CH 33

Ah Qin, I’m Hungry

Ming Qin drove the carriage northward and reached the inn just before the sky turned completely dark. She estimated that it was almost time for her plan to unfold.

She hoped that the carriage she had tampered with had already overturned, and that the hungry wolves had taken the man’s life or at least bitten off his limbs.

If she hadn’t been in a hurry, she would have personally severed his head and given it to Murong Yan as a toy. However, she quickly dismissed the thought.

How could she show Murong Yan such a gruesome and bloody thing?

“Ah Qin?” The woman in Ming Qin’s arms noticed her shaking her head strangely and hugged her neck with concern. “What’s wrong?”

Ming Qin looked down at the stunning Murong Yan, who was like a cloud of brilliance in front of her. She suppressed the sinister and bloodthirsty images in her mind and gently placed Murong Yan on the bed board. “Nothing,” she replied. “You rest first. I’ll go to the kitchen in the back.”

Murong Yan tightened her grip on Ming Qin’s hand and then let go, saying, “Go ahead.”

The inn where Ming Qin stayed tonight was not as lively as the one she stayed at two days ago. There was only one employee looking after the place, and the simple and shabby decorations matched the old building, making it look somewhat dilapidated.

As she followed the employee downstairs to the inn’s kitchen, she frowned at the sight of the stove, which was even more rudimentary than the previous inn’s, and the iron pots scattered on the ground, which were far from clean.

Although she knew that as they traveled further north and away from the capital, the inns became more sparse, she didn’t expect the kitchen to be so crude.

Her gaze fell on the cook squatting in the corner smoking tobacco. His fingernails had not been trimmed in nearly half a month, with black dirt embedded in them, and the cuffs of his clothes were greasy and casually rolled up to his elbows.

No matter how much silver she offered, it was unlikely to produce food that would satisfy Murong Yan at this inn.

In fact, Ming Qin wouldn’t even allow the food made here to enter Murong Yan’s mouth.

Frustration set in as she tugged at her hair, feeling at a loss for what to do.

After changing her clothes, Murong Yan fell into a deep sleep in the room, exhausted from the journey. When she woke up, it was pitch black outside with strong winds and fine snow howling. The wooden window frames creaked loudly.

Despite the howling cold wind outside, the charcoal stove in the corner of the room had not gone out, keeping the room warm.

The bedside oil lamp emitted a yellow halo, illuminating the black-clad figure sitting on the ground with her back to the bed, dozing off.

Murong Yan didn’t know why, but she didn’t want to leave. She quietly moved closer to Ming Qin, bending down to stare at her uninjured profile.

Her own stone earring emitted a deep red halo as it dangled from her earlobe. The oil lamp coated the lashes of her closed eyelids with a golden layer, rising and falling with each steady breath.

Even while resting, Ming Qin’s back remained straight, and her peaceful expression held a hint of heroism and unfamiliar coldness.

Watching her, Murong Yan felt uneasy, as if the person before her might slip away due to this coldness at any moment.

She brushed her hair behind her ear, leaned in, and planted a gentle kiss on Ming Qin’s cheek with her neck tilted to the side.

As their breaths met, Ming Qin’s tightly closed eyes suddenly opened, revealing Murong Yan’s familiar clear pupils. Ming Qin relaxed, but Murong Yan continued to lean forward.

Feeling the familiar moisture on her lips, Ming Qin was afraid that Murong Yan was exerting too much effort, so she knelt up and embraced her in her arms.

Murong Yan’s soft lips lightly brushed over the person’s teeth in front of her, as if giving a silent command.

Knowing Murong Yan’s temperament well, Ming Qin obediently complied and carefully licked with her tongue.

“Ah Qin,” Murong Yan whispered, catching her breath after the stimulation of Ming Qin’s gentle kiss. “Don’t worry about me.”

“But it could hurt you,” Ming Qin replied, her fingers gently stroking Murong Yan’s soft earlobes along her cheek.

“I want you to be a bit rougher, okay?” Murong Yan spoke earnestly, her hands wrapped around Ming Qin’s neck.

Ming Qin furrowed her brow, feeling somewhat troubled by the request. “But…”

“Please, just for a moment, Ah Qin,” the woman’s voice was soft, as if she would break down in tears if rejected.

Ming Qin could never bear to say no, and so she reluctantly placed her hand on the back of Murong Yan’s head, saying somewhat helplessly, “If it becomes too much, just push me away, okay?”

“Okay…”

After Murong Yan had finished responding, she felt her breath being taken away. The person in front of her leaned forward and faithfully executed her request.

The usually gentle and obedient girl now had a look of possession in her eyes. The kisses falling like a storm were without the gentleness of the past.

After a long while, Ming Qin stopped and sat up, looking at Murong Yan. “Are you crying?” she said, her expression filled with panic and guilt. “I’m sorry.”

Murong Yan shook her head, her tears rolling down uncontrollably. “I’m happy,” she said, looking up at Ming Qin with a smile. “It’s just that I’ve never felt so close to you before.”

The woman’s lips were bitten red. She raised her hand to touch her own face and indeed, her fingertips were stained with tears that had trickled down her cheeks.

The woman wiped away the tears on her cheeks and Murong Yan couldn’t help but feel a sense of warmth from her gentle touch. Despite being out of breath, she couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.

Ming Qin, feeling guilty, lowered her head and apologized, “I’m sorry I was too rough.”

Murong Yan gestured for Ming Qin to help her up, and she leaned against Ming Qin’s shoulder with her chin resting on it. She felt her body soften, as if melting into the person beside her.

Ming Qin felt the tickle of Murong Yan’s breath on her earlobe, which was adorned with a pomegranate stone. After a while, Murong Yan whispered, “It’s not because it hurts, but because it makes me happy.”

The tears were a result of almost reaching the peak of pleasure.

Looking at the puzzled expression on Ming Qin’s face, Murong Yan chuckled softly, trying to dispel the strange sensation in her body. She changed the subject and said, “Ah Qin, I’m hungry.”

Hearing this earth-shattering news, Ming Qin immediately put aside her guilt and confusion and exclaimed, “Yes, yes, eating is more important!” She held Murong Yan with one hand and guided her to the table.

On the wooden table was a bedsheet, which Ming Qin pulled open to reveal an inverted iron pot. Underneath the pot were a few still-warm sweet potatoes, two boiled eggs, several dishes of pickled vegetables, and a bowl of crystal-clear white rice.

“Look at this!” Ming Qin gestured as if presenting a treasure, pushing all the food on the table in front of Murong Yan. Then she sat opposite her, looking at her expectantly.

“This…” Murong Yan looked at the simple and plain yet clean and not greasy dishes on the table, feeling surprised. “Did the inn’s chef make this, Ah Qin?”

Ming Qin shook her head and said proudly, “I found these outside the inn!”

The snowstorm outside the window caught Murong Yan’s attention, and she couldn’t help but ask, “How did you manage to find all these provisions in the middle of nowhere, Ah Qin?”

“I went to a nearby village and offered my help in exchange for food,” replied Ming Qin, unfazed by the fact that the nearest village was thirty miles away, and she had to trek through the snowy forest to get there.

“At first, no one believed me when I knocked on their doors. But then, an old man asked me to chop some firewood for him because he had a bad back.”

As she spoke, Ming Qin peeled a boiled egg and placed it in front of Murong Yan’s bowl. “These eggs are from that kind old man. Later, other villagers realized that I was sincere and came to ask for my help as well.”

Murong Yan stared at the person in front of her, whose fingers had worsened with frostbite, and held the chopsticks silently.

Ming Qin peeled a sweet potato, continuing to recount her adventure, “I knocked on many doors to ask if they had any white rice. Only the village chief had it. At first, the old man didn’t want to give it to me because he wanted to save it to make porridge when he was sick. No matter how much I begged him, he wouldn’t give it to me. That old man was so stubborn! I had to catch two snow rabbits in the forest and give them to him before he agreed to give me the white rice.”

Even with her extraordinary senses and strength, it was challenging to catch rabbits in the dark forest on a snowy day. But to let Murong Yan have a good meal, Ming Qin thought it was worth doing anything.

“Please eat,” she urged with a smile.

Ming Qin felt anxious as she looked at Murong Yan, who had yet to touch her chopsticks. She offered a sweet potato she had just roasted and said, “Try this. It’s delicious. When my senior brothers and sisters couldn’t eat the food made by our master, they would sneak out and roast sweet potatoes in the camp. This is the only thing I know how to make.”

Ming Qin’s bright eyes locked onto hers as Murong Yan numbly took a bite of the steaming hot sweet potato. The texture was soft and fluffy, and a sweet aroma spread on her tongue.

But she kept chewing and chewing, her throat feeling blocked, and her nose swollen and sore. She couldn’t taste the food anymore, no matter how hard she tried.

Even though she had chewed the sweet potato into a paste and her saliva had mixed with the sweet and greasy taste, Murong Yan still couldn’t swallow it.

She stared blankly at Ming Qin, her heart aching.