Ye Tang remained unmoved by Ruan Yaibai, who had thrown himself into his arms. He merely reached out to gently support Ruan Yaibai’s waist, as though worried he might fall to the ground. After making sure that the fellow hanging onto him was completely fine, he spoke in a calm tone, “Since your body is indisposed, you should rest even more.”
Ruan Yaibai let out a soft chuckle. His fingers moved from Ye Tang’s earlobe to the immortal sash dangling from Ye Tang’s immortal crown, absentmindedly twisting it a couple of times before teasing with a wicked smile, “My body was indisposed yesterday, yet I wonder who took advantage of my vulnerable state.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he rested the hand that had been toying with the sash onto Ye Tang’s shoulder. Then, step by step, his fingers feigned a slow advance toward the back of Ye Tang’s neck. That touch was incomparably flirty, acting precisely like the seductive, graceful steps of a beauty lightly grazing someone’s heartstrings. He lifted his waist slightly, a pair of alluring and lively eyes carrying a bewitching smile as strands of ink-black hair cascaded down his temples.
He raised his head, slowly closing in on the immortal lord who was sitting upright and proper.
The ambiguous atmosphere inside the room was about to reach its peak, and the system even began covering its face with a rapid, pounding heartbeat.
Just as their lips were about to touch!
Ye Tang blocked Ruan Yaibai’s lips with a single finger, separating the distance between them with a clear and lucid expression, “No.”
Ruan Yaibai, who had been blocked, blinked, and blinked again.
“Your body has not fully recovered, so you should not push yourself.”
No, when I died into a puddle of mush, you didn’t exchange any polite pleasantries with me, and now you’re putting on airs as a saint here??
[System: The Heavenly Lord’s self-control! Awesome, man! Anyone else would have gone weak in the knees long ago, hahaha!]
“Be a good boy, Ah-Ruan. Eat some food first.”
Ruan Yaibai almost lost control of his expression and wanted to give him the middle finger.
However, naturally, he couldn’t admit defeat so easily. He remained stubbornly hanging onto Ye Tang, “How can Husband go back on his word?”
Ye Tang looked at him once more, raising an eyebrow slightly in confusion, “How did I go back on my word?”
“Didn’t you say you would feed me personally?”
Ye Tang fell silent.
After a moment, he supported Ruan Yaibai with one hand while picking up the chopsticks with the other to poke around the fish meat on the tray. He picked out a piece of golden fish roe from the belly of the braised crucian carp, carefully dipped it in some sauce, and fed it into Ruan Yaibai’s mouth.
Ruan Yaibai, who had intended to continue teasing Ye Tang, had his expression change the moment he chewed a single bite!
That pair of seductive, alluring eyes instantly became watery!
“This taste, this taste.”
This taste was actually identical to the braised crucian carp his grandmother used to make when he was little!
How did he manage that?
He remembered those years after transmigrating to the modern world when he and his grandmother depended on each other, living an exceptionally frugal life. Meat dishes like chicken, duck, and fish were rarely eaten, yet little Ruan Yaibai particularly loved eating fish. Therefore, every winter weekend, his grandmother would take her little grandson to the riverbank to watch people fish. When they finished fishing, packed up, and prepared to leave, she would buy a couple of small crucian carp from them at a price much cheaper than the market.
Then the old woman and the young boy would carry the two fish back home in high spirits, cooking the most traditional braised crucian carp. Places in Jiangnan were all about sweet and savory flavors; the small crucian carp rich in sauce aroma would be sprinkled with a soul-enhancing garnish of small scallions, and the taste was beyond description, especially the roe and the swim bladder. Things that others threw away like worn-out shoes were, to Ruan Yaibai, truly rare delicacies!
Two small crucian carp, only eating one a day; by the second day, the braised carp broth would turn into fish jelly. The immensely savory fish jelly when meeting piping hot white rice tasted simply unimaginably delicious!
After he started school, he had also eaten braised crucian carp in the cafeteria, but it was never quite that taste. The fish meat was too thick and carried an earthy, muddy smell, and the sauce was mixed too heavily, tasting almost like sweet-and-sour sauce. Furthermore, both the roe and the swim bladder were completely discarded, which he disliked.
After his grandmother passed away, he had never tasted such a flavor again.
To think that today he would be able to taste a flavor that was nearly identical, he was almost moved to tears of gratitude. The key was that after Ye Tang picked up a piece of fish roe, he immediately spotted the bouncy, vibrant swim bladder inside the fish’s belly!
At this very moment, the once dominant and formidable Sword Demon Bai Ye resembled nothing less than an obedient, sweet, and gentle little kitten, licking its paws cutely and sitting upright, waiting to be fed by its master!
“I remember the things you cooked before tasted very strange. How come they suit my palate so well now?”
Ruan Yaibai just wanted to get off Ye Tang’s lap and change into a normal posture to enjoy the delicacy when Ye Tang stopped him, still supporting his waist as he sat on his lap.
“Your feet are bare. Touching the ground easily catches a cold.” As he spoke, Ye Tang placed his own white boots beneath Ruan Yaibai’s toe tips, allowing his suspended bare feet to rest on top of his shoes, and then straightened his waist. “Just sit like this.”
Ruan Yaibai rested his toes lightly on Ye Tang’s boots. Although he was still sitting on someone, he didn’t find anything wrong with it. He simply picked up the chopsticks from Ye Tang’s hand on his own accord and picked up the fish swim bladder from the fish’s belly to eat.
The moment he tasted this long-vowed flavor, his expression instantly became as blissfully happy as if he were ascending to heaven!
“Did you go somewhere like New Oriental to take advanced culinary courses?!”
Ye Tang looked puzzled, “Where is New Oriental?”
Ruan Yaibai almost laughed out loud. He waved his hand, “It’s an awesome training base, especially for master chefs. Never mind, it’s just a metaphor.”
Ye Tang nodded, not dwelling too much on what Ruan Yaibai had said, and simply replied casually, “I did indeed learn a few dishes from a master in the human realm.”
Only then did Ruan Yaibai carefully inspect the dishes on the tray: braised crucian carp, mushroom and spare rib stew soup, dried cowpea stir-fried with preserved mustard greens. These were actually all dishes he loved to eat!
And the color coordination looked truly nutritious, healthy, and appetizing!
[System: Wow, the Heavenly Lord said he learned a few dishes. Could it happen by such coincidence that they are all dishes you love?]
Ruan Yaibai: How is that possible? Just a coincidence. You’re the only one with brain rot for romance.
[System: Tch, do you dare ask him?]
Ruan Yaibai: Asking is asking.
“Then what else can you cook? Don’t tell me it’s just these few dishes?” Ruan Yaibai happily ate the fish roe, the soft and glutinous texture bringing him immense delight, “It really tastes great.”
Ye Tang honestly rattled off a string of dish names, all of which were ordinary home-cooked meals, but Ruan Yaibai was amazed to discover that they were indeed all dishes he loved to eat!
[System: Listen to that, take a look, what did I tell you!!]
Ruan Yaibai: What does this prove? It only proves that I am not a picky eater, okay!
[System (pointing and gesturing): Then go ahead and ask him about a dish you absolutely refuse to eat.]
“Can you make cold shredded bitter melon?”
He had only touched bitter melon once in his life and didn’t want to touch it a second time!
Upon hearing this, Ye Tang furrowed his brows, “When were you ever willing to eat bitter melon?”
“Then oil-braised shrimp, you must know how to make that?”
“Aren’t you allergic to shrimp meat?”
“Then salt-baked peanuts, oil-blistered eggplant, kung pao chicken, snow cabbage frog legs.”
[System: You don’t eat this many things and you still claim you aren’t picky?!]
Ye Tang shook his head.
Ruan Yaibai ladled himself a bowl of soup, but as soon as he took a sip, he scalded his mouth. He let out a “hiss,” his lips stinging enough to make his speech somewhat slurred, “Could it be that you don’t know how to cook any other dishes?”
Ye Tang took the bowl from his hand, blowing on it while gently stirring with a spoon. After a moment, he slowly spat out a few words: “The others, you do not like.”
Before Ruan Yaibai could fully process the meaning behind Ye Tang’s words, a commotion echoed from outside the door.
“Bai Ruogu, don’t think that because the Exalted Lord allowed you to stay and atone for your sins, you can run around everywhere. Do you think this is your Wufan Nine Domains? Let me tell you, this is,”
“Step aside, I just want to see if my master is alright!”
“Wow, why is your strength so freakishly great, guy!”
Then, the door was pushed open with a “bang”!
After rushing in with extreme anxiety, Bai Ruogu’s first sight was Ruan Yaibai sitting on Ye Tang’s lap, chewing away with puffed-up cheeks.
“M-Master.”
Before he even had time to finish his sentence, he was knocked flat onto the ground by Xie Xun, who had rushed in right behind him. Xie Xun pinned Bai Ruogu down, let out a breath, and said, “When did your brat’s movements become so fast!”
Then he raised his head, wanting to claim credit, only to see Ye Tang holding a disheveled Ruan Yaibai and considerately blowing on hot soup for him.
Seeing the two of them tumbled before him, Ruan Yaibai didn’t hide or evade. Instead, he dangled a pair of delicate, slender bare feet, intentionally or unintentionally brushing them seductively against Ye Tang’s decently clad thighs. The smile lingering at the corners of his lips was truly.
Like spring breezes capturing the moon amidst ten miles of floral fragrance!
Xie Xun swallowed hard, thinking to himself that this scene was truly wow-za. Hopefully the Exalted Lord wouldn’t skin him alive later… So he hurriedly offered an awkward laugh, “Sorry to interrupt your meal! I’ll drag this kid Bai Ruogu right out!”
“You two continue, please continue!”
Before Bai Ruogu could say anything more, Xie Xun clamped a hand over his mouth!
“Mm-mm., I still want to.”
“No, you don’t!” Xie Xun muffled Bai Ruogu as he walked outside, “Children shouldn’t disturb adults doing serious business!”
Xie Xun brought Bai Ruogu out the door, and the moment he pulled it shut, his heart began pounding furiously. He released his hand from Bai Ruogu’s mouth, pressed against his chest, and muttered, “Your master is truly something else. Not even a thousand-year-old fox spirit knows how to flirt as well as he does!”
Bai Ruogu protested unconvinced, “Don’t speak ill of my master!”
Xie Xun chuckled, “I’m praising him, to begin with! Leaving aside the fact that two successive Human Emperors died or went missing because of him, didn’t you see that even an immortal lord as ascetic, pure, and detached as our Exalted Lord is eaten completely dead to rights by him? What does this rely on?”
Bai Ruogu was left looking utterly bewildered by the speech, and followed up by asking, “What does it rely on?”
“Naturally, it relies on seductive skills!” Xie Xun slung an arm over Bai Ruogu’s shoulder. “I’m telling you, although I can’t stand him, I firmly believe that there is no one in this world your master cannot conquer. Even if he just casually crooks a finger, large droves of fools in the three realms would willingly and gladly grovel at his feet.”
“My master conquered the Wufan Nine Domains with genuine skill, not like what you’re saying!”
Xie Xun exhaled, placing one hand on his hip, “You’re just a little fool who fell head over heels for him too.”
Newcomers might not be aware, but for old-timers like them who had survived both the Era of Myriad Laws and the Era of Dharma Ending, who didn’t know that the Myriad-Bone Dharmakaya was forged back then when the Demon Lord Ruan Yaibai sacrificed the living souls, bones, and blood of all the Baijing princes?
Back then, everyone thought Ruan Yaibai had gone mad, right up until that Myriad-Bone Dharmakaya, rivaling the size of mountains, rose amidst the dust behind him!
That was the imprint of an era, a bloody and terrifying brand.
At that moment, Ruan Yaibai, who had finished his main meal inside the room, wrapped his arms around Ye Tang’s neck and lightly coaxed right beside his ear, “Husband, I’m full.”
His fingers traced point by point along Ye Tang’s pale lips, his gaze filled with playful desecration: “Let me feed you this time, shall we?”
[System: Tch, Host, you still haven’t given up?]
Ruan Yaibai: It’s a matter of dignity! If word gets out that I couldn’t even hook Ye Tang, wouldn’t I be laughed to death by everyone in the future?
While he was still waging a battle for honor with the system in his mind, Ye Tang suddenly scooped Ruan Yaibai up horizontally and walked silently toward the bed in the inner chamber.
[System: !]
Ruan Yaibai: Look at that, he took the bait! Take this chance to thoroughly sleep with him, lie flat, and earn points!
[System: Ahhhhh, it’s too fast! Let me find my Mr. Mosaic! Where, where is it!! Holy cow, it’s going to be too late to censor!]
Ye Tang placed Ruan Yaibai on the bed. Ruan Yaibai turned his hand around to hook his collar, trying to pull him down, but Ye Tang pressed his hand down instead.
The two of them locked eyes. Ruan Yaibai smiled, his hand that was being held down by Ye Tang refusing to feel lonely as finger by finger intertwined with his: “Did the Immortal Lord go back on his word again?”
“You.”
This utterance carried a trace of helplessness, accompanied by a touch of tenderness and pity. Ye Tang leaned forward. Ruan Yaibai, who assumed he had already reeled someone in, closed his eyes and prepared to lie back and collect his points, only to feel a warm breath brush across his forehead.
Ye Tang merely kissed his forehead, and then, with boundless indulgence, whispered, “Be good, sleep for a while. I’ll stay with you.”
It was simply a plain and simple forehead kiss, neither lingering nor passionate, nor carrying any trace of raw desire.
Yet it caused a certain someone whose moral integrity had long since gone offline to instantly turn completely red in the face with a loud “boom”!