No matter how He Yi shook him, Xue Ci would not wake up. He could only move Xue Ci’s head backward so that his enormous face was no longer pressed against the wooden bed frame and he could breathe properly.
Then He Yi saw Xue Ci smack his lips, tuck both forepaws inward, and bury his face in his dark plum-colored paw pads.
“…” It seemed he was only sleeping too deeply. Better to let him sleep.
He Yi let out a breath of relief. After that, he pulled the door shut behind him and went back to Xu Peng.
In the short while He Yi had been gone, Xu Peng had already spread gauze inside a steamer and set it over steam.
“Why are you steaming the gauze?” He Yi asked when he saw there was nothing on it.
Xu Peng was carrying things in and out of the kitchen. He glanced sideways at He Yi as he returned and said, “Once the gauze has been steamed and cooled, we can use it to separate out the comb. The honey will drain naturally through it, and then we can collect it in jars and seal them.”
He Yi understood. “So you’re going to strain out the honey. I see.”
Not seeing Xue Ci behind him, Xu Peng asked, “Where did that snow leopard go? Did you find him?”
“I found him. He fell asleep in the room. I don’t know if he’s feeling unwell, but he’s sleeping so deeply I can’t wake him.”
“…” Xu Peng glanced toward the room, paused for a moment, then lowered his eyes and continued with what he was doing. He even told He Yi not to stand around and had him come help.
About half an hour later, two earthenware jars were each roughly half full. One honey was black and the other white, the contrast striking, and both were richly fragrant.
Their harvest this time really was plentiful. In a single day they had collected two kinds of monofloral honey, both excellent in quality. It was only a pity that there was less Chinese milk-vetch honey. They had extracted a full ten jin of mituan-flower honey, but less than five jin of milk-vetch honey.
Once the honey was finally sealed away, Xu Peng said he would make something to eat and that they would just have a simple meal.
He Yi used the opportunity to go to the bedroom and see whether Xue Ci had woken up. The moment he stepped inside, however, he was greeted by the sight of Xue Ci sleeping sprawled on his back with all four limbs flung wide, his snow-white belly fur completely exposed.
Even in such an uninhibited position, Xue Ci still did not wake.
He Yi watched him for a while. Seeing his belly rise and fall gently, he knew Xue Ci’s breathing was steady and there was probably nothing seriously wrong. Although gathering honey today had not involved any major difficulty, the journey there and back had been long, and He Yi was tired too.
He sat down on a chair nearby and decided to close his eyes for a little while.
Night fell, and suddenly the fragrance of wheat drifted in from outside. It made Xue Ci, lying on the floor, paddle his legs at empty air before abruptly rolling over and springing to his feet.
Xue Ci made a circuit of the room and looked around. He found He Yi asleep in the chair with his head tilted to one side. With his eyes closed, He Yi did not look as gentle as he usually did when gazing at Xue Ci. There was a little more sharpness between his brows, and a trace of gloom.
Xue Ci thought he might be sleeping uncomfortably, so he nudged He Yi with his head, trying to wake him and get him to sleep on the bed instead.
He Yi was a light sleeper and woke easily. He even reached up and grabbed a handful of the black-and-white fur tickling his neck.
He Yi took a deep breath and became much more alert. He asked, “You’re awake?”
Perhaps realizing that talking in beast form was inconvenient, Xue Ci suddenly changed back into human form. He Yi immediately looked away and told him to get onto the bed and cover himself with the quilt.
For this trip, Xue Ci had hidden the clothes he had worn on the way up inside the cave where he used to live, so he had nothing at hand to put on now. Obediently, he burrowed beneath the quilt, then poked his head out and looked at He Yi. “Like this?”
“Yes.” Only then did He Yi turn back to face him.
“Why did you suddenly sleep so deeply today? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?” The worry between He Yi’s brows had never quite faded.
“I just feel really tired. Maybe freezing the hive used up a lot of energy,” Xue Ci said after thinking about it.
He Yi remembered what had occurred to him earlier and could not resist asking, “Every time you pound rice, I notice the finished rice is cool, and there’s even cold air sinking from it. Were you using some kind of ability then too?”
Xue Ci nodded. “I condensed threads of ice and used them to shave the rice grains. Didn’t you say to leave only the white centers? I tried it. It wasn’t difficult, but I had to do them one by one, so it took a long time.”
So that was it… He Yi rubbed his chin and thought. Could making those ice threads somehow consume much more energy than freezing an entire hive? Yet Xue Ci never seemed especially tired after pounding rice… Or perhaps it was creating a large amount of ice that consumed more spiritual power? Demonic power? And that was why he needed sleep afterward to recover?
He Yi could not figure it out, but supernatural matters involving strange powers and spirits were hardly things one could understand just by thinking about them, so he did not dwell on it. He noticed Xue Ci’s gaze repeatedly drifting toward the door and guessed he was probably hungry, so he was about to urge him to change back before they went out together.
Then He Yi remembered that he still had not asked about the white honey, so he turned back to Xue Ci. “Right, the hive you found today produced some white honey. What do you want to do with it? Sell it, or keep it for us to eat?”
Xue Ci clearly had little interest in honey. Without even hesitating, he chose to sell it.
“All right. Then I’ll sell it directly to Xu Peng. He happens to want it.”
One incense stick later, two men and one leopard were sitting together in the main room eating dinner.
When Xu Peng said he would just make something simple, He Yi had genuinely wanted to complain. How was this simple? It was not even remotely simple. If anything, it was troublesome. For a kitchen novice like He Yi, “making something simple” meant frying an egg or cooking a pot of rice. Xu Peng’s version of “making something simple” was to make fresh mugwort steamed buns and stir-fry Chinese toon sauce from scratch!
When Xu Peng brought the food to the table, He Yi could hardly have looked more astonished.
“Eat.” Xu Peng split open a steamed bun, spread Chinese toon sauce in the middle, closed it again, and took a bite.
This was He Yi’s first time seeing mugwort steamed buns. Their outer skin was a grassy green full of spring color. They had collapsed a little, but still looked distinctive. When he broke one open, the inside was green all the way through, with the fragrance of mugwort mingling with the wheat aroma in a fresh, clean scent.
He Yi was not used to eating them as sandwiches, so he tore off a piece, dipped it in the sauce, and put it into his mouth.
He trusted Xu Peng’s cooking, but he had not expected the bun to taste slightly sour, nor was its texture particularly fluffy or soft. He did not know whether Xu Peng had made a mistake or had simply rushed it because of the time. He did not ask and quietly kept eating.
Eating it with the sauce did cover some of the sourness. He Yi could taste the fragrance of sesame oil in the Chinese toon sauce, along with a savory saltiness somewhat like soy sauce. The toon itself had a pronounced crisp, tender texture and plenty of moisture, so the bun did not feel dry when eaten with it.
Xue Ci received three steamed buns as well, which Xu Peng had prepared for him. He Yi did not add much Chinese toon sauce, only a tiny bit in the middle, then fed him each bun whole.
After Xue Ci smacked his lips and swallowed the first one, he ate the next two much more slowly. He Yi immediately understood that Xue Ci probably did not like them very much either.
He Yi glanced at Xu Peng. “Older Cousin, the way you eat this doesn’t seem like a local habit.”
“It isn’t. I got used to eating this way back when I was with the Northwestern Army.”
“The sauce is pretty good.”
“The steamed buns aren’t. I can’t make them as fragrant, soft, and sweet as the ones I ate in the northwest, and the skin doesn’t spring back either. Hardly anyone around here makes steamed buns. Even if I wanted someone to teach me, it would be difficult to find anybody,” Xu Peng said seriously.
He Yi had not expected Xu Peng himself to point out the problem with the buns. Unfortunately, as a kitchen novice, He Yi could not offer any useful advice.
He finished the rest of his mugwort steamed bun. It was not actually bad enough to be difficult to swallow, just different from the steamed buns he had eaten before. There was one thing he was fairly pleased with, though: even with mugwort mixed in, the bun had no bitterness.
After dinner, He Yi immediately volunteered to wash the wok and dishes and rinse the floor. Xu Peng said, “Not the wok. I still need to fry another batch of sauce and store it.”
After Xu Peng finished frying the sauce, he washed the wok with practiced efficiency. Seeing He Yi standing beside him and watching with the look of an eager student, Xu Peng taught him both how to wash a wok and how to oil it before stir-frying.
After eating, Xue Ci went back to the room to rest. He still seemed somewhat listless and needed more time to recover.
He Yi wanted to boil some water for Xue Ci to drink, then remembered that Xue Ci could not drink anything hot, so he would have to let it cool first.
Xu Peng did not understand why He Yi would not simply drink water carried back from the stream, so He Yi explained the benefits of drinking boiled water.
He Yi had no idea how deeply his words affected Xu Peng, nor did he know that from then on, every cup of tea or water Xu Peng served them would be made with water that had first been boiled.
Before returning to the room, He Yi mentioned the white honey to Xu Peng. When Xu Peng heard that he was willing to sell the Chinese milk-vetch honey to him, he turned around and immediately fetched half a string of cash.
Although the strained white honey came to less than five jin, Xu Peng paid He Yi five hundred wen and did not ask for change.
“Thank you, Older Cousin. We’ll have to impose on you for another night. I’m really troubling you to host us.”
“It’s nothing.” Xu Peng waved a hand and headed off in another direction.
He Yi returned to the room as well.
He had originally planned to take Xue Ci back to Chongzi Village as soon as they finished gathering honey. Once again, however, plans had failed to keep pace with circumstances. Xue Ci was unwell, so they could only stay one more night and go down the mountain tomorrow.
Sometime between nine and eleven that night.
One man and one leopard had already climbed onto the bed and were preparing to sleep. He Yi’s eyelids felt unbearably heavy and he was barely holding on. In his drowsiness, he suddenly felt the source of warmth beside him disappear, accompanied by what seemed like a flash of white light. He looked toward the inside of the bed and saw that Xue Ci had changed back into human form and then crawled beneath He Yi’s quilt.
The instant Xue Ci’s smooth skin touched He Yi’s arm, goosebumps rose across him. Then something small, soft, and springy, about the size of a pomegranate seed, brushed against him as well. The sensation was unfamiliar, but after a moment He Yi still realized what it was, and a rush of heat immediately surged toward his lower abdomen.
Xue Ci could see in the dark. Noticing He Yi staring at him with slightly unfocused eyes, he asked, “Weren’t you the one who told me to cover myself with the quilt?”
In beast form, Xue Ci was covered in thick fur and naturally did not fear the cold. But Xu Peng did not know that Xue Ci could turn into a human, so of course he had prepared bedding only for He Yi, and there was only one quilt.
As for Xue Ci’s question, could He Yi really say no? Even if he had not said that exact thing in the afternoon, he could hardly leave Xue Ci outside the quilt in the chilly night air.
“N-no… Why did you suddenly turn human…?”
“My body feels really heavy, and my head hurts too. After I turn human, my body seems lighter. I feel much better!”
“That’s good.” He Yi nodded stiffly. Then, as though something had suddenly occurred to him, he hurriedly rolled out of bed, felt his way through the dark to the door, and slid the bolt into place.
Only then did he slowly shuffle back to the bed and lift the corner of the quilt to get in.
“Good night.” He Yi turned his back.
“Good night.” Xue Ci lay properly on his back and slowly closed his eyes.
This body really was young. He Yi tried for a long time, but still could not suppress his desire.
At this point, if he kept holding it back, maybe he really would end up “unable” later. But this was the first time He Yi had ever done this sort of thing with someone lying so close behind him. He could not help feeling guilty, awkward, and strangely stirred all at once.
The night was still long. Xue Ci slept restlessly and kicked off the quilt who knew how many times. Whenever cold air slipped in, He Yi woke up shivering and had to get up to tuck the quilt around him again. Worse, Xue Ci’s skin was so pale that even in a room this dark, He Yi could still see far too much.
A sigh too quiet to hear slowly died in someone’s throat.
*
The next day, when it was time to head down the mountain, Xu Peng brought over He Yi’s two golden pheasants, tied their feet, and tucked them into his carrying basket.
A short while later, Xu Peng brought out two small earthenware jars and had He Yi tie them securely so he could carry them in his hands.
“What’s this?”
“Black honey and white honey. I set some aside for you,” Xu Peng said.
He Yi froze, then hurriedly protested, “This is far too valuable. I can’t take it!” Xu Peng had already been generous when calculating the price of the white honey, while neither He Yi nor Xue Ci had contributed anything to collecting the black honey. How could he accept a whole jar? Judging by the weight in his hand, even excluding the jar itself, there had to be seven or eight liang of honey in it.
“Take it.” Xu Peng stared at the hand He Yi was trying to push back toward him. He did not bother explaining himself, merely watched in silence, his gaze turning cold.
He Yi understood what Xu Peng meant. He stopped putting on a show of refusing and accepted it sincerely.
“Thank you, Older Cousin,” he said with a smile.
“I’ll take the sambar down tomorrow and ask around about the price. Once it sells, I’ll come find you and give you the money.”
“All right. Sorry to trouble you with another trip, Older Cousin.”
He Yi sighed inwardly. He genuinely admired the way Xu Peng handled himself. The man was all about saying little and doing more. He never fussed, never bothered with elaborate etiquette, and did not care who you were. If work needed doing, he simply did it, without standing on ceremony. Yet he was not cold or unfeeling. He simply never talked about how much he himself gave.
Just like now. Xu Peng had said nothing yesterday and never discussed whether He Yi and Xue Ci would receive a share, yet today he had directly given them a jar each of mituan-flower honey and Chinese milk-vetch honey. He Yi was genuinely moved.
Xu Peng was warm-hearted even if his mouth was not. He Yi felt that truth all over again. In this life, getting to know Xu Peng really was a fortunate thing.
He Yi said goodbye to Xu Peng with a genuine smile, then started down the mountain together with Xue Ci.
Xue Ci had recovered quite well today and was full of energy. Along the way, whenever he spotted birds he pounced after a few, but they looked too small to be worth eating, so He Yi let him play until he got bored and then made him release them.
When they reached the area near the cave Xue Ci used to occupy, Xue Ci retrieved his clothes and dressed himself properly. Then, in human form, he continued downhill beside He Yi.
They had not gone far when a jumble of footsteps and shouts suddenly came from behind them. A whole group seemed to be cursing, while others sounded as though they were cheering someone on. The noise was chaotic and loud.
As the voices drew closer, He Yi gradually made out what they were actually shouting: someone was crying for help!