The Spice Guardians were exactly what Lin Feng had feared—giant, hulking figures covered in flowing robes made entirely of dried chilies, turmeric, and cinnamon. They stood in a perfect circle around the duo, spoons raised in a battle-ready stance.
"Spice warriors... really?!" Lin Feng said, his voice dripping with disbelief. "I knew this place was weird, but this is a whole new level of ridiculous."
Jia Yun, her hand resting on the hilt of her blade, smirked. "Spices as weapons? Guess they're really seasoned for battle." She winked.
Lin Feng groaned. "You're terrible, you know that, right?"
"Hey, I'm just trying to spice things up." Jia Yun's grin was infectious.
The guardians, clearly not amused by their banter, lunged forward with their enormous spoons. Lin Feng sidestepped with agility, barely avoiding a giant spoon swipe that would've knocked him into next week.
"Whoa, buddy! Careful with that! That's way too much seasoning!" Lin Feng shouted, dodging the incoming attack.
One of the guardians growled. "You mock the spice gods at your peril."
"Spice gods? You guys need to chill with the whole 'divine seasoning' thing," Lin Feng said, raising an eyebrow. "You're not going to win any Michelin stars acting like this."
The guardian swung his spoon with such force that it created a gust of hot air, sending Lin Feng flying backward into a large pile of cumin sacks.
"Ah!" Lin Feng yelped. "This is not the way I envisioned my spice journey."
As the guardians closed in, Jia Yun leapt into action, spinning gracefully as she drew her blade. With a precise swipe, she sliced through the air, sending a cloud of cinnamon dust billowing around them.
"Nice move," Lin Feng said. "But you missed the one with the garlic powder armor."
Just as one of the guardians raised his spoon to strike Jia Yun, a loud, obnoxious quack echoed through the chamber.
Jia Yun froze, looking over at Lin Feng. "Did… did you hear that?"
Before Lin Feng could answer, the same little duck waddled back into the room. This time, however, it wasn't just waddling around aimlessly. The duck was marching—like it had an actual mission—and it was heading straight for the nearest guardian.
"Oh no, not this again," Lin Feng groaned, facepalming.
The duck reached the first guardian, who was too busy swinging his spoon at Jia Yun to notice. Without any hesitation, the duck launched itself at the guardian's leg, biting into his robe with all the ferocity of a rabid feathered beast.
"QUACK!" The duck honked loudly, flapping its wings furiously as it clawed at the guardian's leg.
Lin Feng stared at the absurdity of the situation. "Well, that's one way to break up a fight."
Jia Yun couldn't help but laugh. "I don't know whether to be impressed or concerned. That duck's got spice."
One of the guardians finally noticed the feathered menace and attempted to kick the duck away. The duck, however, was surprisingly nimble. It dodged, hopped onto the guardian's shoulder, and started pecking at his hair like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Seriously?!" Lin Feng exclaimed. "This is like a bad comedy sketch."
Jia Yun, still fighting off another guardian, quipped, "Well, at least the duck's got better moves than you."
"Oh, I see how it is," Lin Feng shot back. "I'm the one getting knocked around by spice spoons, and the duck's over there owning the battlefield."
In the chaos, one of the guardians swung his spoon down at Lin Feng, but the duck took a dramatic leap, flapping its wings so hard it bounced off the spoon like a professional wrestler.
Lin Feng barely managed to roll out of the way. "Did that just happen?"
"That duck's the real MVP here," Jia Yun said, nodding seriously. "Forget the flamebearer. We need to recruit the duck for our team."
With every quack and flap of the duck's wings, more and more of the guardians found themselves distracted and, eventually, overwhelmed. It was like the duck had them hypnotized. The last guardian, seeing the feathered fury take down his comrades, dropped his spoon and bolted.
"No, no! Not the duck! Anything but the duck!" he screamed, running in circles.
Jia Yun and Lin Feng both stared at the duck in awe.
"Well, that's… one way to win," Lin Feng said, still not entirely sure if he was dreaming.
"Tell me about it," Jia Yun replied, wiping the sweat from her brow. "I was expecting an epic battle with spice gods, not... that."
The duck waddled over to them, looking quite pleased with itself, and gave a satisfied quack.
Lin Feng, still recovering from the absurdity, bent down and patted the duck's head. "You, my friend, are a true warrior. I don't know if we would've made it without you."
Jia Yun rolled her eyes. "At this point, I'd say the duck's our new leader."
Lin Feng chuckled. "Yeah, we'll let the duck take the throne of the Spice Kingdom."
"Long live the Duck King," Jia Yun said, saluting with her sword dramatically.
The duck quacked once more, and Lin Feng was fairly sure it nodded in approval.
As they turned to continue exploring the temple, Lin Feng suddenly noticed something glowing beneath the pile of discarded spice bags.
"Hey, what's this?" Lin Feng said, reaching down to grab it. He pulled out a glowing, fiery-red stone shaped like a pepper.
"Is that a… Spicy Stone?" Jia Yun asked, her tone full of surprise.
"It must be," Lin Feng said, inspecting it. "This might be the key to unlocking the next level of the temple."
Just as he held it up, the duck waddled over to inspect it too. With a final quack, it pecked at the stone once, and the entire chamber started to rumble.
"Oh no. What now?" Lin Feng groaned.
Jia Yun sighed. "Honestly, I have no idea. But if we're getting out of here, I'm hoping it's not with a duck army."
"Fingers crossed," Lin Feng muttered, clutching the Spicy Stone.
And just like that, the next challenge revealed itself—no one knew what would happen, but they were about to find out, with a duck at their side.
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