Chapter 1155 - The Intoxicating Liquor!
Chapter 1155 The Intoxicating Liquor!
“I heard you were occupied with some other matters. It’s an honor to have you here, Patriarch Xi,” Fang Qiu said to Xi Fengling.
“I converted to Buddhism many years ago. Thereafter, I rarely imbibe liquor.”
Xi Fengling greeted him with a slight nod and smiled. “I sent my son to attend your party on my behalf. But much to my surprise, the other three patriarchs urged me to come along. That’s why I’m here.”
“Senior, I’m so honored. Thank you!”
Fang Qiu nodded a warm welcome to Xi Fengling.
“That’s great.”
Diwu Mingchuan waved his hand and said,” Qian’er has been waiting inside for a long time. Let’s go in.”
He stepped into the inn without waiting for Fang Qiu to lead the way.
The inn was bustling with noise and excitement.
The room was crammed with people talking and the atmosphere was lively and jovial. Some people found this wine party a good place to network and make friends among the martial circle.
The whole inn was really bustling.
However…
The arrival of the four patriarchs silenced more than half the roomful of people.
Some of them, unaware of the change, kept having fun. When these people finally realized something was wrong and turned around, they were petrified and stayed rooted on the spot at the sight of the four patriarchs.
All the individual cultivators around the hall stood up in unison, and greeted them by cupping their hands, but no one spoke.
These representatives of eight factions and sixteen sects sitting in the center of the hall also stood up swiftly, and executed their greetings.
The four patriarchs smiled and nodded to the crowd. Then, led by Fang Qiu, they went to the second floor.
Each sat at the table prepared for their clans.
At this point, all the forces in Wulin, large and small, were here.
Inside and outside the inn, all the individual cultivators were very surprised.
Fancy that! Fang Qiu’s tremendous influence had gathered leaders of not only the eight factions and sixteen sects, but even the four great families and the deputy chief of Pear Garden!
In the entire Wulin, the only important figure who did not come was Yun Yangzi’s master, the chief of Pear Garden!
In the livestream room on the Wulin online forum, more than 100,000 people broke out in an uproar.
“John Doe is really something!”
“The name John Doe is equivalent to a middle-level force in Wulin, isn’t it?”
“Middle? Far more than that! With his public appeal, it’s not an exaggeration to say that he’s a first-rate force.”
“It was said that John Doe has dozens of people working under him. A small number, but they still make up a force, right?”
“It doesn’t count if they don’t make it official, but I have a hunch that it won’t be long before they do that.”
…
The four patriarchs occupied different positions in the VIP area in the inn. Although they were separated, they couldn’t help exchanging glances after they sat down.
They had been observing John Doe discreetly from the moment they arrived.
When their eyes met, the big shots shook their heads.
None of them were able to get to the root of John Doe’s strength.
When each of them saw the other three shaking their heads in unison, they couldn’t help but feel astounded.
The four great leaders made no secret of it, and there was no need to conceal the truth. After careful observation, they found nothing secretive about John Doe!
“Everyone.”
Fang Qiu walked down the stairs from the second floor.
Halfway down the stairs, he stopped at a moderate-sized platform and said, “Everyone, thank you very much for attending the wine tasting party.”
All the people present immediately stopped talking and all eyes turned toward John Doe.
“All the distinguished guests have arrived. Now, let the wine tasting begin!”
Fang Qiu announced, smiling broadly.
Surprisingly, a loud shout sounded at the door after that.
“Another guest is coming!”
It was He Gaoming, who had been standing by the door.
His yell drew everyone’s attention.
Fang Qiu also looked over with a puzzled expression on his face.
All those invited by him had arrived. How could there be more?
Just when Fang Qiu and all the others wondered who it was, a figure appeared in the doorway.
It was a middle-aged man in his forties.
There was nothing special about him. He looked ordinary and held a long cyan sword in one hand.
…
A new round of heated discussion began.
“Who is this?”
“Carrying a sword in this era, seriously?”
“This inn is located at the Mount Hua scenic area, but he openly brings a weapon. Isn’t he afraid it will be taken away?”
“His Qi power is overwhelming, but he does not look familiar.”
In the inn, everyone was whispering to each other.
In the livestream room on the Wulin online forum, netizens could clearly see the middle-aged man approaching the door with a long cyan sword in his hand.
“Who is this?”
“I haven’t seen him before.”
“He appeared after all the four patriarchs are in the inn. More importantly, no one seems to know who he is!”
“This man showed up as the last bigwig after the four patriarchs, with an assumed air of self-importance. How dare he steal the show?”
Unlike the onlookers at the scene, people watching the fun through the livestream discussed this person’s surprise appearance with more fervor, without holding anything back.
“Senior, it’s you?”
Seeing the person coming, Fang Qiu was stunned and then immediately went up to welcome him.
He remembered now.
This man was the one at the auction from the Sword Sect!
Sword Sect was known as a daunting and enigmatic force, even to the four great families.
“Ha-ha.”
Seeing John Doe walking over, the man laughed heartily, saying, “I heard about your wine party. I happen to like drinking, so I came uninvited for a drink.”
“Welcome, it’s my great honor.”
Fang Qiu greeted him smilingly and led him into the inn.
By sheer luck, there was one empty table left in the VIP area on the second floor.
In addition, the Sword Sect seemed to be superior to the four great families. Therefore, Fang Qiu readily guided him directly to the second floor.
His enthusiastic action set off an uproar in the hall.
“The second floor?”
“The VIP area?”
“John Doe has just kicked off the wine party. It means he didn’t invite this man at all. Yet, he got a place on the second floor even though he had no invitation. Isn’t that startling enough?”
“Other than the four patriarchs, all the people sitting on the second floor are top-notch individual cultivators, among whom Sword Fanatic is of average strength. Is this unknown middle-aged man one of them?”
Everyone looked puzzled.
Fang Qiu took the middle-aged man to the second floor.
They made their appearance on the second floor.
The four patriarchs looked at each other and stood up at the same time to greet the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man nodded and saluted back.
Fang Qiu was stunned.
All the others in the inn were equally stunned, and so were the hundreds of thousands of viewers watching the livestream.
The four patriarchs took the initiative to greet the man!
More incredibly…
The four great patriarchs didn’t seem to recognize this man.
Even so, they said hello to him on their own initiative. Why? It could be because of his extraordinary strength of the force behind him!
Was there a powerful force backing him?
Fang Qiu was truly amazed.
He knew from his experience this middle-aged man the not have a high status in the Sword Sect, although he occupied a certain position. Nevertheless, the four patriarchs also stood up to greet him, which was enough to prove how mighty the Sword Sect was!
Everyone present was in shock.
He Gaoming returned, leaving a few brothers to stand guard at the door. The crowd of onlookers and online streamers outside was blocked.
They couldn’t get in.
The martial artists outside began to wail with great regret.
More than 100,000 livestream audiences were lamenting the significant loss.
“Well.”
Back on the platform in the middle of the stairs, Fang Qiu then announced, “The wine party will start now. Serve the liquor!”
His voice faded.
Several brothers immediately carried out a square table and set it down before Fang Qiu.
The table was four meters wide and it groaned under the weight of so many jade wine cups.
Everyone’s eyes were now on the table.
Their hearts were jumping wildly for joy.
It was a wine party for real!
John Doe sent out invitations to this party on a grand scale, so he must have some fabulous liquor.
They began to look forward to it.
“Everyone.”
When all the cups were ready, Fang Qiu glanced at everyone at the scene and said apologetically, “I didn’t expect so many guests to come, so we only prepared about 70 jade cups in advance. I apologize to all my friends who didn’t receive an invitation card.”
“But please rest assured. Each of you present can get to drink a few cups, though there might not be enough liquor for all of you to enjoy yourselves to the fullest.”
After that, he asked He Gaoming to fetch some other cups immediately for the others to sip and taste the liquor. Meanwhile, he was ready to entertain more than 70 guests who had received his invitations.
He Gaoming turned around and left.
People hearing his explanation burst into an uproar.
However, no one objected. Some just felt it was a pity.
After all, John Doe only sent out a limited batch of invitations. Those individual cultivators who had received the invitations came alone. The forces with invitations, whether large or small, only sent out one or two people here.
Thus, everyone was fine with that. After all, John Doe could only estimate the amount of liquor according to the number of invitations. If everyone was allowed to drink to the maximum, the liquor might not be enough.
Even if there was not enough wine to drink, they felt fortunate to be part of the party, which would benefit them a lot.
“Bring the liquor!”
After the explanation, Fang Qiu called out loudly.
In an instant, He Gaoming and his men walked over with the wine jars.
“I bet you’re all very curious about the liquor, but I hope you won’t be in a hurry to ask your questions. It will not be too late for me to introduce it after you take a sip.”
With this, Fang Qiu took a jar of wine from He Gaoming.
He opened it swiftly.
Almost immediately, a fragrant aroma of medicated wine wafted out of the jar and permeated the air of the inn.
“Hum, hum…”
With the tantalizing smell wafting through the air, everyone present couldn’t help sniffing deeply.
Some people, lured by the scent of wine, started drooling.
“The wine smells delicious!”
“Fine wine indeed.”
…
In barely a blink of an eye, Elder Zhan on the second floor was instantly exhilarated when he caught a whiff of the aroma of the wine.
He sat with his hungry eyes glued to the wine jar in Fang Qiu’s hands.
One jar contained one catty of liquor.
One jar was equivalent to ten cups.
Since it was a wine tasting event, the host shouldn’t be too stingy with the liquor.
One cup could hold a tael of wine, which was just right for them.
John Doe poured nearly eight jars of wine in the first round of drinking.
“Everyone, a toast to all of you.”
After pouring out the liquor, Fang Qiu waved his right hand. Then, as if they had eyes, the more than 70 wine cups immediately flew from the table before him to the distinguished representatives from the four great families, eight factions, and sixteen sects, as well as those honored individual cultivators! Each of them got one cup!
As if served by an invisible person, each cup landed steadily on the table in front of everyone, without spilling a drop.
…
This magical performance shocked everyone in the inn!