"Of course, the medicinal wine brewed by my young master is different from others," Zhi Qiu said excitedly. Her young master may not be good at traveling, but he has made her proud in the field of medicine: "Brewing a batch of wine takes a year, going through the process of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. The medicinal materials used are also very rare. My young master went to great lengths to find them."
"Oh? The medicinal herbs are very rare?" Xue Qing's eyes lit up; she loved precious things the most!
“This ginseng is this big, weighing at least a pound. My young master says it’s at least a hundred years old.” Zhi Qiu gestured with her hand to form a large circle.
"Mm!" Xue Qing quickly finished the wine in her cup. Bai Xichen's things were indeed excellent; this kid was so extravagant even when brewing wine.
"The Ganoderma lucidum was personally picked by the young master from the mountains. It was found deep in the mountains, having absorbed all the earth's essence."
"Mm!" Xue Qing drank another cup. Lingzhi was a good thing, she knew that.
"Have you ever seen such a long Dendrobium? Young Master spent a lot of money to buy it."
"Hmm! It must be very expensive!" Xue Qing couldn't stop drinking, one cup after another.
"That's nothing. The main ingredient in this wine is python blood. The owner raised a white python since it was a cub, feeding it with rare medicine every day..."
"Huh? Python blood?...Cough cough cough!" Xue Qing coughed violently, trying to vomit up the wine she had just drunk. Was it all blood she had just drunk?! Snake blood, no less!
"Uncle-Master, what's wrong? Are you alright?" Liu Ying helped Xue Qing up and gently patted her back.
However, Xue Qing still swallowed the wine. She couldn't spit it out. Modern shopping malls also sell medicinal wine made by soaking toad and scorpion corpses, but Xue Qing never had the slightest desire to drink it. Now, she's drinking snake blood directly. Ancient life is truly exciting.
"The greatest effect of my python blood wine is to replenish qi and nourish the meridians. Miss Xue, your weakness is not due to illness, but rather to the loss of vital energy caused by the reversed meridians. It is just right for you to drink python blood. I will have Zhi Qiu fetch a few pills made with python blood for you later. Continued use will help your health."
"The meridians are reversed, causing the loss of true energy." To put it bluntly, it's a case of accidentally going into qi deviation during practice. Isn't the one who caused Xue Qing to go into qi deviation your superior, Yan Ming? Of course, Bai Xichen doesn't know the reason, and even if he did, he wouldn't care. His job in the Underworld is just to smooth things over.
Before Bai Xichen could finish speaking, he continued, "However, Miss Xue, you'd better stand up and walk around a bit to improve your blood circulation. Python blood wine is a highly nourishing substance. Drinking a small amount daily can strengthen your body, but drinking too much can lead to stagnation of vital energy, bloating of blood, bleeding from all seven orifices, and death."
Xue Qing stood up abruptly: "...Young Master Bai, could you please speak faster next time it involves matters of life and death?"
Bai Xichen chuckled and said, "It's nothing, it's nothing. The wine for moon-viewing was specially diluted by me. It's just that Miss Xue, you drank far too much."
"Uncle-Master, let me help you force the wine out," Liu Ying said with concern.
“Every drop of this wine is precious, don’t waste it. And don’t be too nervous, just move around more to get your blood flowing smoothly.” Bai Xichen said unhurriedly, his indifferent attitude was really irritating.
"Young master, really, why didn't you tell the guest sooner?" Zhi Qiu said apologetically, looking at Xue Qing, whose face had turned pale.
"You keep talking, how can I possibly get a word in edgewise?" Bai Xichen said nonchalantly as he ate his mooncake.
Xue Qing was filled with regret. She shouldn't have saved him; it would have been better if he had been hacked to death with a kitchen knife.
Just then, a young man ran up. Judging from the Bagua symbol on his back, he was a Wudang disciple. After looking around, he shouted, "Excuse me, which one of you is Uncle Xue Qing from the Lingyu Sect?"
The entire area fell silent instantly, and even the few people playing rock-paper-scissors quieted down and watched curiously.
"Yes, it is," Xue Qing answered softly. She was the only one standing among the moon-gazing crowd, making her stand out.
The Wudang disciple immediately ran to Xue Qing's side, placed a large willow wood food box on Xue Qing's table, and said with a fist: "These are mooncakes that Senior Brother Qiao Yijun asked me to deliver. Senior Brother Qiao also asked me to give his regards to our Martial Uncle."
This was the first time in her life she had received a "bribe," and in such an unreserved way. Xue Qing smiled awkwardly. Following closely behind the Wudang disciple, another person ran up to the fourth table. This time it was a Kunlun Palace disciple. The Kunlun Palace disciple didn't even need to ask; he could tell who Xue Qing was just by looking at who the Wudang disciple was standing in front of. He also placed a food box on Xue Qing's table: "Uncle Xue Qing, this disciple has come to greet you on the orders of Senior Sister Meng Yin."
"I accept the gift. Please thank Qiao Yijun and Meng Yin for me." Xue Qing said awkwardly, as if she had remembered the names correctly.
The Wudang and Kunlun disciples exchanged a glance, and sparks of homoeroticism (mistakenly) flew between their eyes. Xue Qing looked at the moon with annoyance, "Please, stop loving and killing each other!"
Neither of the disciples showed any disrespect to Xue Qing. The two glared at each other as they left. However, there might be a fight between them, but Xue Qing wouldn't see it, so it had nothing to do with her.
"Are you from the Lingyu Sect?" Bai Xichen asked Xue Qing.
"kindness."
Bai Xichen's shoulders twitched. He stopped looking at Xue Qing and focused intently on the moon. Zhi Qiu's expression also changed. She tried to pour wine but accidentally knocked over the cup. Xue Qing was ashamed. These two, master and servant, were too cowardly. Xue Qing's martial arts had been crippled, and Liu Ying was a gentle girl (just kidding). She wouldn't easily attack anyone. What was there to be afraid of?
Seeing Bai Xichen's appearance, Xue Qing wanted to tease the ancient man, so she deliberately said, "Young Master Bai, our Lingyu Mountain is very beautiful. When will you and Zhi Qiu come to Lingyu Sect as guests? I will host the dinner and thank you for your Python Blood Wine."
Bai Xichen looked into the distance: "...When...when will you have time?"
"Hahaha, okay, you must tell me when you come to Lingyu." Only Xue Qing herself understood what made her laugh. Even if Bai Xichen had a thousand and one courages, he wouldn't dare to go to the Lingyu Sect, the spiritual pillar of the Central Plains martial arts world.
Liu Ying frowned slightly. Had her martial aunt gone mad, or was she drunk from drinking too much? She grabbed Xue Qing's wrist and made her sit down: "Martial aunt, let me help you force the alcohol out."
"I'm not drunk. Look, what are those people doing?" Since Xue Qing was standing, she could easily see several people carrying flowerpots walking in the same direction.
The waiter, who happened to be doing odd jobs, overheard this and replied, "It's the Lichun Courtyard holding a chrysanthemum competition for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The winner gets to spend the night with the top courtesan, Yichun. Those people are all there to participate."
"What? Chrysanthemum?... Pfft." Xue Qing laughed to herself again. In her world, chrysanthemums had long had a different flavor. Her heart had been polluted along with the air in the city. And the name of that top courtesan was also bad. What kind of name is Ethanol? Methane would be better.
"Uncle-Master, let's force the wine out." Liu Ying's expression was almost one of helplessness.
"I'm really not drunk. Let's go see that Chrysanthemum Competition!" Xue Qing wanted to see whose chrysanthemum was the most beautiful.
"Uncle-Master... Lichun Courtyard is..." Liu Ying was very embarrassed, and her face was almost sweating.
Xue Qing certainly knew what Lichun Courtyard was; it was a brothel, after all. In *The Deer and the Cauldron*, Wei Xiaobao's mother was a model worker at Lichun Courtyard. Let's be more polite and call it "Qing." In ancient romance novels, Qing holds a status as important as aphrodisiacs, a sacred place that countless time-traveling women yearn to visit. Dear time-traveling woman, is the male lead indifferent to you? Don't worry, go to Qing, and he'll be guaranteed to get jealous and rape you immediately. Dear time-traveling woman, does the male lead hate you to the bone? Don't worry, go to Qing, and he'll be guaranteed to suddenly realize his love and rape you immediately. Dear time-traveling woman, haven't you met the male lead yet? Go to Qing; he's either already in Qing or on his way there. In short, going to Qing is only beneficial for time-traveling women; being able to see the real Qing makes Xue Qing's time-traveling experience worthwhile.
The most beautiful chrysanthemum
"You're worried about not letting women in? No problem, I don't believe there's a place that won't let money in." Xue Qing was quite confident about the amount of silver notes in her pocket.
"It's not a question of whether or not I can go in..." Large beads of sweat rolled down Zhi Qiu's forehead. Ancient women were too conservative. If she were to go to a male escort club in the 21st century, she would be scared to death.
"Don't worry, gentlemen. Today is a celebration, and everyone, young and old, is welcome to attend. It won't be disrespectful to the two young ladies. If you're from out of town, feel free to come and take a look; it's a unique custom of this small town," the waiter hurriedly explained.
“Alright, let’s go take a look. It’ll be a good opportunity for Miss Xue to get some exercise; her blood vessels are starting to swell.” Surprisingly, Bai Xichen was the first to agree.
Xue Qing glanced at herself and noticed that the veins on her arms were noticeably thicker. Bai Xichen wasn't lying to her; he wouldn't really explode like a Taliban suicide bomber.