Fishb.a.l.l.s and Noodles (1)
"You really think this he"s worth it?"
Even Athena was confused. Her plan was to use Ye Lang to coerce Tigress, but she wasn"t expecting Tigress to agree so easily.
Based on her reaction, Tigress probably wouldn"t have batted an eyelid if Athena told her she had to die for Ye Lang.
But what the h.e.l.l was going on here? Is she signing up to be a slave again? Looking at them, she was sure Tigress was once his servant.
"Of course he is! Let him go!" Tigress didn"t like it when Athena gripped Ye Lang"s arm like that.
Athena immediately retracted her hand. She hadn"t realised the significance of her actions. Recalling how intimate she was with Ye Lang, she blushed.
It was at this moment, she stole a glance at Ye Lang, hoping to catch a reaction. Ye Lang was focused on Tigress, as if contemplating the current situation.
Although she couldn"t read his mind, she was certain that Ye Lang"s thoughts concerned Tigress.
"Master, why are you with them? Where are your people?" Tigress asked casually while dusting Ye Lang"s shirt, trying to straighten the creases.
"I have no one else, just me!" Ye Lang enjoyed Tigress" service, for he was used to it. His experience with Tigress was much more pleasant than that of Taeya"s.
"You"re alone? How could they let you come here alone knowing you"d be lost?! Hmph, I shouldn"t have returned. It"s your fault, you shouldn"t have sent me back." Tigress" heart ached when she thought about how Ye Lang came looking for her alone.
"No, I had a coachman who drove me here. But someone stopped the carriage from entering, so I had to sneak in..."
"You should"ve waited outside, we"re in the middle of a battle here. What would we do if you got hurt in the midst of this?" asked Tigress with concern in her voice. After she inspected Ye Lang from head to toe and realised he was fine, she heaved a sigh of relief.
"But if I were to wait, I"d have to wait for weeks!" said Ye Lang with a giggle. "I"ve missed you so much!"
At this moment, Ye Lang went over to Tigress and hugged her.
It was this warm feeling that Tai Ya couldn"t give. There was one thing he finally confirmed, it was that Taeya was not Tigress. He now understood why he had been having an odd feeling during the past few days.
"I"ve missed you too, silly!" replied Tigress while comfortably letting Ye Lang hug her. Her arms were wrapped around his waist, as if in response to his embrace.
It was during this embrace, that the pair were recalling their fondest memories together, during better days. They wished that they could embrace a little longer, or rather that this moment could last forever, while time stood still.
"Uh… can you both get a hold of yourselves? There are literally thousands of people here watching!" interrupted Athena, who felt uncomfortable watching the two of them being so dramatic.
However, Athena didn"t know that Ye Lang didn"t care what others thought of them. If he wanted to hug Tigress, he would continue to hug her, and everyone else will just have to wait and watch.
Everyone else was stumped. Was Tigress really the fearsome warrior they thought she was, or was she just another girl-next-door?
"Master, you still haven"t explained how arrived at their place," Tigress asked after a while, still in his embrace.
"I asked your people about you but they wanted to avenge Taeya, they said she was kidnapped before, to be a slave. So, they wanted to take me away to learn more about Taeya"s past. So I thought, "If I let them take me away, maybe they"ll take me to Tigress." Alas, I met you and Athena," explained Ye Lang.
You let them catch you to meet me? That"s only something Ye Lang can think of. Tigress shook her head, not knowing what to say.
No wonder he could free himself from the ropes and move so freely. He was using this as an opportunity to meet her. Now Athena and Taiya understood that Ye Lang had practically delivered himself to them.
"Tai Ya… she is also called Tai Ya?" asked Tigress after Ye Lang"s explanation.
"I guess so… it seems like a coincidence," replied Ye Lang, frankly.
"I"m Taeya! The characters are different!" quipped Taeya.
"After you met up with them, you a.s.sumed that she was me. With that, they decided to take advantage of the situation and use you as leverage against me. In the middle of that, you even helped them out with the war games and planning. You must think this is just a huge war game, isn"t it?" prodded Tigress on a hunch.
"That"s right. The enemy"s strategies are so similar to mine, it"s so weird!" replied Ye Lang, who had no clue that Tigress was the "enemy" he was talking about.
"That"s because I"m the enemy, dummy! I knew it was you helping them with their tactics! You"re so stupid you didn"t know which side you were helping..." Tigress was disappointed. She had worked so hard on her battle tactics only to have Ye Lang ruin it for her.
But her disappointment was only momentary, she couldn"t bring herself to blame Ye Lang.
"How would I know they were talking about you? Had I known you were involved with this, I"d come over and help you beat them immediately…" Ye Lang stood by Tigress, which in the process made Athena and Taeya look like the enemies.
Athena and Taeya were speechless. It was true, after all, that they had manipulated and used Ye Lang, so it made sense that they looked like the bad guys.
"That"s enough, I don"t want you to be involved in this anymore," insisted Tigress. Although she was delighted that Ye Lang expressed interest in helping her, she didn"t want him to be involved in this tussle any longer.
In her eyes, Ye Lang was an altruist, one who merely wished for a happy and peaceful life for himself. Everything else, especially matters related to war and conflict, were not his priority.
If he had met Tigress first instead of Taeya, he would be peacefully sipping tea with the rest of the Tigre clan instead of being dragged into this war.
Is this the difference between us and her? She only wants the best for him, anything but trouble and conflict, but we, on the other hand, manipulated and used him…
DOGE"s notes:
phew... i finally finished finals and... that was... so exhausting omg. thank yall for reading. chinese new year is coming so that"s exciting :D
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