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“You better learn your lesson later,” Chu Zhaoyou rolled up his sleeves, ready to pick a fight. He grabbed Xiao Heng and took a few steps, looking furious, but then suddenly calmed down.
Xiao Heng felt he had done something wrong, opened his mouth, but didn’t know what to say. He could only follow the angry Chu Zhaoyou as they circled under the jujube tree.
“That’s enough,” Chu Zhaoyou turned around, and his nose bumped into Xiao Heng’s shoulder, causing tears to well up. He covered his nose and said softly, “Go back to the lady’s house and get our chicken back. Give her back the steamed buns.”
“Okay.”
Chu Zhaoyou added, “You have to be discreet, don’t let anyone find out. Also, our chicken might be plucked by now. Do you know what that means? It’s bald, all bare and pink, and its insides might be taken out…”
Xiao Heng went to carry out the task, and before Chu Zhaoyou could blink three times, he saw that the chicken had been brought back!
No, it had been retrieved!
The kind-hearted lady had even plucked the chicken and removed its insides for them!
Chu Zhaoyou grinned happily. “Let’s go find a grove and roast it.”
The chicken’s innards would serve as their reward.
Lin Guihua exchanged two cold steamed buns for a lively mountain chicken and felt extremely pleased. She eagerly boiled water to pluck the feathers, happily scolding “fool” several times.
After pouring out the blood and feathers, she turned around and found the chicken on the cutting board had disappeared!
Gone!
It had turned into two steamed buns!
Lin Guihua was dumbfounded, thinking she had encountered some kind of divine intervention, a deliberate illusion to punish her for taking advantage. She immediately knelt down, crying and repenting. But when she saw the chicken’s innards still on the ground, her tears dried up, and her expression changed.
…
In the cool autumn woods, a gentle warmth seeped through the dense branches, as sunlight filtered through.
Chu Zhaoyou lay on Xiao Heng’s back, recalling his recent behavior, and accidentally let out a laugh. It was the first smile he had shown in the past two days, like the first bloom of a red plum after a heavy snowfall.
Hearing his laughter, Xiao Heng’s lips unconsciously curved upwards, looking a bit foolish, but it was something that neither the civil nor military officials had ever seen—the regent smiling? What a joke.
Xiao Heng held the chicken in one hand and supported Chu Zhaoyou’s backside with the other, flying two li to ensure they wouldn’t be caught by the kind-hearted lady before making an abrupt stop.
Chu Zhaoyou’s forehead bumped into the back of Xiao Heng’s head, hitting an old injury and causing him to grimace in pain.
“When we stop next time, slow down first,” Chu Zhaoyou patiently instructed.
Xiao Heng must not have a wife, judging by his reckless driving style. If he had a wife, she would have reprimanded him long ago.
Chu Zhaoyou wondered if he had taught Xiao Heng well, and which girl would benefit from it in the future.
He had a large bump on his head, but it wasn’t bleeding. He had hit it in the palace yesterday, and he had twisted his ankle while jumping off the wall to save Xiao Heng.
Weak, pitiful.
But he could eat.
Chu Zhaoyou stared at the glistening roasted chicken, his eyes shining.
Without oil or salt, it was dry-roasted. It was the first time Chu Zhaoyou had eaten such food. Regardless of its taste, it was better than going hungry.
As he was about to take a bite, he suddenly remembered that there was a patient beside him, and this patient had the greatest physical exertion.
“Xiao Hei, you eat first,” Chu Zhaoyou handed the roasted chicken to him.
Xiao Heng replied, “I’m not hungry.”
“You are hungry. I heard your stomach growling,” Chu Zhaoyou patiently explained. “You might not understand, but your current state means you’re hungry and need to eat. Here, take a bite.”
Xiao Heng remained still. When he didn’t know what to say, he usually chose silence. His mind was blank, with no memories to draw upon, except for some deeply ingrained instincts. He closed his eyes, and all he could see was Chu Zhaoyou’s figure, which had been filling his desolate life bit by bit, making it more exciting and interesting.
However, there were some things he did know. For instance, he was hungry now, but Chu Zhaoyou was even hungrier, so the chicken should be given to him.
Moreover…
He shouldn’t be called Xiao Hei…
Chu Zhaoyou tried to coax him, but Xiao Heng remained silent. Chu Zhaoyou tore off a piece of chicken leg and offered it to him, as if feeding a child. “Eat, okay?”
Xiao Heng had been too good to him. When he first came into this world, he encountered the very unfriendly regent without any guidance from NPCs. However, this chance encounter with Xiao Heng had given Chu Zhaoyou a sense of reliance, as if they were dependent on each other in this desperate world.
The light filtering through the treetops entered his eyes, appearing as if there were flowing water, and the skin at the corners of his eyes was rosy. Even in his urgency, Chu Zhaoyou’s gaze remained unchanged, as if filled with affection.
Xiao Heng stared at him blankly, then suddenly felt a severe headache. This time, the pain was more intense than the previous two times, as if a sharp blade was wildly stirring in his mind, severing the past from the present and cutting off all his ability to think, turning him into a complete idiot.
Instinctively, Xiao Heng resisted this force. His ingrained pride didn’t allow him to surrender. He refused to accept the consequences of becoming a fool.
Chu Zhaoyou panicked. He dropped the roasted chicken and embraced the trembling Xiao Heng, trying to help him as he had done the previous times. But this time, it didn’t work!
The previous times, Chu Zhaoyou knew he was in pain, but if he didn’t look into Xiao Heng’s eyes and observe his expression, it often seemed like a minor ache. This time, the attack was fierce. Xiao Heng’s teeth chattered, his muscles tensed, and he let out a terrifying, agonizing growl. Unconsciously, he picked up a sharp stone and, without hesitation, tried to strike his head, as if wanting to extract something excruciating from his brain.
He didn’t know what kind of poison could cause such pain, or perhaps it wasn’t poison at all. If diagnosed with modern medical equipment, it might become an incurable condition.