44 Pride's Worth

Chu Fan had many things on his mind at the moment. He had devised a plan for Ye Qing while he spent time experimenting with the list of ingredients. He gave Da Bao and Tian Han the task of watching over Ye Qing, making sure he followed through with Chu Fan's orders and did not go crawling over to Wang Zhinu.

At the moment, Chu Fan was in the kitchen, working up a sweat as Yao Lingyan and Hun Lian took turns wiping his sweat while keeping him hydrated. Four days had passed since the arranging of the match; and Chu Fan had only rested a total of nine hours since then. The two girls did not want to leave Chu Fan's side. If he was not willing to care for his health, then they would bear the responsibility for him as people who cared for him.

"Chu Fan, take a moment to rest. You've been cooking all day. You still have three days until the match." said Yao Lingyan as she wiped the sweat off his brows.

"Don't work yourself so hard. If all goes bad and you lose, I'll ask big sister Wang to forget about the matter." Hun Lian said as she gave Chu Fan a sip of water.

Chu Fan put the lid on his wok and took a step back. He was finally done with cooking for the day. He went and filled a bucket with water and began washing his sweat covered face.

"You don't get it. This is not just a simple contest of ability. It's a necessary lesson that must be taught to Wang Zhinu. Even if I lose, I must prove a point."

Yao Lingyan crossed her arms and harrumphed.

"Why must you men be so stubborn and quick to put women down?"

Chu Fan shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Why must women always be right and quick to judge others?"

Hun Lian stood silently, spectating the two bicker. Yao Lingyan was furious and began waving her hands about as she argued.

"Y-You insolent fool!" she said as she turned away teary eyed. She stormed out of the kitchen, throwing Chu Fan's sweat soaked towel at him. And she swiftly exited to cafeteria sobbing.

Around the corner of the kitchen entrance, Nian Gao appeared. He had been hiding ever since he heard the two arguing. Seeing Hun Lian there, he ran over to her and she began petting him.

"Nian Gao, tell your father to calm down. His and your first mother's temper tantrums are scaring all of us here." Hun Lian said as she turned Nian Gao's face to look at Chu Fan.

Chu Fan turned over to see Hun Lian and Nian Gao. He sighed and walked over to pet Nian Gao.

"Hun Lian, you have faith in me to trust that I know what I am doing, right?"

Hun Lian bit her lips as she looked at Chu Fan and nodded her head.

"Yes, but you should also know that it's frightening for us to see you in such a frenzied state. It's been four days since you've had any actual sleep. We're both just worried that you are making this bigger than it should be."

Chu Fan sighed again as he looked at his reflection off a kitchen knife on the chopping board. He noticed how haggard he was beginning to look. Perhaps he was taking this too seriously, and he was forgetting about his original intended purpose. He sighed and pat Hun Lian on the head.

"Maybe I have been too hard on myself. Thank you for helping me see that, my precious. I'm wondering if I could ask you to go and apologize to Lingyan in my stead?"

Hun Lian shook her head and pouted.

"Mm-nn! I'm not cleaning up your mess for you. You owe it to big sister Lingyan. If you want to apologize, you're going to have to say it in person."

Chu Fan nodded as he understood every bit. He really did owe her an apology in person.

"Ha, what is pride's worth when love is on the line? Go and keep her company with Nian Gao. I'll come get you all after I catch up on rest, alright?"

Hun Lian smiled and picked up Nian Gao in her hands.

"Okay! Let's go first then Nian Gao."

Hun Lian left with Nian Gao in her arms, skipping along the way. She had accomplished a great task that was getting Chu Fan to think straight.

Chu Fan took off his apron and looked at the food he had just cooked. He scooped a spoonful of it and tasted it. He could not stomach the taste and spit it out.

"Ugh, so salty and bitter. My state of mind is really bad, some sleep should help a bit."

He entered his room and leapt onto his bed, which currently felt like a cloud. He quickly fell asleep and could be heard snoring by the various disciples who came to eat. Luckily Chun Juan was there and promptly closed the door the Chu Fan's bedroom, which the latter had forgotten to close behind him.

Twelve hours had passed and Chu Fan finally woke up. It was not nearly enough for him to have fully recuperated, but Chu Fan was more himself than he had been the past couple of days prior. It was now night time and Nian Gao was not present. He knew where to look for Nian Gao and went out after taking a bath.

In the dead of the night, Chu Fan was accompanied by Chun Juan as he went back to his old dorm room. It had been a while since he had slept there, all because it was too time consuming for him to sleep there, cultivate in the morning, then make a trip to the cafeteria every morning.

As he entered the room, he heard Nian Gao's distinct purring. Yao Lingyan was currently cuddling with Nian Gao as if the latter was a plushy doll. As she hugged Nian Gao tightly, Chu Fan was able to make out Yao Lingyan's puffed and teary eyes; she had fallen asleep while crying about their argument.

Chu Fan walked over and stroked Yao Lingyan's head. She was still sniffling, which made her very cute.

"Silly girl. You cried all day over such a small argument?" he said as he shook his head.

He turned his head to look around the room, Tian Han and Da Bao were still on their mission. At the moment, they were tasked with being a part of Ye Qing's posse as he paraded around the red-light district. The two sworn brothers were having the time of their lives as they went about sight-seeing, basking in the ever-so plentiful views of mountains and gorges.

Nian Gao was able to sense Chu Fan's presence and he woke up. He began to struggle as he fought to free himself from Yao Lingyan's grasp. Chu Fan placed his hand on Nian Gao's head as he shushed the combat beast.

"Hush, don't wake her up. Be a good boy and just go back to sleep. You can endure a night without me. Besides, you should be happy to be in the arms of a princess."

"Ruru." Nian Gao whined as he was willing to comply with his master's orders. Nian Gao only regretted that he was not able to share his good fortune with his master.

Chu Fan looked over at his own bed, he noticed that the others had seemingly bought him another blanket for the winter. His eyes teared up as he never knew how considerate the others were of him, that they would prepare in the event that he would want to spend the night in the dorm again during the winter.

He walked over and laid down on his bed. He pulled a blanket over himself and basked in the warm sensation he was feeling. He soon fell asleep, forgetting about the reason he returned to the dorm.

Night had turned to day as morning came. Chu Fan woke up feeling refreshed, but he felt that he was heavier than usual. He started feeling around, and as he placed his hands over his lower regions, he felt a hairy, melon-like object between his legs.

"I didn't expect my growth spurt in this world to be so fierce and formidable."

He then felt a stranger lump, one made of cartilage. He pinched the object to see if he would react.

"AAH! What the hell?!"

He felt a bite in his right inner thigh, like a giant snake had sunk its fangs into him.

"AIEEEE! FU%&^NG SH%*!"

He jumped up throwing the blanket to the floor. No amount of his Body Refinement training was able to help him as he was not prepared to be attacked; the passive defense portion of the Codex of Infinite Vigor could only be accessed when he had reached the Organ Overhaul stage. Thus Chu Fan began to dance around as he clenched his inner thigh. A figure with their hair let down was sitting down clenching their, very pink and sore ear. This person was Hun Lian; what Chu Fan had mistaken for a second blanket roll was, in truth, a slumbering Hun Lian.

"Wuwu! Why did you have to pinch so hard?"

Chu Fan was now keeled over as he grit his teeth, tears flowing down his cheeks.

"Why'd you have to bite me there!? Wuwuwu!"

Their commotion woke everyone up. Nian Gao escaped Yao Lingyan's embrace as the latter got up and rubbed her eyes. Da Bao and Tian Han had come back very late as the sun rose; seeing as Chu Fan was the one screaming, they simply glanced for a second before turning over to go back to sleep.

"What's going on Chu Fan? Chu Fan!? I'm still not speaking to you."

Yao Lingyan pouted and hid under her blanket, she refused to allow Chu Fan to see her until he apologized. Chu Fan was in a predicament, he wished to apologize then and there; it's just that the pain he was feeling was currently too much for him to handle. Taking deep breaths, he stood up and walked over to Yao Lingyan's bed, one step at a time.

"Ah. Look, Yao Lingya-aah. I'm sorry about how I've bee-aah....how I've been acting. You were....you were right. I apologize. I know that you only want what's best for my health. And now I can se-ah..now I see the error in my ways. Can you find it in your heart and soul to forgive this fool?"

He was standing over her, rubbing his thigh. He got no response for the first couple of seconds, but after a while he could hear faint laughter.

"Haha. Hahahaha!" she laughed as she stood up, flinging her blanket aside. Yao Lingyan hugged Chu Fan.

"You fool, you know I can't stay mad at you."

Chu Fan stroked her head as the pain seemed to slowly dissipate. Nian Gao was currently running around as all the noise put him an excited state. He jumped on the two hugging lovebirds, his claw touched Chu Fan's thigh and the latter fell over like a limp noodle.

"Ah! Dammit Nian Gao! Wuwu."

Hun Lian rushed over next to the two. The two girls looked at each other.

"We should probably take him to see a physician."