"Ah, that smells wonderful! What is it? Did you go all the way into town to order these dishes?"
"Leftovers from a restaurant. As long as you don't mind!"
Stoneborn entered the room and set the food box on a table. Shao Zhen's lodgings offered little more than bamboo frames and wooden boards for a bed, but there were several tables.
"Not at all, not at all! That aroma has the hunger worms stirring!"
Shao Zhen opened the food box and took out several plates, each holding a mixture of dishes: leftover roast chicken and braised meat, some vegetables, half a pot of wine, and a few steamed buns.
He eagerly picked up his chopsticks and took two bites, and a smile spread across Shao Zhen’s face.
"Mr. Shao, Master said your marvelous brushwork was so sublime it transcended the ordinary, unlike anything he'd ever seen in his life. Hui-er, Great God Yunlai's new statue was based on your painting too, wasn't it?"
Shao Zhen had already pulled up a chair and begun eating with a steamed bun in hand. Stoneborn's words made his smile brighten further.
"Mr. Yi is too kind. I wouldn't call it transcendent. I can only say that when understanding stirs in my heart, my brush seems divinely guided. But the world is vast. There must be plenty who surpass me."
Stoneborn smiled too.
"If my master says you're amazing, then you must be the very best!"
As he spoke, Stoneborn walked over to another, slightly taller table and stood on tiptoe to look. On it lay a painting filled with ghosts and monsters. Understanding dawned on him at once. This must be the Hundred Ghosts Picture?
"Hey, hey, hey! Children shouldn't look at that!"
Seeing Stoneborn looking at the Hundred Ghosts Picture, Shao Zhen was