"Is that so?"
Ninth Uncle set down his bowl of soup and looked at Liu Songshan with a hint of a smile.
"I'll send him a message right away!"
Liu Songshan immediately stood and took a talisman from inside his robes.
"Young friend Taiping, you don't mind adding another pair of chopsticks, do you?"
Holding his soup bowl, Ninth Uncle looked at Xu Taiping with a beaming smile.
"Will he pay?"
Xu Taiping hesitated before asking.
"Absolutely!"
Ninth Uncle answered without the slightest hesitation.
"Then there's no problem."
Xu Taiping nodded.
He couldn't be bothered to figure out what games these big shots were playing. Today, he was just the cook, the one collecting payment, and a spectator.
"Oh, I think I'm out of chopsticks."
Xu Taiping suddenly remembered something.
"Never mind. Have him bring his own!"
Ninth Uncle waved a hand.
"B-but Ninth Uncle, my... my Message Talisman has already... already burned out..."
Upon hearing that, Liu Songshan immediately explained the situation to Ninth Uncle.
"Then light another one. All this hemming and hawing-you'll never amount to anything."
Ninth Uncle shot Liu Songshan a disdainful glare.
"Y-yes!"
Seeing Ninth Uncle's expression change, Liu Songshan took another Message Talisman from his robes without another word, though his heart ached as he thought:
This young martial uncle really is an ancestor we have to worship. One Message Talisman could easily buy a thousand pairs of chopsticks!
Xu Taiping made no comment on their antics, merely sighing inwardly:
It must be nice to have money.
A short while later.
Another person had joined the dining table in the main room of Green Bamboo Abode's little courtyard.
He was a tall, burly man with a square face. His enormous frame made him look as though he were sitting on the floor rather than on one of Xu Taiping's little stools.
"How about we move into the courtyard to eat? We wouldn't have to squeeze together like this."
Seeing Xu Youzhi crouched there, his head drenched in sweat, Xu Taiping couldn't bear it any longer and offered the suggestion.
"No!"
To Xu Taiping's surprise, the first to raise a hand in objection wasn't the eccentric Ninth Uncle, but Xu Youzhi, the sweat-soaked Hall Master of the Raging Wind Hall.
"Little brother, there's no need to go to all that trouble. I'm perfectly comfortable here. I like sitting here!"
Xu Youzhi waved the chopsticks he'd brought from home and explained with a smile.
"All right..."
Xu Taiping frowned, thinking:
These people probably have something wrong with their heads. I'd better have Uncle White keep his distance from them.
"Hey, little fellow, aren't you meddling now? A thousand pieces of gold can't buy a man's liking. He likes it here, so naturally, we shouldn't deprive him of his pleasure."
Ninth Uncle grinned and winked at Xu Taiping, then reached out and took the last lamb rib from the bowl.
"By the way, Youzhi, which two fellows from your Raging Wind Hall are responsible for the area around Green Bamboo Abode?"
Ninth Uncle casually asked Xu Youzhi as he gnawed on the rib.
"Reporting to-"
"Hmm?"
Xu Youzhi instinctively tried to stand, only for a casual look from Ninth Uncle to send him sitting back down. He wiped the sweat from his forehead before continuing:
"Ninth Uncle, the two Raging Wind Hall disciples responsible for the area around Green Bamboo Abode are Zuo Ju and Zhou Gu. Both have reached greater mastery of the Gate Opening Realm. Since they took over this area, incidents of demons and nature spirits harming people have become very rare."
Both were his subordinates; their glory and disgrace were his own. Naturally, he wouldn't stint on praise.
"Though I only happened to pass by, the four of us were able to gather here thanks to our young friend Taiping. The sect's rules prevent us from offering much help with his cultivation, but when your Raging Wind Hall patrols this area in the future, make sure you pay extra attention to Green Bamboo Abode."
Ninth Uncle gave Xu Youzhi this casual instruction.
Hearing this, Xu Youzhi and Liu Songshan exchanged a glance and both breathed a sigh of relief, thinking:
So our young martial uncle summoned us here just to have us look after Green Bamboo Abode!
"Rest assured, Ninth Uncle. From now on, we'll definitely have Zuo Ju and Zhou Gu patrol Green Bamboo Abode closely."
Xu Youzhi thumped his chest as he assured Ninth Uncle.
"Ninth Uncle, for such a small matter, you only needed to have White Rainbow give me a word. There was no need for you to personally host a feast."
Liu Songshan also looked as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
But Xu Taiping, who had been watching the show all along, was completely baffled by their conversation. He thought:
Ninth Uncle and I aren't related, and we have no connection. Why is he suddenly asking Pavilion Master Liu and Hall Master Xu to look after me? Just because of this meal?
A single meal certainly couldn't explain it. With that thought, Xu Taiping turned his gaze toward Ninth Uncle.
Ninth Uncle was gnawing on a lamb leg. Seeing Xu Taiping looking at him, he immediately grinned and winked.
Xu Taiping frowned, thinking:
One look tells me this old man is a sly fox. He can't possibly be that kindhearted.
Then he turned his gaze toward White Rainbow beside him.
Noticing Xu Taiping's gaze, White Rainbow immediately returned a smile.
Just as I thought. Uncle White deliberately brought Ninth Uncle to Green Bamboo Abode so he could use this opportunity to give me a little help.
Realization dawned on Xu Taiping.
At that thought, he immediately gave White Rainbow a slight nod and a grateful look.
Across from him, Ninth Uncle immediately frowned at the sight, thinking:
You little brat. I'm the one helping you, so why are you thanking someone else? No, I have to make him see more clearly. I can't let the boy think well of White Rainbow alone!
Then he set down the lamb leg and looked at the trembling Liu Songshan and Xu Youzhi beside him. "Since both of you are here today, call Zuo Ju and Zhou Gu over to share a meal as well. Remember to have them bring their own chopsticks."
Xu Songshan and Zhou Gu exchanged bewildered looks.
"N-Ninth Uncle... I... I don't have any Message Talismans left on me."
Liu Songshan looked troubled.
"Ninth Uncle, I came in a hurry, so I... I didn't bring any either."
Xu Youzhi echoed him.
Message Talismans capable of transmitting a voice over a thousand miles were extremely costly to make. For Liu Songshan to carry two was already extravagant.
"Little fellow, do you have any?"
Ninth Uncle turned to Xu Taiping.
As it happened, Xu Taiping really did have one on him-the very one Zuo Ju had left him last time.
But to avoid unnecessary trouble, Xu Taiping decided not to hand over the Message Talisman. He didn't want to get caught up in these people's disputes, either.
"I don't-"
"I can buy it for twice the price."
Xu Taiping had just started to refuse when Ninth Uncle abruptly cut him off.
"I have one!"
Without hesitation, Xu Taiping took the Message Talisman from inside his robes.
"That's more like it!"
Smiling, Ninth Uncle took the Message Talisman from Xu Taiping's hand.
"Is... isn't that our Raging Wind Hall's Sound Transmission Talisman?"
Xu Youzhi recognized the talisman in Ninth Uncle's hand at once.
Before you continue