"Venerable One? You don't mean that... ah, no, that Seven-Sage Fish, do you?"
Yu Lian looked at the spiritual beast of the Voidsea, draped in colorful scales and sporting what looked like a cat's head. It was unmistakably adorable, and he found the title rather awkward to use. Then the creature, coiled on the mountaintop, lifted its neck and gave him a remarkably expressive, helpless smile.
So you really were watching us in secret this whole time?
Yu Lian was just about to say something when the sacred beast held up another sign: "That's right, it's me. But I didn't want to, either."
Then it spat a marker from its mouth, shook its head, and began writing furiously.
Perhaps writing—and shaking its head—was much faster in the Voidsea than in the material world. Its movements were so quick that they left afterimages. This was beyond being hopped up on drugs; it was as if it had a motor attached to its neck.
Yu Lian stood there, stunned for half a minute. Then the other party held up another sign: "I accepted their offerings, so every now and then I help them run errands or make deliveries. Strictly speaking, I'm just an unofficial employee, with maybe a bit of mascot appeal. But they insist on calling me their 'Venerable Lord.' What can I do about that? It's a little awkward, but once you accept the premise, you just have to go along with it."
Yu Lian had to admit, this was the first time he had encountered a remarkable being capable of expressing its chatterbox nature in writing. Then again, the Seven-Sage Fish was willing to embrace even its mascot status. It was indeed an unusually broad-minded creature, and he felt a great deal of respect for it.
With that in