After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 119: Chapter 120: Invitation to Wine

Wu Shaoyi nodded and called the guide sent by Lui Yao before him. "Do you know the way to Whistle Rock?"

Hearing the words "Whistle Rock" so unexpectedly, the guide froze, his mouth agape.

He quickly recovered. "I do. It’s very far. Are you going now?"

But Wu Shaoyi had already noticed his shock and hesitation. His face darkened. "Tie him up."

Men swarmed forward from both sides and hog-tied the guide.

"What’s going on at Whistle Rock that shocked you so much?"

The guide hurriedly denied everything, but Wu Shaoyi couldn’t be bothered with him and patted the saddlebag on his horse.

The bag actually twitched a few times, and then a Sable emerged.

It looked as if it had just woken up, its small eyes drowsy. It even rubbed its face with its front paws.

Wu Shaoyi asked it, "I remember you were born in these mountains, weren’t you?"

The Sable nodded.

"Do you know of Whistle Rock?"

The little creature nodded again.

His advisor quickly suggested, "Since we’re sending the Sable, shouldn’t we have it scout Xianling Village as well?"

Wu Shaoyi agreed. He took out two small strips of dried meat as a reward and offered them to the Sable.

The Sable took them, chewed them up, then leaped from the horse’s back and vanished into the tall grass in a flash.

Its speed was astonishing. The men could only see the grass rustling, the movement receding into the distance until it disappeared into the darkness.

The advisor offered another suggestion. "While we wait, why not call up some of our brothers from the base of the mountain? It’ll be better for our plans later on."

Wu Shaoyi nodded. "Then call them all up."

His force was slightly smaller than Lui Yao’s, numbering only eleven hundred men. He had brought over two hundred with him up the mountain, leaving just over eight hundred below. He decided to just call them all up to prepare for any unexpected events.

All was silent, and Wu Shaoyi couldn’t help but think of the bad blood between himself and Lui Yao.

The two had long been enemies. If not for Pei Xinyong’s repeated persuasion, he would have taken his troops back to his homeland.

’It would be quite enjoyable to seize a mountain, declare myself king, and recruit more soldiers.’

The Grand Commandant was staging an uprising in the north. The Yuan Court was already overwhelmed just dealing with him, so how could it spare the energy for the south anytime soon? That meant he, Wu Shaoyi, would have plenty of peaceful days ahead of him.

Wu Shaoyi wasn’t sure if this was the right decision.

* * *

"It’s been almost half a double-hour since the letter was sent, hasn’t it?"

After receiving an affirmative reply, Hee Chunhua straightened his robes and, surrounded by seven or eight men, headed toward the village entrance.

Fuzzy Peach stood on the dividing line drawn between the two sides and shouted toward the west side of the village, "General Lui, come out and meet us!"

He shouted three times, his voice echoing throughout the village.

A bandit came out and asked, "What do you want?"

Fuzzy Peach yelled, "Your General treated us to fish, so our master is treating him to wine! A twenty-year vintage brewed from a northwestern spiritual spring!"

The bandit sneered. "Who knows if you’ve poisoned the wine?"

"The fish wasn’t poisoned, so naturally, the wine isn’t either."

Of course, this bandit couldn’t make the decision himself and went to report. His companions moved closer, eyeing them like hungry tigers.

Along the dividing line, the two sides faced off once more.

The campfire by the lake had never been extinguished. Hee Chunhua personally opened a wine jar and had his Personal Guard fill a vessel, which they then placed in hot water to slowly warm.

Before long, a rich, fragrant aroma of wine wafted out.

Conveniently, the wind was blowing from the lake toward the village, naturally carrying the scent inside.

After about the time it takes to burn half an incense stick, Lui Yao sauntered over, rubbing his eyes. "Mr. Hee, in such high spirits?"

Hee Chunhua knew he had intentionally arrived late to leave him waiting, so he wasn’t angry. He pointed to the table his men had brought over. "Courtesy demands reciprocity. This fine wine was brewed with water from Qiansong County’s West Yao Spiritual Spring, using a family recipe I brought from the Capital City."

"In my second year after arriving in Qiansong County, I personally sealed the first jar. I’ve done one every year since, making twenty-three jars in total. After what’s used for family rites and entertaining guests each year, only five jars remain, all of which I was planning to take to the Capital City."

"Back when my family was still in the Capital City, we presented our family brew to the palace every year." Hee Chunhua smiled at Lui Yao. "Such fine wine... wouldn’t General Lui like to have a taste?"

He knew that wine, women, and wealth were Lui Yao’s three great passions; he refused none of them and even prided himself on being a man of genuine character.

Sure enough, Lui Yao swallowed several times as he listened. He thought for a moment and then said, "Fine! Since Mr. Hee has such elegant tastes, I, Lui, will accompany you! But let me say this first: I had a fortuitous encounter long ago that made me immune to all poisons. Even if you served me arsenic, I’d drink it down like sweet wine."

Hee Chunhua feigned offense. "General Lui, what are you suggesting? Would I debase my own fine wine like that?"

So, a long table was placed over the dividing line, with Hee Chunhua and Lui Yao each sitting at one end. The former pushed a jar of wine over.

Lui Yao took it and broke the clay seal. A mellow fragrance immediately assailed his nostrils, making him take a deep breath in praise. "Good wine!"

He waved his hand, and two of his bandits took the jar. They first filled a bowl for him, then went to warm the rest.

Just then, servants from the Hee Family’s retinue came over, pushing the magnificent king fish on a flatbed cart. The great fish had already been cleaned of mud, descaled, washed, and was now stripped bare.

It was the largest cart in the village, normally used for transporting hay and grain, but it still couldn’t hold the entire fish. Half of its tail dragged on the ground.

They were going to cook and eat it right on the spot.

Two men stepped forward, cut a small hole behind the fish’s gills, and actually pulled out a grayish-white tendon thicker than a chopstick.

Hee Chunhua explained, "You have to remove the fishy tendon from lake fish first, or the muddy taste will remain in the meat."

Lui Yao took a sip of wine. "So particular. Just what I’d expect from an official of twenty years."

Hee Chunhua glanced sideways at him. Lui Yao laughed. "What? Am I not allowed to know a thing or two about Mr. Hee?"

"It’s just a bit unexpected." After all, he was just a minor official in a border region. Hee Chunhua pointed to the great fish. "When my men were preparing this fish, they found it had no injuries. May I ask General Lui, how did you manage to knock it unconscious?"

The sight of Lui Yao emerging from the water with the fish king had been quite shocking. Although the water’s buoyancy helped, the very fact that Lui Yao could lift it to the surface was a display of astonishing Divine Power.

What intrigued Hee Chunhua the most, however, was how he had knocked the fish unconscious.

Judging by its size and scales, it was at least two hundred years old. No matter how powerful Lui Yao was, he was still only human. He hadn’t been carrying a long weapon when he went into the water; he had hauled it out almost bare-handed.

It was just plain bizarre.

Moreover, not long after everyone had carried the fish ashore, it had woken up and started thrashing about so energetically that half the village could hear it.

The whole affair was strange from beginning to end.

"I picked it up." Under Hee Chunhua’s gaze, Lui Yao spread his hands. "I didn’t do anything except bring it up. If you saw such a huge freebie, could you resist picking it up?"

"..." Hee Chunhua was speechless for a moment. "It was pitch-black. How could you see a huge, unconscious fish at the bottom of the lake?"

"Ah, that’s something you wouldn’t understand." Lui Yao said smugly. "I was born with a pair of divine eyes that can see what others cannot. Never mind the lake water—even treasures buried three feet underground can’t escape my Dharma Eye."

Hee Chunhua just smiled. Knowing that Lui Yao was unwilling to reveal his secrets, he didn’t press the matter further.