Chapter 29：There is Wine, There is Meat, There is Jiyan (1/2)
For an instant, even Harun felt dazed. In his 165 years of life, he'd seen countless women, countless beauties, and if at his age he still gawked before any, Harun felt that he should just find a rod to beat himself to death. But when that figure made her entrance, awestruck, Harun had to place one hand before his lips to avoid betraying himself.
Wearing a long cyan dress embroidered with the Empyreans' orchid, like the moon goddess of mortal fairy tales, that figure robbed the luster of the starry sky—outshining the full moon. Her rosy-white skin glittered with a luster of its own, clearly setting her aside from human girls, and as she stepped toward him, Harun could smell a faint floral scent overpowering his senses—preventing him from getting a good look at that figure's face.
But how could the overlord of plagues lose to a mere scent? Imperceptible dark-green light rippled in Harun's eyes, and the scent's effects collapsed—enabling him to see his helper's face—Jiyan's face.
”It's you?” Harun doubted his sight. Though they looked 90% similar, the girl before him possessed a completely different aura from the Jiyan he met in his cell. Both possessed the white hair and icy-blue eyes of the Empyrean race, the same straight-edge nose, those small but inviting lips. But unlike the slightly airheaded Jiyan, this one held herself with matchless poise, more akin to the God Empress—that image soon collapsed.
”Besides me, who would care for you? Glad to see that despite meeting me in my full glory, you've not lost your head—a promising man,” Jiyan said with an impish smile, pulled out the hairpin holding her long hair tied, and tossed it at the runaway assassin's corpse.
”Glad to see that you still got your head on your neck. When I got out of jails and heard that you succeeded, I initially wanted to celebrate and make more plans with you but...heard you're planning to battle all under the heavens,” Jiyan pursed her lips and, with a sideway glance, ambled at Harun.
”At first I got depressed, thinking that you crumbled under all the pressure and decided to kiss death's thigh with a big, juicy smile. But then I recalled how much you love being alive so...just decided to bring you wine and meat,” Jiyan leaned over, and while staring into Harun's eyes, summoned a wine jug in her right hand, and a bundled package in the left.
From that package, tiny Harun could smell the mesmerizing scent of roasted meat, a unique species he'd never tasted before. With gleaming eyes and watered lips, Harun's gaze wandered between the wine and meat—not knowing what to attack first. Meat won him over, and with a lightning fast grasp, he attempted to rob the package from Jiyan's hand. But faster, and now much taller than him due to his age reduction, Jiyan raised the package as high as she could, forcing Tiny Shota Harun to leap toward it time and time again.
”At your age, shouldn't you know that women don't like men that are too eager?” Jiyan chortled and patted Tiny Shota Harun's head.
”Who cares about women? Give me the meat!” Harun sobbed with large beady eyes, making Jiyan roll her eyes in exasperation. In the history of Heaven and Earth, where could one find a man that loved wine and meat more than women? Perhaps instead of dolling up, she should have basted herself with meat grease? And knowing that Harun wouldn't regain his cool before having the package in his hands, Jiyan sighed, and gave it to him.
As if he'd just gotten his hands on a priceless treasure, Harun held it tight against his chest, crying endless tears of joy.
”What a unique fragrance. After two years of sorrow, I'm finally rewarded for my good deeds! I thought the 33 Heavens enforced a vegetarian diet. Where did you get this?” Harun asked as his tears trickled down his cheeks.
”It's phoenix meat and contraband. Don't ask how I got it, I think you don't want to spoil the taste, do you?” Jiyan shrugged and said with an evasive glance. Knowing that some things were best kept secret, Harun didn't probe further.
”Never mind. There is wine, there is meat, there is Jiyan. What else can a man ask for? I give you an eternal pass to my house. Come when you want to, leave when you want to. You can stay for as long as you wish—forever isn't out of question!” Harun pledged, making Jiyan arch her eyebrows. While all those celestials and deities racked their brains and plotted to swindle Harun, she handled the job with two packages.
Past today, who could say that she wasn't the most brilliant person of the 33 Heavens? Her mother couldn't compare. And as Harun readied to open the packaged phoenix meat, Jiyan reached down, took him in her arms, and walked toward his pagoda's entrance.
”Wait, let go of me. This is child abuse! The shota community doesn't agree! Let go of me!” Harun thrashed against Jiyan's grasp, but soon realized that his best efforts couldn't break the slender girl's grip.