Chapter 373 Knowing one’s own warmth and coldness
The drinking session lasted from the scorching sun until the bright moon was high in the sky.

When the drunken people supported each other and walked out of Tianxiang Tower, it was already late at night and the streets of Luoyang City were empty and lonely.

Lin Fang was so drunk that he almost passed out. If it weren't for "Fu Shou Kang Ning" supporting him, he would have fallen to the ground and fallen asleep.

Abaolu, Xu Heng, Ling Qing, and the Liao brothers were also drunk and staggered along the street, sometimes shouting and dancing, making faces and making ugly gestures. But they themselves were completely unaware of it, and were in high spirits and extremely excited.

In comparison, Liu Xunyi and Xunzhen were much more sober.

"I never knew you could drink so much." Liu Xunyi looked at Xunzhen, whose face was flushed, and said admiringly, "Among the women I have ever met, you have the highest alcohol tolerance."

"You're not bad either."

Xunzhen smiled. At this moment, her skin was as white as cream, her pupils were as clear as water, her eyebrows were as willow-shaped as stars, and her face was as red as an almond and as rosy as a peach. Against the backdrop of the bright moonlight, she looked particularly charming.

"That depends on what kind of wine you drink? And who you drink with?" Liu Xunyi said with a smile, "There is a saying that goes 'drink today if you have wine today, worry about tomorrow tomorrow'. When people live in this world, sometimes they have to get drunk to feel happy!"

"There is 'Singing and drinking in the daytime, and returning home with youth as your companion'. There is also 'A cup of wine in the spring breeze, and a lamp for ten years in the night rain.'" Xunzhen said with interest, "From ancient times to the present, you Han people seem to have an unusual feeling for wine."

"Not only that? There is also 'Watch the withering flowers pass by your eyes, don't be disgusted by the pain of too much wine'." No one knew whether it was because he was drunk or because he felt the same way, but at this moment, Liu Xunyi was full of passion and enthusiasm, reciting, "Enjoy a glass of wine while you are still alive, why bother about a thousand years of fame after you are gone? Haha..."

"Life and death, joy, anger, sorrow, all cannot be separated from a glass of wine?" Xunzhen joked, "In our Liao Dynasty, wine is wine, people are people, and love is love. They are never mixed up."

"Is it because there is no emotion in wine that one can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk?"

"I'm afraid it's 'the drunkard's intention is not to drink'." Xunzhen replied with a smile, "Let me ask you, whether I can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk? That depends on what kind of wine I drink and who I drink with."

Hearing this, Liu Xunyi was stunned. The two looked at each other and then laughed at the same time.

"Boom!"

"Ouch! Sir, we are a small business and cannot afford to be hit like this..."

"Get lost! I'll compensate you for whatever I broke. Just serve the wine and don't bother me!"

"But the shop is about to close..."

"If you dare to talk nonsense again, I will burn down your wine shop!"

Along with the sound of a wine jar breaking, a noisy and bustling noise suddenly came from the alley.

"Who is so bold? How dare he cause trouble in Luoyang City!"

Perhaps it was because of the alcohol, Xu Heng suddenly became furious, dragged Ling Qing, Liao Chuan and others, and staggered towards a small wine shop at the end of the alley.

"Brother Xu, don't mess around!"

Seeing this, Liu Xunyi hurriedly warned him and quickly chased into the alley.

In the narrow alley, there was a very simple wine shed, under which there were only two low tables, four benches, and a wheelbarrow filled with wine jars. Apart from that, there was nothing else.

The shopkeepers of this small shop are an old couple in their sixties. They are frail and old, and they barely make a living by selling wine at a stall.

At this moment, broken wine jars were scattered all over the floor, and the ground was in a mess. The old couple stood trembling by, looking at the one-armed man sitting at the table, drinking bowl after bowl of wine, not daring to breathe.

"Who is making trouble here?"

Xu Heng, drunken and swearing, rushed over. Without waiting for the old couple to explain, he stretched out his hand to grab the one-armed man's neck, intending to pick him up and question him.

"call!"

However, just as Xu Heng's hand approached, the man's right arm suddenly raised up, and then without looking back, he pushed out a palm, which caught Xu Heng off guard and knocked him to the ground.

"court death!"

The sudden change sobered Xu Heng and his companions up. Liao Chuan and Liao Hai quickly drew out their steel knives and moved towards the one-armed man from the left and right.

"Where did you come from, you bastard? How dare you cause trouble in the territory of the Xianwang Mansion? You..."

Before he could finish his words, the one-armed man suddenly turned around and choked back Liao Chuan's next words.

"Black... Black Fan..."

Under the moonlight, the one-armed man showed a gloomy and indifferent face. It was Di Mo, the man holding the black fan from Prince Xian's Mansion.

"This……"

This situation made the Liao brothers look at each other in bewilderment, not knowing what to do.

Seeing this, Ling Qing quickly stepped forward, hit the two men's heads hard, and scolded them: "Hei Zhishan is here, how dare you be so presumptuous? Hurry and put away your knives!"

After saying that, Ling Qing couldn't help showing a trace of embarrassment, and turned to Di Mo and apologized: "We are reckless, I hope Hei Zhishan will forgive us!"

Facing Ling Qing's apology, Di Mo didn't even look at him. He stared at Liu Xunyi, who looked confused, with a cold and arrogant look, and said lightly: "Xunyi, sit down and have a few drinks with me!"

"Yes."

Liu Xunyi did not dare to disobey Di Mo's order. He shook his head at Xunzhen calmly and walked quickly towards the wine shed.

"You guys go back first!"

Di Mo poured wine for the anxious Liu Xunyi while nonchalantly "driving away the guests". Hearing this, Ling Qing and the others hesitated for a moment, then, at Liu Xunyi's signal, they said goodbye one after another and slowly left the alley.

"Come on! Drink!"

Just as Liu Xunyi watched Xunzhen and the others walk away, Di Mo had already placed a bowl of strong liquor in front of him. "Black fan, this is..."

"Drink it first!"

Seeing Di Mo's firm tone, Liu Xunyi did not dare to hesitate. He picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp.

"Come on! Have another bowl!"

Di Mo poured Liu Xunyi three bowls of wine without giving any explanation, which made Liu Xunyi very confused.

"continue……"

"Wait a minute!" Just as Di Mo was about to pour Liu Xunyi the fourth bowl of wine, Liu Xunyi put his hand on the bowl first and asked suspiciously, "Is Hei Zhishan worried about something?"

"What?" Di Mo raised his eyebrows and asked, "You don't like drinking with me?"

"It's okay to drink, but you have to drink knowingly." Liu Xunyi answered bluntly, "If you drink without knowing why, I don't agree with you."

Di Mo snorted coldly, suddenly threw the wine jar to the ground, and asked: "Do you want to teach me a lesson?"

Liu Xunyi was horrified and said hurriedly, "I dare not! If Hei Zhishan just wants to drink with someone and nothing else, I will accompany you to the end and not leave until I am drunk!"

Hearing this, Di Mo's expression relaxed slightly, and then he changed the subject and said quietly: "I have been in the mansion for more than ten years, and have been in charge of the three lower gates for the mansion master for more than ten years. So far, I have not missed a single task assigned by the mansion master, and I have done my best in every task."

"Hei Zhishan has fought bravely for the Xianwang Palace, made countless contributions, and never let the Palace Master down..."

"No!" Di Mo interrupted, "This time... I disappointed the Palace Master. During the trip to Longxiang Mountain, not only did I fail to find Xu Ren and investigate the conspiracy of Longxiang Mountain, but I also caused the tragic deaths of 18 disciples and even myself..."

Having said this, Di Mo couldn't help but look at his empty left sleeve with a sad expression. At the same time, a painful smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Life and death are unpredictable, victory and defeat are common in the military, so you don't have to worry about the black fan..."

"I don't care about the success or failure this time, but my arm... will never grow again." Di Mo's tone was extremely sad. Liu Xunyi felt pity for him but didn't know how to comfort him.

"After returning to the mansion, although the mansion master never held me responsible for my poor performance, I could clearly feel that he was extremely disappointed in me. Since I recovered from my injury, the mansion master has not assigned me any tasks, even the fact that Ling Qing followed Master Deng Wu to Jiangzhou... I was the last one to know about it. Now, the mansion master has assigned the three sects to do things without informing me..."

"No!" Liu Xunyi was secretly shocked and said hurriedly, "The Palace Master is very clear-headed and will never be dissatisfied with you because of a negligence. He didn't disturb you because he wanted you to recover from your injuries in peace..."

"If I lose an arm, I will be half a cripple." Di Mo shook his head and said, "Right now, the mansion lord needs a capable man, not a useless person who is more likely to cause trouble than to accomplish anything." After saying that, Di Mo picked up the jar of wine and poured it into his mouth in big gulps.

If Di Mo had said this in the past, Liu Xunyi would have definitely disdained it, or even strongly refuted it. But after many changes, the impression of Luo Tianjin in his heart has long been different. As for the saying "when the rabbit dies, the dog is cooked, and when the bird is dead, the bow is hidden", it is not completely impossible.

In fact, the same feeling of being abandoned and lost that Di Mo felt today was also experienced by Liu Xunyi when he was in Hexi.

Therefore, facing Di Mo who was drinking to drown his sorrows, Liu Xunyi really didn't know how to comfort him. He could only drink silently and accompany him until he was drunk.

"This afternoon, the mansion master summoned me to his study alone." Di Mo wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeves and said, "Do you know what he said to me?"

"what?"

"The Palace Master said..." Di Mo's smile was uglier than crying, "He wants to promote me to the eighth hero of the Xianwang Palace."

"This..." Liu Xunyi was startled, then his face showed joy and he said with a smile, "Isn't this a great thing? This shows that the Palace Master not only did not ignore you, but also wants to promote you. I have heard that Hei Zhishan is the person in the Xianwang Palace who is most likely to be among the Seven Heroes, and today it is true."

After saying that, Liu Xunyi stood up resolutely, raised his glass and said, "Congratulations to Hei Zhishan!"

Di Mo glanced at Liu Xunyi, then pointed at him and said, "Wrong! I should be the one congratulating you."

"Me?" Liu Xunyi asked in astonishment, "Why should I be happy?"

"Do you know why the Lord of the Mansion promoted me to the eighth hero?"

"Why?"

"Because of you!" Di Mo revealed the secret and sneered, "Because the Palace Master wants you to take over from me and take charge of the lower three gates. He promoted me so that I could vacate the position of Black Holding Fan... and leave it to you. What eighth hero? It's just an empty title, a demotion in name only. The Palace Master is determined to keep me idle, hehe..."

"Is this what the Palace Master meant?" Liu Xunyi hesitated, "Or is it Hei Zhishan's own speculation?"

"This is like a louse on a bald head, it's obvious." Di Mo said self-deprecatingly, "But I don't blame you, nor do I blame the Palace Master. I only blame myself for my bad luck and my unfortunate fate."

"The Black Fan..."

"Forget it!" Without waiting for Liu Xunyi to persuade him, Di Mo suddenly waved his hand and ordered, "Go away! Leave me alone."

"I……"

"Don't worry, go back!"

Facing Di Mo's urging, Liu Xunyi felt mixed emotions, but he had no choice but to bow and say goodbye to him. Then he walked to the old couple, handed them a gold ingot, and said softly, "This is a little gift from me. Please go back and rest first!"

One ingot of gold was enough for the old couple to open ten more wine shops like this. Therefore, they said no more, thanked Liu Xunyi profusely, and then supported each other and staggered away.

Liu Xunyi looked back at Di Mo's lonely back again and couldn't help but let out a silent sigh.

There was no way to persuade him, so he could only leave silently. When Liu Xunyi walked out of the narrow alley and was about to rush back to the Xianwang Mansion, a figure suddenly jumped down from the roof and blocked his way.

"Who?"

"Shh! It's me, Qin Wei!"

……

(End of this chapter)