Bao Qian emerged into the artificial clearing that Zhengui had made for them only a few minutes later. His eyes were on the ground, examining the churned soil and fragments of wood, charcoal and ash left behind from Zhengui's little snack. He looked much the same as he had at their previous meeting, save for the rather massive pack hefted onto his broad shoulders. He was also not alone however. At his side trundled a spirit beast with a rather potent aura.
...
"Hello!" Gui greeted with some cheer, poking his head out of his shell, to look down at them. "I'm sorry if you were hungry too! I already finished eating."
...
Zhen narrowed his eyes, trying to work out if he had been insulted. Ling Qi rested a quieting hand on his scales. "Is there something interesting about the ground around these parts?" She asked instead steering the conversation away from the potential disagreement.
"It's because Gui is such a messy eater," Hanyi sniffed daintily. "He should clean up better."
"I simply noticed a change in soil quality when we neared this place," Bao Qian cut in. "I was a bit distracted in my approach, so I will apologize."
"It's nothing. I was just curious about what had drawn your attention," Ling Qi replied.
"Your companion seems to have a highly vitalizing effect on the earth. It is one of the things I suspected could be turned to a profit about you, and it seems I was correct, if the effect can be distilled, we will have a tidy little seed business on our hands," Bao Qian said.