"What the hell is going on with this fish?"
Yan Xiao, the chef of Wangshu Inn, a burly man who cooked excellent dishes, was currently standing on the table where ingredients were displayed, looking at the motionless salted fish in front of him, a headache brewing.
As a chef, he had seen all sorts of ingredients, both live and dead, but this fish in front of him was a bit beyond his comprehension.
"HiHi ~ o(*￣▽￣*)ブ, Yan Xiao, what are you doing?"
While Yan Xiao was troubled, Paimon arrived in the kitchen a step ahead of the others and greeted Yan Xiao.
"You guys, entering the kitchen restricted area again so casually."
"Ah, I'm sorry. Did we disturb your cooking, Yan Xiao?"
Yan Xiao shook his head: "No, I just couldn't help but say something. It's not mealtime, and my work is mostly done. I'm resting now."
"I see, that's good. But you look very troubled. Did something happen? Could it be… could it be that ghosts have appeared again?"
Ghosts had appeared in the kitchen before. Don't let Yan Xiao's burly appearance fool you; he was very afraid of them. At that time, he was so scared that he didn't dare to cook, and even the proprietress couldn't persuade him.
Fortunately, Lumine helped deal with the matter, otherwise, Yan Xiao really would have almost gotten sick from fright.
Now that he had that expression again, had ghosts come back to haunt the place?
"No, it's not for that reason this time. It's just… I just don't know how to deal with this ingredient. I've been troubled by it for several days."
Yan Xiao showed everyone a very long fish. It was as long as a person, and its meat quality was top-notch. At the time, when Yan Xiao was purchasing ingredients, he bought it without much hesitation.
But he didn't expect this fish to be so unusual. Even though he had already air-dried it, he still couldn't deal with it.
"Wooow~ What a big fish! This fish, made into a dish, would be enough for all of us to eat."
Yes, most of this fish will go into your mouth, and the others will only get a very small portion.
Lumine squinted her eyes, glanced at the drooling (?﹃?) Paimon, ignored her embarrassing display, and asked Yan Xiao.
"Is there something wrong with this fish? Is it… inedible? Or is it poisonous?"
"Hmm~ That's still unclear, because I haven't cut it open yet and don't understand its internal structure."
"Haven't cut it open? Do you mean you haven't touched a knife to it, or you touched a knife to it but couldn't cut it open?"
"I can't cut it open. Even if I use all my strength, I can't cut it open. It's really bizarre."
He had been exercising regularly, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to maintain his current physique, and he was quite strong, capable of dealing with several people at once.
But even he couldn't deal with a single fish, which was a bit embarrassing.
"This fish… is it that tough? Can its meat still be eaten?"
"Now is not the time to be obsessed with eating, you idiot Paimon."
Lumine gently tapped Paimon's head, ignored Paimon crying out in pain, and went to the salted fish, examining it carefully.
Having lived in the wilderness for a long time, she was also a decent cook. Although this fish had been air-dried, the meat quality was still excellent and very fresh.
Look, the fish's eyes are still moving, which is enough to prove it's fresh, right… huh? The eyes moved?
Lumine was startled and jumped back a step, pointing at the salted fish in shock, and asked: "You… you… did you really air-dry it? I just saw its eyes move!"
"The eyes moved? Are you sure?"
Yan Xiao didn't doubt Lumine. Although such a statement sounded like a joke, Lumine wasn't the type to make such low-level jokes.
In other words, the fish's eyes really moved? It was still alive?
This information made everyone instinctively turn their gaze to the large salted fish. Shenhe even thought this salted fish was some new type of evil spirit, and took out her calamity's bane, ready to freeze it.
"Wait."
As Shenhe was about to use Ice Puppet Escort, Durandal stopped her and came to the salted fish.
From the beginning, Durandal had found this salted fish familiar. After sensing the residual Humus Power within it, Durandal finally confirmed its identity.
"It… it's the fish that helped us find Beisht back then."
Although some time had passed, the experience of fighting Beisht was too profound, so Lumine and Shenhe quickly remembered the salted fish that helped them find Beisht's trace.
Now it seemed that this fish was indeed very similar to the salted fish they had seen, only this one was a bit bigger.
"Eh? It really is! It really is the salted fish that helped us back then. But… why were you caught? And air-dried?"
Paimon couldn't understand. In her opinion, this fish had received Durandal's grace, and even if it was a small grace, it shouldn't have been foolishly caught like other fish.
Seeing that its being alive had been discovered, it simply stopped pretending and directly "communicated" with Durandal.
Hmm~ The so-called communication was just its mouth opening a few times and blinking its eyes, using these actions to convey signals.
And Durandal actually understood its meaning, nodding under everyone's bewildered gazes.
"I see, I understand."
"What do you understand? What did it tell you?" Paimon asked impatiently.
"It was caught in a fishing net with other fish. It's no longer attracted by the small temptations on fish hooks, but the fishing net was too fast, and it didn't react in time."
Durandal paused, looking at the salted fish that had stopped moving again, and continued: "Later, although it thought about escaping, it always ended up on land. Ordinary areas simply don't have ponds large enough to accommodate it, so it kept waiting for an opportunity. Then it was bought by him, and it has been playing dead until now, planning to escape back into the sea when he throws it away."
"Playing dead… to this extent? Wasn't it already air-dried?!"
"Yes, I even covered it in salt and hung it outside to dry for several days. Did it still not die?"
Yan Xiao couldn't believe it. Most fish can't last more than thirty seconds out of water, but this one had been left out to dry for several days. And it still wasn't dead?
"Its vitality is a bit stronger. Don't let its appearance fool you; as long as it's thrown into the sea, it will quickly recover to full health."
According to the salted fish, its own vitality was very strong, and its body was extremely hard, which was why Yan Xiao couldn't cut it open.
Later, after receiving Durandal's Humus Power, its abilities were further enhanced. If it had legs, living on land wouldn't be a problem.
But a fish living on land and such, it sounds strange no matter how you hear it. You're not a mermaid, so let's just forget about that.
After hearing Durandal's explanation, everyone finally understood why Yan Xiao couldn't deal with this salted fish.
Yan Xiao also breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed there was nothing wrong with him; it was just that this salted fish was too peculiar, which was why he couldn't cook it.
"So what now? Should we just throw it into the sea and let it go back? I don't know why, but I feel like it will be caught again very soon."
It wasn't that Paimon thought this salted fish was too stupid, but rather because its luck was simply too bad. She just felt that it would be caught again shortly after returning, and then resold.
"Yan Xiao, though it's sudden, would you be willing to sell it to us? We won't let you suffer any loss."
"Forget it, just take it. I can't do anything with this fish here. Rather than having it here giving me a headache every day, it's better for you to take it away. Out of sight, out of mind."
Yan Xiao didn't take advantage of them. He was already grateful that they could help him deal with this troublesome salted fish, so why would he charge them money?
And… did he just learn something incredible? What did this girl named Durandal bestow upon this salted fish to make it so strange?
Yan Xiao couldn't help but glance at Durandal. Durandal noticed Yan Xiao's gaze and also turned her eyes to the chef.
Yan Xiao gave a stiff laugh a few times, quickly averted his gaze, and prayed in his heart that Durandal wouldn't pay too much attention to him, that she would ignore him.
"Nah, Durandal. Do you think this is good? Find a place to release it, how about that?"
"Okay, whether you keep it in the Serenitea Pot or find a place to release it, it's fine. If you want to use it as a weapon, that's also fine, as it's quite sharp."
Don't let it fool you, it's just a salted fish, but its hardness is not inferior to some Adventurer's weapons, and even some fine weapons can't compare to it.
If there isn't a suitable Claymore weapon, using it for combat is fine. It's just that when using element attachment, this salted fish will feel very… stimulating.
"Weapon… Hmm~ Let's just forget about that."
Not only Lumine, but even Shenhe showed a complicated expression.
Generally speaking, even if someone had an iron sword, no one would willingly fight an enemy with a salted fish, right?
Before the battle even began, the enemy would probably die laughing at your posture holding a salted fish. At that point, your mindset would already be affected before you even fought.
"Using it as a weapon? Is that really okay? If you use it for a long time, will your hands get salty?"
Don't forget it has already been cured by Yan Xiao; it exudes the smell of salted fish all over. If used for a long time, will it make your hands salty too?
That really is… a very tricky angle, very much like Paimon's thought process.
"Hmm? Or… how about we recommend it to Diluc? What do you think?"
Lumine suddenly had an interesting idea, which was to give this salted fish to Diluc.
Diluc uses a Claymore, and his ultimate skill enchants his weapon. If this salted fish gets infused with the Pyro element, who knows what it will turn into, maybe roasted salted fish.
Hehe~ Just thinking about it is interesting. Lumine was looking forward to the scene of Diluc seeing this salted fish.
"To make you look more impressive, I'll give you a name. From now on, you are the xian zhu hai huang (pearl-bearing sea emperor - a special salted fish)!"
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