish, an invisible surge of natural energy gathered into a thin but solid mass, striking Ye Zuliao straight in the throat. Before he could even get his bearings, that same natural energy moved downward and struck a blow to his stomach.

Fighting for air and falling backward onto the floor, Ye Zuliao heard a disapproving 'hmph!' followed by a voice in the wind.

"Zuliao, do not presume to use my name to get out of waiting, just because you lack patience. You will wait."

It was Logean Wuji, acting at just the right moment to both put a stop to Ye Zuliao's actions and humiliate him further in the face of Lord Gulon. As he lay on the ground, struggling to breathe, regret flashed in his eyes as tears fell. Red in the face, Ye Zuliao passed out.

Lord Gulon could not be bothered. In his eyes, the boy had been about to say something, then he slipped and fell, hit his head and finally passed out. Needless to say, it did not bother him one bit. He kept picking with his talons and sucking up microscopic bits of chocolate, squealing in delight each time.

Meanwhile, Zhou Hua was making discoveries and, in doing so, had left behind a trail of empty packets and crumbs. A large number of M&M's dotted the floor, which then led to a trail of oreo crumbs which, in turn, led to a large amount of untouched licorice strewn about.

"Ah, these are delightful!"

At a particular area in the forest garden there was an area of stone, out of which rose a terrifying vapor and an even worse heatwave. Through some of the cracks, it was even possible to catch a glimpse of red hot magma just beneath the surface. On this area of stone was a giant pot, full of boiling water. Close by, though not on the 'magma stove' was another large vessel filled with cool water.

Within the boiling water, Zhou Hua had found something quite unique. Chunky masses of something special, light brown and rough, but soft and chewy. At first, she thought they were some form of vegetable, but once she managed to fish one out with a stick and taste it, she was shocked to find that they were nothing of the sort.

She chewed and tasted the hot food while huffing and blowing, making mental notes as she went along and ensuring she got the most of it (though she did not stoop to Lord Gulon's level). After a while, she looked over at the container of cold water, and decided to try something.

Brushing aside her snowy hair and wiping her mouth, she grabbed her stick and impaled a few of the chunks on it, then brought them out. Gulping, she moved the stick over to the cold water and then dipped them in it. After leaving them for a short while, she brought them out and tasted them, enjoying the lack of overbearing heat.

Now she could taste them, and perfectly too. After a few chews she realized that, although it wasn't meat, it tasted exactly like it. Given the nature of it, it could definitely be used as a meat substitute, and it could be great for presentation purposes as well. Without a second thought, she gathered up all of the chunks in the boiling pot and stored them in her spatial ring. Once she figured out how to use it, she had been using it to store everything good thing she could find.

Thanks to the magic of it all, the food would stay in perfect, warm condition. As she continued, she found even more oddities throughout the forest garden, which was unbelievably huge. With each discovery, new ideas came to her. Zhou Hua found a variety of other things that she could not identify.

She found salsa and chips, but she did not know.

She found Honey Nut cereal, but she did not know.

She found chocolate and... well, it's chocolate.

As she continued, she found even more oddities throughout the forest garden, which was unbelievably huge. With each discovery, new ideas came to her for ways in which she could prepare and present her food.

"I can't wait to get back to the dorm and try all these things out... There should be a kitchen there, right? There should be, there should be."

Her search continued for hours, and so did Ye Zuliao's rest. When he woke up, he felt both refreshed and famished. To make matters worse, Lord Gulon had gotten no where with his chocolate, despite the excessive amount of time that had passed.

Ye Zuliao frowned and sighed, folding his legs and throwing his head back. With a single breath, he sucked in an enormous amount of natural energy in order to partially assuage the hunger he felt.

As the moon became visible in the sky, an unnoticeable trace of energy found its way to the statue of Gluttony, causing it to develop a tiny crack. Ye Zuliao did not notice, but Lord Gulon's ear twitched and he looked away from his chocolate.

After a few breaths, the crack spread further, attracting Ye Zuliao's attention as well. Lord Gulon's eyes widened at this, and he hurried to put the chocolate bar- which seemed untouched- back onto his head.

"It is time. Come, boy. The initiation begins."

Ye Zuliao all but leapt to his feet, rushing over to the statue of Gluttony. By now, it was covered in cracks beginning to shine, an indication that the energy gathering around it was reaching a fever pitch.

Lord Gulon, once he was before the statue, folded his legs and bowed his head. When he saw that Ye Zuliao was still standing, he snarled and said, "What are you, an idiot? We are in the presence of the Gluttonforce- Gluttony's soul energy itself! Pay your respects!"

Ye Zuliao hesitated, recalling just who his master was. He thought that Logean Wuji would make a sudden appearance again and tell him what to do, but he did not. Struggling to figure out what to do while glancing back and forth between Lord Gulon and the glowing statue, Ye Zuliao took a breath and shook his head.

"I cannot."

Lord Gulon's massive jaw fell open, meanwhile the statue was breaking apart, almost ready to explode and shatter into a thousand pieces or more. "Foolish brat! You will bow!"

Lord Gulon sent a burst of energy over to Ye Zuliao, causing an indomitable force to drive its way to his knees and force them to bend. Ye Zuliao panicked, crying out while grabbing his knees and tried to force them to remain straight.

"He will not." Calm like a serene lake, a voice filled the forest garden and immediately reversed the tide. The force on Ye Zuliao's knees vanished, but he was too panicked to realize just yet. Lord Gulon was so shocked he forgot about kneeling to the statue and instead toppled over in order to fall before the feet of the almighty figure that had just appeared.

Even the statue of Gluttony and the Gluttonforce around it became dormant and silent yet again, as if nothing was happening.

Logean Wuji had arrived.

Ye Zuliao turned around and saw his master, so he fell to his knees and bowed respectfully. When he saw Lord Gulon's miserable state, he chortled but suddenly stopped. That was because he saw that, in his fright, Lord Gulon had dropped the chocolate bar onto the floor.

"Young Master Wuji, I did not know! I did not know! He gave no indication that he was your student!"

"I know. That was what he was instructed to do."

Seeing that Lord Gulon did not dare to move a muscle- except to shiver uncontrollably- Ye Zuliao smiled and ran over to the chocolate bar, grabbing it up and running to Lord Gulon's face.

"There! I shared with you, so I haven't broken a single rule now, have I?"

Lord Gulon was instantly mortified. His eyes watered as he silently pleaded for Ye Zuliao's mercy, but there was no mercy to be had. Slapping his knee and laughing uproariously, Ye Zuliao put all of the remaining chocolate into his mouth and broke it up with his teeth. In a matter of seconds, the chocolate that Lord Gulon had been savoring for hours and hours had vanished.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

"You regret not eating it when you had the chance, don't ya!"

Logean Wuji levitated just above ground, shaking his head. He looked to the statue and frowned.

"Gluttony itself did not dare to enter my presence without paying his respects. Why, then, would his soul energy dare to conceal itself from me?"

With a rhetoric, Logean Wuji made it clear that even the Gluttonforce was nothing to him. The energy returned and the statue glowed brightly. It very weakly fell apart, a stark contrast to the great explosion that would have happened prior.

A projection of Gluttony appeared, shutting its gaping mouth and bowing to Logean Wuji. This was the manifestation of the Gluttonforce; it could only take the shape of its master.

"Now then, carry on."

Just like that, he was gone. It was only then that Ye Zuliao realized that there had been total and complete silence in the forest garden for as long as Logean Wuji remained there.

Lord Gulon did not move, he stayed on the ground and remained quiet, though Ye Zuliao was sure he was mourning the loss of the 100 Grand.

The Gluttonforce approached Ye Zuliao shyly, then said sheepishly in a high pitched voice, "Esteemed Sir, would you like me to begin now?"

Ye Zuliao stuck his chin out and grinned, enjoying the new status he had. The thought to make them run off to fetch food for him crossed his mind, but once it did he felt a surge of natural energy gently tap on his stomach. He jumped, taking a few steps backward while making an awkward attempt to protect himself.

When he realized an attack wasn't coming, he cleared his throat and said, "Yes. Let us begin."