Chapter 27: Freedom to Eat Meat Part 2

Shi Tai said, “How is he losing out? Which D-Rank Guide in the Upper City District gets to eat as well as Xiang Ye?”

The food they gave Ying Li, Ying Li always split half with Xiang Ye. They’d also seen Xiang Ye eat Water Chestnuts and White Fruits.

Earlier, when Xiang Ye made food and brought it to the training field, those meals contained meat too.

It was rare for Guides to cook, true, but ordinary D-Rank Guides couldn’t afford to eat meat at every meal.

Luo Qiming and the other two thought about it carefully. That was indeed true.

Xiang Ye and Ying Li were both getting what they wanted and getting along well; they didn’t need any worrying over.

The three sped up and soon finished processing all the prey. Just then, Xiang Ye and Ying Li returned.

Both looked very happy, and Ying Li had even brought back a C-Rank beast.

Setting the C-Rank beast down for Luo Qiming and the others to process, Ying Li then headed out again with Hu Xiangyang and Shi Tai.

Xiang Ye returned to the vehicle.

He was in a fantastic mood and couldn’t help wanting to talk. So he took his Communication Terminal and showed Luo Qiming the photos he had taken of Ying Li. “Luo Qiming, look! This is the place Big Brother Ying took me to. The scenery was amazing!”

After seeing the photos, Luo Qiming felt like he’d been force-fed dog food.

Earlier, he had worried Xiang Ye was a lovestruck fool getting taken advantage of, but now he saw he was worrying over nothing.

Apart from instructing them, Ying Li rarely spoke to them. But with Xiang Ye? He not only took him sightseeing but even took photos with him.

He shouldn’t be meddling in other people’s romantic affairs!

After showing off, Xiang Ye ignored Luo Qiming and concentrated fully on removing the Black Spots from the beast egg in his hands.

He could only remove one spot at a time. Feeling this was too slow, he tried splitting his Mental Power into several strands to multitask.

But he could only control two Mental Tentacles.

Still, even with just two tentacles working, the progress was much faster than before. By the time Ying Li returned with his team from another hunt, Xiang Ye had completely cleared every Black Spot from the beast egg.

This egg was ready to eat!

Xiang Ye excitedly got out of the vehicle, waiting for Ying Li to take him out for their “secret meal.”

Seeing Xiang Ye so happy, Ying Li knew he’d probably already finished cleaning the beast egg in his arms.

With delicious food imminent, Ying Li was also in a very good mood.

He said to Luo Qiming and the others, “It’s almost dark. Pack up the prey, eat something, and take turns keeping watch like before.”

Then he looked at Xiang Ye. “Xiang Ye, I’m taking you out for a picnic.”

As he spoke, Ying Li packed some things.

He had brought very few Water Chestnuts this trip and had already finished them. So now he only packed canned goods and Nutrient Paste.

Packing enough food for two, Ying Li scooped up Xiang Ye and headed to the same spot as before.

Luo Qiming and the others: “…” Just eating Nutrient Paste, and you need to go out specially for that?

It was for some alone time, wasn’t it? It had to be for alone time!

The few silently ate their Nutrient Paste, suddenly finding it rather bland.

On the other side, Ying Li was already setting up a camp stove.

He fixed the beast egg in place with a few stones and lit a fire underneath.

Then, he cracked a small hole in the top of the shell, stirred the contents inside with a tool, added a little water and salt, and just let the egg cook.

Before long, an enticing aroma wafted from the beast egg, making Ying Li’s Nutrient Paste seem hard to swallow.

He hadn’t added expensive seasonings while cooking it, just a bit of salt. How was it this fragrant?

By the time Ying Li had forced down his Nutrient Paste alongside the egg’s aroma, the egg was finally cooked.

He coated a knife with Mental Power, split the egg in two, and handed half to Xiang Ye. “Try it, quick!”

As Xiang Ye reached out and took it, Ying Li scooped a large spoonful of his half and put it in his mouth.

The taste was incredible!

The basketball-sized egg weighed over ten jin. Minus the shell, they each had at least four jin of egg to eat.

Yet Ying Li still felt somewhat reluctant to eat it.

He’d eaten Mutant Beast eggs in his previous life; otherwise, he wouldn’t know this type could be eaten in small quantities.

He’d also eaten plenty of chicken eggs from the Ecological Zone, even the highest-quality eggs in the Underground City that Wu Nian had spent a fortune to buy.

But none of those eggs compared to the one in front of him.

Mutant Beast eggs tasted this good? Did the ones he’d eaten before taste bad because of the Corrosive Energy inside?

As for eggs from the Ecological Zone… raising livestock underground wasn’t really ideal. The animals in the Ecological Zone were kept in captivity and fed various drugs to ensure survival rates. It was only natural they didn’t taste good.

“Big Brother Ying, I can’t finish this. Let me share some with you.” Xiang Ye offered his half to Ying Li.

He could tell Ying Li really loved the beast egg.

Even though he loved it too, he still wanted to give some of his share to Ying Li.

“Keep it if you can’t finish it now and eat it tonight,” Ying Li said. “Eggs are nourishing; you need to eat more.”

Hearing Ying Li say this, Xiang Ye beamed broadly at him. “Big Brother Ying, I’ll definitely clear out more eggs tomorrow!”

That would be great! Ying Li agreed with a smile. “Alright, but be careful not to overdraw your Mental Power.”

“I will! Actually, removing the Corrosive Energy from the beast eggs doesn’t use much Mental Power; it’s just tedious,” Xiang Ye said.

Clearing it bit by bit like this was very trying on one’s patience.

If only he could clear a large patch of Black Spots all at once!

Then he could let Ying Li eat meat until he was full!

Oh, right, the wilderness didn’t just have meat; it also had various plants.

He’d heard about some mutated rice whose grains were the size of chicken eggs. He wondered what that would taste like cooked.

Because growing rice was so troublesome, rice in the Underground City was insanely expensive. Xiang Ye had never tried it.

“I’m sorry for the trouble,” Ying Li said.

He didn’t tell Xiang Ye not to do it just because the cleaning process was annoying.

He wanted to eat, and Xiang Ye wanted to eat. Eating these things could also improve Xiang Ye’s health.

“No trouble!” Xiang Ye said, then took a huge bite of the beast egg.

Such delicious beast eggs—he wanted to eat them every day.

Xiang Ye had claimed he couldn’t finish it, but in the end, he polished off the entire thing.

Both well-fed and content, they returned to camp with their bellies visibly rounder.

Luo Qiming and the others weren’t asleep yet; they were gathered around watching a downloaded movie. Seeing them return, they asked if they wanted to join.

Ying Li refused. “I don’t really like movies.” He planned to rest early.

Hearing this, Xiang Ye also said, “I don’t really like movies either.” He wanted to rest with Ying Li!

They only had one tent. Tonight, he could sleep together with Ying Li!

The more Xiang Ye thought about it, the more excited he got. But then Ying Li handed him a sleeping bag. “It’s winter now, and the nighttime temperature drops below ten degrees. We Sentinels can handle it, but you can’t. Sleep in the sleeping bag.”

Xiang Ye felt somewhat frustrated.

He had been thinking he could pretend to accidentally touch Ying Li during the night. But the sleeping bag Ying Li gave him could completely encase his entire body.

Inside the sleeping bag, he couldn’t even extend his hands; only his face could poke out. Forget stealing a touch, he couldn’t even grab a corner of Ying Li’s clothes.

Xiang Ye reluctantly crawled into the sleeping bag.

Seeing this, Ying Li smiled faintly.

A Sentinel’s senses were very sharp. He could more or less perceive Xiang Ye’s little thoughts.

But Xiang Ye was timid. He hadn’t actually done anything from start to finish. Even earlier, on the back of the motorcycle, he had been completely stiff.

This made it impossible for Ying Li to feel guarded against him.

He felt Xiang Ye’s behavior was like that of a touch-starved child, trying every way to get close to someone who was kind to him.

It wasn’t necessarily love. Treating it with a normal attitude was fine.

The tent wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small either.

Before, when Xiang Ye lived in a Cage House in the Underground City, he’d been pressed against others just like he was now next to Ying Li.

But Ying Li was different from those people.

Smelling Ying Li’s scent, Xiang Ye’s heartbeat involuntarily sped up.

He desperately wanted to send all his Mental Power out to wrap around Ying Li.

But he didn’t dare. In the end, all he did was extend a tiny Mental Tentacle to curl around a corner of Ying Li’s clothing.

Ying Li noticed this and found it a bit amusing.

Truly a child.

Having done so much today, Xiang Ye was somewhat tired and unknowingly fell asleep.

Lying beside him, Ying Li quickly succumbed to slumber as well.

The next day, Xiang Ye woke up very early.

He had brought a beast egg into the tent the previous day. Upon waking, he immediately started clearing the egg’s Corrosive Energy.

Today, he would definitely clear out several eggs and let Ying Li eat his fill. And in the future, he would clear out plenty of meat as well, letting Ying Li achieve the freedom to eat meat whenever he wanted.