Eating Crab

"Manager, shopkeeper."

The waiter stared at the departing figure of the man in blue, his face turning deathly pale.

Even if he had seen a ghost, he wouldn't have shown such a terrified expression, because he had never seen a ghost before. But today, he saw a madman who had swallowed half a pound of arsenic in one gulp.

"Quickly, go and fetch the doctor from the acupuncture clinic!"

The shopkeeper screamed, then fell silent, saying, "No, grab him and force him to vomit!"

The two rushed out of the shop, looking left and right, only to find that the customer in blue had disappeared into the vast crowd.

Bu Zui Ju is one of the best restaurants in Yongzhou City.

Dining in costs half a coin per person. A private room costs two coins per person. If staying at the inn, a superior private room costs three coins per night.

Mu Nanzhi and Xu Qi'an walked slowly for a long time, asking for directions several times along the way, before finally arriving at the izakaya.

The waiter at the entrance, who was there to greet and see off guests, saw the two approaching the restaurant and immediately stepped forward, bowing and scraping.

"Gentlemen, would you like to have a meal or stay at the hotel?"

"Checking in!"

Xu Qi'an handed the reins to the waiter, removed the water bag, poured out the cloudy water mixed with arsenic, and gently wiped it on the saddle.

During the process, his palm turned bluish-black. After wiping it off, he raised his hand, and the flesh in his palm returned to normal.

The Poison Gu's ability is to combine the surrounding environment and materials to create special toxins.

Xu Qi'an used arsenic to create a slow-acting poison that he applied to saddles. As long as someone dared to ride a mare, the toxins solidified on the saddle would slowly evaporate with body heat, penetrate the trousers, seep into the skin, and then seep into the blood vessels.

He will die within fifteen minutes at most; even a miracle won't save him.

The waiter, with limited knowledge, couldn't see through the mystery and was only momentarily bewildered. Then he saw the customer in blue toss over a small piece of silver and say:

"My horse needs to be fed the finest feed. Beans, wheat, corn, salt, eggs, and honey—all these are indispensable. I'll be checking later, and if you dare to cut corners, I'll skin you alive."

Xu Baipiao exuded a strong aura of murderous intent and ferocity, and his fierce gaze was extremely intimidating.

The waiter, clutching the substantial amount of silver coins, was both surprised and frightened, saying, "Don't worry, sir, I will take good care of your beloved horse."

He immediately led the horse to the backyard.

"To succeed in the world of martial arts, you must have the spirit of the martial arts world. If you pretend to be gentle, kind, respectful, frugal, and modest, people will only think you are a fat sheep that everyone will take advantage of."

Xu Qi'an explained to the most beautiful woman in Great Feng with a smile.

The martial arts world and the imperial court are different worlds. In the capital, one should be low-key in personal conduct but high-profile in work, and always pay attention to personal relationships and seniority.

But the martial arts world is different. It's a mixed bag, and young people, full of youthful vigor, often have to resort to swords and shadows. They have to show their fierceness and ruthlessness to avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Upon entering the restaurant lobby, Xu Qi'an led Mu Nanzhi towards the counter. Along the way, they overheard diners talking nearby:

"I heard that someone discovered a large tomb in the desolate mountains thirty miles south of the city. More than a dozen people went in, and never came out again."

"I heard that the Gongsun Aristocratic Clan also sent people down into the tomb, but they all perished inside. Now everyone outside is saying that there are rare treasures inside; otherwise, why would it have been so dangerous?"

"It's probably a rumor deliberately spread by the Gongsun family, trying to use Rogue Person as pawns."

"No, the more dangerous the tomb, the more treasures it contains. If there were only a few worthless burial objects, who would go to the trouble of setting up traps?"

That makes sense.

"The Gongsun Aristocratic Clan has recently been recruiting heroes in Yongzhou City, preferably those skilled in feng shui and mechanics. Unfortunately, I am just a warrior with limited strength, otherwise I would have gone to join in."

Mu Nanzhi's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

Xu Qi'an frowned.

The underground palace outside Yongzhou City has been discovered? Hmm, the battle between Shen Shu and the ancient corpse caused quite a stir, resulting in some collapse of that mountain range. It's normal that it attracted curious onlookers afterward.

Given my divine status, and considering it's only been half a year, the ancient corpse shouldn't be free yet. I hope it isn't, otherwise my trip to Yongzhou would have been for nothing.

As he thought about it, he walked to the counter and said, "Two excellent private rooms, next to each other."

Mu Nanzhi, who was standing nearby, quickly said, "No, we don't need two rooms, one is enough."

Her voice trailed off, and she lowered her head in embarrassment.

She chickened out. Xu Qi'an glanced at the princess. He wasn't happy about sharing a room with the most beautiful woman in Great Feng. Instead, he frowned.

First, the side effect of the love potion is that it will make the host have a constant urge to reproduce, and Xu Qi'an is afraid that he will not be able to control himself.

Secondly, the side effect of the Dark Gu is that the host likes to hide in dark and damp places, and must have two hours of private space each day where they can remain undiscovered.

The princess's spiritual essence can only be "harvested" when one reaches the peak of the third rank. The side effects of the Gu worm cannot satisfy this need, which will affect the development of the Seven Absolute Gu and thus my cultivation.

Xu Qi'an sighed inwardly: Sure enough, women only slow down my sword-drawing speed!

So he asked the innkeeper for a superior room that cost a tael of silver.

After receiving the money, the shopkeeper became even more enthusiastic and attentive, personally leading the two distinguished guests upstairs.

The room was at the end of the corridor, and you could see the bustling main road from the window. Mu Nanzhi liked it very much, but Xu Qi'an just found it noisy.

As expected of one of the most expensive restaurants in Yongzhou City, and as expected of the restaurant's most prestigious private room, the desk is made of huanghuali wood, and the Four Treasures of the Study are placed on the table.

Mu Nanzhi entered the room, looked around, examined it, and clicked her tongue in disapproval:

"The paintings hanging there are all famous, but they're all fakes; not a single one is genuine."

One of the original paintings, "Record of Burning Incense at the Wine Pavilion," is in the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, hanging in her study.

"This Duan inkstone is quite nice."

She walked to the desk and fiddled with a blue-and-white Duan inkstone. The blue-and-white patterns on the inkstone looked like ink spreading. Mu Nanzhi said regretfully:

"The texture is fine, but not moisturizing enough; it's of good quality, but not top-grade."

Even if it's moisturizing, is it as moisturizing as you? Xu Qi'an thought to himself.

She reviewed each item in the room, from writing brushes and inkstones to antique calligraphy and paintings and furniture.

The shopkeeper was dumbfounded and exclaimed, "Young lady, you're truly an expert!"

He immediately put away his slight disdain. This ordinary-looking man and woman must have come from a noble family. Only someone who lived a life of luxury could have cultivated such taste and vision.

Xu Qi'an, who had been listening to what seemed like gibberish the whole time, pulled the shopkeeper to the table and said with a smile, "Let's chat for a moment, shopkeeper."

"You're too kind, you're too kind." The shopkeeper's attitude suddenly became extremely good.

Xu Qi'an asked, "I just heard someone in the hall say that a large tomb has been discovered in the deep mountains to the south?"

The shopkeeper nodded and said, "That's true, but I don't know if it's true or not. It's said that many people died. That mountain is now occupied by the Gongsun Aristocratic Clan."

Xu Qi'an took a sip of tea and pondered, "The Gongsun Aristocratic Clan? Manager, what other respectable martial arts forces are there in Yongzhou City?"

Although he had been to Yongzhou once, he was not very clear about the situation of the local gangs.

In the eyes of the Nightwatchers, only powerful forces like the Jianzhou Martial Arts Alliance are worthy of his attention; the rest are trash.

Of course, this does not mean that the Jianghu gangs were not powerful; it's just that the Nightwatchers were subordinate to the imperial court and had an innate sense of superiority over the Jianghu gangs.

The shopkeeper's words came without hesitation or deliberation:

"Near Yongzhou City, the most powerful forces are Gongsun Manor, eighteen miles to the north, and Longshen Fortress, twenty miles to the east along the Wanlong River. There are gangs that rely on these two powerful forces."

"As for the counties and prefectures under the jurisdiction of Yongzhou, I am not aware of them."

Yongzhou is one of the thirteen states of the Great Feng. Yongzhou City has dozens of counties and prefectures under its jurisdiction. The number of gangs among them can probably only be known through official statistics.

Powerful forces like Dragon God Fortress and the Gongsun Aristocratic Clan typically don't have their headquarters within the city, as the government wouldn't allow it.

Mu Nanzhi frowned and said, "The Yongzhou government doesn't concern itself with matters concerning the great tomb?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Why should you care? This is not a flood or locust plague, so the government is too lazy to take care of it. As for the dead, they are all Jianghu people, not ordinary people. Even if they are ordinary people, if you don't report it to the official, the government is too lazy to take care of it, right?

"Furthermore, the Gongsun Aristocratic Clan has some connections with the Provincial Governor of Yongzhou, which is how they managed to 'enclose' that mountain area."

"The shopkeeper is right."

The two men exchanged a smile.

Xu Qi'an learned from the shopkeeper that the lake crabs were at their fattest this season, and Yangbai Lake outside the city was a popular place to eat crabs near Yongzhou City.

At this time of year, wealthy families, officials, and chivalrous heroes from the city would rent boats to cruise the lake and enjoy the plump lake crabs.

Mu Nanzhi's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

After a few casual words, the shopkeeper reluctantly took his leave.

Xu Qi'an closed the door, turned around and walked behind the screen. He moved the bath tub aside, took out the fragment of the Earth Book, and poured out a vat. The vat was filled with shallow silt and the water was slightly turbid. A dark golden lotus root lay at the bottom of the vat.

Half of its body was exposed in the mud, while the other half was hidden beneath it.

He took the princess with him on this journey through the martial world for two purposes:

First, he traveled all the way to Jianzhou, where he delivered the lotus root to the old scoundrel of the martial arts alliance, fulfilling his promise.

But the lotus root wasn't ripe yet, so he decided to bring the person and the lotus root along with him, thinking that by the time he traveled to Jianzhou, the nine-colored lotus root should be ripe.

Secondly, he wanted to try to find some highly poisonous plants and give them to the Flower Goddess to cultivate in order to strengthen the poisonous Gu.

In that case, Mu Nanzhi must keep her by her side.

"Call"

Xu Qi'an let out a breath. With Li Gu's current strength, lifting a large water vat was still quite strenuous. He needed to eat more.

"It's a good thing I left Beijing, otherwise my aunt would be heartbroken and cry if there were three more gluttons at home." He thought to himself as he sat down at the rosewood desk, pondering what he needed to do next.

"Dragon energy is scattered everywhere. There is no such thing as radar. To find the host of dragon energy, there are only two ways: First, a powerful intelligence network. The host of dragon energy will not show any abnormalities in the short term, but after a while, he will immediately show his strength. He will not remain unknown forever."

"Secondly, thanks to the combined effect of dragon energy and fortune, I may not need to deliberately search for it; I might encounter it while traveling to a certain place. And as long as the host of the dragon energy is no more than 100 meters away from me, I can sense it through the Earth Book. I myself am equivalent to a small radar with a range of only 100 meters."

"There's no news about Shen Shu's remains yet, but the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox definitely has clues. We just need to wait for her to come to me. Right now, the most important thing is to collect the materials for the Soul-Summoning Bell."

Among the materials for the Soul-Summoning Bell, two are the fingernails and venom of a thousand-year-old corpse. Xu Qi'an happens to know a thousand-year-old corpse, so he chose Yongzhou City as his first stop.

"As long as the seal of the Divine Unique does not weaken, I am confident that the ancient corpse will not discover my true state. Hmm, I also need to work harder on my cultivation. Among the seven abilities of the Seven Deadly Gu, the Poison Gu is the easiest to cultivate. As long as there is a continuous supply of highly poisonous substances, it can grow rapidly."

"Secondly, there's the Power Gu. As long as it keeps eating and tempering its body, it can grow rapidly. Although my cultivation is sealed, my body is a third-grade body, so the tempering stage can be ignored, and I can just start eating it."

"The Heavenly Gu is the foundation of the Seven Absolute Gu. It has been developed to an extremely high and profound level, so it doesn't need to be managed for now. The Dark Gu can grow steadily as long as it maintains two hours of 'hiding' every day. Perhaps it still needs combat. I haven't tried this, but I can try it when I have the chance."

"Corpse Gu needs to devour corpse energy, and one of the purposes of this trip to Yongzhou is to cultivate Corpse Gu. As for Love Gu and Heart Gu, we'll suppress them for now and not cultivate them."

"I don't want to wander the world and end up as a womanizer. Besides, with the most beautiful woman in the Great Feng by my side, if I don't suppress the love potion, things will inevitably escalate one day."

"The same principle applies to the Heart Gu. Although I ride a mare, I cannot truly ride it."

It was still early, and there was still some time before lunch. Xu Qi'an sat at the table, sipping arsenic diluted with water in small sips, like sipping wine.

The clean-loving princess fetched a basin of water, washed herself, and then sat in front of her dressing table. She styled her hair into a beautiful updo, applied lipstick and blush, and, to her credit, it enhanced her beauty even further.

She went from being average-looking to being somewhat presentable.

I'll sleep in the bed tonight, you can sleep on the floor.

The princess, sitting in front of her dressing table, saw that he only glanced at her briefly before looking away without any lingering affection, and her eyebrows immediately furrowed in anger.

"You can sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on top of you."

Xu Qi'an said irritably.

The princess spat, seemingly already used to his flirtatious remarks and not taking them seriously.

She got up and walked behind the screen, put her hand into the water vat, and listlessly splashed the water.

The water is filled with Spiritual Qi.

Around noon, Xu Qi'an retrieved the water vat from the Earth Book fragments and, through his connections at Bu Zui Ju, managed to reserve a table on the tower ship. At this hour, for Rogue Person, let alone reserving a table on the tower ship, even small boats were sold out.

Fortunately, as a large restaurant, Bu Zui Ju has the channels and connections to meet the customers' demand for crab.

Yangbai Lake is a shimmering expanse of water, with rows of willow trees planted along its banks, their branches bare and devoid of green.

In late autumn, a lake breeze blows, carrying a chill.

A multi-story boat bearing the sign "Wang's Fish Shop" drifted on the lake. Mu Nanzhi, wearing a fox fur cloak, sat at a table by the window. On the table was a small mud stove, warming yellow wine, which warmed both the wine and the person.

A few side dishes and twenty plump river crabs.

"The vinegar tastes good, but it's a pity there's not enough sauce. Hmm, however, it does highlight the plumpness of the river crab."

Xu Qi'an chewed on the chewy crab roe, nodding contentedly.

In his recipes, lake crabs rank in the top ten. Of course, crabs are categorized by type; female crabs don't make the top ten, only male crabs do.

"Crab roe and crab paste are two completely different things. Compared to crab roe, the chewy crab paste is more fragrant and delicious, while crab roe is ultimately inferior. That's why I don't really like eating female crabs, but I have no resistance to male crabs."

Xu Qi'an picked up the wine pot from the small clay stove and poured a cup of warm wine for the princess.

"Can eating crab really be a matter of social hierarchy?"

Mu Nanzhi rolled her eyes at him, took a sip of wine, her cheeks flushed and her body warm. She looked out over the lake and suddenly whispered:

"Look, those are the ships of the Gongsun Aristocratic Clan?"

Xu Qi'an turned his head and looked out the window. Sure enough, he saw a two-story ship cutting through the waves, flying the "Gongsun" flag.