Chapter 40: The Sudden Arrival of Uncle Lü (Updated)
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.
The newcomer was old and frail, with a twisted smile on his face, his mouth wide open, revealing his menacing teeth, which sent chills down one's spine.
"Yuanjue"
Upon seeing this man, Feng Fei couldn't help but whisper Yuan Jue's name. This person was clearly the innkeeper, but the clothes he was wearing were those of Old Man Lü, whom they had seen in Yangliu Lane earlier. Could it be...?
"Uncle Lü," Su Cheng seemed unsurprised by the innkeeper's arrival, simply calling out softly before picking up the wine in front of him and sipping it slowly.
"I really don't deserve to be addressed as 'Uncle Lü' by Young Master Su," the innkeeper replied sarcastically, glancing sideways at the people in the courtyard with a strange yet delighted smile on his face.
"Why isn't Uncle Lü resting at home? Why has he come to my Su residence instead?"
Su Cheng gently tapped his wine glass on the edge of the table and asked casually, as if he didn't really care whether his question would be answered.
Feng Fei and the others waited for the innkeeper's answer, but they saw that the innkeeper's face turned white and red, and his eyes were sometimes ferocious and sometimes cowardly.
"Something seems off about the innkeeper."
Feng Fei transmitted his voice to Yuan Jue, "You..."
The situation on the field suddenly changed, silencing Feng Fei's words.
The innkeeper suddenly clutched his head and crouched down, his eyes wide with panic as he looked around, his mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out. Suddenly, he jumped to his feet and rushed towards the least crowded area, only to crouch down again abruptly: "Where am I? I...I wasn't resting at the inn?"
Everyone present heard the innkeeper's words, and for a moment, many who were unaware of the situation looked astonished, while Feng Fei was also extremely surprised.
Could it be that this innkeeper has two personalities within him?
"The innkeeper has probably been possessed," Yuan Jue said to Feng Fei, but Feng Fei couldn't agree with this and just watched the situation develop in silence.
Just as everyone was still confused, the innkeeper stood up again and rushed towards Su Cheng. His face was filled with malice: "Su Cheng, you'll die a horrible death!"
Even with such vicious words, Su Cheng remained unfazed, lazily taking a sip of fruit wine and slowly letting out a sigh of relief. "Tsk tsk. You'll probably be the first to suffer a terrible death. Don't forget, you yourself killed your son and daughter-in-law."
The innkeeper's expression changed drastically. Seemingly realizing something, he stumbled back three steps, finally losing his balance and falling to the ground: "Y-what?"
Su Cheng seemed surprised by the innkeeper's change in personality. But it was none of his business. After a slight surprise, he became indifferent again: "What do you mean you don't know? Uncle Lü, you're really getting old. Look, those bone and blood wines on the tables were all brought by you yourself. Don't tell me you don't know where these wines came from."
The innkeeper's face turned ashen, clearly recalling what had happened that morning: he had suddenly collapsed at his doorstep, wearing the same clothes he was wearing now, and he vaguely remembered going to Yangliu Lane. But he couldn't remember what he had done.
"What do you know quickly?" The innkeeper asked, forcing himself to stay alert, though his voice lacked confidence.
Su Cheng, however, seemed to have heard something particularly funny, and burst into laughter for a while before stopping. He stared intently at the innkeeper and said, "Uncle Lü, are you joking with me? Don't forget, all this bone and blood wine was made by you! Oh, right, you specifically came to see me at noon today to ask for that flag. Here, it's tucked into your waistband. You seem to think this flag is for collecting two souls, one named Xuanlang and the other Yuanqing."
Su Cheng's sarcastic words reached the ears of the surrounding guests, causing them to change their expressions in shock. Those who knew each other involuntarily gathered together and slowly retreated towards the courtyard gate, simply because they all sensed that something was amiss that night.
"Hey, Uncle Lü, why are you showing your true face today? Hehe, weren't you going to keep your true appearance to guard the copper coin shop? What, changed your mind?" Su Cheng said, then seemed to remember something and exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, Uncle Lü, I remember now, aren't Xuanlang and Yuanqing your son and daughter-in-law?"
The innkeeper didn't hear Su Cheng's words anymore; all that remained in his mind was the phrase, "Take the flag to guard two souls, one is Xuanlang and the other is Yuanqing."
"ah--"
The innkeeper stood up straight, frantically grabbing his head and tearing his hair out of place.
"You're lying!" The innkeeper's eyes were bloodshot as he stared blankly at Su Cheng. "You're lying! You made all this up!"
"How ridiculous! Why would I, Su Cheng, lie to you? What do you have that would make me want to lie to you?" Su Cheng sneered, showing no mercy to the innkeeper's words: "Uncle Lü, have you gone mad from all the bad things you've done?"
The innkeeper stared at Su Cheng with bloodshot eyes, his face growing paler and paler until his eyes rolled back and he fainted.
"Useless, he actually fainted." Su Cheng waved his hand in disgust, as if something in front of him had caught his eye. "Someone, carry Uncle Lü away and take good care of him."
Two people quickly came out from behind the pavilion. Just as they were about to carry the innkeeper away, the innkeeper suddenly scrambled to his feet.
"Tch, so it was all an act."
Seeing the innkeeper's reactions, Su Cheng's disdain deepened.
This disdainful remark reached the innkeeper's ears, but it also filled his face with a mocking smile: "Yes, Young Master Su, my tricks are nothing compared to yours. Compared to you, I merely followed your orders to brew the relatives of those you harmed into a blood and bone wine. Tsk tsk, I'm truly no match for you."
Upon hearing this, everyone in the courtyard, except for Su Cheng and the innkeeper, had a drastic change in expression.
"What? This bone and blood wine is made from human flesh?" The one who asked the question was Zou Wen. He always considered himself Su Cheng's confidant, but he never expected that the bone and blood wine he treasured was actually... Thinking of this, Zou Wen felt a wave of nausea in his chest and couldn't hold it in, so he turned to the side and vomited.
One person started vomiting, and the rest of the people followed suit.
"Ha, you don't know, do you? This bone and blood wine was carefully prepared for everyone by Young Master Su. Haven't you noticed that after drinking this bone and blood wine, many of your hidden ailments have been cured? And your energy is even greater than before, right? Haha, that's because this wine contains the essence of a person. However..." At this point, Uncle Lu stopped talking and looked at Su Cheng with a sinister gaze.
"Young Master Su, my personality as a shopkeeper is truly awful. I didn't even have the courage to face you directly. At most, I killed that foreign merchant and Ding San to avenge Xuanlang and Yuanqing. What's worse, I completely collapsed after hearing that you had taken Xuanlang and Yuanqing into the flag. I really don't know how he's lived to this age. I'm different—"
"Oh? What makes you different?" Su Cheng politely picked up on Lu Bo's words, though the disdain on his face was quite obvious.
"Of course I'm different. Do you think I don't know that I'm the innkeeper himself? Do you think I don't know that Xuanlang and Yuanqing are my son and daughter-in-law? Do you think I don't remember how you killed them? It's just that I know how to play along. Otherwise, how could I have gained your trust and accepted this task of making the bone and blood wine?"
"You think I trusted you?"
"Isn't that right? Ha, no matter what you say, all I know is that I had the opportunity to tamper with things while I was making the bone and blood wine." With that, Uncle Lu looked at the guests around him who were still vomiting with a mocking expression, and said loudly, "You don't need to waste your energy. I know you. The last person among you to drink that bone and blood wine was a year ago, and I had already done a lot of things to free you three years ago."
Having grasped the meaning behind Lu Bo's words, Zou Wen and the others forcibly suppressed the nausea rising in their hearts, asking, "What do you mean by that?"
"What do you mean?" Lu Bo circled the center of the arena before speaking as if granting a general amnesty: "I have shown you what it means to be energetic and strong, but you will have to pay a price."
What price?
"Of course, it's a bloody price. You people who have drunk the Bone and Blood Wine will lose your hair after five years, then your facial skin will ulcerate, your ears will fall off, your nose will rot, and finally your limbs will start to rot. And the most wonderful thing is that you feel the pain of being soaked in strong liquor every day, but you can't complain. But it's a pity that no one has died yet, because I was the one who tampered with this Bone and Blood Wine three years ago."
Old Mr. Lü's face was filled with a gentle and peaceful smile, but no one present shared that view.
Upon hearing Lu Bo's words, those who had drunk the bone and blood wine turned ashen-faced, as if they were all thinking about their fate a few years later.
Suddenly, a foul stench wafted from the fragrant flowerbed.
Feng Fei frowned and looked over, only to find that a few cowards had been so frightened that they had soiled themselves. The yellowish-white matter, along with the stench, was exposed to everyone's eyes, but few cared.
Looking at the desolate scene, he frowned in frustration and disappeared into the darkness, secretly relieved that he hadn't drunk the Bone and Blood Wine. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had to wait five years; the effects would have kicked in immediately.
Su Cheng muttered a few words of dissatisfaction, and was about to call his servants to carry these useless people away when someone suddenly pounced on Lu Bo's feet.
"Please spare me. I'll do anything to save me, please!" the man pleaded, kowtowing repeatedly. The resounding thud of his forehead hitting the ground was chilling.
"Oh? You want me to save you?" (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit (.). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
☆, Chapter Forty-One: The Broken Flag
Lu Bo tilted his head, looking at the person in front of him who was kowtowing repeatedly, seemingly unable to understand why this person was kowtowing to him: "You want me to save you?"
Upon hearing this, the man on the ground stopped what he was doing and looked at Uncle Lü with great eagerness.
When Feng Fei saw that the man had revealed his face, he couldn't help but stare intently. Unexpectedly, it was Zou Wen, who always followed Su Cheng's lead.
When Zou Wen saw the wrinkles on Lü Bo's face crack into a smile, he assumed Lü Bo had agreed to rescue him. Just as he was about to kowtow again in joy, he heard Lü Bo slowly say, "Huh? You want me to save you, so I'll save you? Why should I save you?"
Zou Wen immediately looked as if he had lost his parents, his face turning ashen.
"No"
Zou Wen collapsed at Lu Bo's feet, clutching his clothes and pleading, "Please, please, I don't want to die so soon, I don't want to die such a terrible death. Just let me live like this, I'll even kill someone if you ask me to."
"oh?"
Lu Bo's face lit up with interest. He slowly pulled up the hem of his robe and chuckled, "You can even kill people?"
Zou Wen nodded frantically, afraid that if he nodded too slowly, Lu Bo would change his mind.
"Heh, is that so? Let me think about it." Lu Bo circled around Zou Wen a few times, then his eyes suddenly lit up. He pointed at Su Cheng and said, "Then go and kill Su Cheng. It's easy. What do you think?"
Zou Wen looked at Lü Bo in astonishment, never expecting that he was going to kill Su Cheng.
Zou Wen stared blankly at Su Cheng, thinking of the benefits he had received from following Su Cheng in the past few years, but then he remembered Su Cheng's disdain and scolding towards him, and his face became more and more ferocious.
"Tsk tsk, if you can't agree, then there's nothing I can do to save you."
Upon hearing this, the atmosphere above the flowerbed instantly froze.
The next moment, everyone who had drunk the bone and blood wine pounced at Lu Bo's feet.
"Please, I don't want to die either!"
"I'll do anything you want, please have mercy on me, sob sob..."
The wailing filled the ears of everyone present, making their heads buzz.
Lu Bo looked at the people groveling at his feet, begging for their lives, a mocking smile on his face. His eyes, gleaming with sarcasm, flashed as he looked at Su Cheng: "Fine, you want to live? It's simple. Just take Su Cheng's name. Hmm. Scoop up a part of his body, like a finger or something, and hand it to me. I'll then remove the harmful effects of the Bone and Blood Wine. How about that, a good deal?"
Su Cheng watched coldly, but did not utter a word.
Upon hearing Uncle Lü's words, the people in the courtyard who had been crying for mercy suddenly became emboldened, standing tall and stern in front of Su Cheng, glaring menacingly.
The light in the courtyard was already poor, and now that it was blocked, Su Cheng felt his vision was completely blurred. Squinting, Su Cheng leaned against the side, picked up his wine glass, and was about to drink when he was suddenly slapped to the ground.
The spilled wine spread out in concentric circles in the dim light. Su Cheng watched, a strange smile blooming on his lips.
Everyone standing in front of Su Cheng was startled, and the crowd slightly dispersed.
Perhaps sensing their hesitation, Uncle Lü calmly added from the back of the crowd, "Oh dear, it's already this late, time is of the essence."
The men surrounding Su Cheng immediately felt a pang of anxiety; their worries suddenly seemed insignificant compared to their own lives.
"Su Cheng, you should just kill yourself."
Zou Wen was the first to speak. Perhaps he was provoked by some of Lu Bo's words earlier, or perhaps he felt uneasy thinking about Su Cheng's actions towards him. Zou Wen's words were surprisingly frank.