His eyes were hazy with intoxication, and his body was as soft as though he had no bones.
The lotus-root boys brought up delicious dishes one after another, along with several jars of sweet lotus seed wine. The fragrant aroma of the wine immediately enveloped the grand hall.
“Guests, please play a drinking game and guess fingers. The loser will be penalized with a cup of wine.”
Shi Li picked up his wine cup and said, “Drinking wine when losing is boring. I think taking off clothes is much more interesting. Whoever loses takes off a piece of clothing, how about it?”
Jun Yanye’s face was as cold as frost, and his words were like winter snow: “Not good.”
Shi Li smilingly pulled the small hand of a lotus-root boy: “Little lotus root, this person is throwing a tantrum with me today, so I won’t guess fingers with him. I will play with you. If you win against me, I will drink the wine, how about it?”
The lotus-root boy replied, “Very well.”
Jun Yanye looked at the lotus-root boy with a look of pity.
“Straightforward, I like a lotus root like you,” Shi Li laughed as he set down his wine cup, rolled up his sleeves, and extended his thumb. “One heart of respect.”
“One heart of respect,” the lotus-root boy also extended his white lotus-root tip.
In guessing fingers, both parties present a gesture representing a number, and then orally guess the sum of the numbers presented by the two people; the one who guesses correctly wins.
“A pair of treasures!” Shi Li closed his fist without extending fingers.
“A pair of good friends,” the lotus root also closed its fist without extending fingers.
Since neither of them extended fingers, the total sum was zero. What Shi Li said by ‘a pair of treasures’ guessed a zero, while the lotus root’s ‘a pair of good friends’ guessed a two, so the lotus root guessed incorrectly.
“You lost, come on,” Shi Li pushed his own cup toward the boy.
The lotus-root boy poured the wine liquid down through one of its own holes.
“Three stars shining!” Shi Li extended his thumb.
“Four seasons of wealth,” the lotus root extended two fingers.
The lotus-root boy lost again, and Shi Li poured him another cup.
Jun Yanye could hardly bear to watch Shi Li bully the small boy anymore. This person was shameless, using his fortune-telling skills to play a drinking game.
“Seven clever skills!” Shi Li extended three fingers.
“Five champion scholars,” the lotus root extended four fingers.
Having lost three rounds in a row, the lotus-root boy shuddered all over.
“I am truly sorry, I won again,” Shi Li smiled and poured another cup for the lotus-root boy. “Please.”
With three cups of wine down its throat, the lotus-root boy swayed twice and then fell to the ground. Just like the demon generals and soldiers beside him, it became completely still.
“It seems that once they get drunk on this wine, they will fall asleep, and unless the illusion is broken, they cannot wake up,” Jun Yanye said.
“Correct,” Shi Li nodded, then pointed casually at another lotus-root boy. “You, come over and play with me.”
The ignorant little lotus root trotted over and obediently accompanied Shi Li to guess fingers. Similarly, it lost three rounds in a row and was poured to the ground.
Unknowingly, all six lotus-root boys present fell to the ground. The dancers in the center of the hall stopped dancing and lined up to walk toward Shi Li.
“Honored guest, I wonder if this slave has the fortune to play a drinking game with you,” a lotus-root dancer drifted down in a bow.
“Sure, what do you want to play?”
“Guessing items.”
In guessing items, one person hides a specific number of chess pieces or fruits in their hand, and the other person guesses the color and whether it is odd or even. This likewise could not stump Shi Li.
Shi Li laughed heartily: “Easy to say, let’s guess lotus seeds then. The loser is penalized with wine.”
In less than fifteen minutes, all the dancers and musicians fell down in the center of the hall and fell fast asleep, leaving lotus seeds scattered all over the floor.
In the entire grand hall, only Shi Li and Jun Yanye remained awake.
“Sigh, it is truly no fun. Not a single one can put up a fight,” Shi Li scattered the remaining lotus seeds in his hand into a plate, clapped his hands, and raised his voice to say, “Master of the illusion, are you still not showing yourself?”
Before his voice died away, a sliver of clear light slowly flew into the hall.
The master of the illusion had long since lost its physical form. Only when all its subordinates were completely defeated would it extend its neck for the slaughter, coming forward to admit defeat and surrender.
“Quick, make that clump of light fall into the wine jar!” Shi Li tapped Jun Yanye’s shoulder with his folding fan.
Jun Yanye urged his magic, arranging a dozen or so wine jars at the place where the clear light fell. The clear light dissolved into the wine, and the wine liquid instantly rippled with a bright green glow.
“Give this wine to your soldiers and generals to drink,” Shi Li said. “We also need one cup each.”
The two fed the wine to the demon generals and demon soldiers, and Shi Li greedily drank a few extra cups, falling asleep against Jun Yanye’s shoulder.
.
.
When Jun Yanye and the demon generals woke up, they had already broken out of the illusion and returned to the border of the Valley of Ten Thousand Obscurities.
Only Shi Li was still asleep, because his cultivation was the lowest and he needed to rest a bit longer.
“Your Supreme!” The demon general Du Yuanzhong knelt before Jun Yanye while holding a halberd. “This subordinate originally came to meet Your Supreme, but unexpectedly fell into the trap of the people from the Sacred Domain. Please punish me, Your Supreme!”
The other demon soldiers did not dare to make a sound, only kneeling with bowed heads behind Du Yuanzhong, awaiting Jun Yanye’s command.
Before Jun Yanye could speak, Shi Li, who was lying on his back, let out a voice like a dream conversation.
Du Yuanzhong raised his eyes to glance at Shi Li, instantly turning fierce and furious: “Your Supreme, it’s him! It was this pretty boy from the Sacred Domain who tricked us.”
Shi Li was awakened by Du Yuanzhong’s rowdy and loud voice. He opened his bleary eyes and rubbed his cheeks which were flushed from sleep, a few strands of forehead hair falling down, adding even more charm.
Jun Yanye swept a glance at Shi Li and said to Du Yuanzhong, “Is that so?”
Du Yuanzhong felt that the posture between this pretty boy and the Demon Venerable was somewhat subtle, but he still endured this sense of mismatch and said, “Your Supreme is mighty! So Your Supreme has already captured him as a prisoner!”
Shi Li placed one hand onto Jun Yanye’s shoulder and tilted his head, his mind dizzy: “What did you say? I captured him as a prisoner?”
“You, you actually dare to speak insolently to Your Supreme! See if I don’t break your legs.” Du Yuanzhong could no longer suppress his urge to beat someone up.
“General Du,” Jun Yanye stopped him with a single look. “He is a person from the Sacred Domain, but he did not deceive you. Just now, it was he who broke the illusion and rescued you all.”
Du Yuanzhong froze, widening his pair of eyes, staring at Shi Li with all his might.
The other demon soldiers also poked their heads out to look.
This pretty boy whose eyes were hazy with intoxication, who was as soft as though he had no bones, who was so drunk that he swayed all over the place, and who could not even speak clearly… broke the illusion?
“But his appearance is truly identical to the person who deceived us,” Du Yuanzhong said.
“Yes,” a demon soldier chimed in. “Only the clothes are different. That person wore a suit of white clothes, while this person is in a suit of red clothes, but the facial features and appearance are exactly the same.”
“Amazing, isn’t it?” Shi Li smiled.
Du Yuanzhong decided not to pay attention to this Sacred Domain youth who appeared mentally erratic, and instead asked Jun Yanye, “Your Supreme, how was the situation with crossing the tribulation this time?”
“This Deity failed to cross the tribulation this time, but the inner primordial energy is no longer in serious trouble, and my cultivation is also gradually recovering,” Jun Yanye glanced at Shi Li. “It was this Sacred Domain young master who assisted and saved This Deity.”
Du Yuanzhong and the other demon race members gasped in shock once more, turning their eyes in unison toward Shi Li.
Every single person’s face was written over with blank bewilderment.
“Actually, I have already decided to defect to the Demon Realm,” Shi Li said seriously. “Please grant me a position, Your Supreme.”
Jun Yanye estimated the hour, took out a medicine pouch from his waist, poured out a few mind-concentrating pills, and handed them to Shi Li: “Take the medicine first.”
Du Yuanzhong thought to himself, as expected, he has a mental illness.
The other demon people also revealed a trace of pity.
Jun Yanye brought the group of people back to the Ghost Chi cave dwelling. He and Shi Li could not leave this place just yet. Lake Yuanlan was very suitable for them to dual cultivate and recuperate, and moreover, Ghost Chi had not yet returned.
However, just as the group of people settled down, a scorpion spirit suddenly brought an urgent report: “His Majesty the Demon Venerable! The Sect Master of the Changming Sect has brought a lot of people over, saying that we must hand over his foster son Shi Li and his eldest disciple Gao Ruoxi, otherwise, otherwise he will… he will flatten the Valley of Ten Thousand Obscurities!”
Regarding Sect Master Yan Moxiao, many demons and monsters still felt fear in their hearts. He was the number one person in terms of cultivation in the Sacred Domain, taking the position of Sect Master at a very young age. Back then, if it were not for him commanding the human realm and the Sacred Domain to mount a resistance, the Demon Realm would have already unified the entire territory.
Yan Moxiao would not easily leave the Changming Sect. His personal arrival at the Valley of Ten Thousand Obscurities this time was enough to show the severity of the matter.
“This foster father of mine has been pushed to the brink.” Shi Li looked at Jun Yanye with a smile: “I truly cannot wait to see his expression.”
“Your Supreme! Let this general go out to meet this Sect Master Yan.” Du Yuanzhong could hardly hide his arrogance, the demonic energy flowing wildly upon his long halberd.
Jun Yanye did not say a word; his Crimson-Ink battle armor was already fully donned, and the Xuanhuang sword was also unsheathed.