Chapter 12- A Dinner Full of Struggle

“Senior Tian, why does it seem like everyone is talking, but I can’t really hear anyone? Or, I can, but I can’t hear the words. Everyone is talking too quietly.” Little Treasure complained. Tian could see his eyes drooping, and his vital energy felt a little weak. Tired and hungry, probably.

“Have a little tea. The reason is simple- everyone is talking quietly. Not whispering, just talking quietly. Oddly enough, that’s harder to make out than the whispers. Everyone assumes that everyone else has very sharp ears, and you never know what you might say that happens to offend someone. My own big brothers were very clear on that point.” Tian explained. Liren nodded along.

“My sisters said the same thing. Followed up with a list of things you can mutter under your breath just loud enough to provoke your target, but quietly enough that you can deny saying anything to the rest of the room.”

Tian turned to look at her in shock. Who would have guessed her sisters and his brothers would have the exact same advice?

The feeling of strangeness intensified in the dining room. Part of that was the dying of the light outside, but a bigger part was that one table plainly wasn’t on the same page as everyone else. Which made the other diners grip the hilts of their sabers and carefully eye what was between them and the door over their wine cups. Tian could hear the words “Old freaks” and “Immortals?” whispered from lips nearly touching ears.

“Ah, here is dinner. Now then, big sis Hong and I will eat first, and if we give you the nod, then it is safe for the two of you to eat.” Tian grinned. He was looking forward to this. Hong looked quizzically at him, but nodded.

The plates reached the table- a big bowl of rice, fish, both stewed and roasted, long, oily green beans cooked with just a bit of char on them and the fragrance of chillies, roasted broccoli and carrots, dish after dish arrived. Well prepared, fragrant, and, when Tian tried a bite of soup, disappointingly off. Not poisoned, but off. Liren nodded, having come to the same conclusion.

The two shared a look, and shrugged. “Off” in some esoteric way was probably not a good enough reason to starve the mortals, who were looking distinctly ragged after a day and a night of roughing it.

“It’s not poisoned.” Tian started to push the bowls over to Censor Henshen as the eldest, when a sudden thought intruded. “Shh! Hey Junior, don’t peek, but isn’t that cat made of diamonds?!” Tian subtly pointed left. Little Treasure naturally whipped his head to the side, trying to spot the cat.

“Where? Where?”

“It was too fast, eh? Clearly a magic cat. Oh well, eat up.”

Treasure’s bowl had mysteriously filled with rice, meat and vegetables while he was looking away.

Tian felt very pleased with himself, until his next food delivery was intercepted by Hong. Not that she wanted the food for herself. She used her own stealthily flicked piece of roasted broccoli to divert his carrot, ensuring that the broccoli landed safely in the bowl and the carrot went flying off the edge of the table.

Naturally, this meant war.

Chopsticks flickered back and forth across the table. Side dishes were defended while the soup rippled and shook from the sea battles that crossed it. The rice bowl became strategically ignored by both sides. Rice is the God of the People, and therefore should be spared the ravages of war.

This, of course, was a trap. Tian knew that Hong was going to make her move and betray the silent trust as soon as she had his attention distracted. Tian was determined to get his betrayal in first. He nodded pointedly at a nearby table, where there was a wine battle going on.

The wine battle was worth watching. A balding man, with a ratty fringe of hair pulled back into a ponytail that was shorter than his equally ratty beard, was exchanging “friendly” toasts with a wanderer who favored gray linen, a pair of heavy knives and fur lined boots even in the hot, humid interior of the Broad Sky Kingdom.

They would smack their wrists together, displaying remarkable muscular control to keep the tiny porcelain wine cups from spilling the clear liquor. Then they would shove, back and forth, hopping their cup over the other’s arm and catching it on the other side, pouring more in the other’s cup even as that cup shoved the lip of the bottle back; always moving, but with a definite cadence to it.

Tian found himself subconsciously mimicking the timing. There was something about it- after each exchange, there was a bare moment’s pause for both sides to see the outcome. Then they were straight back into it. Hong quickly picked up on it, and she smiled like a child with a new toy.

She nodded to a table slightly behind Tian. When he looked over, they were having a similar duel under the table. Each side was eating dreadfully politely, while their legs thrashed against each other. Even their rough wooden chairs were rising off the ground very slightly as they moved. Hidden battles were taking place all across the room. Everything was a competition. At any moment, a table could be flipped over, and the whole room would be plunged into a bloody melee. But for now, everyone was playing at being polite.

Stolen novel; please report.

Tian chuckled and looked back at the table. He suppressed the urge to slap his chopsticks down on the table and wave his finger right at Hong’s nose. While he was appreciating the unique customs of the restaurant, she had betrayed him and pushed a big portion of rice into Little Treasure’s bowl.