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"Really?"
Uncle Jiu put down the bowl of soup in his hands and looked at Liu Songshan with a half-smile.
"I'll send a message to him now!"
Liu Songshan immediately stood up and took out a talisman from his sleeve.
"Xu Taiping, would you mind adding another pair of chopsticks?"
Uncle Jiu smiled at Xu Taiping as he looked at him.
"Will there be a charge?"
Xu Taiping hesitated for a moment before asking.
"Of course, there must be a charge!" Uncle Jiu replied firmly.
"Then it's fine," Xu Taiping nodded.
He didn't bother with the business of these important figures playing their games, after all, he was just the cook, the one who collected the money, and the one watching the show.
"By the way, it seems we have no more chopsticks at home."
Xu Taiping suddenly remembered something.
"No problem, let him bring his own!" Uncle Jiu waved his hand casually.
"But... but Uncle Jiu, my talisman... it's already... already burned out..."
Liu Songshan immediately explained to Uncle Jiu.
"Just light another one. Stop being so fussy, you're never going to accomplish anything with this attitude," Uncle Jiu gave him a look of disdain.
"Yes... yes!" Liu Songshan quickly agreed.
Seeing the way Uncle Jiu was glaring at him, Liu Songshan immediately pulled out another talisman from his pocket, thinking to himself, "This little master is really a godsend. A single talisman could buy a thousand pairs of chopsticks!"
Xu Taiping, observing their actions, had no comments and merely thought to himself, "It's good to have money."
After a while.
A man with a square face and a large build entered the room. He was so large that when sitting on Xu Taiping's small bench, he looked like he was sitting on the floor.
"How about we eat in the yard instead? No need to be so cramped," Xu Taiping suggested, looking at the sweating Xu Youzhi.
"No!" To Xu Taiping's surprise, the first person to oppose was not the strange Uncle Jiu, but the large and sweaty Xu Youzhi, the head of the Fierce Wind Hall.
"Little brother, no need to make a fuss. I'm fine sitting here. I prefer sitting here!" Xu Youzhi waved his chopsticks, which he had brought from home, and smiled at Xu Taiping.
"Alright..." Xu Taiping frowned and thought, "These people are probably not all there. I'd better keep White Uncle away from them in the future."
"Hey, little kid, you're meddling in things that don't concern you, huh? If he likes it, we can't take that away from him, right?" Uncle Jiu grinned and winked at Xu Taiping before snatching the last piece of lamb rib from the bowl.
"By the way, Youzhi, which two brothers from the Fierce Wind Hall are in charge of the Qingzhu Courtyard area?" Uncle Jiu casually asked, chewing on the rib.
"Reporting..."
Xu Youzhi instinctively stood up, but was immediately stopped by Uncle Jiu's cold glance, so he sat back down, wiped his sweat, and replied, "Uncle Jiu, the two disciples from Fierce Wind Hall responsible for this area are Zuo Ju and Zhou Gu. They are both at the peak of the Opening Door Realm. Since they took over this area, there have been fewer incidents with monsters and spirits harming people."
These two were his subordinates, so naturally, he would say nice things about them.
"Although it's just a chance encounter, the four of us are gathered here today thanks to Little Brother Taiping. As for cultivation matters, the sect rules prevent me from offering much help. However, when you, Fierce Wind Hall, are patrolling this area in the future, please keep an eye on the Qingzhu Courtyard."
Uncle Jiu casually reminded Xu Youzhi.
Upon hearing this, Xu Youzhi and Liu Songshan exchanged a relieved glance and thought to themselves, "So, this little master summoned us just to have us keep an eye on the Qingzhu Courtyard."
"Uncle Jiu, don't worry. From now on, Zuo Ju and Zhou Gu will make sure to patrol the Qingzhu Courtyard more carefully," Xu Youzhi promised.
"Uncle Jiu, this small matter could've been handled by White Rainbow coming to talk to me. There's no need for you to personally host a banquet," Liu Songshan added, looking a bit relieved.
However, Xu Taiping, who had been watching the show, became confused upon hearing their conversation. He thought to himself:
"Why is Uncle Jiu suddenly asking Liu Songshan and Xu Youzhi to look after me? Is it just because of this meal?"
But simply offering a meal clearly wasn't enough, Xu Taiping thought as he looked at Uncle Jiu.
At that moment, Uncle Jiu, who was eating a lamb leg, saw Xu Taiping's gaze and smiled at him, winking.
Xu Taiping furrowed his brow, thinking:
"This old man definitely has some hidden agenda. He's not being so kind-hearted after all."
Then, Xu Taiping turned his gaze to White Rainbow.
Upon noticing Xu Taiping's gaze, White Rainbow smiled at him.
"Sure enough, White Uncle is deliberately bringing this Uncle Jiu to the Qingzhu Courtyard to make him look after me."
Xu Taiping finally understood, nodding subtly to White Rainbow and sending him a thankful look.
Seeing this, Uncle Jiu immediately frowned and thought:
"Little brat, I'm the one helping, but why is he thanking someone else? I have to let him see clearly. He can't just have good feelings for White Rainbow!"
With that, Uncle Jiu put down his lamb leg and turned to Liu Songshan and Xu Youzhi, saying, "While you're both here, why don't you invite Zuo Ju and Zhou Gu to come and join us for a meal? Make sure they bring their own chopsticks."
Liu Songshan and Xu Youzhi exchanged glances.
"Uncle... Uncle Jiu... I... I don't have any more talismans," Liu Songshan said, feeling awkward.
"I don't have any either, I came here in a hurry," Xu Youzhi added.
Such talismans, which could transmit messages over long distances, were very expensive. Liu Songshan was already quite extravagant to have two on hand.
"Kid, do you have one here?" Uncle Jiu turned to Xu Taiping.
Surprisingly, Xu Taiping indeed had one. It was the talisman that Zuo Ju had given him last time.
However, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Xu Taiping decided not to give it up, as he didn't want to get involved in these people's conflicts.
"I don't have any..."
"I'll pay double," Uncle Jiu interrupted Xu Taiping before he could refuse.
"I have one!"
Without hesitation, Xu Taiping took out the talisman from his pocket.
"That's more like it!" Uncle Jiu grinned as he took the talisman from Xu Taiping's hand.
"Wait, isn't this the transmission talisman from our Fierce Wind Hall?" Xu Youzhi suddenly recognized the talisman in Uncle Jiu's hand.