Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
The wine was indeed good. Its fragrance assaulted the nostrils and led to intoxication.
Wang Guan held his wine cup up and scanned the silent Hall of Great Strength before saying clearly, “I heard a joke when I was in Nanjing City. The son of an old wealthy landlord was illiterate so people advised the landlord to invite a teacher over to teach his son. The teacher first taught the son ‘one’, which was one stroke. Then, he taught him ‘two’, which was two strokes, and ‘three’, which was three strokes. The foolish son of the landlord threw away his writing brush happily and told his father that he already knew how to read words, so he did not need a teacher. Upon hearing that, his father was very pleased and dismissed the teacher.
“One day, the father wanted to invite a friend with the surname Wan1 over to drink wine and he told his son to get up early to write an invitation. However, he still had not finished writing by afternoon. The father asked his son, who complained, There are so many surnames in the world! Why does he need to have the surname Wan? I’ve only made 500 strokes since morning!”
When the group of demons heard this boring joke, they looked at each other speechlessly. After three seconds, they then understood and laughed out loud.
Awkward, disrespectful laughter filled the entire hall. Daoist Wang Guan held up his wine cup pleasantly and told the guests, “Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
The demons held their wine cups with mischievous smiles and drained the contents in one gulp.
When the players of the quest team saw the group of demons drinking the strong wine, they also held up their wine cups and pretended to drink.
A wine that contained Spirit Qi was indeed extraordinary. After any demon drank a cup, their face would turn red and their mind would whirl. The group of demons talked about an old joke, causing the other spirits to erupt into a peal of loud laughter.
The demons who had no jokes also narrated their stories about eating humans lately. They talked about when, where, and who they had eaten.
“I even robbed a group of itinerant traders on the mountain the day before. There was a delicious fatty among them. The most delicious part of him was his liver. It was oily, greasy, and smooth.”
“You’re wrong. The best part was his brain and intestines. His brain was full, and his intestines were thick.”
“I think that the skinny one was much more delicious because he was chewy.”
“I still want to eat two young boys and girls…”
The drunken demons completely took off their harmless disguise and boldly discussed their eating experiences.
The face of everyone on the quest team, which was situated in the small corner, sank. In the eyes of the demons, they were strange cultivators who had returned to the Central Plains from overseas.
As long as they dared to show indignation at this injustice, they would be attacked by the group of demons right away and killed by their besiegement.
Thus, they had to bear this patiently.
The mandrill Daoist in the seat of honor looked around the Hall of Great Strength and said with a smile, “The banquet is good, and so is the wine. How can there be no meat?”
He waved his hand and the mournful ghost in white flew back to the sedan chair as lightly as a feather. It carried a beautiful lady wearing a red dress with a protruding stomach.
That woman, who had always been in a coma, was carried to the hall. Thanks to the demonic aura, she woke up to see those fierce, terrifying demons and spirits before her eyes. She screamed in fear and nearly fainted.
Ha ha ha ha… When the group of demons saw the pregnant woman feel devastated and shocked, they imprudently laughed loudly. Their frantic laughter seemed as though it could tear open the entire space of the Hall of Great Strength.
“Hong Niang, don’t be scared. Come here.”
Wang Guan, who was sitting on the seat of honor, signaled with his hand as he spoke to that woman amiably.
“My lord, save me!” When the woman saw Wang Guan, it seemed as if she was clutching at a straw. She hurriedly ran toward Wang Guan and hid behind him. “This place is…”
“This is Solitary Temple, and this is the demon gathering hall.” Wang Guan used his shriveled palm to caress the pregnant woman’s hair before saying gently, “Hong Niang, how long have you been with me?”
“Three… Three years,” she said with trembling jaws. “It has been three years since you redeemed me from the brothel.”
“It’s been three years.”
Wang Guan, who was being sentimental, reached out to caress her big belly. “You’re finally pregnant.”
Hong Niang seemed to realize something and caressed her belly before saying with a pale complexion, “My… my lord?”
“People around the world say that if you eat sour food, you’ll get a son, and if you eat spicy food, you’ll get a daughter. Hong Niang, do you like to eat sour or spicy food these days?”
“Sour.”
“So it’s a son?”
Wang Guan clapped and laughed out loud before telling all the demons, “It’s good to have a son. A son would have more meat than a daughter.”
The demons froze before they understood soon and started laughing out loud.
“Yes, Daoist Priest Wang Guan is right. A male baby would have more meat than a female baby.”
From Hong Niang’s perspective, the demons flattering him were just like a whisper from hell. She shivered all over and did not dare budge at all.
“Hong Niang, have you always found it strange?”
The woman felt increasingly more terrified while Wang Guan’s voice got gentler and gentler. “My family is not outstanding. Our shop was not doing well, and we were not very interested in purchasing arable land. Tell me, how did I accumulate my vast wealth within several years?”
“My lord, you can refine elixirs.”
“That’s right. I can refine elixirs. What kind of elixirs do I refine?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know…”
“No, you do know,” Wang Guan said with a smile. “You know what kind of elixirs I refine. Therefore, you insisted on staying in the southern suburb courtyard and refused to live at my place.”
Hong Niang looked deathly pale and did not utter a word.
“Foolish woman. You are pitiful, sorrowful, and lamentable!” Wang Guan smiled slightly and caressed Hong Niang’s belly. “Aren’t you secretly gathering evidence for the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Wang Kuang, who has been mourning his mother for three years, to report an offense against me and throw me in jail so that your sister can be saved from the King’s Mansion?”
Hong Niang, who was pale, trembled all over without closing her mouth.
In the Hall of Great Strength, the group of demons was discussing softly. These demons considered these issues just trivial matters of the mortal world. They didn’t understand, nor did they want to understand, how those related to the banquet were that day.
“I see.”
Li Ang sighed, turned to his teammates, and whispered, “The 13th year of the Jiajing Reign, Solitary Temple, Wang Guan, and provisional capital Nanjing City… I’ve understood all this too late.”
Xing Hechou lowered his voice and asked hurriedly, “What did you understand?”
“From the very start, the system secretly reminded us of everything behind this quest. All the clues were in front of us, but we didn’t realize it.”
Li Ang smiled bitterly and used his knuckle to knock on his head. “Have you guys seen a book on the biography of the Ming Dynasty during the middle of the Wanli Reign of the Ming Dynasty that was compiled by the Imperial Hanlin Academy’s Jiao Hong and called The Records of Submitted Evidence of the Dynasty?”
What was that? Was it edible?
“The Records of Submitted Evidence of the Dynasty compiled the original historical data from the Hongwu to the Jiajing Reign, such as training records, local chronicles, unofficial history, and tombstones. The headings were classified based on the imperial clan, the most influential ministers, the government cabinet, filial piety, and righteousness.”
Li Ang explained as quickly as possible, “In this reliable history book is a universally shocking, sensational, weird discussion.”