Chapter 41: Chapter 41: If Not Medicine, Then What? You?

SMACK—

Yu An wasn’t about to coddle him. She slapped him right across the face. "Is that any way to talk to your master?"

The slap seemed to knock some clarity into Lan Yin’s eyes, but he was still determined to defend his innocence. "Don’t you come any closer, or I won’t be so polite!"

For Zaizai’s sake, he wouldn’t hold the slap against Yu An. But if she tried anything more, he wouldn’t tolerate it.

Seeing that Lan Yin was about to snap, Yu An decided she’d had her fun. "Fine, don’t let me," she said irritably. "Making such a fuss over a little medicine. It’s not like I enjoy looking after you."

She tossed the medicine bottle at Lan Yin. "Apply it yourself. I’m done."

"A-Apply medicine?"

Lan Yin stared blankly for a full five seconds. "You’re saying... you wanted to apply medicine for me? Just apply medicine?"

"What else would I be applying?" Yu An rolled her eyes. "You?"

What kind of shameless words were those!

Lan Yin’s face flushed crimson. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

’What kind of female would say something like that? It’s just... it’s just too...’

Lan Yin, who had lived an ascetic life for half his existence, couldn’t come up with an adjective. He simply looked at Yu An as if she were a complete hooligan.

"Forget it. I’ll do it."

Yu An decisively poured out the medicine and had it applied to Lan Yin in a couple of quick motions. The sheer efficiency of it left Lan Yin dumbfounded.

He suspected Yu An had just been teasing him on purpose. She could have finished in a few seconds, yet she had dragged it out and even groped him.

"There," Yu An said, wiping her hands. "Keep the wound out of water and avoid any strenuous exercise. It’ll heal in a few days."

Lan Yin nodded dumbly, suddenly unsure if Yu An actually knew his true identity or not.

Yu An yawned. "It’s late. Come warm my bed."

"No," Lan Yin refused flatly. "I’m not that kind of promiscuous male. I won’t—"

"What are you muttering about? Get over here and keep me warm."

Yu An yanked him over, expertly snuggling into his arms and warning, "Don’t you dare push me away. I saved you, gave you food and shelter, and even treated your wounds. What’s wrong with you warming my bed?"

Once again, Lan Yin was speechless. "You call this warming the bed?"

"What else would it be? You seem disappointed."

’Disappointed?’

’How could I be disappointed?’

He glanced at Yu An, who was behaving herself in his arms and not getting handsy, and decided to endure it a little longer.

’Once I’ve achieved my goal, I’ll leave as fast as I can!’

...

"City Lord, the Young Master has returned!"

A servant from the City Lord Mansion reported excitedly. A joyful expression appeared on Han Fengyun’s face, but a vicious glint flashed in his heart.

’He’s finally back. Is he ready to question me?’

Han Li soon appeared before Han Fengyun. What surprised him was that Han Li’s expression was normal, with not a trace of hatred in his eyes.

Han Fengyun was confused. Logically, the skeleton should have retained some residual memories, and Han Li, being of its bloodline, should have inherited them.

’How could he be so calm after discovering he’d been treating his enemy as a father?’

"Beast Father, what are you thinking about?"

Han Li’s voice snapped Han Fengyun back to his senses. He smiled. "Nothing. Your Beast Father is just overjoyed. Li’er, where have you been all this time? Your Beast Father has been searching for you everywhere."

"I was recovering from my injuries somewhere," Han Li said, not mentioning Yu An. "After I escaped that day, I found a safe place to restore my spiritual power..."

"So that’s what happened," Han Fengyun nodded. "Go back and rest for now. You must have been on edge these past few days, you’ve gotten so thin—"

He suddenly stopped, just now realizing that not only had Han Li not lost weight, he actually looked a little chubbier than before.

Han Li felt the new flesh on his body, and alarm bells went off in his mind.

’This is bad. I need to start exercising immediately. I can’t fall out of favor because of my figure!’

At that thought, Han Li immediately stood up. "Beast Father, I’ll head back now. By the way, may I pick a few people from the Dark Guard Camp to protect me?"

Han Fengyun didn’t think much of it. "Go ahead."

’Could it be that it wasn’t Han Li who disturbed the skeleton, but someone else?’

While the father and son in the City Lord Mansion were each lost in their own schemes, the atmosphere in the cave outside the city was more than just a little pleasant.

Yu An was currently thinking about how to complete her next task. This time, she had to sell porridge.

[Sell hot porridge within seven days, achieving a total turnover of one hundred thousand copper coins. Porridge type is not restricted.]

She had exceeded the goal for the fried chicken, and that had only brought in a little over forty thousand copper coins. How many bowls of porridge would she have to sell to reach one hundred thousand?!

Fortunately, as long as the porridge was cooked in advance, all she’d have to do was ladle it into bowls. It was simple, and Mo Yan and the others could help share the load.

But even so, Yu An was still worried.

’Even if the people from both tribes ate until they puked, they probably couldn’t get through this much porridge. Do I have to change locations and find a bigger tribe?’

There was no use overthinking it. Yu An decided to just give it her best shot.

As an overlord of the water, Lan Yin possessed a natural authority over aquatic creatures. Even if he couldn’t enter the water, under the pressure of his spiritual power, fish and shrimp would leap out on their own.

Yu An didn’t let him stay idle. She gave him two buckets and told him to go catch shrimp.

Lan Yin didn’t refuse, but his gaze shifted to Xiao Yu. "I want to take Xiao Yu with me."

’A perfect chance to tell Xiao Yu his true identity.’

Yu An waved a dismissive hand. "Go ask him yourself."

’If Xiao Yu wants to acknowledge his Beast Father, I won’t stop him. But I’m sure Xiao Yu won’t leave with Lan Yin.’

Under Lan Yin’s expectant gaze, Xiao Yu thought for a moment, then gave a slight nod. "Okay."

Mo Yan and Feng Xuan weren’t idle either; one was cutting and mincing meat, while the other picked and washed vegetables.

Once they were done, Yu An began to cook the porridge.

Today, she would just make a small batch to test the flavor. Tomorrow, after the "space" provided the food stall, she would officially start preparing the porridge needed for her business.

After washing the rice and putting it in the pot, Yu An added scallion and ginger water to both the minced pork and beef to remove any gaminess. Then she added some salt and pepper, stirring until the flavors were well combined.

She stir-fried the minced meat until it was just cooked through, its savory aroma filling the air. Then she added it to the already boiling plain congee, stirred it evenly, and tossed in a handful of chopped greens. The meat porridge was ready.

Da Hu sniffed the fragrant air. "Female Mother, I think this porridge smells way, way better than before!"

"Of course," Yu An said, ladling some into a bowl. "This time, your Female Mother added minced meat. It’s a green vegetable and lean meat porridge. Here, try it and tell me how it tastes."

Considering that Beastmen had high daily energy expenditures and needed a large intake of meat, Yu An made two types of meat porridge and one plain rice porridge.

There was also a seafood porridge, but that would have to wait for Lan Yin to return.

「By the lake」

To complete the task Yu An had given him, Lan Yin casually scooped up some shrimp, then eagerly squatted down and said to Xiao Yu, "Zaizai, listen to me. The truth is, I’m—"

"Unacceptable," Xiao Yu interrupted, his little face stern. "These shrimp are too small. Catch them again."

Lan Yin’s mouth twitched. "Fine, I’ll catch them again. But can you let me finish what I was saying first?"

Xiao Yu shook his head. "No. You catch the shrimp first."

"Fine, fine, fine," Lan Yin said helplessly. "I’m on it."

This time, he was a bit more serious, picking out only the large ones. It took him much longer than the first time.

Only when the buckets were full did Lan Yin say, "Xiao Yu, I’m—"

"Still not acceptable," Xiao Yu said, putting his hands on his hips just like his brother Da Hu. "These shrimp are all different sizes. These ones here are incomplete, and those ones over there..."

The little guy’s mouth fired off a rapid stream of complaints, and Lan Yin felt his entire system crash.

’So he didn’t come with me because he likes me, but to be a quality inspector?’