The lotus seed was perfectly round, its coat gleaming.
It had barely left the water.
Waves of fragrance spread through the courtyard. The Great Beaver family clutched their wooden blocks, drooling.
"What a huge lotus seed."
Huai Kong examined it in amazement.
He was no old monk who stayed behind closed doors chanting sutras. In all his years roaming the world, he had seen countless rare treasures, but never a lotus seed the size of a human head. If the seed was this big, how enormous must the seedpod that bore it have been?
"Ha, you've got a good eye." Liang Qu tossed the lotus seed in his hand. "Ever heard of the Eight Beauties of Jianghuai?"
"I haven't."
"Eight distinctive treasures of Jianghuai. The dream white fire you're about to see is one of them. This lotus seed grew from the Sky-Reaching Lotus in the Frog Clan Grounds. It only bears fruit once every dozen years, or even several decades. It bore fruit this year, and the Frog King gave me two.
"It looks big, but I actually think it's small. The Sky-Reaching Lotus's leaves are like dry land. Horses can run across them, and they can carry Great Demons. Who knew its seeds would only be the size of a human head? Proportionally, they're much smaller than the seeds of ordinary lotus pods and leaves."
Those two lotus seeds had truly been an unexpected delight. Liang Qu hadn't imagined he would get a share.
There was nothing to fault Toad for.
What generosity!
"Amitabha. I had never visited Pingyang before. Its customs and local wonders are so different. What I've missed, what I've missed."
"Hahaha, no matter. We'll cut it up like a watermelon later and share it. You'll get a wedge."
Long E Ying asked, "Did you