Bravo! Bravo! This is absolutely preposterous!
This audacious little bastard not only beat his disciples and grand-disciples to death, but even went so far as to suck the living pine tree dry and wipe it clean!
Daoist Master Songfeng was absolutely seething with rage!
So from Wu Guanyue's point of view, all she saw was this star-rated guest's head, after spitting out strings of ellipses, question marks and exclamation marks one after another, starting to pop up a whole line of cross-shaped anger icons!
Huh! He's actually mad!
Who would have thought gifting things could trigger a rage response... This had to be a brand new game mechanic. The ever observant and summary-minded Wu Guanyue immediately sprinted back to the counter at a hundred-meter dash and started scribbling furiously in her business log.
"Gifting... too many... hated gifts... makes guests angry..."
But that was exactly the same way she had tried gifting things to Wenren Ying the other day... He had kept refusing the whole time, but never once got mad.
Wu Guanyue kept writing: "Wenren Ying... nice... the white-bearded Daoist... mean..."
White-bearded Daoist Songfeng: "…………"
Daoist Master Songfeng's fury was practically burning right over the top of his head! He had always had a fiery, explosive temper. If he could swallow this provocation from Wu Guanyue, he'd be willing to write his own name backwards!
Daoist Master Songfeng bounded to his feet in one leap. Mid-air, he shot toward Wu Guanyue like a flash of lightning. His movements were so swift, his body technique so fast, that a faint afterimage lingered where he had just been standing, and none of the loose cultivators sitting in the corner even realized anything was amiss!
WHEEE——!
A strange whistling sound of a flying object suddenly rang out over the inn!
[Wu Guanyue] has used the skill [Quick Food Delivery]!
Since he doesn't like pine-related items, maybe I should try some other dishes... Wait where did the guest go?!
A plate spun straight toward Daoist Master Songfeng.
Daoist Master Songfeng wasn't just all hot temper, either. His Daoist title "Songfeng" literally means "the strength of green pine, the swiftness of a gale", a testament to how unbelievably fast his movement skills were.
Yet Wu Guanyue didn't even lift her head. With a casual flick of her wrist, she intercepted him dead in his tracks.
"Whoa — that's the spirit!"
Daoist Master Songfeng's fighting spirit was roused instead. He let out a wild yell, shot his hand out from under his Daoist robe, and precisely clamped down on that plate whipping through the air.
Squelch!
His fingers sank right into something soft. A faint, distinct scent drifted up to Daoist Master Songfeng's nose.
Slowly, so very slowly, he looked down at what he had just grabbed.
... Raw large intestine sashimi.
Daoist Master Songfeng: "…………"
Daoist Master Songfeng: "………………"
A giant cross-shaped anger icon popped up right over Daoist Master Songfeng's head.
Wu Guanyue: "?"
A giant question mark bubble popped up over Wu Guanyue's head.
He accepted it, but still doesn't like it?
... Ugh, what a impossible-to-please NPC!
He looked like such a kindly white-bearded old man at first, but who knew he had such a weird, cranky temper!
Wu Guanyue's own fighting spirit was stoked too — in for a penny, in for a pound. She'd already gone this far, she was determined to figure out what gifts he liked today. His favorability was already at zero, there was nowhere to go but up, this was the perfect time to go all out!
Wu Guanyue: (╬◣ω◢)
Wu Guanyue's eyes suddenly sharpened.
WHEEE——!
With one arm around the wooden crate, she twisted her wrist and sent another plate flying.
[Wu Guanyue] has used the skill [Quick Food Delivery], and gave [Wild Mountain Apricot] to [???]!
WHEEE WHEEE WHEEE——!
[Wu Guanyue] has used the skill [Quick Food Delivery], and gave [Grilled Crucian Carp] to [???]!
[Wu Guanyue] has used the skill [Quick Food Delivery], and gave [Green Plum Syrup] to [???]!
[Wu Guanyue] has used the skill [Quick Food Delivery], and gave [Toasted Pancake Strips] to [???]!
The sound of flying plates being tossed rang out nonstop through the inn. Over that oddly catchy whirring noise, another sharp wind cut through the air — it was Daoist Master Songfeng, darting back and forth across the inn at top speed!
He was leaping around so fast that afterimages of him lingered everywhere in the room, dazzling all onlookers and leaving them gasping in awe!
But no matter how agile his footwork, no matter how tricky the angles he took, Wu Guanyue's plates kept haunting him like vengeful ghosts!
She didn't even look, didn't even aim. She just kept throwing, and every single plate landed perfectly right in the path he was about to take.
Since when did a character this skilled pop up in Meishan? How come he had never heard of her?!
Daoist Master Songfeng's eyes were bloodshot by now!
After what felt like ages, the two finally came to a stop — the reason being that Wu Guanyue had run out of every single item she had to test.
Wu Guanyue stood behind the counter, looking on at Daoist Master Songfeng with a calm, impassive expression.
Daoist Master Songfeng was huffing and puffing, the fingers of his hand still sticky with... uh, the undigested bits from that raw large intestine sashimi.
Ugh... this feels like it's burning my roots!
Daoist Master Songfeng's face was stony with rage, as he glowered at Wu Guanyue.
"Bravo!" Lu Datong, who was sitting in the corner, suddenly cheered at the top of his lungs.
"Bravo! Bravo!"
The rest of the guests joined in the cheers, clapping their hands wildly.
After all, Shopkeeper Wu flying plates of food across the inn to guests had long become a beloved signature sight of the place. On a normal day, when guests were in a good mood, they'd play along and catch the flying plates for fun...
And just like that, the inn was filled once more with the cheerful, lively sound of everyone yelling "bravo"!
Daoist Master Songfeng: "…………"
Daoist Master Songfeng: "………………"
Daoist Master Songfeng was furious!
These brainless, good-for-nothing slobs, did they think he was some street performer putting on a show for loose change?!
This was the final straw he could never tolerate!
Daoist Master Songfeng's face darkened. With a flick of his wide sleeve, he went to flip over the elm wood table right in front of him!
Earlier, Daoist Master Songfeng had flipped the stone table in his cave, crushing Wang Er flat into Wang Er paste... Now, in his towering rage, he was about to hurl that elm table straight at Lu Datong and bash him to death.
Lu Datong was far stronger than Wang Er, but against a great demon with Daoist Master Songfeng's profound cultivation, the difference was negligible. If that elm table smashed right into Lu Datong's body, his internal organs would be sent flying right out of his mouth.
And Lu Datong didn't have the faintest clue how much danger he was in!
At this critical, do-or-die moment where there was no possible way to dodge, a game system notification suddenly rang in Wu Guanyue's ear —
[Your pre-set closing time has arrived. Would you like to close up the inn?]
Ah! It was already closing time!
The game had separate operating hours and after-hours periods. During operating hours, guests would come in one after another, and the player had to serve them. During after-hours, the player needed to clean up the inn, go out to forage for ingredients, and cook new dishes, among other things.
Wu Guanyue had failed her NPC gifting run, and she was feeling a little dejected. She really didn't want to look at that grumpy white-bearded Daoist for a while... Closing up the inn sounded perfect.
But one last step before closing —
Activate Build Mode!
This was a game bug that Wu Guanyue had discovered. Since he had to wipe down all the grimy tables and chairs after closing up shop... all he needed to do was activate build mode right before closing, one-tap collect all the furniture, then place them back out again, and they would be spotless instantly!
[Wu Guanyue has activated Build Mode!]
At that exact moment, the furious Daoist Master Songfeng's sweeping sleeve wind had already reached the elm wooden table right beside him!
The elm table did not budge an inch.
An extremely mysterious, ancient power instantly enveloped the entire inn, freezing every part of it in place at that very moment. Every bowl and chopstick, every table and chair, every single thing was now fully under the innkeeper's complete control.
The expression on Daoist Master Songfeng's face froze.
(*) Excerpt from Jin Yong's *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer*, explaining the Songfeng Sword Technique of the Qingcheng School.
