"Boom!!"
Old Ox gave a disgruntled bellow.
Li Ping'an looked into the distance and saw an enormous whirlpool forming on the distant sea, accompanied by thunderous rumbling.
Li Ping'an served himself a small bowl of fragrant rice, his gaze curious as he looked into the distance.
As he watched, he continued adding things to his bowl.
He added a small piece of fermented tofu, then some pickled vegetables.
He poured in some tea and stirred it with his chopsticks.
A simple bowl of rice steeped in tea.
"Pfft~"
The first thing to break the surface was something resembling a tentacle, followed by a second, a third, a fourth...
Well, would you look at that.
It turned out to be an octopus.
The giant octopus broke through the surface, seemingly spotted Li Ping'an, and swiftly swam over.
Li Ping'an smiled and cupped his hands in greeting. He could sense that the octopus meant no harm.
The octopus also carried a sword on his back and was looking at Li Ping'an.
Li Ping'an followed his gaze and discovered that he was looking at the rice steeped in tea in his hands.
"Would you like to eat together, Octopus Brother?"
"Yes."
The Octopus Swordsman nodded.
"Then please come aboard and have a seat."
The octopus glanced at his enormous body, then steadily shrank in the water.
Only after shrinking to the size of an ordinary human did he board the boat.
Li Ping'an handed him a cloth to wipe the water off his body.
Then he served another bowl of rice.
With a guest here, he could no longer make do with a simple bite.
So Li Ping'an had Old Ox light a fire and set up a pot to stew the last of their mushrooms, along with some fish.
"Octopus Brother, where