After applying the scar-removing and swelling-reducing ointment given by Bai Xiaobai, Wufu and Ah Jiu sat on a rock and watched the others roast the tiger meat with laughter and glee.
Ah Jiu glanced at her slightly torn clothes and asked, "Did you not bring an extra set of clothes up the mountain?"
"Who brings several sets of clothes for hunting in the mountains?" Wufu gave him a perplexed look, then glanced at herself and grinned, "Kids raised in the wilds aren’t so particular."
Ah Jiu was frustrated and strongly disagreed, "You’re a girl."
Wufu looked at him with an expression that seemed to say, why do you care so much?
Ah Jiu felt a bit sheepish, turned his head away, and felt some irritation in his heart.
Wufu didn’t mind him and watched as Liu Jin ran over with two skewers of tiger meat. She quickly said, "Liu Jin, let Bai Xiaobai take a look at you too, see if you’re hurt? That’s a miracle doctor, even if you’re not injured, let him tone up your body."
Liu Jin was taken aback, grinned, and handed her the tiger meat before running back.
Seeing this, Ah Jiu huffed, "You sure do take good care of your people. Ordering them around as if they were yours."
Wufu took a bite of the tiger meat and said, "Of course, I am protective."
"That kid is a bit afraid of you, you don’t mind?" Ah Jiu scrutinized him.
Wufu looked back at him, "Mind what? Can you hold a grudge against a child? He’s only seven, what does he know. It’s one thing to be strict, but don’t be too harsh."
Ah Jiu felt a bit of a toothache upon hearing this, but he didn’t argue.
Yuan Ye came over with a few skewers of tiger meat, just in time to catch the conversation. He glanced at Wufu and then went to sit beside Liu Jin.
"Are you afraid of your mistress?" Yuan Ye asked indifferently.
Liu Jin’s pupils shrank slightly, and he growled annoyedly, "Not at all, don’t talk nonsense."
Seeing his reaction, Yuan Ye’s mouth curved into a cold smile, "You are afraid. Seeing how easily your mistress killed, you are scared, thinking she is cruel."
"You’re making things up!" Liu Jin angrily stood up, glaring at him fiercely.
Yuan Ye looked at him silently.
Liu Jin was infuriated, his eyes reddening. After a long stare-down, he finally sat down, looking somewhat dejected.
Yuan Ye snorted softly. If I say he is, then he is—when have I ever been wrong?
"I—I’m not afraid of the mistress, I just am, a bit scared," Liu Jin said, holding a skewer of tiger meat, his voice tinged with grievance, "It’s seeing someone dead, that scares me a little."
Yuan Ye said, "You should know, if that person didn’t die, it would have been your mistress and you who were dead."
"I know," Liu Jin said, "I saw it all, I just didn’t expect it."
Yuan Ye looked over. The young child’s spirit seemed all but gone, as if he had suffered a great setback.
He looked not far off to where Ah Jiu was talking to Wufu with his head turned and said, "When I was five, I started following my master. The first time I killed someone, I was six."
Liu Jin looked up at him in shock.
"That man wanted to harm my master, so I killed him. I took a big rock, smashed his head, crushed it," Yuan Ye said, his voice flat and indifferent as if he were speaking about someone else’s business.
"As servants, once we choose our master, we should follow our master’s wishes. No matter what they do, you just listen and do it. Don’t question it," Yuan Ye told him, "Being young is no excuse, just learn. Remember, only if your master is well, can you be well. If she’s gone, you can’t hope to live either."
Liu Jin’s heart shook, he pursed his lips, deep in thought.