Qing Chen gave a low chuckle at those words, his expression showing that he "knew how to have fun." "Brother Yun, how could your little brother not understand?
"Tonight, both this room and the inner room have been prepared with the finest delicacies. They simply call for different ways of eating.
"How you wish to savor them, Brother Yun, and which dish you taste first, are entirely your choice."
As he spoke, he stepped aside and gestured toward the inner room.
"Brother Qing, you really are the worm in my belly! Hahahaha!"
Sure enough, Li Muyun rubbed his hands together, looking rather impatient. Muttering, "Brother Qing knows me best," he lifted the curtain and entered the inner room without looking back.
Once the curtain fell, the smile on Qing Chen's face faded at once.
He tapped his fingertips lightly against the table, silently counting the time. The "medicine" he had prepared for Li Muyun could make someone extremely excited, muddle their senses, and loosen their tongue.
Sure enough, barely a quarter of an hour had passed before the curtain to the inner room was flung aside.
Li Muyun shuffled out in his shoes, his collar askew, his exposed chest stained with sweat. The flush on his face was not from drink, but from the medicine taking effect.
He straightened his clothes in satisfaction, sat back down in his chair without ceremony, and grabbed the wine pot to fill his cup. He gulped down a great mouthful, wiped his face, and laughed.
"That hit the spot! Brother Qing, you really know how to get things done!"
After Li Muyun left, Niu Dali brought several men from the Twin Eagles Association.
They came in from outside, ready to take care of the matters Qing Chen had assigned them.
Qing Chen picked up his own wine cup and lightly touched its rim to his. "As long as you're satisfied, Brother Yun. Speaking of which, guarding the city has been fairly leisurely these past few days, so I leafed through a few books when I had nothing to do.
"They described immortals riding flying swords, summoning the wind and calling down rain. It all read like a storyteller's tale. I wonder whether it's true. How I envy them."
At this, Li Muyun burst out laughing and set down the wine pot. "A storyteller's tale? It's no tale! Immortal cultivation really exists. It just isn't our destiny."
He paused, then raised his cup for another sip. "But not everyone can set foot on the path of immortal cultivation. Not one in hundreds or thousands has what it takes. It requires a gift called a spiritual root.
"Without that spiritual root, no matter how bitterly you train or how hard you work, it's all wasted effort-drawing water with a bamboo basket, only to come away empty."
Qing Chen suppressed the sudden pounding in his heart.
He deliberately looked bewildered. "A spiritual root? What sort of thing is that? Something like ginseng? Or does it grow on you from birth?"
"You're born with it!"
Li Muyun slapped the table and sighed.
"Back in my younger days, I yearned for it too. I had my fantasies about it. Unfortunately, I had no spiritual root, so the path of immortal cultivation was not meant for me. Still, enjoying all the glory and riches this mortal world has to offer isn't such a bad bargain."
At this point, he gave a self-mocking laugh. "This isn't knowledge of my own. It all came from my wife. She once told me that a spiritual root is the foundation of the path of immortal cultivation.
"Back then, the city lord took all his children to the capital of the Jing Kingdom and asked the state preceptor to test each of them. Unfortunately, none was found to have a spiritual root. What a pity."
Qing Chen silently committed the words "state preceptor" and "capital" to memory, while feigning even greater curiosity as he pressed on.
"So having a spiritual root means you can cultivate? Wouldn't you still need secret manuals and pills? Like the Jade Forging Art I practice-would you need a master to teach you?"
Li Muyun curled his lip and slumped against the back of his chair. The wine was gradually taking hold, and his gaze began to wander.
"My wife said that even having a spiritual root is useless in the Jing Kingdom. It certainly doesn't mean everything will go smoothly. Our Jing Kingdom lacks some crucial thing, making immortal cultivation difficult.
"Only by boarding an immortal's ship, flying over the Thunder Pool, and crossing countless tens of thousands of miles to a place truly suited to immortal cultivation can you cultivate.
"None of this is a secret, nor is it anything particularly hidden. Most of the Jing Kingdom's princes, nobles, generals, and ministers know it well."
Feigning curiosity, Qing Chen asked, "That great ship-how much silver would it take to buy a ticket aboard?"
Li Muyun snorted at the question. "Silver? Hmph. Even if you brought them a mountain of silver and a mountain of gold, you might not sway those immortals.
"Immortals aren't so easily satisfied. To tell you the truth, you need a special token to board."
Qing Chen picked up the thread. "A token? It must be something good, something exceedingly precious. Ordinary people probably never get to see one. I've never even heard of it!"
His heart hammered so fiercely that he could almost feel the blood rushing to his head, yet he kept a respectful expression on his face.
Li Muyun laughed smugly. "Haha, exactly. Ordinary people really don't get to see one. Even those granted noble titles or appointed ministers haven't all seen one.
"My wife, however, has seen one with her own eyes. Back then, the city lord won illustrious military victories for the Jing Kingdom, and the sovereign specially bestowed a token on him as a reward.
"But where that token is hidden now, where it's been put, I have no idea. Nor have I ever asked my wife."
With that, he belched. He was clearly well over halfway drunk, and his words were beginning to come out without much thought.
At this, wild joy surged through Qing Chen's heart.
His greatest worry had been that Ford City did not possess even a single token. The situation now was far better than he had imagined.
He hurried to follow up with flattery. "The city lord truly lives up to his title as military governor-even immortal treasures are bestowed upon him!
"When I worked at the brothel, I heard of the city lord's formidable reputation. They said he drove back fifty thousand enemy soldiers with twenty thousand elite troops. Truly impressive!"
Li Muyun's eyes were already bleary with drink. Swaying, he said, "Brother Qing, you probably don't know the inside story. Let your big brother tell you.
"These wars are actually nothing but a game for the immortals. My wife once told me that a war breaks out between these kingdoms every twenty or thirty years, all because the immortals force it upon them. They're the ones pulling the strings behind the scenes.
"In return for this, they distribute some tokens and pills every thirty years, allowing a handful of people to board that mysterious immortal ship, set foot on the path of cultivation, and enjoy the immortal way."
As he spoke, he let out a loud belch, sending the stench of wine straight into Qing Chen's face.
Qing Chen shifted slightly aside without letting anything show, sighing inwardly. So the lives and deaths of mortals are nothing but a farce in the eyes of immortals.
He remembered what it had felt like to toil like an ox or horse for the powerful in the brothel;
He remembered the ruthlessness with which he had been forced to strangle a captive with his own hands in the tunnels of Northern Mang Mountain for the sake of the immortal path;
He remembered the agitation of training bitterly for three months without being able to sense spiritual energy...
Qing Chen's fingers slowly clenched, his nails digging into his palms. The pain made him more clearheaded.
He looked at Li Muyun, who was spouting drunken nonsense before him, then filled another cup for himself, tilted his head back, and drained it.
With such a chance to cultivate, who could give it up?
Qing Chen hoped that one day, he too could break free of these immortals' control and truly hold his own fate in his hands.
He did not want to be like he had been in his previous life, drowning himself in wine and forcing smiles to please others.
Still less did he want to spend his whole life without hope, suffering humiliation at others' hands!
He would climb to the very top, one step at a time!