Chapter 71: Confusion

Rui Tong first returned to the camp to report; when Li Bucai led everyone back into the camp, Yan Qiu had already finished preparing the food, and after dinner assigned them their quarters.

"Shan Ji and the others were originally Yue Ji's guards; why not let them also serve the Lord, together with me, and live in the Xinggong?" Xianghong, seeing an extra four hundred people appear, found the rooms cramped and conveniently assigned the six of them to protect the Lord alongside herself.

Li Bucai nodded and said, "The Xinggong is idle, so if others can't stay, we can allocate a few people to let them live upstairs."

Yan Qiu said, "If several people share a room it's still manageable for now; apart from the maids' rooms upstairs, no one may move in casually, because… because those are prepared for the Lord's concubines…"

"No need to be so particular," Li Bucai thought, "Concubines? In the future you among the people aren't…"

Yan Qiu shook her head and said, "No, we can't let the future Lord's beloved concubine live in a house others have lived in; that wouldn't work. Our rooms are still enough. We'll have them build a few more tomorrow."

"Alright, then you arrange it as you see fit." Since it was sufficient, he no longer inquired, leaving everything to Yan Qiu. Speaking of building houses, Li Bucai asked, "Inside the stockade walls, besides the plaza, is there any vacant space where we can build houses?"

"We can build a few outside the stockade walls; after all, we'll need to expand in the future."

"Without the stockade walls for protection, moving people outside makes me uneasy. If we can temporarily squeeze them in, let them make do for a few days. The opening day of the city is approaching, and we still need to recruit many troops. So, for these few days, let Qiaoer and the others build more beds, have the lumberjacks cut more timber, and keep it until the end of the month when we bring in others to build the camp together."

"Hmm." Yan Qiu nodded, performed a bow, "Lord has been traveling for days, must be very tired, please rest early."

"You all also rest early."

Everyone nodded; Wan'er said to Yue Ji, "Miss Yue Ji, stay at my place for a few days first; after a few days we'll expand the camp, and then the Lord will surely build you a beautiful residence."

Li Bucai apologized and said, "This place isn't as comfortable as where you were before; for now we can only make do, so go to Wan'er's place and settle in for the time being."

Yue Ji nodded and followed her out of the Xinggong.

……

In the early morning, a sudden change in lifestyle left Yue Ji unable to adjust; as soon as dawn broke, she woke and could not fall back asleep, lying uncomfortably. Seeing Wan'er still sleeping there, she quietly left the bedroom, went into the hall, sat for a while, heard footsteps outside, and through the window slit saw Li Bucai already up, exiting the Xinggong alone. She went to the window and watched him quietly; although she had spent a few days with Li Bucai, it was still the first time in her life she had seen people so close to the undead yet so different, and she was filled with curiosity about everything about them.

"Lord, why not sleep a bit longer?"

Li Bucai had just stepped down the stairs when the door sounded, and Yan Qiu emerged from the room.

There were still many tasks to do these days, so Li Bucai could not linger in bed and got up early.

"Couldn't sleep, wanted to walk, why are you up so early too?"

"There are less than ten days until the opening day of the city; while we have time, I want to stockpile more timber."

"Very well, tell Mu Mei and the others to work a bit harder these days; after this period we'll reward them properly."

Yan Qiu responded, went to the lumberjacks' quarters, woke the two, and together they left the camp gate.

Li Bucai heard a sound in the room; the undead were already up, so he entered, checked their injuries, and after examining everyone, left the room. The builders and carpenters were also up, beginning to treat the two kinds of special timber, preparing to build storage cabinets, while Li Bucai helped them tidy the open ground.

Wan'er let out a long yawn as she left the bedroom, saw Yue Ji leaning at the window staring at something, and called out, "When did you get up, why didn't you ask me to keep you company?"

Yue Ji continued to stare out the window absentmindedly, and didn't hear her voice.

"Ha, so absorbed, what's so new?" Wan'er moved close, followed her gaze, saw she was looking at Li Bucai, and noted her expression, her face full of curiosity.

Yue Ji sensed something odd; when she turned her head, she realized Wan'er had been beside her all along, a strange smile on her face, cheeks flushed, and she buried her face.

Wan'er smiled, "No need to be shy; I often watch the Lord like this too."

Yue Ji hesitated for a while, couldn't help it, and timidly asked, "Why… why does the chieftain… no, the Lord… seem so different from us?"

"Oh? Because you are undead, I am also different from you."

Yue Ji shook her head, unsure how to put it, thought for a while, and said, "No, I'm not talking about that; I mean… I think you may be different from me, but overall we're similar, whereas you and his feeling are very different."

"Oh, you mean this, because we're all girls, and the Lord is a boy."

"Boys…" The undead have been single‑sex for tens of thousands of years, knowing only that wild beasts have male and female, but unaware of gender differences among humans.

"Do you think he's handsome, more attractive than anyone among us, and you only want to focus your gaze on him alone?"

Yue Ji hesitated for a while, nodded, and asked oddly, "Why… why is it like this…"

Wan'er shrugged, "Perhaps heaven pities us fragile girls, granting us a blessing so that they may cherish us."

"Cherish us?..." Yue Ji still couldn't grasp the meaning of her words, looking at her blankly.

"Yes, cherish us, but not every boy knows how to cherish others. We're lucky to have met the Lord; he knows how to cherish people, and… the Lord!"

Seeing Li Bucai walking this way, Wan'er hurried to open the door for him.

"All up?" Li Bucai greeted the two, then turned to Yue Ji and asked, "How was your sleep last night?"

Yue Ji, for some reason, since first seeing him, every time their eyes meet her heart races wildly, and she blushed, nodding.

"Good then, are you hungry? They're preparing food; it'll be ready soon, just wait a moment."

Looking at his kindly face, she felt an indescribable sensation, different from how she feels toward her mother.

"No… I'm not hungry yet."

"Hehe, you keep chatting, I'll go see Zhuoran, then we'll talk again when I return." After speaking, he went to Wu Zhuoran's room.

The two stood there, and Yue Ji stared blankly toward the doorway.

"Wow, your heartbeat is so strong, I can hear it from this far."

"I don't know why, before I didn't feel like this. But I kind of like this feeling."

"Hehe, indeed. But if we talk about being with the Lord, the most enjoyable thing isn't these; if he gave you Artificial Respiration or examined your body, it would be painfully deadly, you know."

"What's that?"

Wan'er, with an evil smile, said, "You've never seen a boy, so you wouldn't know; want to get a glimpse?"