"..."
"..."
Annie ignored the bald man's comment. She was more interested in another question, so she sniffed hard, gazing at the meteor-iron bird skewered on a stick and about to be put over the fire, then asked curiously:
"Uncle Lei, these meteor-iron birds..."
"..."
"Do you think they taste good?"
"..."
The bald man just scratched his somewhat shiny head, looking awkward.
"Well..."
"Haha!"
"I really don't know!"
"I've heard of these birds, but they're so fast, and when they're feathered, their bodies are hard as iron. Who'd go out of their way to catch one to eat?"
"I doubt anyone's tried them, right?"
He really had never eaten one. The birds had tough muscles and bones, too, so they would be difficult to prepare. He had no idea whether they would even be chewable once roasted.
"Oh, I see?"
"..."
Annie's little face twisted with uncertainty. Then, with a hint of hope, she mumbled softly:
"I just hope they taste good..."
"..."
"Otherwise, we caught all these for nothing."
"It wasn't for nothing!"
"Even if they taste bad, we still eliminated nine teams, didn't we?"
Lei As continued cheerfully, his hands never stopping.
"You two—"
"!?"
Just then, Mo Li, who had been about to say something else, suddenly changed expression and sprang to her feet. A floating spellbook appeared in her hand, its pages turning without a breeze as a faint magical glow shimmered around it. She had clearly prepared a spell.
"!!"
Almost at the same time, the experienced Lei As dropped the half-prepared meteor-iron bird and grabbed the golden scepter beside him with his blood-smeared hand. He rose slowly, like a startled leopard, and swept his sharp gaze across the darkness beyond their camp.
"??"
"..."
Annie noticed something was wrong, too, but she made