Chapter 39: Departure

Great Deer Kingdom, Li Prefecture, Feng County.

Inside a dilapidated roadside tavern.

"Haha! What a blast!" Ba Kui loudly exclaimed, downing the rice wine in his cup.

That’s right, it was still rice.

Ultimately, rice was the cheapest and most abundant, and since spiritual rice was plentiful, it was naturally used for brewing wine as well.

As Li Qi drank this stuff, he always felt it wasn't like liquor, but more like sweet fermented glutinous rice…

It barely had an alcoholic taste, but it was sweet and quite delicious.

It counted as a beverage, not wine.

Perhaps brewing high-proof liquor or distilled spirits would consume too much fuel, so they opted for this low-alcohol fermented wine?

After all, fuel was much more expensive than rice.

Maybe rice could be used as fuel?

Would it burn?

Li Qi's thoughts wandered as he picked up a small dish, savoring its deliciousness.

It wasn't a particularly remarkable side dish, just stir-fried minced meat with pickled radish, but this ordinary dish made Li Qi feel incredibly delicious, and he ate it with great relish.

"Brother Ba Kui, what kind of business are you planning to do when you go to Lianxia this time?" Li Qi didn't drink much, instead savoring the pickled radish in his mouth.

Why hadn't he found pickled radish so delicious before? The saltiness, it was truly amazing.

Always eating plain rice, his mouth had truly become bland, so when he had the chance to eat stronger flavored food, Li Qi cherished the opportunity.

"Helping someone deliver a batch of goods, they said... it's some kind of gemstone, but it probably isn't very valuable. I heard people say that those gemstones are worth tens of thousands of coins for a small piece, and the beautiful ones are tens of gold for a small bead, terrifyingly expensive. The ones we're carrying, everyone has a piece, and even the small ones weigh three to four hundred catties! Together, it's five or six thousand catties. What kind of gemstone could there be that much of?" Ba Kui said with a grin.

"But we're not going far to Lianxia this time. Brother Li Qi, what do you do? You came out alone just as spring began, with only one bundle of luggage. You don't seem like a merchant. Were you entrusted to deliver a message?" Ba Kui asked.

As he spoke, he also picked up a piece of pickled radish and savored it.

Besides the pickled radish with minced meat, there was also a dish of preserved vegetables with braised pork belly, and a basket of steamed rice cakes. These were their dishes and staple food for the banquet.

It was hard to say it was lavish, but for Li Qi, it was definitely a rare delicacy, and for Ba Kui, it probably wasn't cheap either. It was clear that this burly man couldn't be called a good person, but he was certainly a generous one.

The part about him not being a good person was easy to understand; Li Qi guessed that Ba Kui must have committed many murders and robberies.

As for him being generous, it was like now: Li Qi and he had shared life and death, fought demons together, so even though they didn't know each other well, he treated Li Qi as a friend, very sincerely.

"It's not a very glorious reason. I offended someone in my hometown and came out to escape disaster." Li Qi didn't hide it, but he twisted some things: "That fellow was too overbearing, always trying to seize my family property, so I killed him and fled."

"Splendid! I like men like you! Whoever dares to bully us, we must stab them to death with a knife! No one should ever look down on us men! Let's have a drink!" Ba Kui seemed particularly fond of such stories, raising his wine cup to clink with Li Qi.

Li Qi clinked cups with him and took a sip.

Then, he saw Ba Kui, while praising him, pull out the cleaver from his waist, showing off.

Almost instantly, Li Qi felt a sharp pain in his eyes!

Qi!

There was a blinding Qi in Ba Kui's cleaver.

It was red and extremely malevolent. Li Qi could even feel the hairs on his body standing on end, as if a knife was tentatively cutting across his face.

"Brother Ba Kui, that knife of yours?" He forced himself to endure the chilling sensation that assailed him, and casually asked Ba Kui.

That night, when he and Ba Kui fought the wild dog demon together, he had seen a faint red glow on this item, but at the time, he didn't take it seriously, believing his thick skin couldn't be harmed.

After all, the thick skin brought by the Ox Strength Technique could be said to be invulnerable to blades.

However, at this moment, he could perceive the sharpness of that cleaver.

What kind of Qi was that?!

Was this a Spiritual Tool like his willow branch? Was some kind of Qi infused into the cleaver, giving it a certain characteristic?

His willow branch was infused with Di Qi (Earthly Qi) Divine Qi, what was this one?

"What's wrong with my knife?" Ba Kui was a little surprised. Why did Li Qi look so... weak?

As if he was afraid of something.

"How many things have you cut with that knife of yours?" Li Qi finally calmed down and asked casually.

"Haha! You've asked the right person for this! This knife is my livelihood. Going up and down the mountains, chopping wood and hunting beasts, it all depends on this fellow. It's strange to say, other people's knives dull after a few uses, but my knife gets sharper the more I use it. I don't know how many pigs and rabbits it's killed, chopping trees and cutting meat, there's nothing it can't do." He thumped the blade, saying proudly.

Then, he mysteriously leaned in: "It's even been stained with quite a bit of human blood."

Then, he sat back: "Even the shaman in my hometown said that my knife is no longer an ordinary cleaver. It has Evil Qi in it, and even ghosts will retreat when they see it. I rely on this to travel all over the country!"

Li Qi listened to his boasts, looking thoughtfully at the knife.

So, this kind of Qi was called Evil Qi?

From the description, it seemed it wasn't obtained through some ritual or cultivation. The source of the Evil Qi... should be killing.

Killing people, killing wild beasts, killing living things.

It might even be more than just killing living things; killing the dead probably works too, like killing ghosts or zombies.

In any case, Li Qi noted down the source of this Qi.

Perhaps he could get some to increase his own strength.

After all, this didn't seem too difficult. Not to mention killing people, killing more pigs should be fine, right?

Thinking this, after finishing the meal and drinks, neither of them was drunk. After all, they both had cultivation methods, so they wouldn't get drunk from this rice wine, but their stomachs were round and full.

A rice cake with preserved vegetables and pickled radish, plus some minced meat or fatty braised pork belly, made both strong men eat very heartily.

"Well then, Brother Li Qi, we'll meet again if fate allows. I'll be going now!" Ba Kui greeted him, put on his basket, paid the bill, and prepared to head to Lianxia.

Li Qi watched him leave, then turned around himself and walked towards the inn.

As he walked, his speed increased, from walking to a jog, and then to a fast run!

It was already noon now, and Shen Shuibi should be awake.

So it was time to set off, to find Empress Luofu!

Li Qi clenched his fists, quickening his pace and increasing his speed.

Finding this person might lead to extra income!

New techniques, new power, only then could he truly stand tall.