The lieutenant moved his lips, but ultimately swallowed back what he wanted to say.

"Where can I run to? I have no money!" Zhao Xiheng tried to reason with him while attempting to force her way in.

He drew his sword and held it in front of Zhao Xiheng. Zhao Xiheng continued to walk forward with her neck stiff, but he remained unmoved, determined not to let her out.

Zhao Xiheng pursed her lips, sat down in the chair, and suddenly asked him, "Have you eaten?"

The lieutenant was taken aback, but obediently shook his head, thinking she didn't want to leave, so he put his sword away.

Zhao Xiheng picked up the sticky rice cake from the plate and took a bite. The outer skin was a translucent white glutinous rice skin, through which the purplish-red red bean paste underneath could be faintly seen. The glutinous rice on both sides was fried to a golden brown. With one bite, long, soft, and sticky strands were pulled out, revealing the steaming, sweet and sticky red bean paste.

This was originally dinner that Zhao Xiheng brought for the deputy general, but unfortunately, the deputy general didn't act like a decent person and insisted on learning to be a dog like Wei Li.

Although she had just eaten her fill in the kitchen, she could easily eat a few more.

The deputy general's stomach rumbled, and he tried to cover it up, desperately trying to avert his gaze from the sticky fire spoon in Zhao Xiheng's hand.

"Since you're going to keep an eye on me, then you'd better keep a close eye on me and don't leave my side for even a moment."

Zhao Xiheng finished the last bite of her food and then analyzed the situation with him.

“Look at this, if you go down to find food, you're afraid I'll run away and you'll have to take me with you, then your master will be left unattended. Although you said he'll be able to get up the day after tomorrow, he's very weak right now. It's dangerous for someone so weak to lie alone. But if you go to find food without me, you know I was forcibly taken by your master, and I might just slit his throat and run away, that won't do either. Or you want me to go get food for you, that's even more unacceptable…”

Wei Li lay there calmly, his body wrapped up like a blood-soaked rice dumpling.

But the dream was not peaceful.

He was only a teenager then, maybe eleven or twelve? Perhaps.

Of course, he himself doesn't know how old he is, and neither do others. He doesn't even have a name or nickname. Just like who would remember how old a dog, a pig, a sheep, or a cow is this year, and then bother to name them?

Of course, he was surrounded by people just like him, and he didn't find it strange. They lived in man-made caves, sharing their territory with a pack of wild dogs.

The iron gate creaked open, and a live sheep was thrown in from outside.

The wild dogs rushed forward to snatch the meat, and Wei Li followed suit.

He killed several wild dogs and their companions, and bit open the sheep's throat.

The hot, salty blood gave him strength again.

The remaining wild dogs and their companions cowered in the shadows in fear.

The dream kept sinking, sinking, sinking into an abyss, as if it were being wrapped in a sticky net.

Wei Li is conscious; he knows that he is now eighteen or nineteen years old, not eleven or twelve.

But Wei Li, who was eighteen or nineteen years old, was no longer in such a humiliating state.

But his body still moved uncontrollably according to the trajectory in his dream, or rather, according to his memories of himself.

He tore open the sheep's chest with his bare hands and accurately located the sheep's scalding hot liver.

Even though this was something he had already experienced, and almost all those who had witnessed such humiliation were dead, he still couldn't help but feel furious. His mind was filled with rage, and his actions were still out of control, his sharp white teeth tearing at the plump, hot liver.

"Get out of here, you bastard, Wei Li, stop! Who gave you permission to have such a filthy dream again? Get out of here! Throw it away!" The consciousness was screaming in vain. If it could materialize, how deafening it would be.

Thoughts and body were torn in two, tears welled up in Xiao Weili's dirty eyes, and the whites of her eyes were a bright red.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the cave.

"I am a princess, you cannot order me around."

"I am a princess, you cannot order me around."

Two voices spoke in unison, one a little girl, sharp and high-pitched, confident and even domineering; the other like a voice from beyond the heavens, gentle and soft, mysteriously overlapping, even the pauses and rhythms were exactly the same.

One by one, the surrounding things turned to dust, and golden foam drifted into the unfathomable depths of the earth.

With a thud, Wei Li's body fell back to the ground from the illusory and shameful dream.

“I am a princess, you can’t order me around. Besides, the shopkeepers are all asleep, so even if you haven’t had dinner, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning.” Zhao Xiheng squinted her eyes, then took a sticky rice cake from the bowl and ate it, savoring the delicate sweetness of glutinous rice and red bean paste on her tongue. “Of course, I won’t share any of these with you, because I’m hungry again now.”

Although Wei Li was unconscious, Zhao Xiheng felt she couldn't let her image crumble. She simply looked at the deputy general with her watery eyes and tried to reason with him in a soft, gentle voice. Since this deputy general was so determined to make her life difficult, it would be too frustrating for her to repay evil with kindness.

The deputy general had good willpower. Although he was in pain, it was still within his tolerance. He sat stiffly to the side and pulled the blanket up for Wei Li.

He hadn't changed at all; he still looked like he believed Wei Li would get back on his feet soon.

The bitter herbal scent in the room was gradually overwhelmed by the smell of blood.

Zhao Xiheng suddenly felt that the last half of the sticky fire spoon had lost its flavor.

"If the princess can't eat it, just throw it away," the lieutenant said, glancing at her.

Zhao Xiheng stuffed it into her mouth in a few bites to show that she could eat it.

Why throw away perfectly good food?

What a spendthrift!

The deputy general felt a chill run down his spine when he was suddenly looked at with disdain by Zhao Xiheng.

He turned his head and found that Wei Li was awake, his dark eyes staring blankly at the wall.

"My lord, you're awake!" The lieutenant's tone was more forceful, but his expression was one of expectation.

Zhao Xiheng took a sip of water, swallowed the sticky glutinous rice, and secretly glanced over.

Is Wei Li really an animal? He's injured like that, and he's already awake?

Wei Li was caught off guard and met Zhao Xiheng's beautiful eyes. They were so bright, brighter than the stars in the night sky.

The dream he had just experienced stirred up the deepest humiliation in Wei Li's heart once again, especially Zhao Xiheng's probing eyes, which made him feel like he was on fire.

He suddenly sat up, pulled a soft pillow from behind him, and threw it at the two men, shouting furiously in a hoarse voice, "Get out! Get out of here!"

Zhao Xiheng patted her skirt and hurriedly rolled away.

She was exhausted after a long day and just wanted to wash up and go to bed.

The lieutenant dared not disobey the order and quietly closed the door.

Wei Li's temples bulged with veins, and he collapsed, covered in a fine sheen of sweat. His body even curled up involuntarily, a posture of seeking protection or escaping and hiding. His eyes were still empty, his pupils frighteningly black.

He doesn't even need the dream to help him recall; he can piece together the remaining content of the dream.

The wild dog was beaten to death by a group of people who rushed in. He was kneeling at the front of the cave, clutching a sheep and covered in filth, when someone kicked him to the ground.

He had no name, no age, and had never seen anyone except those living in caves. He even thought that everyone in the world lived like him.

But the little girl who came in, dressed in a red dress and adorned with sparkling decorations, had eyes that shone even brighter than those things, and she lifted his chin with her riding crop.

Wei Li trembled all over, his hands clenched into fists.

Lowly, filthy, and the most despicable words could be used to describe him in that instant, yet none of them quite matched his character.

Zhao Xiheng probably ate too much glutinous rice, and red bean paste is something that expands when it comes into contact with water. She was so sleepy that she felt like she was about to ascend to immortality, but the discomfort in her stomach tormented her and she couldn't fall asleep.

She turned to her side, supporting her belly, blinked her eyes, and finally began to feel a little sleepy.

Wei Li and Zhao Xiheng were separated by only one wall. The shopkeeper built a wall in the middle of a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove), which turned the room into two rooms.

He could hear Zhao Xiheng tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Wei Li curled up, and every time Zhao Xiheng turned over and made a movement, those shameful images flashed before his eyes, like a giant hammer, hammering him into the ground, trying to shatter his spine.

Wei Li could even hear the mocking laughter of men, women, and children echoing in his ears.

"That's disgusting."

"A little beast raised in a pile of beasts."

...

"Shut up, I'm going to kill you all!" he shouted in his heart, but he couldn't even lift his hand to smash the wall separating him from Zhao Xiheng.

The doctor was brought over early in the morning by the deputy general to change Wei Li's dressing and examine his body. He clicked his tongue in amazement, "He really is a young lad. Last night, the blood was gushing out, and I was thinking of having your family prepare. Today, the bleeding has stopped."

Wei Li grinned, his eyes were dark and swollen, and he didn't say anything.

The proprietress roasted chestnuts in the oven, let them cool, and then peeled and ate them for Zhao Xiheng. She also picked out some freshly steamed sticky rats from the pot and gave them to her.

The sticky rice cakes are soft and chewy, like jade, and wrapped in green perilla leaves. After being steamed at high temperature, the perilla leaves give the sticky rice a special aroma that gives it a soul. They are sweet and sticky but not greasy, and are much more translucent than yesterday's sticky rice cakes, making them very tempting.

Zhao Xiheng had indigestion from eating sticky rice cakes last night, so she dared not eat any more of that kind of food and only tasted a little.

The landlady, hearing that Zhao Xiheng had eaten too much sticky rice cake last night and had indigestion, specially brewed her some barley tea, which is good for the stomach and aids digestion; its aroma was irresistible. Zhao Xiheng nestled beside the stove, happily warming her hands and feet before drinking the tea.

Take care.

"No need to see me off, young man. It's just a short walk. Go back now."

The doctor and the deputy general's conversation drifted over, and Zhao Xiheng turned her head to look.

Now that Wei Li is awake, should she pretend to go and see him? What if he gets better and causes trouble for her if she doesn't show any concern?

"Go and take a look. The medicine has been changed, so you won't have to worry about seeing your brother's bare shoulders anymore." The landlady brought out a bowl of corn porridge from the pot and gave it to her. "Your brother hasn't eaten all day, so make him some porridge."

Small corn porridge is made by grinding peeled corn into small, gravelly-like particles and then cooking it. Zhao Xiheng held the bowl in her hands, pinching her earlobes to cool them down.