Chapter 42 Grassland Market - 7 The two returned to...
The two returned to the RV, where many low-level orcs were still gathered around watching and chatting. However, Wan had left two people to look after the RV before leaving, so no one approached.
Kai opened the car door and helped put the medicine inside. Tang Bufan thanked him, his face covered by a black cloth.
"This vehicle has been really well modified; it's sturdy and the interior is quite spacious," Wan Bing said with a smile, reaching out to touch the rusty iron bed frame. "Why don't you two sleep here?"
"..." Tang Bufan was a little embarrassed, unsure whether he should explain that Lu Yi was sleeping on the floor, but explaining would make him seem very inconsiderate for letting the young master of the Western Federation's head of state sleep on the floor...
"I sleep on the floor..." Lu Yi saw Tang Bufan's embarrassed expression and was about to explain when Tang Bufan quietly poked his waist with his finger.
Lu Yi stood up straight, feeling a slight numbness in his waist from the poke.
"Yes, I'll just make do with this." Tang Bufan laughed and dodged the question: "I'm skinny, I won't take up much space."
"Very good, very good." Wan Bing said meaningfully twice, his attitude towards Tang Bufan becoming increasingly respectful.
Lu Yi seemed like a serious person, and the Smith family's orcs were known for their infatuation. The two of them had slept together, so in Wan Bing's opinion, Tang Bufan was basically Lu Yi's wife.
Lu Yi glanced at Tang Bufan secretly, her cheeks slightly flushed.
Wan didn't bother the two of them too much and left with his men.
Tang Bufan breathed a sigh of relief, while Lu Yi looked out the window and discovered that Wan Bing had left two orcs to maintain order in the area and prevent the lower-level orcs from gathering around the RV.
That's thoughtful. Lu Yixin thought to herself, then asked Kai Ge, "Kai Ge, is Beishan Town on our route?"
“If we take the Taicheng route, we will pass through this town. If we bypass Taicheng and go through the wilderness to the East District Underground City, we will not pass through it,” Kai replied in a gentle electronic male voice.
"We owe this orc a favor today, so we have to repay it." Tang Bufan knew what Lu Yi was thinking.
“Now all we have left is this gold chain of mine.” Lu Yi reached out to touch his pendant, feeling a bit of a headache: “There’s no internet in this market, so I can’t exchange it for Federal Currency.”
"The medicine has been switched, all that's missing is the oil, the rest doesn't matter." Tang Bufan saw that Lu Yi was still holding the transparent umbrella, and suddenly slapped his forehead, exclaiming, "Oh no! I forgot to ask that old gentleman if he knew anything about this organization."
Tang Bufan thought that it was rare to encounter so many orcs, and perhaps someone in the market knew something about that organization, which was why Lu Yi brought the umbrella. He didn't expect to forget about it while chatting with that old Mr. Wang.
“That old man has been away from the underground city for at least fifty years, and he’s not from any resistance faction, so he probably doesn’t know about that organization.” Lu Yi looked down at the umbrella and thought for a moment, “How about I draw the totem on the umbrella?”
“Okay.” Tang Bufan nodded. Tomorrow they could ask Wan Bing with the paper, or ask others at the market. It would be better than walking around with an umbrella.
Lu Yi then took out paper and pen from the shelf and began to draw the wave pattern on the umbrella handle, while Tang Bufan tidied up the medicine he had brought back.
"This huge sack of Isatis root seems enough for me to drink for two months." Tang Bufan squatted down next to the sack, gently rubbing the dried Isatis root with his fingers. A different thought crossed his mind, and he looked up at the plant cultivation box on the roof of the car: "Could we grow some of these herbs ourselves?"
“The cultivation time for herbs is quite long, right?” Lu Yi sat down at the folding table and drew a diagram with his head down. “If the cultivation period only takes two months, that’s fine. But if it takes more than two months, we might as well continue growing vegetables.”
Tang Bufan's current digestive capacity allows him to eat far more vegetables than meat, and the vegetables grown in the plant cultivation box have low toxicity, which is good for his health.
Tang Bufan thought Lu Yi's words made sense, so he gave up his idea of planting medicinal herbs.
Lu Yi finished the drawing and showed it to Tang Bufan. He said it was well done, and the lines of the waves were drawn very well. Tang Bufan nodded in satisfaction, and Lu Yi folded the paper and put it in his pocket.
It was already dusk, and a dozen wisps of smoke rose from the market, while the vast majority of orcs sat scattered on the withered grass, eating dry rations, gnawing on hard jerky or steamed buns.
Since there were still some low-level orcs watching the RV with curiosity, the two decided not to go out to cook and instead took out an induction cooker from inside the vehicle.
Lu Yi had just taken a piece of frozen meat out of the refrigerator when there was a knock on the door. He and Tang Bufan exchanged a glance, then put down the frozen meat and went to the door.
Kai opened the car door, and Wan Bing knocked on the door, carrying two jars of wine tied with red ropes in his left and right hands.
“Sir, Mr. Eberron, Afei has set up a stove in the tower. How about we go over for drinks and meat?” Wan asked the two men with a smile outside the door. Afei, whom he was referring to, was clearly the young man with wings on his back.
Lu Yi turned to look at Tang Bufan. Tang Bufan thought to himself that they had been taken care of by Wan Bing all day, and that if they took the Taicheng route in the future, they might run into him again. So he nodded.
"Okay." Tang Bufan then walked to the door with pleasure, looking at the tall stone tower in the distance: "Is that the tower?"
“Yes, we all eat up there,” Wan Bing said with a smile. “On one side is the market under supervision, and on the other side is a beautiful view.”
"How do we get up there?" Tang Bufan asked. The stone tower looked quite small, and it didn't seem like there were any stairs inside.
“I’ll carry you.” Lu Yi turned to look at him, her gaze gentle: “It’s hard for humans to climb up, but for orcs, it’s just a matter of a few steps.”
"Let's go!" Wan Bing was very happy to see that the two had agreed, and immediately picked up the two jars of wine and headed towards the stone pagoda.
Lu Yi squatted down in front of Tang Bufan. There were many low-level beastmen watching them nearby. Tang Bufan was a little embarrassed, but he still climbed onto Lu Yi's back.
Lu Yi hooked his arms around Tang Bufan's legs and felt that he was so light, like a feather with no weight.
"You can run, but don't jump too high," Tang Bufan whispered in Lu Yi's ear. "Otherwise, I'll feel uncomfortable from the impact."
Last time, under that mothership in the desert, Lu Yi jumped incredibly high with Tang Bufan to avoid the explosion. It was only after that incident that Tang Bufan realized that those cool and stylish jumps with the female lead in the movies were all fake. Unless there was a slowdown buffer, the female lead in his arms couldn't withstand a direct jump.
Lu Yi's ears tickled from his breath, so she lowered her head, her cheeks slightly flushed, and replied, "Okay."
After saying that, she carried Tang Bufan on her back and nimbly and quickly stepped into the market.
The market was much less crowded than it had been in the afternoon, as many of the beastmen had gone to camp on the grass outside. As a result, Lu Yi was able to carry Tang Bufan quite easily.
Tang Bufan lay on his broad back, the autumn wind of the grassland blowing against his face, but because Lu Yi's body was warm, he didn't feel cold at all. The old but colorful tents of the market kept passing by him, like a flying dream.
Sometimes Tang Bufan would think that maybe he was just experiencing a dream. He longed to wake up from this bizarre nightmare and find himself lying on his wooden bed at home, slightly sweaty, having just taken a nap in the late summer daytime. But now, lying on Lu Yi's back... he was actually a little reluctant to leave this dream.
His Lu Yi, in this dream. The nightmare no longer felt like a nightmare, and hatred could no longer be completely felt.
Tang Bufan's eyes reddened slightly, and he felt sad.
Lu Yi quickly carried Tang Bufan to the foot of the stone tower, which was made of large, heavy black stones and had a diameter of more than three meters.
Lu Yi had Tang Bufan wrap his legs tightly around his waist, then gripped the protrusions of the black stone with his fingers and carried Tang Bufan up the tower. He climbed very steadily, and in no time he had carried Tang Bufan up the tower.
The young man with wings on his back was already standing by the stone wall waiting. When he saw the two of them arrive, he immediately greeted them warmly and invited them to sit down.
The stone tower wasn't very big; in the middle was a bonfire and a well-used iron barbecue grill, with a few simple camping chairs set up there.
On the dark barbecue grill, more than a dozen thick slices of beef were already grilling. The dripping oil fell into the charcoal below, causing a small cluster of flames to leap up, and the air was filled with the aroma of meat.
Lu Yi asked Tang Bufan to sit to the side so that the smoke wouldn't blow into his face, while he sat next to Tang Bufan, using his tall frame to shield him from the wind.
Wan Bing quickly climbed up into the tower, carrying the two jars of wine, which were tied with red ropes, in one hand.
"Come on! Everyone's here, let's drink!" Wan Bing shouted heartily, picked up several large earthenware bowls from the ground beside the tower wall, and distributed them to the three men.
Lu Yi first took Tang Bufan's ceramic bowl, reached out to take the wine, rinsed the bowl with the wine, then poured it into his own bowl, and handed the cleaned ceramic bowl to Tang Bufan.
"The officer is very meticulous," Wan Bing praised, inwardly cursing himself for his oversight. He then turned to the young man and instructed, "Afei, go down and fetch a bucket of clean water."
"Okay." Afei replied with a smile, spread his wings and flew down from the tower.
"No need to trouble yourself," Lu Yiwen said gently. He had been wandering for almost half a year and had long since stopped caring about hygiene. He was washing Tang Bufan's dishes because Tang Bufan's constitution was different from that of the beastmen.
"It's easier to get a bucket of clean water." Wan Bing was about to pour wine for Lu Yi while holding the wine jar, but Tang Bufan stopped him.
"You're not an adult yet, you can't drink alcohol," Tang Bufan said seriously. "Drink water."
"..." Lu Yi fell silent, hesitating whether to tell Tang Bufan that he had already drunk alcohol at various banquets.
"..." Wan Bing also fell silent, because he was also someone who started drinking in his teens.
In the post-apocalyptic world, there are no laws prohibiting underage orcs from drinking alcohol.
The tower was only so big, so Lu Yi didn't want to remind Tang Bufan. He could only pretend to be normal and say to Wan Bing, who was awkwardly holding the wine jar, "Last time I got drunk and acted crazy, so my teacher won't let me drink anymore. I can just drink water."
Just then, Afei flew up carrying a bucket of water, put the bucket on the ground, and looked at Lu Yi with curiosity: "So, Commander, you can't hold your liquor?"
“Yes.” Lu Yi nodded gently.
"Drink some water. This water is from a river on the grassland, and it's especially sweet." Wan Bing took the ceramic bowl from Lu Yi's hand and ladled some water into it for him.
The four of them sat down around the fire and began to roast meat.
The sun was still halfway up the horizon, and red clouds covered the sky, but the clouds were thin, like tiny waves, unlike the thick, swirling red clouds over the desert.
Tang Bufan turned his head to admire the grassland scenery and remarked, "The air here is nice."
“You’ve come from the desert, haven’t you? The air here must be good.” Wan Bing said while drinking. “If you go further north to the Greater Khingan Mountains, the air there will be even better. No one has lived there for a thousand years, so the pollution has mostly settled.”
Lu Yi looked at Wan Bing and asked, "Winter is coming soon, are you going back to the Eastern Federation?"
“He’s coming to my house this year.” Afei laughed and reached out to pat Wanbing on the shoulder, teasingly adding, “As soon as he gets back, his older brother will urge him to get married.”
Tang Bufan was somewhat surprised. He turned his gaze from the sunset to the middle-aged beastman and asked, "Mr. Wan, are you still unmarried?"
Wan Bingren is very generous and seems to be a capable person. I thought he was already married and had children.
Wan Bing's face was a little red from drinking, and he smiled with some regret as he faced the campfire: "When I was young, I liked someone, but at the same time, there was also a mid-level beastman from Taicheng who was pursuing him... So he married into Taicheng. Later, I saw that no other sub-beastman was as good as him, so I felt depressed and decided to go out and make my own way in the world."
After he finished speaking, he raised the worn-out ceramic bowl to Tang Bufan: "I've worked my way up to a management position after a few years, and I'm living a pretty comfortable life now. Cheers!"
Tang Bufan clinked wine bowls with him, then lowered his head to sip the wine. The spicy taste went down his throat, and he couldn't help but close his eyes to catch his breath, feeling a burning sensation in his throat and stomach.
That's strong liquor.
"Can you handle the drinks?" Lu Yi asked him with some concern as he grilled the meat.
"It's a bit spicy, but it warms you up." Tang Bufan opened his eyes and gave Wan Bing a thumbs up: "Good wine!"
"Mr. Eberlon has excellent taste in wine!" Wan Bing was pleased by his praise and noticed that although Tang Bufan looked thin and small, he had a very generous and easygoing personality.
Seeing that Tang Bufan liked the wine, Lu Yi felt relieved and continued grilling meat for him.
Soon after, the sun completely set, and the entire grassland turned pitch black, with only a few scattered lights remaining in the market below the stone tower.
The four of them sat around the fire eating roasted meat and chatting. Wan was the main talker, while Tang Bufan and the young man named Afei chimed in. Lu Yixiang, on the other hand, spoke less, occasionally handing Tang Bufan a skewer of meat.
Because of his high status, Wan Bing and A Fei dared not ask him any questions. Tang Bufan was mysterious, and A Fei occasionally tried to find out more out of curiosity, but Wan Bing always interrupted him in time.
Tang Bufan thought to himself that Wan Bing should have guessed his identity as a member of the resistance faction.
Finally, Wan Bing really disliked A Fei for being so naive, so he asked him to fly down to his tent and get him a guitar.
"Mr. Wan can play the guitar?" Tang Bufan was surprised, and praised the middle-aged man, "You're so talented!"
Wan didn't know how old Tang Bufan was, but she was having a good time chatting with him, so she blushed and said, "Didn't I break up with my boyfriend when I was young? I went out and wandered around with a guitar, and went through a pretty depressed period."
"This isn't despondency, it's romance," Tang Bufan coaxed him, also praising him sincerely: "You're so cultured. In this apocalyptic world, many people don't even know how to read. You can play the piano and sing, you're a master."
Wan Bing laughed, feeling a bit younger after being praised by Tang Bufan. The firelight illuminated his aged face, revealing a sense of vicissitude in his eyes.
Ah Fei quickly flew up with his guitar. Wan Bing took the guitar, coughed somewhat embarrassedly, and then his rough fingers plucked the strings.
The distinctive strings of a guitar echoed from the tower, the music long and soothing, tinged with a hint of sadness. Wan Bing, his cheeks flushed from drinking, faced the campfire and began to sing softly:
As the autumn wind slowly rises, I follow the winding, deserted road, leaving behind my yesterday's self... to find my true self.
The middle-aged man's voice was low and deep, and Tang Bufan and Lu Yi both looked surprised, realizing that he sang very well, with the feel of a professional singer.
Tang Bufan leaned against the worn-out camping chair, listening intently, while Lu Yi turned to look at him, her emotions stirred by the gentle yet melancholic melody of the guitar.
Wan Bing had a deeply unforgettable love affair when he was young, which is why he is still unmarried. And what about him? Will he also meet someone he can never forget for the rest of his life?
Perhaps we've already encountered it.
Lu Yi stared silently at Tang Bufan in the firelight, looking at his face covered by a black cloth, his eyes dark and bright, reflecting the flickering flames, which made Lu Yi think to himself:
He's so handsome.
Lu Yi met Tang Bufan and realized that beauty can be a feeling, not even needing to see the face; it could be the back of a reclining figure, long, flowing hair, slender fingers, curled toes...
His teacher is really good-looking.
Lu Yi suddenly reached out his hand to Tang Bufan.
Tang Bufan didn't notice at first, he was just focused on Wan Bing singing, until A Fei sitting opposite him gestured frantically with his chin, then Tang Bufan turned his head and was surprised to find that Lu Yi had stood up at some point, looking down at him with gentle eyes and reaching out his hand.
Tang Bufan was puzzled, but out of trust in Lu Yi, he still strangely placed his hand in Lu Yi's hand.
Tang Bufan's slender hand entered the orc boy's broad palm, and he was pulled up by him. With a clever move, he stumbled slightly and fell into Lu Yi's arms.
Tang Bufan was stunned, and then his face turned red instantly.
Lu Yi put his arm around Tang Bufan's waist, used his foot to push aside the two camping chairs to make room, and then held him and slowly spun around on the tower with the burning bonfire, accompanied by the sound of a guitar.
"...Don't do this." Tang Bufan was burning up and could feel Afei and Wan Bing's gazes on them.
Wan Bing's guitar playing seemed more lyrical, as did his singing:
"Walking alone in the desolate wilderness at dusk~ Your innocent image is deep in my memory~ The wind blows your hair... Those gentle, smiling eyes looking at me~"
"Teacher, can't you dance?" Lu Yi smiled gently as the song played, putting her arm around Tang Bufan's slender waist and swaying him gently to the soothing music, like the most enchanting lovers.
"..." Tang Bufan indeed didn't know how, but strangely enough, he could move little by little along with Lu Yi's steps.
He looked up in the flickering firelight and met Lu Yi's gaze. Lu Yi had golden hair and captivating golden-green eyes like jewels in the night. He looked like a prince, like something out of a fairy tale.
Tang Bufan felt something strange, something hard to describe. He felt a little uncomfortable, his heart was beating fast, and he was having trouble breathing.
What are they doing? Tang Bufan wanted to ask Lu Yi, and also himself, why were they dancing on a high tower...?
Lu Yi is indeed a prince, but he is not a princess.
"Ah—!" A scream suddenly came from afar, Wan Bing's guitar playing stopped abruptly, and Lu Yi frowned and stopped dancing.
The four people on the tower all looked in the direction from which the screams came. The night was quiet, and only a terrified orc could be heard shouting:
"Poisonous Man! Poisonous Man is here!"
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