"Time to eat!"
"Try my bamboo spirit mouse stewed with fresh bamboo shoots and salted pork!"
That night, in the front courtyard of the Pine and Bamboo Residence.
Carrying a steaming pot of bamboo spirit mouse stewed with fresh bamboo shoots and salted pork, Zhu Ping hurried over to the stone table and gently set it down.
Xu Taiping laid out three sets of bowls and chopsticks, his face full of anticipation.
"I ate bamboo rats when I was little, but this is my first time hearing of bamboo spirit mice. I wonder how they taste compared with ordinary bamboo rats."
Zhu Ping set down the earthenware pot in his hands and said solemnly,
"How could mere ordinary bamboo rats compare with the bamboo spirit mice born in the Spirit Garden's Bamboo Sea?"
He pulled up a chair and sat down, speaking with keen enthusiasm.
"My bamboo spirit mice eat fresh shoots from the Bamboo Sea's spirit bamboo and drink from the Spirit Spring. I guarantee one bite will stay with you for the rest of your life."
Hearing this, Blade Ghost, who sat opposite Xu Taiping, suddenly burst into hearty laughter.
"Come, let this old man have a taste too."
At this, Xu Taiping asked curiously,
"Senior, can that puppet body of yours taste things too?"
Blade Ghost picked up his chopsticks.
"This is the Thousand Faces Puppet Body from the Zhenwu Treasury, after all."
Xu Taiping immediately gave a slight nod.
"I see."
Just then, Zhu Ping suddenly smacked his forehead.
"Oh! How did I forget the wine!"
With that, he stood up, preparing to go back inside for the wine.
Seeing this, Xu Taiping called him to a stop.
"Fellow Daoist Zhu Ping, I have wine here. Let's drink mine today."
Zhu Ping insisted,
"Fellow Daoist Xu