Volume 11 Chapter 149 As Long as the Forest Remains
I followed Abels, who sneaked out during a discussion between A-Lan and Emperor Yuansheng, to where they were meeting after the two of us had a short chat. At a secluded location, he checked for others and then saluted me. “Congratulations, Brother Ming.”
“What are you congratulating me on again?”
“Your power has ascended to new heights. Is that not something to celebrate?”
Mistaking my confusion for pretence to fool him, Abels conveyed, “Brother Ming, aren’t we friends? Do you need to hide it from me? I was never able to measure your true abilities because of your acting, spiritless eyes and average breathing. You now resemble an ordinary person to the ‘T’. I would still be fooled you aren’t trained even though I know how skilled you are. Have you improved again?’
“To be honest with you, I really am powerless right now. I’m not pretending at all,” I informed with a bitter smile.
Wait a second. I recall pummelling him every night before Nieyao. Now that I’m telling him I can’t defend myself, wouldn’t he send me to the capital in one punch?
Once he heard what happened to me, Abels expressed, “Really? I’ve been hurt a lot of times, but I’ve never heard of this sort of injury. A hundred days isn’t a long time, but it’s not exactly a short time, either.” He thumped his chest, then added, “That being the case, I shall take charge of ensuring your safety. If anyone wants to harm you, they’ll have to answer to my fists first.”
I was appreciative Abels didn’t take advantage of my plight to seek revenge. “Brother Bodhi, I shall never forget your valour. I offer this drink to you.”
Abels had a taste from the bowl I pa.s.sed him, then furrowed his brows. “What wine is this? It tastes odd.”
“Radish juice.”
“… What is it for? To cool the body?”
“To begin with, you have important business today, so drinking alcohol isn’t the wisest choice. Second, I don’t have any specialties here. This is pretty much the best I have.”
It wasn’t too hard to find quality drinks, but it was incredibly hard to find a true friend. Both of us shared three drinks with the same enthusiasm as back in Canhu Town.
“Hahaha, Brother Ming, I ought to do this. We’re brothers, aren’t we? As long as I am still breathing, I won’t let anyone harm a hair on you at the cost of my wife!”
“Likewise, should you ever run into trouble, come seek me in the capital. I’m the one who tells my boss what to do.”
“There is no room for questioning your sincerity if you go that far.”
“Hmph, a great man knows when to yield and when to not. So what if she’s my superior? I let her look superior to the outside world. Back at the office, I scold her until she’sn in tears. I just don’t care to tell the outside world.”
“You have my admiration. That is how a man ought to be, just like me. Everyone sees her as a prestigious Princess on her way to becoming a Queen. As soon as I return home, however, the first thing she does is bring me a basin to wash my feet. When she didn’t put enough strength into her ma.s.sage, I blasted her so badly that she cried for three days straight.”
“As soon as I glare, my boss kneels on her own accord in the middle of the night.” I picked up my last bowl to drink. “Say no more, Brother. All our thoughts are in this radish juice. Cheers!”
“Cheers!” Bodhi knocked back the drink as I did. “Hahaha, that was great!”
“h.e.l.l yeah!”
A-Lan: “You seem to be having fun.”
Abels: “Of course.”
Shen Yiren: “You said a lot, huh?”
Me: “Women should stay at home. Do your cooking, and stayout of men’s business!”
Abels grabbed the back of his head. “Did you just hear that…?”
Me: “I think I did. Have I had a bit too much to drink?”
A-Lan and Shen Yiren: “You drank your last drink!”
Abels and I stayed looking at each other silently for a while. Then, we slowly turned our heads back to see two beautiful smiling faces.
“How come I don’t know the first thing I do for you when you come home is wash your feet, Sir?”
“So you were just letting me be superior outside the office, Feizhen? I’m in tears as soon as I return home?”
Abels and I looked back at each other. We smiled heartily, agreeing on what we needed to say in this situation. We collectively filled our lungs, dropped onto our knees and raised our hands overhead. “Please have mercy!”
As long as the forest remains, you’ll always have firewood!
Tianhu and His Majesty showed up not too far behind the two bosses. Emperor Yuansheng’s smile told me he was going to sit back and watch us suffer. Tianhu switched between smiling and a steel face. Nonetheless, they weren’t the priority here.
A-Lan visually perused Abels as though she was burning holes in him. With a fanged-smile, she questioned, “I can’t even begin to compare to a strand of hair on Ming Feizhen, huh?”
Abels grabbed A-Lan’s hand. “Ehehe, no, no, I’ve had a little too much to drink…”
“Since when can you get drunk on radish juice?!”
Abels’ hands went back to all fours, swearing to change his ways.
Back on Mount Daluo, Chef Qin stared at animals he was about to slaughter the same way Boss Shen was staring at me. She tugged up the corner of her lips. “I wouldn’t have known had you not mentioned it. I kneel as soon as you glare?” she rhetorically queried whilst tapping Yujing.
I dove forward to cling to Boss’ leg. “Boss, please have mercy! Life is precious! Human flesh doesn’t taste good!”
Boss Shen kicked me off. “Knees on the ground! Hands on your ears!”
Glossary
Cooling the body - This pertains to the belief that the yin and yang balance in the body can be off. Accordingly, they say the body is “overheated” (too much yang) and needs to “cool down” (needs more yin). I’m not equipped with enough medical knowledge to explain how this perspective is interpreted in the current paradigm of medical sciences.