Chapter 218: Jade Rainbow Bridge

"Master also can't drive away mosquitoes?"

Liang Qu got the answer, and his heart was settled.

Yang Yang Dongxiong nodded in response.

"Among the five insects—naked, scaled, hairy, feathered, and shelled—the vast majority are born with spirit, seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages.

Only a small part of naked insects, insects, and scaled insects, such as planarians, flying mosquitoes, and oysters, have too low intelligence.

Unless they become spirit monsters later and open their spiritual wisdom, they won't feel the martial artist's prestige. Even for the master, I have to light mosquito coils at night, otherwise, it's noisy."

Heaven and earth have five kinds: naked, scaled, hairy, feathered, and shelled.

These five kinds are considered the predecessors' cognition of living things.

Among them, naked insects refer to hairless and shell-less insects, such as planarians, earthworms, frogs, etc. Humans also have no hair or shells, so the sage is the leader of the naked insects.

The rest are easy to understand; scaled insects are animals with scales, including flying insects with wings; the dragon is the leader of the scaled insects.

Hairy insects refer to walking beasts, feathered insects refer to flying birds, and shelled insects refer to insects with shells and some water tribes with shells.

"Then it's not my problem alone; it's indeed that some creatures have too low IQ and don't have the emotion of fear."

Clarifying the reason, Liang Qu felt much more balanced.

It was good that he wasn't an exception.

Immediately, he ran out, and when he came back, he was carrying several huge copper pots, a total of six, arranged in a circle on the large table.

The copper pot's shape was unique, with a hollow chimney protruding from the middle.

These six copper pots were what Liang Qu had asked Li Yuan from his third senior brother's shop to help beat a few days ago; when he went to ask his third senior brother, he brought them over together.

"This vessel shape is unique."

Yang Yang Dongxiong was seeing such a novel cooking utensil for the first time, picked one up to observe it, and guessed.

"Is it a shabu-shabu pot? Is the middle used to put charcoal fire?"

"Heh, Master's eyes are like torches!"

Yang Yang Dongxiong laughed: "It's just shabu-shabu meat; I'm afraid you wouldn't make such a big fanfare, right?"

Shabu-shabu meat wasn't rare; it was a thing that had existed for a long time, and there were several shabu-shabu meat shops in Pingyang County.

Eating while cooking wasn't rare either; the Great Shun called it "Antique Soup," named after the "gudong" sound made when food was thrown into boiling water.

There were even mandarin duck pots, "Five-Cook Pot," a copper pot divided into five grids to shabu-shabu different foods, preventing them from mixing flavors.

Liang Qu's true innovation was to gather these all together, plus his Liang family's secret pot base!

"That's right, the highlight of today is your disciple's secret pot base!"

He untied the pottery jar, poured the scarlet hot pot base into the copper pot, and then added bone soup, mushrooms, and pickled vegetables.

When poured out from the pottery jar, they were still steaming, not completely cooled.

Not everyone loved to eat spicy food.

For this reason, Liang Qu prepared a total of three spicy, one beef bone, one mushroom, and one pickled vegetable—six pots, gathering the four most common flavors.

Spicy, mellow, fresh, sour!

Yang Yang Dongxiong sniffed, smelling his nose itching: "What a thick spicy taste; how much chili did you put in? Why is it so fragrant?"

"High-quality beef tallow, matched with chili, Sichuan peppercorn, cinnamon, green onion, bean paste, star anise, fermented glutinous rice, bean paste, white sugar, grass fruit, fennel, licorice, grass cardamom..."

Liang Qu said over ten kinds of large spices in one breath, and he couldn't even count them with his ten fingers.

Yang Yang Dongxiong was stunned, suddenly feeling that it was very reasonable to be so fragrant.

"I didn't expect you to have the talent for cooking..."

Liang Qu chuckled.

"So fragrant; I smelled it when I walked in the backyard, and I was wondering what to eat tonight."

Xu Shi walked out from the corridor, twisting a small fan in her hand, blocking half of her face, and showing great interest in the six copper pots before her.

"Little Nine, what is this thing you brought? How come I've never seen it before."

"Returning to Master's wife, the disciple calls it hot pot; it's something I've been tinkering with recently.

The taste is spicy, fresh, and fragrant, extremely suitable for shabu-shabu vegetables, especially meat rolls. Fearing that everyone wouldn't be used to spicy, I also prepared other flavors."

"Heh, Master's wife! Not to mention the backyard, I smelled the scent at the door!"

Xiang Changsong and Hu Qi passed through the corridor and came quickly to the hall.

Xiang Changsong supported the table with both hands, leaned over and took a deep breath, his stomach rumbling.

"I was wondering what the junior brother was doing mysteriously before; it turns out it's a shabu-shabu pot, but why is this base so fragrant?

Junior brother, let's open a restaurant together; you only need to provide a recipe, and you don't need to worry about anything like choosing a location or recruiting people, and I'll split it five-five with you!"

"Junior brother, let me come, and I'll split it four-six with you; I'll take four, and you take six."

Xu Xu Zishuai floated over from outside, ruining Xiang Changsong's good business.

"Why is Cao Shixiong Xu still fighting for profit with the junior brother? Not thick-skinned!"

"What thick-skinned or not?"

Lu Gang's voice came from outside the door, followed by a beautiful figure.

"Cao Shixiong Lu, Senior Sister Zhuo? Hurry, hurry, junior brother, everyone is here, where is the food? Hurry up and serve the food! I taught apprentices all afternoon, drank three jars of water, and my chest is already sticking to my back."

"Right away, I'll have the kitchen get it ready."

Liang Qu ran to the kitchen, quickly led a few small servants up, placed the plates of sliced meat rolls, and also placed small dishes of divided ingredients.

Another person held an iron shovel in one hand and used iron tongs in the other to clip the burning red charcoal into the copper pot.

Liang Qu only brought the pot base and seasoning, and everything else was from his master's house.

His master's house had a large ice cellar, and everything was inside; the mutton was frozen hard, and cutting it directly made for excellent meat rolls.

On weekdays, everyone also dipped in small ingredients when eating shabu-shabu, and everyone chose what they liked.

It wasn't the first time they had eaten together; they had four or five times every month, so they were very familiar, just like being at their own home.

Liang Qu's favorite ratio was a spoonful of crushed peanuts, a spoonful of coriander, a spoonful of green onion, a spoonful of oyster sauce, a spoonful of garlic, and finally drizzled with sesame oil, covering the small ingredients, the fragrance hitting the nose.

"The water is boiling, the water is boiling, let me taste it first."

The boiling red oil was bubbling in the copper furnace, steaming with rolling white steam.

Xiang Changsong picked up a pair of chopsticks of cooked mutton rolls, dipped them in the dish, and stuffed them into his mouth before they cooled down, scalding him until he sprayed hot air outward.

"Ha, ha, enough flavor!"

"First time eating such fragrant shabu-shabu, very unique; no wonder I heard the fourth junior brother and eighth junior brother arguing when I entered the door. It really can be opened as a restaurant in Pingyang County; the business will definitely be good. When the time comes,

The peculiar shape of the iron anchor immediately aroused the toad's interest.

"What is this thing?"

The fat catfish bit the iron anchor and slammed it onto the ground, dragging the large anchor and starting to swim; the entire iron anchor sank into the sand and stone, inserting deeper and deeper, dragging for over ten meters until it couldn't move, and then waved its fins.

"New-style boat anchor?"

The toad grabbed the palm-sized iron anchor with its webbed claws, the more it looked, the more it felt the shape was good.

It inserted the large anchor into the ground, dragged it for a while, and the resistance really became greater and greater, until the entire large anchor sank into the soil.

The toad pulled with force, lifting a whole piece of ground.

This thing, it seemed very suitable to be used as a weapon?

It was just too small, and the material wasn't good either.

With a chaotic dance, the toad imagined itself carrying a large anchor as a weapon, and immediately puffed out its chest.

Seeing the big brother playing by himself, the fat catfish didn't forget the mission it was carrying, and hurriedly asked about the toad's previous whereabouts.

"Me?"

The toad sighed, returned to the cave, lay down on the fire bird feathers, crossed its legs, and spun the anchor in its hand.

"Today, I don't know what madness that long worm is having, summoning several of us great demons, saying it wants to kill thieves. Whether the thieves are human or demon, I don't know, and specifically where they are, I don't know either, only saying they are in the south, and possibly on the shore."

The toad curled its lips.

South?

The range was too general.

The long worm's tone was simply wishing they would push all the way to the shore along the south, killing whoever they saw.

Damn it.

If they really went to the shore and provoked public anger, human martial artists wouldn't be easy to deal with, and if they were careless, they would lose their lives.

"If it were a True Dragon's order, I would still have to consider it. As for the long worm, whoever wants to go can go.

Occupying the Dragon Palace by itself, expecting other demons to sell their lives—it would be better to find a mirage insect to inhale some white smoke and have a good dream."

The fat catfish didn't understand, only relaying the toad's words back.

On the other side, Liang Qu's eyes lit up.

It really was that Flood Dragon!

Fortunately, it could only vaguely perceive the direction; in this way, Liang Qu was temporarily safe.

But why could he feel such targeted malice, while others couldn't? Didn't it not know the target?

"Could it be the reason for favorability? Is the Huai River reminding me? The cicada knows the autumn wind before it moves?"

Liang Qu had too many puzzles.

The connections between the great demons under the Great Marsh were so close; the toad seemed to have a relationship with the previous True Dragon. Could it be one of the True Dragon's four great generals?

Liang Qu remembered what the old giant clam had said initially—that outside the Dragon Court, there were four palaces, and inside lived four top-tier great demons.

When the toad fought the fire bird, changing the celestial phenomena was shocking enough; looking at it now, the toad's strength might be even higher.

Under the water.

The iron anchor cut through the water flow and sank to the river bottom.

"Little brother, wait a moment."

The toad ran into its pile of sundries and rummaged out a large seashell—it was the one that had imprisoned the fat catfish initially. It liked the anchor sent this time very much, and couldn't let the little brother suffer a loss.

What if it didn't come back next time?

"This is for you."

The toad grabbed a small fish emitting golden light from the seashell and handed it to the fat catfish. ===== CHAPTER 212 =====

"In the past few days, two more residences have risen next to my house, both three-courtyard layouts with large gardens. They are incredibly wealthy, just like Ninth Liang Shidi's home."

"Me? Mine is simple; there isn't even a carving on the pillars. It's just that the place is large, and land in Yixing Town isn't worth much, not to mention that when it was built, the town wasn't even a town, just a small village. I wanted to build it as big as I could."

"It will be valuable in the future. Once Pingyang County truly becomes Pingyang Prefecture, Yixing Town will definitely be incorporated. By then, Liang Shidi's residence will be in the middle—that will be the central location!"

"A three-courtyard residence with a garden—I don't even dare to imagine how comfortable that is. I feel it's meaningless living in my two-courtyard small house."

"Speaking of which, I haven't been to Ninth Liang Shidi's home, nor have I eaten at Liang Shidi's housewarming banquet. When will Liang Shidi Liang make up for it?"

"Isn't this meal today exactly that?"

"Hey, I saw with my own eyes this mutton roll being dragged out of Master's ice cellar. Does that count?"

"Why wouldn't it? You're eating it so happily, Cao Shixiong, and now you're going back on your word?"

Everyone laughed and bickered.

Yang Yang Dongxiong and Lady Xu spoke little, watching everyone happily.

Light and shadow moved like a horse whipped to gallop.

June 18th, it hadn't rained, but it was an overcast day, and heaven and earth were shrouded in a gray haze.

According to the information on the invitation, the Tianbo Auction would begin at 7:25 AM, expected to last for an hour and a half, and lunch would be provided upon conclusion.

Liang Qu finished his morning exercises, took a bath to remove the smell of sweat, rummaged through his wardrobe, and chose a black martial outfit with red trim. It was plain but form-fitting, a gift from his Mistress in May.

Since becoming an apprentice, he hadn't bought many ordinary clothes, only a few pairs of shoes and socks.

Whenever the season changed, Mistress would send someone to deliver clothes. The styles were quite good, and her aesthetic was always on point.

For an auction, there was no need to dress excessively luxuriously. Everyone who received an invitation had an extraordinary status. Brother Xu and the others surely had them too. Go and compete in luxury with them?

Wouldn't that be deliberately going over to embarrass oneself?

He hung on his sachet, secured his waist token, and at 7:15 AM, Liang Qu took his invitation, mounted Chishan, and set off for Pingyang County.

"Painted beams fly toward the clouds of Nanpu in the morning; pearl curtains roll up the rain of the Western Mountains in the evening."

Liang Qu passed through the streets, looking up at the high-rise building before him.

In the past, when he came to Pingyang County, he only went to a few places: the Yang Mansion, the wharf, the academy, and the medical clinic—all in the southeast. He had never been to the west side at all.

He had no idea that a three-story building had risen from the flat ground in the west.

Carved beams and painted rafters, orioles filling the Jianzhang Palace.

A rough calculation put the entire Tianbo Tower at twenty-five meters high.

It had three stories in total, and each story was at least eight meters. Even without going inside, one could guess how vast it was within. It was magnificent.

It's just that...

The building's style made Liang Qu feel a bit strange; he always felt that this kind of hall-style building felt a bit off.

As if... a giant tree with layers?

Liang Qu lightly squeezed the horse's flanks; Chishan understood and accelerated. Only after turning a corner did he discover that the area in front of the entire Tianbo Tower was almost impassable.

Ordinary people couldn't get into the Tianbo Chamber of Commerce's auction, but that didn't stop them from watching the excitement outside.

Where there are people, there will naturally be peddlers, carrying shoulder poles and hawking wontons, steamed buns, and candied haws as they walked.

The area in front of Tianbo Tower was even more bustling, crowded shoulder to shoulder.

Liang Qu had no choice but to dismount and lead his horse. At 1.86 meters tall, he was half a head taller than those around him, and at a glance, he saw acrobatics happening in the crowd.

It was a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy standing on a wooden stake on one leg, with a large vat on his head.

The sultry weather had covered the boy's neck in a layer of sweat and grease, very even; at first glance, it looked as if it had been brushed on.

That large vat was at least half the size of the boy. From his hands to his feet and his neck, everything was trembling, with veins bulging and twisting under his skin like thin snakes, making one wonder if he had squeezed out all the blood from his bones.

Liang Qu led his horse past, and the people around him subconsciously made way.

His clothes were clean and tidy, without a single crease, and even carried a faint scent of spices. No matter how one looked at it, he wasn't an ordinary person.

Liang Qu had seen few similar street performances in the past, so he couldn't help but stop for a moment.

It was said that according to the rules of the jianghu, if the vat on one's head fell, one had to swallow the broken pottery shards raw.

"Liang Qu! What are you looking at?"

Liang Qu looked up.

Ran Ran Zhongshi and the others were standing at the entrance of Tianbo Tower, waving at him.

"Coming!"

It's not easy for anyone.

Liang Qu felt his pocket, took out half a fingernail-sized piece of silver—about one Great Qian—and threw it into the broken bowl in front of the boy, drawing frantic thanks from the man beside him.

The boy swallowed his saliva, a smile squeezed out on his salt-crusted face, and he balanced even harder.

"Brother Ran, Brother Xiang, Brother Bai."

Liang Qu arrived before the group, and a servant naturally stepped forward to take his horse.

Xiang Fang Su glanced behind him.

"What's so good about a few street performances?"

"I find it curious; I haven't seen it before."

"Let's go. Since you've come now, you must have received an invitation too. Shall we go in and look around together?"

"Alright."

The manager at the entrance checked the invitation and bowed to lead the group inside.

Liang Qu followed the others through a corridor and arrived at a vast hall. Just as he entered, he was stunned by the scene before him.

It wasn't just him; many people around were stopping, feeling a sense of awe from within.

The entire hall was almost a plaza. There wasn't a single pillar inside, except for the very center, where a giant, thick ancient tree was growing!

The trunk was as green as jade, and the thick, lush branches extended in all directions, intertwining like pythons to form a large canopy that supported the entire second floor!

What on earth is this?

"Brother Liang hasn't seen this before, right?" Ran Ran Zhongshi patted his shoulder. "The Jade Rainbow Bridge Tree. The entire Tianbo Tower beneath our feet grew out of that tree!"

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