Senior Brother Zhang

"Oh my, it's noon already? That was quick!" Hu Qingqing looked at the sun overhead; it was right at midday. "I'm getting a little hungry too. Senior brothers, shall we find somewhere to eat?"

"Whatever you say, junior sister," Huang Xiao said with a smile.

"Yes, junior sister. Tell us where the good food is, and we'll head right over," Liu Dacheng added.

"There's no need to be so particular when we're away from home. Look, isn't there a restaurant up ahead? Shall we go there?" Hu Qingqing said, pointing at a restaurant ahead.

"Elegant Abode?" Huang Xiao looked at it and smiled. "That's certainly an elegant name."

"Who cares whether it's elegant? If the food's no good, no name will help," Liu Dacheng said.

"Senior Brother Liu, look at all the people coming and going. It's quite popular, so the food must be good," Hu Qingqing said. "All right, enough talk. Let's hurry over."

"Please come in, honored guests! You've come at just the right time. There's one table left upstairs. Any later, and you'd have had to wait." A waiter hurried over to greet Huang Xiao and his companions as they entered.

"Waiter, is business always this good here?" Hu Qingqing asked.

"Miss, to tell you the truth, while we can't claim to be the best restaurant in Huaqing City, we do have our own specialties. Being packed to the rafters is perfectly normal," the waiter replied.

"I'm not so sure about that," Huang Xiao said with a smile. "There have been a lot more outsiders in the city lately. How else could you be packed to the rafters?"

"Exactly. You're not being honest," Hu Qingqing said.

"You're not wrong, sir. We didn't have this many customers before, but we were still usually eighty percent full. Thanks to the Huaqing Sect Master's birthday celebration, a great many people from Jianghu have come to the city, so we have indeed been packed these past few days," the waiter said with an ingratiating smile.

"Here we are, honored guests. This is your table. What food and wine would you three like? We have several house specialties," the waiter said.

After the three sat down, Hu Qingqing thought for a moment and said, "There's no need for any specialties. Can't you see that this senior brother of mine is a Taoist priest? A few nicely prepared vegetarian dishes will do."

"No, no, Junior Sister Hu, Senior Brother Liu, order whatever you like. I only need a serving of greens and tofu," Huang Xiao said hastily. In truth, Huang Xiao did not have to eat vegetarian food; he was, after all, a lay disciple. But he had been eating vegetarian food with Xuanzhenzi all this time and had grown used to it. Although Xuanzhenzi had never explicitly said so, Huang Xiao knew that when he was away, as long as he was not with Xuanzhenzi or his fellow disciples, they would have nothing to say about whatever he ate. It was the same principle as Xuanzhenzi saying that Huang Xiao did not have to use his Taoist name, Qingxiao, when he was away.

"Junior Brother Qingxiao, I used to be unhappy with any meal that had no meat. But after staying at your Green Ox Temple for a few days and eating vegetarian food, I've found that it has a flavor of its own," Liu Dacheng said with a smile. "Let's have some vegetarian food today. I'd like to see what tasty vegetarian dishes this restaurant has."

Since both of them had said so, Huang Xiao no longer insisted.

Hu Qingqing took it upon herself to order six vegetarian dishes, and no wine.

Although the waiter felt somewhat glum, he still noted everything down with a smile.

He had good reason to feel glum. How much could vegetarian dishes be worth? Meat dishes and wine-especially wine-were an important source of profit for a restaurant.

As they waited for the food, the three chatted for a while. While chatting, however, Huang Xiao also paid attention to the people from Jianghu eating around them.

"Bai Tianqi certainly puts on airs for his birthday celebration. Within a thousand li of here, there must be seven or eight hundred sects of all sizes, if not a thousand, right? All those people coming to wish him a happy birthday. Tsk, tsk..."

"This is nothing. Now, the Ten Thousand Blades Sect master's birthday celebration back then—that was a grand spectacle. Even Renowned Great Sects like Shaolin sent people to offer their congratulations. They say the continuous banquets alone lasted five days and five nights, and no fewer than ten thousand Jianghu Sects came to pay their respects."

"How can you compare the two? The Ten Thousand Blades Sect is a first-class major sect. However formidable Bai Tianqi may be, he only reigns supreme within these thousand li. How can a second-class sect compare with a first-class major sect?"

"True, true. There's no comparison. Still, this is a rare grand occasion. Getting to see a spectacle like this makes the trip worthwhile. When my sixtieth birthday comes around, never mind all this glory-even a tenth of it would be worth it."

"A tenth? Come on, Old Zhang. With your three-legged-cat fighting skills, you wouldn't have a chance even if you trained another hundred years."

"Haha! Drink, drink. Enough of that..."

These people wandered from one topic to another, talking about everything, but Huang Xiao found it all quite interesting. After all, these were amusing tales from Jianghu that he had never heard before.

"Oh? Junior Sister Hu?" A surprised voice suddenly rang out beside Huang Xiao and his companions.

Huang Xiao turned to look and saw a young man of about twenty standing beside Hu Qingqing. He wore fine silk clothes and was clearly a young master from a wealthy family. Huang Xiao could also tell that his martial arts were not weak. Although Huang Xiao had only a year's worth of internal power, he could still discern that much.

"Senior Brother Zhang, what are you doing here?" Hu Qingqing asked, also somewhat surprised to see him.

"I'm in charge of purchasing for the sect for my grandmaster's birthday celebration, so I'm here in the city. You came with Sect Master Hu too, didn't you, junior sister? I ran into him on my way here, and he said you were in the city. I never expected to meet you in this restaurant. What a coincidence," Senior Brother Zhang said with a smile.

Watching his junior sister laughing and chatting with this man, Liu Dacheng felt a sour twinge inside. She seemed very familiar with him, yet Liu Dacheng knew nothing about him.

"Junior sister, who is this?" Liu Dacheng asked.

"Oh, let me introduce you. This is Zhang Long, the son of Senior Zhang of the Huaqing Sect." Hu Qingqing then introduced Huang Xiao and Liu Dacheng as well.

Zhang Long showed no reaction as Hu Qingqing introduced Huang Xiao and Liu Dacheng. Whether it was the Iron Sword Sect or the Green Ox Gate, he truly thought little of such sects. If not for Hu Qingqing, he would never have exchanged a single word with either Huang Xiao or Liu Dacheng.

Liu Dacheng, on the other hand, looked slightly surprised after hearing the introduction. "Do you mean Senior Zhang Ming, Sect Master Bai's eldest disciple?"

"Who else could it be but Senior Zhang?" Hu Qingqing said with a smile. "Senior Zhang is currently managing the Huaqing Sect's affairs on the sect master's behalf. I think he's certain to become its next sect master."

"Junior sister, you mustn't say such things carelessly. Nothing has been decided yet. You mustn't say that, you mustn't," Zhang Long demurred, but he could not hide the delight on his face.

Indeed, his father was now the acting sect master. Bai Tianqi devoted himself to martial arts and spent years at a time in secluded cultivation, leaving nearly all the sect's affairs to his eldest disciple, Zhang Long's father, Zhang Ming. In a sense, Zhang Ming could be considered the next sect master already chosen behind closed doors. Of course, among Bai Tianqi's disciples, his eldest disciple Zhang Ming was also the most skilled in martial arts. He was said to have already reached second-rate middle grade, and while roaming Jianghu, he had slain several vicious figures of the Demonic Path, earning himself a formidable reputation.