"Sorry, we only do business with regulars."
Deep in a narrow alley, a burly man in a black suit and sunglasses—even though it was the middle of the night—blocked Su Yuan and Chen Nuoyi's way.
After a long inner struggle, the two finally decided to venture into the alley and investigate.
Su Yuan looked up at the sign behind the sunglass-wearing man, which glowed pink, and grew even more speechless.
Four sparkling characters were written across the pink sign.
[Peach Oolong]!
Everyone knew that peach oolong was a delicious tea drink.
But seeing those four characters on this sign, in this bizarre setting, was seriously freaking weird.
Chen Nuoyi didn't realize there was anything wrong with those four characters.
But to Su Yuan, whose imagination was unusually vivid, every single stroke of them was wrong!
He just couldn't say it... because if he did, it wouldn't come out!
Su Yuan suppressed his urge to complain, cleared his throat, and said with forced composure:
"We have a friend inside, but I don't know whether he uses his real name or a stage name at your shop."
The sunglass-wearing man replied coldly:
"Then describe your friend's appearance. If he's really here, I'll let him know."
Su Yuan gave a rough description of Chu Lanxi's height and looks.
"Are you sure?"
The man's expression turned a little strange.
"Uh, is there a problem? Is he not an employee here?"
Su Yuan asked, puzzled.
The man didn't answer. He raised a hand to his earpiece and lowered his voice.
"Boss, two young people outside are looking for you. They say they're your friends."
Su Yuan and Chen Nuoyi: "???"
They exchanged a glance, both seeing the same disbelief in the other's eyes.
Before entering the alley, they'd considered all sorts of possibilities. They'd thought Chu Lanxi might be an employee here, or that he'd come as a customer, but they'd never imagined this!
The boss!
That thick-browed, big-eyed Chu Lanxi was actually the owner of this place?!
This wasn't just an ordinary case of colluding with the Devilish Dao. This guy was clearly the sect master of a demonic sect!
More than ten seconds later, the tightly shut shop door opened, and a familiar figure appeared before Su Yuan and Chen Nuoyi.
"I had a feeling it'd be you two."
Chu Lanxi looked somewhat helpless.
"So that roast goose the cafeteria treated me to earlier really did come with an ulterior motive, huh?"
Su Yuan hurriedly pulled Chu Lanxi aside and said with heartfelt concern:
"Lanzi! If you're only coming to a place like this because you want to make quick money, we can understand. But you really shouldn't have opened this kind of shop!"
"You should know, running a place like this could get you five years minimum. You can't keep going down this path!"
Chen Nuoyi also tried to persuade him:
"Classmate Chu, why sink into the Devilish Dao? If you need money, you could come work with us!"
Chu Lanxi's expression turned odd.
"Five years minimum? What did I even do? I just opened a milk tea shop."
"A milk tea shop?"
Su Yuan sneered.
"Who opens a milk tea shop in an alley this remote, then puts up a tacky hot-pink sign like that?"
Chu Lanxi looked even more innocent.
"Peach oolong tea is our signature drink. What's wrong with using it as the shop's name? And as for the sign's color... I like pink, okay?"
Seeing how confidently Chu Lanxi insisted, Chen Nuoyi began to waver.
"Su Yuan, did we misunderstand Classmate Chu?"
Su Yuan kept sneering. "Lanzi, you can fool your buddies, but don't fool yourself."
A minute later.
After Chu Lanxi led him behind the counter, Su Yuan stared at the customers sitting quietly in the shop, drinking tea, utterly dumbfounded.
"Dude, this really is a milk tea shop!"
Su Yuan stayed stunned for a long, long time. After a while, he finally asked one last question:
"If this is a legit shop, why didn't you open it somewhere busier?"
Chu Lanxi shrugged.
"When did I ever say this was a legit shop? Peach Oolong is a properly registered and licensed, 17-plus demonic sect."
"A demonic sect?"
Su Yuan and Chen Nuoyi both froze.
Chu Lanxi smiled as he explained:
"You two don't know? Actually, demonic sects are allowed to exist legally."
"Our Cultivation Civilization developed after Spiritual Qi Resurgence, built upon the ancient cultivation ruins."
"Those ruins contained both orthodox inheritances and Devilish Dao inheritances."
"When Spiritual Qi first returned, quite a few people used Devilish Dao methods to commit evil. They were met with the orthodox cultivators' thunderous retaliation. By now, the Devilish Dao has been almost completely wiped out."
"But as civilization developed, many people with insight gradually realized that plenty of methods deemed part of the Devilish Dao during the ancient cultivation era also had their merits."
"So the less harmful Devilish Dao inheritances weren't all wiped out indiscriminately. Legal demonic sects could be established, but anyone who wanted to visit one had to meet certain requirements."
"The most common requirement is an age limit. That's where the ratings for 17-plus and 18-plus demonic sects come from."
"My shop is a 17-plus demonic sect, so naturally I can't open it in a busy district. And only cultivators aged seventeen or older can come in and spend money."
After hearing Chu Lanxi's explanation, Su Yuan and Chen Nuoyi felt as if a door to a whole new world had opened before them.
Sorry, they were still too young. They hadn't even known demonic sects could be legalized!
"So the Joyful Union Sect really exists?"
After trying hard to process all this, Su Yuan asked curiously.
Chu Lanxi replied, "That one's illegal. If you get caught, you'll be taken to the Execution Immortal Stage."
Su Yuan said, "Oh. Never mind, then."
Chen Nuoyi asked in confusion:
"But why would a milk tea shop be rated as a 17-plus demonic sect?"
Chu Lanxi didn't answer. Instead, he handed them the drink menu.
The two leaned over the menu together. They'd barely read the first item when they started flailing their hands like cats with tape stuck to their paws, flinging the menu far away.
"Palace-style lemon tea, 180 yuan a cup?!"
Su Yuan's eyes nearly popped out of his head!
How dare he? How did Chu Lanxi dare?!
Lemon water that cost three yuan a cup, and he was selling it for 180!
This wasn't just a 17-plus demonic sect anymore. Chu Lanxi ought to be dragged to the Execution Immortal Stage and chopped up, just like the master of the Joyful Union Sect.
"Su Yuan, my legs feel weak."
Chen Nuoyi clutched Su Yuan's sleeve, trembling. The rows and rows of zeroes on the menu had already scared her silly.
Chu Lanxi, however, remained perfectly calm.
"Don't make such a fuss. There's a reason I charge so much."
Su Yuan paused, then asked tentatively:
"Could it be that the drinks are made with excellent ingredients, like high-grade spirit fruits with exceptional nutritional value?"
Chu Lanxi replied, "Not at all. They're just ordinary spirit fruits that cost five yuan per jin at the market—you can get them even cheaper wholesale."
Su Yuan said, "...You really should be dragged off to be beheaded."
Chu Lanxi smiled and continued:
"The ingredients I use for the milk tea are ordinary, but I add something else. That's the core secret of my demonic sect."
PS: Chapter two will be a little late.
Before you continue