Fan Yumei finished the first round of cooking, placing the food on the table and calling out, "Come and get the first round." She went back to the fire and grill, starting the next round of dishes.
Conversation flowed in low murmurs as everyone got up to grab their plates.
"Thank you, my niece" Uncle Hanji was the first one to grab his plate and disappear into the house.
Jin Minhe, snacking on a glowing herb bar wasn't too far behind as he took his time piling his plate "Did I tell you guys I've almost polished off a full rucksack of those things already?"
Fan Yumei laughed "You'll need that energy in there, Jin. But don't onionsplash a pyrotrap with your appetite."
Kai Shi, stuffing his face, talked through a mouthful. "Tell me why it takes four signatures to get one energy pack, and two broken ones to get a new strap?"
Min Zhao took a break, grabbing a plate and some food. "You have to file an inquiry request for the replacement form. Just the form."
Jin Minhe, deadpanned and not looking up as he continued to stack food on his plate, said, "I once waited 73 hours for authorization to use a towel."
Zhou Qian, standing behind Jin Minhe, said, "That's a lawsuit, not a wait time." He pushed him over a bit. "Hurry up—I'm hungry too, Minhe!" he complained.
Fan Yumei walked over, taking the tongs from Jin Minhe and turning him toward his seat, pushing him in that direction. "Focus. Stop hogging. This isn't a race—there is still plenty of food."
Kai Shi shrugged and challenged, "Why not? We're bonded by food, trauma, and sore joints."
Mystic lowly hummed through the bond. "And shared absurdity." Fan Yumei smiled at her words.
Jin Minhe, now seated at his tent and eating contentedly, told them, "We should start a support group—' Survivors of Red Tape and Bad Spars.'"
Zhou Qian didn't look up but replied, "I'll bring snacks."
Min Zhao chirped, "I'll bring complaints."
Kai Shi waved his hand, "I'll bring Forms 38-G through Z."
Fan Yumei signed at their wild natures. "…You'll never bring silence—that's for sure," she scolded, jokingly.
Liang Chenwu put his palms together in a praying motion. "I'll bring incense—for when the forms inevitably catch fire."
"Hahah," they all giggled at Liang Chenwu's funny behavior.
There was a comfortable, silence as everyone collected their weapons and gear to start the hunt.
They all stepped outside to the camp's edge where tents rested beneath Mystic's low-hovering cloud. Stormlight from her underbelly pulsed faintly across the clearing.
Nearby, the seven figures donned in gear: Jin Minhe, Kai Shi, Zhou Qian, Min Zhao, Liang Chenwu… and Fan Yumei.
They headed out to the wild zone to hunt some meat for dinner.
—
By the time they made it back, the fire crackled high and hot with heat. Zhou Qian and Liang Chenwu dragged back a 1-star raging boar and a non-star shadow wolf while Kai Shi checked the edge perimeter with a small Oni-wind drone.
Min Zhao and Fan Yumei head back to the makeshift cooking area where Min Zhao helped clean the meat while Fan Yumei began cutting and processing the meat.
"Realm opens at dawn," Zhou Qian muttered, sharpening his blades on a quiet grindstone.
"We splitting up or sticking together the whole time?"Liang Chenwu asked as he chimed in curiously.
"We shouldn't split in the early days," Fan Yumei said, dropping the wolf skin beside the discard pile. "The entry spot is an unknown compressed space. We don't know and won't even know if we all get dropped to the same area or scattered out across the realm world."
"Reckon we'll be scattered anyway," Min Zhao chirped in, stretching out in her seat. "It's always a gamble with unknown rifts."
Jin Minhe pouted, hugging his panda beast as a pillow. "I hate unknown rifts. My brain goes fuzzy every time I think about going through a spatial bleed."
Kai Shi passed him a steaming cup. "You'll survive. Probably."
Fan Yumei unfolded her plans —etched in silver qi-thread on beast hide. " I assume that when we enter the secret realm, we will be separated, so I devised a plan to regroup and three days no matter what.
" Fan Yumei said, scanning each person before continuing. "Lufei hates and is sensitive to void and space qi while Mystic and Maxius both thrive in such an environment. So I'll be the last of our group to enter the realm rift it's unavoidable."
"Then what first stay put and wait on everyone to arrive?" Liang Chenwu asked scratching his head.
"No," she said, eyes sharp. "We wait until we know who is dropped where and everyone scouts and reports the situation on each side if separated." she continued.
"Most teams are going to rush for treasure or to kill potential rivals and enemies thinking it's the fastest route to treasure kill and loot. She explained nonchalantly spreading sauce on the meat as she began to place them on the fire and grill.
"Which also makes it the worst place to be." Jin Minhe spoke matter-of-factly.
Silence.
Zhou Qian smirked. "So what's the plan, Captain?"
Fan Yumei washed her hands quickly before she reached into her bracelet and pulled out 7 large folded square— blank scrolls with arcane markers and fade-trigger ink. She placed it in the center.
"These. When we drop in assess, report, and regroup if we can. But if not everyone sticks to this " She pointed to the scrolls in the center.
"These blank scrolls are Rift maps used to map out secret realms from the point where you are dropped to the point where the other markers( map holders) are in the map. It will start to fill in the closer one starts to draw closer to each person," she explained breaking down the function of the blank scroll to her team as it is very important and useful when locating team members. To activate the map, you must drop a piece of blood and a soul stamp."