680 Traveling for Miles Just to Ea (1/2)
The mutton might taste far different from its original flavor, but above all, it had the texture of meat. And since meat could bring people happiness, all the Headmaster could do after expressing his annoyance and anger was to continue eating the meat. Yet he kept sighing while eating. He sighed at the mutton in his hand, at Sangsang, and even to the heaven above.
Sangsang felt confused, so did Ning Que. Ning Que patted on Sangsang's shoulder and tried to comfort her, and then he slowly moved next to Headmaster and asked in a soft voice, ”Are you sighing because it's troublesome?”
And by ”it”, Ning Que meant the whole incident in which the Headmaster fought Haotian to save Sangsang.
The Headmaster looked downcast and answered, ”Of course it is.”
Ning Que was nervous when hearing the answer, and his voice shook. ”But Sangsang should be just fine, right?” Asked Ning Que.
Hearing Ning Que's words, the Headmaster turned furious and asked accusingly, ”Don't you care about anyone other than your wife? How about caring a little about me, your teacher? Do you have any idea what filial piety is? Why would she be 'not fine' after eating medicine? Are you afraid that she's going to die or what? She would definitely outlive me if lucky! Now all I care about is meat! I am now not even in the mood to eat meat!”
Ning Que wiped the accusing spittle and grease off his face with one sleeve. He was wondering why the Headmaster turned so grumpy. Was it because of the exhausting fight with the Divine Guard of Light?
And when that idea came to his mind, he was no longer displeased. Sangsang and he had to serve the Headmaster with nice food and wine.
And when Sangsang was filling the bowl with soup, she tried to comfort Ning Que and whispered, ”It is said that people behave more like kids as they grow older, and all we need to do is to make them feel happy.”
Ning Que looked back at the Headmaster. The grumpy Headmaster was sitting on the grass, cursing heaven and hell. Ning Que felt worried still and he tried to explain, ”I know he has every reason to be grumpy, but I just have the feeling that something's wrong.”
They could not finish the roasted gigot even though this could be the best gigot Ning Que and Sangsang had ever tasted. And the Headmaster seemed not to care for the gigot at all.
Having been the cook in the Acadamy for a long time, Ning Que and Sangsang knew just how much the Headmaster could eat. Sometimes Ning Que joked that the Academy's rank had nothing to do with strength, and instead, those names were ranked by their appetites. For example, their Eldest Brother, who was seemingly kind and quiet, had an appetite that their Second Brother couldn't even imagine.
Sangsang then asked the Headmaster, ”How about the leftover gigot? Shall we send it back?”
”Those people have had more than enough nice gigots during their daily life, let alone these leftovers. Sending it back would be no better than a waste.”
The Headmaster signaled for Sangsang to put down the gigot. Then he whistled to the snowy hills in the north. The whistle wasn't loud, but it had reached far enough to alert all sheep in the meadow.
It didn't take long before the ground started to shake. The herd in the meadow felt so fearful of what was coming that they escaped in all directions. Some of the sheep even faked their deaths.
The Big Black Horse was feeding off the gigot when it suddenly raised its head and watched toward the north on alert. The hairs on its back danced in the breeze, as if they would stand straight soon.
A giant snowfield direwolf, with another skinny wolf which seemed quite ordinary, was approaching from the meadow in the north. They didn't care for the sheep pretending to be dead in the meadow at all.
The two wolves were approaching. The Big Black Horse showed its big shiny teeth and neighed sharply. The Horse clearly knew how sanguinary the wolves could be, and the seemingly skinny wolf was the most dangerous.
But the Horse now felt itself unbeatable because the Headmaster had its back.
...
...
The female snowfield direwolf sat down. It was like a snow hill on the meadow.
Sangsang streched her curious hands to feel its fur. It felt so soft.
The female wolf didn't reject Sangsang. It looked even more gentle and peaceful when it smelled the faint scent Sangsang was wearing. The she-wolf looked as if it was missing something, and the smell comforted it.
The skinny wolf was sitting in front of the Headmaster, both forepaws on its chest, like a saluting student. Ning Que, who was standing behind the Headmaster watched it with interest.
The Headmaster let Ning Que feed the wolf with the leftover gigot.
The skinny wolf didn't jump over the gigot immediately. Instead, it respectfully saluted the Headmaster and gave its wife a dignified glance.
The giant snowfield direwolf hesitated for a short moment, and then it left Sangsang to approach the Headmaster and give its salute.
The Headmaster was petting the wolf's messy hair. And judging by the hair, he knew that the wolf and its pack didn't have it easy since they came to the south. He gently stroked the wolf's head.
The skinny wolf allowed the Headmaster to pet it. It was slightly shaking in excitement. The Headmaster looked at it and said, ”I don't know if we will have a chance to meet again in the future, so I invited you here.”
Sangsang was passing by and upon hearing the Headmaster's words, she couldn't help feeling grieved.
The Headmaster turned to Sangsang and explained, ”They're the parents of Tangtang's Whitey.”
Sangsang finally understood why the she-wolf would look like it was missing something just now. She felt even more sorrowful because she knew the she-wolf was missing its kid that was far away from here, in the mountain behind the Academy.