Chapter 132: Teasing the Cat

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Ye Da asked directly, “Are you hungry?”

“No.”

Zhang Ya stubbornly denied it. To prove that she truly was not hungry, she even pointed at the green strips of jerky hanging on the shelf.

“I still have plenty of meat left to eat.”

[Loyalty: 75% (That’s all damn goblin meat! Who would want to eat that? Just thinking about it makes me sick. I miss Lord Bear-Slayer’s cooking so much. Whenever I imagine becoming one of Lord Bear-Slayer’s subjects and eating his cooking every day, I feel so happy! Why hasn’t Lord Bear-Slayer been selling food these past two days? Sob, I’m practically starving to death!)]

Oh?

He had once again discovered an astonishing secret hidden in this woman’s thoughts.

So Zhang Ya had agreed so readily to follow him because his cooking was delicious?

Still, it did seem like a perfectly reasonable reason.

“If you’re not hungry, then let’s get going.” Seeing how haughty she was acting, Ye Da found himself even more tempted to tease her.

It was just like teasing a cat.

If the cat ignored you, or if it was overly enthusiastic, you would soon lose the desire to keep teasing it.

But if the cat acted aloof on the surface while secretly looking forward to your attention with all its heart, you could not help wanting to tease it more and more, just to see how it would react.

“All right.”

Zhang Ya answered and was just about to leave when—

“Grrrrr~ Grrrr~”

Zhang Ya’s mouth was stubborn, but her stomach was anything but. It gave her no face at all.

At that moment, it rumbled louder than thunder itself!

It seemed to be broadcasting to the entire world: Don’t listen to her! Her mouth says she isn’t hungry, but I am! I’m about to starve to death! Please give me something to eat first!

[Loyalty: 75% (Ahhh, this is so embarrassing! Why did it have to growl now? I just said I wasn’t hungry, and now I’ve completely lost face. Sob, I don’t want to live anymore!)]

“What’s wrong with you?” Ye Da deliberately pretended not to know. “Is it a side effect of the poison? It seems poison really does take a toll on the body!”

“Huh?” Zhang Ya froze for a moment. Once her embarrassment had been given an escape route, she immediately seized it and put on a serious expression. “It must be. After all, both being poisoned and detoxifying require the body to consume a great deal of protein.”

[Loyalty: 75% (Lord Bear-Slayer really is so considerate. He even found me a way out of that awkward situation. Sob, I like him so much! But, Lord Bear-Slayer, my stomach isn’t growling because of the antidote! I’m genuinely hungry. I haven’t eaten anything for an entire day. And what kind of nonsense was in the bronze chest I opened today? Aside from black-iron equipment, there was either iron ore or glass. There wasn’t any food at all! Sob!)]

Tsk, tsk, tsk!

How could a person be so completely at odds with her own words?

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Looking at Zhang Ya’s calm expression while listening to the running commentary inside her mind, Ye Da found it hard to believe that such contradictory sides could belong to the same person.

But he had to admit that this Zhang Ya was far more adorable than the aloof persona she tried to maintain.

“Eat.”

Having teased her enough, Ye Da decided to stop while he was ahead.

He took some smoked jerky from his storage pack and handed it to Zhang Ya.

“We still have quite a long way to go this afternoon. We need to eat and drink our fill if we’re going to have the strength to continue.”

“All right. Thank you.”

Zhang Ya’s expression was as placid as still water. It would not have been an exaggeration to call it completely emotionless.

But her loyalty betrayed her.

[Loyalty +1]

[Loyalty +1]

[Loyalty...]

[Loyalty: 78% (Ahhh! Lord Bear-Slayer, I love you! You’re so gentle and considerate. You really are the kindest person, the one who understands me best. Sob, I feel like crying, but I can’t show it. I have to stay aloof. I have to be incredibly elegant. Mother always said that no one likes a woman who acts like a lovesick fool!)]

One piece of meat had earned him three percent loyalty. She was only two percent away from breaking through the eighty-percent threshold.

This subject was far too easy to train!

Although—

He had no malicious intentions, but he still secretly wanted to know whether something would happen after Zhang Ya’s loyalty reached eighty percent...

Ahem. Those who understood, understood.

After leaving the treehouse, Zhang Ya first put away the treehouse orb and tucked it into her pocket. Only then did she nibble at the jerky as they walked.

Clearly, she was a woman who cared about her image.

Every time she ate a piece of jerky, she would discreetly cover her mouth with one hand.

Ye Da glanced at her thoughts.

[Loyalty: 78% (Ahhh! It looks like Lord Bear-Slayer saw me wolfing down my food. How embarrassing! Zhang Ya, how can you be so unable to endure hunger? Sob, I have to be more reserved. More reserved! Eating while walking is hardly ladylike behavior. Phew, Lord Bear-Slayer doesn’t seem to be looking this way anymore. Now I can finally stop taking such tiny bites. This jerky is delicious! As expected of Lord Bear-Slayer—his cooking is amazing. Even his jerky tastes this good? I’m so grateful!)]

This woman...

After seeing her incredibly long internal monologue, Ye Da was genuinely torn between laughter and tears.

Still, he reminded her, “Be careful on the way. There was freezing rain just now, so watch your footing.”

“Thank you.”

As usual, Zhang Ya said very little. If she could answer with one word, she absolutely would not use two.

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But her thoughts were nothing like that at all!

[Loyalty: 78% (It’s so cold! I didn’t notice it inside the treehouse, but it’s unbelievably cold out here! My trouser legs and shoes are soaked. Boss, what exactly are you taking us to do? Sob, if this continues, I’m going to freeze to death—but I can’t say anything! I’m strong!)]

Along the way, merely listening to her internal monologues nearly made Ye Da laugh himself to death.

This woman was hilarious.

She clearly had a hundred thousand questions in her heart, yet she insisted on pretending to be aloof and refused to ask a single one.

Let’s see how long you can keep pretending!

Unfortunately—

Ye Da underestimated Zhang Ya’s determination and overestimated Chu Ping’s patience.

Unlike Zhang Ya, who was determined to maintain her outward persona, Chu Ping did not seem to have any persona at all. He rubbed his arms and said, “It’s so cold, my lord. Where are we going?”

“The hot springs.”

Ye Da answered with two words.

The moment they heard that, both of them were startled.

“My lord, don’t tell me you came all this way just to soak in the hot springs?”

“Of course not.” Ye Da tossed a piece of clothing to Chu Ping. “I have a reason I must go there. If you’re cold, I happen to have some spare clothes.”

“Really? That’s wonderful! Thank you, my lord!”

Chu Ping accepted without the slightest hesitation.

Ye Da took out the clothes, trousers, shoes, and other items he had stripped from the corpses after killing Long Er’s group earlier.

Although the things were not exactly clean, he knew very well that in this world of mist, they were all nonrenewable resources.

Once clothes and shoes wore out, there was no store where he could simply buy replacements.

Everything had to be obtained through scavenging.

At worst, they could be washed. In any case, there was no reason to waste them.

“I...”

Zhang Ya opened her mouth, apparently wanting to ask for a piece of clothing as well.

But Ye Da pretended not to hear her. As he took out a coat, he added to Chu Ping, “I should make one thing clear first. These clothes were stripped from dead bodies, and they haven’t been washed. If you don’t mind that, you can wear them.”

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