14 14. Trouble Cooking

The previous day, the four miners Gray beat up were met with even more misfortune after he stole away their 'meteorite'.

They arrived at the crater after he disappeared so they couldn't tell where he went. They searched the entire crater but didn't find a single fragment of meteorite.

While they feverishly searched, they failed to notice that a group of older miners had arrived at the crater as well. There were six men in total, some tall, some short, and one with a full beard. They were all strong and stocky, signs of a successful and well-fed mining gang.

"Hey, runts, stop what you're doing!" One of them yelled as they jumped into the crater.

"The meteor is now the property of the Road Gang!" The bearded one exclaimed haughtily. "If you bastards don't want a good beating, be obedient and hand over all your crap!"

"We don't have anything!" Big Ear said quickly.

The bearded man strode forward and slapped him so hard he fell to the ground.

"Don't lie to me, boy." He said and turned to another, "Little Hu, is this how you teach your crew, to not respect your elders?"

Little Hu dropped to his knees, "Boss Old Road, spare us! We just got here a few moments ago, everything in the crater is yours. Please let us go!"

"Haha, that's more like it. Men, find my meteorite!"

"Yes, boss!"

The five underlings fanned out to search the crash site while Old Road remained with the four young men. After a period of searching, they all came back empty-handed.

"There's nothing here."

"Demon shit!" Old Road spat, "Search again!"

"Wait, boss!" Ming suddenly cut in, "Before we got here, we saw Gray pass us up the hill. By the time we got here, he was gone and there was nothing left. He took all the meteorite!"

"Who the hell are you? How can that fat asshole carry away every single fragment in a short amount of time! Search them." Old Road ordered, pointing at the four.

His crew advanced on Little Hu and his group and surrounded them. They were forcibly stripped naked and their clothes searched. They could do nothing but suffer the indignation. The men of the Road Gang were much stronger. If they struggled or complained, a few slaps and punches were thrown in to shut them up.

Nothing was found on their body so Old Road made everyone search the crater again. The experienced miners were very thorough but there was not a speck of meteorite anywhere.

Old Road slammed his pickaxe on the ground in frustration. "Damn it, that bastard Gray… He got us again!"

"Yeah, boss. He's gotten way too arrogant lately." One of his men said, "But he's crazy tough, I don't think we can beat him."

Old Road sighed. "Bastard."

Ming had an ugly look on his face. He was filled with anger and hatred at Gray. He couldn't fight back against these unreasonable old farts so the only thing he could think of was to make Gray pay for this humiliation.

"Boss, I am Ming," Ming spoke up, "The meteorite belongs to you, big boss. How dare he steal it from you? We have to get it back! He has to come back to the village at some point, to gets his food and other stuff. We should stake out the village to wait for him. When he leaves, we will all ambush him and take everything from him!"

"No!" One of the older miners shook his head, "Remember what happened last time."

"There's only one of him and ten of us. If that's not enough, we can find even more people to help us." Ming said viciously.

Old Lu finally smiled and patted the young man's shoulder, "Smart. I like you, boy. You can join my gang from now on. Let's do as you say!"

---

Back at the mountain cave, Gray sat and watched the fire intently where two large eggs were cooking. Xueling was on the second day of recovery and needed food. After the giant emu, he failed to catch anything even after spending the whole day. He was forced to bring out the two emu eggs or they would both starve.

He was shocked that she managed to eat all of the remaining bird meat in one sitting. Her stomach was a true bottomless pit. He couldn't believe her thin waist could hold all that food but it did so without the slightest sign of expanding. Her appetite was huge and it was a struggle to feed her.

The eggs were finally done and he grabbed them with his bare hands. He dunked them in a pot of water to cool off.

"Are you sure it's ready? Your roast bird was disgusting." Xueling asked.

"Hey, you still ate it all!"

"I need food to recover. It's not like I had any other choice."

"Don't worry, fairy sister. The only thing I can cook is eggs!"

Fairy sister was the name he came up for her. She was so beautiful, she had to be a mythical being. She could also do inexplicable things like make objects appear out of thin air. If she wasn't a fairy, what else could she be?

"Don't call me that." Xueling muttered, for what seemed like the thousandth time.

Gray ignored her and continued preparing the eggs. He took the chilled eggs out of the pot and peeled the shell off the top. Using a dull knife, he cut open the perfectly done egg white to reveal a slightly runny golden yolk. Lastly, he added a pinch of precious salt as a finishing touch.

"Fairy sister, it's ready, the greatest dish I have ever created. I call it boiled egg with salt!" Gray declared proudly.

He handed her one of the eggs along with the only wooden spoon he owned.

Xueling's lip twitched as she received her meal. "Are you being serious?"

However, he didn't hear her question. He had already stuck his face into his own egg, slurping loudly.

She sighed. She scooped some egg white along with the yolk and tasted it.

"Oh… it's good!" She exclaimed.

Gray picked his head up and grinned, "Of course. Like I said, the only thing I can cook is eggs!"

The statement was silly and pointless but she couldn't help but let out a small giggle.

His heart soared and he laughed. Up until now, she had kept up a serious and gloomy face. She was no doubt still thinking about the events that led up to her current state. But with the egg, she finally seemed more relaxed. The tension in her body was slowly draining away with each bite.

He had to get more delicious food in her mouth. Perhaps she would like him better then?

He looked at her, at his half-eaten egg, and then back at her, "Uhh… is it enough? Do you want mine?"

"Gray, eat." She said simply, "You're a big boy, you need food too."

"Okay…"

He quickly finished the remaining egg and wiped his face with his hand. He glanced over and saw that she had finished as well.

"Good?" Gray asked.

"Mmm!" Xueling nodded, wiping her mouth with a handkerchief.

"Fairy sister, I'm sorry for being terrible at hunting."

"… it's okay. The boiled egg was delicious."

"Thanks!"

His smile was pure and contagious and her lips also curled up slightly before she caught herself. He wasn't discouraged though; he knew what he had to do.

"You just rest here. I will go to the village and buy more food." He said.

He got up and went into the mountain tunnel. He hauled out some of the ore he had already excavated and place it inside two sacks. It was quite heavy and probably weighed close to a hundred kilograms each. He didn't have a cart so this was the most he could carry without the sacks ripping apart.

He lifted the sacks effortlessly and ran out of the cave. In his haste to leave, he failed to notice the look of astonishment on her face.