Feng Mo

"Holy shit, I can't beat him at all. I'm screwed!"

Shi Lai looked utterly miserable.

He had spent ages chasing Xia Yi and Zhou Xiaoxian along the main road without catching them. Bored by the monotonous scenery of yellow sand, he had switched on autopilot.

But traveling was not like sitting still to cultivate. Heaven knew how many times he had fallen while traveling on autopilot.

He had finally reached the Provincial Capital, only to fall into the moat in a moment of carelessness.

After the guards fished him out, he had tried to become Physician Hu's apprentice to unlock a healing secondary class. The old man had taken him for a hysteric and jabbed him all over with needles.

He had finally escaped, only to run into a young thug harassing a respectable girl in the street.

No way. I've got to do something about this!

He had saved the girl, but lost his life several times.

"What do I do? What do I do? His guards haven't even joined in. There's no way I can win. It should almost be time to get up, but I haven't accomplished anything in a whole night of gaming. Dying seven times and getting kicked out like this would be way too embarrassing."

The sound of rushing water reached him, and Shi Lai had a flash of inspiration. "Right, I can swim!"

Across from him, Feng Mo had a round face and small eyes. Now narrowed to slits, those eyes shone with menace. "Where did this beggar come from? How dare you meddle in my business?!"

But the beggar Shi Lai suddenly sprang into motion, turned, and charged toward the river. Feng Mo, who had just delivered his threat, actually flinched in surprise before bellowing in anger, "Stop him!"

Whoosh...

One of the guards behind him shot forward, catching up to the sprinting Shi Lai in an instant.

I'm done for! This lackey is either second advancement or has a speed skill!

Shi Lai was secretly alarmed. What rotten luck!

But just as the guard was about to grab Shi Lai, he suddenly stumbled and fell headfirst!

"Huh?"

Splash-

Shi Lai jumped into the river, sending water splashing.

Feng Mo froze in surprise. The other guard behind him reacted swiftly, immediately drawing his saber halfway and going on alert.

Feng Mo glanced at Shi Lai, who was paddling away downstream, then scanned the surroundings through narrowed eyes. Finally, he spotted some shards of glass beside the guard as he got up and went over to pick one up.

"A cup from Wangjiang Tower?"

"Young master, be careful!"

"Careful, my ass! If they actually dared do anything, that cup would have hit my head!"

Feng Mo sneered. "Hmph. Another coward who disapproves of me but doesn't dare offend my father. Come on, let's see who it is!"

Smash!

A cup shattered against his head.

"Little punk. Quite full of himself."

"T-teacher, why'd you throw our cup out?" Zhou Xiaoxian asked indistinctly through a mouthful of lamb.

"It's nothing. Keep eating."

"Aren't you eating?"

I've had four plates. I'm sick of it. Xia Yi shook his head in discomfort. "I don't like this dish. I'll wait for the next one. You go ahead. It's fine."

"Oh, okay."

Only when the next dish, Fish Head, Tofu, and Ghost Mushroom Soup, arrived did Xia Yi finally make himself pick up his chopsticks. But before he could taste a third dish, a youth's angry shout echoed outside in the corridor.

"Chen Guang, have any diners paid and left in the last five minutes?!"

"Young master, what happened to you...?" The middle-aged waiter's voice followed.

"Answer me!"

"Oh, yes. The last party to leave was Lord Lu Zhou's, more than ten minutes ago."

"Hm? They haven't left?" Slightly surprised, Feng Mo inspected several private rooms through narrowed eyes, comparing their angles and singling out a few. "Who's in those rooms?!"

"Second senior brother?"

The moment he finished speaking, Zhou Xiaoxian leaned halfway out of one of the rooms he had indicated.

Surprise immediately spread across Feng Mo's face. The menace in his eyes vanished without a trace, and he smiled. "Xiao Xian? You're eating here? When did you get back to Lieyang City? I've invited you to my family's restaurant so many times, and you turned me down every time."

Zhou Xiaoxian opened the door all the way and stepped aside to introduce him. "I only arrived today, second senior brother. This is my new master. He brought me here to eat... So this is your family's restaurant? I had no idea."

They know each other? Xia Yi greeted him with a smile, as though he had not been the one throwing cups just now.

Feng Mo paused, swept his gaze over the cups and plates in the room, then looked at Xia Yi. Cupping his hands respectfully, he said, "Senior, you certainly have an eye for talent. Haha, perhaps before long I'll have to start calling you senior sister, Xiao Xian."

"Second senior brother, you're saying the same thing as eldest senior brother," Xiao Xian said with a smile.

"Oh? Am I?" Feng Mo smiled too, then turned. "Chen Guang, take good care of Xiao Xian and this senior. Their meal is on the house."

The middle-aged waiter, Chen Guang, bowed in acknowledgment.

Xiao Xian hurriedly declined.

Feng Mo merely waved a hand. "What's one meal for my junior sister? If you're willing to come every day, I'd be even happier. All right, I won't disturb your meal with your master. I still have something to do, so I'll be going."

Xiao Xian tried to decline again, but Xia Yi interrupted her. "Xiao Xian, these two senior brothers of yours are each more generous than the last. In that case, allow this old man to thank you, young hero."

"You're too kind, senior," Feng Mo replied with a bow before turning to leave. Chen Guang respectfully closed the door to Xia Yi's room, then hurried off to see him out.

Inside the room, Xia Yi smiled. "Xiao Xian, are you close to this second senior brother of yours?"

"Second senior brother is very nice. He's helped me a lot in class." Zhou Xiaoxian nodded. "He comes from a powerful family, but that also makes things very hard for him. His father is the military governor of Zhi Prefecture, commanding the troops of an entire province. To keep the royal family from growing suspicious, he sometimes has to do things against his conscience to tarnish his own reputation. That's why his reputation isn't very good, but he's actually a good person."

"Hahaha, you even know about that? Is that what he told you?" Xia Yi could not help laughing, but inwardly he sighed. Ah, this girl.

At the stairway, Chen Guang hurried along on his slightly lame legs. "Young master! Young master!"

"Hm?" Feng Mo looked over with narrowed eyes.

"Hehe, young master." Chen Guang smiled humbly. "I've successfully comprehended the Yi Yin Decoction Saint Soul. I did it! The proprietress said that as long as I comprehended the Yi Yin Decoction, she would help me open another restaurant in the city and let me manage it..."

"Oh?" Feng Mo said in surprise. "Well done. You really did imprint the Yi Yin Decoction on your one remaining soul aperture?"

Chen Guang's smile stiffened slightly, then instantly turned humble again. "Hehe, yes, yes."

"All right, I understand. I'll tell my father about it when I get back." Feng Mo waved a hand. Only as he disappeared down the stairs did a seemingly mocking smile curl his lips.

After they left Wangjiang Tower, one guard asked, "Young master, are we not investigating who threw the cups?"

"Idiot! What's there to investigate? It was that old man just now!" Feng Mo snorted.

"Him? Then should we teach him a lesson?" asked the other guard, who had been struck.

Feng Mo looked over with narrowed eyes.

A chill immediately ran through the guard who had been struck. He bowed respectfully. "I spoke out of turn!"

"You didn't speak out of turn. You're simply stupid! From several hundred meters away, he knocked you down with one cup and hit me precisely without injuring me with another. He's at least Three-Star Tianji. Given his age and the fact that junior sister Xiao Xian took him as her master, he's very likely Four-Star Tianquan. Only Uncle Lin and my father in our household could be absolutely certain of teaching him a lesson! What makes you think you can talk about teaching him a lesson?!"

"I was a fool!"

Feng Mo turned to the other guard. "You tell me. What should we do now?"

The other guard hesitated, then said, "In my opinion, it was only a minor conflict, and that old man is Miss Xiao Xian's master. Since he also accepted your offer to waive the bill, he probably doesn't want to be your enemy. It isn't worth troubling the commander, much less the general. Why not... pretend we don't know?"

"You're a little smarter than he is."

Feng Mo smiled in praise.

The guard had just begun to look pleased when Feng Mo added gravely, "Have Uncle Lin come dine with me at my place later."

The two guards exchanged glances.

"Didn't you understand?"

"Ah, yes!"

Feng Mo strode away. "Ding Shan, you only got one thing wrong. If that old man weren't Xiao Xian's master, I really wouldn't pursue such a minor conflict. After all, he's very likely a Four-Star Tianquan expert, not someone to offend lightly."

"But now... go to Zhou Family Village tonight and investigate that old man's background! Ding Yun, start investigating in the city at daybreak tomorrow!"

"As for why, figure it out yourselves!"

"Yes!"