Chapter 525: Bottomless Pit
It was all hands on deck in the kitchen of the steamed bun shop as steamer after steamer of freshly cooked steamed lamb buns were brought to Han Li's table one after another.
Jin Tong was eating non-stop, and it didn't take long before she had gobbled down 70 steamers of buns, while a small crowd of astonished onlookers had gathered nearby.
Han Li didn't want to attract excessive attention, so even though Jin Tong was still eager for more, he dragged her away to the next shop, this one a shaobing shop.
The shop was run by only two people, an elderly man who was close to 80 years of age and his grandson. As a result, they were unable to churn out shaobing as quickly as the steamed bun shop, and it didn't take long before they ran out of food to serve Jin Tong.
Shaobing was one of the most commonplace food items in the mortal world, but the elderly man had over 60 years of experience in cooking shaobing, and during that time, he had made many innovations to the simple dish, setting his shaobing apart from the rest.
Jin Tong was thoroughly impressed, and she immediately declared that the elderly man had to be rewarded, a request that Meng Qianqian happily obliged.
This was the first time that the elderly man had sold so many shaobing in one night, and he could tell Jin Tong truly loved his food, so he was also extremely pleased, praising Jin Tong for her voracious appetite.
After the bill was paid, Meng Qianqian took Jin Tong to eat glutinous rice balls cooked in fermented wine.
Thankfully, the shopkeeper of the stall had already prepared a large pot full of rice balls with all types of fillings, and the entire pot of rice balls was purchased by Han Li.
It didn't take long before news of Jin Tong's extraordinary feats of consumption spread across the entire street.
As a result, all of the shopkeepers were urging their chefs to cook up as much food as humanly possible in anticipation for Jin Tong's visit.
They had even set up tables on the street outside, and whatever food that was churned out was immediately carried out of the kitchen and onto the tables.
Jin Tong was ecstatic to see this, and she swept through the street like a hurricane, eating everything in her wake while Han Li Meng Qianqian footed the bill.
Deep into the night, all of the shops that had been visited by Jin Tong had already run out of food and closed for the night, while the rest of the shops that she was still yet to visit were still open,and there were many shopkeepers standing on the street outside, eagerly awaiting her arrival.
It was said that not only did Jin Tong possess an extraordinary appetite, she was also extremely generous, and anyone who could serve up food that was to her liking would be rewarded. Furthermore, as opposed to silver, her rewards were issued in the form of mid-grade spirit stones, with some shops even receiving high-grade spirit stones, which were extremely sought after even among cultivators!
Meng Qianqian didn't have much savings to begin with, and it didn't take long before she ran out of money. Before she even had a chance to say anything, Han Li casually tossed a storage pouch at her.
As soon as she inspected the pouch's contents with her spiritual sense, she was instantly rooted to the spot.
The pouch was filled with over 10,000 top-grade spirit stones!
Han Li had taken the storage pouch from one of the Golden Immortals that he had slain in the Infernal Frost Immortal Manor, and in this rare moment of relaxation, he was more than happy to spend some money so that Jin Tong could enjoy a good time.
Finally, the three of them arrived at one of the large restaurants that Meng Qianqian mentioned, and the shopkeeper was a short man dressed in a silken robe.
As soon as Han Li's trio arrived at the entrance of the restaurant, he immediately rushed out before greeting them with a wide smile.
Han Li noticed that the shopkeeper was a late-Foundation Establishment cultivator, and he asked, "Do you have any vacant seats upstairs?"
"Certainly! Please come with me, esteemed customers," the shopkeeper immediately replied before leading the way up the stairs.
Upon reaching the upper floor, Han Li discovered that it was still brightly lit, but there weren't any other customers inside, perhaps because it was too late at night, or perhaps the entire floor had been vacated by the shopkeeper in anticipation for Jin Tong's visit.
The three of them took a seat by a window-side table, following which Meng Qianqian instructed, "Fill all of these tables with your finest dishes and wine."
The shopkeeper was ecstatic to hear this, and he immediately gave an affirmative response before rushing downstairs.
Meanwhile, Jin Tong was still holding a large cake in her hands, and for some reason, she was only taking small bites out of it at a time with a blissful look on her little face.
"Why are you the only one here? Where is your brother?" Han Li suddenly asked as he turned to Meng Qianqian.
Meng Qianqian's expression stiffened slightly upon hearing this, and she hurriedly replied, "My apologies, Master Li, I completely forgot about that. My brother has returned to the Late Age Nation with everyone else."
Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, and he felt like this name was rather familiar.
Meng Qianqian was feeling a little uneasy at the sight of Han Li's furrowed brows.
"The Late Age Nation is where you and your brother originally came from, right?" Han Li asked.
"That's right. After Brother Sun progressed to the Soul Formation Stage, he wanted to return to the Late Age Nation to avenge his clan. My brother couldn't dissuade him, so he decided to go with him," Meng Qianqian replied.
As the two of them were speaking, all manners of dishes and wine were being brought to the surrounding tables, and there were also waiters standing beside each table, introducing the dishes on their respective tables.
Jin Tong was the only one eating, while Han Li and Meng Qianqian remained seated at their table.
Meng Qianqian was feeling a little uneasy at Han Li's silence, and she said, "Master Li, their intention was never to disobey your orders. It's just that... we didn't know how to contact you, so please don't be displeased with them. Brother Sun always acts like he doesn't have a care in the world, but in reality, this has been weighing on his heart this entire time. Otherwise, with his personality, he wouldn't have worked so hard in his cultivation all this time."
"It's fine. I never forbade you to go and seek vengeance, it's just that you have to ensure that you possess sufficient power before you attempt to do so. I only came back to Heavenly Cloud City this time as I have some things to tell you and the others," Han Li said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Meng Qianqian's expression eased slightly upon hearing this, and she prompted, "Please go ahead, Master Li."
"It's nothing major. It's just that I'm going to be leaving the Northern Glacial Immortal Region soon, and I don't know how long it'll be before I return. All of us were brought together by fate, so it wouldn't feel right to leave without making some arrangements for all of you," Han Li explained.
"You're leaving, Master Li? Why don't you take us with you? We may not be very useful, but at the very least, we'll be able to perform some servant duties for you during your travels," Meng Qianqian hurriedly said.
"It's going to be a very perilous trip, so I can't take all of you with me. I've already prepared some pills, treasures, and cultivation arts for you and the others, and they're all here in this storage bracelet. Seeing as they're not here at the moment, I'll get you to pass these onto them when they get back," Han Li said.
Meng Qianqian was slightly dejected upon hearing this, but didn't say anything further.
"Additionally, there are 30 masks in this storage bracelet, all of which are exceptional aura concealment tools, and they've been specially treated to alter some of the restrictions within them. There's a jade slip inside that tells you how to use the masks, and you can bring out these masks in your times of need to alter your appearances and auras for concealment purposes," Han Li continued.
He flipped a hand over as he spoke, summoning a white storage bracelet that he handed to Meng Qianqian, who accepted the bracelet as she said, "Thank you for making such thorough preparations for us, Master Li."
"The entire Northern Glacial Immortal Region is going to have to endure a period of turmoil soon, and a storm is coming. Once Yungui and the others get back, all of you must set off for Dark Veil Island in the Black Wind Sea right away. I've already arranged for someone to meet you there," Han Li said.
"Yes, Master Li," Meng Qianqian immediately replied.
The two of them paused momentarily to take a look around, at which point they discovered that all of the surrounding tables had already been cleared out by Jin Tong.
A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he flipped a hand over to produce a flagon of wine that had been given to him by Daoist Hu Yan, and he poured a cup of wine each for himself and Meng Qianqian, then raised his own cup to take a sip.
Meng Qianqian hurriedly accepted her cup with both hands, then took a gentle whiff of the wine's aroma, but she refrained from drinking the wine as she stared at Han Li, who was looking out the window.
It was getting quite deep into the night, and a veil of moonlight was draped over the roof of the restaurant, giving it a rather cold appearance.
Han Li was looking up at the moon in the sky as he pondered the journey that he was about to embark upon.
Right at this moment, his brows suddenly furrowed slightly, and he spotted a shadow plummeting into the city.
Immediately thereafter, Meng Qianqian also sensed something, and her expression instantly changed slightly.
"Let's go," Han Li immediately said.
Meng Qianqian hurriedly nodded in response, then summoned a spirit stone before placing it onto the table.
Han Li immediately grabbed into Jin Tong, who was still munching on a pair of pig trotters, then grabbed onto Meng Qianqian's shoulder with his other hand, and the three of them instantly vanished into thin air.
Immediately thereafter, they appeared in the Moon View Forest.
There were many restrictions littered throughout the forest, but they completely failed to register their intrusion.
After entering a courtyard in Area A, Han Li spotted the figure that had just plummeted out of the sky. It was a large azure bird with its entire body riddled with wounds.
The bird seemed to have spotted Han Li's trio as well, and its eyes immediately lit up as it began squawking at them in a feeble voice.
"Featheryearn!" Meng Qianqian exclaimed as she hurriedly flew over to the large bird, while Han Li set down Jin Tong before making his way toward the bird as well.
Jin Tong was naturally very displeased to have suddenly been dragged here in the middle of her meal, and she was just about to complain when she spotted the injured bird.
She immediately gobbled down the rest of her greasy pig trotters, then rubbed her hands together as a sinister smile appeared on her face.
Featheryearn seemed to have detected her gaze, and it immediately pressed itself more tightly against Meng Qianqian in a fearful manner.
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