Scourge Messenger

Chapter 284 Little Chef

"Get lost! Even if I did drug you, it would be a laxative, enough to make you die of diarrhea, you bastard!"

Shang Xinlei laughed and got angry at the same time. She held her teacup and drank tea: "I ate a lot before, and I'm a little tired of it. You can eat it yourself."

"Then I'll take it back to eat."

"No, why take it back? Let's eat here, and I can take the dishes back to wash them."

"But something's off."

Shang Xinlei raised her eyebrows: "What's wrong? Are you uncomfortable being with me?"

“That’s not the issue.” Yan Qing considered her words carefully: “Well, if you’ve ever observed ordinary families, you’ll often see that when a mother gets food that she rarely eats, she will give it to her child first and sit aside to watch the child eat. When the child asks why she’s not eating, the mother will say that she’s full and tired of eating.”

"When you sit next to me and watch me eat, with such a maternal look on your face, I feel like I have another mother."

“What you said makes sense,” Shang Xinlei nodded, then asked thoughtfully, “Why don’t you call out ‘Mom’ and let us hear it?”

What? It's Wa's junior!

"I'll take it home to eat."

Shang Xinlei immediately grabbed his arm: "Actually, I have something else to talk to you about."

“If you had something to say, you should have said it earlier. You’ve wasted so much time,” Yan Qing said. “Red Serpent, you’re really quite leisurely.”

"It's not a waste of time..." Shang Xinlei muttered softly.

"What did you say?"

"Are you in such a hurry to be reincarnated?" Shang Xinlei really knows how to say auspicious words.

"So what's the matter?"

"Well... I saw on the trading board that your order has changed. Before, you were exchanging Earthly Fiend Wind-Borrowing Leaves for the Earthly Fiend Exorcising Bell, but now you're exchanging Earthly Fiend Wind-Borrowing Leaves and Earthly Fiend Skull Supplements for the Exorcising Bell." She paused. "Is this Exorcising Bell meant for me?"

"Yes." There's no point in hiding it. As long as you obtain the Spirit-Driving Bell, you can form a perfect Dao foundation with the Heavenly Gang Whip Mountain-Moving Stone Seal.

“But now you’re exchanging two Earthly Fiends for one Earthly Fiend…” Shang Xinlei glanced at Yan Qing: “Don’t you think you’re giving up too much?”

“Indeed.” Yan Qing also admitted this point. “The Exorcising Bell is a rare item among the Earthly Fiends. It may not be possible to exchange it for two Earthly Fiends. If no one trades it after a few days, I will put up an order for three Earthly Fiends.”

“Three portions of Earthly Fiends and one portion of Heavenly Fiends—I wouldn’t even be worth that much if I sold myself.” Shang Xinlei tilted her head. “Do you really think I can repay you for what you’ve done for me now in the future?”

"So you don't want to accept it?" Yan Qing asked back.

"If I don't accept it, are you going to use these Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends to train the White Fox?"

"Of course, there's no platform in this world that can buy back excess Heavenly and Earthly Fiends at a high price. Rather than letting them sit idle, it's better to use them to enhance your strength so you can better prepare for the next thief mission."

Shang Xinlei immediately said, "Of course I want it! You've given it to me, you can't give it to anyone else!"

"Think about it from another angle. You can't repay one Earthly Fiend, and you still can't repay three Earthly Fiends, so what's there to worry about? Anyway, you're indebted to me for the rest of your life."

"How disgusting..." Shang Xinlei rested her chin on the stone table, looking dejected. "You'll definitely use the debt as an excuse to make me do all sorts of disgusting things! I owe you so much, I have no dignity left. I can only do whatever you say, even if it's something very embarrassing and shameful. I can't refuse. I've seen through you. You're the kind of person who lures people into the abyss and makes them your slaves!"

Veins bulged on Yan Qing's forehead. "Take it or leave it! If you don't want it, I'll go find White Fox!"

"Yes, yes, yes, but... I don't want to owe you so much." Shang Xinlei grinned and leaned closer. "Perhaps we can make some agreements to ease my debt."

"What agreement?"

"If we assume the current debt is two Earthly Fiends and one Heavenly Fiend, then my help to you in future thief quests should be enough to repay one Heavenly Fiend, right?"

"That makes sense." "As for the rewards you want from the Thieves' Den in the future, I'll try my best to help you bid on them. That's repayment for a Di Sha (a type of celestial being), isn't that reasonable?"

"Reasonable."

"As for the last Earthly Fiend, I was thinking... you seem to really like my cooking." Shang Xinlei stammered, "So... I'll become your cook from now on, and cooking for you will be my way of repaying that Earthly Fiend... right?"

"Is that reasonable...?" Yan Qing questioned, "Even if you made a dragon and phoenix banquet every day, you still couldn't repay it, right? Besides, what you made wasn't even a dragon and phoenix banquet."

"I can win by sheer volume. As long as I do enough, I'll be able to pay it back someday!"

"Alright, alright, if you think it's okay, then it's fine." Yan Qing didn't really care about the matter and picked up the mochi to eat.

"I'm serious. At worst, I'll cook for you for the rest of my life!" Shang Xinlei said earnestly, her eyes shimmering with an indescribable mist. "Black Wolf doesn't owe you anything, and I don't want to owe you anything!"

Yan Qing glanced at her unexpectedly, and after a brief silence, smiled slightly: "Then I'll be very picky about your cooking from now on, little cook."

"Come on, come on!" Shang Xinlei seemed to relax completely, turning to look at the pastries on the stone table: "I'll have one too... hmm?"

Shang Xinlei suddenly grabbed Yan Qing's right hand, pulled up his sleeve, revealing an arm covered in scars. The scars were ugly, resembling centipedes, and covered his palm and arm.

She pulled up Yan Qing's left hand to examine it, and found it similarly covered in wounds. Her expression changed drastically: "Who did this?"

“They died on the spot.” Yan Qing pulled her hand back. “That happened many days ago, and their injuries have long since healed.”

"Why didn't you say so before? I could lend you the Grass Bracelet!"

"It's not a serious injury; taking a blood-replenishing pill will be enough."

It wasn't a serious injury, just a wound from being pierced by a counter-attack ability. Yan Qing took some medicine on the spot and recovered to about 70-80%, but a scar remained. This is one of the differences between reality and games. In games, once a character's health is fully restored, they look brand new and perfect. But in real life, even if an injury heals, it will still leave an indelible scar. However, Yan Qing is an old man, and since it wasn't his face that was injured, he naturally didn't care about the scar on his arm.

"You wait!"

Shang Xinlei rushed back to her room, then rushed back again, carrying a small porcelain bowl filled with a milky-looking ointment.

"Hand out."

"I'll do it myself—"

"Hands out!"

Shang Xinlei stared at Yan Qing with an imposing aura, as if she were Yan Qing's creditor. Yan Qing had ample medical experience and knew he had to follow all the doctor's instructions during treatment, so he obediently extended his hands.

Shang Xinlei applied the ointment to Yan Qing's arm, saying as she did so, "This is the Flawless Jade Ointment. Besides beautifying the skin and delaying aging, its greatest effect is smoothing scars. You are a third-level messenger, so apply it once every three days. After three applications, it should be almost completely healed."

She opened Yan Qing's palm, which was covered in scars, densely packed as if pierced by thorns. She applied ointment to Yan Qing's palm, carefully applying it to each finger and every line of his palm, because the fingers were the most severely scarred area. Shang Xinlei held his fingers tightly with her own, gently and carefully rubbing them together.

When the ointment in the porcelain bottle was almost empty, Shang Xinlei finally let go of Yan Qing's hand. She looked down at Yan Qing's hand, her hair falling down to cover her face: "Alright, don't wash your hands for two hours. I'll apply it again for you in a few days."

Yan Qing blinked, and this time he didn't ask to apply the ointment himself.

The thieves' hall suddenly fell silent. After a while, Shang Xinlei raised her head, her face still flushed. She casually tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and turned her head, saying, "It's almost night..."

"Want to have dinner together?" Yan Qing finally realized what Shang Xinlei was trying to do by dragging her feet—she wanted to freeload a meal from him.

I didn't cook tonight.

"Should I place an order at Chef God Restaurant?"

"Then I want braised lion's head meatballs, golden broth shrimp balls, and stir-fried eel..."

(End of this chapter)