“Come,” Bei Qian stood up with a dark face. “Let’s go check the other house.” The two houses were not far from each other. Since the tanned man had already started the stove in the other house, they were greeted by warmth once they entered the place. This made the travellers feel a bit more at ease.
After a quick scrutiny, they confirmed that both houses had almost the same layout. There was a small living room in the middle, and one bedroom to the east and west. Other than that, there was nothing out of place.
“We…” Jiang Zhongyi asked, “Are we sleeping here tonight?”
Bei Qian looked around. He stood at the entrance and looked out into the yard for a long time. He suddenly said, “We’ll split up to sleep tonight. Four people will stay here, and the other four will sleep in the other house.”
Jiang Zhongyi thought that he had heard wrong. They had just said that there might be some issues with this place, so why…
Zhou Rong’s face chilled. His personality was the complete opposite of Bei Qian’s. However, he shared the elder’s view on this matter. He nodded. “I agree with Elder Bei.” Zhou Rong pointed at the entrance, “Look. You can easily see into the front yard from here, and this house also offers an unobstructed view of the other house.” Zhou Rong turned to the largest building in the courtyard. “And the other house offers a great view of the backyard and that construct.” The other building was not referred to as a house because it was too big. It was larger than the two smaller houses combined. It stood to the western side alone. It morphed into a gigantic shadow at night. That shadow gave off a strangely unsettling presence.
“We’ll split up to occupy these two houses. Each house will have someone staying up to keep vigil. We can cover more ground this way. And we can warn each other if there’s anything dangerous.” Zhou Rong stared at the shadow of the large building. He made a lot of sense.
At that moment, an awkward sound came from the back. Everyone turned. Chen Xiaomeng, who stood at the back, looked down with shame. It was as if the sound of the stomach grumbling had nothing to do with her. She could not be blamed. They had trekked through the mountain for the whole day. She only had a few mouthfuls of porridge in the morning. The fact that she didn’t say anything until then was impressive already. Most people looked at her gently and kindly.
The only exception was…
Chen Xiaomeng was annoyed just looking at him. She hissed through gritted teeth, “Move. I’d die than eat something from you.”
Jiang Cheng straightened up. He very naturally pooled out some sweet potatoes from his pocket and nodded. “Is that so? Then, I feel more assured now.”
The others were stunned as they saw Jiang Cheng pull out one after another sweet potato from his bulging pockets. They had no idea Jiang Cheng had been keeping a store of them inside his clothes. However, who really cared about that since there was food to be had?
Everyone sat around the fire obediently. They watched as Jiang Cheng slowly placed the potatoes around the flame to toast. There were eight sweet potatoes of varying sizes, but they all looked delicious.
When the smell of roasted potatoes permeated the place, some found it hard to think. Ben Fu was even scared that the ghost might suddenly appear to steal the potatoes from them. Thankfully, his worry dissipated once the roasted sweet potatoes were ready. Even Bei Qian, who was so collected, swallowed subconsciously. They resisted the urge to fight for the food and waited patiently for Jiang Cheng to share it. After all, Jiang Cheng was the one who risked stealing… I mean, borrowing the sweet potatoes.
Jiang Cheng found a relatively clean cloth, wrapped his hands with it and rapidly picked up a sweet potato. With a slight nudge, the golden inside was revealed. Zhou Rong’s throat trembled violently. He had never thought a sweet potato could be so alluring.
“Elder Bei,” Jiang Cheng handed it over with a smile, “This is for you.”
Bei Qian was startled. Then, he quickly stood up and bowed sincerely. He accepted the precious sweet potato. “Thank you, Mr. Yi.”
Jiang Cheng started to divide the sweet potatoes.
“Thank you, Mr. Yi.” Lee Lu said with sincerity.
In the end, only two sweet potatoes remained. There was the bigger one and the smaller one. The smaller one was burnt so badly that it was barely edible. Only Yu Man and Chen Xiaomeng hadn’t had their share.
Chen Xiaomeng’s stomach growled louder, affected by the fragrance. However, she still turned her head away stubbornly. She refused to look at Jiang Cheng.
“Only two sweet potatoes remained.” Jiang Cheng held one in each hand. He didn’t seem to think they were hot. “How shall I split this?”
“Naturally, Mr. Yi can make all the decisions.” Yu Man’s eyes burned with passion. Even her words had a hook to them.
Jiang Cheng glanced at Yu Man, who was splayed out on the floor with grace and poise. Her chest was practically out. She left nothing to the imagination. Then, Jiang Cheng said with red cheeks, “Then, we’ll split it according to size.” He handed the larger potato to Yu Man and the much smaller one to Chen Xiaomeng.
With Lee Lu consoling her, Chen Xiaomeng barely managed to rein her anger in. When she was done eating and had the energy, she would strangle the bastard to death. However, just as Chen Xiaomeng was ready to accept the sweet potato, something unexpected happened.
Jiang Cheng pulled his hand back and then split the already small potato into two. After a quick comparison, he handed the smaller part to Chen Xiaomeng. He munched on the other half with clear enjoyment.
“This is much better.” Jiang Cheng nodded.
This clear act of bullying didn’t get much reaction from the others. They were busy digesting their food. Plus, this was the nightmare realm where chivalry meant nothing. There was only the need for survival.
“Alright.” Zhou Rong wiped his hands and was the first to stand up. “It’s getting late. We should rest.” They needed rest after a long time. They didn’t feel it earlier but now that things had settled down somewhat, fatigue caught up to them.
It was time for a sleeping arrangement.
While the group pondered what to do with the couple, Jiang Cheng and Chen Xioameng, the latter, who had finished her sweet potato, stood up as she wiped her hands. She looked at Jiang Cheng. Her previously chilling face warmed up. “Mr. Yi,” She smiled and said intimately, “Why don’t we sleep together tonight?”