Monkey Wine

As they were talking, a tall, brawny figure slowly approached Yellow Dragon and Houyi. It was Wu Tong, who had exchanged blows with Yellow Dragon during the day.

"Brother Yellow Dragon," his voice was deep, "I, Wu Tong, was too reckless during the day. I nearly injured you! Don't take it to heart—I'll apologize to you again!"

"Nearly injured me?"

Yellow Dragon stared at this thick-browed, big-eyed fellow in shock. What shamelessness!

If we weren't on Witch Race territory, I'd definitely let this bastard know why flowers are so red!

Still, Yellow Dragon gave Wu Tong plenty of face. "Brother Wu Tong, you flatter me."

Yellow Dragon chuckled. "As the saying goes, no friendship without a fight. Brother Wu Tong was the one who let me witness the Witch Race's fierce and domineering strength."

"It should be me thanking you for showing mercy."

Houyi stood to the side with his arms folded. Seeing Wu Tong's shameless look, he teased, "Wu Tong, that apology of yours has no sincerity at all! Flapping your lips won't do. Little friend Yellow Dragon may not mind, but I do. Hurry up and bring out those good things you've been hiding and use them as an apology!"

At Houyi's words, Wu Tong's face instantly darkened to a reddish black. He muttered, "Great Witch Houyi, am I, Wu Tong, the stingy sort?"

He shot Houyi a glare, then stomped his foot hard in heartache. "It's Great Witch who's coveting my treasure!"

With that, he turned and strode toward one side of the mountain wall, his figure vanishing into the hazy moonlight.

Before long, Wu Tong returned, carrying a massive hollowed-out stone jar.

He carefully set the stone jar on the ground before Yellow Dragon and Houyi. Its mouth was sealed with animal hide, yet even so, an incomparably rich and peculiar fruity fragrance mingled with an intoxicating aroma and spread through the air.

"This is..."

Yellow Dragon took a gentle breath, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes.

This scent came from wine brewed with spirit fruit. Though it was far inferior to his Crimson Blood Wine.

Houyi's eyes lit up. With a hearty laugh, he tore off the hide seal. "You good-for-nothing Wu Tong! So you really were hiding such fine stuff! Usually, asking you for even a little is like asking for your life, but today you're actually being generous!"

The instant the seal was opened, the powerful fragrance burst forth. The sweet freshness of fruit and the mellow richness of wine blended perfectly, making quite a few nearby Witch Race warriors unconsciously wrinkle their noses and turn to look.

"Is this Monkey Wine?" Yellow Dragon asked Wu Tong.

"Monkey Wine?"

Wu Tong looked at Yellow Dragon in confusion, clearly having no idea what he meant.

As a Da Luo, Houyi understood Yellow Dragon's meaning.

Somehow producing several rough stone bowls, he ladled the liquid from the stone jar and looked at the clear yet slightly viscous amber-colored wine within them.

Houyi drained a bowl first, then said to Yellow Dragon, "That's right! Little friend Yellow Dragon truly is well-informed! Wu Tong dug this out of the lair of a group of ape demons entrenched deep in the mountains while he was out hunting. Those demon apes weren't highly cultivated, but they gathered a hundred fruits to brew this stuff, and it tastes excellent! Wu Tong treats it like the root of his life. Looks like he's bleeding heavily today!"

Wu Tong watched in anguish as Houyi divided up the wine without ceremony, muttering, "There's only this one jar left...!"

Yellow Dragon accepted the stone bowl Houyi handed over. The amber liquid rippled within it, its fragrance rushing to his nose.

He took a sip. It was sweet, mellow, and crisp, containing the flavors of many spirit fruits. After entering his stomach, it turned into a gentle warm current that spread through him, nourishing his flesh and meridians. It even offered a faint benefit to the physical body. It was indeed rare.

"Not bad!" he praised with a nod.

The three sat around the bonfire, eating fragrant roasted demon beast meat and drinking bowl after bowl.

Though the stone jar was large, it could not withstand the lavish drinking of three men with such immense capacities. Before long, it had been drained.

The scent of meat, the aroma of wine, and the smoky warmth of the fire mingled together, making the atmosphere ever more unrestrained and fervent.

Houyi smacked his lips, clearly still wanting more, then fixed his gaze tightly on Wu Tong. His meaning was obvious: hurry up and bring out the rest.

Ignoring Houyi's faintly threatening gaze, Wu Tong said miserably, "There really isn't any more. We drank it all!"

Houyi plainly wore an expression that said he did not believe him.

Seeing this, Yellow Dragon sighed inwardly at the way the Witch Race clansmen got along. They truly were as close as one family.

With a slight smile, he said, "Haha, thank you for the hospitality, Brother Wu Tong. I have some fine wine of my own brewing as well. Please have a taste, Great Witch Houyi and Brother Wu Tong!"

With a thought, he took a huge jade jar from the Mysterious Yellow World. It was sealed so tightly that not a wisp of scent escaped.

This was Crimson Blood Wine, brewed by Yellow Dragon through a secret method using Crimson Blood Fruit, a postnatal spirit root, as its main ingredient, supplemented with various spirit materials. This single jar weighed a full five hundred jin!

Yellow Dragon opened the jade lid, and an even more domineering fragrance scattered in all directions. Houyi and Wu Tong's eyes instantly went wide.

From the overbearing wine fragrance alone, they knew this was superior to the previous Monkey Wine by an unknown number of levels.

He filled their stone bowls again. The wine, red as blood, looked beneath the bonfire's glow like flowing amber jade stained with blood.

"Good! Fine wine!"

Houyi merely took one whiff before shouting loudly. He could not wait to tilt back his head and gulp down a huge mouthful. His face immediately flushed red. He let out a long breath, and brilliant light shot from his eyes.

"Domineering enough! Exhilarating!"

Seeing Houyi already ladling himself a second bowl, Wu Tong could wait no longer either. He drained his bowl in a single gulp. In an instant, he felt a violent torrent rush straight down from his throat and explode in his stomach.

A dense essence of blood surged madly into every one of his meridians and blood vessels, scouring his sinews, bones, skin, and flesh. It even stirred the witch blood within him into spontaneous galloping motion, and the qi and blood around his body visibly grew several degrees more robust.

"This... this blood wine...!"

He stared in shock at the crimson color remaining at the bottom of his bowl, feeling his qi and blood churn within him. "This wine can actually promote qi and blood?" He hurriedly extended his bowl toward the jar.

The three began drinking freely once more. The aftereffect of this Crimson Blood Wine was far fiercer than Monkey Wine, and none of them deliberately dispelled the intoxication. When half of the second jar of Crimson Blood Wine had been consumed, Yellow Dragon was the first to be unable to hold on.

Tipsy, he felt only that the heavens spun and the earth reeled. Houyi and Wu Tong's figures blurred into doubles before his eyes, and their hearty laughter gradually faded away. At last, Yellow Dragon tipped his head back and fell to the ground, already asleep, a trace of blissful smile still lingering at the corner of his lips.

After getting drunk that day, Yellow Dragon stayed temporarily in the Houtu Tribe.

Houyi and Wu Tong became utterly enamored with his Crimson Blood Wine.

Houyi was simply obsessed with the ultimate sensation of that fiery liquor as it went down his throat. As for getting drunk, with the body of a Great Witch, Crimson Blood Wine brewed from Houtu spirit roots alone could never intoxicate him.

Wu Tong, on the other hand, truly felt the enormous benefits brought by Crimson Blood Wine. Whenever he cultivated after drinking it, the speed at which he refined Earthly Baleful Turbid Qi was more than ten percent faster than usual. For a member of the Witch Race at his level, that was exceedingly rare.

Yellow Dragon was not stingy either, giving each of them a large jar, each weighing five hundred jin.

Having received such benefits, Wu Tong felt somewhat embarrassed. When he heard that Yellow Dragon enjoyed collecting spirit roots and immortal herbs, he huffed and puffed back to his cave abode and rummaged around for quite some time.

In the end, he carried out a tree stump roughly the size of a washbasin. Its edges were covered in rows upon rows of bite marks, and the spiritual qi within was nearly exhausted. Embarrassed, he stuffed it into Yellow Dragon's hands.