"Please don't say something so horrifying with such a straight face..."
Toriko sighed helplessly as he walked forward. "I'm not entirely sure what that phrase means, but I have a feeling that's not how it should be used."
"Eh? I beg to differ."
Fang Mo wore a cheerful grin. "That's exactly how four-character idioms are used where I'm from. The key is being concise and expressive. Take 'the fox exploiting the tiger's might,' for example. Its original meaning is that a fox skins a tiger alive, wears its hide, and uses the tiger's authority to intimidate other beasts..."
"Uh?"
Even little Mo Mo beside them froze instinctively upon hearing that. That was not what the textbooks had taught her.
"Hold on, if the fox could do all that, why would it need the tiger's hide?"
Toriko clearly could not hold back anymore either. He rubbed his forehead. "I may not have read much, but don't try to fool me. You didn't just make that up, did you...?"
"You just don't get it. A fox's life needs a sense of ceremony."
Fang Mo spread his hands matter-of-factly. "Besides, these idioms were researched by our ancestors. They carry five thousand years of cultural heritage. What would I even be fooling you with?"
"But..."
"You don't believe me? Fine, I'll give you a demonstration."
As Fang Mo spoke, he suddenly turned toward little Mo Mo. "Come on, sweetheart. Give Uncle Toriko a little idiom shock!"
"Waking up to practice with the rooster's crow, chickens flying and dogs jumping, a crane standing among chickens, killing the chicken to get the eggs, You're too beautiful, chicken, trivial matters, stunned like a wooden chicken, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven..."
"...Why the hell are they all about chickens?"
Seeing the bewilderment written all over Komatsu and