Chapter 148 Bullshit rules

Chapter 148 Bullshit rules

Chapter 148 Bullshit rules
Maybe it was because it was close to New Year's Eve, or maybe it was because of the ice and snow, the number of drinkers in Shilipu dropped drastically, and the place became deserted, even colder than the snow in winter.

Three or two passers-by would put a few taels of silver into the cabinet every day.

The owner of Zuixianlou in the city came several times and wanted to buy a large amount of the famous liquor "Zuiqingfeng" by paying double the price. If he supplied it in full, he would make a fortune every day, but he was rejected every time.

Those merchants who hoped to make a fortune gave up and could only secretly curse Ping'an Inn for being short-sighted and guarding a mountain of gold while earning money from collecting firewood.

For ten days, Yue Lingshan didn't come again.

Ping'an Inn became quiet.

Zhang Yu often practiced sword in the pine forest, almost day and night.

Hua Jian felt a little uneasy. Painters all have sharp eyes. She found that Zhang Yu's sword moves were urgent, which had never happened before.

Tianyue Mountain sent four pairs of carrier pigeons, which were raised in the backyard of the inn and could travel back and forth between Huazhou and Luyang to deliver messages.

As the deputy incense master, Su Qiqi presided over the affairs of the Yunyu Temple and expanded its influence in the southeastern part of Shaanxi. It didn't take much effort to clear out the gangs in the three counties at the foot of the Qinling Mountains and incorporated them into the territory of the Sun and Moon Sect.

Those righteous gangs quietly released the imprisoned disciples of the Divine Religion.

"It looks like everything is going well."

Zhang Yu held a pine branch in his left hand and knocked on the edge of the eaves. The seemingly solid icicles fell to the ground and broke into pieces.

In the backyard of the inn, the girl stood by the stove for a long time, holding a bunch of things.
"Xiaoyu, what are you doing?"

When she saw Zhang Yu coming, she hurriedly handed the bamboo tube in her arms to him.

"Brother Yu, help me put it in."

Zhang Yu nodded, touched her fluffy hair, and said with a smile: "Xiao Yu, you finally called me right this time. If you call me Uncle Zhang again, I won't help you release it."

It was probably Su Qiqi who taught him. Zhang Yu was the disciple of Master Wu. According to the rules of the martial arts world, a disciple is half a son, so in terms of seniority, Wu Hanyu should call him "Uncle Zhang".

Zhang Yu didn't like it. He felt that he was being called old for no reason and that they should just talk about their own affairs. Ever since leaving Tianyue Mountain, he had been committed to correcting Xiaoyu, and now it was finally paying off.

He threw the bamboo tube in his hand into the fire.

A moment later, the firecrackers exploded in clusters with a 'crackling' sound, and sparks flew everywhere.

Wu Hanyu covered his ears with his hands and laughed. There was a lot of noise all around him, and only the firelight was reflected in his eyes.

This kind of pure happiness is a luxury for adults to see on their faces.

New Year's Eve is here.

Zhang Yu sat in the corridor. The sky was cold and pale. It was the end of another year.

Seeing Xiaoyu having fun in the snow in the yard, he couldn't help but feel better.

Hua Jian came from the front hall. Seeing that he was finally not practicing sword in the pine forest, he felt relieved and said softly, "Sir, there is a visitor."

Zhang Yu looked at her with a questioning look.

Hua Jian smiled and said, "I think he looks a bit like the person the adults mentioned."

On the day that Ping'an Inn opened, Zhang Yu instructed Hua Jian to keep an eye on the guests, especially an elder.

He was also unable to describe the man's appearance in detail. After all, Zhang Yu had never seen the man in person. He only roughly described him as a reclusive master with superb martial arts skills. He usually kept to himself, had a strange temper, and was addicted to alcohol.

Generally speaking, Shilipu in Huazhou City is located at the foot of Mount Hua.

And there is a true god hidden on Mount Hua.

Because of the grudges from decades ago, that person had no good feelings towards the Qi Sect disciples, but he was a senior of the Huashan Sect after all, and his presence was enough to deter those who had ill intentions towards the Huashan Sect.

"Could it be him?"

Zhang Yu stood up slowly, feeling a little nervous. After all, this was the known ceiling of martial arts in this martial world. Perhaps the only one who could fight against him was the Eastern Patriarch.

Lu Fu was counting on the abacus, and from time to time he looked up at the man sitting by the door.

The old man had snow-white hair and beard, a thin and tall figure, and was wearing a half-worn green robe, a plain linen shirt, and a pair of straw sandals on his feet.

Upon closer inspection, this man has a reserved demeanor, a face as pale as gold paper, but he doesn't look old, and his eyes are bright.

He was eating the dish of fennel beans on the table, neither hurried nor slow.

Lu Fu shook his head secretly.

There were sounds of firecrackers coming from the stove in the backyard. The cook was almost ready to prepare a table full of sumptuous dishes. No one would be happy to have uninvited guests disturbing the house on New Year's Eve.

The old man asked, "Where's the wine?"

Lu Fu put on a smiling face and said, "Please wait a moment, old sir. It's too cold to drink cold wine. The wine is being heated up and should be ready soon."

The old man asked calmly, "Why can't we drink cold wine? Is this also your... bullshit rule?"

Lu Fu remained calm. He had met all kinds of people in his business. He smiled and said, "Cold wine will accumulate in the body and it will be difficult to dissipate. You will get drunk all of a sudden. When it's cold, the inside and outside will attack each other, making it easier to get sick. This is what the shopkeeper said, and it's for the sake of the customers' health."

The old man chuckled: "So that's how it is, that's not a bullshit rule, it's good advice?"

"It's hard to say whether rules are good or bad. They are just used for their own purposes. They are good only when they are appropriate."

Just as he finished speaking, the curtain at the back door opened and a young man came in carrying a wooden tray.

The old man picked up the fennel beans with chopsticks and asked, "What is appropriate?"

The young man thought for a moment and said, "There is no rule in the body, no constant in words, everything should be done in accordance with the trend, and nothing should be lingered in the heart."

The old man glanced at him and said, "Since there are no rules, then there are no regulations?"

The young man said, "No rules are the rules themselves." The old man shook his head and said, "Why bother?"

The young man said, "A great sage once made a wish to make everyone a Yao or Shun, but it was just a dream. There are few saints in the world, but many ordinary people, so rules are indispensable. Without this, it would be like skipping the complicated clay stove and drinking cold wine directly. If one has deep inner strength, he will not have to worry about the loss of energy, but for most ordinary people, it will hurt their bodies."

The old man seemed to be thinking for a long time before he said, "The wine is getting cold."

Zhang Yu put down the pot of wine and said, "Old sir, the wine is just right, please enjoy it slowly."

The old man in green robe and white beard opened the lid of the pot, smelled the aroma of warm wine, his throat surged, he couldn't help swallowing, and said with a smile: "I'm used to drinking cold wine, this warm wine has a different flavor."

He poured himself a drink and drank three cups in a row. Only then did he appease his craving for wine. He smacked his lips and said, "It's rare that this secret brewing recipe is not kept by the emperor but is circulated among the people."

Zhang Yu laughed and said, "If it is hidden in the Forbidden City, how can it benefit all the drunkards in the world?"

The old man in green robe laughed when he heard this, and drank happily with a pot of wine and a plate of fennel beans.

Not far away, on the long table in the inner room, eighteen dishes were served one after another. They were extremely rich and steaming hot.

After Zhang Yu sat in the main seat, the six people sat down on both sides.

Flower sword, moon sword, little feather.

The accountant Lu Fu and the waiter Chen Wang.

There is also the cook, Zhao Sangu, a taciturn middle-aged woman.

These are all the staff of Ping'an Inn. The three people transferred here were originally from Yunshuitang’s old subordinates in Guanzhong.

Although their martial arts skills are low, they are all extremely loyal and reliable, have close ties with the cult, and have family members who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of the cult. Giving them this easy task is also a way of showing sympathy for them.

Zhang Yu was a humble person and rarely put on airs in front of his subordinates. Everyone was relaxed and chatted about daily life while eating and drinking.

This is almost unimaginable in Pingding Prefecture.

'All those who join the religion share the same ideals and are brothers and sisters.'

Originally, the Sun-Moon Sect did not pay much attention to the distinction between the superior and the inferior, and therefore it was able to attract a large number of martial arts masters who were dissatisfied with the strict hierarchy of the righteous path and pursued a free and easy life. It can be said that equality was once a banner of the sect.

When Ren Woxing was the leader, although he acted in an overbearing manner, he was also used to treating ordinary believers as brothers and sisters, and he never punished his followers for problems with etiquette or speech.

Everything has changed since Yang Lianting took control of the Divine Religion.

Most of the rules he promulgated were aimed at clarifying the hierarchy.

This is also one of the reasons why the old brothers in the sect hate Yang Lianting so much.

Yang Lianting completely transformed the originally relatively equal brotherly relationship within the Divine Religion into a monarch-subject, or even master-servant relationship.

The new believers all felt that they and the Eastern Patriarch were two different creatures, forcing the older brothers with rich experience to lower their posture, degrade their status, and show their loyalty to the Eastern Patriarch with disgusting slogans and humiliation that was almost self-mutilation.

Yang Lianting is not without selfish motives. He portrayed Dongfang Bubai as a god. Then, under the gods, all living beings are equal and are just ants.

Since we are all ants, those old brothers who are in high positions and have rich experience are nothing great.

As the ant closest to the gods, although Yang Lianting has little experience and no merits or virtues, he is the messenger of the gods, so it is legitimate for him to hold religious power.

This was also the spiritual basis for Yang Lianting to gain the support of a group of young and powerful people in the church.

The young followers of the religion don't know, but the old brothers remember that the religion was not like this before, so even if it means risking their lives, quite a few people choose to follow Miss Ren to get back to the basics and restore the sun and the moon.

Wu Lianjiang is a typical representative of them.

He even dared to use the leader's precious teachings as a table leg in Pingding City, not to mention the Yunshuitang established in Guanzhong, which was built entirely in accordance with the original teachings. There was obedience between superiors and subordinates, not unconditional dependence.

All in all, the concept of hierarchy has not yet been deeply rooted in our bones.

After everyone finished their New Year's Eve dinner, the uninvited guest had not left yet.

Yue Jian did not stay to celebrate the New Year and went back to his room.

She has been acting a little strange these days. She seems to be avoiding Zhang Yu all the time and looks depressed.

He didn't know when he had offended the girl. Perhaps she was still in her rebellious phase.

The old man was drunk and shouted, "Waiter, bring more wine!"

Chen Wang advised: "Sir, if you drink any more, you will get drunk."

The old man laughed and said, "If you don't get drunk while drinking, is that still called drinking?"

Seeing Zhang Yu nod, Chen Wang had no choice but to go get him some wine.

"Good wine, good wine. I haven't had such a good time in a long time."

After the old man in green robe finished drinking, he was already talking drunkenly. He ordered more than two kilograms of "Zui Qing Feng" and refused to let the waiter heat it up. He insisted on drinking it cold.

Zhang Yu did not insist on the rule of eight liang of "Zui Qing Feng" for each table, but just let Chen Wang give him wine and let him enjoy it.

So the old man drank exactly three pounds of liquor with the dish of fennel beans, and finally fell asleep on the table.

Hua Jian said softly, "Shopkeeper, do you want to wake him up?"

Zhang Yu chuckled and said, "He deliberately wanted to get drunk, maybe he had nowhere else to go. It's New Year's Day, so let the old man rest here for a night. It can be considered a good deed and will accumulate blessings for the coming year."

Hua Jian laughed and said, "Do you still believe this?"

Zhang Yu looked at her and said, "I dare not disbelieve it. Ping An Inn, Ping An Inn, just hopes that everyone is safe and sound."

Hua Jian nodded, took out a woolen blanket from the inner room, and covered the old man in green robe with it.

(End of this chapter)