"Are you absolutely, unequivocally certain about this?"
Mo Xiao stood at the edge of the central cooking fire, his massive arms extended as far away from his body as physically possible.
In his hands, he held a thick, woven basket. He was treating the basket as if it contained a live, highly agitated venomous snake.
"Hand them over, Alpha," Bai Yue demanded, holding out a large wooden bowl.
Mo Xiao swallowed hard. "Bai Yue, our hunters use these to strip the slime off Swamp Hydras. When the wind blows through the fire-pepper patch, the birds literally fall out of the sky. This is not food. This is a war crime."
"Just put the peppers in the bowl, Mo Xiao," Bai Yue grinned. "If you want to defeat a fire-breathing lizard, you have to fight fire with fire. Specifically, Sichuan-style fire."
With a heavy sigh of impending doom, Mo Xiao tipped the basket.
A mountain of small, shriveled, bright red peppers tumbled into Bai Yue's bowl.
