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Chapter 145: Chapter 145 Zhan Lan Cooks for the First Time
Mu Yan’s hand had been tightly held by Zhan Lan until they reached the shore and she let go.
His heart warmed as he lowered his head to look at his own hands with distinctly visible joints.
"I’m fine." Mu Yan looked at Zhan Lan as she stood up and wrung the water out of her clothes.
By the moonlight, she noticed a vague outline of a wooden hut behind her.
She saw Mu Yan didn’t stand up after coming out of the water, realized something was wrong with him, and crouched down to ask, "Are you poisoned?"
Mu Yan nodded, "It might be Soft Bone Powder, I feel completely weak now."
Zhan Lan smiled and said, "Hey, I thought you couldn’t swim. Don’t worry, the effects of Soft Bone Powder will wear off in a few hours."
Mu Yan nodded, and Zhan Lan stood up, reaching out her hand to him, "Come, there’s a wooden hut behind us, let’s rest there for a while."
"Are the people in the carriage important? Do you want to go and look for them?" asked Mu Yan.
Zhan Lan waved her hand, "That Death Guard is also poisoned and can’t get far. Besides, you’ve helped me several times; it would be ungrateful of me to leave now. I, Zhan Lan, am not that unrighteous person!"
Now Mu Yan looked like a frail scholar, defenseless; if a wolf appeared in these mountains, it could probably devour him.
Zhan Lan wasn’t the sort who would abandon a friend in a critical moment to save herself.
After finishing her words, she extended her hand to Mu Yan again.
Mu Yan looked at her and grasped her cold hand, being helped up by Zhan Lan.
As Zhan Lan supported Mu Yan, she asked with a smile while walking, "What a coincidence, running into you even in Phoenix City, Lord Mu. You don’t really like me and followed me here, did you?"
Mu Yan paused, his heartbeat quickened, but his face remained cold as he looked at Zhan Lan, "I, the Seal Keeper, am only here in Phoenix City for an investigation. It was just a coincidence meeting you. Don’t overthink it, has anyone ever told you that you’re a bit... presumptuous?"
Zhan Lan sighed in relief and said, "That’s good. It seems Lord Mu and I are really fated."
Mu Yan, using Zhan Lan as a support like a crutch, walked to the front of the wooden hut.
Zhan Lan knocked on the door, no one responded, so she pushed it open.
In the darkness, she found a chair and let Mu Yan lean on it to sit down. She searched inside the room for a while and found a Fire Lighter.
After lighting a candle, she could finally see a table, two chairs, a bed, a stove, and some pots and pans inside the room.
There were also some hunting tools hanging on the wall.
Holding the lit torch, Zhan Lan inspected outside and concluded, "It seems this is a hunter’s home."
Mu Yan sat at the table, holding his forehead, feeling dizzy and weak. He suddenly coughed twice.
Zhan Lan entered the room, immediately started a fire inside. Mu Yan watched her moving around, her hair and clothes all damp, clinging tightly to her shapely figure, which made Mu Yan avert his eyes.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, Zhan Lan moved closer to him; her figure swayed in front of him, and then something warm touched his forehead—Zhan Lan’s hand, as she softly said, "Your head feels a bit hot. Could you be catching a cold?"
Mu Yan frowned, "I hope not, cough cough..."
While speaking, Mu Yan’s stomach embarrassingly grumbled. He leaned on the table, feeling awkward.
It was all because of chasing after that girl Zhan Lan, he hadn’t eaten all day.
Zhan Lan looked for the medicine and antidote pills she usually carried, only to find them gone, probably washed away in the rapid waters earlier.
Seeing Mu Yan swallow, probably hungry, she suddenly thought of something and said to Mu Yan, "You sit by the fire inside, wait for me here."
Zhan Lan, holding a basket and carrying the torch, went outside and busied for a while. Mu Yan couldn’t see her, feeling a bit of loss in his heart.
He didn’t know if Zhan Lan would just leave like that.
A quarter of an hour later, Zhan Lan kicked open the door, coming in with a basket.
Excited, she said, "Lord Mu, goodness is rewarded, look what I found in the backyard!"
Zhan Lan placed the basket on the table, picking up a white mushroom with her left hand and a wild fruit resembling a hawthorn with her right.
"Look, for now have some wild fruits to fill your stomach, and there are mushrooms too. I’ll make you some mushroom soup!"
Mu Yan asked doubtfully, "Can you cook?"
Zhan Lan confidently replied, "It’s just mushroom soup, very simple!"
Mu Yan shook his head, "Unidentified mushrooms, I, as the Seal Keeper, dare not consume."
Zhan Lan leaned in and said, "They’re not poisonous; they were grown in the courtyard at the back, all neatly lined up, and they’re white mushrooms—not those colorful poisonous ones. Aren’t they the usual type we eat?"
Neither Mu Yan nor Zhan Lan had ever cooked nor had they seen mushrooms in their natural form.
Zhan Lan boldly said, "Here’s the deal, once the mushrooms are cooked, I’ll eat first. If there’s no problem, then you eat. Okay?"
Mu Yan watched her bustling about, yet with a chaotic flair, it was obvious Zhan Lan had never cooked before.
After busying herself for a while, she finally put the mushrooms into the boiling spring water.
Seeing her like this, Mu Yan suddenly found it amusing; anytime he was with Zhan Lan, strange things were bound to happen.
However, the sight of the young girl cooking soup for him brought a touch of home’s warmth to Mu Yan’s heart.
This feeling was so foreign to him.
Mu Yan tentatively asked, "Is this your first time cooking?"
Zhan Lan sheepishly stuck out her tongue, "Yeah, you noticed."
Mu Yan’s lips curved up involuntarily, knowing that this was Zhan Lan’s first time cooking, even if it were in this deep wilderness, even if it were just a simple mushroom soup.
It was a little girl cooking for him, making him feel cherished.
Zhan Lan squinted at Mu Yan and said, "Don’t be too critical; I tried my best."
She served a bowl of mushroom soup and brought it to Mu Yan.
The soup was clear and hot, though lacking meat, it would still quench hunger.
Mu Yan looked at the sparse broth in the bowl and pitifully said to Zhan Lan, "I can’t hold a spoon with my hand, I can’t eat this."
Zhan Lan sat down opposite him, owing him a favor, she decided to feed him.
She scooped a spoonful of mushroom soup and brought it to Mu Yan’s lips.
Mu Yan responded with a word, "Hot..."
Zhan Lan helplessly put the spoon in front of her and blew on it for a while before bringing it back to Mu Yan’s lips.
If it had been someone else, Mu Yan would have probably found it repulsive.
However, since it was Zhan Lan, he felt a peculiar affection, and he opened his mouth to drink the soup.
With eager eyes, Zhan Lan looked at Mu Yan and hurriedly asked, "How’s the taste?"
Mu Yan swallowed the mushroom soup, found it a bit salty, but pursed his lips and said, "Not bad."
Zhan Lan sighed in relief, and fed Mu Yan several more mouthfuls.
After he finished, he felt warm and thought of something. He replied, asking Zhan Lan, "Didn’t you say you would drink it first?"
"I’ll drink now." Zhan Lan pulled a wry smile and ladled herself a bowl.
Taking a mouthful, she found the soup was salty, but having exhausted herself dragging Mu Yan in the water earlier, and now feeling hungry, she wasn’t too concerned.
Thus, she ended up drinking all the remaining mushroom soup.
...
After they finished drinking the mushroom soup, Zhan Lan sat by the fire and said, "You go to bed and rest, I’ll protect you tonight!"
Moments later, without hearing a reply from Mu Yan, Zhan Lan lifted her gaze to look at Mu Yan at the table—his eyes faintly reddened, dazed, staring straight at her.
