Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 268 It’s the next one
It was just as the lights came on that Gao Jingming and his companions returned home together, walking hurriedly and looking anxious.

When they came back, Chen Xuanzheng and Zhao Erhe, who was left behind to look after the house, were having hotpot in the pavilion. The spicy smell of chili peppers filled the air from afar, so much so that Mrs. Rong on the other side of the river even asked loudly across the river if there had been an accidental flood here.

The hot pot is boiling in a red clay charcoal stove. Vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, dried bamboo shoots, beef, mutton slices and tripe are boiled in boiling soup base for a few times and added with several dipping sauces. The taste is amazing.

Zhao Erhe was sweating profusely while eating. He kept stuffing food into his mouth after gulping down the juice. Sihasiha gave him a thumbs-up and said, "Xuan'er actually has such a skill. I'm impressed. Especially with the spicy ingredients. I wasn't used to it at first, but after getting used to it, it was incredibly delicious."

"Brother Zhao was busy preparing the ingredients and seasonings, and I just did some talking. It's mainly because of this chili pepper that I got by chance that it has a unique flavor," Chen Xuan said with a smile. He had been missing this taste for a long time. After chatting with Zhao Erhe for a while in the afternoon, he couldn't wait to start making arrangements. Finally, he could eat it.

As Chen Xuan spoke, he was feeling malicious, waiting to see Zhao Erhe make a fool of himself soon. Although Zhao Erhe had some martial arts skills, some of his soft spots were vulnerable to being affected.

Outside the courtyard, Xiao Gao, who had been looking anxious, suddenly calmed down when he saw Chen Xuan eating hot pot intact. He immediately said with a smile: "A Xuan is back. Hey, are you eating the antique soup? The smell is quite special. I can smell it from far away. It's you..."

He looked at Zuo Yan and he was obviously using this method to calm down.

Chen Xuan stood up and said, "It looks like the young master had a great time today. Would you like some?"

They have been friends for many years. Even though they are not at the Gao family mansion, Chen Xuan does not treat himself as a subordinate. He gets along with Gao Jingming very casually. The name he is used to is just a name.

"Of course, I'm just hungry," Gao Jingming started rolling up his sleeves as he entered the yard.

Before they started, Chen Xuan had already guessed that they would be back soon, so he was prepared. He said to Zhao Erhe, "Sorry to bother you, Brother Zhao."

Zhao Erhe didn't dare to act rashly. He just said it was his duty and stood up to clean up. He moved everything on the table to the stone table on the other side of the pavilion, and then brought back the pot base and ingredients.

Xiao Cai and Xiao Ye greeted Chen Xuan. After all, they were Xiao Gao's moneybags, so who shouldn't be respectful? Then, after washing their hands, they took over the role of waiter.

Gao Jingming sat down and said to Geng Hong and Zhao Erhe on the other side: "You guys eat by yourselves. Since you're not at home, don't be so particular. You can drink if you want, but just don't get drunk."

Then he looked at the red bottom of the pot and said to Chen Xuan: "A Xuan, we have eaten a lot of antique soup, but what did you put in this? It looks a bit unpalatable."

"I added chili peppers. I came across them by chance in a tribe on the grassland, so I bought some as a seasoning. I'm going to keep some so that we can be self-sufficient in the future. It's very spicy. You might not be used to it at first, but it's actually very delicious once you get used to it." Chen Xuan introduced it, and then reminded: "But you might suffer from stomach discomfort after eating it, so be careful, young master."

"Look at what you said, Xuan. I also practice martial arts and have good internal strength. As long as it is not poisonous, why should I be afraid of a little spicy food? Hey, you added houttuynia cordata to the dipping sauce, this is not bad." Gao Jingming picked up the chopsticks and started cooking. He had eaten hot pot many times. The hot pot here is called antique soup, so he was familiar with it.

You'd better be, since you've been warned.

While eating and drinking, Gao Jingming chatted: "Ah Xuan, have you been going out smoothly these days? Hiss, it is indeed very spicy, but it's not a big problem."

As he spoke, he took a mouthful of tender tofu, and the spicy taste of the chili made his face turn red.

Looking at Gao Jingming with some worry, Xiao Cai and Xiao Ye hesitated for a moment and tasted it. Soon their faces turned red, but their eyes lit up. They actually liked the taste at once. Wow, a natural hottie.

"This trip was great. I saw a lot of things, experienced the vastness of the grassland, saw the vastness of the desert, and watched the fighting and killing in the martial arts world," Chen Xuan said slowly.

Gao Jingming quickly adapted to the spicy taste of the pepper and couldn't stop eating. He asked with interest, "Tell me more."

"After I went out that day, I disguised myself as an ordinary man in the world, went to the grassland first, and met..." Then, while eating and chatting, Chen Xuan recounted his itinerary of the previous few days, describing what he had seen and heard from the perspective of an observer and a person who had experienced it.

What he was talking about with Xiao Gao at this moment was much more specific than what he was talking about with Zhao Erhe, and they were also listening attentively.

By the time he finished speaking, they were almost done with the hot pot. Xiao Cai and the others left, made some tea, and came over to continue chatting in the night breeze.

"So this is the martial arts world. It's quite exciting, but there are a lot of unstable factors. The Martial Arts Prohibition Bureau is good at catching them. Unfortunately, these martial artists usually move around and form gangs and factions. The court laws are often unable to supervise them," Gao Jingming shook his head. This is the view of people from different angles on the same thing.

He then continued, "A congenital master can actually possess such power. I've only heard of it before, but never had the chance to see it. No wonder if they join the army, they'll at least start as a general. While they can't directly become a commander, they'll still be invincible in charging into battle, beating generals and capturing flags."

"That's true, but the martial arts masters are used to being lazy and not productive. Few of them are willing to take the initiative to serve the country," Chen Xuan agreed.

There must be many more masters in the court than in the martial arts world, otherwise those martial arts people would cause chaos. However, almost all the masters in the court are trained by the state, and only a small number are recruited from the martial arts world, and they cannot even become the core.

Although Gao Jingyu was a Xiantian master, he had never used his full strength in front of his family. Gao Jingming naturally had not seen the methods of such a being. After a pause, Chen Xuan said, "When the young master reaches the Xiantian realm in the future, you will understand naturally."

Shaking his head, Gao Jingming said, "Forget it. I'm too busy studying to practice martial arts. My energy is limited, so I can't have both. Otherwise, I'll be mediocre at both."

That's true, but Chen Xuan still smiled and said, "Young Master, why should you belittle yourself? If the eldest lady has such talent, then the young master is naturally not bad either. Just spend more time and you will definitely be able to improve slowly."

"Let's not talk about this. I just heard you say, Xuan, that those righteous masters seem to be pretty good people?" Gao Jingming changed the subject.

Nodding, Chen Xuan said, "I don't know much about the evil ones, I haven't come into contact with them. Anyway, the righteous ones are all very nice. I have communicated with them and they are all very polite."

How can he not be polite? Even Liu Zhenwei was defeated by him in seconds. Who dares to be rude?

Gao Jingming was at a loss for words when he heard this. He said speechlessly, "Ah Xuan, what are you saying? Do you think you are that Yang Guo? I wanted to say something about you just now, but I didn't interrupt. Could it be that you really let yourself get caught up in this?"

"That's me," Chen Xuan shrugged slightly.

Xiao Gao almost rolled his eyes. Seeing how serious he was, he almost believed it. He knew that Chen Xuan was very powerful, but he didn't know exactly how powerful he was. But how could he be that powerful at the age of eleven? After all, his sister only reached the innate realm at the age of seventeen, and she didn't dare to compare with such a person.

Thinking Chen Xuan was joking, he shook his head and said, "If I had the chance, I'd like to meet that kind of person. I guess he wouldn't even bother with me."

"Aren't I talking to you, young master? And I'm telling you everything I know. What else do you want?" Chen Xuan said, feeling both amused and helpless.

Even Liu Zhenwei was defeated by him in one move. He probably knows his own level well. Now he relaxes a little and doesn't care so much. He can be a little more carefree.

"I don't know the specifics of Yang Guo, he should be just a strong man passing by in the game world," Gao Jingming said nonchalantly, treating Chen Xuan's words as nonsense. This is how the two of them get along.

It’s not that he hadn’t thought about Chen Xuan being the Yang Guo, but it was too unrealistic. An eleven-year-old master? Even if his Gao family’s ancestral tomb exploded, he wouldn’t dare to think about it.

No one believed the truth, but Chen Xuan didn't care. There was no need to prove it to him.

"What a pity for Miss Ning. She was such a good person, but ended up like this. Alas," Xiao Cai interrupted and sighed. As a girl, she felt some empathy when she heard about Ning Zuiyue's experience.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuan mentioned Zhao Qingluan and said, "Speaking of which, we were lucky enough to meet Zhao Qingluan, who was traveling with us. She was actually accepted as a disciple by Ling Yun, a congenital master from Yuhua Country. Maybe she can become a congenital master in the future."

"Will she belong to the underworld of Yuhua Country or our Jing Country?" Gao Jingming asked curiously.

Chen Xuan thought for a moment and said, "It depends on which side she feels she belongs to."

"After all, she is from our Jing country, so she should be more inclined towards this side in the future," Xiao Ye also expressed his opinion.

Gao Jingming continued, "Speaking of it, what happened in the desert has caused quite a stir. On our way back, people were discussing it everywhere. However, none of them were as specific as you, Xuan, described it. Especially some of the details, those outsiders have no idea at all. They talk about it with all sorts of details, but in reality, a lot of the content is just hearsay."

Of course not. Although there were a lot of onlookers, most of them were watching from afar and couldn't see the details clearly. After all, I was personally involved.

In fact, Gao Jingming was not really interested in the affairs of the martial arts world. He only asked about it because Chen Xuan, his own man, came there in person. Otherwise, he would not have bothered to find out.

It was late at night, and they had almost finished chatting. Xiao Gao's mood had almost calmed down. He didn't plan to continue studying late into the night and prepared to rest.

However, when he returned to the house, he revealed his concern and worry. He patted Chen Xuan on the shoulder and said from the bottom of his heart: "Ah Xuan, don't get involved in things like this in the future. You should stay away from it. It's too dangerous. If it weren't for Yang Guo, it's very likely that everyone who went there would be killed by Liu Zhenwei and wouldn't be able to come back. I was also inconsiderate before and actually agreed to let you join in on this fun. I really shouldn't have done that. Now I think about it and I'm a little scared. I have to reflect on this."

"Master, there's no need to be like this. I'm back safely. There aren't so many smooth sailing things in the world. It's quite normal," Chen Xuan comforted him.

He shook his head and left, saying, "I was lucky this time, but will I be so lucky next time? We all need to be well and safe, as there are many exciting things waiting for us in the future."

Looking at his back, Chen Xuan thought that Xiao Gao had really grown up and could care for others in his own way.

But I still couldn't escape the pain of having to go to the toilet through the back door after having a stomachache after hot pot, and so did everyone else...

(End of this chapter)