Chapter 898 Tianyuan Inn (Part )

"Dear guests, the wine and meat are here!"

In order to hide his inner anxiety, the waiter shouted at the top of his voice and served the prepared wine and meat to each table.

Because he had something to hide, the waiter's movements were sometimes reserved and sometimes quick. In his panic, he repeatedly bumped into tables and chairs and knocked over dishes. He was ridiculed and scolded by everyone, but he said nothing and walked away with his head down. He was completely different from the waiter who was full of complaints and chattering just now.

"Dear guests, please enjoy your meal..."

"and many more!"

When the waiter finally served the wine and meat, Xunzhen's voice suddenly rang out, which immediately made the waiter's heart tremble. His hands, which were filled with cold sweat, trembled uncontrollably and the tray in his hands almost fell to the ground.

Seeing this, Xunzhen frowned slightly, and a meaningful light appeared in her eyes as she looked at the waiter.

"Sir...what do you want, sir?"

The guy tried his best to calm his inner turmoil, and responded to Xunzhen with a smile that was uglier than crying, with what he thought was a calm expression.

"You are not from the Yuan family?"

"Ah?" The waiter was stunned by Xunzhen's question. "What do you mean, sir?"

"I haven't seen you before."

Xunzhen answered casually, casting a meaningful look at Abaolu who was raising his glass to drink, and then stretched out his hand and gently pointed at the wine and meat on the table.

Seeing this, everyone, who were as hungry as wolves, were startled and subconsciously put down the bowls and chopsticks they had just picked up, casting suspicious glances at Xunzhen and Abaolu.

“This…” Abaolu certainly understood Xunzhen’s meaning, but he hesitated. “This is the Yuan family’s business. We need to…”

"It is better to be safe than sorry!" Xunzhen spoke softly, but his attitude was firm.

"That's fine!"

After a slight hesitation, Abaolu took out a silver needle from the package and slowly dipped it into the wine.

Seeing this, other masters from the Western Regions all followed suit happily, taking out silver needles and testing the poison one by one in a plate or a bowl.

"Come to think of it, Yuan Xiao and I haven't seen each other for three years. I wonder how he's doing these days?" Xunzhen once again turned the topic to the increasingly frightened waiter.

Yuan Xiao, the head of the Yuan family, the largest family in Shenzhou, is also a powerful man in the martial arts world, known for his swordsmanship. Although he is not ranked among the top martial artists in the Central Plains, he is quite famous in the Northeast.

The status of the Shenzhou Yuan family in the underworld is similar to that of the Golden Sword Sect and Iron Palm Gang in Luoyang City back then. Both are powerful, but... there is no Prince Xian's Palace here.

Although their sphere of influence and strength cannot be compared with those of the famous martial arts sects, since Shenzhou is far away from the Central Plains and located in the northeast, the Yuan family's status and influence in the local area and even in Liaoyang area are far greater than those of the former Golden Sword Sect and Iron Palm Gang. Yuan Xiao's life is also much more comfortable than that of Zheng Tiandiao and Zhuge Xiong.

"So... So you are all my master's friends..." Hearing Xunzhen's explanation, the waiter's eyes showed a hint of surprise, "I am a distant relative of the Yuan family... Thanks to Madam Yuan, I got a job at Tianyuan Inn, so I won't starve to death..."

"A distant relative of the family?" Abaolu teased. "They are not related at all. No wonder they can only work as waiters here. I was wondering why Yuan Xiao's family business has never grown. It turns out that he has to feed every cat and dog. He has been spending more than he earns all year round. Even if you give him a mountain of gold, he will squander it sooner or later."

Hearing Abaolu's ridicule, the guy couldn't help but feel indignant. The trace of entanglement that had just lingered in his heart disappeared in the blink of an eye, and what remained was only resentment and murderous intent.

From the beginning to the end, the waiter had been keeping a close eye on the people who were testing for poison with the silver needles. Seeing that they had not found any clues from the wine and meat, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Dear guests, enjoy your meal. I will go and prepare some more..."

"Wait a minute!"

Xunzhen once again stopped the anxious waiter, pointed at the wine glass on the table, and said with a smile: "Since you are Mr. Yuan's relative, how dare we be rude? This glass of wine... I toast you."

Hearing this, the waiter's face turned pale as paper, and his muscles trembled with fear. For a moment, he was trembling with fear and speaking incoherently: "The wine is very expensive, I can't afford it... and the wine is for the guests, how dare I taste it? There are rules in the shop, waiters can't drink alcohol, for fear of delaying work..."

Seeing the waiter's strange reaction, Abaolu finally realized something was wrong. He first exchanged glances with Xunzhen, then raised his glass, stood up suddenly, rushed to the waiter, and put his arm around his shoulders without saying anything. While raising his glass, he advised: "Come on, come on, I was so offended just now, this glass of wine is just an apology..."

"No, no, no...I can't drink..."

"If you don't drink it, you're not giving me face. You have to drink this glass of wine!" Abaolu ignored the waiter's obstruction, tightly grasped his shoulders with his left hand, pushed the waiter's arms away with his right hand, and forcibly brought the wine glass to the waiter's lips.

"No...no..."

"Snapped!"

In the chaotic struggle, the wine glass was knocked to the ground by the waiter. He spat several times in a hurry and repeatedly wiped his wine-stained lips with his sleeve, looking ashamed, angry, and terrified.

"There's something wrong with the wine!"

"Bang!" Upon seeing this, Abaolu's eyes changed immediately. He waved his hand to press the unsuspecting guy down on the table. He raised his sandbag-sized fist and smashed it hard on his head several times, causing his head to bleed and his ears to dizzy.

"damn it!"

The Western Region masters who suddenly came to their senses all had a changed look on their faces. They cursed and overturned tables and chairs, looking at the mess on the ground with lingering fear, fierce light flashing in their eyes, and murderous intent surging.

If Xunzhen had not been cautious and discovered something strange, they would probably have died here today.

"If you dare to poison me, I will chop you to pieces..."

"Wait!"

Xunzhen stopped the furious Abaolu and stepped forward quickly. She stared at the man with blood all over his face and tears streaming down his face with her beautiful eyes and said in a deep voice, "You don't have the guts. Tell me who is behind this and I can spare your life..."

"what……"

"puff!"

Before Xunzhen finished speaking, the frightened fellow suddenly opened his eyes wide, his facial features twisted and hideous, and he uttered a heart-wrenching wail of pain. Then, he spat out a large mouthful of black and purple pus and blood, his body shook violently, suddenly straightened up, stiffened like a corpse, and then gradually collapsed.

In the blink of an eye, the fellow who died with his eyes open had his internal organs rotted away, pus oozing from all his orifices, and was completely dead.

"This is... murder to silence the witness!" Xunzhen remained calm. After a moment's thought, he suddenly realized, "Oh no, they are nearby! Xiao Yang, Xun Budao, and Su Hu will lead ten people to the second floor to protect Liu Xunyi, and the others will go to the kitchen to find Miss Pan!"

"Yes!"

The crowd, with sullen faces, readily accepted the order, drew their swords and scattered.

In the kitchen, Ji Hou and Fu Yin, who noticed the change in the situation, couldn't help but feel panicked and looked ashamed and angry.

"You are a useless person who is always causing trouble and can't even handle such a small thing!" Fu Yin was furious and cursed.

"From the beginning you shouldn't have pinned your hopes on a waiter at an inn." Tang Afu smiled contemptuously and stood up slowly. "Who is Xunzhen? Not to mention a waiter at an inn, even if you two were to go in person, you might not be able to hide from her discerning eyes. Just now you said I was worrying too much, but now you know how powerful they are?"

"This……"

"Forget it! The Yangtze River's new generation replaces the old. Peach Blossom Sword Island has been isolated overseas for many years. You two have been living in comfort for many years and have not been on the battlefield for a long time. It is inevitable that you will be complacent and it is normal for an old horse to stumble. Don't take it too seriously." Tang Afu said lightly, "But we have an appointment in advance. I hope you can keep your promise and go back to tell Jin Fuyu not to send anyone to monitor me. Ask him to prepare what I want in advance, and I will go to get it after I take down Liu Xunyi's head."

Ji Hou and Fu Yin were once the famous "Sun and Moon Swords". They followed the Peach Blossom Immortal to travel far and wide, and roamed the world, making the heroes of the martial arts world tremble in fear and turn pale at the mention of them.

Unexpectedly, they lost their edge and prestige after more than a decade of silence. When they returned to the martial arts world, they were no longer the same as they were in the past. They were unfamiliar with the Central Plains martial arts world and suffered repeated failures. Now they were being lectured by a younger generation. How could they not feel depressed? Sad? Annoyed?

"Hurry up, you two!" Hearing the rapidly approaching footsteps, Tang Afu frowned and urged, "If you don't leave now, I'm afraid you won't be able to escape today."

"Tang Afu, this time we made a mistake. We are trustworthy and will not follow you again. But we have no right to ask what the Jinwu Master decides." Ji Hou said bitterly, "After we leave, you will be alone and take care of yourself!"

After saying this, Ji Hou and Fu Yin looked at each other, and simultaneously let out a sigh full of bitterness and helplessness, and then walked towards the window unwillingly.

"Wait a minute!" Tang Afu thought, "Since you are the ones who caused this mess, you should clean it up. If I just leave like this, it will be hard for me to explain to them, so why not... take advantage of their trick?"

"What do you mean?"

"Stop talking nonsense and watch the moves!"

Before he finished speaking, Tang Afu suddenly raised his sword and stabbed at the two. Ji Hou and Fu Yin were horrified and hastily drew their swords to fight back.

"puff!"

However, what Ji Hou and Fu Yin never expected was that Tang Afu's ruthless sword unexpectedly withdrew when it approached them. On the contrary, facing Fu Yin's lightning-fast slash, Tang Afu, who could have dodged it, did not block or evade, but used his left shoulder to meet Fu Yin's sword, and his skin was immediately torn and blood splattered.

"Tang Afu, you..."

"You can go now!"

Before the confused Ji Hou and Fu Yin could ask the reason, Tang Afu flew out backwards, covering his wound. At the same time, he swept his sword across, releasing a sharp sword energy, which forced the two men away and also collapsed the window frame.

"boom!"

Just as Ji Hou and Fu Yin flew out of the window, the tightly closed door was suddenly kicked open. Then, the murderous Abaolu led a dozen Western Region masters and rushed in aggressively.

……

(End of this chapter)