Late Night Tales Of The Capital

Chapter 108 Meat Eating Young Lady
Why did his heart beat 52821 times?

Ye Que had begun counting when both his and Red Bean’s heart were beating to the same rhythm, up till the time when hers began to beat irregularly.

Ye Que knew that the woman he was hugging close to his chest had already awoken when he sensed the difference in her heartbeat. Otherwise, it would not have undergone such a change.

Instinctively, he lowered his head to look at Red Bean. He realized that she was still nestled in his chest and had not moved at all. There was not even any difference in the regularity of her breathing, and she looked as though she was a newborn child. Her eyes were still tightly shut, and her long eyelashes did not blink at all, as if she was deep in sleep. Ye Que knew that she was already awake, however, and wanted to wake her up when he realized that he was hugging her. What should he tell her after waking her up? How could he explain himself?

In an instant, Ye Que realized the reason why Red Bean still kept her eyes shut even when she was already awake and why she was still acting as though she was deep in sleep. It was most probably due to the fact that she did not know how to handle the situation as well. Otherwise, her heart would not be beating so irregularly. It seemed to him that the irregular rhythm was because she was flustered.

After understanding this, Ye Que immediately acted. He lowered his head again and glanced at the nearly perfect face of Red Bean before leaving her gently by the fire. He then even tidied the coat he had placed over her.

He turned around and looked at the sky outside their cave, which was beginning to brighten up. He then stood up and walked into the snow storm.

The snow was still falling on Mount Mei, and there were no signs of abating.

The light of dawn pierced through the cover of the hills in the distant and shone down upon the mountain covered in white snow.

Not long after, Ye Que returned to the cave with a snowcock in hand. It was impossible for ordinary people to survive a walk in the mountains in this rough weather, much less hunt. However, it was no big deal for practitioners of Ye Que’s level, as long as they were not injured.

He prayed silently for the bird in his hand. In fact, it could have been a couple with the one he ate yesterday; he had even caught this new one not far away from the previous one.

Of course, Ye Que would not have much pity for the snowcock. He firmly believed in the laws of nature, which dictated that the weak prey on the poor.

He traversed through falling snow and stepped into the cave which sheltered him from the wind. The first thing he caught sight of was Red Bean, who had got up and was sitting serenely beside the fire. His clothes were already well folded and placed to one side.

She lifted her head slightly as he walked in and looked at him with both eyes.

Red Bean’s eyes were extremely clear, as clear as water in autumn. She looked very calm, and both of them looked directly into each other’s eyes while standing only about seven steps away from each other. They were not panicky, flustered, wary or fearful, and not even feeling any shy or awkward. There was only peace between them, as calm as a painting of the sky connected with water.

Furthermore, there was a visible change in Red Bean from her previous self in the Imperial Mausoleum. An intense aura emanated from her at that moment, and her words were cold and cutting, pushing people directly away from her, as well as being explosive in nature. Now, from what he saw, she looked world-weary, as if she had distanced herself from worldly affairs and was extremely experienced in matters of the world. She looked like an older person who knew how to predict fate now.

Could it be that the Undying Dragon Bones had the effect of changing one’s attributes?

Ye Que lowered his head after looking at her for a while and showed her the snowcock in his hand, as if he was trying to report to her that he had not left her. Instead, he had been out hunting.

They remained silent.

Ye Que prepared the snowcock at half the speed compared to yesterday. He plucked all of the feathers from the bird and removed all of its innards before taking it outside and washing it with some water which he melted from snow using Spiritual Force. It was only then did he string the bird up on a wooden stick and returned slowly to the fire.

He had added some firewood into the flame, and even though he had treated those that had been touched by snow, plumes of green smoke still rose out of the fire. It was slightly pungent, but it was not much of a problem. In fact, it created a natural barrier between him and Red Bean.

It helped make the situation less awkward.

“That day, after you became unconscious, the entire Imperial Mausoleum was flooded by water, and I carried you out of the underground Great Hall on my back. When we emerged, the disciples of Mount Shu was still fighting with the demons over the River Soldiers, and it was hard to tell who would prevail. Their strength was on par and both sides were evenly matched…”

As they sat facing each other beside the fire, Ye Que did not ask her if she was awake, how she felt, or whether she felt better. They were slightly redundant, and he only told Red Bean what happened after she lost consciousness truthfully but briefly. Of course, he chose to gloss over the fact that he had hugged her for an entire night.

Perhaps it was due to exhaustion that Red Bean began to relax as she listened to Ye Que. She did not sit up as straight as before, and even used her right hand to support her cheek gently.

Her eyes fixed on the flame. More specifically, she was staring at the snowcock, which was slowly turning golden yellow.

The fragrance of meat began to pervade the cave again, and Ye Que had finished speaking at this moment. Red Bean had remained completely silent while he was talking and only sat beside him and listened quietly. Eventually, she ended the conversation with two phrases.

“I saved you the last time.”

“We’re even now.”

Her tone did not sound as if she was trying to end their relationship.

Ye Que and Red Bean sat at opposite sides of the fire and were less than three steps away from each other. They looked at each other in silence.

“I did what I should have done,” Ye Que replied as he brought the cooked snowcock to his side. He still tore off the most tender part at the middle of its wing and passed it to Red Bean. “Your body is still extremely weak. Eat something. It may help you get better.”

Red Bean did not display any signs of shyness and received the meat from Ye Que in a calm and matter of fact fashion.

She lowered her head to look at the golden brown meat in her hand and brought it close to her nose for a sniff, before taking small bites of it. Snowcocks were hard to find, and were even rarer after heavy snowfall. The flesh melted in her mouth, and it was evident from her expression after her first bite that she was surprised.

“How could meat be so tasty!”

Ye Que had spent the past century living alone without any female to help out with household chores. Naturally, this meant that he had to take care of his own meals and housework. Over time, he became well trained and experienced; the past hundred years of cooking had turned him into a great chef.

In the blink of an eye, Red Bean had polished off the meat that Ye Que had given her and was looking at him.

He understood instantly.

He gave her the middle portion of the other wing. This time, Red Bean did not take small bites. Instead, she was evidently opening her mouth wider and finished it in a few mouthfuls. She then ate the thigh, breast, and claws of the snowcock as well. She was not a fussy eater and ate whatever Ye Que gave her.

She had eaten the entire snowcock in a few minutes. Ye Que did not even manage to get a bite of it, and he was totally acting as a chef now.

He looked at Red Bean after noticing that she had eaten the entire snowcock. He did not speak, but it was evident that he wanted to ask if she was already full.

Likewise, Red Bean did not speak. Her gaze conveyed the message to him that she was still not full.

Ye Que tied his clothes more tightly around him and stepped out of the cave again into the snow storm.

Very quickly, he returned with a pile of still considerably clean firewood, along with a pump snow rabbit.

He added more wood into the flame to make the fire stronger. He brought the rabbit near the entrance of the cave and skinned it before skewering it with the wooden stick and grilling it over the fire. Normal rabbit meat was incomparable to snow rabbit meat; the former was considered as normal meat, while the latter was great food.

Snow rabbit meat was slightly harder to barbeque compared to snowcock meat, and the waiting time for it to get cooked was also slightly longer. This time, Red Bean no longer stared at the flame, but instead, she was staring at the snow rabbit meat without blinking. Even though she was not drooling, it was no different in Ye Que’s eyes. He had never expected this young lady, who was pretty good looking, unique in character and cool, would be so amazed by barbequed meat. She looked as though she had never eaten such cooking before, and seemed like she had been eating raw meat for all her life, and that it was the first time she ate something nice that was barbequed.

This time, without Red Bean’s hints, Ye Que took the initiative to take the rabbit apart. First, he tore the thighs of the creature apart, then its chest meat, followed by…

It ended the same like before. Red Bean polished off anything Ye Que gave her in two to three mouthfuls. Looking at Red Bean’s wide open mouth, as well as how she chewed, Ye Que wondered if the young lady had chewed the meat sufficiently well. How could she manage to swallow after just three bites?

It took another few more minutes for the entire plump snow rabbit, one foot long and half a foot wide, to enter Red Bean’s stomach. The young lady had not even burped, and one glance at her small stomach told Ye Que that it was still flat, as if she had not eaten anything at all.

“Are you still not full?” Ye Que asked again.

Red Bean nodded vigorously, somewhat answering Ye Que.

“Alright, wait a little while for me them. I’ll go out to find some food for you again. There should be many live animals in this mountain, but they’ve been hidden in the heavy snowfall,” Ye Que said casually.

He was already walking to the entrance of the cave after speaking.

“Wait a minute.”

Red Bean made Ye Que stop all of a sudden. She sounded as though she had something to tell him but did not know how to go about doing it.

“What’s the matter? Tell me what you’re thinking about. I’ll do my best if it’s something within my capabilities,” Ye Que said.

“Find something as large as you can spot,” Red Bean said softly. She did not sound as cold as before; her tone was extremely calm.

“What?” Ye Que did not manage to catch her.

“I said, get something as large as you can find. Such birds and rabbits are not enough for me. They’re too small, Red Bean repeated, her tone evidently much louder than before. “I’m starving now, very, very hungry. I’m also feeling freezing. I need food to supply me with energy. I need a lot of food to replenish my energy. Meat is the best choice.”

She paused for a while before continuing again. “The meat cooked by you is very delicious. I like it very much, but it’s far too little for me.”

She then tapped her stomach to make her point. “After eating the snowcock and rabbit, I’m feeling even more hungry than before!”

He stared blankly at Red Bean, who was still sitting beside the fire. Her original image was one of elegance, uniqueness and her always fluttering white robes. Now, she suddenly seemed a little “pitiful”, as though Ye Que was not feeding her enough food, and that she was going to starve.

Ye Que did not know he left the cave. He nearly lost his way in the snowstorm, but luckily he accomplished his mission.

When Ye Que returned to the cave for the third time, Ye Que was carrying a wild boar from Mount Mei that was five feet long and 100 kilograms heavy. He was holding onto a date tree in his other hand. He tossed the boar to one side and summoned his Spirit Sword. With a few swings, shards of the tree began to fly around the cave, and the fine-looking date tree had been sliced into portions of firewood. He then added the firewood onto the flame.

A faint fragrance of dates pervaded the air in the cave.

A hungry young lady was waiting for her meat in the cave, while a youth was busy at work outside in the snow. Snowflakes evaporated from the heat emanating from his head as they fell on his sideburns and hair. Sweat dripped down his cheeks onto the ground, and they were crystal clear.