Free Web NovelChapter 42: Chapter 42 Chaos in the Kitchen
Yet before the room could remain quiet for even half an incense stick, Xue Yao suddenly mumbled, "Honghong... don’t run... we have to steal another beast tomorrow... the fat one will taste better..." Her voice was soft and drowsy, but in the silent room, every word entered Lie Lang’s ears clearly.
His eyes slowly opened.
The human was lying on her side, one arm hugging the blanket tightly while her brows furrowed in her sleep. "Mother... father... I didn’t mean to sleep..." she murmured again, her voice suddenly turning pitiful. "Brother Jun Yi... Ling Yue... Chen’er, don’t eat my share..." A tear slipped from the corner of her eye, and for a moment, the room became strangely quiet.
Lie Lang watched her from the chair, his golden eyes unreadable. This noisy, reckless human who could bite him, and talk back even with fangs near her throat was now curled up on the bed, sobbing softly like a child who had lost her way home.
Then, before that strange heaviness could settle in the room, Xue Yao suddenly let out a small laugh. A few breaths later, that laugh became louder, almost wicked, as she rolled onto her back and sprawled across the bed like she owned the entire chamber. "Sticky Smelly Socks..." she giggled in her sleep. "Let them all smell it... hehe... no one escapes..." Her hand even lifted slightly as if she were throwing something in her dream.
Lie Lang stared at her in silence. Was she possessed?
He closed his eyes again and tried to ignore her, but the human had no intention of letting the night pass peacefully.
Sometimes she laughed like a lunatic who had just successfully robbed a treasure vault. At one point, she kicked the blanket away, then a few breaths later, she pulled it back and complained that someone had stolen her warmth.
Lie Lang sat on the chair without moving, his face growing colder with every passing moment. He could not sleep on the bed because of her violent assault, and now that he had chosen the chair, this human still refused to let him sleep with all her noise.
Dawn came far too slowly for Lie Lang. It was pure torture and a nightmare test for his patience.
By the time the first pale light slipped through the window, faint shadows had appeared beneath his eyes. They were not severe, and with his cultivation, they would disappear after a short circulation of spiritual energy, but at that moment, they were enough to show just how unpleasant the night had been.
He opened his eyes and let out a deep sigh before rising to his feet. His gaze moved toward the bed. Xue Yao was still sleeping soundly, one leg thrown over the blanket, her hair spread messily across the pillow, and the black clay on her face smudged even worse than before. She smacked her lips as if eating something.
Lie Lang stood there for a moment, then turned and walked toward the door.
The moment he stepped outside, the maids and guards stationed in the corridor immediately lowered their heads in greeting.
Lan Shu and Hei Yue stood closest to the entrance, their eyes lowered, though both secretly tried to observe his expression. They had expected many things, but not the faint exhaustion around his eyes. Their hearts immediately jumped, and strange thoughts flashed through their minds. Could it be that the Alpha had truly spent the entire night with the human? Could that human really be so capable?
Lie Lang walked past them without expression, but after taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped. "Do not wake her," he said coldly. "And do not disturb her."
The maids froze.
Even the guards were stunned for a brief moment before quickly lowering their heads again.
"Yes, Alpha," they answered at once.
Lan Shu’s fingers tightened slightly beneath her sleeves. Hei Yue’s expression also stiffened. In all the years they had served in the Alpha’s residence, Lie Lang had never shown such consideration toward any female other than Ruo Shuo. Yet now, he had personally ordered them not to wake the human. The jealousy in their hearts stirred again, but neither dared show it.
Lie Lang did not bother explaining. To him, the reason was simple. The human had finally gone quiet. If anyone woke her and caused her to start talking again, he could not guarantee that he would not throw someone out of the fortress. ’I’ll keep close eyes on those two maids and see if the human was telling the truth.’
Keeping his promise from the previous night, Lie Lang headed toward the royal kitchen. He had agreed to return Xue Yao’s bird to her, and since the matter had already been decided, there was no reason to delay it. However, just as he reached a few steps away from the kitchen entrance, a loud explosion suddenly tore through the air.
Boom!
The force slammed outward with smoke, ash, and flour all at once. Lie Lang stood still as a cloud of soot rushed over him, covering his face, hair, and shoulders before slowly drifting past. For a moment, the entire courtyard fell silent.
Then the kitchen doors burst open.
Several wolf chefs stumbled out coughing, their faces blackened, their ears flattened, and their clothes covered in flour and ash. Two of them dragged Honghong along by the rope tied around her body. The bird coughed dramatically, shaking soot from her feathers as though she had suffered the greatest injustice in the world.
One chef rushed toward Lie Lang in panic, nearly crying when he saw the soot on the Alpha’s face. "Alpha! Your face..." He quickly lifted his sleeve to wipe it off, but Lie Lang coldly raised one hand, stopping him immediately.
The chef froze, then dropped to his knees with a thud.
The others followed instantly.
Behind them, with a terrible creaking sound, the already damaged kitchen finally gave up. Part of the roof collapsed inward, sending another cloud of dust and ash into the air.
Lie Lang’s eyes became colder than winter.
The chefs trembled.
"Alpha, please forgive us!" one of them cried, pointing shakily at Honghong. "It is the bird! Every time we try to cook her, disaster happens!"
Another chef quickly nodded, tears almost flowing down his soot-covered face. "Yesterday the cauldron exploded. Then the flour sacks burst. Today, the moment we sharpened the knife, the fire exploded!"
"The oil jumped by itself!"
"The shelves collapsed!"
"The kitchen is cursed!"
"That bird is possessed, Alpha! She cannot be eaten!"
Honghong immediately raised her feather-like hands, waving them in the air to prove her innocence. "I know nothing. I was just standing there waiting to be beheaded."
All the chefs turned to glare at her.
She blinked her golden eyes and looked away, pretending she had not seen anything.
Lie Lang stared at Honghong for several breaths. The bird tried to appear calm, but her feathers were puffed out, and her eyes kept darting around, clearly looking for a chance to escape. He closed his eyes briefly before speaking in a cold voice. "Untie her."
The chefs froze.
"Alpha?"
"Untie her," he repeated.
No one dared argue again. One chef hurriedly loosened the rope around Honghong’s body. The moment she was free, Honghong flapped her wings twice and shook herself proudly, though she still kept a careful distance from Lie Lang.
’I have nine lives like the cats, I can’t be killed or eaten. Heheheh.’ Honghong laughed inwardly.
Lie Lang’s gaze swept over the ruined kitchen and the kneeling chefs. "Your salary will be deducted for three months."
The chefs’ faces collapsed.
"Thank you, Alpha," they replied with mournful expressions, as though thanking him had physically pained them.
Lie Lang looked past them at the smoking ruins of the royal kitchen. A faint twitch appeared at the corner of his lips, almost too small to notice.
"So..."
The kneeling chefs immediately stiffened.
Lie Lang’s cold gaze returned to them. "Does this mean there will be no breakfast?"
