“Good grief, I originally just wanted to mooch a chicken leg or a few bites of braised meat, but unexpectedly I would encounter such a blessing! Even the food that Emperor Jing eats in the Central Capital’s imperial palace is not as good as yours!”
A surprised voice rang out. Everyone turned back in unison and saw an old beggar standing at the entrance of the estate, looking sleazy, staring dumbfounded at a table full of hearty dishes.
Fan Boyu instantly snapped awake.
Before this old beggar spoke, he had not detected his presence at all!
Moreover, this was Peach Blossom Terrace, where Shen Ying’s senses were stronger than his own and Lu Zheng’s. Yet from Shen Ying’s reaction, she clearly had not noticed the old beggar beforehand either.
An expert!
A top-tier expert!
Absolutely more formidable than the saintesses in the sect who had lived for hundreds of years!
Fan Boyu’s eyes narrowed. He instantly mustered his entire body’s momentum, subtly directing it towards the old beggar.
“Eh? People from the Yuan Sheng Sect? How did they end up mixing with Little Lu?” The old beggar seemed to have only just noticed Fan Boyu. He waved his hand. “No need to fear. I am just an old beggar, come to beg a meal. No fighting, no fighting!”
“Greetings, Senior!” Liu Qingyan pulled Liu Qingquan and Du Yueyao along and stepped forward to pay their respects.
Shen Ying had also heard Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan mention this eccentric person, so she was not alarmed. She and the eighteen celestial maidens bowed in salute.
On the contrary, Fan Boyu, seeing that everyone seemed to know the old beggar, finally relaxed and withdrew his aura. He bowed deeply. “Fan Boyu, the Wind Sacrifice Priest of the Yuan Sheng Sect, greets Senior!”
“Senior Liu! You have come! To arrive early is not as good as to arrive precisely on time! This junior happened to slay a pig demon today and prepared a full pig feast! Will you have Wuliangye or Huadiao? I shall fill a cup for you!” Lu Zheng stepped out from the kitchen and called out loudly.
“Huadiao! Huadiao is fine. It warms the stomach and goes well with the dishes.” The old beggar chuckled hey hey, gesturing for everyone not to stand on ceremony while unceremoniously taking the seat of honour at the head of the table.
Lu Zheng patted his gourd, and several jars of Huadiao flew out, landing on the dining table.
Before Lu Zheng could move, Liu Qingyan picked up a jar of wine, uncorked it, and poured a full cup for the old beggar.
“Many thanks, many thanks.” The old beggar was all smiles. “You little girl are truly clever and sensible. If not for your demon body, with such rare pure yang, this old man would take you as a disciple!”
Liu Qingyan’s lips curved up. “To be favoured by Senior is already Qingyan’s fortune for three lifetimes.”
“Come, come, everyone fill up. Let us thank that wild boar demon for sacrificing itself to provide us with this sumptuous dinner!” Lu Zheng came to the old beggar’s other side and poured a cup each for himself and Liu Qingyan.
Lu Zheng’s playful words instantly livened up the somewhat solemn atmosphere brought on by the old beggar’s arrival, far more effectively than the old beggar’s own words to relax everyone.
Shen Ying poured herself a cup of wine and said to the old beggar, “I have long heard my husband speak of how Senior once helped him escape calamity and gifted him divine talismans. This wife has long wished to pay respects to Senior, and today my wish is fulfilled. How fortunate!”
The eighteen celestial maidens raised their cups in unison, their warbling voices chiming together in a toast. “Please, Senior!”
“Good, good, good!” The old beggar laughed.
Everyone raised their cups and drank together, then took their seats respectively.
Lu Zheng had made plenty of each dish, divided into several plates, ensuring that everyone could reach sufficient portions to their left and right.
The seat of honour, however, only had dishes on one side, facing the fewest options.
Although the old beggar could fetch things from afar, Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying, seated to Lu Zheng’s lower right, had sharp eyes. Each time, before he could move, they had already clipped various dishes onto the plates in front of the old beggar and Lu Zheng.
One clipped the dishes, the other poured the wine. The old beggar and Lu Zheng only needed to eat and drink.
“Your luck is truly good, little fellow!” The old beggar drank another cup of wine and clipped a bite of potted pork into his mouth.
“That goes without saying.” Lu Zheng laughed. “With a wife like this, what more could a husband ask for!”
The old beggar nodded and picked up another chopstick of steamed pork with rice powder, feeling the glutinous rice blended with the meat’s fragrance, not greasy at all, soft and savoury.
“Our first meeting was by chance, the second by fate. Today is our third meeting, and you have treated me to this full pig feast. This old beggar can no longer hold back.”
The old beggar took a sip from his wine cup before saying, “This old man hails from the Tian Dun Sect of Guan Prefecture in Hexi Circuit. Surname Liu, given name Zong.”
Lu Zheng had no particular reaction, but Fan Boyu’s hand shook first, spilling half the wine from his cup.
“Oh? You have heard of it?” The old beggar asked with a grin.
Fan Boyu swallowed and nodded. “Of course I have heard. One generation every century, three to five people per generation. You must be that Senior Liu, known as the Thousand Seas True Man, right?”
The old beggar laughed. “Oh, you have truly heard of me? From outside rumours, or from within the Yuan Sheng Sect?”
Fan Boyu could not help but force a smile. “Your great name is like thunder piercing the ear to us.”
Lu Zheng’s eyes flickered. He exchanged a glance with Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying.
There was a story here. Clearly, this old beggar had made the Yuan Sheng Sect suffer a loss. Could it be that he had taken down a saintess?
“Relax, relax. No need to fear. This old beggar has been cultivating his disposition these past hundred years and has not killed anyone in a long time.” The old beggar waved his hand and picked up a piece of rib, eating it with his hand without using chopsticks, oil dripping from his mouth, looking appetising.
Hearing the old beggar say this, Fan Boyu also breathed a sigh of relief.
The Tian Dun Sect and the Yuan Sheng Sect had a deep-seated grudge. If an old-brand saintess from the Yuan Sheng Sect were present, she would naturally not fear this old beggar. But he was merely a sacrifice priest, not yet a millennium in cultivation. How could he not be afraid?
Damn it, this Lu fellow might seem to hole up in a small county town, but his connections were vast. He was truly hiding his depths!
“Little Lu, your culinary skills are even better than I imagined. I thought you could at most open a restaurant in the Central Capital, but unexpectedly you have the level of an imperial chef!”
The old beggar gave a thumbs up. “I have an old acquaintance with the abbot of the Chi Xiao Observatory in the Central Capital. If you want to be an imperial chef in the palace, I can make the introduction.”
Knowing the old beggar was joking, Lu Zheng still arched his brow. “Heh heh, I cook only for kin and friends. If that emperor brat wants to eat? That depends on my mood!”
Carefree and wilful, looking down on kings and nobles!
The dash of uninhibited freedom in Lu Zheng’s tone made Shen Ying and Liu Qingyan’s eyes turn pink and heart-shaped.
Very well, the shining gazes from both sides of the long table had already exceeded ten pairs.
“Good, good, good! Indeed a fine seed for cultivation. No wonder your progress is so swift!” The old beggar laughed in satisfaction and clinked another cup with Lu Zheng.
Seeing Lu Zheng so casually and naturally clink cups and chat with the old beggar, Fan Boyu turned green with envy. He too wanted to step forward and say a few words, but after thinking it over, he ultimately did not dare.
…
The dinner ended with host and guests thoroughly delighted.
Twenty people devoured that thousand-jin wild boar clean.
The lingering spiritual power mixed with the pork went down their bellies, equivalent to a supplement of spiritual qi for each. Tonight, they would cultivate and digest it.
After the meal, the old beggar did not leave. Instead, he followed Lu Zheng back to Tonglin County and asked for a side room to stay in.
