Night deepened, and the cold grew fierce.
Gu Qingshan and Shen Xue walked along the damp, chilly street.
"What are you planning to take me to eat?" Shen Xue asked.
"That depends on what you feel like eating," Gu Qingshan replied.
"Sure, you have money, but money can't buy everything. I just want some corn still growing out in the wild, with dew on it—then, as soon as it's picked, it has to be roasted." Shen Xue teased him.
It was the middle of the night. There wasn't a soul around, nowhere open to sell vegetables, and certainly no way to find corn still growing with dew on it.
Gu Qingshan suddenly stopped.
"Hmm? What is it?" Shen Xue asked.
"Look, that seems to be a park over there," Gu Qingshan said with interest.
"It is a park," Shen Xue replied.
"Come on, let's find some corn," Gu Qingshan said.
He led Shen Xue into the park and stopped beneath several towering trees.
Gu Qingshan cleared his throat and spoke toward an empty patch of ground:
"We need an ear of corn today."
A shoot burst rapidly from the soil, transforming into a lush green stalk covered in ears of corn.
Gu Qingshan snapped one off, shook away the dew, skewered it on a twig, and handed it to Shen Xue.
Holding the twig, Shen Xue said thoughtfully, "By rights, this is the God of Harvest's power. How can you do this?"
"Because I am the earth. The earth sows everything and grows everything," Gu Qingshan said.
"Then sooner or later, the God of Harvest will come looking for you. I'm afraid he'll be interested in your divine seat," Shen Xue said.
"Do the gods of the Lawful Faction like picking fights too?" Gu Qingshan asked.
"Gods want all living