Chapter 119: Inviting to Drink

Hearing the three words "Whistle Rock" unexpectedly, the guide froze for a moment and opened his mouth.

He quickly reacted: "I know it, it's very far. Do you want to go there now?"

But his surprise and hesitation had already been seen by Wu Shaoyi, whose expression immediately darkened: "Tie him up."

The men on both sides swarmed up and bound the guide hand and foot.

"What is the situation at Whistle Rock that shocked you so much?"

The guide hurriedly denied it, but Wu Shaoyi couldn't be bothered with him and patted the pack on the horse's back.

The pack actually moved a few times, and then a purple sable burrowed out.

It looked like it had just woken up, its small eyes bleary, and it even used its front paws to wash its face.

Wu Shaoyi asked it: "I remember, you were born in this mountain forest, right?"

The purple sable nodded.

"Do you know Whistle Rock?"

The little fellow nodded again.

The strategist hurriedly said: "Since we are sending the purple sable out, why not have it scout Immortal Spirit Village as well?"

Wu Shaoyi had the same intention, so he took out two small pieces of dried meat as a reward and handed them to the purple sable.

The purple sable took them, chewed them up, swallowed them, then jumped off the horse's back and slipped into the grass in a flash.

It was incredibly fast; the group only saw the grass blades swaying, from near to far, and then it disappeared into the darkness.

The strategist offered another plan: "While we have this time, why not move a portion of the brothers from the foot of the mountain up here? It will be easier to make plans later."

Wu Shaoyi nodded: "Then move them all up."

His force was smaller than Lu Yao's, with only one thousand one hundred men. He had brought over two hundred up the mountain, leaving only eight hundred or so below, so it was better to call everyone up to handle any contingencies.

In the dead of silence, Wu Shaoyi couldn't help but think of the feud between himself and Lu Yao again.

The two sides had long since become enemies; if not for Pei Xinyong's repeated persuasion, he would have wanted to take this force back to his hometown.

To be king of the mountain there and recruit soldiers and horses would have been quite happy, too.

The Grand Marshal was staging an uprising in the north, and the Yuan Court was already overwhelmed just dealing with him; how could they have the energy to manage the south in such a short time? So, he, Wu Shaoyi, still had at least a good amount of peaceful time.

Whether doing this was right or wrong, Wu Shaoyi wasn't very sure.

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"Has the letter been sent out for nearly half an hour?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, He Chunhua straightened his clothes and headgear, and surrounded by seven or eight men, he headed toward the village entrance.

Mao Tao stood within the center line demarcated by both sides and shouted toward the west of the village: "General Lu, come out for a meeting!"

He shouted three times in a row, the sound echoing throughout the village.

A bandit came out and asked: "What are you doing?"

Mao Tao said loudly: "Your general invited us to eat fish, so our lord wants to invite him to drink wine—twenty-year-old vintage brewed from the Northwest Spirit Spring!"

The bandit sneered: "Who knows if there's poison in your wine?"

"The fish isn't poisoned, so naturally the wine isn't either."

This bandit, of course, couldn't make the decision and went to report it. Other companions leaned in, eyeing them covetously.

Along that center line, the two sides stood in a standoff once again.

The campfire by the lake had not been extinguished; He Chunhua personally opened a jar of wine, had his personal guards pour it into wine vessels, and placed them in hot water to warm slowly.

Before long, the rich aroma of wine wafted out.

It just so happened that the wind was blowing from the lake toward the village, naturally carrying the wine's fragrance inside.

After half an incense stick's time, Lu Yao strolled over, rubbing his eyes and saying: "Lord He, such good spirits?"

He Chunhua knew he had intentionally arrived late to leave him waiting here, so he didn't get angry and pointed to the table his men had moved over: "Courtesy demands reciprocity. This is a family recipe I brought from the capital, made with good wine brewed from the Xiyao Spirit Spring in Qiansong Prefecture. In the second year after I arrived in Qiansong Prefecture, I personally sealed the first jar, and every year since, one jar; there are twenty-three jars to date. Excluding what is used for annual family sacrifices and entertaining guests, five jars remain, all of which I intend to take to the capital."

"When my family was still in the capital, we offered our home-brewed wine to the palace every year." He Chunhua smiled at Lu Yao, "Such good wine, doesn't General Lu want to have a taste?"

He knew that wine, women, and wealth were Lu Yao's three great loves, and that he never turned down a visitor; this man even prided himself on being "true to his nature."

Sure enough, Lu Yao swallowed several times upon hearing this, thought for a moment, and truly said: "Fine, since Lord He has such refined interest, I, Lu, shall keep you company! But let it be said first, I once had a stroke of luck and have long been immune to all poisons. Even if you served arsenic, I would eat it like sweet rice wine."

He Chunhua changed his expression: "General Lu, what are you saying? Would I ruin my own good wine like that?"

So, a long table was pressed onto the center line, with He Chunhua and Lu Yao sitting at each end, the former pushing a jar of wine over.

Lu Yao took it and smashed the clay seal; sure enough, a mellow fragrance assailed his nostrils, making him unable to resist taking a deep breath and praising: "Good wine!"

He beckoned, and two bandits took the wine jar, first helping him fill a bowl, then taking the rest to be warmed.

At this time, the servants in the He family's team pushed the spectacular fish king over on a flatbed cart. The big fish had already been de-mudded, descaled, and cleaned, and was stripped bare.

That was the largest flatbed cart in the village, usually used for transporting hay and grain, but it couldn't hold the entire fish, and half of the fish tail was still dragging on the ground.

This was to be prepared on the spot.

The two men stepped forward and made a small hole behind the fish's gills, actually pulling out a grayish-white tendon that was thicker than a chopstick.

He Chunhua introduced it: "Lake fish must have the fishy tendon removed first, otherwise the earthy smell will remain in the meat."

Lu Yao took a sip of wine: "Particular, worthy of having been an official for twenty years."

He Chunhua glanced sideways, and Lu Yao laughed: "What, can I not know a thing or two about Lord He?"

"A bit surprised." After all, he was just a small official in a border region. He Chunhua pointed at the big fish: "When my men were cleaning this fish, they found it had no injuries on its body. May I ask General Lu, how did you knock this fish unconscious?"

At the time, Lu Yao and this fish king had surfaced together, a scene that was quite shocking. Although the buoyancy of water is great, the fact that Lu Yao could lift it to the surface was in itself a display of astonishing divine strength.

What He Chunhua cared about most, however, was how he had knocked the fish unconscious.

Looking at its size and scales, it was at least nearly two hundred years old. No matter how powerful Lu Yao was, he was still a man, and he hadn't been carrying any long weapons when he went into the water; he had brought it out almost with his bare hands.

This was bizarre.

Moreover, not long after everyone carried the fish to the shore, this big fish woke up and thrashed about so vigorously that half the people in the village heard it.

This matter, from beginning to end, was permeated with strangeness.

"I picked it up." Under his gaze, Lu Yao spread his hands, "Aside from getting it up here, I didn't do anything at all. Such a big bargain, could you resist not picking it up?"

"..." He Chunhua was speechless for a moment, "In the pitch-black darkness, how could you see a big fish unconscious at the bottom of the lake?"

"That, you wouldn't understand." Lu Yao said triumphantly, "I was born with a pair of divine eyes, able to see what others cannot. Never mind lake water, even if there were treasures three feet underground, they would not escape my discerning eyes."

He Chunhua smiled, knowing he didn't want to reveal the truth, and stopped asking.

(End of chapter)