Chapter 1 Listening to Murong Ying's Lecture

After listening to Murong Ying's lecture for half a day, Atobe naturally learned a lot about Wanxia Lou.

Like Wanxia Lou and Bafang Lou, these sects that relied on a certain unique skill to rise rapidly in a few decades, although their strength had surpassed the Shaolin, Renwu, and Xiaoyao sects, they ultimately lacked a foundation, giving people a feeling of being nouveau riche. The disciples in the sect were also a mixed bag. Although there were chivalrous people, there was no shortage of scoundrels like Wang Ao.

Other martial artists' attitudes toward them could be seen from Lu Shan's words and actions... It couldn't be said that they were respected, but there was still respect, after all, they were not an evil sect, and their strength was indeed strong.

So, would the second head of Wanxia Lou do something like poisoning?

Of course not... With Gongsun Li's composure, if he really wanted to poison someone, he wouldn't choose this time or place, and he wouldn't let a waiter become part of it.

Wanxia Lou had just formed a grudge with Broken Sword Teahouse during the day, and the whole thing happened in full view of everyone. If Gongsun Li immediately poisoned and killed someone that night, this revenge would be too immediate. Other martial artists would suspect Wanxia Lou's people even if they thought with their behinds.

So... even if Gongsun Li and Shi Yanran were dying to kill them, they wouldn't dare to act. They even had to pray to heaven and earth, hoping that nothing would happen to these people from Broken Sword Teahouse. If any of these five mysteriously disappeared or died, they might even be scapegoated.

From this, it could be seen that Feng Bujue's previous strategy was a good move. If he had revealed the truth of Wang Ao's death in the lobby of the inn in the morning, and accused Shi Yanran of murder and Gongsun Li of helping to frame him, the result would probably be that no one would believe him...

The martial world was a very realistic place. A nameless person from an unknown sect had better not argue with figures like the Mistress and Second Head of Wanxia Lou without solid evidence. If they came with words, they would just quibble; if they came with force, it would be exactly what they wanted.

Therefore, Feng Bujue simply fabricated facts, turned the tables, and used the other party's guilty conscience to make them not only dare not refute, but also have to corroborate his claims.

And the follow-up effect of this move was... Shi Yanran and Gongsun Li not only dared not attack the people of his Broken Sword Teahouse, but were also controlled by them, afraid that these people would reveal the secret.

As the saying goes, times change, situations are different. At this point, the situation was different again. If Feng Bujue told others the truth about Wang Ao's death now, it might not be a situation where everyone would disbelieve him.

Therefore, the wine and dishes sent by Gongsun Li were really just meant to please and test, and had no other meaning.

The few side dishes were unremarkable, which was also unavoidable. After all, it was impossible for a place like the Cangling Inn to bring in a lot of delicacies from outside the town every day. It was already good enough that they could avoid food shortages and see some meat here.

However, the inn still had good wine. Because as long as there was a wine cellar, not to mention a month or two, even if the goods were put away for ten or eight years, there would be no problem.

The innkeeper obviously also knew that the people who would stay after the opening would definitely be martial artists, and these guys... liked this kind of thing. They could eat worse, but they couldn't have less wine. Therefore, the inn had a complete stock of wine in this regard, both good and bad, expensive and cheap.

Gongsun Li had spent a lot of money to buy this small bottle of "Min En Chou" (Forget Grievances) and give it to Feng Bujue.

Just hearing the name, one knew that this was not ordinary good wine, but a top-quality wine, and the price was not cheap. It could be said that its color was tenderer than cool syrup, and its fragrance was as sweet as nectar in spring.

What did "Min En Chou" mean? It meant that after drinking a cup, the grudges between people could be resolved. This was simply comparable to the legendary brainwashing alcoholic beverage "Zui Sheng Meng Si" (Live in Drunken Dreams). If Tang Sanzang knew in the afterlife, he would definitely regret it. What was the use of going all the way to obtain the Mahayana Buddhism? Wouldn't it be better to learn how to brew wine directly?

Okay, this was a joke. No matter how good the wine was, it definitely couldn't resolve deep hatred. At most, it could resolve some minor things like "You borrowed a few taels of silver from me a few years ago and haven't paid it back" or "You stepped on my foot this morning."

Anyway, I personally think that for this level of grudges, directly giving the money spent on buying the wine to the other party could also resolve them...

Getting back to the main topic, Atobe looked at the wine and dishes in front of him and had already determined that there were poisonous substances in them, so he wouldn't eat them at all.

As a player, he didn't need to eat or drink, and the wine and dishes weren't beautiful women, so he had no reason to lose control. Therefore, he just put the things there and didn't touch them.

"Eating shit on the spot" or something was obviously impossible, because if he didn't eat a single bite, he couldn't prove whether the wine and dishes were poisonous or not...

Time slowly passed. About an hour after the waiter brought the wine and dishes, it was completely dark outside. At this time, the knock on the door sounded again.

"Who is it?" Atobe stood up again, and asked as he walked towards the door.

The person outside the door was silent for two seconds after hearing this, and then replied, "Gongsun Li is here."

"Shi Yanran." After Gongsun Li finished speaking, a woman's voice came, but Shi Yanran's tone sounded a little unkind.

The brief silence just now was because the two had exchanged glances outside the door after hearing Atobe's response.

Atobe didn't open the door immediately, but asked, "It's already dark, I wonder why the two of you are here...?"

Gongsun Li replied, "Uh... this young brother, can you let us in before we talk?"

Atobe thought for a while, afraid that he wouldn't be able to stop the other party from barging in, so he had to play it by ear. He opened the door, glanced at the faces of the two, tried to appear calm, stepped aside, and said, "Please come in, both of you."

As soon as they stepped into the room, the expressions on Gongsun Li and Shi Yanran's faces changed several times. First, they saw the wine and dishes on the table, untouched. Secondly, after looking around the room, they realized that there was only Atobe in the room at the moment.

News in the inn spread quickly. Gongsun Li and Shi Yanran, who were attentive, naturally heard about the departure of the other members of Broken Sword Teahouse during the day, but they didn't expect that the other four had not returned even until night, leaving only this kid alone here.

"May I ask this young hero... your honorable name." Gongsun Li quickly put on a kind face, clasped his fists and cupped his hands.

"Jin Fugui." (Jin Rich) Atobe replied very unhappily. Since he had already used this name in this script, he could only use it to the end.

The two people on the other side didn't have much reaction after hearing this.

Gongsun Li then said, "Hehe... so it's Young Hero Jin." His eyes scanned the room again, as if worried that someone was hiding somewhere, "I wonder, Teahouse Owner Feng and the other three..."

"Went out to take care of some matters." Atobe replied directly.

"Oh, I see..." Gongsun Li said thoughtfully, his face slightly sinking, "By the way, Young Hero Jin, about last night..."

"I... will follow the Teahouse Owner's arrangements in everything." Atobe interrupted him again, "Whatever he said this morning is what it is. I don't know anything else." He used these words to respond, which was also very clever. The implication was... you two don't need to kill me to silence me, I have no intention of leaking any secrets.

But Gongsun Li was naturally suspicious, and Shi Yanran's motive for murder was an affair, so how could the two of them let go so easily?

Shi Yanran interjected at this time, "Young Hero Jin, why haven't you touched the wine and dishes we sent the waiter to deliver? Could it be... are you afraid that we poisoned them?"

Atobe was really stumped by the question. He was afraid of this, but in this second, he had a flash of inspiration, put on a lofty air, and replied coldly, "These side dishes are really not to my taste." He glanced at the wine bottle on the table, "The wine... is indeed good wine. But... since the two of you have said that this wine is a gift to the Teahouse Owner, how dare I drink it before he returns."

Hearing this, Shi Yanran looked at Gongsun Li, who nodded slightly, indicating that this was believable.

In Gongsun Li's view, the young man surnamed Jin's answer was reasonable enough on the surface. Looking at his delicate skin and tender flesh, he looked like a young master. Although he was wearing ordinary coarse cloth clothes now, his temperament couldn't be faked. He could tell that it was good wine without drinking it, and his name was "Rich", so it was very likely... that this kid was the young master of some wealthy merchant's family. But he didn't know why a person like him would join a sect like Broken Sword Teahouse.

As for Shi Yanran's thoughts, she didn't have as many as Gongsun Li's, and she wouldn't delve into things like the other party's background. It was just a woman's intuition that told her that Atobe's sentence "Not to my taste" was definitely from the heart. Not to mention that he didn't like it, even Shi Yanran didn't like the few side dishes on the table.

As for the second half of Atobe's sentence... "I wouldn't dare to touch anything given to the Teahouse Owner before he returns", although it was a lie, it was very convincing.

The impression that Feng Bujue left on people could be described by a line that often appeared in *Detective Dee* – "This is a terrifying person."

Almost all the villains who appeared in the play had used this line to describe the abilities of Dee Renjie or Li Yuanfang, almost unanimously and tirelessly. Of course, the positive characters would occasionally use this sentence to describe the Boss-level characters on the other side.

I personally think that the word "terrifying" in this drama can basically be equated with three things: first, extremely high intelligence, second, extremely high martial arts, and third, insane. Anyway, as long as one of them was present, they were very likely to be described in this way. If all three were present, how should they be described... I think I can change to using this line: "I'm so strong that even I'm afraid of myself."

"Hahaha..." Gongsun Li laughed loudly, as fake as possible, "Forgive Gongsun Li for not considering carefully. When I asked the waiter to pass the message, I only knew Teahouse Owner Feng's name, so I didn't mention it in detail." As he said that, he came to the table, "This wine is just a small token of my appreciation. The members of your esteemed sect are all heroes, how can I only give it to one person? If Young Hero Jin likes it, I'll have the waiter send another jar over." He picked up the small bottle and began to pour wine into the three cups, "Come, come, Young Hero Jin. We are all children of the martial world, let's forget our grievances with a cup of wine. We two will toast you."