“Who just bumped into me? Come out!” I shouted.
That group of kids stared at me, bewildered.
“You, you, or you?” I pointed my finger between them.
“You bump into people and do not even apologize. At such a young age, instead of studying and reading books, you are out here on the street beating people up. This is simply outrageous! I am going to drag you all off, lock you up, and give you a beating.”
“Do you see my bodyguard? The weapon he is carrying on his back is none other than the Heavenly Fire Floating Cloud Thunderbolt Arrows. That kind of destructive power.” I motioned for them to look at A-Yun. A-Yun naturally possessed a cold expression, which was more than enough to scare the wits out of children.
The group of kids was so frightened they stood there dumbfounded. One of the smarter ones yelled out:
“Run!”
Within a moment, they had all scattered and vanished without a trace.
The person on the ground was still curled up and trembling. I wanted to help him up, but the moment my hand touched him, he jumped in a start, babbling:
“I am sorry. I am sorry.”
I let out a sigh, squatted down, and said:
“Little brother, look at me. I am your older brother. They have all gone away, and I chased them off.”
He understood my words and cautiously cast a glance at me.
“Do you recognize me? I am your older brother.”
He shifted his gaze toward A-Yun standing beside me.
“This is Elder Brother A-Yun. Do you recognize him?”
He stayed silent and swallowed hard.
“Would you like to eat some steamed buns?” I asked.
He pulled his head back into himself once more.
“I will not steal anymore. Niannian will not steal.”
A-Yun and I exchanged glances. I picked up a bun from the ones he had been holding and handed it to him.
“Niannian, eat a bun.”
He looked at me warily.
Suddenly, he sat straight up, snatched the bun away, and wolfed it down ravenously. Within just a few bites, it was gone, and he looked up at me with expectant eyes.
“Niannian wants more.”
Chen Xiaowu and A-Yun handed over the remaining unfinished buns they were carrying. At that moment, Chen Xiaowu remarked:
“Senior Brother, how long has it been since he took a bath? He smells so bad.”
I, too, caught a whiff of a very unpleasant odor. I looked at Niannian, whose hair was messy and whose entire body was covered in filth.
“Niannian, where is your mother?” I asked.
“Mother is sleeping. She does not cook for Niannian, and Niannian is hungry.”
I felt something was not quite right.
I asked A-Yun if he knew where they lived, but A-Yun shook his head. Turning back to Niannian, I said:
“Niannian, let us go buy some buns for your mother to eat, shall we? They should be waking up by now. Look, the sun has been out for a long time.”
“Okay!”
He jumped up and hopped along happily as he walked ahead. The three of us followed behind him. Niannian was about my height, but his build was twice mine, quite chubby.
The place where he lived was some distance away from the Wang estate. It was a small courtyard, spacious enough for two people, but the front doors were flung wide open, and the flowers and plants inside were overgrown and disorderly, suggesting no one had tended to them in a long time.
Entering the room, a heavy, pungent smell of decay hit us full in the face. I instinctively covered my nose and mouth with my sleeve.
Chen Xiaowu refused to step foot inside the house altogether; this kid must have been a Virgo.
Niannian seemed unable to smell it at all. He walked straight toward the bed. The sun was already high up, yet his mother still refused to get out of bed.
“Mother, the handsome older brother bought you some buns. Get up and eat quickly.”
With that, he reached out a hand to pull on his mother, and I hurriedly grabbed him back.
“Niannian, let your mother sleep a little longer. Older Brother will take you out to play,” I said.
The person on the bed had no way of knowing how long they had been dead; the corpse was severely decomposed. Stepping back outside the room, I took a deep breath.
“A-Yun, take Niannian back to the Prince’s Estate. Find someone to clean him up properly, and send some people over here to clean up this place. Niannian will live at the Rong Prince’s Estate from now on. If anyone has a problem with that, tell them to come find me.”
“Understood.”
With that, A-Yun utilized his lightness skill, scooped up Niannian, and vanished in the blink of an eye. I never expected A-Yun’s lightness skill to be so impressive.
Chen Xiaowu and I strolled leisurely along the street. He looked at everything with curiosity and wanted whatever caught his eye, so I generously bought things for him. Suddenly, I felt a strange sensation of acting like a father.
“The Drunken Life Tower. Senior Brother, is this Drunken Life Tower an inn? Why is it so lively?”
I followed his gaze, looked over, and teased him:
“Children are not allowed to enter this kind of inn.”
“What kind of inn only lets adults in and bars children? Besides, I am not a child anymore; I am already thirteen!”
“This Drunken Life Tower also goes by another name. A brothel.”
Chen Xiaowu evidently knew what brothels were used for, as his face instantly flushed red with embarrassment.
I continued teasing him:
“Since our Junior Brother Xiaowu is no longer a child, shall we go inside and take a look?”
“I am not going in! Those places are full of…”
He looked as though he had been angered to the point of speechlessness, unable to articulate his thoughts.
I laughed and threw an arm around his shoulders:
“Full of what? Full of female demons who will eat you bones and all?”
Just at that moment, a man in his thirties dressed like a scholar walked past me, muttering under his breath:
“Men of spirit must make the most of joy, and never leave the golden goblet empty to the moon.”
I was utterly shocked and grabbed him by the sleeve:
“What did you just recite?”
“You do not even know this? The refined gathering hosted by Young Master Feng has this very poem as its theme. It has been two months, and not a single person has been able to match it.”
“Where is this refined gathering held?”
“Right here inside the Drunken Life Tower.”
I let go of him and headed straight for the Drunken Life Tower. Chen Xiaowu grabbed hold of me.
“Senior Brother, you are not allowed to go in!”
“I have something very important to do right now and need to go inside to find this so-called Young Master Feng. Wait for me here, go buy some food, or head back to the Rong Prince’s Estate to find A-Yun.”
I shoved some silver coins into his hand and turned to walk into the Drunken Life Tower.
The proprietress inside, seeing my fine attire, immediately came forward with a flattering smile.
“This young master…”
Before she could finish, I cut her off directly:
“Where is Young Master Feng?”
She called over a young maid and instructed her to lead the way, while aggressively flashing a look at her.
“Qingqing, take this young master to see Young Master Feng.”
The maid named Qingqing glanced at me and grew too shy to meet my gaze.
“Young Master, please follow me.”
Soon enough, I caught sight of that Young Master Feng. He looked to be around my age, surrounded by beauties with one feeding him wine and another picking food for him, living a life of leisure and romance.
Those two lines of poetry were written in large characters and hung up beside them. I walked over, and he did not even look at me.
“Heaven gave me talents, and they are bound to be used; all the gold I spent will return again.”
I recited these two lines.
Only then did the Young Master Feng look up at me.
“Heaven gave me talents, and they are bound to be used; all the gold I spent will return again. Exquisite!”
I originally thought I had run into a fellow transmigrator, but judging by his reaction, that was not the case. Then I remembered reciting those verses while practicing swordsmanship; someone must have overheard me.
“Are you very fond of poetry?” I asked.
After all, this refined gathering had been going on for two whole months.
“Naturally.”
With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the two young women, pulled me over with great familiarity, and made me sit down beside him.
“This young master possesses an extraordinary bearing. Might I ask your honorable name?”
“Yu Li.”
“Young Master Yu, would you be so kind as to write down the two lines you just recited?”
Seeing his sincere attitude, I figured I might as well indulge him.
“Prepare a larger sheet of paper. This poem has far more than just those four lines.”
Beaming with joy, he had someone fetch brush and paper, all the while showering me with flattery:
“Young Master Yu not only writes wonderful poetry, but your handwriting is also exceptionally fine.”
Once I finished writing, I prepared to leave, but he called out:
“Wait a moment, Young Master Yu. The refined gathering, I hosted carries a prize. The prize is that you may ask Feng whatever you wish.”
“I have nothing that I want.”
“Has Young Master Yu ever ingested the Blue Grass?”