Chapter 148: Strong Alcohol Effect

How could Lady Murong Xiaoya be on guard against a little girl? She was slightly stunned, and when she looked down, she saw only the wine cup already falling toward the ground.

However, the wine cup ultimately did not hit the ground; instead, when it fell to mid-air, it was enveloped by an invisible force and hung motionless in the air.

"Do not be mischievous."

The old man in hemp clothing spoke gently to the little girl in pink robes, and the wine cup that had been hanging motionless slowly flew up, returning to the table in front of Lady Murong Xiaoya.

And the wine inside the cup did not spill a single drop from beginning to end.

The little girl in pink robes turned to look at the old man in hemp clothing, but the other party merely shook his head lightly.

Lady Murong Xiaoya's eyebrows furrowed slightly; she glanced at the old man in hemp clothing, then looked again at the wine cup before her, a look of confusion flashing across her face.

Yet, before she could react, suddenly a hand reached out from the side, picked up the wine cup before her, and drank it down in one gulp.

Lady Murong Xiaoya turned her head and saw Li Musheng nod quite satisfied, then glanced at her and said:

"The wine is excellent. Miss Lady Murong not even liking to drink it, to be honest, is somewhat overly picky."

Hearing this, Lady Murong Xiaoya's eyelids twitched; she very much wanted to say she had never said such a thing, but was too embarrassed to speak out, so she could only lower her head with a red face and give up.

At that moment, the little girl in pink robes suddenly turned her head, seeing Li Musheng had snatched and drunk Lady Murong Xiaoya's wine.

Immediately, a pair of eyes as black as ink rolled about, then she smiled brightly with a happy expression and continued to gnaw on the roasted squab in her hand.

Hu Rui saw the scene of the old man in hemp clothing taking action, feeling slightly strange, but since he had other matters on his mind at the moment, he did not think much of it.

Soon, a jar of Spirit Deer Wine was completely finished by the several people at the table; Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong, who were lovers of wine, felt somewhat reluctant to stop.

But Spirit Deer Wine was already rare, and unique only to Zhanlu Manor; even with money, it could not be bought outside, so they could only suppress the craving in their bellies and no longer dream of drinking more.

Although Li Musheng thought the wine was good, he was not a wine addict; if it was gone, it was gone; he just smacked his lips and continued to watch the little girl in pink robes perform a live eating broadcast, bored.

Facing Li Musheng's gaze, the little girl in pink robes pouted, eating the roasted squab while murmuring softly:

"Evil people get evil rewards."

Li Musheng chuckled, taking no notice of it.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, the martial arts match on the platform in the center of the lake continued non-stop, with no result yet.

Li Musheng heard the martial artists at a nearby table discussing; it seemed several highly promising seed contestants had not yet taken the stage, but he had no interest in staying any longer.

After finishing the meal, as the sky gradually darkened, he returned with Hu Rui'an and others to the courtyard arranged by the manor to rest.

After the sky was completely dark, Hu Rui'an gathered Wu Shang and the others to the room where Li Musheng was, discussing:

"Your Highness, the big man standing beside Shen Liancheng today is an elder of Luoshen Peak; Shen Liancheng appears to have a very close relationship with Luoshen Peak and the garrison troops of Shengzhou."

"Therefore, I plan to secretly explore Zhanlu Manor at night to investigate the hidden tricks within, to see if they will affect our Tianjin Guard's current plan to exterminate Luoshen Peak?"

Hearing this, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong naturally had no objections, and even expressed sincere admiration for Hu Rui'an's foresight in deciding to come to Zhanlu Manor.

As for whether there was any boost from drinking the Spirit Deer Wine involved, only they themselves knew the truth.

Regarding Hu Rui'an's suggestion, Li Musheng merely waved his hand, allowing him to decide for himself.

However, the look in his eyes as he gazed at the other party held a rather profound meaning.

Li Musheng knew that Hu Rui'an's coming to Zhanlu Manor definitely had another purpose, absolutely not the lofty reasons he stated on the surface.

Or rather, the so-called investigation was only one of his purposes; the other party had a more important purpose hidden and unspoken.

Of course, for Li Musheng, as long as Hu Rui'an was still there when they set off on the journey, it did not matter what other things the other party wanted to do; he was too lazy to care.

After receiving Li Musheng's approval, Hu Rui'an arranged for Wu Shang and others to stay behind to protect Li Musheng and Lady Murong Xiaoya.

As for himself, his figure moved, quietly leaping out of the courtyard, silently and quickly disappearing into the night.

The night was cloudy, with a hazy moon.

About an hour passed, and Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong, guarding the courtyard, perhaps due to the strong effect of the alcohol, began to have their eyelids droop.

At first, the two could still force themselves to stay awake, circulating their martial arts true qi to dispel the sleepiness in their bodies.

But soon, the two found it increasingly difficult to resist the sleepiness, gradually beginning to feel their consciousness blur, feeling dizzy.

Finally, the two could not hold on any longer, so they shook their heads and said:

"This alcohol effect is truly strong; Brother Cao, you watch for a while first."

Having said that, the two immediately fell over and snored loudly.

Cao Gaoshan saw this scene, vaguely sensing something was wrong; he frowned, leaped onto the roof in the courtyard, and scanned the surroundings through the night.

However, he found nothing unusual, so he could only return to the courtyard.

Then, he squatted beside Wu Shang and the other, checking their condition.

But Cao Gaoshan suddenly discovered at this moment that no matter how he called out, he could not wake the two.

His expression changed drastically at once; however, after carefully examining the two bodies, besides smelling a scent of wine on them, he detected no other problems.

Realizing the current situation was extremely unusual, Cao Gaoshan prepared to go into the room inside the courtyard to find Li Musheng.

But at this moment, he suddenly felt his own consciousness become blurred; the feeling of drowsiness came extremely fast; even though he sensed something was wrong and tried desperately to resist this sleepiness, it was useless.

Finally, Cao Gaoshan rolled his eyes back, followed the path of Wu Shang and the other, and fell stiffly unconscious in the courtyard.

Not long after, several figures walked out from the darkness not far from the courtyard.

Five of them wore night-clothing; the leader was a gloomy man with cold light in his eyes, his hands wearing silver-thread gloves that shimmered with crystal-clear, biting ice light under the hazy moonlight.

The remaining one was precisely the steward of Zhanlu Manor; at this moment, he stood beside the gloomy man and bowed, saying:

"Hall Master Jing, rest assured; whether they drank the wine or not, anyone who smells the wine fragrance will have the 'Drunken Immortal Death' toxin hidden within their bodies."

Speaking, he pointed again at a "Bright Moon Purple Orchid" standing tall in the courtyard where Cao Gaoshan lay unconscious, saying:

"If one also smells the fragrance of this purple orchid, it will gradually trigger the Drunken Immortal Death toxin within the body; for anyone poisoned by this, the longer the time, the deeper the poisoning, and even a Heavenly and Mortal expert would find it difficult to resist."

Hearing this, the gloomy man Jing Chengluo nodded slightly and said:

"Well done; anyone who touches our Tianxia Alliance's people, no matter how far they flee to the ends of the earth, cannot escape our grasp."

(End of this chapter)