Kuang Youzhi hurriedly blew out the candle, and pulled Baili Ziyi into the cabinet.
The kitchen door was opened quickly, as the sound of footsteps approached. Based on the sound, it seemed that there were two people, who had come in.
Subsequently, there was a glimmer of light shining through the gap, between the door of the cabinet.
A gruff voice said, "Xiao Muyu, go and knead the dough first! I will whip up a few side dishes."
A voice that sounded young and tender, immediately answered, "Master, this general truly has his own way of thinking, insisting on eating flatbread, in the middle of the night."
The master laughed in a silly manner and said, "Our general simply loves this speciality of mine. Tonight, the general will be on patrol once every two hours, and it is inevitable that he will feel tired. This is the least that we could do."
"But Master, why would the general patrol once every two hours? Is it still necessary for him to patrol personally, when so many posts have already been added tonight?"
"Sigh. You do not know how terrible the death of the Major General was. It is inevitable that they should feel afraid, in their hearts!"
"Hey Master, they all said it was because the Major General liked men. He fancied a man in the military camp. He tried to have his way forcefully but failed, and was killed instead. Do you think this is true?"
"It is not our business to ask whether this is true or not, so let"s just be down-to-earth and start preparing a good meal. Do not look, listen and ask about anything else. Do not find trouble for yourself. Do you hear me?"
"Yes, I hear you, Master!"
Afterwards, the duo began to work at their tasks quietly, and did not speak any further.
After a long time, a rich scent of bread drifted in the air. No wonder the general loved to eat this. Its mere scent was already very fragrant.
Right at that moment, Baili Ziyi"s belly growled once.
Baili Ziyi"s eyes widened in horror, while Kuang Youzhi frowned and glared at her with a look of exasperation, over her failure to live up to his expectations.
"Master, did you hear a sound?"
"A sound? No?"
Subsequently, the two of them seemed to be holding their breath and listened silently. After a short while, the master said in a rough voice, "Listen, there was no sound. You must have heard wrongly."
The little apprentice said, with slight embarra.s.sment, "Yes, perhaps I misheard, because I am hungry!"
"You"re hungry?"
"Yes. Master"s flatbread is too fragrant, and the scent of it made me hungry!"
"Haha, you rascal! Come. Luckily, Master made two extra ones. Eat them!"
The little apprentice seemed to be eating the flatbread, while it was piping hot. While he was eating, he said, "Yes, Master"s flatbread is undoubtedly fragrant. It would be great if I could learn Master"s skills someday."
As the little apprentice had food in his mouth, the words that he said were unclear and indistinct, but one could tell how fragrant his food was.
Baili Ziyi"s belly seemed to be even hungrier. She clutched her stomach tightly for fear that it would growl again.
However, things were often like this. When one was afraid that something would happen, it would always happen. Baili Ziyi"s stomach growled once more.
This time, the master seemed to have heard the sound as well, and he grumbled to his apprentice, "Rascal, what you are eating is not enough? Here, this flatbread is also yours, as well!"
The little apprentice felt extremely wronged and he defended himself, "Master, no, it wasn"t me. I am already not so hungry, after eating half of this flatbread!"
"Oh? Really?"
"Really, Master!"
Both the master and the apprentice seemed to have sensed that something was amiss and they began to look around the entire kitchen.
The little apprentice was the first to start searching around the kitchen. Based on the sound of their footsteps, the two of them were getting closer and closer to the cabinet.
Baili Ziyi was so nervous that her heart was in her mouth. On such a cold winter day, she actually broke out in cold sweat. She clutched Kuang Youzhi"s shirt sleeves tightly and her fingernails dug into the flesh on Kuang Youzhi"s elbows. As it was done unconsciously, she merely pinched a little of his flesh and that was, instead, the most painful.
The pain made Kuang Youzhi"s cold sweat stream down, but he did not dare to move an inch or even make a sound. He bit his lower lip and endured it, while his fingers tightened their grip around the soft sword that he was holding on to, at his waist. He could already feel the flesh in his palms hurting, from his overexertion of force.
Baili Ziyi saw the layer of sweat gleam on Kuang Youzhi"s forehead, and could not help but complain in her heart, "So there are times when this devil can be afraid, as well. Look at how incompetent he is. The longer he lives, the more backward he has become!"
However, in Kuang Youzhi"s heart, he also cursed Baili Ziyi soundly. "This idiotic woman. Is she using this opportunity to take her revenge on me?"
Right at that moment, the little apprentice had already opened the cabinet beside them and was rummaging inside, very seriously.
Baili Ziyi"s heart was already so anxious that she was at a loss as to what to do. The force exerted by her hands became increasingly great and Kuang Youzhi"s face was already swelling and red, from the pain. At that moment, how he wished that he could jump out of the cupboard, and escape from the evil clutches of Baili Ziyi.
However, the situation seemed to be getting worse. It seemed as if the little apprentice would be opening their cabinet door, in the next second.
Kuang Youzhi had already come up with options on how he would cope with the situation, the moment the cabinet door opened. He even thought about the spot where his soft sword would stab.
Right at this moment, when Kuang Youzhi held his breath and prepared to strike, a rat scurried out through the cabinet door, next to them.
The little apprentice pointed at the rat and cursed, "Hey! This stupid rat can really maintain its composure. While I was searching through the cabinets, it could still hide calmly and only run out now. It is truly crafty! It must have been waiting for the opportunity to come out and steal something to eat after we leave! It is really cunning. What the h.e.l.l!"
Anger was increasingly building up in Kuang Youzhi and Baili Ziyi. Although he was scolding the rat, yet the more they listened, the more it felt as if he was indirectly scolding them.
"Alright. Let"s hurry and leave, Xiao Muyu. I suppose the general would have returned from his night patrol already, at this time. Let"s hurry and deliver the supper. The flatbread will get cold if we wait too long."
"Yes, Master!"
Both the master and the apprentice took the food, and went out of the kitchen, one after the other. Afterwards, the kitchen became dark again.
Kuang Youzhi knocked Baili Ziyi"s head once. Feeling the pain, Baili Ziyi shouted out in a low voice, "Hey! Are you asking for death? Why did you hit me?"
"I"ll beat you, you stinking woman. You actually pinched me so viciously!" Kuang Youzhi complained furiously about Baili Ziyi"s evil deeds.
"Pinched you? Why would I pinch you for no reason? You"re crazy!"
"You"re actually denying it? Do you want me to show you the proof?"
"Wait. Devil, do you think that there could be something else here..."
Baili Ziyi"s voice became increasingly soft and strange.
"Something else, my a.s.s! "It was obviously you. Dream on if you want to try and shirk the responsibility by saying such things! You are truly too much!"
"Hey! Are you done? How dare you slander me!"
While they spoke, a clattering sound could be heard from the kitchen and this undoubtedly seemed to have grounded Baili Ziyi"s guesses. She yelped in fear and instantly dived into Kuang Youzhi"s arms.
Kuang Youzhi hugged Baili Ziyi tightly and consoled her softly, "Ziyi, do not be afraid, I am here! Everything is alright! Let me go out and take a look at what is happening. You wait here!"
"Ah! No!" Baili Ziyi tightened her grip on Kuang Youzhi. He could sense that she was genuinely scared, for her body started trembling.
Kuang Youzhi gently caressed her back and helped her to calm down while he continued to whisper in her ear as if he was trying to hypnotise her, "Ziyi, do not be afraid. There is nothing. You are just scaring yourself. Do not be afraid, do not be afraid. There is nothing! Take a deep breath, take a deep breath..."
There seemed to have been a slight lessening of Baili Ziyi"s fear, and her trembling body also appeared to have calmed down.
Kuang Youzhi then proceeded to open the cabinet door gently. He was still able to see the situation in the entire kitchen clearly, although the candlelight was dim.
The pots and pans on top of the stove, had all been knocked to the ground. One of the bowls seemed to have trapped something and was moving slightly.
Upon seeing this, Baili Ziyi became even more afraid and dived into Kuang Youzhi"s arms once again. "Oh my! There are ghosts! The bowl is moving by itself."
Kuang Youzhi shook his head helplessly and gently patted Baili Ziyi twice. "Hey Ziyi, take a good look for yourself. Where is the ghost? That is clearly the rat from before! It wanted to steal some flatbread to eat, but was trapped in the bowl."
Upon hearing this, Baili Ziyi gradually raised her head and looked towards the bowl. Sure enough, the faint movement resembled that of a rat being trapped.
At that moment, the rat also squeaked twice in a timely manner, as if it was asking for help. It also seemed to be responding to Kuang Youzhi"s words.
Baili Ziyi wanted to kick the bowl in annoyance, and Kuang Youzhi grabbed hold of her to stop her action.
"Hey! You idiotic woman. How big of a commotion do you want to create? Are you trying to attract the attention of the guards on patrol?"
Baili Ziyi shook her head but responded quickly to Kuang Youzhi"s previous sentence, "You idiotic woman". This, undoubtedly, sparked Baili Ziyi"s anger once again. She widened her eyes, glared at Kuang Youzhi, before stomping her feet viciously on his feet.
Pain spread from the top of Kuang Youzhi"s feet and he instantly squatted down to hug his feet. Gnashing his teeth, he stared back at Baili Ziyi.
Baili Ziyi completely ignored Kuang Youzhi"s glares. Luckily, she still remembered what her primary task was, so she strode towards the large water tanks, at the foot of the wall.
She pulled out a small porcelain bottle that was as long as a finger, from her chest. She gently unplugged the cork and dripped two drops of the medicinal solution from the bottle into each of the large tanks, before putting the bottle away safely.
She strode back next to Kuang Youzhi once again, and when she pa.s.sed by the stove, she saw the flatbread that the little apprentice had left behind.
She took the flatbread unceremoniously and tore it in half. Walking up next to Kuang Youzhi, she casually handed half of it to him.
Kuang Youzhi hesitated briefly and then asked in puzzlement, "You held the poison bottle earlier on. Are you sure that it is safe to eat..."
Not taking him seriously, Baili Ziyi took one look at the flatbread in her hands. "I only poisoned the water tank just at this moment, but the flatbread was made before that. Of course it is safe to eat! Are you an idiot?"
Kuang Youzhi shook his head and said, "What I meant was your hand. You touched the medicinal bottle and then touched the flatbread... Are you sure there will really be no problems?"
Baili Ziyi gave Kuang Youzhi a look. "I called you an idiot and you really are an idiot. Have you ever seen a toxicologist poisoning himself? Do you think that I will do something like that?"
Kuang Youzhi nodded his head, without sparing a thought for her feelings, and his face had a look of certainty.
Baili Ziyi"s face became ashen in an instant, and she glared viciously at Kuang Youzhi.