Chapter 31 Chapter 31 A kiss can detoxify
"The ingredients are safe, but the taste is too 'unsafe'." Noodles urgently shut down his taste buds to resist spitting out the sugar.
"Is it bitter?" Qin Sheng asked curiously.
Xu Zhaoyi was also a little curious, so after Noodles said that the points were safe, he took another one and ate it himself. Maybe Noodles' bad luck just now amused him, so he tasted sweetness.
He said, "It's very bland, with a slightly astringent sweetness. Maybe I'm not used to the noodles."
Noodles' skunk eyes were full of disbelief as he looked at his little father telling lies with open eyes, hesitating to say something. Well, it is understandable that adults don't want to reveal their current mood. Noodles was kind enough not to expose it.
In order to fit in, Qin Sheng also tasted one, then raised his eyebrows subtly. To be honest, he couldn't taste it either, but it should be different from noodles where you can't taste anything.
If the noodles taste like boiled water, he would probably taste like porridge, which symbolically enriched the taste to show respect for him as a living person.
"Glucose." He embellished the word a little to avoid the result sounding abnormal, like a machine.
Xu Zhaoyi glanced at him. Normally, if people eat something that tastes like grapes, they will just say it tastes like grapes and won't add sugar at the end. Glucose itself is slightly sweet, but Qin Sheng didn't just say it was sweet. It was a bit suspicious.
Noodles didn't have such keen observation skills, and immediately pestered Qin Sheng to blow one to it. Then it was shocked by the sinister adult world. Its host didn't even tell the truth!
In the end, Qin Sheng forced the bag of sugar and noodles into Xu Zhaoyi, the only one who could appreciate them normally.
The next day while waiting for the audience with Master Raphael, Xu Zhaoyi concentrated on practicing needle control. He had already experienced the fun and gained some inspiration for the application of new techniques.
In the kitchen, Noodles watched him make a seal with his five fingers, and five beautiful and mysterious starlights condensed at his fingertips. Finally, the five stars connected to form a blue flame, with the shortened silver needle hidden in it.
The flame condensed from the magic power had a silver needle as a carrier. Xu Zhaoyi snapped his fingers and the sparks followed the silver needle into a piece of pork with skin, leaving only a pinhole on the skin. But Noodles raised a kitchen knife that was almost bigger than his whole weasel and cut the pork in half, and found that a large part of the inside had been charred.
In general, there has been a significant improvement in attack power, speed, stealth and accuracy.
"Little daddy is awesome!" Skunk stood up and applauded, then gave Xu Zhaoyi a bottle of spiritual water to replenish his energy.
Qin Sheng was not idle either. After adding Lijia's contact information, he kept chatting with her. Lijia felt very sorry to have such a young, handsome and wealthy guest like him, and thought he was an ordinary person. Therefore, when Qin Sheng pretended to know little about Master Raphael's ability and status, Lijia told him everything she knew.
He has roughly understood that Raphael's cultivation level is at the top of the second level in this organization, and he is at the peak of the fifth level of Qi Refining, which is on par with the strength he can currently mobilize. It should not be a big problem for Xu Zhaoyi to challenge him, after all, he is the male protagonist and has an unlimited supply of spiritual energy behind him.
"Then it looks like my trip won't be in vain." Qin Sheng said casually, "I was originally reluctant to go abroad for this trip myself, but the woman who had arranged the connection back home stood me up and disappeared. I know she's also from Southeast Asia and in the same industry as you. I wonder if you've heard of a woman named Feng Lili? Before she disappeared, she even took a deposit from me!"
Li Jiaya laughed on the other end of the phone and said, "Mr. Tang, I do know her. She probably didn't stand you up on purpose. I heard that she offended a tough family back there and was hunted down, so she had to flee back here for refuge."
"Do you know where she is in Nanyang?" Qin Sheng asked, "I want to know if there is any possibility of getting my deposit back."
Hearing this, Ligaya hesitated for a moment, then said, "Honestly, I don't recommend you go looking for trouble with her over this. She's now under the protection of Master Karuna, the most powerful mage in their Southern Transmission Organization. Although you're their guest, they're likely frightened by the pursuit from you, and I'm afraid they won't reason with you, who's come to them on your own initiative."
"What if I pay your master to come forward?"
"I don't think my master would agree." Ligaya's voice was a little embarrassed. "We belong to two different organizations. We have an agreement that we don't leave our homeland, while they only expand outward. We have almost never had any conflicts."
Qin Sheng smiled regretfully: "Well, it seems that I won't get my money back."
Lijiaya hurriedly comforted him, "But I can guarantee that the service you receive from us is absolutely worth the money!"
"I hope so."
After hanging up the phone, Qin Sheng summarized the information he had received so far. Feng Lili belonged to an organization called Nanchuan. She herself was not the boss of the organization, but she was able to get protection from the most powerful wizard Karuna when she got into big trouble, which showed that her status in the organization was not low.
It is not difficult to guess from Ligaya's tone that her master can only be ranked in the second tier in his own organization, and his strength should not be comparable to that of the strongest magician Karuna in the Southern Tradition. Conservatively estimated, he is at least two levels higher, at the seventh level of Qi Refining or above.
They really can't afford to provoke Master Karuna at the moment, so if they want to cause trouble, it would be safer to start with Raphael.
At this time, Xu Zhaoyi walked over slowly with a half-drunk bottle of spiritual water and sat down.
[Have you finished exchanging information with that beautiful lady?]
[……Um. ]
Qin Sheng noticed a slight incongruity in the other party's tone, but his intuition told him that there was no need to delve into it, otherwise it would only embarrass everyone. So he paused for a moment and told him about his discovery and plan as if nothing had happened.
In fact, Xu Zhaoyi himself was frightened by the sarcastic tone in the question just now, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Qin Sheng didn't seem to notice.
To ease the awkwardness, he coughed lightly and chose to speak: "I have no objection. If we can subdue Raphael with both kindness and force, we can successfully open up the situation here."
"If my estimate is correct, he should be at the peak of the fifth level of Qi Refining. Are you sure?"
Qin Sheng didn't want to take action unless it was absolutely necessary. It would be best if Xu Zhaoyi was completely confident that he could handle it on his own.
Xu Zhaoyi gave him a surprised look. Who could guarantee such a life-or-death challenge? Slightly embarrassed, he unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip of water. Then he said, "Of course I'll do my best, but I still have to bring the noodles with me. If I fail, I'll rely on them to fart and save my life."
Qin Sheng: “…” Everything went dark before his eyes. Was he destined to be unable to escape this?
In fact, it is not impossible for him to take action. He thought of an excuse to deceive Xu Zhaoyi tonight to expose the cheat.
"By the way, do you have the antidote for the smoke?" Xu Zhaoyi called out to the back, "Noodles?"
"Yes!" Noodles ran over happily, jumped onto the sofa and landed in Xu Zhaoyi's arms: "I found the instructions for this vest. For those who are knocked unconscious by my fart, there is only one way to wake up immediately, besides waiting for the drug to metabolize itself!"
"What method?" Xu Zhaoyi asked flatteringly.
Noodles puffed out his chest: "My 'true kiss'."
"Really... what?" Xu Zhaoyi frowned in confusion, thinking he had misheard. He lowered his head and stared at the noodles in his arms to confirm: "Are you serious?"
"That's right!" Noodles swung his tail. "Isn't this simple? Wait until everyone is unconscious, and then I'll kiss you two awake one by one!"
Qin Sheng: "..." Let's not talk about the kiss or not, I'm sorry to hear your fart, my family.
Xu Zhaoyi tried to reason with him: "This is totally inconsistent with the logic of human physiological functioning."
Even if the king of heaven comes, the fact that a kiss can detoxify is only allowed to happen in fairy tales.
He definitely didn't have a problem with Noodle's skunk vest. After all, he even tolerated flies, right? He just didn't want to have an indirect kiss with Qin Sheng in that situation. That would be weird!
Noodles also tried to reason with him: "If you really want a scientific explanation, you can also understand that the moment my mouth, like a vest, touches a person's lips, it can transmit an invisible substance and energy into the body, prompting the body to secrete antibodies to unlock the medicinal properties of the smoke."
"...Okay." Xu Zhaoyi gave up trying to figure out this heresy that was even less reliable than metaphysics. Instead, he took a deep breath and said to Qin Sheng seriously, "I won't lose."
Don’t worry about how confident you are, as long as there is no possibility of losing.
Qin Sheng's eyes flickered as he nodded. He almost thought he saw the male protagonist halo above Xu Zhaoyi's head emitting a dazzling light - your male protagonist teammate has sent a strong signal to Tiandao Dad that he does not want to lose.
This one should be stable.
On the third night after arriving here, Lijiaya drove to pick them up in person. Qin Sheng originally thought that Lijiaya would take them to a deep mountain forest to meet Raphael in a gloomy cave, but he didn't expect that they would end up in front of an inconspicuous grocery store on the street.
When they got off the bus, a woman came out holding two cans of milk powder and had paid for them. The old man at the counter put the money into the cabinet. Lijiaya called him respectfully. Qin Sheng heard that it was a relatively ancient respectful title for lords or masters, which had a strong meaning of submission. Almost no one in modern society would use it.
The moment he passed by the woman holding the milk powder can, out of humanitarian concern for innocent infants and young children regardless of national boundaries, Qin Sheng asked Noodles to scan it and confirm that it was ordinary milk powder without any strange things mixed in.
Raphael was a slightly fat old man. He smiled at Qin Sheng and Xu Zhaoyi, just like how he usually treated customers coming to the grocery store. Only when he spoke to Lijiaya did he reveal a condescending attitude.
Lijia seemed accustomed to it. She made tea for them, closed the door of the grocery store, and then retreated to the small courtyard at the back.
Raphael took a sip of tea and spoke first, "Mr. Tang, your information in the client manual states that you need a change of fortune in your business, but I can clearly see from your face that you have good fortune in wealth and have no such concerns. So, perhaps you could explain what you really want me to do for you."
In fact, Raphael tried to see from his face what was really bothering Qin Sheng, but unfortunately, he could only see some irrelevant things. Nothing else could be seen, as if it was deliberately covered up. This also made him realize that the trouble this guest encountered was probably not simple.
He turned his head again to observe Xu Zhaoyi, who had been holding the skunk and playing with it silently since entering the room. Apart from the fact that both his parents had passed away, he was completely unknown to the public and there was no useful information about him. It was unknown whether there was no information originally or if it was also covered up.
Qin Sheng didn't delay the conversation. He took out the small box that had been given to him by the guardian before he came to Nanyang. It was used to kill Xu Zhaoyi's parents. He placed it on the table and asked, "Master, do you recognize this?"
The ominous information left on the box piqued Raphael's interest. He picked it up and examined it for a few seconds before saying with certainty, "It's the Southern School's method. It uses my own hair, the blood of my loved ones, and a curse cast personally at the cost of my life. Oh, and the dried petals of Lycoris radiata exude the aura of the underworld, which can attract the souls of the recently deceased."
He then looked at Qin Sheng sharply, "Lijiaya told me that you asked her about Fenglili and Karuna. If I'm right, the story about that woman taking your deposit and running away is false. You came here specifically to cause trouble for her, right?"
"Yes." Qin Sheng smiled and said, "I know what you want to say, but Master, there is no need to rush to reject me. You can take a look at this first."
He took out a bottle of spiritual water and unscrewed the cap. Pure spiritual energy emanated from it, and Raphael's pupils shrank instantly.
Qin Sheng pushed the bottle towards Raphael: "This is my sincerity, and it is also my bargaining chip. I hold the top secret of small-batch purification of spiritual energy. I use this as a reward, and it should be worth any cultivator to do anything for me."
Raphael looked uncertain. He tried to stretch out his hand and put his palm against the mouth of the bottle. The spiritual energy surged up and was absorbed into his body. A sense of unobstructedness that he had never experienced since he started practicing spread throughout his body, and he felt relaxed and happy.
Greed, malice, fear, and struggle flashed in the eyes of the slightly fat old man one by one, and finally turned into a sigh. He knew that he could not refuse.
But he couldn't agree easily. He smiled and said, "Mr. Tang, do you know what you look like to me now?"
Qin Sheng smiled. "Like a child parading through the streets with gold bricks but unable to protect himself?"
"It seems you have a backup plan. For the sake of future stability in our cooperation, please let me know this."
Raphael was frank. If Qin Sheng did not have the ability to protect the BRIC, he would never cooperate wholeheartedly and accept that pitiful reward like a dog wagging its tail and begging for mercy. It would be better for Qin Sheng to give up that idea from the beginning.
"Of course, but it needs to be kept secret. You know how many people will flock to it if this secret gets out, and it won't do any good for you or me."
"Okay, when?"
"Any time."
This sentence made Raphael's attention focus on Xu Zhaoyi again: "This...Mr. Su, is he a cultivator?"
In his eyes, Qin Sheng and Xu Zhaoyi were both ordinary people without any cultivation. Although Qin Sheng's behavior and laughter were normal, his lack of energy and blood was very obvious, and his body was weaker. If there was a cultivator with hidden strength between the two of them, Xu Zhaoyi was more likely to be that person.
"Yes." Xu Zhaoyi raised his eyes at this time, stood up with noodles in his arms and said, "Please."
Qin Sheng went to the backyard. Li Jiaya was very surprised to see him escape alone, but she never questioned her master's decision, so she didn't ask anything.
The two of them sat in the yard drinking tea and chatting. Qin Sheng thought of the candy he had made that day and suddenly asked, "Can someone eat your candy and not taste it?"
Ligaya shook her head. "I haven't heard of it. You know, anyone who has the opportunity to come into contact with me and receive this kind of candy from me is unlikely to be the type to be emotionally indifferent. Most people experience strong flavors when eating it: jealousy, hatred, greed, love. Different people experience different flavors when eating it in different states of mind, but in reality, they are all the same."
——These people all have strong desires, otherwise they wouldn’t be here.
Qin Sheng understood a little bit. He couldn't taste it, probably because what he was doing now actually had little to do with his own wishes.
He doesn't remember much about his past. Noodles said that he died before he traveled through time, and the memories of the other world would slowly fade away in his mind. It's not that he has forgotten them completely, otherwise he would become a fool. At least his survival instincts are still there, but he can't remember anything specific when he thinks about it seriously.
Noodles explained that this was the price of time travel, and it was not the same as the rebirth of indigenous people like Xu Zhaoyi.
After becoming 'Qin Sheng', he was swept forward by the sudden second life and the accompanying difficulties and opportunities. As for himself, he didn't have much room to think, and he didn't know what he should think about.
But this feeling is not bad. At least he is in a desperate situation but he can always stay out of it mentally. He can look at many things more rationally and make the best choice. Qin Sheng is quite satisfied with his solid mental state.
As for the part of his past life memories that was gradually fading from his mind, he was not too curious about it. That part belonged to the debts that were settled after death and had no effect. He would not want to get to the bottom of it. It was simply meaningless.
Not everyone has to know how they came into this world to feel that their life is meaningful. Similarly, it is not a serious matter if you cannot be buried in your own ancestral tomb.
"Is it tasteless, Mr. Tang?" Lijiaya thought about the reason why he asked this and asked in surprise.
Qin Sheng smiled and said, "Just curious."
"Okay!" Ligaya shrugged. She didn't know whether he believed it or not, but it didn't matter.
After chatting with Lijiaya for about half an hour, the door leading to the other end of the store was opened again. Xu Zhaoyi came out supporting Raphael, who had blood on the corner of his mouth, with a rare look of helplessness on his face.
He said awkwardly, "Well, this was my first time battling someone, and it was a challenge of a higher level, so I wasn't very careful with my attack..."
Raphael, who understood a little Chinese, twitched his eyes a few times. Ligaya came back to her senses from her daze and immediately exclaimed, ran over to help her master sit down, then stood between the two sides and stared at them defensively.
Qin Sheng raised his eyebrows when he saw this. It seemed that Xu Zhaoyi's actual strength was much stronger than they had imagined. This was probably related to the power of his martial arts.
"Are you okay?" Although nothing seemed to be wrong, Qin Sheng still asked.
"I'm fine." Xu Zhaoyi shook his head.
On the other side, Raphael sat cross-legged and adjusted his breathing for a while, then he exhaled lightly and asked Ligaya to step aside.
After they decided the winner, Xu Zhaoyi hurriedly picked him up from the ground and poured a bottle of spiritual water into his mouth without saying a word, so his injury was not serious now.
At this time, Noodles slipped out, kicked his legs and jumped onto Qin Sheng's legs, reporting the situation to him.
[This is so funny, host, you don't know. At first, Little Daddy was acting like he was facing a formidable enemy, and that old man actually took it seriously. But then Little Daddy unleashed a powerful attack, and he faced Little Daddy's full-strength attack head-on. He was injured before he even started. He then stalled for half an hour, all because one of them was injured and the other was a little exhausted. But in the end, Little Daddy still won!]
After Noodles finished laughing, he began to analyze. Xu Zhaoyi's overall strength against the enemy should be above Raphael. Even if there was no surprise attack at the beginning, the final result would still be the same.
First of all, although Raphael has a higher level of cultivation, the content of his cultivation is complicated and his attack power is not as strong as Xu Zhaoyi's. Secondly, Xu Zhaoyi has never lacked spiritual energy since his spiritual roots awakened. He will not be timid when taking action, fearing that it will be difficult to recover after consuming too much. This alone has laid the foundation for victory or defeat.
Although Xu Zhaoyi lacked experience and used a big move at the beginning, which led to lack of strength afterwards, he also insisted on not drinking spiritual water to cheat. In the subsequent "chicken fight" segment, he won with his own ability.
Raphael would not disagree with this result.
Qin Sheng did not comment on this process. After all, winning is winning, and it is more than just winning. This old man must have guessed the origin of Xu Zhaoyi's strength that allowed him to challenge opponents of higher levels.
Sure enough, although Raphael lost, he was not dejected. They were not life-and-death opponents. The stronger Xu Zhaoyi was, the more it proved the correctness of choosing to cooperate with them.
"That's all for tonight. We'll meet up some other time. Master, don't worry. My goal is to have a long-term partner. I won't give you any difficult tasks, like killing Master Karuna single-handedly."
After Qin Sheng said this, Raphael became visibly more relaxed, and his smile became a little more genuine. He waved his hand and asked Lijiaya to send the two guests back first.
Lijiaya sensibly apologized to both of them for her previous misbehavior, and then made a gesture of invitation.
Xu Zhaoyi was still reviewing the fight in his mind and did not react for a while. Qin Sheng had no choice but to pick up the noodles first, and left two bottles of spiritual water on the small table in the yard, then stretched out his hand and waved in front of Xu Zhaoyi.
"Aci." Qin Sheng reminded softly, "It's time to go back."
Xu Zhaoyi came back to his senses and slowly turned his head to look at him, staring at him for a long time with a complicated expression. After looking at Qin Sheng so confused, he pursed his lips and walked out.
Li Jiaya first looked at Qin Sheng, then looked at Xu Zhaoyi, whose pace was so fast that only his back was left, and hurriedly jogged to catch up.
[He...what's going on?]
Qin Sheng followed slowly, not looking angry but a little aggrieved, thinking in confusion.
Could it be that he was actually injured in the fight just now? That didn't make sense. Xu Zhaoyi wasn't such a hypocritical person. He wouldn't have been injured without telling him and let him guess awkwardly.
Noodles, with a God's perspective, covered its little mouth with its two paws, and the weasel's fur became even more fluffy. This time it was really about to die of laughter.
Su Cizhao, Ah Ci...
How could it become Aci!
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