Yellow Great-Immortal and the four-legged dragon clung to the Firestarter Spirit's corpse and wouldn't let go. Under Shen Cong's influence they wouldn't raise a hand against humans—but the troops clearing the battlefield didn't dare come near either.

All they could do was appeal to Shen Cong.

Shen Cong came over frowning, and Yellow Great-Immortal's feelings came spilling out: "Mine, mine, mine, mine… all mine!"

The four-legged dragon, hugging the head and the leg, was muttering the same way: "Bug… get lost… mine… tasty… come any closer… kill you all…"

"Yours?" Shen Cong looked at the four-legged dragon first, silent on the surface—though in the Mind-Imprint he was snapping at it: "Then eat it."

The four-legged dragon held the head and wanted to gnaw at it, but couldn't get its mouth open, because it had already reached saturation on fire-spirit medium and simply couldn't get any down. It was fighting over the thing purely because of the attraction.

"Eat it," Shen Cong pressed.

The four-legged dragon hugged the magma head and mumbled, "Bobo…"

"Eat. Hurry up and eat!"

"Bobo…"

"Eat!"

Under Shen Cong's unrelenting pressure the four-legged dragon finally came to its senses and threw the magma head and foreleg out with an aggrieved air. "Not eating… Bobo… mean…"

Just then.

Yellow Great-Immortal came darting over and carried off the magma head and foreleg too. "Mine, mine, mine, all mine… mine, kill!" And with that it snarled viciously out of its weasel face at the troops around it, and at the four-legged dragon as well—at everyone except Shen Cong, whom it didn't dare snarl at.

Shen Cong's expression darkened another degree.

He spoke through the weasel-Cicada-Language: "Yellow Great-Immortal, put all of that down for me!"

"Mine, mine, mine…"

"Yours? Then eat it—right now!"

"Mine…"

"Eat it!"

"Can't get it down… mine, mine, mine…"

"Don't make me act, Yellow Great-Immortal. If I act the consequences will be serious."

"Mine…" Yellow Great-Immortal seemed to feel Shen Cong's anger, but it still clung to the Firestarter Spirit's corpse and wouldn't let go. "Mine…"

Three days without a beating and the skin starts to itch.