Chapter 13: 13 Painting a Cake

13 Painting a Cake

"Brother Zhao, wake up!"

Tang Zhao opened his eyes, saw Wei Zhangle at a glance, and said, "What is it? Have we arrived?"

Wei Zhangle was the youth he had met in the temple; now that things had reached this point, there was naturally no reason for them to remain strangers.

Wei Zhangle said helplessly, "Brother, you are truly carefree. How can you sleep on such a cold, hard road with an uncertain future?"

Tang Zhao rubbed his eyes and sat up. He vaguely remembered falling asleep on the Cart board without realizing it. Sure enough, the board was hard; upon waking, he was not only exhausted, but his back bones were also aching from the pressure. He said, "You don't know, I didn't sleep all night..." As he sat up, he noticed the sky was overcast, yet there was already a glimmer of dawn.

The group was still on the move, though at some point, the Torches had all been extinguished. In the Micro Light, one could only see the outlines of people; everyone was pitch black.

When he sat up, his whole body's bones ached, especially his head, which was buzzing.

Feeling chilled all over, Tang Zhao pulled the cloak covering him tighter.

A cloak?

And it was red?

"No way..."

Wei Zhangle said in a strange tone, "This one was given to you by that lord. He said..."

Then he heard someone say, "Soaked through and lying in the wind from all sides, yet you still dare to sleep. I could have buried you once we arrived."

It turned out that the red cloak was not far away. At this moment, the man was not wearing that red cloak, but was dressed in black, almost sinking into the dim sky, only his eyes were extremely bright when he turned his head.

Tang Zhao was stunned for a moment and hurriedly saluted, "Many thanks for your care, my lord."

He grabbed the cloak, intending to return it to the man, but suddenly smelled a bloody scent. Recalling that the man had carried heads behind him, the cloak must have been stained with quite a bit of human blood. His hand trembled, and he nearly dropped the cloak.

The man on horseback reached out and snatched the cloak up, saying, "Looking at how weak you are, I suppose you haven't done much courting of death in the past?"

Tang Zhao blankly replied, "No, I was born this way... My lord, where are we going?"

The man was just about to put the cloak on, but finding it stained with mud and filth, he threw it to the government runners behind him with disgust. Wearing only his black official uniform underneath, he retorted, "What do you think?"

Tang Zhao was startled, thinking to himself how would he know. As he said this, he suddenly looked back and saw a golden rim already appearing on the horizon.

"Sunrise... The East is behind us, are we backtracking?"

The man praised, "Not bad. Although you are a bit slow, you aren't stupid."

Tang Zhao hurriedly asked, "Are we going back to Xue Fu?"

This time, the man did not answer, leaving behind a single sentence: "Stay put." He rode forward.

Tang Zhao had no choice but to sit on the Cart. Looking around, he saw layers of pitch-black forests and muttered, "Still in the mountains, when will we reach flat ground?"

The mountain road was rugged, and the Donkey cart climbed the slopes slowly, jolting violently. In the end, he even doubted how he had managed to fall asleep just now.

"Are we really going back to the Xue Clan?"

As he spoke, he suddenly heard a light "Crack!" sound under the wheels.

The procession stopped.

There were people all around, and people in front, so Tang Zhao couldn't see anything and didn't know where they had arrived.

But that sudden, sharp sound made him feel that something was not right.

It was the sound of something being crushed.

"What do you think that was? It sounded a bit like a chestnut shell," he asked Wei Zhangle quietly.

That was what he said, but he didn't truly believe that what they had run over was a chestnut shell. Unless chestnuts grew to the size of a football.

Wei Zhangle also whispered, "Listening to the sound, could it be... a bug? The kind with a shell?"

A chill ran through Tang Zhao's heart, and he heard someone in front say coldly, "Lord Xing, you arrive uninvited in the dead of night, charging through all the way; this puts us in a very difficult position."

Then he heard the voice of the red cloak say, "An uninvited guest? Your Manor Master invited me here, did he not tell you?"

That person said, "I have not heard of this..."

The red cloak said, "Then you have heard of it now; it is not too late at all. Do you not believe this office?"

The person in front gave two dry laughs and said, "That would naturally not be the case. I have long admired the prestige of the Land Inspection Department. However, the Manor Master is not here today..."

Lord Xing laughed, "It doesn't matter. I am good friends with your Manor Master, so I can make the decision. Open the gate—"

Following his command, the procession moved forward again. The person in front was still saying something indistinctly, the tone sounding unpleasant, but the convoy was filled with the sounds of people, horses, and carts, which drowned out his voice.

The carts and horses gradually drove into a section of high walls. Tang Zhao pondered that the height of this wall was in no way inferior to Xue Fu; it seemed to be a large residence as well. He wondered what kind of quirk rich people had, building houses deep in the mountains, all pitch black—wasn't it frightening?

After entering the residence, the procession gradually split up. The main force continued on in a grand manner, while only two officials escorted their Donkey cart into a small courtyard. There were originally a few men and women dressed in black in the courtyard. One of the officials flashed a Waist Token and said, "You few, this place belongs to us now, go out and find something to do."

The few people all had indignant expressions, but they still lowered their heads and left. That official added, "There will be hot soup, hot food, and hot water sent over."

Tang Zhao and Wei Zhangle got off the cart and were locked in a side room. This room was not large, but it seemed to be lived in regularly; the furniture was complete, and the charcoal in the stove was hot. Tang Zhao sat by the warm stove, took off his outer coat, and dried his cotton-padded clothes and himself separately.

As the heat entered his body, Tang Zhao finally relaxed, but his fatigue had not faded, and the hunger returned. In short, he felt miserable in every way.

Wei Zhangle was also sitting there. He was better off than Tang Zhao in that he hadn't been soaked by water, so he wasn't quite as cold. He said, "Everything here is pitch black."

Just as he said, the furnishings in the room were black: the standing cabinet was black, the bed curtains were black, the window paper was black, and there was even a black candle on the table. Being in the midst of it, one couldn't help but feel oppressed.

Tang Zhao had never seen such a style of furnishing either, and said, "It is indeed very strange. Wouldn't it be inconvenient to live like this with everything matching in color?"

As they were speaking, someone passed in food and drink from outside, along with a basin of hot water. The food was only steamed buns, salted vegetables, and noodle soup, but the buns were white and tender, steaming hot; one look and it was clearly fine flour. Not to mention Wei Zhangle, even Tang Zhao swallowed his saliva.

Although he was greedy, Tang Zhao still splashed water to wash his hands first, then clamped the salted vegetable onto a bun and stuffed it into his mouth in one go.

Satisfying!

After eating a large bun in one breath and finishing a bowl of noodle soup, Tang Zhao went to take a second one and found Wei Zhangle carefully breaking a large half of a bun apart. He asked in surprise, "What's wrong? Isn't it delicious to finish one in a single bite?"

Could it be that something was hidden inside the bun?

There was a story in some espionage tales that mentioned this.

Wei Zhangle was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly, "Ah, I forgot. When I eat something good, I always want to break it into several pieces." His hand holding the bun paused in the air, and finally, he stuffed the whole bun into his mouth and chewed fiercely.

"Today, I shall enjoy it alone."

Tang Zhao was silent. After a while, he said, "I don't think this matter is very dangerous. Although we were detained, we weren't thrown into a dungeon or shackled with torture devices, so I imagine there is still a turning point. If there is a hidden reason for this, we will be able to reunite once we pass this hurdle."

Wei Zhangle lowered his eyes and said, "Reunion... to speak a heart-piercing truth, they have been suffering from hunger and cold following me. If they could find a place with warmth and food, what does it matter if we are reunited or not? Actually, I have been thinking, if there was no other way, I would just sell myself to a wealthy family, along with my younger brother and sister, to be servants; that would be better than starving to death together. It was only because of this accident that I didn't get the chance, so perhaps they have escaped a calamity. Now that I can entrust them to a kind person, I am actually relieved. It is just... just that I feel sorry for the other party. We are neither kin nor acquaintances; who deserves to be saddled with such a burden?"

Tang Zhao thought of the fat human trafficker in the desolate village, shook his head, and said, "Selling yourself is by no means a way out; it will only lead to falling into the hands of beasts. Are you literate?"

Wei Zhangle nodded.

Tang Zhao Ask again, "Can you do accounts?"

Wei Zhangle said, "I can do a little."

Tang Zhao said, "That's fine. Later, when the time comes, I will hire you as a clerk, and I will definitely pay you a salary."

Wei Zhangle said with surprise, "Are you some young master of a firm? What business does your esteemed shop deal in?"

Tang Zhao said, "I haven't decided yet."

Wei Zhangle was stunned, and Tang Zhao said, "My business is still in the startup phase, but in the future, it will definitely be a very, very large... group corporation! A monopoly, a great trust! The business will spread across the world, with chains in every city, thousands of employees, and billions in turnover. It will control the economic lifeline, covering everything from people's livelihoods to military supplies, clothing, food, housing, and transportation. When that time comes, for every ten measures of gold in the world, I will earn eight."

Wei Zhangle had never been fed such empty promises before; he listened, dumbfounded, and said, "Yes... but..."

Tang Zhao said, "Of course, this is a long-term plan, a plan made by Chen Zong... an elder of mine. Naturally, he told me that he would be the President and I would be the CEO. Later, he left and left the position of President to me as well. Now, I am the head of a group."

Wei Zhangle stammered, "But... but what is the use of that... President?"

Tang Zhao said, "Of course it's useful... but it's useless for now. After all, the group hasn't opened for business yet. I am saying these things as a long-term plan; those who do not plan for the ages are not enough to plan for the moment. A ten-thousand-foot tower rises from the ground. After this calamity passes, I will first open a small business to accumulate some capital; it should be in catering."

Wei Zhangle let out a breath and said, "Catering... is that a restaurant? If you open a shop, I can be a waiter for you; I can do both bookkeeping and waiting tables. But you must have capital, right?"

Tang Zhao said, "I have money too..."

Just then, someone outside the window let out a "pfft" sound of laughter.

Although it was only a soft laugh, one could tell it was a woman's voice.

Tang Zhao's old face flushed, and he thought to himself: Strange, I wasn't bragging, why am I blushing?

"Knock, knock."

The person outside the window tapped on the window paper and said, "Come out, I'll take you somewhere."

Wei Zhangle's expression tightened as he looked at Tang Zhao, and Tang Zhao held up a thumb to tell him to be at ease.

Since the person outside the window was a woman, judging by the voice, she was quite young. Tang Zhao thought he shouldn't be disheveled and lose his manners; he was indeed in a sorry state right now, even more so than Wei Zhangle. After all, Wei Zhangle hadn't fallen headfirst into the mud.

There was still hot water in front of him, so Tang Zhao scooped some up, washed his face, and combed his hair with his hands. He lowered his head again, intending to use the water surface as a Mirror to check his appearance.

His face gradually leaned toward the water surface, getting closer and closer, when suddenly, his features froze.

After a moment, as if someone had suddenly unlocked a restraint, Tang Zhao jumped up as if fitted with a spring, pushed the basin away with one hand, and shouted, "There... there's a spider!"