Chapter 317: Rafting on the Lake
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The things that the wind cut off from people’s fingers were silver taels and gold, both of which could be used as currency and concealed weapons. Except for these, there was nothing special.
“This is…” Ruan Yushu pulled out sothing like a piece of jewelry from the bag that contained gold beads.
It was made of gold and hollowed out, forming a very complex pattern, which produced a fantastic beauty that was extrely special, rare, divine, and solemn.
“There’s a special material that’s mixed within the gold that is hard to counterfeit.” Ruan Yushu concluded that upon close inspection.
Jiang Zhiwei took it and rubbed it for a while. “It doesn’t have any Dharma and Logos, just sothing special in the mixed material.”
In other words, it was just common jewelry with good material and a strange shape.
“Maybe it’s so kind of status symbol of a mythological organization…” ng Qi speculated. He was imaginative after reading so many books.
Jiang Zhiwei noded while considering that. “Maybe… And it might also contain so special sll that will let you be easily tracked if you have it with you.”
“Haha. Don’t worry. Do you rember this?” ng Qi patted the Space Ring on his left wrist.
It was hard to track him if he put it inside the ring, even for a master of the Celestial Rankings.
“When the next Samsara task begins, we can consult Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms.” ng Qi added via Secret Voice-sending.
Jiang Zhiwei reminded him out of habit, but did not say anything more, seeing that ng Qi was fully prepared.
Because of the sounds from a mont ago, a lot of people of Jianghu ca close up at this ti, including the constables of Six Fan School. Thus, they collected the goods quickly, dragged the body of Jiang Hengchuan into the water, and left the shore.
…
At sunset, ng Qi found that nobody was in Hero Tower. It was said that when Crape Myrtle Star and Asininity Taoist were in a battle, many custors found that there was no need to pay after eating and drinking to their satisfaction.
“Ren Pingsheng was so vigilant that he disappeared very quickly…” ng Qi sighed, crossed several streets, and walked toward the alley of the Chinese Pagoda Tree.
It was getting dark, and the shadow of the Chinese Pagoda Tree was even darker and gloomy. The old wood-carving man stood in front of the door, as if he had been waiting for ng Qi.
He did not have any chisel, pieces of wood, or the statue. He was wearing a black robe, and holding a common long sword patiently, even if he was waiting for others.
“Your swinging of the sword was a real shock when you chopped the road of the Nine Serenities,” ng Qi praised him, as he could not again pretend to not recognize the founder of Huai Heights, Lu Zhiping, the Wholehearted Sword.
Master Lu grinned with delight, saying, “It was just a crack in the Nine Serenities. So evil spirits will always try to return to the human world.”
After a pause, he continued, “I said before that I had sothing to tell you after the Tidal Bore of the Jin River. Are you willing to listen now?”
ng Qi cupped his hand in the other in front of his chest and said, “Please.”
Master Lu looked very dignified as he said, “Little brother, you must have had many adventures considering your destiny, and many tis you were able to transform back luck into good. Is that correct?”
“Yes, it’s true.” ng Qi beca serious.
Master Lu said with a sigh, “But your luck does not originate from yourself. Like a tree without roots or water without a source, it seems that it was made by sobody for so purpose or it had accumulated itself beyond control. It looks like a blazing fire, but in the end, it may be dangerous and turn into emptiness.”
“Does this refer to the ‘montum’ from the Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms? Because of the Samsara tasks and conversions, and adventures in various worlds? Or is it because of other reasons, like Ananda?” The thoughts ran through ng Qi’s mind, forming a storm in his heart.
“Would you instruct ?” ng Qi put confusion and shock aside with difficulty.
Master Lu shook his head and said with a smile, “Your own path should be walked by yourself. This wood carving is a gift for you for being an onlooker.”
He handed ng Qi the wood carving, which was a vivid carving of ng Qi that looked modest and jumping.
ng Qi took the carving wood and discovered that it was not different from the others that were sold in the market. But, he did not dare look down on it, so he put it away.
“Thank you.”
Master Lu accepted his thanks and floated away holding his famous Wholehearted Sword. His ancient deep-green shadow disappeared among the sea of people, with not even a trace of dust remaining.
ng Qi put aside his thoughts and sighed. “There’s still a long way for to go to reach that level, so there’s no need to worry.”
…
A boat nad “Deng’s Fishing Boat” was floating in the center on Crescent Lake.
“My custors, over there is the branch of the Dajiang Gang, so we’d better raft in this area,” said a young fisherwoman in a friendly tone. She was the Master of this fishing boat with a sun-baked but pretty appearance.
ng Qi was dressed in white and held his long sword. His “Heaven Inflicted Pain” was stored away inside the Space Ring, instead of being carried on his back. He said with a smile, “We layn don’t care about where we float to, but only about eating crab.”
The fisherwoman chuckled. “So straightforward. OK, I’m getting things ready now.”
He turned and saw that Ruan Yushu wanted to say sothing, so, worrying that she might be dispirited, he said hurriedly, “The air in autumn is fresh, and it’s high ti for us to taste so crab at. The Deng’s Fishing Boat has been around for 100 years with its delicious crab at and special sauce. This style can be said to be one of the best things in Maoling. It cost a lot of money to book this entire ship.”
As he said this, he seed to be asking for praises when he turned to Ruan Yushu and Jiang Zhiwei with the appearance of an upstart.
Looking at him, Jiang Zhiwei laughed out loud. She would have very likely felt resentful when she heard others speak like that, but she felt it interesting when the little monk spoke so frankly with assurance and displayed such a humorous manner while he himself did not feel embarrassed.
Ruan Yushu tasted the lotus tea and said, “Aristocratic families always have their own boats and ask chefs to make dinner.”
ng Qi predicted this and waved his right hand. “How troubleso that is. We’ll feel more comfortable to be here with the freedom to focus on the delicious food rather than be surrounded by maids and servants, facing strangers.”
“I knew you’d say that!”
Ruan Yushu only slightly nodded her head and said, “It’s not bad.”
ng Qi beca more proud. “And what about it? I won’t back out once I’ve agreed to treat you.”
“I see. So, I have benefited from her.” Jiang Zhiwei smiled and added to the banter.
ng Qi choked on his saliva and almost turned back into Master Wang. “No, no, no. I planned to treat you too. Friends gathering to taste crab and wine is such a pleasure.”
Jiang Zhiwei was just making a joke, so she did not prevent him from changing the topic. She smiled and said, “Maoling crab is world-famous. I tasted it several tis when I was in the branch. It was really good. But, compared with fresh crab, it was inferior, although it had mystical preservation for the long journey.”
“Yup!” Ruan Yushu was greedy. And it seed that she could not wait any longer.
The three people were chatting about the Maoling crab when the fisherwoman served a large dish of stead red lake crabs.
“These are the secretly-made spices and pickles. This is the crescent fish, and this is the ho-brewed rice wine. The flavor of the crab would be better if you drink this,” the fisherwoman told them with delight.
Upon slling it all, Ruan Yushu shook her hands spontaneously, seemingly unable to hold herself back.
“Rafting on a lake to eat delicious crab with the company of several best friends is one of the happiest things in my life. Cheers!” ng Qi poured a cup of rice wine and made a toast.
Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu had deep Inner Force, so they did not fear getting drunk, and clinked their cups as well.
The autumn wind was so nice and cool, and the ripples on the lake were so beautiful. It was really a rare pleasure for them to get together and taste the wine and crab after a Samsara task.
Ruan Yushu laid down the cup, took a crab, and quickly deshelled it. In just a mont, a full piece of creamy crab at appeared.
She seed to be very eager, but in fact, her movents were graceful, just like a beautiful scene.
Dipping a piece of crab at into the spices, she ate it with pleasure.
“Pretty good. It deserves its reputation.”
Her expression and comnts made ng Qi’s appetite kick in. But when he looked at the crab, he discovered that he could hardly strip it like she had.
Over the past few days, he ate crabs by crunching them to stuff himself with delicacies.
Jiang Zhiwei smiled and took a crab, putting her right hand over it. Suddenly, Sword Qi burst out, and the shell of the crab was broken and blasted off to the side, revealing the succulent at.
“It’s indeed more delicious than it was in the branch,” said Jiang Zhiwei in praise.
ng Qi was inspired and made use of his genuine Qi. The Eight Nine Mysteries had great power, so that crab shell was opened shortly.
ng Qi dipped the at in the sauce and dropped it into his mouth, tasting the sweet flavors enhanced by the sauce. It was really a fantastic pleasure with such a rich flavor.
Ruan Yushu watched that with consideration. She took a second crab and also removed the shell with her genuine Qi, as if all the crab would be eaten up if she continued to adhere to her original process.
“They eat so fast!”
It was such a pleasure to eat crab and drink wine. A half an hour later, all the crabs had been eaten up. ng Qi was tipsy and knocking on the table, singing countryside folk songs.
Ruan Yushu wiped off her hands and put her Phoenix-perching Zither on the table. The sounds that were generated by her hands were quite broad-minded and deep.
ng Qi lowered his voice and leaned back on the partition with a pleasant expression.
The longsword lay on Jiang Zhiwei’s lap as she listened quietly with satisfaction.
After a while, the autumn wind blew, bringing moisture along with it. Ruan Yushu stopped playing and said softly, “I’ll go back to Langya tomorrow. It seems that I won’t be able to travel around the world before I’m 18 years old.”
“OK. Then I’ll treat you again when we have a Samsara task.” ng Qi comforted her with honesty.
Jiang Zhiwei sighed with her hand on her long sword, saying, “‘Master Lotus’ didn’t co. ‘The Unstoppable’ knew about the result of Maoling before his arrival, and returned to the seashore. ‘Five Emperors’ Knife’ retired, following Senior Shouzhuo, and ‘Wolf King’ disappeared. I was thinking to challenge all of the heroes.”
Crape Myrtle Star had great power and had forced Asininity Taoist to retreat in the critical mont.
“I was planning to invite you to ‘hunt down’ Wolf King, but I’ve no clue now. It’s fine. We’ll have a chance to challenge them when all the heroes from the River East gather together,” said ng Qi in a comforting tone.
Jiang Zhiwei smiled and said, “I know that. But I have to leave the River East for a while. The manager of the Maoling branch of the Sword Washing Pavilion inford that I must go to Zhongzhou for a birthday celebration on the family mber of a deceased Tai Shang Elder. There’s no ti left, so I should set out tomorrow. And what about you, little monk?”
There was always a departure after eting, and vice-versa. ng Qi held his cup up high and said, “I don’t have a task, but I should wait here for Senior Brother Qi, otherwise, he would be sad if nobody was here.”
Jiang Zhiwei nodded her head. “So shall it be. I’ll return to the River East in one or two months.”
The fishing boat returned back to the shore. Ruan Yushu and Jiang Zhiwei stepped down together and headed over to the Dajue Temple.
The drunk ng Qi looked at their figures and the golden surface of the lake, knocked on the table, and sang loudly,
“Billow of the river running east, and the heroes going with ti…”
His voice was heroic and it spread out wide as many people looked in his direction. Ruan Yushu and Jiang Zhiwei also slowed their pace to listen. But, ng Qi was quite unrestrained and happy, instead of being shy.
“… So many events in history, all gone with the wind…”
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