Black Pearl Chapter 25

From that Thian-liong-pang. Ma Kiu immediately spoke, his voice turning friendly,

"Ah, so Ji-wi are envoys from the Pak-sin-ong? This is truly a great honor for Thian-liong-pang, and the misunderstanding that occurred a few weeks ago was the fault of our subordinates. We beg Ji-wi to forgive us."

"I do not know what you mean."

Said Kwi Lan after exchanging glances with Hauw Lam.

"However, what is clear is that this horse is no ordinary horse, but a descendant of the Khitan Queen's personal steed. We hope Thian-liong-pang accepts this gift from the Khitan Queen."

Kwi Lan spoke honestly, because in her heart she still leaned toward defending the Khitan Queen, who, according to her master and aunt, was her own birth mother. However, upon hearing this, Ma Kiu nodded and exchanged glances with his eleven brothers.

"We understand... we understand, and thank you very much," he said. Of course, Kwi Lan did not understand what he meant, but seeing Hauw Lam wink at her, she remained silent. She then jumped down from her horse and handed the reins to Ma Kiu. The prospective leader beckoned a tall, large member of the Thian-liong-pang.

"Take this horse to the stable and care for it well. Give it enough food and water."

The Tall Man bowed and accepted the reins. But as soon as he pulled the reins, the black horse, sensing the scent of a new person and feeling a hard tug, immediately neighed, opened its mouth, and charged at the Tall Man. The Tall Man was startled and tried to dodge, but it was too late; his shoulder was bitten, causing him to cry out in pain, and when the horse released its bite, the flesh of his shoulder along with his shirt was torn, and blood soaked his clothes. Naturally, this member was shocked and released the reins. Hauw Lam burst out laughing.

"I told you, this is no ordinary horse."

"Hmph, indeed a chosen horse. Twa-suheng, let me take it to the stable."

A man nearly forty years old, small and thin, stepped forward.

He was one of the Cap-ji-liong, and as soon as Ma Kiu nodded, The Skinny One snatched the reins of the horse, then his body soared onto the black horse's back. The horse neighed and struggled violently, but by clamping his legs to the horse's belly, The Small Skinny One remained seated calmly, even yanking hard on the reins. The black horse grew angrier, bucking and leaping high, shaking its back. An ordinary person would surely have been thrown off the horse's back, but it turned out that The Small Skinny One was extremely formidable. His body swayed back and forth, yet he managed to sit upright and steady. Finally, after the horse's nose and lips bled from the pull of the reins, the black horse became exhausted and simply obeyed, walking out of the reception hall. Ma Kiu then invited his two young guests to sit in the front section. Hauw Lam whispered.

"They think we are trusted figures of Jin-cam Khoa-ong, and usually, these Pak-sin-ong people travel disguised and keep their identities secret, as they are always targets of the Khitan government. Surely The Bearded Man thought we were pretending due to the many guests, which is why he said he understood." The young man laughed, and Kwi Lan also chuckled with amusement. Servants quickly arrived carrying fragrant wine and delicious, expensive dishes. Since they were hungry and hadn't encountered such fine food in a long time, Hauw Lam and Kwi Lan did not hold back. It turned out that the humorous young man was a food expert. While trying and tasting the dozens of dishes flooding their table, Hauw Lam chattered incessantly, introducing each dish to Kwi Lan.

"This is special fried frog. This kind of frog is only found in swamps and southern regions. Its meat is tender, savory, and fragrant. That's why its price is extremely high. It's a pity this one is male; if it were female, it would be even more delicious. However, female frogs are rarely slaughtered because their eggs are needed. Only the Emperor likes to order fried female frogs."

The fried frog dish was indeed extraordinary. Unlike ordinary swike, this frog was fried with its striped skin intact, but it was precisely the skin that was delicious, crunchy like shrimp crackers. Also unlike ordinary swike, its bones were pleasant to eat, not hard.

"Wow, this is called deer tail soup. It's cooked with a mixture of peas and yellow mushrooms. Amazing. But if you eat too much, it makes your body hot and your blood flow fast. A little is enough to warm the body. And this is steamed feet of the water king bird. Do you know what a water king bird is? A duck. This is steamed duck feet. Deliciously chewy and savory. Wow, that one over there is roasted sky chicken. Tasty."

"What is sky chicken?"

Kwi Lan asked, delighted by this amusing explanation.

"Sky chicken? You don't know? Pigeon. It's good too, try it."

Kwi Lan's stomach was completely full because Hauw Lam was so skilled at introducing every dish that she couldn't resist tasting them.

"Hey, what is this dish? Why is the meat round but not meatballs? It's slippery..."

Hauw Lam stretched his neck to look, then poked it with his chopsticks to examine it.

"This...? Waaahh... that's absolutely crazy. This... this is not women's food. Damn it, why did they serve this? Truly cursed."

He grumbled at length without answering Kwi Lan's question. The girl, of course, became very curious,

"What dish is it? Why is it not women's food?"

She was very puzzled. Suddenly, Hauw Lam's face turned red, and he seemed stammering and nervous in answering. Yet, usually, this young man was the most articulate.

"The dish... waaahhh, how should I put this...? This dish is... the dish is... hemmmm..."

Because the two of them had been talking loudly without paying attention to others, this last conversation was naturally heard by the nearby guests. They began to laugh with amusement, witnessing Hauw Lam's behavior.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? Are you drunk? Why is it so hard to name a dish? If you don't know it, just say so frankly, why make it so difficult?"

Kwi Lan scolded him.

"Who says I don't know this dish? I've eaten every dish in the world. I've been inside the emperor's kitchen, I've participated in the Beng-kauw feast in the south. This dish is... mutton in tomato sauce."

"Uhh, if it's just mutton, why didn't you say so earlier? You seem to be lying. If it's really just mutton, why is it shaped round like this? And why did you say it wasn't women's food?"

"Ha-ha-ha-ha. That's not mutton, but... goat pellets. Ha-ha-ha."

The sound of laughter erupted loudly.

Hauw Lam and Kwi Lan looked over. They had known all along that not far from their table, about five meters away, six members of the clean-robed beggars were sitting around a table and had been observing the two of them. The six beggars were generally over sixty years old, but two of them were still young, and it was these two who were now laughing at the comment made by one of them. At that moment, Kwi Lan had already pierced two pieces of the mutton with her chopsticks; they were indeed egg-shaped rounds, about the size of a chicken egg.

"Only male goats have those pellets; female goats certainly don't. But it's wrong for people to say women shouldn't eat them. In fact, it's actually women's food, especially for beautiful women... Ha-ha-ha-ha."

Commented the second young beggar, and again the two men sitting facing Kwi Lan's table laughed openly while staring at the girl.