Free Web NovelChapter 25: Chapter 25 Shameless
The wolf guards remained silent at her question. Their tails swayed slightly in the air.
"We never said we hate you." The younger guard who requested for a taste managed to find his voice.
It was not a secret that the beast’s clans hated the humans. For them, humans were like treasures, like artefacts and medicines... so they have always viewed them as something they needed to dominate.
"Yun Kai." The older guard warned, baring his fangs at him.
Yun Kai immediately lowered his head. But how could he resist this aroma? It smelled so heavenly that it was making his beast go crazy. And he was sure that everyone was already on their edge... could this be the heavenly chef mage? But why is she a human? Yun Kai frowned.
Xue Yao studied their expressions. Knowing her plan was working, a small smirk formed on the corner of her lips.
"But I believe that even if I give you some of my soup, you wouldn’t be brave enough to taste it, after all, you’re wolves, and loyalty is your backbone." Xue Yao said, before turning around.
Hearing her words, the older guard Fang Zhen stiffened. "Everyone back to your post... stay away from the human breeder!" He ordered.
"But Fang Zhen, it smells so good that I feel like I might break through my current level of cultivation." Yun Kai muttered under his breath.
"If the Alpha hears of this, he will have our heads roll on the ground." Fang Zhen warned.
Hearing the Alpha’s name, the guards slowly dispersed to their positions; meanwhile, their eyes darted back to Xue Yao’s cell.
Xue Yao glanced over her shoulder when she saw their retreating figures, and a satisfied smile curved at the corner of her lip.
She let out a sigh. "This is why you have to be good."
’At least I know rats aren’t the only creatures that can be lured by food. Wolves are no different... they are just much harder to tempt. If I keep this up for a few days, someone is bound to let something slip. I just need to be patient.’ Xue Yao sighed. ’Honghong, you stupid bird, don’t die before I find you.’ Xue Yao thought inwardly before scooping a chunk of meat into her mouth.
The moment the flavour burst inside, she felt like she was flying on clouds, pink sparkles flying and dancing around.
’It tastes heavenly.’ She let out a satisfied moan, her toes curling inside her shoes.
Just as she was about to take another bite, movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention.
She frowned. "..."
"..."
Slowly, she turned her head. Not far from the pot, Tian Lan had somehow dragged another wooden bowl over. The bowl was almost as large as her tiny body.
Xue Yao blinked. ’...What is she doing?’
Without saying a single word, Tian Lan climbed onto a small stone beside the pot before grabbing the wooden ladle with both tiny hands. The ladle was so large that it almost pulled her into the soup together with it.
She frowned slightly before planting both feet firmly against the rim of the pot and pulling with all her strength.
Splash!
The ladle finally emerged from the soup carrying several chunks of rabbit meat.
Tian Lan’s pale blue eyes brightened ever so slightly. She slowly tipped the ladle over and poured the soup into her bowl.
Splash. Splash. Splash.
In just three scoops, the bowl was almost full.
Xue Yao stared blankly at the scene before her. "..."
"Tian Lan." She managed to find her voice.
Tian Lan raised her head. [Yes, is there a problem?]
"What are you doing?"
[I am serving myself.]
Xue Yao’s eyelids twitched. "When did I give you permission?"
’That my rabbit soup! MY RABBIT SOUP!’
[You did not. Since you were busy eating and tempting the poor wolves, I decided to serve myself. It saved you the trouble, so be thankful.]
"..." Xue was left speechless. This was also how she ate the rabbit she roasted.
She looked at the tiny system, then at the bowl filled almost to the brim with rabbit soup. "...That is my rabbit."
[I know.] Tian Lan replied nonchalantly.
"My soup." Xue Yao was more than irritated now.
[I know.] Tian Lan replied in the same tone.
"My seasonings." The more she thought of it, the more fuming she became.
[I know, I gave you the seasonings, remember? Everything you have comes from me.]
Xue Yao was speechless. ’How can someone be this shameless?’
She had spent half the day preparing the ingredients, carefully controlling the fire, adding the seasonings one after another, yet before she could even finish eating, Tian Lan had quietly prepared a bowl for herself without saying a word.
"Tian Lan." Xue Yao called out, her eyes narrowed so much as if she could have killed a lot.
[Hm?]
"I thought systems don’t need food."
[That is correct.]
"Then why are you eating?" She almost wanted to scream. ’Why is my system so weird! Ahhh! She is eating all my food and beast cores, when did it ever need a maintenance allowance?!’
Tian Lan looked at her as though she had asked a particularly foolish question.
[You spent the entire afternoon cooking rabbit soup. If I do not taste it, how will I know whether your cooking has improved? Besides, I have already helped you enough today. One bowl of soup is not an unreasonable reward.]
"..." Xue Yao slowly lowered her head. ’Reward? Since when did she reward herself?’
Meanwhile, Tian Lan had already climbed onto the edge of the bowl. The spoon was almost bigger than she was, so she hugged the handle with both hands before slowly dragging it toward herself. After much effort, she finally lifted a spoonful of soup to her mouth.
Her pale blue eyes narrowed slightly. [The taste is acceptable.]
Xue Yao’s mouth fell slightly open. "...what do you mean by acceptable? This is masterpiece work, and you are saying it’s acceptable?!" Smoke almost came out of her ears.
Tian Lan ignored her and continued eating. Every now and then she struggled to lift another cluster of rabbit meat because it was almost the same size as her face. She tugged it with both hands, nearly lost her balance twice, yet stubbornly refused to let it fall back into the bowl.
Xue Yao watched the tiny figure wrestling with the meat for a long while before shaking her head.
’She just swallowed one hundred beast cores, and now she’s eating my rabbit soup. Does she have two stomachs? One for cultivation and another one for food?
And what is she, a glutton? Why can’t she eat one at a time?’ She frowned. ’Look at her, she is stuffed like a hamster. Hmmm? I wonder if I can stuff her with meat and roast her over the fire... that will solve a lot of problems.’ She thought inwardly.
Just as Tian Lan finally managed to stuff her mouth with the rabbit meat, she looked toward Xue Yao. [Xue Yao.]
"What now?"
[You may prepare another pot in the evening.]
Xue Yao almost choked. "I haven’t even finished this one. And no, I won’t.’
Xue Yao quickly gulped the soup in her plate along with the meat. She was the bigger version of a hamster.
’I’m not going to lose to her when it comes to eating.’
[...] Tian Lan was speechless.
Xue Yao quickly served herself another bowl as she chewed on the meat in her mouth.
Tian Lan’s eyes widened in horror. This was a competition... one that she didn’t plan on losing.
She tilted her head back and raised her bowl to her lips. She dumped everything inside, chewing at a speed of 30 bites per second.
