Chapter 744: Chapter 738, Chapter 739:
Chen Mo: "..."
How should he say it? The Three Kingdoms was written by Luo Guanzhong; he just copied it to attract business to Fu Ze Restaurant.
Moreover, the fall of Shu Han is historical fact. No matter how Luo Guanzhong favored Shu Han, he couldn’t fabricate the ending.
He thought for a moment and said, "It’s a story; naturally, there has to be twists and turns to attract more viewers. It’s not just a feel-good novel."
"What is a feel-good novel."
"It’s where the protagonist enjoys smooth sailing, and the readers feel great too."
"Oh, so the ultimate unification under the Sima Clan is also part of the twists?"
"..."
"You could say that." Fine, let’s leave it at that; Chen Mo decided not to explain further.
"By the way, the Sima Clan you mentioned, is it the family of Sima Yi?"
"Yes."
"Wasn’t he a subordinate of Cao Cao? And Cao Cao was pretty wary of him, so how could he unify the land?"
"Well... Sima Yi lived too long, and Cao Cao died early. His successors, who could control Sima Yi, also died young, and eventually, no one could hold down Sima Yi, so the Sima Clan usurped the foundations of the Wei Kingdom and unified the land."
"Huh? You even wrote yourself to death?"
"I already said I’m not Cao Cao."
"This ending isn’t any good; it’s frustrating to death. If it’s just a story, can’t you change the ending?"
"Uh, sure."
Anyway, this is an otherworld; Chen Mo can completely overhaul the ending of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
...
In the course of conversation, the two arrived inside Fu Ze Restaurant.
Chen Mo said, "You haven’t had hot pot since coming to Xiangyang, right? I’ll take you for a try."
Chen Mo directly found the shopkeeper, revealed his identity, and sat in a private booth by the window on the second floor.
Due to revealing his identity, the dishes on Chen Mo’s table arrived particularly quickly.
"Can you handle spicy food?" Chen Mo asked while putting ingredients into the hot pot; he opted for a yuanyang pot and looked up at Nalan Yiren while placing ingredients in the spicy soup.
"It’s okay."
"Then I’ll put everything in the spicy soup." Chen Mo placed the meat and vegetables in the spicy broth.
"Try this; it’s lamb slices. As for beef, there’s currently a shortage of plowing cattle everywhere; even if there are quotas, they’re insufficient." Chen Mo fished out the lamb slices from the spicy soup after less than half a minute and placed them in Nalan Yiren’s bowl.
"Is this already cooked?" Nalan Yiren was surprised; it just went into the pot.
"Try it." Chen Mo watched her with a smile.
Nalan Yiren picked up the lamb slices in her bowl with chopsticks and was about to eat when Chen Mo suddenly remembered something: "Wait."
Nalan Yiren paused.
Chen Mo took his chopsticks, snatched the lamb slices from Nalan Yiren’s chopsticks, dipped them briefly in the sauce bowl, and then offered them to her mouth: "Almost forgot to dip it in sauce. Come on, open up."
Seeing the lamb at her lips, Nalan Yiren instinctively opened her mouth and ate it, feeling a warmth in her heart. Her parents had died early due to going berserk while cultivating poison technique; her grandfather had raised her.
So in her memories, from childhood to adulthood, only her grandfather had ever fed her.
"How is it, tasty?" Chen Mo asked.
She looked at the handsome youth beside her who had taken off his mask and nodded: "It’s quite flavorful."
"If it’s tasty, eat more." Chen Mo placed the sauce bowl in front of Nalan Yiren, saying, "Eat it like I just did."
Saying that, Chen Mo started eating on his own.
He didn’t have the habit of serving others; feeding her earlier was just a subconscious act. He wouldn’t do it all the time.
And watching Chen Mo eating joyfully, Nalan Yiren’s pale face suddenly turned red.
When Chen Mo fed her lamb earlier, he had put the chopsticks in her mouth. Now watching him eat with the same chopsticks, sucking on them after eating, even though he had dipped the chopsticks in the spicy broth first, she couldn’t help but feel an inexplicable shame.
"Is it very spicy? Your face is so red." Chen Mo glanced at Nalan Yiren.
Nalan Yiren’s complexion was very pale, almost sickly so, making any change quite evident.
"A bit." Nalan Yiren intentionally breathed heavily due to the spiciness.
"If it’s too spicy, you can dip it in the clear broth first while eating." Chen Mo advised her.
"Okay."
"Have your helpers arrived? Once back in the capital, it’s off to the Western Regions." Chen Mo remembered her mentioning a letter to Poison King Valley, asking for their experts to come help.
"They’ve reached Celestial River, including our Poison King Valley’s Great Elder." Nalan Yiren replied.
"Great Elder, is his strength formidable?"
"He’s above me; he’s also a lifelong friend of my grandfather. When my grandfather was harmed, he didn’t kill that scoundrel immediately for revenge, which he regrets deeply. Upon learning of that scoundrel, he came personally."
"Above you, Second Grade Divine Transformation Realm?"
"Third Grade. The Great Elder’s poison technique is at the 8th Layer, while I’ve only cultivated to the 7th Layer."
Chen Mo didn’t know exactly how powerful the poison technique was, so he said: "Tang Yichen was able to escape from being besieged by your valley’s three Great Elders; doesn’t that mean his poison technique is even above the Great Elder?"
Nalan Yiren nodded: "Although he’s a treacherous scoundrel, his talent is undeniable. My grandfather and the three Great Elders had praised him, saying he might reach the 10th Layer, the final level of poison technique. When he murdered my grandfather, he was already at the 8th Layer."
"Then with just you and the Great Elder, can you defeat him?"
"He’s only skilled at poison technique; he was merely Fourth Grade when he left the valley. Even if he’s barely managed to break through to the Upper Three Grades over these years, he’s no match for me, especially since I have the Taotie Gu for protection, rendering me immune to all poisons." Nalan Yiren said confidently.
Speaking of this, she was very indignant.
If her grandfather hadn’t trusted him so deeply, almost treating him like a son and letting down his guard, her grandfather with an Upper Three Grades cultivation wouldn’t have fallen victim to that scoundrel’s poison.
"Fourth Grade? Then what about the strength of the three Great Elders in your valley?"
"Also Fourth Grade." Seemingly trusting Chen Mo, Nalan Yiren revealed directly.
Chen Mo felt both surprised and reasonable because if these three Great Elders had been Upper Three Grades experts, they wouldn’t be merely confined within Baiyue.
As for not meddling in external affairs, that kind of talk was just nonsense.
Even Switzerland claimed to be a permanently neutral country.
Chen Mo chuckled: "If you need help at that time, feel free to ask."
Previously, Chen Mo had said he would only help find people, but would not capture or kill them.
That was when they were still unfamiliar.
Now Nalan Yiren had been living in Prince Wei’s Mansion for a few months, so they were more acquainted.
Nalan Yiren was surprised, blinking: "Don’t eye the Taotie Gu; as I said before, it would be useless even if given to you."
She thought Chen Mo’s offer must have hidden motives.
"What are you thinking? We’ve been together for so long; we can count as friends, right? Helping a friend is nothing." Chen Mo smiled.
Nalan Yiren stared at Chen Mo for a long moment and said, "Thanks, but I want to avenge my grandfather personally."
"Okay."
The topic was too heavy, so soon they shifted to other subjects.
Nalan Yiren seemed skeptical: "Cao Cao wasn’t actually modeled after you? The Three Kingdoms storybook features Copper Sparrow Platform, and you have Copper Sparrow Garden in Xiangyang; they are too similar."
"I’ve said it’s not. How do I make you believe?" Chen Mo was somewhat speechless.
"I’m not going to laugh at you; admitting it won’t matter." Nalan Yiren said.
Chen Mo kept silent and resumed eating hot pot quietly.
A little less than an hour later.
"Did you enjoy it?" Chen Mo put down his chopsticks and asked Nalan Yiren.
Seeing her nod, Chen Mo burped and stood up, saying, "Then let’s go; the day is still early, we can wander around a bit more."
Just as Chen Mo was about to turn and open the private booth door.
"Wait." Nalan Yiren said.
"What’s the matter?"
Chen Mo turned back and saw Nalan Yiren taking off the mask on her face.
