Chapter 495 - Wine Does Not Boost One"s Courage, But To Kill
The Eastern Region was also known as the Holy Sword Land.
Within the Holy Sword Land, there were 108 realms.
One realm encompa.s.sed three different types of counties and cities.
The Eastern Sky Realm was one of the more famous of the 108 realms in the Eastern Region.
With Dongtianw.a.n.g City at its center.
Although it was named after a city, its size was almost the size of a county.
Dongtianw.a.n.g City had all the teleportation spiritual array leading to the 36 upper counties of the Eastern Sky Realm.
But currently, no teleportation portals were leading to the middle and lower counties like the Tiansang Prefecture.
Therefore, if the people in the central region wanted to go to the White Cave, they had to use teleportation portals in the other realms until they reached Dongtianw.a.n.g City.
Then, they had to use a teleportation portal in Dongtianw.a.n.g City until they reached the Azure Dragon Prefecture, the upper-grade county closest to the White Cave.
After that, they had to fly to reach their destination.
...
Azure Dragon Prefecture.
Azure Dragon City.
In a wine shop located deep in the alley.
A withered old man wearing a straw hat sat alone in front of a square table.
One cup after another.
Before the waiter could warm up the wine, he had already downed it.
"Sir, this is already the thirteenth pot. Do you need to rest for a while..."
Seeing that the last pot of wine was finished warming up, the waiter could not help but remind him.
He put down the wine pot, stood up, and stretched. He then tilted his neck, and immediately, the bones in his neck cracked.
Only G.o.d knew that he had maintained such a warm wine position for a long time.
Even sitting down was starting to make him very uncomfortable.
That old man with the straw hat had been drinking until now!
"That"s the most famous strong liquor in Azure Dragon Prefecture, the Azure Dragon Drink!"
The waiter was speechless.
When other people came over to drink, they would usually order half a jug.
When two or three cups entered the stomach, even a person with a good alcohol tolerance would be unable to endure it.
This old man...
13 jugs!
"Sir?"
Seeing that the old man in front of him was still silent, the waiter could not help but call out again.
"Serve the wine."
The old man wearing the straw hat knocked on the table with his finger. He raised his eyes slightly and glanced at him.
The waiter immediately lowered his gaze.
These big dark circles...
Such a terrifying appearance...
If it were not for the fact that he did not look easy to provoke...
He might have already kicked him out.
"I don"t even know if he had enough to pay for the wine."
"The Azure Dragon Drink is extremely expensive!"
The waiter bent down again and sat down on a stool to heat up some wine. He couldn"t describe the bitterness in his heart.
Today was a large-scale festival in Azure Dragon Prefecture...
Actually, it wasn"t really a festival.
However, there had long been news that the group of White-clothed people from the central region who wanted to rush to the White Cave would arrive in the afternoon.
It was rumored that there was a team led by one of the Seven Sword Deities, Moonless Sword Deity.
A Sword Deity!
In the Holy Sword Land of the Eastern Region, that was a G.o.d-like existence with a supreme status.
Since the news was spread the day before yesterday, the teleportation portal had been completely surrounded.
Even if the guards of Azure Dragon City tried their best to evacuate the crowd.
It was still useless.
Sword Deity!
One of the living Seven Sword Deities!
Which swordsman or spiritual cultivator in the Eastern Region didn"t want to take a look?
Even the boss set off two days ago to feast his eyes on it.
He was left alone and had no one to rely on. He still had to guard this wine shop that no one patronized.
But today was very strange.
In this run-down street and alley, this small wine shop that was only patronized by regular customers had received such a strange customer at noon.
"Thirteen jugs of Azure Dragon Drink..."
The waiter sighed.
If this customer couldn"t pay for the wine.
Then his job would be gone.
Perhaps losing his job wouldn"t be that serious.
If his boss discovered that he had wasted thirteen jugs of good wine, even his life would be at stake.
"Knock Knock."
The knocking on the table was urging him again.
The waiter"s mind went cold, and he did not dare to let his imagination run wild.
"Hey hey, Sir, don"t be anxious. It"s almost done."
"This "Azure Dragon Drink" must be boiled properly for it to be fragrant. It wouldn"t be as good if it"s warm!"
The waiter replied, but he was secretly cursing him in his heart.
"Drink to death!"
"When the Azure Dragon Drink is completely boiled, the aftershocks of the strong liquor will immediately come up."
"Usually, if a guy who drinks three cups of the Azure Dragon Drink that is completely boiled, won"t he immediately kneel down after drinking half a cup?"
"Tuk tuk tuk."
There was another wave of urging voices.
This time, the waiter heard it clearly.
This sound didn"t seem to come from the old man"s square table?
He looked back and saw that there was only one guest in the shabby wine shop.
Unexpectedly, another person had appeared.
That person was right next to the old man"s square table.
Pulling a stool, he sat across from him through a small pa.s.sageway.
"Another person came?"
The waiter was depressed.
On this day, there would be someone who chose to patronize this shabby wine shop that didn"t even have a name, and not to see the true appearance of the Seven Sword Deities?
"Sir, how can I help you?"
The waiter didn"t dare to be negligent. He looked at the man with unkempt hair and asked loudly.
"Once the wine is served, serve a few plates of cooked beef."
A hoa.r.s.e voice that sounded like it had been sawed by a saw rang out.
The waiter had gooseb.u.mps all over his body.
This voice...
This person...
Holy c.r.a.p!
All kinds of weirdos came today!
He wanted to bet on the uncle"s face.
However, the messy hair on his head, which looked like it had not been washed for years, completely blocked the waiter"s line of sight.
He looked down and saw a sack beside the scruffy-looking man"s feet.
"What"s in it?"
"Such a big sack, but it didn"t even make a sound when he entered..."
The waiter"s thoughts ran wild.
After a long while, he finally regained his senses and asked, "Sir, you haven"t ordered any wine yet."
"Not me, but him"
The scruffy-looking man turned around and extended his hand, pointing at the old man in the straw hat.
This time, the waiter was completely stunned.
Four fingers?
He keenly noticed that the scruffy-looking man"s thumb was completely shaved flat.
When one of his index fingers pointed out and looked over, it would be difficult for him not to be attracted.
He quickly retracted his gaze.
The waiter knew that Azure Dragon Prefecture had many capable people.
These people with physical defects might have been truly arrogant when they were young.
If they stared at other people"s physical defects without manners, their own people might be killed, and the boss would send the bodies out as if nothing had happened.
"His... his wine?"
The waiter stuttered and said in a daze, "I don"t think this is a good idea..."
"There"s nothing bad about it. He drank too much."
The scruffy-looking man smiled and flipped his hair, revealing his firm jawline.
The waiter was in a daze again.
"What a big scar..."
An ugly scar that almost covered half of the man"s neck was hanging there.
Just by looking at it, it was not hard to imagine how tenacious this person"s vitality was.
After experiencing such an injury that could completely cut off his entire neck, he was actually able to recover and left a scar behind...
"This is the money for the wine."
The scruffy-looking man threw a bag of spirit coins, interrupting the waiter"s thoughts. "Pay attention to your eyes."
"Ahhh..."
"Yes, yes, yes."
The waiter hurriedly took the money bag and immediately lowered his head. "Okay, okay."
Darn it.
As expected, he had been discovered.
Such keen senses...
These two people should be spiritual cultivators. He didn"t know if they were the legendary Innate experts...
The waiter was absent-minded and didn"t even know that the wine was boiling.
"The wine is boiling. Put it out."
"Serve the beef."
A reminder came from behind his head.
The waiter quivered and immediately put out the fire. He ran to the kitchen without looking back, ready to slaughter the fat cow.
Darn it.
What"s going on today? Why are you always absent-minded!
If the boss finds out about this, won"t he be fired?
The Seven Sword Deity...
Yes, the Seven Sword Deity must be coming. I"m always distracted at work!
...
"Who are you?"
Elder Sang raised his head. His slightly tipsy cheekbones were raised high, and his deep eyes were narrowed as he stared at the uninvited guest in front of him.
Broken fingers...
Scars...
And that extremely hoa.r.s.e voice...
If it wasn"t for the fact that he recognized his face, he might have mistaken him for someone else.
It was very obvious that this scruffy-looking man had deliberately come looking for him.
His target was himself.
"It doesn"t matter who I am."
The scruffy-looking man smiled and said, "What matters is that you might do something stupid when you"re drunk."
Elder Sang couldn"t help but laugh. "Stupid?"
"Yes."
"Such as?"
"Such as..." the scruffy-looking man dragged out his voice. "Such as the possibility that you might choose to a.s.sa.s.sinate Gou Wuyue."
Clang --
The sound of a porcelain bowl falling to the ground could be heard from the kitchen.
Following that, the waiter"s panicked voice could be heard.
"Sigh, the soundproof effect of this shabby wine shop is really good. Once the curtain is closed, nothing can be heard!"
"Creak, Creak, Creak --"
The shabby curtain was stuck twice in the middle, revealing the waiter"s b.u.t.tocks.
He was hiding inside and was pulling at it with all his strength.
Suddenly, with a crash, the curtain broke.
"Ta-ta-ta..."
The b.u.t.ton of the curtain fell to the ground, and the waiter"s silly and cute head appeared.
Elder Sang and the scruffy-looking man looked over in response, and their eyes met.
The scene was deathly silent.
"Hehe."
"Heh, Sir..."
"Sir, please wait a moment, I"ll fix the curtain..."
The waiter felt that his little heart was about to jump out.
His right eyelid was twitching wildly.
It echoed with the thumping sound of his heartbeat.
He wiped his face and conveniently pressed his eyelid down.
Then, he bent down and picked up the curtain, wanting to paste it back on.
After realizing that he was not tall enough, he tiptoed and finally hung the door curtain back up.
But!
The b.u.t.ton fell off.
Without a b.u.t.ton, if he wanted to prevent the door curtain from falling off again, he had to hold it up like this.
But if he held it up like this, wouldn"t he be able to hear the conversation?
The waiter cried out in his heart.
Who the heck were these people!
Why couldn"t these spiritual cultivators speak through telepathic communication, but you have to let an ordinary person like me hear it?
Gou Wuyue...
Gou Wuyue, isn"t he the legendary Moonless Sword Deity?
Do you think I"m deaf?
This kind of "a.s.sa.s.sination of the Moonless Sword Deity" comment.
If you want to talk, don"t you know how to block outsiders?
Darn it!
With 100,000 divine beasts running through his mind, the waiter was on the verge of breaking down.
But if he had to lower the curtain and face the two people outside that looked like they could kill him on the spot...
"I can"t do it --"
"Sob, sob, sob, Boss, save me..."
"Come back quickly!"
...
Elder Sang calmly withdrew his gaze from the black shadow behind the curtain that was reflected by the sunlight and glanced at the scruffy-looking man.
"You"re humorous."
"Oh?" The man raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Thank you."
"What sort of person is Moonless Sword Deity? What right do I have to a.s.sa.s.sinate him?" Elder Sang raised his wine cup.
"Yes, you don"t have the qualifications."
The scruffy-looking man agreed, "That"s why I think you"re drunk."
Elder Sang"s wine cup was already at his lips, but when he heard this, his entire face sank.
"You look very much like a friend of mine."
He gently put down his wine cup.
With a "dong", the dust on the table and floor of the wine shop shook.
It floated in the air.
It landed on the ground.
"Hu!"
An unknown wind blew and rolled open the door curtain, revealing the waiter"s feet that were tiptoeing.
Then, the two saw the waiter raise his feet in a panic and desperately push against the hem of the door curtain like he was stepping on a c.o.c.kroach.
The air seemed to be warming up.
The waiter felt hot sweat and cold sweat on his forehead.
Suddenly, he heard a burbling sound.
It was the sound of the "Azure Dragon Drink" boiling.
"That"s not right!"
The waiter panicked. "I clearly put out the fire just now. Could it be that I remembered wrongly?"
Wiping away his sweat, tears, and snot, the waiter wanted to cover his ears, but he realized that his hands were not enough.
"Mother, why did you give me two hands and then left..."
"It"s not enough at all!"
He cried.
He really cried.
He sobbed silently behind the curtain.
...
"Friend?"
The scruffy-looking man glanced at the wine pot that had suddenly boiled.
His eyes sank, and the boiling water instantly quieted down.
"Maybe you"re mistaken. I"m not like anyone. In this world, I am who I am."
He waved his hand and curled his palm.
The wine cup on Elder Sang"s table was in his hand.
After doing all this, the scruffy-looking man raised his eyes and looked at the old man opposite him.
The light in his turbid eyes was overbearing.
"You are not old, but you have a big mouth."
Elder Sang sneered and also looked up. After sizing up the man, his gaze was fixed on the sack beside his feet.
He couldn"t even see what was inside!
"I suggest that you go for a face-lift and amputate your leg, or else..."
Calmly withdrawing his gaze, Elder Sang cast his gaze on the man"s face and teased, "Otherwise, with your appearance, you"ll be easily hacked to death on the road."
"Thank you for your concern, Senior."
The scruffy-looking man nodded in grat.i.tude. He held the wine gla.s.s and carefully studied it. "There"s something I don"t understand very well. Could you please give me some advice?"
He knew that the other party was not a kind person and would not respond to him at all.
Therefore, before he could reply, he continued to ask,
"Sometimes, why do people choose to get drunk?"
"It"s clearly a way to numb themselves. It burns the throat and hurts the body. It"s easy to dream after drinking it, and you can"t even hold the sword properly after swallowing it..."
"Wine, should such a thing exist in this world?"
"Return it to me if you are not drinking it." Elder Sang knocked on the table.
"Oh, that"s right..."
The scruffy-looking man seemed to have remembered something and said in realization, "There"s another saying, wine strengthens the courage of the people!"
"Is it because of this reason that all the powerful people in this world need to drink a cup before they hesitate about whether they can kill someone?"
He raised his head with a smile.
Elder Sang"s finger was fixed on the table.
He suddenly slapped it.
With a bang, the chopsticks holder on the table flew up.
"Chi."
There was no other movement, only a disdainful snort. Suddenly, a chopstick flew out from the chopstick holder and shot toward the scruffy-looking man.
"Impressive."
The scruffy-looking man praised and raised his eyebrows in response.
Suddenly, the chopstick exploded with endless sword energy and turned in the air, reflecting at Elder Sang.
"Trash sword intent."
Elder Sang pressed down on his straw hat, and the temperature of the air suddenly rose.
In the next second, the chopstick holder that had just landed on the table exploded, and the all chopsticks inside flew up.
More than ten phantoms instantly ignited white flames and shot out.
"Bang!"
The chopsticks that had flown over by themselves could not withstand such an attack at all. When they met in the void, they were directly cut open from the center. Not even ashes were left behind, and they were burned in the void on the spot.
"Chi Chi Chi..."
Blood splattered.
The scruffy-looking man put down the wine cup in his hand in pain.
He lowered his head and looked at the more than ten wooden chopsticks in front of his chest that were burning with white flames and had already sunk in half.
He rolled up his hand and wrapped the white flames around them.
With a slash of his sword finger, he sent the scorching energy into the void fragment river.
Then, he gritted his teeth and pulled out the chopsticks one by one. He said weakly, "Senior is amazing. You"ve taught me the principle of being outnumbered in an instant."
Elder Sang looked at him and fell silent.
Outnumbered...
What was this guy doing here?
"What"s your name?"
He asked again.
"I told you, my name isn"t important. What"s important is that you"re drunk."
The scruffy-looking man carefully put the b.l.o.o.d.y wooden chopsticks back into the chopsticks holder. He stood up and thought for a while, then put down another spirit coin and said sincerely, "I"ve settled the bill for you. Leave. There"s no need to give up your life."
"Interesting. You"re very interesting."
Elder Sang smiled. "You know the principle of being outnumbered. You still have tools under your feet. Why don"t you use them?"
As he spoke, he looked down and gestured to the sack beside him.
"It"s not that I don"t want to use them. There"s no need to."
The scruffy-looking man pulled up the sack. Immediately, the sound of metal clanging could be heard from inside.
He stopped in front of Elder Sang"s table and sighed, "I can"t beat him. I know what I"m capable of, so there"s no need for me to fight."
"If you don"t try, how do you know you can"t beat him?"
Elder Sang sneered, "Where"s the hot blood of a young man? Where did it go? In this regard, you"re not even as good as my disciple."
"Young..."
The scruffy-looking man let out a low groan, then raised his four fingers and said, "Some people look young, but their bodies are already crippled."
"Similarly..."
He paused for a moment, then stared deeply at the old man in front of him and said, "Some people look healthy, but I"m not sure if they are strong on the outside but weak on the inside."
"Hahaha!"
Elder Sang laughed loudly. "Only weak birds would hesitate and cower before their prey; a true beast would only choose to press forward!"
"Are you determined to die?"
The scruffy-looking man asked in confusion, "Isn"t that the act of a stupid beast?"
"You"re thinking too much."
Elder Sang also slammed the table and got up. He was about to say something when he suddenly stopped. He turned his head to look at the sky outside the window.
In the sky, a spiritual array light beam shot up into the sky.
In the blink of an eye, the airflow spread through the clouds, as if a G.o.d had descended.
"Hum --"
On the ten-mile long street, the sword cries in unison.
The curtain of the wine shop suddenly shook.
Even the waiter knew at this moment.
According to the legend, Gou Wuyue, one of the Seven Sword Deities who could only obtain the t.i.tle, had already arrived at Azure Dragon City.
"It"s time for me to leave."
Elder Sang patted the scruffy-looking man"s shoulder. "You"re young and promising, so do more meaningful things. So..."
He sized up the person in front of him, shook his head, and said with a smile, "No matter how much you look like in this attire, it won"t be a "Yes"!"
"I told you, I"ve never been "alike". I am "Yes"!"
The scruffy-looking man glared at him coldly, as if he was angry.
"Okay."
"You are "Yes". Continue to be "yes". I won"t argue with you anymore. See you in the future."
Elder Sang walked past him and walked out of the door.
The scruffy-looking man clenched his fists. "You can"t go out!"
"The world is big. It"s just a wine shop, and it"s not a prison. Why can"t I go out?"
Elder Sang laughed loudly.
With every step he took, his aura rose sharply.
By the time he reached the door, the shabby wine shop was already swaying, as if it was about to collapse completely.
The waiter, who was hiding behind the curtain, had already stiffened.
He had listened to the entire conversation.
Even if he did not understand it sometimes, it did not affect the words of the scruffy-looking man in front of him.
At this moment.
The Seven Sword Deity Gou Wuyue had arrived.
This old man chooses to leave.
What did he want?
The answer was self-evident!
"Oh my G.o.d, Boss, do you know who came to your run-down wine shop?"
"They... no, he, he actually wanted to kill Moonless Sword Deity?"
"This, this, this, this fellow, I just want a job to make a living. Do I have to go so far? They won"t silence me, right?"
"Chi!"
While his thoughts were running wild, the door curtain was suddenly cut off with a "chi" sound.
The waiter was completely stunned.
He looked at the door curtain that was completely hanging on the ground and should have been able to cover his lower body.
After realizing that a stream of sword energy had pa.s.sed, his act of covering his ears and stealing the bell was already useless.
The waiter hesitantly lowered the door curtain and saw a scene that he would never forget for the rest of his life.
In the dilapidated wine shop, tables and chairs were floating in the air. bowls and chopsticks were scattered in all directions. All of them were floating in the air, bursting with endless white sword energy.
The target of these objects was the old man wearing the straw hat, who had already arrived at the door.
"Chi!"
The scruffy-looking man chopped down with his fingers. The pots and pans floating in the air suddenly chopped towards the back of the straw hat old man.
"Be careful!"
The waiter screamed in his heart.
If someone died in the wine shop, not to mention himself, even the boss might not be able to escape the law enforcement of the Azure Dragon City"s City Guards.
He wanted to save him.
But he was powerless.
The waiter fell to the ground.
...
"Your so-called outnumbered enemy is ultimately too late..."
Elder Sang turned around silently and slowly lifted the straw hat in the dark environment of the wine shop.
A cold light bloomed in his deep eye sockets, followed by a white flame burning.
"Pfft."
A soft sound was heard as the sword intent whistled.
When this sound appeared, everything that was lifted by the sword intent crashed to the ground with a loud bang.
In front of the blood-colored clothes on the scruffy-looking man"s chest, the white flame suddenly flared up and covered his entire body in an instant.
"This is..."
The man was shocked.
He had clearly swept away all the white flame just now.
How could this thing be reignited?
He had not used even half of his spiritual source!
"Sword intent?"
Soon, his pupils constricted as he completely understood something.
What the white flame was burning was not his spiritual source or his physical body... It was sword intent!
"Don"t you understand?"
Elder Sang laughed and shook his head. "Since you came to stop me, why didn"t you find out about my ability?"
"The Infernal Heavenly Flames burns everything!"
As he spoke, he pressed the straw hat down and covered more than half of his face.
The white flame that was burning all over the scruffy-looking man"s body also surged into his body and completely seeped into his internal organs.
"Wu!"
The man grunted, and blood flowed out of his seven orifices.
He was already aware of the damage caused by the white flames and was on guard against it.
However, he still fell for it.
Not only that, the white flame that could burn everything into ashes had actually entered his body. It only blocked his spiritual sources, Way of the Heavens, and even his control of the sword intent.
The rest did not harm his body at all!
"This fellow"s control over the flame has actually reached such an exquisite level..."
The scruffy-looking man resisted desperately.
He wanted to move.
But with a move of his hand, his tendons, bones, and meridians were burned off and then reconnected.
When the sword intent wanted to move, the white flame latched onto the sword intent and burned it into nothingness.
The Way of the Heavens" energy movement wanted to move...
But the energy movement could not get any closer to the white flame!
He knew that the white flame had already entered his body, but the scruffy-looking man realized that he couldn"t sense the Way of the Heavens" energy movement within a radius of several dozen feet.
"Just by the temperature alone, it evaporated everything?"
"Darn it..."
Ta.
Elder Sang retracted his gaze and stepped out of the door.
The warm afternoon sun shone down, leaving a long silhouette on the broken wall of the tavern.
"Burp!"
After burping, Elder Sang seemed to remember something.
He turned around and looked at the man who was curled up on the ground, twitching non-stop. He said, "By the way, I don"t seem to have answered your question about "wine"..."
After a pause, Elder Sang sighed softly.
"Wine is not used to boost one"s courage. It"s actually a killing sword."
"In this regard, you can"t even imitate half of his essence."
"After all, he"s already started drinking."