"It's simple. The next time you go to Shrek Academy, you have to take me along."
At those words, the Scarlet King shook his heads repeatedly. "No!"
"Why not?" The Auspicious Beast spun around, exposing its utterly ravenous expression.
"Little ancestor, your existence affects the fortune of the entire Star Dou Great Forest. I wouldn't dare take you somewhere so dangerous." The Scarlet King paused. "If I actually did that, Di Tian would probably twist off all three of my heads and kick them around like balls!"
"I don't care! If you won't take me, I'll go on a hunger strike!"
The Scarlet King froze for a moment at that declaration, then burst into unrestrained laughter.
"Uncle Scarlet King, what are you laughing at?! What's so funny?!" The Auspicious Beast hissed.
"Auspicious Beast, you ought to wipe your drool before saying that." The Scarlet King shook his heads, laughing. "Look, it's practically dripping onto the ground."
Only after the Scarlet King pointed it out did the Auspicious Beast belatedly realize what was happening and instinctively wipe the corners of its mouth.
"I really will go on a hunger strike." The Auspicious Beast instantly put on its fighting face.
"A real hunger strike?"
"A real hunger strike!"
"Is that so? What a shame..." The Scarlet King gave a wicked grin, then picked up an Overlord Drumstick in his mouth and spoke as he chewed. "Since you're going on a hunger strike, I'll just have to enjoy all these Overlord Drumsticks myself."
With that, the Scarlet King ate faster and faster right before the Auspicious Beast's eyes, looking ready to polish off every last Overlord Drumstick.
Watching the Scarlet King sweep through the food like a gale scattering clouds, the Auspicious Beast's stomach seized control of its brain. It tossed all thoughts of a hunger strike to the back of its mind and joined the feast.
Things have come to this, so I might as well eat first.
Once they had filled their bellies, the Scarlet King couldn't resist teasing it. "Auspicious Beast, weren't you going on a hunger strike? How did your little belly swell up like a ball the moment I looked away?"
"Don't give me that." The Auspicious Beast blushed briefly, then simply resorted to shamelessness. "If you want me to forgive you for sneaking food, you have to take me to see Gao Ren!"
"Little ancestor, I wasn't sneaking food behind your back." The Scarlet King turned serious. "I went to Shrek Academy this time on our lord's orders."
Scarlet King: I was eating openly and aboveboard!
"Our lord?" The Auspicious Beast froze.
It had met the Silver Dragon King so few times that it could count them on a single paw.
Hearing those words from the Scarlet King now, the Auspicious Beast suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Yes, our lord." The Scarlet King nodded. "Gao Ren's Pure World Overlord's Leg can provide some help with our lord's recovery from her injuries."
Realizing that the Scarlet King had gone on an officially funded business trip, the Auspicious Beast suddenly discovered that it seemed to be the only one in the wrong.
Still, it forced itself to remain composed and raised a paw to point at the Scarlet King.
"Uncle Scarlet King, you're in big trouble! You stole our lord's drumsticks!"
"Little ancestor, I think you're the one in big trouble!" Faced with the guilty party accusing him first, the Scarlet King suddenly revealed a sinister grin. "You shouldn't have entertained the idea of going to Shrek Academy, much less threatened me with a hunger strike!"
Auspicious Beast: Uncle Scarlet King, you actually played sweet just to stab me in the back!
Scarlet King: That's because you started making trouble first!
Sensing danger, the Auspicious Beast immediately made a run for it.
However, with only ten thousand years of cultivation, the Auspicious Beast couldn't possibly outrun the Scarlet King, who was a genuine three-hundred-thousand-year soul beast.
Thus, with only a little effort, the Scarlet King caught the Auspicious Beast by its fateful scruff and subdued it completely.
"Let me go! Uncle Scarlet King! You're defying your superior! I'm telling Di Tian!" The Auspicious Beast's four little paws flailed in the air.
"What a coincidence. I'm taking you to see Di Tian right now." Carrying the Auspicious Beast in his mouth, the Scarlet King ran toward the Lake of Life. "I'll tell him every word you just said, exactly as you said it. And our lord, too."
Auspicious Beast: The sky is falling!
"Uncle Scarlet King, let me go! I'll admit I was wrong right now!"
"You haven't realized you were wrong. You've realized you're about to get a scolding."
Before long, the Scarlet King brought the Auspicious Beast to the Lake of Life.
Di Tian, who had been waiting there for quite some time, immediately flew into a rage at the Scarlet King when he saw the Auspicious Beast being carried in his mouth.
"Scarlet King! How dare you treat the Auspicious Beast like that!"
Feeling the heaven-shaking draconic might radiating from Di Tian, the Scarlet King hurriedly released the Auspicious Beast and answered in a trembling voice.
"Di Tian, hear me out first. Once you hear the reason, you'll understand why I treated this little ancestor like that."
"Speak!" Di Tian forced down his anger, his tone icy.
The Scarlet King then recounted everything that had happened, leaving nothing out.
Upon hearing that the Auspicious Beast had wanted to follow the Scarlet King to Shrek Academy and had threatened him with a hunger strike after he refused, the previously furious Di Tian fell silent.
But that silence was clearly the calm before the storm.
A moment later, he looked solemnly toward a certain spot in the Lake of Life.
"My lord, you heard it as well. In my humble opinion, this little fellow needs a severe punishment to make the lesson stick. I want to... break the Auspicious Beast's legs."
The Auspicious Beast trembled in all four limbs at his words. "Don't break my legs! Di Tian, I really know I was wrong!"
"Di Tian, you have a point."
Hearing the Silver Dragon King's answer, the Auspicious Beast's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, gave up all hope. Tears immediately streamed from its eyes.
Auspicious Beast: o(╥﹏╥)o
As the saying went, the child who cried got the candy, and the Auspicious Beast was clearly just such a child.
"However, we'll let you off this time," the Silver Dragon King added. "If there's a next time, Auspicious Beast, you know what will happen."
Granted a reprieve, the Auspicious Beast began nodding frantically. "I'll remember! There won't be a next time!"
Seeing that the Auspicious Beast had acknowledged its mistake, the Silver Dragon King changed the subject and asked about the actual business.
"Scarlet King, how did things go?"
The Scarlet King answered seriously, "My lord, Shrek Academy has agreed to supply us on a long-term basis.
"However, they have their own needs as well. So the daily supply is limited to five thousand drumsticks.
"To avoid arousing their suspicions, I took it upon myself to request twenty-five hundred Overlord Drumsticks and twenty-five hundred Pure World Overlord's Legs."
There was no telling whether the Silver Dragon King was pleased or displeased from her voice. "Twenty-five hundred... that's still a little too few. Still, getting that many is better than getting none.
"Scarlet King, what did you promise Shrek Academy?"
At the Silver Dragon King's question, the Scarlet King said with a hint of pride, "We don't have to give them anything.
"That boy Gao Ren took our side during the negotiations and gave me a great deal of help."
"Oh? Why?" The Silver Dragon King was a little curious.
"This time, I entered Shrek Academy under the pretext of running an errand for the Auspicious Beast." The Scarlet King supplied his own explanation. "I believe he genuinely wants to be friends with the Auspicious Beast."
"So that's how it is..." The Silver Dragon King nodded. "Auspicious Beast, you really have made a good friend."
What ill intentions could such a young human cub possibly have? He must genuinely want to be friends with the Auspicious Beast, just as the Scarlet King said.
Before you continue