Death… and me

One hare was finally finished roasting and placed down from the rack. That person and Chu Le'er were salivating. They started to rub their hands at the same time while fixing their four eyes on the hare's sizzling hind legs.

This was the best part to eat.

It also seemed that Chu Yang had put the most effort into roasting this area.

Not waiting for Chu Yang to give instructions, that person had already very consciously taken a piece of stone to make up a dining table: Slicing his hand through the stone, the upper part of the stone disappeared, and the cut surface was now as smooth as a mirror. Then, he used his sleeve to wipe the surface — it could be used directly as a mirror. Even if a fly stood on it, it would fall: The surface was too smooth.

Chu Yang placed the roasted hare on the stone table and warned, "Don't touch it."

Then he slowly stood up, walked into the carriage and slowly took out a jar of wine.

When he was about to turn around, he suddenly heard a quarrel behind.

"Don't touch!" Chu Le'er screamed. "This is mine!"

Chu Yang turned back and saw Chu Le'er extending her hands to cover the roasted hare. Her pair of eyes were wide open, as she stared at the man in black opposite her. She even looked a bit fierce.

The man in black retracted his right hand a little awkwardly, seeming to appear that he was a bit hesitant. He swallowed two mouthfuls of saliva and said, "How about the two hind legs…"

He meant: We should have one each.

"No!" Chu Le'er shouted, saying, "The other is for my big brother."

The face of the man in black instantly dropped. He even looked at Chu Le'er imploringly.

Chu Le'er said with righteousness, "It's useless to pretend to be pathetic in front of me! A hare only has two hind legs, but we have three people here!"

Chu Yang laughed, turned around and walked back.

The man in black retracted his hand sulkily and said, "This younger sister of yours is really fierce…"

Chu Le'er snorted and turned her head away.

"This younger sister of mine… As long as anyone fights over food with her, her temper would be worse than anyone else," Chu Yang said smilingly.

These words obviously showed Chu Yang's partiality towards Chu Le'er. The man in black was very dissatisfied and thought: What to fight for other than food when we eat? But instantly his dissatisfaction vanished and his eyes lit up, and he asked, "There's wine?"

"The wine is good," Chu Yang said smilingly. He patted off the mud that was used to seal the jar of wine, and instantly, the rich aroma of the wine spread into the air.

The man in black squinted his eyes and reveled in the aroma as he took a deep breath. He opened his mouth and exclaimed, "Good wine…" As if he had already taken a sip.

Chu Yang smiled in his heart and muttered under his breath: This wine is made by the sword spirit. There's also a little Vitality Spring Water added to it. How can it be not good?

He put down the jar and took out three cups. Chu Yang poured wine into them.

"Wait," the man in black stopped him, saying, "Your sister is clearly sick. How can you allow her to drink wine?"

Chu Yang was a little surprised: This guy is quite good at observing. He actually noticed that Le'er was sick? But he's still not good enough. He didn't see that the force in the wine can nourish Le'er's body…

Chu Yang said indifferently, "She may abstain from other wines, but not this one."

Then, he washed his hands with wine. The heart of the man in black ached as he looked at Chu Yang, and his face twitched a little. He moaned, "Such a good wine… You used it to wash your hands?"

Chu Yang flipped his eyelids and said, "If I don't wash and tear the hare meat for you, do you dare to eat it?"

The man in black said, "But you can't use such a good wine…"

Chu Yang ignored him. He grabbed the roasted hare and tore down a hind leg. Amidst the man's greedy eyes, Chu Yang passed the hind leg to Chu Le'er.

The man in black gulped a mouthful of saliva again. He shifted his eyes to look greedily at the other hind leg.

Then, Chu Yang tore down the other leg — and placed it in front of Chu Le'er, "Eat slowly, don't choke on it." Chu Le'er nodded satisfactorily, and greedily gnawed on the hind legs.

The eyes of the man in black straightened. He yelled, "You're treating me this meal, yet you gave both hind legs to your younger sister!" as he said, he gulped another mouthful of saliva.

Chu Yang said, "Isn't there still a hare left? Besides… A hare isn't that small. Other than its internal organs, there's still one or two kilograms of meat. And the hares are so fat… Other parts of the hare are also very delicious!"

The man in black rolled his eyes. He helped a wine cup and took a sip. Instantly, dissatisfaction on his face disappeared. He was just about to reach out for the hind leg in front of Chu Le'er when Chu Yang handed the whole hare with the missing two hind legs over to him.

The man in black hesitated for a moment as he looked at that hare. Then, he reluctantly received it. He bit down violently as if he was venting his frustration.

Not for long, half a jar of wine was finished, and a whole hare with the missing two hind legs had gone into the belly of the man in black.

Chu Yang remained still.

"Why didn't you eat?" the man in black asked as he burped.

"I'm waiting for the next one," Chu Yang pointed to the other hare and said smilingly, "That one has hind legs."

The man in black instantly choked. He put down the hare which now only had a skeleton left, then looked at his own belly and the jar which had only half of the jar's wine left. He looked depressed.

He had only cared about eating. At first, he was thinking about the next hare, but he found his appetite getting better and better as he ate the first one. And now, he was already full…

"Evil!" The man in black stretched out his greasy thumb and gave Chu Yang a thumbs-up. He couldn't explain how miserable he felt in his heart.

Chu Le'er had a small appetite. After drinking a cup of wine, she was already full before finishing the two hind legs.

The second hare was finally roasted. Chu Yang zealously tore down a hind leg and handed it over, "Brother Wei, do you want a hare leg?"

The man in black looked back resentfully and snorted. Then he held a cup of wine and drank helplessly. He felt all the more aggrieved as he drank.

Chu Yang ate and drank very slowly.

The man in black sighed as he drank wine; Suddenly, he laughed aloud and said, "I didn't expect that I would feel so miserable after being treated by others for a meal… I didn't have this kind of feeling for many years. Both of you two kids are really bold."

"I also didn't expect that someone would be dissatisfied as he ate my food and drank my wine," Chu Yang said. He was finally full.

The two gazed at each other and laughed at the same time.

At this moment, they felt that each other looked more agreeable to them.

The man in black had been respected by everyone in every place he went. When was he ever tricked? But the other side had used the easiest way to trick him yet make him feel helpless. This had instead surprised him.

"Where are you both going?" the man in black asked.

"To Zhongdu," Chu Yang said smilingly.

"Zhongdu?" the man in black frowned, and asked, "Just the both of you?"

Chu Yang said, "Why?"

The man in black shook his head, saying, "The two of you… will be purely sending yourselves to die. Some unknown people may just eat you on the road. I advise you to go back to whatever place you come from."

Chu Le'er said, unconvinced, "My big brother is an expert!"

The man in black was amused. He looked at Chu Yang and said, "Although your cultivation isn't poor, you're just a fourth or fifth stage Martial Emperor. Yet you brought your younger sister to travel such a long distance to Zhongdu… Your cultivation isn't enough."

Chu Yang said indifferently, "Whether it's enough… I shall see for myself as we travel on."

The man in black pondered for a moment and said, "Alright then. I have to pass through the Black Pine Forest anyway. Since you've treated me a meal, I shall accompany you to cross the Black Pine Forest. But, both of you have to walk by yourselves after the Black Pine Forest."

Chu Yang smiled and said, "There's no need. We can go by ourselves. Since you're busy with other matters, you will be late if you accompany us."

Chu Yang had already roughly figured out who this person was. But Chu Yang wouldn't fawn over him because of his identity.

Chu Yang was proud and deemed himself highly, and he naturally had his own insistence!

And his insistence wouldn't hover because of anyone.

The man in black glanced a deep look at him and said, "If we go together, I shall eat your food along the way."

He also saw through Chu Yang's personality, but he felt he was very congenial to Chu Yang, and so wanted to help. I shall escort both of you to pass the Black Pine Forest, and you can repay me just by giving me food to eat.

Although he didn't say this straightforwardly, his meaning was obvious. He smiled bitterly in his heart: 'If anyone knows that I have done this, they will really shed their teeth in shock.'

"No!" Chu Yang refused, saying, "We didn't bring much to eat, and plenty of it is used to treat my sister's illness. I'm afraid our food won't be enough if you're with us."

The man in black frowned a bit helplessly. He had been living alone for all his life and never owed to others anything. Now, someone else treated him a meal. He originally wanted to pay Chu Yang back conveniently. Anyway, for no matter what he did, it would be more worthwhile than a meal. If it was someone else, he would definitely feel that treating a meal was worthwhile of his help.

But he never expected that Chu Yang would refuse him so bluntly. This made him feel bad.

He laughed and said, "Since little brother insists on this, I'll leave now. I'll definitely pay back your meal in the future."

He stood up lazily, then with a flash, he vanished.

Chu Le'er looked at the leaving man in black, and asked a little strangely, "Big brother, why?"

Chu Yang asked, "What 'why'?"

Chu Le'er said, "That man in black is an expert, and he seems to want to be friends with you at the start. But when he requests to help you, you deliberately rejected it."

Chu Yang rubbed Chu Le'er's hair and said, "You observed it quite in detail."

He thought for a while and said, "It's true that he's an expert. But I don't want to owe him anything. Le'er, we have to rely on ourselves for everything. We can't always rely on others' help for our whole lives."

Chu Le'er nodded. Her eyes rolled as if she was thinking about something.

Although Chu Yang didn't say it directly, he knew that from Chu Le'er's intelligence, she could definitely understand what he meant. He didn't clearly say it because that man in black didn't leave far.

I don't want to owe anything to anyone else, but I'm willing to make someone else owe me.

He had already guessed who that man in black was. And he naturally understood the personality of this legendary man in black: 'Never plead nor owe people for anything!'

You ate my meal this time, but you wanted to repay me just by escorting me to pass through the Black Pine Forest? And from then on, we don't owe each other anything? Where is there such cheap a thing…

You don't want to owe me, but I simply want you to! Even if it's just a meal.

Forging a relationship with the number one blood-payer expert in the world… isn't that easy…

Chu Yang's eyes glimmered.

……