Chapter 40: Ordinary Means of Sacrifice

  Ling Luo Creek obviously heard what the bald man said, looked at him with disgust, and coldly snorted: "How can there be so many people without quality here?"

  Wu Pei smiled and said, "Luo Xi, sister, in fact, it's not just this kind of place. Even in those high-end places, many men are just gentlemen on the surface, but actually they're all rascals and scoundrels. Let's just ignore them."

  Chu Nan beckoned and called out: "Boss."

  The stall owner was a couple in their forties, the woman looked oily and radiant, probably because she had been doing barbecue for too long, her skin was slightly red. The man had a goatee, looking quite generous, when he saw Ling Luo Xi and Wu Bei, his eyes first showed a hint of surprise, then smiled at Chu Nan: "Ah, you guys want to eat something? This is the menu, what ordinary barbecue shops have, my place has it all, and it's delicious and cheap."

  Zero Creek smiled and said: "Roast dinosaur, is there?"

  "Little sister, if you can find roasted dinosaur in other shops, I can also make it for you to eat!"

  Chu Nan had a good impression of the boss, who looked very pleasant, and laughed: "Alright, boss, don't listen to her teasing you. Give us thirty mutton skewers and six bottles of beer. What else would you two like?"

  "Tofu roll and chicken wings."

  Ling Luo Xi said: "Let's have another plate of silkworm pupae."

  Chu Nan said: "Good, just bring these, if it's not enough, we'll ask for more later."

  "Alright, you guys wait for a few minutes!"

  The boss followed Chu Nan's instructions and started roasting in the past.

  The entire night market was filled with stalls one after another, selling all sorts of things, with vendors calling out to passersby. This barbecue place was already packed when Chu Nan and a few others arrived, with everyone drinking beer, eating barbecue, and boasting about their accomplishments. It's usual for people who drink and eat barbecue at night markets to do so while bragging about themselves; if you can't hear the sound of boasting, it means the alcohol hasn't taken effect yet.

  Chu Nan had never seen such a scene before. Wu Bei and Ling Luo Xi had hardly ever come to such a place, they all looked a bit curious.

  The barbecue in the south of Chu has been served, and the beer is also on the table. The boss smiled and said: "This little sister is lovely, I'll give you five more lamb skewers for free, come back often!"

  Ling Luo Creek smiled and said: "Boss, you're really good, others make things difficult for you, but you still say they're lovely. From now on, I'll often make things difficult for you."

  Wu Pei smiled and shook her head beside him, the boss laughed loudly: "Good, good, come over often to be a guest in the future, I'll go help my wife with household chores first!"

  Chu Nan saw the boss walk over and put his arm around the boss's wife, looking affectionate. He smiled and said, "This boss is not bad, Wu Pei, can you feel it? This kind of place has a few more touches of human warmth compared to those big restaurants."

  Wu Pei nodded and sighed, "That's why I said that people in places like this are usually the most genuine, whereas in many high-society settings, everyone is all glitter on the outside but trash on the inside."

  "But those guys staring at me and BeiBei are really annoying." Zero Luo Creek glanced in the direction of the bald-headed man, and more than a dozen big men occasionally turned their heads to look at Zero Luo Creek and Wu Bei with lecherous laughter on their faces.

  A cold glint flashed in Chu Nan's eyes, and Wu Pei reminded him by his side: "Chu brother, forget it, you will often encounter such people outside, and getting angry won't solve anything."

  Ling Luo Creek stuck out her tongue and said, "Mei Mei Jie is right, I just can't stand them, so ignoring them is fine."

  Chu Nan nodded and raised his beer, laughing: "Come on, let's take a big swig to celebrate the joy of moving today."

  Seeing Chu Nan not using a cup, Ling Luo Xi and Wu Pei also raised their wine bottles with excitement, pouring the liquor into their mouths in big gulps.

  Wu Pei wiped her mouth and laughed: "Chu big brother, drinking like this is really refreshing!"

  Chu Nan burst out laughing and said, "In the past when I was drinking with Old Man, we would always drink directly from the bottle. Sometimes, to compete with each other, we would even finish a whole bottle of beer in one breath."

  Wu Bei's face was full of expectation as she said, "Chu big brother, can you tell me about your past? Is the old man you mentioned the same one who took you away back then? My father once told me that when he planned to bring you to our home, he only found out that you had already been taken away by an old divine doctor."

  "Yes, he is my master, but I often call him old man."

  Wu Bei's face was full of expectation as she said: "Chu big brother, your skills are already so formidable, then isn't your master even more formidable?"

  Chu Nan chuckled and said, "This old man's skills are indeed not trivial. My medical skills have almost caught up with his, but my fighting skills are no match for his."

  "Oh?" Wu Pei's eyes lit up and asked, "Isn't the old master doctor quite advanced in age? Is he more formidable than you?"

  "En." Chu Nan nodded, his face serious. "I don't know what specific level he's reached, I only know that I'm not his match yet. However, he usually doesn't take action, except for once when he came back covered in blood after going down the mountain."

  "Covered in blood? Could it be... murder?"

  "That was two years ago... For over a decade, I've never left the mountain. According to Old Man's words, I can only set foot outside if I can withstand his hundred moves and master the mysterious acupuncture technique called 'Six Paths Reincarnation Needle' on top of learning eight-tenths of his other skills. However, he almost always leaves the mountain several times a year, mostly to purchase things like food, fine wine, and women's magazines..."

  Chu Nan said, taking another big gulp of beer, his eyes gleaming with intensity: "Two years ago, he came out of the mountains for half a month. One night, he returned covered in blood, but it was all someone else's blood, not a single drop was his own. I asked him what happened, and he only told me two words: Judgment!"

  "Trial?"

  "That's right!" Chu Nan's eyes sparkled with a cold light, "I also heard this term for the first time from that old man. He told me that to be a human being, one must have loyalty, filial piety, propriety, righteousness and integrity. If someone possesses at least one of these qualities, they might still have a chance to save themselves. But if they don't possess any of them, such an extremely evil person should be judged by the law. And if the law won't judge them, then only certain individuals can."

  Wu Pei and Ling Luo Xi's gazes were both drawn over, asking in unison: "How will the trial be conducted?"

  Chu Nan shook his head and said, "I don't know either, I just saw the old man in the mountain giving salvation to the spirits of the dead, thirty-six people!"

  Wu Pei took a deep breath, and her eyes revealed a hint of shock. Zero Luo Xi's eyes sparkled as he muttered to himself: "The trial... thirty-six people, so it was..."

  Chu Nan looked at Ling Luo Xi in surprise and asked: "Little Zero, what do you know?"

  "Oh, no... I just feel surprised." Xiao Ling hurriedly lowered her head, and for the first time, a strange palpitation flashed in her eyes.

  Chu Nan had long felt that Ling Luo Xi's background was not ordinary, she heard herself talking about the old man's affairs, obviously knowing something, but since Ling Luo Xi didn't want to say, Chu Nan wouldn't force her to ask, as for this little girl Ling Luo Xi, no matter who she was or what kind of background she had, Chu Nan only had affection and fondness for her.

  At this time, the more than ten little rascals finally couldn't bear it anymore. Three of them stood up and swayed towards Chu Nan's side. The boss hastily intercepted them and smiled: "Brothers, don't cause trouble, I'll give you an 80% discount."

  "Scram!" A young punk pushed the boss away, sneering: "Our bald brother is here to eat, and you still dare to charge money? Don't you want to live?"

  The boss didn't expect to provoke such a jinx, and with an angry face, he was about to rush over, but was held back by the boss's wife from behind, saying repeatedly: "Don't cause trouble, don't cause trouble."

  A few young hooligans ignored the boss and his wife, walking directly to the table where Chu Nan and two others were sitting. Chu Nan had already seen what just happened, looked up at these people, and coldly said: "Do you guys have something to say?"

  One of the thugs sneered with a lewd smile: "Heh heh, kid, you're quite the lucky one! Our bald brother said it, you scram, and these two chicks stay behind to keep our bald brother company for a drink!"

  Chu Nan turned his head and looked back, pointing at the bald man sitting not far away, asking: "You, Baldy, are you the one with no hair in the middle of your head?"

  The thug's eyes flashed with a hint of unexpected color, and he laughed: "You little kid has got some guts, no mistake about it. That's our Baldy Brother, so you'd better scram if you know what's good for you! Our Baldy Brother is hanging out with Seventh Brother in this area, and he's not someone to be trifled with."

  "Seventh brother, haven't you heard?"

  These thugs were almost enraged, one of them said: "What's the point of talking nonsense with him? Take these chicks away, Bald Brother will be angry soon!"

  The thug was talking while reaching out to grab Wu Pei, Chu Nan's hand held a bottle of wine, pouring a large mouthful into his mouth, the bottle emptied, and immediately raised, a bottle directly smashed onto the opponent's head, with a loud crash, shards flying everywhere.

  The thug was stunned, covering his bleeding head, and let out a loud cry. The remaining half of the wine bottle in Chu Nan's hand was forcibly inserted into the opponent's mouth, with three consecutive thrusts that completely tore apart his oral cavity, almost piercing his throat. When Chu Nan finally pulled out the bottle for the last time, the thug crouched on the ground, covering his mouth, with fresh blood gushing out of his mouth, dripping through his fingers and falling to the ground, looking extremely pitiful.

  Those two thugs, although they often went out to fight with Lao Da for no reason, had never seen anyone as ruthless as this. One of them was so scared that he fell to the ground, while the other pointed at Chu Nan and stuttered "Y-you..."

  Chu Nan grabbed the messy-haired man's hair, sneering: "Let's go, take me to see your bald boss for a drink. No girls, but you guys have one!"