Book 1: Winds Begin to Blow in Tai Yuan
Chapter 8 - Master Yuanbao1
Meng Fuyao almost spat out the unswallowed remnants of theherbs in her mouth.
You"re very cold ...
This was early autumn weather in the southern mountains,although the wind was strong but it was far from being called bone-chillingcold; that was not even mentioning that underneath was a huge pile of fire!
Only an idiot would believe you were actually cold.
The guy in front was crouched high up on the branch end,idly holding his cheeks, his eyes sweeping on her body here, and there, andback again; more than likely planning to engage in the "most primitivemethod of warming up" with her. Meng Fuyao retreated further from the firepit yet again.
Even though this person"s bearing looked honorable andrefined, not like a rapist"s covetous wretchedness, in this world, who knew ifunderneath a good appearance lies hidden a treacherous heart? Kind of like ...Pei Yuan.
Her dark pupils were covered in bright streaks of light fromthe fire"s glow, watching the man with an expression of alertness. Denseeyelashes lightly blinked, forming dark shadows on her pale white face andmaking her look similar to a small anxious creature preparing herself for afight.
The man opposite looked at her with interest, then said,"Girl, are you cold?"
Very good, everything was going exactly according to thepre-established script.
Meng Fuyao was unwilling to follow along. While her b.u.t.tcontinued to scoot backwards, she rebelliously refuted, "So hot."
With a slight smile on his attractive, agreeable appearance,the guy casually replied, "Then just take off your clothes."
Meng Fuyao, who had already shifted about a zhang away,suddenly shot up like a leaping wolf, with one flip already planning onescaping onto a small cliff nearby.
The man didn"t move while watching her flee, onlyunconcernedly smoothing his robe lapels2 with a light smirk.
Following his motion, the lapels of his robes parted a hair,and a fire red fruit came rolling out.
The eyes of Meng Fuyao who was still in the process ofsomersaulting immediately lit up.
This, this this heated blaze of color yet cool andrefreshing scent, could it be the holy fruit of wound healing, the "RedQilin"?3
The fruit "gu lu lu" tumbled over, clearly seen bythe currently heels-over-head Meng Fuyao. Sure enough, it was the special fruitonly found up in the snowy mountains in the state of Di; according to rumors,this thing only grew in the remote valleys of glacial mountains, with commonersunable to obtain it at all.
With a "peng" sound, Meng Fuyao onlyhalf-completed her somersault before face-planting the floor.
The instant after falling down she scrambled up, one footfirmly pressing on the fruit. She peeked at the opposing side - it seemed thathe was not going to object? Only then did she hurriedly shoot out a hand tograb the fruit.
"Xiu!"
A white light flashed in front of her eyes, as fast aslightning, and a small ball of noisy air swiftly blew over, directly smashingagainst Meng Fuyao"s hand. Meng Fuyao let out an exclamation, with an "yiya" sound loosening her hand. That white light soared upwards and, with amid-air flip and a wind-calling, leg-sweeping movement, fiercely kicked on hernose.
Following that another somersault was gracefully executedwith four claws facing the sky, straightforwardly welcoming the fruit that hadjust fallen from Meng Fuyao"s hands. With a smacking sound, the fruit waswrapped in a full-body hug.
The entire process happened in only a split second; MengFuyao only sensed a gust of wind, a pain on her nose, and a light fruity smell,before the wound-curing miracle fruit had switched places.
Dumbfounded she lifted her hand and rubbed her nose, fromthe tip of her nose plucking a finger-length strand of white hair - what in theworld was this thing?
Her eyes sluggishly looked over on the ground. A bundle ofpowdery white was currently tiptoeing on its little claws, smugly holding thatpiece of red fruit in its palm and reverently offering the fruit back to itsowner. With one leg extended backwards, it unexpectedly was perfectly posing ina cla.s.sic ballet posture.
Meng Fuyao stared at the palm-sized thing - a rabbit?Smaller than a rabbit, a squirrel? Yet it was whiter than a squirrel, a guineapig? It was even fatter than regular guinea pigs, having bright, crafty blackeyes and long, beautiful snow white fur. It was so chubby that one couldn"tdiscern out parts of its figure, practically a real-life Hamtaro4;if put in her previous world, this cute little creature would be certain toincite high-pitched squeals from pet-lovers.
However, wasn"t it a little too nefarious and fierce when itwas stealing things?
Feeling Meng Fuyao"s vision on it, the guinea pig instantlyswiveled its head, baring its teeth towards her direction. Under the firelight, those large front teeth shone like a pair of knives.
Being pinned by that threatening stare, Meng Fuyao couldn"thelp but feel a bit infuriated. Recently it seemed she had been on a lucklessstreak, being betrayed then tortured then pushed off a cliff, and now even afat rodent was looking down on her. After getting to such a low point, she onlyfelt extremely depressed.
In her moodiness, Meng Fuyao pulled up the corner of hermouth, also baring her teeth towards that fat rodent - if we compare size, myteeth are larger than yours!
In front of the camp fire, a person and a rodent confrontedeach other, showing their teeth and eyeing each other menacingly like tigers.
With a "puu" sound, the man opposite whopreviously looked over with a touch of humor in his expression finally couldn"thold back a short laugh. He looked at Meng Fuyao with some consideration, thenstretched a hand out to that little thing and beckoned saying,"Yuanbao."
The chubby squirrel only squirmed its back end, not caring.
"Master Yuanbao!"
Master Yuanbao immediately jumped up, embracing the fruitwhile bouncing over. Its two claws fawningly lifted the fruit up in anoffering.
The man only shook his head, using his finger to point inthe direction of Meng Fuyao.
"Zhi zhi!"
A tone of rebellion.
"En?"
Master Yuanbao slowly raised its head, dragged its feetextremely reluctantly for a while, before little by little turning the offeredfruit to a different direction.
It mournfully gazed at the fruit, its eyes lingering withthe endless sorrow that comes with forever goodbyes.
The more Meng Fuyao looked at its melancholy the morehappiness she felt. Triumphantly extending a hand, with one grab she stole backthe fruit.
In the process, she even yanked a strand of fur from MasterYuanbao"s b.u.t.t.
Payback for being kicked on the nose.
"Zhi zhi!"
Master Yuanbao leapt up in fury while doing a full flip inthe air again, seemingly planning to execute another one of its "front-handedstraight-bodied forward mid-air 180 degree spin somersaults". How couldMeng Fuyao let this rat punt her nose a second time? With a twist of her body shehad already dodged to the side.
When Master Yuanbao saw that he would be unable to hit hernose, he instantly switched battle tactics, leaping onto the fruit with a"chi" sound and maliciously spitting a mouthful of spit on it.
Meng Fuyao swiftly scooped up that fat body and hurled it tothe side, and Master Yuanbao flew away while tumbling in circles. With a flashof sword light, that piece of fruit skin that had been contaminated with rodentsaliva was cleanly sliced off, and with a fling of Fuyao"s hand, the skin peeldirectly landed on top of Master Yuanbao"s head, together with the rodentsmashing into the bosom of its owner.
Man versus rodent best of three, victory for Meng Fuyao.
Squeaking sounds arose in the air as the white-coloredfigure jumped up and down on the man"s body, latching onto his sleeves in a chorusof whines, most likely angrily denouncing a certain someone. The guy lazilyleaned on the tree, pinching Yuanbao"s little nose and lightly conversing withit.
"... who told you to bully others ..."
"Zhi zhi!"
"You didn"t lose out either, you gave her a kick..."
"Zhi zhi!" Master Yuanbao turned around, pitifullyshowing his round backside to the man.
"Your b.u.t.t has thousands of strands of fur, how could Isee which one you"re missing?"
"Zhi zhi." Master Yuanbao desperately pawed,digging and digging.
Fed up, the man squeezed its neck, standing Yuanbao upright,"Be good and talk directly, last night you didn"t wash your b.u.t.t!"
"Zhi zhi!"
"Ok ok ... isn"t just your snacks ... give it to her thisonce, next time I"ll make it up to you ..."
"Zhi zhi!"
"You"ve become more bad tempered, all because they"vebeen spoiling you."5 The guy"s long-suffering patience wasfinally worn thin, yet no anger could be seen on his face; he just slightlysmiled and felt around in his bosom, "Sigh ... carrying around all thesesnacks all the time is so tiring, how about I toss them, ah?"
"Zhi ... zhi ..."
Master Yuanbao stopped its flag waving and drum beating,crouching down to the side to draw circles on the ground6. The guypatted him on his head, about to turn and speak some words to Meng Fuyao, whenhe saw her bulging mouth and suddenly started.
"You ... finished eating the Qilin Red?"
Meng Fuyao desperately chewed, with two or three gulpscompletely swallowing the fruit, then straightforwardly replied "Yep, ateit all."
If I didn"t take the chance to quickly eat the good stuffwhile you two were jabbering, did you expect me to wait for that fellow tos.n.a.t.c.h it out of my mouth again?
The man only humorously viewed her for a while, thensuddenly shook his head.
"It looks like you didn"t know, when ingesting theQilin fruit with Finger Frost, one has to dilute it by half, or else risk gettingpoisoned."
"Ahh?!"
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1. Yuanbao "元宝", known also in English as the"Sycee", is a chunk of precious metal ingot shaped like a fat boatoften used by imperial dynasties as currency. Common representation for wealthand prosperity during the Lunar New Year.
2. "衣襟", The upper collar/lapels of aChinese robe that often can have stuff stored inside it. (Google or Baidusearch the Chinese phrase yourself if you want to see an example, since if Ipost links wordpress always delays the post for like a day)
3. Qilin or also known as Kirin are legendary hoovedchimeras with horns
4. Hamtaro is a popular chubby hamster from a j.a.paneseanimation
5. The "they" used in this sentence is in thefeminine form, meaning "they" is referring to multiple females
6. Phrase basically means sadness or unwillingness