The can of ground pepper in the knapsack just happened to be perfect for seasoning, and they sprinkled it over the bird they were roasting. Large grains of pepper popped in the flames, releasing an enticing aroma.
Song Xiao swallowed his saliva as he stared unblinkingly at the roast bird. It was very fat, and when it was cooking in the fire, the layer of fat on it turned into oil that slid down and bubbled on the meat to give it a cooked yellow sheen; it looked incredibly delicious.
“Starving ba?” When he saw Song Xiao’s appearance, Yu Tang couldn’t help quirking his lips. In his last life, Song Xiao was a few years younger than he was, so sometimes, His Majesty the emperor would coax Song Xiao as if he were a child.
Song Xiao felt a little embarrassed and took out the water canteen from the knapsack. The canteen was a military issue metal flask, which could be heated over a fire. There wasn’t much water in it, so Song Xiao stood up and went to the brook to get some. Placing two stones by the fire, he left the top of the canteen open and put it there to boil.
By the time the bird was done roasting, the water had also boiled. Just as Song Xiao reached out to pick up the canteen, Yu Tang grabbed his hand. “It’s hot.”
The metal canteen had been heated until it turned red; who would dare touch it just then? Helpless, Yu Tang hugged Song Xiao and raised a hand to brush the flames aside and put the cap back on the canteen. Putting it to one side to let it cool, he then tore off a bird leg and passed it to Song Xiao. “Eat something first ba.”
Taking the leg, Song Xiao bit into it. The tender and fragrant meat nearly brought tears to his eyes. It had been so long since he had eaten something so delicious.
The two of them hadn’t eaten anything for a day and a night. At that moment, even if the meat was burnt, it would still be delicious, to say nothing of the fact that His Majesty the emperor had roasted it well. When they returned to their senses, there was only a bit of breast meat left from a bird that had been the size of a goose.
“More?” Yu Tang passed the meat over, and Song Xiao, who couldn’t eat anymore, shook his head. His Majesty the emperor took a bite, but couldn’t eat anymore as well, so he wrapped up the remaining meat in a leaf and put it into the knapsack.
Anything could happen in the mountains; it was only right that they stock up on food.
The canteen of boiled water had also cooled down. Song Xiao took it and gave it to Yu Tang to drink first.
Placing his hand over Song Xiao’s, Yu Tang drank in large gulps. The spring water that was still warm was very refreshing. After feeding the emperor, Song Xiao also drank a few mouthfuls until the canteen was half-empty, so he got up to boil another canteen of water.
Modern society was unlike ancient times. Mountain water wasn’t necessarily clean, so it was better to boil it first before drinking it.
After the two of them drank and ate their fill, they sat on the pebble beach under the sun, too lazy to move. Yu Tang took out his phone for a look; it still didn’t have a signal.
When they had been on the mountain near the warehouse last night, there had still been a signal. After crossing the mountain, however, they had lost it.
“Which way should we go?” Lying in Yu Tang’s embrace, Song Xiao looked around blankly at the large mountains around them. It had been pitch black last night and they hadn’t been able to see the path clearly; they already couldn’t tell which direction they had come from.
“These mountains seem very vast, and it’ll be easy to get lost in the forest; let’s just follow the brook ba.” Yu Tang pulled Song Xiao onto his lap and slowly undid his clothes.
“Wu…” When Song Xiao came back to his senses, he discovered a certain someone’s paw had already undone his outer layer, and he hastily stopped him. “Now isn’t the time…”
“Don’t move.” Yu Tang caught his hand and continued to undo his clothes. “Let me take a look.”
Song Xiao blushed. The two of them were still on the run – how could they do such a thing? “Your Majesty!”
“I just want to see if there are any injuries.” Yu Tang expressionlessly raised his head. Looking at Song Xiao’s red face, he raised his eyebrows lightly and drew closer to rub noses with him. “Empress, what are you thinking about, hm?”
“No – no injuries.”
Song Xiao had been caught and thrown around previously, and the kidnapper had even kicked him a few times. There were patches of green and purple on his originally fair body. Fortunately, there weren’t any bleeding wounds.
The two of them fooled around by the brook for a while. Seeing that it was starting to get brighter, they got up and prepared to set off.
They doused the fire and put the boiled water into the knapsack. Just as Song Xiao was about to pick it up, Yu Tang snatched it away. “Just take care of yourself.”
Yu Tang slung the knapsack over his shoulder and took Song Xiao’s hand as they started to follow the brook downstream.
This was a tropical rainforest, with tall trees and lush leaves and branches. There were many dangers in the forest, and they couldn’t linger here for too long. The brook wound ahead of them with no end in sight. If it flowed through the entire mountains, who knew how long it would take them to walk out. Fortunately, there were fishes in the brook, and small animals appeared in the forest from time to time. With His Majesty the emperor present, the two of them wouldn’t go hungry, so they treated it like a hike.
But the kidnappers weren’t feeling as relaxed. When Scarface and the tall man woke up, a few of their little brothers miserably told them that the hostages had disappeared. They followed the trail through the bushes, until it disappeared halfway.
“How can this be?” Scarface Clem yelled in bewilderment as he stood in the place where Yu Tang had disappeared. There were few bushes in this spot and no roads. To move through this area, one would have to push through the bushes. The kidnappers had chosen this place for this reason as well. Even if a hostage ran away, they wouldn’t be able to get far, as the bushes were a natural perimeter.
Now, a clear path that led from the back of the warehouse to this place had suddenly come to a dead end. The bushes all around them were completely undisturbed, yet the hostages had disappeared.
“Could they have grown wings and flown away?” Scarface flew into a rage.
“Maybe they ran into Tarzan.” A little brother on the side looked at a vine hanging from a large tree and suddenly had a thought.
“Fuck off!” Scarface slapped the little brother’s head. “Do you know how we lost the hostages? It’s because all of you are brainless! And you still want to show how low your IQ is here!”
“Enough, Clem, now isn’t the time to throw a tantrum.” The tall man smoked his cigarette and slowly exhaled. “The Yu family’s lao-er knows who we are. We need to do something quick, and get the money first before anything else.”
Their gang had committed many crimes in America, and were listed as major wanted criminals across the country. They had planned to make a huge amount of money with this business before fleeing abroad. Now, the hostages were missing, and whether they could be found or not, the gang had to get the money.
“Right, before they escape for good, we have to get the money first.” Clem nodded, then turned to order his brothers to continue searching the mountains. When he went off to one side to call Yu lao-er, he discovered that his phone was missing.
“Damn it, I lost my phone; I don’t remember Yu Tong’s number!” Scarface shouted, annoyed.
In the Yu house, laoyezi had already decided to make a police report, but still wanted the bodyguards to go look for them.
“The police are always slow. Besides, the kidnappers haven’t sent any news until now, so it can be assumed that this wasn’t necessarily for money.” Yu Taixian sat in the living room with an icy expression on his face and both his hands on top of his cane as his gaze slowly swept over the Yu family members who were present. Now that something so serious had happened, no one dared to go to bed, and they accompanied laoyezi in the living room as they waited for news.
“This subordinate will definitely retrieve Tang shaoye.” The great general bowed and finally convinced laoyezi to allow him to personally take people with him to look for Yu Tang. After receiving laoyezi’s consent, he prepared weapons and took the bodyguard team with him as they drove to the scene where Yu Tang and Song Xiao had been taken.
Because the Yu family head had spoken, the LA police were extremely cooperative and brought all sorts of detectors to the Yu residence in the middle of the night to monitor all the phones, including the handphones belonging to the Yu family members.
Yu Tong sweated profusely with worry. Fortunately, he had used another phone to contact the kidnappers before secretly hiding it. Unable to leave after a stressful night, he went to the toilet to make another call. In the end, he couldn’t reach that stupid bandit’s phone.