Chapter 24.1 - Melee

A woman serving wine came over with a wine pot bigger than her head and knelt on her knees. The revelers took the wine pot from on top of her head and filled themselves up. Hua Yi also picked up the wine pot and poured wine into two large bowls. Raising a bowl to the Jushan elder who’d been sneakily looking at him all this time, he drank the first bowl with great pride and honor. Then he took the second bowl.

As soon as Chang An caught the familiar scent of wine, he immediately recalled the tree that he had hacked at for years. He raised his hand and stopped the woman from giving him wine, shook his head, and said: “Many thanks, but I don’t want it.”

The woman serving the wine picked up the tray with the wine pot, raised herself slightly as she withdrew, then waited for others to call for her. Hua Yi breathed out a sigh when he smelled the wine’s fragrance. It felt like the breath he had been holding in his chest for months had been finally put down–no wonder Old Blind planned to kill him at this time.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Chang An’s indifferent look and he couldn’t help saying: “How could a man not drink? Men who seldom drink won’t grow up so much.”

Chang An lowered his eyes apathetically and rubbed the saber through its container with his palm. He was too lazy to quarrel with him, so he just took Hua Yi’s words as passing nonsense.

Because Hua Yi had drunk two mouthfuls of millet wine, he became more talkative than usual–when it came to this, it was like he and Bei Shi were siblings who had gotten it from the same mother.

Shaking the wine bowl, Hua Yi felt that the air coming out of his nose seemed to be warmer than usual. He whispered to Chang An: “Also, you are still young… When people grow up, their blood gets cold easily. A woman’s blood can be cold, but a man’s blood must not be cold. When it’s cold, you can’t move a blade, can’t kill anyone, and can’t bear to see blood. Only by this wine can people’s blood be warmed up again.”

Chang An was about to speak, but then he said nothing.

Hua Yi, with a good temper, said conscientiously: “You have something to say.”

Chang An then blurted out: “Why are you so meddlesome?”

Hua Yi froze for a moment, then burst into a hearty laughter. He stretched out his large hand and grabbed Chang An by the shoulder, roughly bringing him into his embrace. He patted him hard twice on the back and laughed as he gave an irrelevant reply: “I think you’re quite pleasing to the eye. After finishing this task, we will have a place to stay in for a while. If you’ve got nothing else, you might as well follow us ba?

However, before Chang An could answer, there was suddenly a scream and a group of people were shouting from the distance.

Musicians began beating the drums wildly, and people were gathering in the center one after another. Chang An and Hua Yi were squeezed into the crowd and pushed into the middle. A fire surrounded them in a circle and, in the middle, were three men dancing around a woman to the beat of the drum.

One of the men made a strange noise, his face turning red from anger. From afar, one could smell the scent of wine on him. After a while, he started ripping the woman’s clothes.

The woman looked like she had no bones, resembling a snake. Under the glow of the fire, her skin was like honey with a faint luster on it. Squinting her doe eyes [1], she wrapped her whole body around the man, her waist and arms unimaginably soft.

The people were surrounding them and stamping their feet. Along the anxious and urgent rhythm of the drum were the wolf whistles of the crowd. The man and the woman entangled in public without a care. The two other men in the field were immediately excited. They moved closer to find a chance to fondle the woman’s thighs and chest.

The musicians played a messier beat on the drums, and all the people were in wild excitement. They were like beasts collectively in estrus, and the air was full of restlessness and desire.

A naked beastman jumped into the middle and poured a bowl of wine on his body. Aside from the crotch where a piece of hide was left, his entire body revealed bulging muscles. Who knew if it was because of the wine or his sweat, but his skin was glistening. And when he beat himself on the chest, he looked like an orangutan.Then, with a clang, he took a dagger from the man next to him and played with it in his hand.

A frightened horned deer was tied up and carried in. The man with the dagger yelled. He killed the horned deer and skillfully released its blood. Kneeling on his knees, he held the large bowl of warm blood. After drinking a lot, his throat was moistened. Then, the beastman opened his bloody mouth and sang a song that couldn’t be heard clearly.

Several other people in the field also joined in. They poured deer blood on their bodies and danced like a group of monsters.

The crowd were once again in a frenzy. Without warning, Hua Yi suddenly grabbed Chang An by the waist and brought him into his arms, avoiding a beastman who seemed to be deliberately trying to run into Chang An. He told him: “Don’t move, the old bastard is looking this way.”

Chang An was caught off guard, his whole body trembling. He was most afraid of other people touching his waist. He itched to death, but he had no choice but to endure. The muscles on his waist were stretched taut to the extreme, becoming as rigid as a pillar.

With his hands, feet, and complexion stretched taut, he looked so not frivolous that it was laughable against such a wild background.

His reaction was so interesting that Hua Yi felt even the skin on his face looked so tight. In spite of this, he still didn’t release his hand to prevent Chang An from moving.

However, with their bodies being too close, Hua Yi caught scent of the pure and fresh smell of the young man amidst such a lustful atmosphere. He didn’t know if it was the atmosphere or if he had drank too much wine, but he felt that his mouth was dry, his heart pounding erratically, almost palpitating.

Perhaps it’s because the contrast is too strong, Hua Yi told himself. He quickly controlled his mind and made it look like he had simply drunk too much. Hanging over Chang An’s body, he silently paid attention to the dozens of beastmen drawing close to them from all sides.

They really think highly of me–The face buried in Chang An’s shoulder revealed a smile.