Chapter 78

Chapter 78.1: Teasing To Turn Out Being Teased

The bun stall's assistant stared at the young miss and was mesmerized for a moment before he immediately packed two trays of buns nimbly into a bag, lifting it up with both hands to hand it over to Qing Yu. "Miss, please be careful with the buns."

"Thanks." Qing Yu accepted the buns feeling rather amused, before she pulled out a gold coin from inside her sleeve and placed it on the table, all prepared to leave.

"Hold it Young Miss!" The young stall assistant called out to her when he saw that, and returned the coin to her. "You've paid too much for the buns. And our shopkeeper said that it's affinity that we came to meet today, so how can he allow a person as beautiful as a goddess to be tainted by material things like money, so these two small trays of buns will be a treat from the shopkeeper."

"….."

[She only wanted to buy a few buns. Why does this little lad have so many thoughts about it?]

Of course she still paid for them in the end, and the young stall assistant then watched her leave with regret in his eyes.

Lou Jun Yao watched the entire comedic scene from beginning to end. With such a nakedly penetrating gaze, how could Qing Yu possibly not have noticed it? But as the Gathered Cloud Loft's location was so great, one was able to see many things that happened throughout the entire Imperial Capital from here.

She had coincidentally also brought out the bottle of antidote elixirs she had finished cultivating sometime before when she came out today.

Lou Jun Yao then saw the young lady brazenly walking straight towards the Gathered Cloud Loft and his eyes flashed with a glint. Bai Zhi Yan was in the Fragrance Court right at that moment and there were only a scattered few people dressed up as waiters to serve any patrons that came in.

Though it was said they were there to serve patrons, but it was thought that their style of doing that could not be any more strange than any other teahouse throughout the whole Imperial Capital.

One person stood guarding the door as he leaned against the doorframe, his eyes staring wide. When people walked up to the place, his eyes did not even blink once, but just stood there unmoving like a rock. Qing Yu was feeling rather curious and she went closer to go take a look, only to hear the sound of even breathing.

[A….. Asleep? Sleeping with his eyes open? ?]

A corner of Qing Yu's eye twitched, but she continued walking inside with any change in her demeanor.

Upon a table around the corner, a grey robed person was sprawled over a table sleeping soundly away and in that large quiet hall, the sound of water dripping could be heard intermittently. Looking more carefully, she then saw that it was from the person who was sleeping so soundly he did not realize his drool was dripping down.

There was a waiter behind the counter who looked somewhat a little more normal, his chin propped up by the palm of one hand while his other hand clicked an abacus in a flurry, at a very fast speed. Qing Yu was just about to go forward and ask him something when her expression on her face froze.

That person was actually clicking speedily with one hand while asleep, his mouth open and snoring loudly.

Qing Yu could not find any words to describe the situation. "….." [Bright and early in the day and they are all sleeping so soundly one after another? !]

[They could almost be mistaken to be dead! She had already come in here for so long and not a single one of them has even reacted at all! !]

Fortunately there wasn't anything of great value in there or even if people had emptied out the place, none of these fellas would know a thing at all.

"Come on up!" Lou Jun Yao said standing at the second floor's railing as he looked at the exasperated expression on the young lady's face, and he could not help but burst out laughing.

Qing Yu raised her head up and looked at him suspiciously. "Did you make all your subordinates go thieving around the whole of last night? All of them are sleeping just like pigs!"

"Why should I have anything to do with that?" Lou Jun Yao replied, blinking his handsome looking violet eyes innocently. "Maybe it's because they enjoy a more fulfilling night life?"

"….." [What a blood vomiting inducing answer.]

Qing Yu stiffened her lips and then went upstairs to the second floor to discover that it was completely quiet upstairs, like he was the only person there. She then arched up an eyebrow and asked: "Where's Bai Zhi Yan?"

Those two were always never apart and she had almost seen the two of them together every single time. Hence, when she discovered that the other one was not here, she could not help but feel a little strange.

"He's at the back."

Chapter 78.2: Teasing To Turn Out Being Teased

The back meant the Fragrance Court. Qing Yu had gone there a few times when she had disguised herself as a boy and she knew the way in there rather well.

"Then I'll just wait for him here for awhile. He wouldn't take long would he?" Qing Yu asked as she sat herself down, conveniently placing the item in her hand upon the table.

Lou Jun Yao's gaze swept over it for a moment. His mind then remembered the scene he just saw and his eyes filled up with mirth.

"Are you hungry?"

Seeing his gaze fixed upon the buns she had just bought, Qing Yu thought that he was hungry and she pushed a portion of it over to him. "Eat it if you're hungry. I bought two portions."

The piping hot and exquisitely made crystal buns had a light pink tinge and Lou Jun Yao was caught with a rare stunned expression for a moment, like this was the first time he was encountering such a situation. "For me?"

He must not be blamed for not knowing how to react as having lived for centuries, no one had ever treated him like this.

The wilfully arrogant man saw everything in the world to be beneath him, an existence that was worshipped as a god. Who would have thought that he was still human? Who would have thought that he slept and ate just like any other human?

Those penetrating eyes immediately seemed to have been possessed right at that instant.

Having not seen such an expression that could be termed as "foolish" on this fella's face before, Qing Yu raised her eyes up in surprise and stretched a hand out to wave it before him. "Don't tell me you have never seen this before."

It hadn't been said but Lou Jun Yao who had abstained from grains for such a long time no longer found satisfying one's appetite all that attractive anymore and hence all these things that mortals ate was something he really did not understand completely.

Seeing his expression, Qing Yu knew that he had definitely not eaten such a thing before and for just a brief instant, her eyes suddenly flashed with a glint and a evil idea rose up in her mind.

She handed the chopsticks next to the box of food to the man and said with a smile: "Do you want to give it a try? It's really very good."

It was probably because the sudden gentle warmth the young lady was showing in that instant that was so alluring, her eyes two smiling arcs, transforming into an charmingly naive and pitiful looking pet fox that caused Lou Jun Yao's heart to soften, and failing to notice the crafty mirth hidden beneath those eyes narrowed with smile.

He accepted the chopsticks and picked up one of the crystal buns. Looking at it for a moment, and seeing the young lady's earnest and harmless gaze watching him, he brought it to his lips and bit it lightly.

Thereafter, something highly comedic then happened.

The laughter restrained at the corners of Qing Yu's lips could not be held back any further and she went "pfft" in a huge burst of laughter.

The man's face immediately froze and the expression then cracked and fissured inch by inch, the sparkling bright violet eyes turning dark.

The crystal buns had very thin skin and was filled to its brim with fillings, every single one of them plump and fat, the juices thick and abundant. If someone was eating it for the first time without prior experience, they were guaranteed to get the bun's juice squirt and splatter over their faces and clothes.

And although Lou Jun Yao had merely taken a small apprehensive bite, but he was still caught off guard when then hot juices from the bun sprayed onto his face. The handsome face that was carefully carved and crafted by the gods had oily meat soup juice hanging upon it at that moment, flowing down along the perfect jawline before it dripped off the chin onto the table, looking hilariously funny no matter how one looked at it.

The air turned deathly silent….. No, besides the young lady's unsuppressable peals of laughter, gasping hard for air to catch her breath.

"HAHAHAHAHA... You….. Wheeze….. Don't look at me like that HAHAHA….."

Qing Yu was doubled over in laughter as she slumped back in her chair and held her stomach, tears spilling out from the corners of her beautiful eyes.

She did not know why herself, but when she saw that haughty demeanor of that man, the thought of playing a prank on him suddenly struck her, and the fact lay before her that the way he looked now was really very funny, seemingly a lot more warm and human.

Chapter 78.3: Teasing To Turn Out Being Teased

It was probably because she had not laughed so hard without restraint for such a long time that once it started, she could not stop.

Lou Jun Yao's eyes narrowed, but seeing the little fox laughing so happily, he did not feel all that angry but just curled up the ends of his lips. "Making fun of me?"

"Hahaha….. I didn't….. I sincerely wanted to treat you to something nice….. Who is making fun of you?" The young lady's tear filled eyes were beautiful and alluring, making his heart itch.

"Nobody has ever dared to play such a prank on me before." Lou Jun Yao's voice was deep, his gaze filled with an almost imperceptible darkness. "In that case, then I must definitely return the favour."

Almost at the same moment that his voice fell, Qing Yu immediately felt that something was not right. Before she could even react, the man had already reached his hand out and firmly restrained her, holding her dainty little chin. With an evil smile that curled his lips, he then stuffed that crystal bun that he had taken a small bite earlier right into her mouth.

Because the crystal bun was large and so smooth and slippery, it immediately slid down to the back of her mouth to her throat. Having been stuffed with a crystal bun so suddenly out of the blue while she was completely unprepared, it lodged in her throat and her tiny face quickly turned red.

"Cough cough cough….. Ugh….. Cough cough….."

She had been born with a small and narrow throat and with it getting blocked up like that, she immediately suffered a nasty bout of coughing, her face turning from red to a greenish purple, which almost frightened Lou Jun Yao to death. He quickly patted her hard on her back to make her cough out the bun and the colour of her face then turned back to normal.

"Have some water." Lou Jun Yao could not be bothered with the oily stains on his face anymore as he quickly poured out a cup of water for her. "Drink it slowly."

Qing Yu accepted the cup of water and took a sip, her breath coming back to her. She then looked accusingly at him. "You….. Cough cough….. You're just too petty! Are you trying to murder me? I was nearly killed by you!"

"I was wrong." Lou Jun Yao said helplessly. "Who would have known that you would get choked by a mere bun? So useless."

"I'm useless! ?" Qing Yu was so angry her eyes widened as she stared at him. She then saw the mess on his face and her lips then stiffened. "Hurry up and wipe off all that stuff on your face, otherwise you will be laughed at to death by your subordinates when they see it."

"Then I'll just kill them with a strike before they die from laughter." Lou Jun Yao said indifferently, before he turned around and went to the other end to tidy himself up.

And it was at this interval that Bai Zhi Yan came back.

When he saw Qing Yu in the room, he was delighted as he asked. "You've come?"

It was only when he came closer that he saw that there was a box of beautifully tempting crystal buns on the table. He came over and plopped himself down on a chair to ask. "Is this for me? I just remembered that I have not eaten anything yet."

Qing Yu had not even been able to stop him in time when that fella had already made quick work of the ten plus crystal buns, gobbled all up.

[Nevermind. It's good that he finished it anyway. Otherwise Lou Jun Yao would remember the grudge if he came came and saw those buns again.]

Waiting till he polished them all off, Qing Yu then pulled out a little green porcelain bottle from inside her sleeve. "There are a hundred antidote pills in here. Based on the price that we agreed on previously, it is a thousand gold pieces for one. So you will have to give me a total of one hundred thousand pieces of gold. You can first check the quantity and composition of the pills. They are all of the same specifications from before."

The bottle that Qing Yu used to store the pills was actually more than it looked to be. Seemingly merely only about the size of a baby's fist, it was however able to store so many pills as it seemed like there was a mini dimension inside the bottle.

Bai Zhi Yan took the bottle and said with a smile: "I will naturally trust what you say." As he spoke, he handed a fiery red jade ring to her.

"This is a storage ring, and there is two hundred thousand gold pieces in there."

"What are you doing here?" Qing Yu asked with an eyebrow raised.

Bai Zhi Yan then replied with a wide smile. "It is naturally to facilitate our long term cooperation and a show of my sincerity."