"Alright, alright! I'll stop, I'll stop!" Adrian Drake laughed, waving his hand. "Come on, let's push these two tables together and all sit together."
He and Ryan Lu moved together, pushing the two long tables side by side and placing four cushions on one side.
"I brought back a good amount of Silver Clementine tea from the Silver Clementine Kingdom," Ryan Lu said. "It's great for brightening the eyes and refreshing the mind. How about I brew some for everyone to try?"
"Hey!" Adrian's eyes lit up. "What a coincidence! The place we visited is famous for porcelain, and wow, the pieces are gorgeous. I just happened to bring back a few sets of tea ware to gift you all! Here, Little Five gets the first set—let's use it tonight."
He pulled a beautifully packaged tea set out of his Storage Pouch and placed it on the table.
The tea set was indeed exquisitely crafted—snowy white and translucent, painted with flowers, birds, and little fish. It was full of charm and artistry.
"I'll go make the tea!" Adrian stood up.
But Sean said, "I'll do it."
He was the host here, so no one argued. They let him handle the boiling and brewing.
The rest greeted each other and sat down together on one side, with their squad.
Lucia Lu took the seat at the very end of the table.
Jumin Jing saw this and hurried to sit down beside her.
Snow Yuan, ever the schemer, slid into the seat next to Jumin.
Her plan? Once Sean came out, he’d have no choice but to sit next to her!
Sean Shaw came out carrying a tea tray, with eight cups arranged on it.
He started at the back of the table, handing out a cup to each person as he went.
When only two cups were left, he walked to the head of the table, set one cup in front of Lucia Lu, and kept the last for himself.
Then, he sat down right there.
In other words, he didn’t take the seat that had been saved for him.
Instead, he plopped down at the head of the table.
To his left was Adrian Drake; to his right, Lucia Lu.
“Sean, why’d you sit way over there?” Snow Yuan called out. “Come sit here!”
She patted the cushion next to her.
Sean reached out, teleported the cushion away, and said, “I’m fine here. This way I can host everyone.”
Seeing how Sean was clearly favoring Lucia, Snow Yuan was so frustrated she shut down and didn’t say another word all night.
Adrian Drake, though, had his eye on something else.
He glanced at Sean’s cup, then at Lucia’s cup, and broke into a knowing auntie grin.
The set had eight cups in total.
Each cup was painted with a different motif.
Lucia’s cup featured a little red fish.
Sean’s cup, on the other hand, was painted with a Luminous Golden Chalice Bloom.
For some reason, Sean really liked little red fish.
His handkerchief and even his undershirt had little red fish patterns.
He’d given Lucia the motif he loved, and kept her favorite for himself.
It was practically a secret swap between lovers.
No wonder he insisted on brewing the tea—tsk, tsk, the scheming!
But his senior sister probably wouldn’t notice any of it.
This girl had spent the last few centuries either buried in cultivation or up to her neck in medicinal herbs—she was hopelessly dense in some areas.
Sure enough, after everyone tasted the tea, Lucia immediately asked Ryan Lu about their latest battlefield.
She didn’t notice anything mysterious about the cup at all.
According to Ryan’s report, the two countries they visited were pretty evenly matched in strength.
But the enemy had a terrifying Demon Beast.
“A Demon Beast? You mean an actual Demon Beast?” Lucia asked, puzzled.
“Exactly! That thing was insane—pure demon energy!” Ryan said.
“What did it look like?” Lucia was curious.
“It was a white tiger! But it had mutated—every hair was like a steel needle, the fangs were huge and dripping black drool, and its claws were so sharp they could snap an immortal sword! Whenever it roared, all the beasts fled, even the ants dove underground!” Ryan said.