Book 22 Chapter 19

White meteor in a liquor storehouse

-A good drink is sometimes a good weapon

Thump, thump, thump!

Yunbi was walking alone through the nighttime streets of Kanghorando. The road she had to travel now was one she had to travel alone. It was not a road that could be traveled with another person, even if that person was Na Yerin, she had to walk this road alone.

King Don kept his promise. He hadn't said where they would stay, but the messenger came to the right place. Yun Fei's heart sang with joy as he read the report. The letter informed them that their proposal had been accepted and that the expensive speculation would not begin for another three weeks, due to the extensive preparations required.

"This will get us 300,000!

Then it was time to try. So here he was, heading somewhere alone, silently searching for his weapon.

The first thing they needed to take down the greatest foe on earth was "the finest liquor.

The location was easy to find, as she had already recognized it from her room. He stopped in front of a very ornate three-story building and looked up at the sign.

'Futures baseball.

This vendor was selling "Moon Dew," which is said to be the most fragrant and expensive liquor in Kanghorando. It is said that a single cup of this liquor is worth the same weight of gold, so it's easy to see how expensive and valuable it is.

"I'd like to see the owner."

Overwhelmed by Yunbi's mysterious beauty, the clerk obediently gave her the owner's location. The current owner had gone to the liquor store to pick up some alcohol. After asking for the location of the liquor store, Yanbi walked over. According to the clerk's story, the liquor is so rare that the owner personally goes to pick it up when he receives an express order. The other man didn't believe it. After all, it was more precious than gold.

Yay!

That moment when Yeonbi opens the door to sponsorship and you step into the garden,

Quack!

A tremendous, earth-shattering boom rang out from behind the sponsor, sending a shower of rocks and dust raining down on Stormwater's head. He quickly unfurled his black umbrella to shield his head, then turned his gaze toward the epicenter of the explosion, where he saw a middle-aged man who seemed to be the owner of the place, crouching on his haunches with a pale, fed-up face, and two escorts standing behind him with equally dazed faces. The owner's gaze fell on a warehouse that was old, but still had a hint of age to it, and the smell of alcohol wafting from it told Yun Che that it was the "Moon Spring," which stored the "Moon Dew," the most prestigious liquor that Hwanwol Juru was known for. However, there was now a huge hole in the roof of the Moon Spring.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

And from inside the warehouse came a continuous sound like jars breaking.

* * *

About a year ago.

After receiving an order for two bottles of Moon Dew, Zhu Yue Shan, the owner of the Fen Yue Temple, headed to the liquor warehouse of his patron with two escorts. Only his two most trusted escorts were allowed to join him on this momentous occasion.

The old liquor warehouse, called the "Spring of the Moon," was part of the history of the Hwanwoljuru, and unlike the Hwanwoljuru, which has been expanded several times over the years, it still sits on the grounds as it did when it first started. It's no exaggeration to say that this place is steeped in history.

The order was placed by Zhang Wuyang, the sovereign of the Zhongyang Bureau of Marks, which was gaining a reputation as a powerhouse these days. He was not currently staying at their lodge; he was currently staying at a famous guest house located close to the Fenwol Pavilion. The Hwanwol Juru was second to none in the Ganghorando when it came to drinking, but it tended to lose out to the Silla Gak when it came to the quality of accommodation, so Zhu Yue Shan was scratching its head wondering if it would have to undergo a major, sweeping renovation this spring to make up for the lag. After all, no matter how much competition there is, customers are customers, and there's no reason to refuse to sell as long as sales are up.

'Fountain of the Moon' was chained to his body, adamantly refusing to allow anyone to approach him. The master soon produced a key from his bosom and carefully unlocked the warehouse door. The master stepped inside alone while two longships, who had apparently been brought in as escorts, stood guard at the open warehouse door. They were not his escorts, but guards for the warehouse door.

After a while, the master came out with an object wrapped in a silk sack, which he carried with great care. The object in the silk bag was the "dew of the moon," the finest silk that was said to be more expensive than the same weight of gold.

I saw it as I was chaining myself back to the entrance of the Fountain of the Moon, a pure white star falling in a long tail.

"Meteor?"

The next thing I knew, a roar went off.

Boom!

The roof of the warehouse, which housed the exquisite rice wine, was shattered by a falling white star. A thick, dense aroma of liquor, incomparably richer than before, wafted through the gaping hole to the sky, and for a long time, the sound of something breaking, then cracking, then snapping, then gulping, then squeezing, echoed through the warehouse.

An outburst of rage came from the mouth of the master, who had been so shocked that he had forgotten his responsibilities.

"How dare you!"

His face was ashen as if he'd swallowed a lump of coal, which was an understandable reaction, and the owner was determined that whoever it was would be punished accordingly. Whoever this rude, unceremonious thief was, he was not going to let him get away with it.

"Come out, you thief!"

Once again, the master cried out in anger, in a manner worthy of a master.

Wazzy String!

As if in response, the closed warehouse door shattered open, and a huge shadow stepped out of the dust, carrying with it the thick scent of alcohol. The blood drained from the master's face like an ebb tide as he was about to utter another word of rage. The face that had been red as a burning coal a moment ago was now whiter than a blank slate. It was not 'him' that had appeared.

Crrrrr!

It was a mountainous white tiger with fur as white as snow, flashing two golden suns and cutting through the misty dust, and two bottles of Moon Dew, wrapped in the finest silk, clinging to its eerie muzzle that could cut down a beautiful tree with a single blow. The sight was overwhelming, both alien and unreasonable. It was at this point that Yunbi spotted the white tiger as it approached his master.

"Ouch!"

"……!!"

Their eyes met at a single point, both glowing golden and the eyes of a white tiger. The world froze in a burst of sparks. I thought I could hear the cold wind whistling in my ears. Time seemed to stand still in the silent auspices of the night.

Unexpected events make people panic. Panic distracts the mind. A distracted mind slows down the body, but consistent, repetitive practice allows the body to move before the mind in the event of an emergency. The body is already in motion before the mind is distracted.

"……."

"……."

It seems that when humans experience something so outrageous, they lose their ability to speak. Maybe it's because the situation is beyond human language and expression. So Zhu Yueshan was speechless and silent. So the first person to speak to him was Yun Bi.

"Well, from the looks of things, I don't think there's any alcohol left in that warehouse, is there?"

For now, two words were enough to describe the situation in the liquor warehouse: disastrous.

"Ah… I suppose so… I'm hoping there's at least three or four that are still intact, though……."

The voice of the owner, who was despairing over the situation, was dripping with water.

"Is there anything else he's got up his sleeve besides what he's holding and what he's got biting him in the ass?"

If I said no, I was going to turn around and walk away.

"There is. I, uh, have one bottle of 'Moon Dew' left in my room for special guests. It's the pinnacle of pinnacle."

The Yeonbi nodded, satisfied with the owner's answer.

"That's great, then why don't we make a deal?"

The Yeonbi smiled at his master.

"What… what deal are you talking about, Sojae?"

The owner's teeth were still chattering, his lower and upper teeth clicking together with every word he spoke.

"It's simple, what I need now is the last of the 'dew of the moon' that the boss has in his stash, and if I do something for him, he'll give me the drink I want."

"What in the world can Sojae do for you?"

There seemed to be almost nothing the frail-looking maiden could do in this situation. As far as her master was concerned, women were supposed to be good at gold, good at dancing, and good at drinking. Of course, Yanbi's gold and dancing skills were extraordinary, but she had a few other talents as well.

"Defeat the tiger!"

"Yes?"

"I'll get rid of that white tiger for you, doesn't that sound like a bad deal to you? Don't you think it would be really good for your reputation if that white tiger were to prey on the customers here with his drunkenness?"

The owner's face paled at the thought of anything other than the possibility of being eaten.

"Hee hee hee!"

That was all he could say. If that happened, all he could do was close the shop, and he'd have to leave the floor he'd been building for decades. It couldn't happen to him.

"That, that, that… no customers, no customers!"

As the merchant's frozen soul awoke, the owner called out in an urgent voice. In any business, the customer is king. If you thought you could turn your back on them and survive, you were delusional.

"What do you think, not a bad deal, right?"

Yunbi's laughter had a strange power over people.

"Joe, that's great. I'll take this deal, as long as you can make it happen!"

Left with no choice, the owner finally agreed to the deal.

"Okay, that's very well thought out. Well, as a cautionary tale, contracts are a must when doing work anywhere, anytime, but the situation is what it is, so we'll settle for a verbal agreement, and if it doesn't get fulfilled, you'll have me to blame, not that white tiger."

"Well, that's never going to happen. A verbal contract is a contract is a contract. I'm not foolish enough to throw away decades of credibility over something like this. Please, just make it work."

The master had to grit his teeth as the white tiger glared at him for a moment as he plotted his defeat. A chill ran down his spine, and he felt like he was about to let his guard down. But he had to protect the family business. He had to protect his customers.

"Good, that's good enough for me."

Yeonbi nodded, then turned toward the white tiger, who stood reeking of alcohol, and spoke.

"Hello?"

Raising his head and smiling brightly, Yunbi waved goodbye. At that moment, a loud crackling sound echoed from behind him. It was the thawing of the frozen restaurant owner. But what happened next was even more surprising.

Croak!

The distracted white tiger nodded its massive head, as if to answer Yunfei's greeting. Two massive fangs bobbed up and down.

"Um… I just want to ask you something just in case there's a misunderstanding. Why… You know, in this world, there's a lot of misunderstandings, and I don't want that to happen to me, because it's kind of embarrassing, you know, to have that happen to you. So I was thinking about how to avoid that kind of pathetic embarrassment. And then I realized that it would make a lot more sense to ask instead of just kind of guessing on my own, because you know what they say, "a hundred times is a thousand times worse than once," so I'm like, "Well, it's not a big question, so you can answer it honestly."

For some reason, Yunbi wasn't her usual self and was talking hesitantly. I didn't understand what was wrong with her. I wondered if she'd gone insane from too much fear, but the unwavering look in her eyes told me that wasn't the case. And the white tiger was listening to her.

"Haven't we met before?"

Croak! Croak!

The white tiger growled twice and nodded. It seemed to agree. Yeonbi stared at the night sky for a moment and sighed deeply.

"Hah, so it wasn't an illusion after all. That's a shame, because it would have been nice if it was just an illusion, or a misunderstanding, or an all-too-real dream. I mean, there aren't many tigers with such golden, flashing eyes and teeth, are there?"

Crunch!

Once again, the white tiger nodded, and Yeonbi smiled faintly.

"You mean you agree with me. I thought so, too. I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah, but I had a feeling, you know, one in a million, or one in a thousand, or something like that. It's a shame, really, that you're expecting something that's infinitely close to zero and it's not zero. Maybe if the sky split tomorrow and the oceans flooded and this earth sank into the sea, it wouldn't be so sad."

Croak! Crouch! Crouch!

Again, the backhoe replied. The Yeonbi continued to talk to itself.

"Well, it's great to see someone you haven't seen in a long time, and that happened to me not too long ago, but it's interesting to see that there aren't always good relationships, because unfortunately, there are definitely bad relationships in this world. It would be great if there were lots of good relationships, but then there would be no point in talking about good relationships. I have to put in the work to get what I want, you three."

Then he quietly folded the umbrella that had been open. It was the umbrella he'd used to ward off the dust and debris that had rained down on his head in the aftermath of the light shattering earlier. With his head bowed, as if trying to conceal his bubbling emotions of anger, Yeonbi held the black umbrella up in front of him, lying at an angle.

Quadruple!

Yunbi's sweet corn gripped the umbrella pole with such force that it threatened to crush it. Then he laughed.

"Ho-ho-ho! I'll just be stuck in the mountains……."

It was an eerie laugh that seemed to echo from deep underground. Or maybe it was more like a bemused chuckle, and it had the power to make the distracted white tiger cringe.

Indeed, the feral senses that lived by the laws of nature immediately alerted the body to the danger it perceived.

Yeonbi leapt off the ground.

"You drunkard, you white cat!"

It was like a lava flow that had been simmering deep underground and suddenly erupted, breaking through the surface and shattering mountains.

Bai Muhu, who still reigned as Empress of Amishan two hundred years later, was not only strong, but also had a very good nose, especially for smelling alcohol. It must have been the influence of an old man who had once pounced on her as a prey hunter, quickly subdued her, and treated her almost like a pet. She had been the old man's occasional opponent over the years. She hadn't gotten much from the old man, who valued alcohol more highly than gold, but she was a fairly discerning lover of the Americas. She had been drinking for nearly two hundred years, and now no ordinary liquor could satisfy her sensitive and delicate palate.

So how does Baekmoo-hoo drink? Does he drink it when it's poured on a plate? You're welcome. This exalted mountain empress does not do such catty things. She doesn't gulp it down from a bowl. Nor does she blow into a bottle. Her pride does not permit such lowly behavior.

She uses a glass, surprisingly. Of course, it's bigger than the ones humans drink from. But the shape is similar. She places it on the instep of her right front foot and drinks with skill. Just like a human. But there was a problem: there was never enough. The old man, who treasured his liquor like gold, could not give away so much. There was no way the big woman could be satisfied with less than three glasses, so she decided to take matters into her own hands. She had to get her own drink. A thirsty man digs a well. It was called "self-renewal" (although I think it has a different meaning). I don't need to tell you the rest. And so it was that Bai Mu Hu walked out of the liquor storehouse, and towards the white tiger, clutching a black umbrella, Yun Fei ran.

Clutching an umbrella with both hands, Yunbi ran toward the white tiger, looking very slow. To the onlookers, each step seemed as heavy as a thousand muscles. Even if he was moving slowly on purpose, it didn't seem easy to move that way. However, when he was halfway to the white tiger, he suddenly disappeared like smoke.

It was the tail of the white tiger where the missing Yeonbi bird appeared.

Boo-boo-boo! Swoosh!

The black umbrella swung in a black trajectory. Sensing the danger with his wild instincts, the white tiger leaped forward to avoid the blow. It was an unforgiving blow, and even the mountainous Empress Bai Muhu would be hard pressed to remain unharmed.

"Where!"

However, while it is very commendable that you noticed this shifting blow and went into evasive action, it was too late. It was impossible to avoid it completely.

Bam!

"Kueh-eh-eh!"

A strange scream echoed through the night sky of Kanghorando, a scream that sounded eerily similar to that of a human. Yun Bi seriously doubted that he had just heard something wrong, but the truth was, no matter how outlandish, it was true. After living for two or three hundred years, you don't just understand human speech, you can speak human speech? Yanbi burst out laughing at the absurdity of it all. One day, he might suddenly put one of those fearsome front paws on his shoulder and say, "You know what?

-Hey, fire!

And in its mouth, which must have eaten dozens of people, was a gummy bear… Bam! Bam!

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Yeonbi shook his head vigorously to clear the delusion.

Croak! Crouch! Crouch, crouch, crouch!

Bai Muhu, who had been viciously smacked on the buttocks with a black umbrella, protested fiercely. The flesh of her graceful, plump buttocks could have been torn off at any moment. Her buttocks still tingled from the slap.

Crrrrrrr!

As if vowing revenge, Bai Muhu raised his front paws and licked his claws.

"Ho-ho, you haven't given up yet?"

Yeonbi said, thrusting the tip of his black umbrella forward.

"Why don't you put down the drink you're chomping on, I have questions to ask."

But the crouching, snarling beast had no intention of quitting. He was crouching low now, not to run backwards, but to leap forward. His white fur stood up like needles in unison. Just as Bai Muhu thought that his white fur was shining brightly under the night sky, he turned into a white thunderbolt and flew towards Yunfei. His speed could only be called 'swift'.

Shhh!

A beam of pure white light emanated from the tip of the claw, slicing through Yanbi's body in an instant.

"Oops!"

Yunbi quickly rolled backwards to avoid the blow. The blow was so unexpectedly fast and strong, even for her, that she was momentarily slow to react. Her back arched like a soft willow branch, and she flexed her body again, raising her upper body to stand up and unleashing a new move.

A white tiger with a glowing white coat landed where Yeonbi had stood a moment before.

Yuck.

The next moment, the beautiful tree that grew on the back of the white tiger's left and right sides fell in half. The cut was as smooth as a mirror.

I can't believe you cut down that beautiful tree, not with your claws, but with a sharp knife…….

"Chet, is it kung fu? On the beast topic……."

A razor-sharp blade of qi materialized, and though it came from the tip of a claw, it had an eerie sharpness to it that was certainly worthy of the name sword qi.

The idea of a beast wielding sword chi was something of a revelation to the martial artist. The idea of beasts being able to use different chi hadn't been part of his mother's bedside stories when he was a child, but one damned old man had turned the world's common sense upside down.

"I should have guessed by the color of your eyes……."

Yunfei blinked at her eyes, which were discolored to a pale golden color. He knew they weren't originally that golden color. The color wasn't natural; it was artificial.

It was far more difficult to make the black eyes of a great white tiger sparkle golden than it was to wound or kill a great white tiger the size of a house. But there was one human who could do the impossible. A damned human who still wondered if he was human at all.

Yeonbi took a breath and let it out in a small voice.

"Damn Master!"

It was a voice of many emotions.

I couldn't believe that this tiger could use his chi so freely.

"What the hell did you teach the tiger?"

It was the kind of Yeonbi I couldn't put up with without muttering a word of protest, whether I was next to it or not.

So it was all the damn teacher's fault.