Yang Ge made a hissing sound and scratched his head, "I did forget that your Quanzhen Sect has a hereditary knack for being a scoundrel..."
Li Qing: ...
Just then, Xiao Baoqi shuffled over and whispered, "Shopkeeper, you’re not planning on having a three hundred round fight with Li Qing, are you? If you’re going to start swinging, give us some warning. The rest of us aren’t as resilient as you two, we can’t withstand the aftershocks of your clash!"
The other dried fish in the front hall joined in, "Yeah, yeah, we should head out of the city and find an open space to fight!"
"Right, right, right, it would be best to schedule the fight for tomorrow or the day after; give the brothers time to find a good spot and stock up on sunflower seeds and other snacks."
"This rascal’s words, they really resonate with me..."
"Rascal, my ass, I’ll say it again, my surname is Niu, and my name is Meng, and I can smash your dog’s head with a single punch!"
"I’m happy to be called a rascal; what are you going to do about it? Bite me!"
"Hey, die for me!"
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"Pfft, who’s afraid of who!"
The two started bickering and leaped out of Yuelai Inn; right outside the inn’s door, they adopted fighting stances and began throwing punches at each other, each punch landing solidly. Their conflict was full of satisfying impacts and visually captivating!
Seeing this, Yang Ge started eating sunflower seeds, hopping over the counter to join the onlookers, and shouting, "Betting’s open, betting’s open! I’ve got my money on the rascal winning, anyone want to bet fifty copper coins?"
Hearing this, Xiao Baoqi spat disdainfully, "A Store Manager such as yourself, aren’t you ashamed to be betting only fifty copper coins? I’ll bet on the flea to win, who’ll take three pieces of silver on that?"
Yang Ge was furious, "You scoundrel, you still owe me two silver pieces for your drink tab!"
Xiao Baoqi’s disdainful expression froze for a moment, and he said sheepishly, "I’ll pay up immediately if I win, immediately after I win. Anyone want to take the bet on the flea for three silver pieces?"
"I’ll run the betting, big bowl for the rascal, small bowl for the flea. Place your bets, place your bets, no more bets!"
"Big, big, big, big..."
"Small, I bet small!"
People in the front hall crowded around a dining table, vying to place their bets on either a big bowl or a small bowl.
Even the neighbors, seeing the two fighting at the inn’s entrance, felt no surprise or fear; they simply brought their stools and gathered around to watch the scuffle.
Li Qing, feeling somewhat out of place among these unserious people, stood lonely by the counter with his sword and donkey, only feeling a cool breeze whisking past him, highlighting his melancholy...
He had a feeling that his encounter with Yang Erlang was turning out quite different from what he’d imagined.
No, it was very different!
Right then, Zhao Miao strolled out from the backyard, munching on sunflower seeds, took a look at the noisy, bustling crowd, then at Li Qing, who looked as if he was questioning his life choices. In a kind gesture, Zhao offered him a handful of sunflower seeds, "Taoist priest, care for some sunflower seeds? Big Bro roasted them himself, they’re delicious!"
After a moment of thought, Li Qing accepted with both hands, "Thank you, kind benefactor."
Zhao Miao sprinkled a handful of sunflower seeds into his hands, then turned to look at the two still fighting at the door, clicking his tongue, "That Flea sure doesn’t learn from his past beatings!"
Li Qing cracked a few sunflower seeds, internally noting, ’Delicious,’ then finally asked, "Boundless as the heavens, kind benefactor... Do they often make such a ruckus?"
Zhao Miao shook his head, "Of course not."
Li Qing’s heart relaxed a bit, as if his shattered worldview was beginning to mend.
Zhao Miao continued, "It’s just a small scuffle every three days, a big one every five days. Just yesterday, Buckteeth got his buckteeth busted, running home crying with his mouth covered... Eh, he’s here again? That one opening the bets, see him? The one with the gold teeth, tsk, he can’t be called Buckteeth anymore, has to change it to Goldteeth."
Li Qing: ...
Just then, the two fighting outside had come to a draw.
One had the other in a Life-taking Scissors Kick around their head.
The other had grabbed their opponent’s "peaches" with a Monkey Steals Peaches move.
Both faces were red with pain, yet neither of them was willing to let go and admit defeat...
Inside, Goldteeth running the bets, seeing the situation, swooped in like a ravenous dog to protect the bowls filled with copper coins and pieces of silver, shouting, "It’s a draw, the house takes it all!"
The people gathered around the table were furious, spitting complaints and criticisms.
"Damn, rigged game!"
"Grandma’s leg, the rascal and Flea are throwing the fight!"
"They must have conspired to recover their losses..."
"Yes, these three must have colluded in advance to scam us out of our hard-earned money!"
"RNM, give us our money back!"
"Yes, refund our money!"
Yang Ge, caught up in the commotion, was raising his fists and shouting for a refund with a flushed face.
He was the one who’d bet the least amount of money.
And yet, he was shouting the loudest.
As Li Qing looked at the red-faced Yang Ge and once again felt his principles crumbling, he suddenly heard a sharp, high-pitched voice beside him: "Grandma’s leg, give me my money back!"
In disbelief, he turned to face the girl who, just moments ago, had been quietly demure, but now was with clenched fist, showing little tiger teeth, shouting in a high-pitched tone, reddening face and ears it made him question not himself, but rather the entire world.
He muttered to himself, "I should not have come down from the mountain, I should not have come here..."
After some commotion in the inn, Goldteeth begrudgingly started refunding the money with tears in his eyes, hugging the two bowls and displaying a disheveled, dumbfounded expression as if he had been violated.
Yang Ge, who reclaimed his own fifty copper coins, tossed them up and down in his hand triumphantly, like a Great General returning victorious to the counter, but when he caught sight of Zhao Miao, he suddenly put on a stern face and flicked a sunflower seed off his forehead, "Young lady, don’t be learning those foul words from us rough men. As punishment, go to the backyard and turn over the radishes I left out to dry!"