Four Split Personalities

Five minutes later

Motan, finally recovered, was helped up by an apologetic young girl. Together, they watched in trepidation as Wang Ba buried its head in the food bowl, gobbling up the food with gusto.

The reason for their alarm was twofold. On one hand, they were shocked that Ji Xiaoge’s horrific cooking was being devoured with such relish. On the other hand, Motan noticed something concerning about his companion: its Health Points had been dropping consistently, now standing at 1130/3000.

This meant that in less than ten minutes, Wang Ba had ingested something capable of causing nearly two thousand points of damage. Considering its Constitution of 75 points, Motan estimated that with his own resistance to poison, even with 5000 Health Points, he’d likely be dead by now.

[Dabus once told me that Anthony doesn’t lose Health Points and has no negative statuses when eating Ji Xiaoge’s cooking, but spit, Wang Badan is actually losing blood, and there are three full lines of negative statuses on his panel. It feels like it’s just toughing it out!]

After pondering for a few seconds, Motan couldn’t help but pat the turtle shell on Wang Ba’s back and asked with a strange expression, "So... do you think this stuff... tastes good?"

Ji Xiaoge, who had been supervising Wang Ba’s eating while cooking soup, couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Motan, though she didn’t say anything. Partly because she knew her cooking was quite ’intense,’ and also, she felt slightly guilty towards Motan. After all, she was a nice girl who felt remorse seeing him convulse in pain after being stuffed with a chaotic mix of her ingredients.

So, she held her tongue.

Wang Ba, still enjoying its meal, lifted its head blankly and curiously asked, "What does tasty mean?"

What does tasty mean?

How the hell should I explain that?

Motan was also stunned for a moment, then helplessly said, "Don’t act dumb. You have the Dragon King’s inherited memories, and you just shared my memories of the past three months. You should know what ’tasty’ means."

"I’m not acting. I really don’t know."

Wang Ba, however, pursed its lips and after snacking a bit more in the food bowl, lifted its head and said, "Of course, I know what it literally means, but the problem is, this is the first meal of my life prepared by Night Song. Just a moment ago, I was still an egg, never even had a sip of milk, and you’re asking me if the first meal of my life tastes good. How would I know how to respond?"

Ji Xiaoge, who had been a bit listless, suddenly perked up, her eyes, full of charm, focused intently on Wang Badan. After a slight pause, she suddenly realized why so many people are keen on nurture-type games.

Motan noticed this detail but said nothing, only silently mourning his partner while asking, "So, any comments or thoughts about this food?"

"The sensation of eating is quite fresh, very exhilarating!"

Wang Ba smacked its lips to convey its feeling and added, "As for my thoughts... well, if one must eat every day... then I guess being an immortal species might not be so great."

[Darn, this guy’s worldview seems to have crumbled in his childhood.]

Motan sighed deeply in his heart, then dryly asked, "So, you find the taste just so-so?"

"I already told you this is my first meal, how would I know what’s so-so or whatnot."

Wang Ba, slightly annoyed by Motan’s constant interruptions, rolled its eyes and burped a faintly purple mist, lazily saying, "So asking me is pointless, but anyway, I don’t dislike eating. Uh, I might not really like it much either; maybe I’ll feel indifferent once the novelty wears off. Honestly, I’d rather have milk. Do you know any really pretty nursing ladies? Even one tenth as pretty as Sister Yege would do."

Motan didn’t respond, but Ji Xiaoge, grinding her teeth in irritation, rushed up and kicked Wang Ba twice.

Since it’s impolite to offend your feeder, Wang Badan quickly steered the conversation back, seriously saying, "Although I don’t know what counts as good or bad taste, I think I can still share some thoughts."

"Go ahead," said Motan, nodding slightly.

"First, I felt a bit like vomiting, then there was a minor explosion in my stomach, followed by a heavy feeling in my head, and my body felt somewhat powerless... and, um, I also felt that being alive might not necessarily be a good thing, and anyone who can persist in eating three meals a day deserves respect."

Wang Ba was honest in its meticulous description, ultimately summarizing it in ten words—basically, it felt a bit like dying.

Ji Xiaoge’s face turned pale with anger.

Motan sighed, then fed Wang Ba two bottles of Healing Potion, determined to treat this ’child’ to some good food after leaving this place.

"Hey, since we’ve completed the mission, should we be heading out?"

As Ji Xiaoge cleaned up the pots and pans in front of her, she turned to Motan and said, "If you’re taking Badan back to Anka Market to meet up with Jadka and the others, it’s at least a two or three-day journey. This area is quite dangerous, and I’m not in a hurry, so I might as well accompany you guys for a bit."