Liu Yunqing had only asked a very ordinary question, but the waiter's expression changed drastically.
He looked around first, and only relaxed slightly when he saw that no one else was around, but his voice still carried a hint of fear.
"I'm a law-abiding citizen, why would I steal a cup of Lucky Tea?"
"Senior, you can't wrongly accuse innocent people!"
Upon hearing the waiter's words, Ruan Qing immediately spoke up to confirm:
"You locals won't let us drink Lucky Tea?"
The waiter blinked, suddenly realizing something, and turned to leave, but Liu Yunqing stopped him with a raised hand, looking at Ruan Qing and saying:
"What are you saying? Good Luck Tea is naturally only for entertaining guests. If everyone drinks it, how much Good Luck Tea will the city lord have to provide?"
After saying this, Liu Yunqing softened her expression and said to the waiter:
“I have a nephew whose spiritual roots are not good. His family wants to send him to Biyue City to find a job, but they also hope that he can drink a cup of Lucky Tea to see if his luck will improve.”
"So, can I have some Lucky Tea here before I come in to work?"
The waiter looked left and right, then chuckled, his guard instantly relaxing. He lowered his voice and said:
"As expected, the senior knows how to find a solution, but I still don't recommend doing it this way."
"Why?" Liu Yunqing asked, puzzled. Seeing that the waiter didn't know how to explain, she asked more specifically:
"Does that mean people who have drunk Lucky Tea are not accepted in the city?"
"If it's that strict, what if someone who can't resist their curiosity drinks it? Wouldn't they be beaten to death?"
These words seemed to touch a raw nerve with the waiter, a flash of sorrow crossing his eyes before he sighed and said:
"He'll definitely get beaten to death, my friend... sigh..."
These words left the others somewhat at a loss for words.
As they remained silent, Wuchen asked:
"Did you see it with your own eyes? Did you witness your friend being beaten to death?"
If anyone else had said this, they would probably have been beaten to death on the spot, but Wuchen said it, and what was clearly an offensive statement became a simple request for verification.
The waiter paused for a moment, then shook his head and said:
"I didn't see it with my own eyes, but the next day, he appeared on the street as a pile of rotten flesh."
"There are many such examples. Although each person died in a different way, they were all punished for stealing and drinking the Lucky Tea."
The waiter, being in the thick of it, might not have noticed anything amiss, but Liu Yunqing and his group came with suspicion, and immediately recognized the oddities.
However, the group obviously wouldn't reveal the truth, and instead continued to ask the waiter:
"So you just suggested that we shouldn't send workers who have drunk Lucky Tea before they've joined Biyue City, does that mean it's also not allowed if they drank it before?"
The waiter waved his hand and said:
"Whether it will work or not, I don't know. But there have been people who tried to do this before, but after drinking the Lucky Tea, they never came back."
As the waiter collected the spirit stones from the table, he remarked with some emotion:
"Perhaps they've had some good luck and don't want to come to work anymore."
"However, I think it's better for people to work honestly. Trying to scheme and take shortcuts will probably not end well."
After saying this, the waiter composed himself, resumed his polite demeanor, and bowed to the group, saying:
"Please wait a moment, seniors, I will serve you tea shortly."
Unfortunately, by the time the waiter returned with the tea, the figures of the people at the table had already appeared in other teahouses and restaurants.
Fortunately, their efforts weren't in vain.
To avoid arousing suspicion, they didn't inquire too much from just one place. After visiting several places, they finally found a breakthrough.
The group found out that some people lived near Biyue City and wanted to work there, but after drinking the Lucky Tea, they somehow stopped coming.
"As before, we will continue to divide into three groups, with each group responsible for one family."
After Liu Yunqing finished assigning tasks, the three groups immediately headed to those households.
Liu Yunqing and Ruan Qing were lucky; when they arrived at the small farmhouse, an old woman was airing out her quilts.
The two exchanged a glance, and Ruan Qing put on a charming girlish smile and went to greet her.
"Grandma, is this Liu Xiangqin's house?"
The old woman patted the quilt expressionlessly, but when she heard the name "Liu Xiangqin," she paused her patting and glanced at Ruan Qing indifferently.
Ruan Qing felt a little embarrassed and turned to look at Liu Yunqing. Seeing the other party nodding encouragingly at her, Ruan Qing smiled again and continued:
"Grandma, we are Xiangqin's friends. We haven't seen her for many years, so we came here to see her. Where is she?"
Upon hearing this, the old woman finally stopped what she was doing. Her stiff neck, as if a mechanism were turning, slowly twisted towards Ruan Qing, revealing a strange smile that startled Ruan Qing so much that she couldn't help but take a big step back.
If Liu Yunqing hadn't been supporting her lower back, she would have screamed out long ago.
But the old woman, seemingly unconcerned about Ruan Qing's attitude, spoke in a voice as thin as a broken bellows:
"Let's go see the cemetery on the back hill."
He really died!
Ruan Qing and Liu Yunqing exchanged a glance, then turned to each other with hurt expressions and said:
"She's dead? How did she die? We haven't seen each other for only a few years, how could such a terrible thing happen to her?"
The old woman didn't respond, but finally turned her gaze to Ruan Qing and Liu Yunqing.
After scrutinizing her for a moment, the old woman sneered:
“You are not Xiangqin’s friends. How could she possibly make friends with people like you?”
Ruan Qing felt awkward again. She looked at Liu Yunqing, wanting to say something to explain, but then she saw the old woman turn her gaze away again and walk away hunched over in one direction.
"Didn't you want to see Xiangqin? Come with me."
Ruan Qing looked troubled, while Liu Yunqing pursed her lips, lifted her foot, and followed the old woman. Seeing this, Ruan Qing naturally had no choice but to follow as well.
The village is very small, with only a few scattered households, and the distance between each household is quite far.
The village wasn't far from the mountains behind it; it would only take a few Foundation Establishment cultivators a few steps to walk there. However, following behind the old woman, the three of them walked for the time it takes to drink two cups of tea.
"It's...it's right there."
This pace of travel clearly exceeded the old woman's physical capacity, and she was panting even more heavily as she spoke.
But she refused to let Liu Yunqing and Ruan Qing take her; she insisted on walking over by herself.
Seeing the old woman's terrible condition, Liu Yunqing took out a pill to strengthen her constitution and handed it to her.
The old woman didn't even look at him, her attitude cold, even somewhat hostile, as she refused:
"Take it away, I don't want anything from your immortals."
Liu Yunqing seemed to be deep in thought, then finally nodded, put away the pill, and quickly stepped forward to check Liu Xiangqin's grave.
The small grave, with only a piece of rotten wood bearing the hastily carved words "Tomb of Liu Xiangqin".
The person who carves the tombstone is likely not very good at writing; their handwriting may be ugly, or even wrong.
It looks like it was made by an old woman.
When Ruan Qing saw Liu Yunqing approaching, she quickly went to her side and transmitted her voice:
"There's nothing much to see here, just a small mound of earth. The body has decomposed into nothing but bones... but the skeleton is still relatively intact."
Liu Yunqing said nothing, walked to the grave, respectfully offered sacrifices, cleaned the weeds off the grave mound, then stood up and turned to ask the old woman:
"Grandma, you know how Xiangqin died, and you also know why we've come, right?"
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