The light of the sword is like the moon reflecting on Kyushu

Chapter 2006 Prince Gyatso
"Tashi Delek! Your food is here—"

A loud shout came from the stairwell, and a dark-skinned Tibetan young man strode over carrying a heavy copper tray.

He wore a crimson Tibetan robe with a colorful apron tied around his waist, and silver bracelets on his wrists jingled with each step. He wore a copper earring in his right ear.

The tray was steaming hot, and several Tibetan specialties were emitting a rich aroma!
"This is hand-pulled mutton!" He flashed a bright white smile!
Feng Jiuxiao smiled and asked, "What's your name?"

"Hehe, my name is Tsering!"

"Okay, please continue to describe this hand-pulled mutton!"

"Alright! This meat is made from the ribs of free-range sheep raised on the plateau. It's boiled in deep well water with a little salt and a pinch of Tibetan fennel until the meat and bones are tender. It would be even better if you used ice water from the snow-capped mountains. Look at this meat, it's pinkish-white and the fat is glistening. When you eat it, dip it in chili powder and a little coarse salt, it tastes especially good! Would you like to try some?"

"Okay, I'll try it first!" Following Ciren's instructions, Feng Jiuxiao dipped the food in chili and coarse salt, took a bite, and immediately praised, "Hmm, not bad! It's tender and not gamey at all. Hey, you can even suck out the bone marrow, oh my, not bad at all! It has a wild, sweet taste reminiscent of the snowy plateau!"

Tsering grinned and deftly cut the mutton into large chunks with his Tibetan knife: "Young master, you really know how to talk! Everyone, eat it while it's hot, the oil will solidify when it cools down and it won't be as delicious!"

Chili stood up and picked up a large piece of meat. Just as everyone was about to laugh at her, they saw that she actually put the meat on Yuan Zishan's plate!
Yuan Zishan immediately smiled and said, "Thank you!"

Zeng Yong immediately praised, "Oh my, Chili knows how to be courteous today, that's great!"

Erni laughed and said, "Chili's really made something of herself!"

Chili rolled her eyes at everyone, then silently picked up another large piece of meat for herself and began to eat it like a wolf!
Everyone laughed and started picking up the meat with their chopsticks. It was supposed to be hand-grabbed mutton, but with Yuan Zishan and Chang Zijin around, who would dare to actually use their hands? Fortunately, Ciren had cut the meat into very small pieces, making it easy to pick up.

Tsering put down a few plates and explained quickly: "This is a tsampa and butter tea set. The tsampa is made by roasting barley and grinding it into powder, which you will have to do yourself. Then pour the butter tea into this bowl, sprinkle in a handful of tsampa powder, and then quickly stir it into a dough."

As he spoke, Pang Shiwu began to try it out.

"This is a secret Tibetan blood sausage. Would you like to hear how it's made, young master?" He smiled, revealing a set of white teeth.

Feng Jiuxiao laughed and said, "Since it's a secret recipe, aren't you afraid that if you tell me, I'll learn it and compete with you?"

Tsering laughed and said, "You have methods but they're useless, I'm not worried."

"Aren't you afraid that your compatriots will steal your techniques and make it at home, then no one will buy your products!"

“Our compatriots all know how to make it!” Tsering laughed. “Actually, we make and eat this blood sausage ourselves. It’s only here among you Han Chinese that people buy it!”

"Then you've come to the right place! I hope you can open branches all over the world!"

Tsering chuckled, not responding. He seemed to know the boy in white was joking, so he remained noncommittal. He smiled and continued, "Our method is to stuff sheep's blood, tsampa, minced meat, and wild onions into sheep casings, tie them into knots, boil them, slice them, and fry them until the outer skin is crispy. The characteristic is the black and red cross-section; when you bite into it, it's crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with both the aroma of blood and the fragrance of barley. It's especially refreshing when paired with pickled radish slices."

Chili hesitated, looking at the bloody sausage, and dared not touch it with her chopsticks. Tsering picked up a piece with his hand and stuffed it into his mouth, puffing out his cheeks and mumbling, "What are you afraid of, Miss? We've been eating this since we were little! Ah, this is fried lamb chop, it's the best with barley wine!"

Feng Jiuxiao smiled and said, "We can't drink at noon, but I know that barley wine is really good. How about this, I'll buy some to take with me."

Tsering laughed and said, "Alright! But I need to remind you, young master, that the containers for storing wine here are extra! After all, this place is located on the frontier, and many things are rare here. Ceramic bottles, jars, and pots are much more expensive than in the Central Plains."

Feng Jiuxiao said, "It's nothing, it's just a small amount of money."

Tsering suddenly leaned over and said, "Young master, there are three types of containers for holding wine. They are made of different materials and have different prices. Would you like to choose one?"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Oh? There are three kinds? Tell me about them!"

"The first type is a porcelain bottle, which can hold three catties, and costs one hundred coins each; the second type is a bamboo tube, which is cheaper, costing thirty coins each, and can also hold three catties; the third type is a copper gourd, which has some carvings by craftsmen on it, so it is more expensive, costing five taels of silver each! Young master, what do you think..."

Feng Jiuxiao laughed and said, "Does that mean I get different commissions if I choose different containers?"

Tsering gave an awkward smile, but still answered frankly, "Yes!"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Then I'll definitely buy the expensive ones! Give me... four gourds each, sixteen of them, no, let's make twenty brass gourds, fill them up with wine!"

Tsering excitedly replied, "Okay! Don't worry!" He left happily.

No one at Feng Jiuxiao's table noticed anything unusual, but Liu Tiegu at the next table leaned closer to him and whispered, "Young hero, if you want to help this kid, you might as well just give him five taels of silver. He'll be overjoyed! Even if you buy twenty copper gourds, that kid might not even earn five taels. Instead, the shopkeeper will be the one who benefits!"

Feng Jiuxiao laughed and said, "You really want to drink this wine, so you can't say that the other party is taking advantage. It's a clearly marked price, a mutual agreement, and no one loses out. I also helped that waiter out a bit. Thinking about it this way, doesn't it make a difference? This is called a win-win-win situation!"

Liu Tiegu was taken aback, then his eyes lit up. "Hey, you really have a grand vision, young master! But you're quite the smooth talker. You clearly enjoy drinking, yet you made that kid think you spent so much money on wine for him! Wouldn't he be incredibly grateful to you, young master?"

Feng Jiuxiao said modestly, "It's not that I'm moved to tears. He's seen this kind of scene many times before. I bet he's sold even more before!"

Zeng Yong said, "That's right! Don't let that kid's honest appearance fool you; he's incredibly capable in this kind of situation, no one can be that simple!"

During intermission, when the dancers and their accompaniment stopped playing music, the noise suddenly became much louder!

On the other side of the hall, a young Tibetan man named Yanlang was serving food to the six brothers of the Mantis Sect!

The jade mantis stared fiercely at Yan Lang with eyes as sharp as knives, making Yan Lang's hands tremble slightly!

The jade mantis snapped, "Why are your hands trembling? Are you hiding something? Did you poison the food?"

Yan Lang was so frightened that his face turned ashen, and he stammered, "I...I didn't...poison him! I...didn't..."

Jade Mantis's face was cold. "No? Hmph! Don't think I don't know what your boss is thinking! Does he think he can harm me by poisoning me?"

Yan Lang was so frightened that he didn't know what to do!
The Golden Mantis said, "What are you standing there for? Keep serving the food!"

Yan Lang felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and immediately turned around and ran down the stairs in the blink of an eye!
The burly man at the top of the stairs glanced at the Jade Mantis from afar, then retreated expressionlessly.

The golden mantis looked displeased!
"Junior brother! Don't cross my line! That was your last chance! If you dare say another word, get back to Changyang immediately!"

The jade mantis was startled!
He never expected that his senior brother would actually get really angry!
"Senior Brother, don't be angry anymore. From now on, I'll pretend to be mute!"

The golden mantis snorted coldly and ignored him!
My authority will not be trampled on in the slightest! So what if my junior brother is Master's only son? Master has said more than once that the heavy responsibility of carrying forward the Mantis Sect in the future can only fall on my shoulders. My junior brother has been spoiled by Master's wife!

Master always looks heartbroken when he talks about this! "A doting mother often spoils her son"—the ancients were truly wrong!
But after complaining about his wife, the master felt extremely guilty! If only he could have stuck to his principles! Didn't he fail to stop his wife from spoiling their son in time?

So every time I mention it, I'm moved to tears!

His master had even told him that if his junior brother wasn't disciplined more strictly in his current state, he would likely get into trouble sooner or later! Xie Yantang, the Jade Mantis, was a complete wastrel! If it weren't for his senior brothers cleaning up his messes in time, his reputation would have been ruined long ago!

To say he was a womanizer would be an exaggeration!
He's an expert in all sorts of vices, from eating and drinking to gambling and whoring.
The reason why the Golden Mantis was getting increasingly anxious was because he had a bad feeling! That Lang Jie was definitely not just an ordinary businessman!
Moreover, he always felt like there were countless eyes watching them from time to time! But he just couldn't pinpoint who was spying on him!
It was as if a huge, invisible net had formed around them, slowly closing in on the brothers!

Years of experience in the underworld had given him an almost instinctive intuition that danger was approaching!

"Brothers, hurry up and eat, then get out of here!"

Seeing his senior brother's unpleasant expression and sensing the tense atmosphere, the silver mantis quickly said, "Brothers, hurry up and eat, don't make our senior brother anxious!" The bronze mantis frowned and asked, "Senior brother, have you sensed something?"

Gu Beichen, the Golden Mantis, said, "Look, everyone in this room is a江湖人 (jianghu person, someone from the martial arts world)! Quite a few of them are dissatisfied with us! I'm worried they might harm us!"

Zhou Tianlong, the Silver Mantis, asked with some confusion, "We haven't offended them, so why are they making trouble for us?"

Jin Mantis frowned, somewhat exasperated: "Is this your first day in the martial world? You think they won't bother you just because you haven't offended them?! This isn't Changyang! You can't just walk around like that! These people saw what happened when Junior Brother killed someone! Although most people are thinking it's better to avoid trouble, there are still quite a few who will use the guise of helping those in need to try and make a name for themselves by stepping on our corpses!"

Silver Mantis's expression tightened, and he whispered, "Really, Big Brother?"

The Golden Mantis sneered, "What's the point of me lying to you? We've already angered everyone! Why would they need to poison us? As long as someone takes the opportunity to incite trouble, someone will stand up for that Tibetan kid and cause us trouble!"

The guys immediately felt the pressure!

They cautiously peeked around, only to find everyone engrossed in conversation, seemingly oblivious to their presence!
"Senior Brother, it seems like no one is watching us, right?"

"Then just pretend I didn't say anything!" the Golden Mantis said coldly.

The fellow disciples immediately fell silent.

The Golden Mantis frowned. "Eat up! What are you waiting for? Finish eating and leave sooner! Otherwise, you might not be able to get out!"

The jade mantis scoffed, picking up a few pieces of meat before refusing to eat any more. "What the hell does this taste like? It's absolutely awful!"

The Golden Mantis said, "Then you can go hungry!" He was becoming increasingly intolerant of his junior brother! Just now, this junior brother had said the meat was unpalatable, and he felt at least five or six eyes turn to him! He didn't even bother to look who it was, because he knew he couldn't tell! As soon as he looked up, those eyes instantly shifted away!
What should we do? If something unexpected happens, will my junior brother be able to keep his life?

In the mind of the Golden Mantis, countless possibilities had already been rehearsed, including the scenario of dozens of people attacking them on the spot!

He glanced at the jade mantis, and beneath his emotionless face, he had already made his decision!
If the Mantis Sect is surrounded and attacked, he will be the first to flee! Only as long as he lives can the Mantis Sect continue! Master will surely understand!
If we fight to the death to protect our junior brother, the only outcome will be total annihilation with no survivors! Such an ending is foolish, undesirable, and utterly meaningless!
Having figured this out, his expression relaxed considerably.

Junior brother, do whatever you want! Anyway, Master's health has taken a turn for the worse, and he won't live much longer! The purpose of the six of us brothers coming out here is to find the Heavenly Peng Egg at Haixin Mountain so that we can cure Master's illness.

If the junior brother continues to cause trouble, then let him cause trouble!

The more time he wastes, the more ruthless he becomes in the knife his father stabbed him in!

Master, may you have a safe journey!

The golden mantis suddenly felt its chest and abdomen surging with blood and qi, and the true qi in its meridians suddenly began to accelerate wildly!
He was secretly delighted. Could it be that he was about to break through from the eighth realm to the ninth realm today?
He was overjoyed inside, but outwardly remained increasingly calm!

He knew that if he were discovered at this moment, some perverts would not hesitate to kill him! Their motive was simple: they couldn't stand to see others prosper!
Langjie, the owner of Holy Snow Mountain, looked at Tashi's body in the back room and said to the lamas beside him, "I'll send someone to lure them out in a bit, and then you can make your move!"

Several red-robed lamas simultaneously put their hands together in prayer and bowed.

Langjie came outside the hall and said to a dozen or so men dressed in Tibetan robes, "Now you go to the third floor and force those Han dogs to pay for Zaxi's life! If they try to make a move, jump out of the window immediately! Your task is to lure them outside!"

A burly Tibetan man said, "Yes, boss, we'll be right there!"

He led more than a dozen Tibetans and rushed into the back door of the restaurant!

At this moment, a young man emerged from the dark corner. Although he was dressed as a Han Chinese, anyone with discerning eyes could recognize that he was actually a Tibetan!

Langjie immediately bowed and greeted Prince Gyatso!

Prince Gyatso was quite handsome, with a chiseled face and bright, piercing eyes!
He immediately said, "No need for formalities! I never expected that such an opportunity would be presented to me so soon after I arrived!"

Langjie said, "The prince is truly blessed!"

Prince Gyatso sighed, "What a pity for Tashi!"

Langjie also looked somewhat dejected. "Yes, recently there have been more Han Chinese martial arts figures appearing. I had a plan to incite them to kill each other, then shift the blame eastward, and then incite the local Tibetans to take the opportunity to rise up. This would give my Tibetan cavalry a reason to reinforce our troops here. I didn't expect that the plan would change so quickly, and Zaxi became the fuse!"

Prince Gyatso said, "If we take this place, most of our food supply problem will be solved."

"Your Highness, how many troops can you send to gather here this time?"

"As you know, to guard against a sneak attack from the Liugu tribe of Liangzhou, most of our forces are concentrated in the Hehuang area, so we can only send 20,000 troops here!"

Langjie was somewhat taken aback!

"Your Highness, twenty thousand infantrymen?"

"Haha, I know you're worried about the Song army's infantry being so strong, so this time we have 15,000 heavily armored infantry, 3,000 plateau armored cavalry, and 2,000 archers. Fighting in this northern plateau region, the Song army's power will definitely be somewhat diminished! Don't worry, if we can't win, we can just run away. I will absolutely not let our soldiers make unnecessary sacrifices!"

"Well!"

Several red-robed lamas then approached. "Your Highness, we'll be right back."

Prince Gyatso asked, "Is it to deal with those few Han Chinese?"

"Yes!"

"I'll go too! I'll test the power of the Great Handprint!"

Langjie was taken aback. "Your Highness's Tantric Mahamudra has improved again?"

Prince Gyatso said, "My master always says that my martial arts haven't improved much, but I think I've tried hard enough!"

Lang Jie asked with a strange look, "The Imperial Preceptor said your martial arts haven't improved at all?"

"Yes!"

"If your martial arts haven't improved, then wouldn't we be the ones who have regressed! Looking at the entire Central Plains martial arts world, there are only a handful of people who can fight you! I estimate that only Feng Jiuxiao might be your match!"

“No!” Prince Gyatso’s gaze deepened. “I know I’m still far from his level! According to the hierarchy of the Central Plains martial arts world, I’m roughly at the third level of the Glazed Realm, while Feng Jiuxiao should be around the sixth level!”

Langjie was puzzled. "What do you mean by three times or six times?"

"Your current skill level has reached the Great Perfection realm, making you a top expert. Your current combat strength is equivalent to the peak of the ninth realm for a Han Chinese, which is equivalent to one time the Glazed Realm! The so-called three times Glazed Realm means three times the power of the ninth realm! In other words, my combat strength is three times yours, while Feng Jiuxiao's combat strength is six times yours!"

Langjie was somewhat shocked!

He knew that the prince's martial arts skills were better than his, but he never expected that they were three times better!
This means that, in the simplest terms, theoretically, it would take three of us to fight the prince to a draw!

But in reality, one plus one doesn't always equal two! Three sheep combined might not be able to defeat a wolf! A duel between martial arts masters isn't just about pure strength! It also involves speed, skill, and courage! If three versions of himself were to compete against the prince in a tug-of-war, they might reach a draw, but in a life-or-death struggle, would the prince allow his three selves to combine their strength? He could easily defeat them one by one with his superior speed and power, achieving ultimate victory!
Unexpectedly, Feng Jiuxiao, who has recently risen to fame, is actually at the sixth level of the Glazed Realm! This... is too high, isn't it?

Thank you for your strong support and encouragement from Yudong!