Morning Glory Seed

A huge spread of dishes soon filled the table, but Duan Rong merely chatted idly and did not touch his chopsticks.

What a joke—this was a Hongmen Banquet. Neither of them had eaten, so how could he dare eat? What if they had drugged the food?

After Duan Rong declined again and again, and saw that the two had sampled nearly every dish on the table, he suddenly swept through the food like a whirlwind, devouring it ravenously!

The way he ate, he looked like a starving ghost reborn!

Only then did Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng realize that they were the ones paying for this meal!

They normally could not bear to eat such lavish fish and meat dishes!

The three of them immediately scrambled for food like wild dogs fighting over scraps!

When most of the dishes on the table had been eaten, Zhang Zheng suddenly said, "What's with this owner? Why hasn't that dish of beef tripe been served yet?"

"Go urge the kitchen," Kong Bin said from the side. Then, raising a bowl of wine to Duan Rong, he urged, "Brother Rong, let's have another bowl."

Zhang Zheng rose to his feet and headed for the kitchen.

In truth, they had never ordered beef tripe at all.

When Zhang Zheng reached the kitchen, he told the Old Man working there to add a dish of beef tripe.

The Old Man pulled a long face. "I'm busy, sir. Added dishes have to wait in line!"

"I can't wait! Fine, then I'll stir-fry it myself! I'll still pay you!" Zhang Zheng said.

Seeing this, the Old Man agreed. He fished out a sheet of beef tripe from a basin of water and tossed it onto the table. "That's all the beef tripe there is. Help yourself to the chilies and scallions!"

Using the hot wok and sizzling oil, Zhang Zheng stir-fried a dish of spicy beef tripe right there in the kitchen. Just as it was about to leave the wok, he took out a small packet of black-and-white mixed powder from his pocket, sprinkled it into the pan, gave it a few tosses, then plated the dish.

That packet of powder was Morning Glory Seed—the seeds of the morning glory flower. In ancient times, it was a commonly used folk laxative.

Ben Cao Zheng Yi recorded: "Morning Glory Seed excels at draining damp heat, clearing the water passages, and also moving the bowels."

Though Zhang Zheng appeared to have sprinkled in only a small packet, the dosage was in fact extremely heavy.

"Kid, I'll let you enjoy your meal. Once this plate goes down, I guarantee you'll vomit and shit your guts out. Whatever you ate, you'll puke it all back up for me!"

With a sinister grin, Zhang Zheng carried the steaming plate of spicy beef tripe out of the kitchen.

Zhang Zheng placed the dish in the middle of the table and said with a smile, "That cook was dawdling forever. If I hadn't urged him, who knew when it would've come out?"

"Brother Rong, come, taste this beef tripe. It just came out of the wok. I specifically had the cook add extra chili—it's got plenty of kick!" Zhang Zheng said, looking at Duan Rong.

Duan Rong seemed a little drunk. Raising a bowl of Rice Wine, he slurred, "No rush on the food. Come, let's drain another bowl."

Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng exchanged a glance, raised their bowls, and drank them dry with Duan Rong.

All three had drunk quite a bit, especially Kong Bin, whose eyes had already turned red.

"Come, this beef tripe will get cold soon. Brother Rong, have some!" Kong Bin pretended to pick up a chopstickful of tripe, but did not swallow it, merely placing it on the plate before him.

Once drunk, Kong Bin's smile actually took on a hint of lewdness, utterly different from his usual stern-faced appearance.

Duan Rong found it rather amusing.

Duan Rong was not actually drunk. That lightly tipsy demeanor was entirely an act.

Not only was he not drunk, he actually felt more energized the more he drank. It seemed the original owner's alcohol tolerance was no joke.

Though Duan Rong kept urging them to drink, he never dared touch that plate of spicy beef tripe with his chopsticks.

What a joke—Zhang Zheng had spent quite some time in the kitchen, and neither of them ate any of it. They just kept urging him to eat. What if something was wrong with it?

When Duan Rong could no longer refuse, he pretended to pick up a chopstickful of tripe. But just as he brought it to his mouth, he twisted his wrist, blocking their view. His chopsticks loosened, and the tripe dropped beneath the table, where it was eaten by a mangy yellow dog.

With his mouth empty, Duan Rong ground his teeth with an audible crunch, pretending to chew as he said, "This tripe is good—crisp! And it's got plenty of flavor!"

"Since Brother Rong likes it, have more. From now on, we'll be fellow disciples, so we need to look out for one another." Seeing Duan Rong eat it, Kong Bin was delighted. He half rose, swayed on his feet, and pushed the plate of tripe in front of Duan Rong.

The three of them had all drunk quite a bit. Taking advantage of their inattention, Duan Rong fed every last piece of tripe on the plate before him to the yellow dog at his feet.

When Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng saw that the plate of tripe before Duan Rong had been finished, they immediately looked at each other and smiled.

After the three had eaten and drunk their fill, they chatted nonsense for another half hour before finally leaving the restaurant.

The moment they stepped outside, a gust of cold wind sent the alcohol rushing up in Duan Rong, and he suddenly felt the urge to urinate. "You two wait for me. I'm going to take a leak."

"Is the kid having an episode already?" Zhang Zheng asked with a drunken, wicked grin.

Duan Rong walked into an alley beside the restaurant and urinated against the base of a wall. Then he suddenly spotted the mangy yellow dog from beneath the table lying in the alley like a lump of mud, with a puddle of watery shit beneath it.

Duan Rong jolted, nearly pissing on his own feet. "That was a fucking laxative!"

It had only been such a short while, and the dog was already shitting like this.

If he had eaten that entire plate, wouldn't he have shit himself so weak his legs went limp? How would he take the assessment tomorrow?

"Vicious. Heartless!"

"You really did drug your daddy!"

Duan Rong suddenly felt a lingering chill of fear. He had truly underestimated those two brats.

If they had wanted to fight him head-on, Duan Rong would not have been afraid. But drugging someone was impossible to guard against, and it was only a laxative, nothing life-threatening. Even if he reported it to the escort agency, no one would care. Besides, he had no evidence!

Standing in the alley, Duan Rong looked at Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng waiting for him at the alley entrance. Then he turned on his heel and circled back to the escort agency through the other end of the alley.

Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng waited in the cold wind at the alley entrance for a long time, yet Duan Rong never emerged. They called out several times, but received no answer.

"Could it be acting up already?" Zhang Zheng asked.

"So soon?"

"Of course! He ate a whole plate, and it's been a while already, hasn't it?"

After saying that, the two laughed. Without waiting for Duan Rong, they supported each other and made their way back to the escort agency.

Both of them were rather drunk. Once they returned to the dormitory, they collapsed and fell asleep.

Naturally, they failed to notice that Duan Rong had long since settled down to sleep at the other end of the Large Shared Bed.

Early the next morning, Duan Rong got up before dawn. At the dormitory entrance, he found Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng sleeping on the Large Shared Bed by the door like dead pigs.

Duan Rong smiled and left the dormitory.

The sky was still dark, with only one great star hanging upside down in the heavens.

As soon as Duan Rong stepped out of the dormitory, he was slightly surprised. Someone had risen even earlier than he had and was already practicing standing meditation.

It was Li Chong!

When Li Chong saw Duan Rong, he timidly called out, "Brother Rong," then avoided him like Haozi and scurried off to practice standing meditation in a corner.

Duan Rong looked at Li Chong and gave a faint shake of his head. He had seen plenty of people like this in his previous life—bullies of the weak and cowards before the strong, admiring strength while trampling weakness.

Outwardly, Li Chong was respectful toward him, but inwardly, he hated him to the bone.

A person like Li Chong was actually more dangerous than Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng. Because he was more unhinged.

Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng only dared use laxatives. Li Chong probably dared use arsenic.

Be careful.

Duan Rong reminded himself inwardly.

After washing up briefly, he headed toward the firewood shed. He was already used to doing his morning practice there, and since today was the day of the assessment, he might as well go early.

As dawn was just beginning to break, the firewood shed courtyard was still shrouded in dim darkness when Kong Bin and Zhang Zheng hurried in.

It was assessment day, after all—better early than late.

The moment they entered the courtyard, they saw two people already standing there waiting.

They were Duan Rong and Li Chong!

The muscles in Kong Bin's face twitched.

He had thought Duan Rong would surely have shit himself so badly today that his legs would be weak, but Duan Rong now stood there straight as a spear, his expression calm.

Kong Bin turned to look at Zhang Zheng behind him and found the same astonishment on Zhang Zheng's face.

He trusted that Zhang Zheng would never botch a job. That left only one possibility.

Duan Rong had played along and tricked them both!

Kong Bin clenched his teeth. But in only an instant, his fist loosened. He let out a long breath and stood expressionlessly at Duan Rong's side.

Seeing Kong Bin move over, Zhang Zheng's eyes shifted. He walked over and stood in the gap between Kong Bin and Li Chong.

Duan Rong had seen every change in Kong Bin's expression. Kong Bin is young, yet he already has such deep scheming. Put him among a crowd, and he could be considered somebody.