Chapter 756: Braised Meat Is Always Meat
On a deep snowy night, amidst pavilions and terraces, with a green plum clay stove, sitting opposite each other drinking tea naturally exuded elegance and extraordinariness.
Over the past few days, An Hua had formed many imaginings about that reclusive master who had saved countless lives. Watching the scene above the snow-covered lake at this moment, she felt it was exactly as it should be.
At this time, the young man in the snow pavilion raised the wine in his hand and took a shallow sip.
The night breeze drifted gently, lifting the curtains and also carrying the scent from the cup. The people’s expressions shifted slightly, for they could smell that it was not tea but wine. Drinking wine on a snowy night was also an elegant affair, An Hua thought to herself, bowing respectfully toward the small pavilion. When she raised her head, ready to speak, she found that the young man had vanished.
That black-clad young woman had also left the table and come to the railing.
Her gaze fell upon the lakeshore, as if looking at An Hua and her group, and yet as if looking at a place far more distant. In the faint light of the snowy night and the mist rising from the lake, the young woman’s features became clearer, yet also more blurred. A trace of childishness remained, but she was coldly dazzling, dreamlike and illusory, like a mountain spirit or a fairy.
In such a desolate deep mountain, on a cold snowy night, encountering such a magnificently beautiful garden and such a cold, solitary, and stunning young woman—anyone would easily be reminded of certain legends. Even An Hua, who had grown up in the Qing Yao Thirteen Divisions with a clear Dao heart, could not help but feel a momentary daze, and even a strange sense of fear arose within her.
But she would not leave, because the young formation master was still lying on the stretcher, on the verge of death at any moment.
No one else would leave either, because they had not yet obtained what they wanted.
“Let’s go over first and talk,” the general said with a frown.
This journey to seek medical treatment would naturally not go too smoothly, because it was obvious that the owner of the Cinnabar Pill did not wish to have his true identity discovered.
The squad from Songshan Military Prefecture stepped onto the wooden bridge over the lake. Somewhat disorderly footsteps broke the silence of this place.
Yet the black-clad young woman seemed oblivious, gazing at some point in the night sky, her exquisitely beautiful, cold face devoid of any emotion.
By the dim starlight and lamplight, An Hua noticed that many tiny bubbles were churning in the lake water beneath the bridge. As they burst, they condensed into the mist that spread across the lake’s surface. The mist was filled with moisture and warmth, making it clear that this lake was likely formed by hot springs, and it was even possible that a fissure in the earth lay deep beneath the lakebed.
As everyone entered the pavilion, the black-clad young woman still did not turn around, still gazing beyond the railing, as if these uninvited guests had not disturbed her mood for drinking wine on a snowy night.
Or perhaps, in her eyes, these people simply did not exist, even though they had now come before her.
An Hua looked at her, ready to bow again, when she suddenly caught a scent. Subconsciously, she looked toward the clay stove, her body trembling slightly, and an expression of disbelief appeared on her face.
The clay stove was quite delicate, no more than a foot tall, and did not seem out of place sitting on the table. On the stove sat an earthen pot, bubbling and gurgling, just like the lake water outside the pavilion.
The wine was in a small carven plum-blossom pot, left to be chilled by the wind and snow. So this was not warming wine, nor boiling tea—it was stewing meat.
On the clay stove, a pot of braised lamb was simmering.
Compared to the scene of boiling tea on a snowy night, this certainly lacked some elegance, but it was not enough to shock An Hua so deeply.
The reason she was shocked, and even now could not help but show a pained expression on her face, was that she could smell very clearly that this pot of braised lamb contained many medicinal ingredients.
Angelica, wolfberries, cloves, curculigo, epimedium…
In this pot of lamb, she detected the scents of some medicinal herbs, and those were scents she had once smelled on a certain type of pill.
That newly arrived medical officer from the Saint Healing Hall, Mr. Yang, now also had a very ugly expression on his face.
Because his true identity was Mr. Yang, the offering from the Tang Family Medicine Shop of Wenshui City, and he had once personally decomposed that kind of pill.
He was absolutely certain that the pot of lamb stewing on the stove at this moment was mixed with thirty-four types of medicinal herbs, exactly the herbs that made up the Cinnabar Pill! Looking again at the black-clad young woman by the railing, his eyes narrowed, sharp as a cold blade, filled with bone-deep hostility and anger, just like the words that slipped through his gritted teeth.
“What a truly extravagant display!”
In such a desolate deep mountain, during the harsh winter season, to have such a beautiful garden with pavilions and terraces—the master was naturally extraordinary, not just an ordinary wealthy family.
But none of that compared to the shock brought by this pot of braised lamb.
“What’s wrong?” the general asked in a deep voice, noticing the unusual expressions on the two of them.
Before An Hua could do anything, Mr. Yang rushed to the table, picked up the chopsticks, stirred the remaining braised lamb in the pot, then poured a cup of wine and brought it to his nose to sniff.
Just one sniff, and Mr. Yang’s face turned red, the same color as the lamb in the pot.
It wasn’t from drunkenness, but from anger. His body trembled uncontrollably, and the wine in the cup splashed out, just like the furious accusation that followed.
“What a waste of heaven’s gifts! This is something meant to save lives, and you’re using it to stew meat and brew wine!”
Only then did the people understand, and they were shocked. The general’s expression grew even more somber. Some stared at the meat and the wine jug on the table, their eyes beginning to gleam.
An Hua had already snapped out of her shock, but she still felt a deep ache in her heart, and even more so, disappointment and sorrow.
After learning about the Cinnabar Pill, she had had many conjectures about that mysterious medical master. She had always felt that he must be a reclusive master who disregarded fame and fortune, but… the medicine that could keep frontline soldiers from death and suffering, so precious and invaluable—to that person, was it truly so insignificant? Was the Cinnabar Pill not a miracle he had painstakingly created to save the world, but merely a game he played in this world? Was he just like a child playing house, while the people watching on the sidelines took it seriously… Then, in his eyes, wouldn’t the world’s treasuring of the Cinnabar Pill, and the worship of people like herself, seem utterly ridiculous?
Well, even if this was just a game to him, for ordinary people like herself living in the mortal world, it was still a matter of life and death. An Hua sighed helplessly in her heart, suppressing that trace of sorrow, and asked the black-clad young woman, “May I ask, are you the owner of the Cinnabar Pill?”
The black-clad young woman turned around, but instead of answering her question, she looked at Mr. Yang. After discovering that this pot of lamb and that jug of wine were highly likely to contain the Cinnabar Pill, Mr. Yang’s emotions had been completely consumed by anger and absurdity, and he hadn’t even noticed her gaze.
No one could discern the black-clad young woman’s emotions. Her youthful, delicate, and beautiful face was forever expressionless, like eternal ice. Her voice was equally cold, but the meaning it conveyed was completely different from ice and snow, filled with a great deal of fervor, even some ferocity, though it remained utterly absurd.
“That filthy hand of yours actually dared to touch my sacred and inviolable wine and meat… This is truly a praiseworthy thing.”
Everyone, including An Hua, was stunned, not understanding what this meant. Mr. Yang finally snapped back to reality and looked over in shock.
The black-clad young woman’s eyes were very bright, and she said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten human flesh. Thank you for giving me such a perfect reason.”
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(Extending New Year’s greetings to everyone. The first chapter of the year mainly talks about eating meat. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about how to cut the grease and protect the stomach, hahahaha.)