My Gentle and Pure Sect Leader Husband-Chapter 16 - Day of Wearing a Disguise

Yu Luocha wasn’t particularly interested in the crabs, but under the moonlight, looking at Yan Hongyin beside him with a smile on her face and slightly raised eyebrows, he somehow felt a playful urge to tease.

“What if I listen to everything Hongyin says and still don’t find anything special about the crabs?” Yu Luocha asked with a half-smile, twirling the steamed taro with just one bite left in his hand.

Though they were sitting outdoors without tables or chairs, without fine wine, Yan Hongyin’s movements as she dismantled the crab were still practiced and graceful, as elegant as any honored guest at a formal banquet.

“I’ll compensate you with a jar of good wine?” Yan Hongyin had already opened the shell of the crab leg in her hand, revealing the tender, sweet meat inside. “Hmm, the kind you can only drink seven days from now.”

Yu Luocha smiled, his glass-colored eyes reflecting the starlight and moonlight. “Deal.”

He knew very clearly that Yan Hongyin was curious about him, wanted to understand him, even get close to him, but he also knew that at least in this moment, he was equally curious about this woman before him – a woman full of contradictions and secrets, whose cool and otherworldly exterior always seemed to have a hint of disconnect.

Yu Luocha wasn’t afraid of challenges; on the contrary, he enjoyed conquering and exploring the unknown, because that stimulating sensation would make the blood in his body surge with intense excitement–the internal martial arts technique he created, with its burning hot internal energy, wasn’t as outsiders claimed, as scorching as flames or as ghostly as a Rakshasa, but rather like the boundless desert he had seen in his twenty-plus years – the most beautiful, most dangerous, most alluring, and most mysterious.

“I saw a desert wasteland, when I was young, on a night when the moon was just as full as tonight, I once celebrated a festival with my family.”

Yu Luocha spoke slowly, as if recalling something very distant and hazy, or as if the things he was speaking of weren’t easy to put into words.

“Playing music, singing, dancing… The wind would kick up the sand, but we didn’t fear it. The men would don their sand-crowned battle robes and dance as the bonfire blazed, performing for their beloved parents and the girls they admired.”

Yu Luocha put the last bite of soft, fragrant taro in his mouth, chewed it carefully before swallowing, and said softly, “By the bonfire there were no fine silks, but there were intricately woven thick wool blankets with tassels of various colors on the edges; no delicate pastries from food boxes, but clusters of grapes lying in silver trays; no little crabs waving their claws like the ones in your hands, but half-man-tall whole lambs skewered and roasted until crispy outside and tender inside…”

Yan Hongyin listened attentively at first, but gradually felt something was off and frowned in displeasure. “You can tell your story, but why drag me into it? Besides, these are premium hairy crabs, if it weren’t for.....you couldn’t even buy ones of this quality.”

By the end, she had unexpectedly revealed a bit of feminine pique.

Yan Hongyin didn’t know where these emotions came from, but suddenly, hearing Ah Yu speak of his longing and love for another way of life, she instinctively felt a small surge of temper at not wanting her homeland to be outdone.

Yu Luocha immediately broke into laughter, first pressing his lips together, then seeing Yan Hongyin hugging her knees with her head resting on her arms turned away from him, he really couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Yan Hongyin knew she had lost her composure, but wasn’t this person laughing a bit too long?

She turned her head to glare at Yu Luocha, her beautiful eyes filled with annoyance.

Then right in front of Yu Luocha, she got up and went to the kitchen, somehow produced a wine gourd from somewhere, and ignoring Yu Luocha’s rather pitiful gaze, lazily swayed the wine gourd, fanning its fragrance in Yu Luocha’s direction, then took occasional small sips herself.

She showed no intention of sharing any with Yu Luocha.

The people of the Western Regions from the great desert of Gobi were born loving wine, and due to an accident with the gold needle sealing acupoints, Yu Luocha hadn’t drunk any wine for a long time, and was truly somewhat tempted by Yan Hongyin.

But he definitely wouldn’t be drinking today, so he simply grabbed a mooncake from the food box to divert his attention.

Under the tempting wine fragrance, Yu Luocha took a bite of the mooncake that wasn’t even as big as a palm, and was surprised to find that what spread in his mouth wasn’t sweetness but the savory taste of meat – quite unusual.

Yan Hongyin certainly hadn’t missed the flash of delight in Yu Luocha’s eyes. After watching him for a few moments, she set aside the crab leg shell in her hand and picked up another completely tied-up hairy crab.

“Here.”

Yu Luocha’s gaze fell on the thoroughly bound crab, dyed a complete red from cooking.

“There are only two kinds of things in this world.”

Yan Hongyin held the small wine gourd in one hand, while her other arm rested elbow on knee, palm up holding the hairy crab. As she spoke, her gaze seemed to fall on the crab in her palm, yet also seemed to penetrate through the bound crab to some unknown place.

“One kind is like ordinary cats, dogs, cattle, and sheep – flesh covering bone, with complex and unknown vessels and skeletons hidden beneath various skins, appearing soft and glossy on the outside but actually rigid and strong inside.”

“The other kind is like this crab – hard shell encasing soft innards, without those complex bones and vessels, even appearing crystal clear, with nothing to hide.”

“People all love to peel back soft, glossy skin, but when they discover hard bones inside they discard them as useless. I, however, prefer to pry open layer by layer what people see as impenetrably hard shells, to see the soft sweetness inside that others don’t know about.”

Yan Hongyin turned her head to look at Yu Luocha, her tone meaningful. “Tell me, isn’t this kind of pleasure more interesting than your roasted whole lamb?”

Yu Luocha lowered his gaze to study Yan Hongyin.

After a long moment of eye contact, Yu Luocha reached for the hairy crab that Yan Hongyin had just broken open. Indeed, it was rich with roe and meat, but…

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Yu Luocha said slowly, “After prying open the shell, the things inside aren’t necessarily all delicious, are they?”

Yan Hongyin used a needle to remove the inedible crab gills, intestines, heart, and stomach one by one from the crab Yu Luocha was holding, her movements quick, clean, and naturally flowing.

Then she looked up with a smile. “It wasn’t born just to be eaten by you. If you want to eat it for its ultimate deliciousness, you should naturally show more patience.”

Then she handed the small spoon from the food box to Yu Luocha.

“Try it.”

Yu Luocha’s movements paused briefly before taking the spoon and scooping up a spoonful of crab meat with golden crab roe and putting it in his mouth.

For a moment, the world seemed to fall silent except for the rustling of bamboo leaves in the autumn wind, the soft breathing of the two people, and the distant, scattered sounds of mortal life.

Yu Luocha’s profile in the moonlight was as fair as jade, even the fine down on his skin was indescribably exquisite.

“Indeed delicious,” he said.

The corners of Yan Hongyin’s lips curved upward.

A cool breeze swept through the bamboo grove, swirling past the two of them, bringing with it the distinctive bitter medicinal smell from the herb garden.

Yu Luocha turned the small spoon in an arc and suddenly asked, “What about you?”

“What?”

“Of the two kinds in the world, which are you?”

Yan Hongyin put back the hairy crab that, despite having sharp pincers, was still bound and delivered to the table for people to consume at will, and didn’t answer. Instead, she asked back with a slightly raised tone, “Which kind does Ah Yu think he is?”

Yu Luocha seemed to think for a moment, but similarly didn’t answer, just used the small spoon to deliver another spoonful of crab meat to his mouth.

Yan Hongyin didn’t mind, casually picking up a mooncake and bringing it to her lips, taking a bite, her expression relaxing.

Egg yolk lotus seed paste filling, not bad.

.....

That night, they lay side by side on the bed just like on their wedding night.

Yan Hongyin on the inner side, Yu Luocha on the outer side.

Perhaps due to lingering medicinal effects, or perhaps due to the haziness of wine.

They each fell asleep, having sweet dreams all night.

****

The next day, before dusk had dispersed, in the dim early morning light.

Yu Luocha suddenly awoke from his confused drowsiness, his glass-colored pupils still retaining a trace of sleepiness.

Just then, a fierce wind struck from behind!

Yu Luocha instinctively wanted to raise his hand to block, but when his gaze touched upon where he was, his reason returned, and he forcibly stopped his rising defensive arm, only to be kicked off the bed without mercy by someone!