"What are you afraid of?" Ye Yin rolled his eyes. "I don't eat people, do I?" He pulled seven cans of surströmming from his storage ring. "I didn't mean to do this. I really had no other choice. Your strength is too great, so I could only use this method. You're all poisoned, and your bodies must be very weak. You need to eat something to replenish yourselves. This is a premium, very nutritious product, so I'll give it to you."
Ye Yin placed the seven cans on the ground, turned, and quickly walked away to catch up with his teammates.
The seven members of the Royal Fight Team looked at each other.
"Were we too harsh on that 'Sunny Happy Big Boy' just now?" asked one.
"We spoke badly about him," Ye Lingling's soft voice said, "but he was still thinking of us. He truly lives up to his name as a 'Sunny Happy Big Boy.'"
The others immediately fell silent, feeling extremely ashamed.
"Sigh," Yu Tianheng sighed. "Seven cans, one for each of us. Take them. We'll eat them together when we get back and apologize to him next time we see him."
Ye Lingling murmured, "I hope we can meet him again next time..."
"By the way, do any of you know how his three Spirit Abilities work?" Ao Siluo suddenly asked.
The others looked at each other, but no one could answer.
"That 'Sunny Happy Big Boy's' Spirit Abilities are truly a mystery," one said.
"But his second Spirit Ability seems to be able to affect others' Spirit Abilities," Dugu Yan concluded.
Yu Tianheng shook his head. "Let's go. There's no point in talking about it anymore."
The seven of them, with somewhat stumbling steps, slowly walked toward the Spirit Master entrance. Their failure made their backs look a bit thin.
Qin Ming stood at the entrance passage, waiting for his disciples to come out. There was no displeased expression on his face; he wore a faint smile. In his opinion, this might be a very good outcome.
"I'm sorry, Teacher Qin, we lost," Yu Tianheng said, stopping in front of Qin Ming and lowering his usually proud head.
Qin Ming didn't speak, just quietly watched him. Yu Tianheng was his most proud disciple.
"Failure isn't a terrible thing," Qin Ming said. "What's important is for you to learn a lesson. You are not invincible. Today, I want you to know that there are always people better than you, and there's always a higher peak! Go back and get some rest."
The seven nodded vigorously. "Yes!" they said in unison.
Qin Ming then turned and strode away.
Everyone on the Shrek team was smiling. Oscar chuckled and handed everyone a Big Recovery Sausage, helping them regain their physical strength and Spirit Power.
"We're so amazing, we even beat the Royal Fight Team!" Ma Hongjun said.
Oscar rolled his eyes at him, not wanting to say anything. Just as everyone was celebrating, Qin Ming arrived. After a few simple words, Yu Xiaogang left to find Yu Tianheng, while Flender took everyone to settle their points and collect their rewards. He then took Qin Ming and Zhao Wuji to prepare for the celebration banquet.
After calculating the reward points, everyone on the Shrek team barely managed to reach the Silver Battle Soul Badge. In the team competition, they originally didn't have enough points, but because they defeated the Royal Fight Team, who held the Silver Battle Soul Badge, they were given an additional portion of points, allowing everyone to successfully advance.
On the other side, Yu Xiaogang stopped Yu Tianheng, who was about to return. The two chatted.
"Tianheng," Yu Xiaogang said, "failure isn't terrible. You value pride too much. No one is invincible." As he was leaving, he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I want to remind you of something. To be precise, it's something for all seven of you."
Yu Tianheng was a bit confused. "What is it?" Could the others also be related to his uncle?
"Do you still remember the surströmming that 'Sunny Happy Big Boy' gave you?"
Yu Tianheng nodded. "I have to say, he's a really good person. He's our opponent, yet he still gives us surströmming to eat, to replenish our nutrition. I've never seen such a good person."
Yu Xiaogang was silent for a moment. "Indeed," he said. "I've never seen anyone like him. My advice to you is to throw away those seven cans of surströmming."
Yu Tianheng was stunned. "Throw them away? Why? Why would I throw away such good surströmming?"
Yu Xiaogang was silent again. "That surströmming cannot be eaten."
Yu Tianheng was even more confused. "Cannot be eaten? Why can't it be eaten? Uncle, if you like it, or if you want to eat it, I'll give this surströmming to you. Don't say things like surströmming can't be eaten."
Yu Xiaogang didn't know how to explain it. "I can only tell you this," he said. "Throw away those seven cans. Don't eat them! You really can't eat them!" After saying that, Yu Xiaogang turned and left.
Yu Tianheng looked at his uncle's departing figure with confusion, then turned and returned to the hotel to rejoin his six teammates.
"Captain," they said with a smile. "You're back."
Yu Tianheng nodded. "My uncle just told me something. He told us to throw away these cans. He said they can't be eaten."
The six of them were also confused. "Can't be eaten? Why not?"
Yu Tianheng shook his head. "I don't know either. But we'll know if we try. 'Sunny Happy Big Boy' doesn't look like a bad person anyway."
The seven of them simultaneously took out the cans of surströmming and prepared to open them at the same time. The moment they exerted force, a strong, foul odor immediately wafted out.
"Ugh!"
"Ugh!"
...
"Something's not right," one said. "Let me smell it again?"
...
"Ugh!"
...
Yu Feng cursed loudly. "Damn it, how can this 'Sunny Happy Big Boy' be a good person?! This surströmming really can't be eaten!"
"Ugh!"
...
The seven of them rushed out of the room, one after another, gagging. "Ugh!"
...
They took deep breaths of the fresh air outside. Ye Lingling was so angry she gnashed her teeth. "Don't let me see him again next time!" Her body was already weak, and smelling that odor almost made her collapse.
Yu Tianheng finally understood why Yu Xiaogang had told him to throw the cans away. He hadn't understood then and hadn't listened. Now he finally did. People can't be taught by others; they learn from experience.
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