Chapter 00212: Enthusiasm and Thieves (Additional Update)
# Enthusiasm and Thieves (Additional Update)
Chapter 212
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 212: Enthusiasm and Thieves (Additional Update)
"It is the main street of Panlong City, and fifteen years ago there were so few shops, and now there are still so few, not a single one more!"
He forcefully poked the air in front of him with his index finger: "Even with money, you can't buy it. Just say, is it in demand or not?"
He Lingchuan smiled and said, "Tianshuang Tavern?"
"Who would go to that poor place? Even the best wine there is watered down."
Hu Min scoffed, "If you're going, then go to Yixiang Tower!"
The prestige of Yixiang Tower was reflected in its environment, and the prices of food and drink were twice as high as those in a common place like Tianshuang Tavern.
He Lingchuan patted his pocket, fortunately, he had saved some money from completing patrol missions a few times.
Xiao Maoliang was busy, and A Luo came as promised.
He Lingchuan also invited Liu Tong, Menban, Shouzi, and Liutiao.
As soon as these current teammates heard he was hosting a banquet at Yixiang Tower, they didn't say a word and just lifted their legs to come.
Only then did He Lingchuan realize that their small team had lost three members in the fierce battle eight days ago, and now there were only six living souls left, including him.
This kind of composition definitely needed adjustment; they could take a short break before new members were added.
The sacrifice of comrades was always a sad story.
However, everyone didn't show much sorrow; instead, they drank and ate happily.
He Lingchuan knew that these people had grown accustomed to living on the edge of a knife, having long since become indifferent to life and death, enjoying the moment.
Even if they felt sad, it was only temporary.
Living in Panlong City meant being forced to learn to let go.
After every major battle, the restaurants, taverns, and brothels in the city always did particularly well.
Soldiers who had just received military merit rewards didn't mind spending some money in the marketplace for a bit of fun, stimulating consumption.
Today at noon, Yixiang Tower was bustling with customers.
Menban stood up with a wine cup and shouted to the surroundings: "He Lingchuan is here, who will drink a cup with him?"
The place fell silent, and everyone turned to look.
Until Menban reached out, pointed at He Lingchuan, and shouted again: "Huh? Who's coming?"
With a loud bang, many responded.
A man even bigger than Menban jumped out from the long bench, taking two steps to stand in front of He Lingchuan, spilling a small half of the wine in his cup.
He raised his cup to his nose, speaking in a rough voice: "Good man, I toast you!"
What else could He Lingchuan say? He could only raise his cup and drink it all in one go.
Shouzi quickly poured him more wine.
Two more people squeezed over, one of whom stepped forward, almost bumping his wine cup into He Lingchuan's nose: "You brought my fiancée back, I thank you!"
He Lingchuan was taken aback, and everyone burst into laughter, with several people teasing: "He risked his life to bring back your wife, and you just say a few words? No way, that's too shabby!"
The man grinned: "Do I need you bunch of idiots to teach me? I delivered her!" He turned to He Lingchuan and asked, "Were those jars of pickled vegetables stinky?"
So it was him who delivered them! He Lingchuan hesitated for a moment before replying, "Stinky... unbearable!"
The man immediately beamed: "That's right! The stinkier, the better the pickled vegetables!"
He stepped closer: "Let me tell you, the pickled vegetables my mother makes are snatched up by others as soon as they come out of the jar, not cheaper than the Chun Tai wine in the south of the city!"
He treated it as a good thing, and He Lingchuan clinked cups with him: "Alright, I'll come find you for more after eating."
The man gave him a thumbs up and then made room for others.
After a few more toasters, a woman appeared, wearing a pair of short daggers at her waist.
She placed a wine jar in front of He Lingchuan and pointed at the man who delivered the pickled vegetables: "I am his fiancée! If you hadn't jumped into the monster's den, he might have been off chasing after some little darling by now, so I thank you!"
A Luo, who was drinking, almost choked at this.
He Lingchuan looked at the woman, who was broad-shouldered and sturdy, then at her fiancé, who was thin and tall, and coughed lightly: "Wishing you a hundred years of harmony."
The woman said to He Lingchuan: "I toast you three cups; you can drink as you like."
After saying that, she poured three cups of wine, tilted her head back, and drank them down, even more refreshingly than drinking water.
Then she said, "My sister isn't married yet; she has had several suitors but hasn't found anyone she likes, her standards are quite high. Do you want me to introduce her to you?"
Before He Lingchuan could respond, someone beside him chimed in: "Don't look, don't consider; her sister is also a tough woman. Once you get involved, you won't be able to escape!"
Everyone laughed, and the woman sneered: "Wu Laoliu, get up! Let's have a duel!"
The focus was no longer on He Lingchuan; he silently downed another cup of wine.
When he turned around, he saw at least dozens of people lined up behind him, with hundreds watching, making his scalp tingle.
Just a quarter of an hour later, he was nearly drunk.
He lay on the table to avoid more wine, and Shouzi patted his back, saying to the crowd: "He's down, he's down! No more toasts; come early next time!"
After a while of dodging and blocking, the enthusiastic drinkers slowly dispersed.
He Lingchuan took a long time to recover and used his true energy to suppress the effects of the alcohol.
In the battle at the Ghost Needle Stone Forest, everyone fought back to back in a desperate situation.
He Lingchuan even sacrificed himself to blow up the monster's nest, forging a strong revolutionary friendship with everyone.
Now, under the catalysis of wine, they were calling each other brothers, laughing and chatting as if they were old friends.
Liu Tong explained to He Lingchuan: "I reported your performance, and the higher-ups appreciated it very much, but they believe you have joined the patrol for too short a time and lack experience, so they will not promote you for now."
He Lingchuan couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.
Being promoted to team leader would give him a chance to be selected for the Great Wind Army, but he hadn't even become a Fire Captain yet.
But as Liu Tong said, his battlefield experience was insufficient; how could he command others?
Liu Tong, with a flushed face, patted his chest and assured him: "Brother He, you have courage and luck. As long as you complete a few more missions without dying, you will definitely be promoted!"
Liutiao could drink more than the men and had already downed two small jars.
However, when she got drunk, she loved to laugh, unlike her usual demeanor where she looked like everyone owed her money.
She slapped He Lingchuan's shoulder: "These men are so cowardly, they don't dare to personally deliver the compensation to Sun Jiayuan's family, saying they can't bear to see women crying, and actually made me go. What do you think? I'm not familiar with that surname Sun!"
She slapped him again and lowered her voice: "After the compensation was delivered, his sister Sun Fuling didn't cry at all; she was very calm. I even chatted with her for a while. It turns out Sun Jiayuan owed a pile of gambling debts outside, the so-called donkey skin debts, with interest compounding who knows how many layers. The last time, he stole Sun Fuling's land deed and belongings to recover his losses, but ended up losing again. He had once chopped off the two little fingers of both hands, swearing he wouldn't gamble again, and then... then he died just before he was about to chop off his ring finger."
No wonder Sun Jiayuan resolutely chose to die; in this world, gambling debts were unpayable.
"He was posthumously honored as a hero, and the gambling debts could be wiped clean?"
"Of course. Although the creditors are unwilling, Panlong City stipulates that the families of heroes have a chance to offset their debts. It doesn't matter if it's money owed or even murder; it can be cleared, which is called balancing merits and faults."
"Is that so?" He Lingchuan popped a peanut into his mouth.
The peanuts at Tianshuang Tavern were sold for one coin a dish, while here they were four coins a dish, and he couldn't taste anything special.
Hmm, particularly expensive, "I thought Panlong City banned gambling."
"Are you joking? Panlong City definitely bans gambling!" Shouzi, who had been busy drinking, interjected, "But gamblers will always find a place, just like cats can always smell fishy scents."
He Lingchuan shrugged.
Indeed, light and darkness always accompany each other; what should be there and what shouldn't be there were both plentiful here.
Liutiao patted He Lingchuan's shoulder again, and he dodged.
This woman was heavy-handed when drunk.
After a hearty meal and drinks, everyone returned to their homes, and Shouzi even packed up the leftovers.
According to him, it was in response to the official call for frugality, not to waste food, especially since it was so expensive.
He Lingchuan and A Luo both lived in wooden houses, and the two of them found a donkey cart to go home together.
A Luo was dazed and nearly fell when getting off the cart.
He Lingchuan had recovered and was much clearer-headed.
He paid the fare, helped A Luo into the house, and then walked back to his own home.
He stood in front of his door and sighed.
This kind of door was practically a formality; he could jump over it with one hand.
However, all his rewards had been exchanged for shops, and he could only save up more military merit to strive for a house as soon as possible.
In fact, military merit in Panlong City was hard to earn.
This time, he had only seized a significant opportunity for individual merit.
Usually, patrol missions faced frenzied monsters, with considerable danger, and the accumulated military merit and rewards were only a tiny bit.
Most soldiers could only slowly climb up within this system, like snails climbing trees, and they couldn't commit crimes or make mistakes.
Accumulating military merit was difficult, but losing it was easy.
Wasn't A Luo someone who had made a big mistake once and then became a poor wretch living in a wooden house? He still hadn't turned his life around.
Just as he was about to push the door open, a voice suddenly called out:
"Hey!"
Very close, just beside him.
He Lingchuan turned his head and saw a woman standing about four feet away with a seven or eight-year-old boy.
She covered her face with a cloth, revealing only a pair of almond-shaped eyes, with long eyebrows and skin as white as milk.
"Is there something you need?"
As soon as He Lingchuan spoke, the boy suddenly struggled, as if he wanted to run away, but was held back by the woman.
He initially thought they were a mother and son, but upon closer inspection, he noticed the boy's shoulder was held by her hand.
He was thin like a monkey, but his expression was like a little wolf cub, baring his teeth at anyone.
What was going on?
The woman spoke again: "What did you lose?"
"How do you..."
Her words were abrupt, and He Lingchuan took a moment to respond, "A bundle of firewood and two crucian carp."
"This little brat has been stealing from seven nearby households, including yours. He came to your house a second time, wanting to steal something from your doorstep, but was called out by a passerby, so I chased after him."
The woman pulled the boy forward, "Well, I'm also a victim."
"Where have I seen you before?" He Lingchuan felt the boy looked a bit familiar.
After thinking carefully, he realized, wasn't he the little thief he encountered when he first entered Dreaming Panlong City?
At that time, this little rascal was trying to steal a Divine Bone Necklace, and He Lingchuan had intended to teach him a lesson, but Hu Min happened to call him out on the street.
The two of them were busy catching up, and this little thief took the opportunity to slip away.
Going around in circles, this little brat was still stealing his things.
"So it's you!"
The boy turned his head and refused to look at him: "I don't recognize you!"