Xie Xie and Chili Sauce

The hands of the clock in the living room had just passed four in the afternoon. Sunlight streamed through the cream-colored sheer curtains, weaving diamond-shaped patches of light across the floor.

Xu Xiaoyan curled up on the three-seater sofa with a wicker fruit basket in her lap. An apple rested in her left hand, a silver knife in her right, its blade tracing smooth arcs through the flesh. A bit of apple juice clung to the tip of her nose as she arranged the rabbit-shaped apple slices onto a white porcelain plate. Every time she finished placing one, she looked up at the two people across the coffee table as if watching an entertaining silent play.

"Gu Yue, you've been turning those pages for half an hour." Xie Xie lounged in an armchair with one leg crossed over the other, spinning the Light Dragon Dagger on his fingertip. Its metallic gleam made the eyes dizzy. "Sit on the cold benches at Shrek Library too long, and even your brain turns to ice, huh?" He put deliberate emphasis on the words "cold benches," his rising tone barbed.

Gu Yue did not look up. The pages rustled beneath her fingertips. "Still better than certain people whose footwork looks flashy on the training ground, but who can't even control their soul power in an actual spar." She closed the book. The gilded words Elemental Origin on its cover gleamed coldly in the sunlight. "When you sparred with Ye Xinglan last week, the angle of your second soul skill, Light Dragon Cross Slash, was off by a full fifteen degrees."

"You don't know shit!" Xie Xie's Light Dragon Dagger slammed into the edge of the coffee table with a snap, making the fruit plate wobble. "That was tactics! Throwing off the opponent's judgment! Besides..." He suddenly leaned toward Gu Yue, tugging his lips into a roguish grin. "It's still better than you—standing there like a block of ice every day. Aside from your soul power fluctuations, you don't have a shred of warmth in you. You're like some robot with a preset program."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop by five degrees. Xu Xiaoyan froze mid-slice, and an apple piece rolled to the edge of the plate, nearly falling off. Tang Wulin paused while wiping the table and looked toward Gu Yue, only to find that not even her eyelashes had trembled. A faint shadow merely flickered deep in her eyes.

"Warmth?" Gu Yue finally looked up. "At the critical moment in the Ascension Platform, your legs went weak from fear, and Tang Wulin had to drag you away."

"You!" Xie Xie's face turned liver-red. He slapped her hand away. "I was conserving my strength! Do you understand tactical maneuvering? Unlike you, wound up tight like a string. Sooner or later, you'll snap!"

"Enough." Tang Wulin put down the cleaning cloth and rose to separate them. "You're teammates. What are you fighting for?"

But Gu Yue had already gotten up and headed for the kitchen. As she passed Xie Xie, she tossed out one sentence. "Since you think I have no humanity, you can solve dinner yourself tonight." Her back was ramrod straight, her ponytail swaying lightly with each step like a snow cedar that refused to bend.

Xu Xiaoyan hurriedly gathered the fruit plate and followed after her. "Gu Yue, wait for me! I'll help!" She secretly winked at Xie Xie and mouthed, "This is going to be fun."

The sound of running water and chopping soon came from the kitchen. Xie Xie stood in the middle of the living room, staring at the tightly shut kitchen door, feeling inexplicably uneasy. He rubbed his stomach. He had skipped breakfast that morning just to spite Gu Yue, and he really was hungry now. But the thought of backing down made his stubbornness flare up again.

"Tch. Who cares about her cooking?" He punched the air and turned to raid the snack cabinet, only for Tang Wulin to stop him with a hand on his shoulder. "Don't mess around. When Gu Yue is angry, the kitchen becomes a forbidden zone."

As soon as he finished speaking, a muffled bang came from the kitchen, as if a spatula had struck the rim of a wok. Then Xu Xiaoyan cried out, "Gu Yue! Is that chili powder or flour?"

"Special seasoning." Gu Yue's voice drifted through the door, calm as if she were commenting on the weather. "Didn't someone say I have no warmth? Let him taste what fiery human warmth is."

Xie Xie's ears twitched, and alarm bells blared in his mind. He quietly crept to the kitchen door and peered through the crack. Gu Yue wore an apron printed with little daisies—Xu Xiaoyan's birthday gift to her. Standing at the stove, she held a wok in her left hand and a small porcelain bottle in her right, dripping dark-red liquid into Xie Xie's portion. Smoke rose from the pan, carrying a pungent fragrance that made his nose itch.

"Gu Yue," Xu Xiaoyan asked curiously as she stood nearby holding a bundle of greens, "how long have you been making this Chili Sauce?"

"One year." Without raising her head, Gu Yue said, "It uses fire-element spiritual herbs from Blazing Sun Spring, mixed with five Heaven Soul Chili Peppers of different heat levels." She glanced at Xie Xie's plate, the corner of her lips curving almost imperceptibly. "Every drop is guaranteed to pack a punch."

A cold sweat broke out on the back of Xie Xie's neck. He remembered the assessment last month, when someone from the neighboring class had eaten this Chili Sauce and immediately burst into tears, screaming for his mother and claiming his tongue was about to run away from home.

Twenty minutes later, four dishes and a soup were laid out on the dining table. The tomato scrambled eggs gleamed invitingly, the steamed perch gave off curling steam, and the garlic broccoli was a vivid green. Only Xie Xie's plate of stir-fried green peppers and pork had a suspicious layer of red oil floating on top, its chili seeds glittering beneath the lights.

"Dinner's ready!" Xu Xiaoyan pulled out a chair and sat down first. Tang Wulin pulled out the head chair for Gu Yue before sitting beside her. Xie Xie slowly shuffled into his seat, staring at the food before him as his Adam's apple bobbed.

"What? Afraid to eat it?" Gu Yue served him a bowl of rice, her tone flat. "Or is someone's mouth so hard that even chilies have to bow in defeat?"

Xie Xie was provoked, his blood rushing to his head. He grabbed his chopsticks and picked up a huge piece of green pepper—the pork slice was coated in red oil, glowing under the lights like a red-hot coal. He tipped back his head and stuffed it into his mouth, swallowing it without even chewing, trying to end this "torture" as quickly as possible.

Then, in the next instant, his expression froze.

First, it felt as though sparks had scorched the tip of his tongue. Then burning heat exploded in his throat, as if he had swallowed a lump of red-hot charcoal. The spice raced down his esophagus, and a raging fire instantly erupted in his stomach. Tears flooded out uncontrollably. His mouth hung open, but no sound came out except ragged, wheezing gasps.

"Xie Xie!" Xu Xiaoyan threw down her chopsticks in fright and hurriedly handed him water. "Drink some water, quick!"

Tang Wulin rose as well, placing a hand against Xie Xie's back. Gentle spiritual power entered him to soothe his chaotic soul power. But the heat seemed alive, rampaging through his meridians. Xie Xie's scalp went numb, and darkness washed over his vision in waves.

Gu Yue leisurely picked up a bite of broccoli without even lifting her eyes. "I told you it was special Chili Sauce. Tang Wulin, don't waste your soul power. His taste buds can only recognize the word 'spicy' right now."

"Gu Yue! You... you're trying to murder me!" Xie Xie finally managed to speak, his voice rasping like sandpaper. "I'm... I'm telling Teacher Wu! You're abusing a student!"

"Reporting me?" Gu Yue put down her chopsticks and wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin. "Do you need me to draft the complaint for you? We can list the charge as 'receiving an appropriate taste-based punishment for improper speech.'"

Xu Xiaoyan was shaking with suppressed laughter as she handed Xie Xie his third glass of water. Only after he gulped down the entire glass did the burning ease slightly. But his lips had already swollen like two sausages, and his words leaked air. "You... just wait... next time... I'll make Tang Wulin... hide that stupid book of yours..."

"You can try." Gu Yue picked up the soup ladle and scooped him a spoonful of egg soup. "Finish the soup, and I'll consider telling you the Chili Sauce recipe, so you'll know what real heat is."

Xie Xie looked at the spoonful of soup, then at Gu Yue's calm, unreadable eyes. Suddenly, his spirit deflated. He took the bowl and drained it in one gulp, trembling all over from the heat, yet he still stiffened his neck and muttered, "...You win."

Dinner continued in a strange atmosphere. Xie Xie examined every bite of food for a long while before daring to put it in his mouth, only after confirming there was no red oil on it. Gu Yue, meanwhile, ate steadily. She occasionally picked food for Tang Wulin and served soup to Xu Xiaoyan, but she acted as though Xie Xie's plate did not exist.

When the final dish, seaweed egg-drop soup, was served, Gu Yue suddenly pushed her own bowl toward Xie Xie. "Drink it."

"Why?" Xie Xie eyed the clear soup warily, suspecting it had been poisoned.

"It'll cool the spice." Gu Yue said, "I added honey and mint. It can neutralize the capsaicin."

Xie Xie was stunned. He looked at the bowl, then at Gu Yue. She still wore that cool, detached expression and did not seem to be joking. After hesitating for a moment, he lifted the bowl and took a sip. A cool sweetness instantly soothed the burning in his mouth, and even the anger in his heart faded by more than half.

"...Thanks," he said quietly, the tips of his ears secretly turning red.

Gu Yue said nothing. She simply put her bottle of Chili Sauce away on the highest shelf of the cabinet, her movements gentle as though she were hiding a treasure.

As night deepened, the living room lights were dimmed to a warm yellow. Tang Wulin cleared the dining table, Xu Xiaoyan hung towels out on the balcony, and Xie Xie sprawled on the sofa rubbing his stomach. Gu Yue returned to the window and reopened Elemental Origin.

"Hey," Xie Xie suddenly said, his voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz. "Tomorrow... tomorrow during training, if I beat you, can you tell me the Chili Sauce recipe?"

Gu Yue's hand paused on the page as she turned to look at him. Moonlight fell through the window onto her face, softening her sharp features. She was silent for a few seconds before suddenly smiling—not her usual faint smile, but a genuine upward curve of her lips, like ice and snow beginning to melt.

"Fine," she said. "But first, you have to admit that the Chili Sauce earlier was a little excessive."

Xie Xie looked at her smile, and for some reason, his heart skipped a beat. He scratched his head and grinned foolishly as well. "Fine! I admit it! But you have to admit that when you smiled just now... you actually looked pretty human."

Gu Yue did not argue. She only lowered her head and resumed reading, though the tips of her ears quietly flushed pale pink. When Xu Xiaoyan returned from hanging the towels and saw the scene, she secretly made a victory sign, only for Tang Wulin to smile and ruffle her hair.

The clock in the living room pointed to nine, and the day's clamor settled into quiet. Outside, the wind gently stirred the curtains, carrying the fragrance of flowers from the distant garden.