Tang San, Dai Mubai, and the others stepped into Shànxiāng Pavilion.
The refined, elegant décor inside left them momentarily stunned.
Even Dai Mubai, with his royal upbringing, couldn't help but nod inwardly.
Ever since Yu Xiaogang had instilled in them the spirit of "remembering hardship, savoring sweetness," such lavish, painted halls had been long out of reach.
"Tsk, tsk."
Oscar's tone was tinged with envy:
"I heard Sword Wine comes here every few days to drink and feast with his friends."
"He really knows how to enjoy life."
Dai Mubai gave a cold snort.
Tang San said evenly:
"Nothing more than wasting away his will."
Ning Rongrong's hand unconsciously tightened around Xiao Wu's.
So this was how it was…
After leaving the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, Li Zhexian had been living so freely, so carelessly happy.
Xiao Wu caught the change in Ning Rongrong's expression, tilting her head in quiet curiosity. Thinking back to how strangely Ning Rongrong had acted during the Heaven Dou night stroll, Xiao Wu faintly felt…
Ning Rongrong's feelings toward Sword Wine didn't seem quite right.
The Shrek team had earned some name in Heaven Dou City. After all, they were one of the five teams that stood out in the preliminaries.
Especially Tang San, who revealed his twin Martial Souls—hailed by gossips as a once-in-a-millennium genius.
And yet—
Because of their entanglements with Sword Wine.
The city's attitude toward them was complicated.
Many kept their distance.
When Tang San, Dai Mubai, and the others appeared.
The noisy tavern grew noticeably quieter.
The shopkeeper jabbed his abacus into the waiter's side several times. "Customers are here, didn't you see?!"
The waiter stiffened his neck and muttered with a pout:
"I won't! They're enemies of Lord Sword Wine!"
"I—I won't spit in their food, fine? But I'm not serving them either!"
"You little—!"
The shopkeeper raised his hand, about to strike.
Then dropped it with a sigh.
"Forget it. Go serve the other tables."
"I'll tend to these brats myself."
Dai Mubai rapped his knuckles against the table, irritated: "What kind of tavern doesn't even have a waiter?!"
"Coming, coming!"
The shopkeeper trotted over, bowing with a smile plastered on his face. "Our hands are short-staffed, please forgive us, honored guests!"
Dai Mubai coldly ordered a few dishes. The shopkeeper hurried to the back kitchen with the instructions.
Bai Chenxiang tilted her head, glancing toward the spiral stairway. "Sword Wine should be upstairs."
Tang San lifted his cup, taking a small sip of tea. "We'll wait here on the first floor."
Going upstairs, they might miss him.
Better to wait like hunters by a snare.
Xiao Wu bit at her lip.
She looked at Tang San's profile.
In the end, she swallowed the words of persuasion back down.
Ning Rongrong's heart was a tangled mess.
She did not want to see Li Zhexian hurt.
But deep inside—
There was a faint, twisted hope.
If she could see him in a miserable state, maybe it would be easier to face him again.
Like a blossom too rare, too costly.
If its petals wilted, even a little…
Perhaps then… she could reach it.
...
"I'm stepping out!"
Li Zhexian's handsome face was flushed with drink.
He staggered to his feet.
"Hey!" Feng Xiaotian immediately shouted.
"Brother Zhexian! Are you trying to go stick your finger down your throat?"
Huo Wushuang shook his heavy head. "Haha! Is Brother Zhexian going to give up?!"
"Bah!" Li Zhexian spat in disdain. To say he was giving up on drinking was no different from insulting his sword as dull!
He kicked at Yu Tianheng and Hu Yanli, both slumped on the floor, still clutching their wine jars.
"Just you wait until I get back!"
"None of you will be able to leave here walking straight!"
With that, Li Zhexian pushed open the private room door and walked out with unsteady steps.
Tang San and the five others had already finished eating. They had waited for a long time, but there was still no sign of the person.
"How about we just leave?" Xiao Wu asked tentatively.
Ning Rongrong quickly nodded.
Her reason had won over that secret hint of expectation she had just now. She felt that she must have been out of her mind. No matter what, she shouldn't wish for Li Zhexian to suffer a loss.
Dai Mubai raised his head and took a big gulp of wine.
He was about to speak when—
Tang San's eyes suddenly snapped up, fixing on the second-floor stairs.
Dai Mubai and the others stiffened, following his gaze.
There, at the bend in the staircase—
A white-robed youth leaned lazily against the railing, cheeks flushed, eyes hazy.
His topknot had come loose, strands of black hair tumbling across his shoulders.
Stains of wine and fruit marked the front of his robe.
Even from afar, the thick smell of alcohol seemed to waft down.
That drunken youth—who else could it be but Li Zhexian?
"Heh. Finally caught you."
Dai Mubai slammed his cup on the table.
"Sword Wine!"
The moment Li Zhexian stepped from the private room, he had already sensed Tang San and the others.
He thought it coincidence. He was drunk and happy, and had no interest in them.
But when Dai Mubai called out.
Li Zhexian cast Dai Mubai a glance, then shook his head with a mocking smile and looked away.
That dismissal—
Made Dai Mubai clench his fists tight.
At that moment, Tang San's voice rang out:
"Sword Wine, fate brings us together. Why not share a drink?"
"Better no words than half-hearted talk. Better no drink than a soured cup."
Li Zhexian hiccupped, waving his hand.
"Little master is in a good mood today."
"Take my advice—don't seek your own misfortune."
"Oh?" Dai Mubai's smile turned cold.
Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong instinctively tried to step forward.
But Tang San's palm flared, Blue Silver Grass shooting out, binding both girls in place.
In the air—
A tense unease spread.
The diners scrambled up, panic-stricken, pressing back against the walls to leave an open space between Li Zhexian and Shrek.
Dai Mubai narrowed his evil eyes.
"Sword Wine, we invited you with sincerity. And this is how you repay us?"
He lowered his voice, adding: "I know Zhu Zhuqing came here with you."
"If you don't appreciate our goodwill, then as captain of Shrek, I might just have to drive her out."
These words were, of course, a bluff.
Even if Zhu Zhuqing refused to train with them, with her spirit power far above the rest of the Seven Monters—
Yu Xiaogang might be displeased.
But for the sake of the tournament, he had no choice but to keep her.
Li Zhexian knew this well.
Which was why Dai Mubai's threat—
Was less than farting in the wind.
And yet—
Such a naked threat was more stinging than cheap liquor.
"Heh..." Li Zhexian's body suddenly stopped moving. Then, he walked to the table next to Tang San and Dai Mubai and sat down on his own. He leaned lazily against the back of the chair.
"Looks like…"
"You really came here today just to pick a fight?"
Dai Mubai stood up and slowly walked behind Li Zhexian, lips curled in a false smile as he clapped a hand on Li Zhexian's shoulder.
"No need to put it so harshly—"
Before he could finish.
Li Zhexian's pair of hazy, drunken eyes suddenly burst out with a horrifyingly fierce glare.
He snapped back with a grab. His fingers, like iron tongs, locked tightly onto Dai Mubai's wrist and slammed his hand violently onto the tabletop.
Following that, his right hand picked up a bamboo chopstick as fast as lightning.
Shhh!
A cold light like electricity! It pierced through the air!
That seemingly fragile bamboo chopstick instantly pierced through Dai Mubai's palm, and the momentum did not decrease, as it went completely through the hardwood tabletop.
Wood splinters mixed with blood sprayed out. The warm fresh blood dripped with a gurgling sound along the edge of the table, making a light, heart-palpitating sound in the silence.
No one had expected the drunken Li Zhexian to strike with such ruthless ferocity.
It wasn't until Dai Mubai's scream tore through the deadly silence that everyone in the hall woke up in shock...