The First Venerable of the Prosperous Age

The first half of this chapter, the bathing section, can be skipped.

The green light carried the two through the passage, where a faint light appeared at the end, and the two were taken to the kitchen of the Zhexianlou Restaurant.

As soon as Chang'an entered, he felt a choking sensation in his nose, but the scene in front of him surprised him greatly: a pot, a stove, and a board.

The simplicity of the place made him almost forget how magnificent it was outside.

At this moment, the black-robed master, with his mouth and nose wrapped in a cloth, was standing in the middle of the kitchen, with a wooden bucket and a large black vat beside him.

Only a few pieces of firewood were burning under the bucket. But the fire under the water vat next to it was burning several feet high, with thick white smoke billowing out.

Chang'an swallowed hard and asked, "Excuse me, which lady helped us take a bath?"

The poster frowned, pointed lightly at the water tank, and the green light carrying the unconscious Lu Xiaosan flew to a stop directly above the water tank, where he was scorched by the thick smoke.

Chang'an looked at the water vat with concern, "This isn't washing, it's practically boiling!"

At the same time, he was secretly pleased, thinking, "Fortunately, I'm not fortunate enough to enjoy it."

The landlord pointed his finger, and Lu Xiaosan plunged headfirst into the boiling water.

The sounds of "sizzling and crackling" were incessant.

"Ah—!" Lu Xiaosan finally woke up and screamed, but no matter how hard he struggled, he was trapped inside by the green light and could not escape.

Hearing such a terrible scream, the landlord showed no pity. He controlled the green light and made Lu Xiaosan spin like a top and smash into the bottom of the jar. Each time, he would only pull him out and smash him again after hearing the sound of his head hitting the bottom of the jar.

Although Chang'an felt sorry for Lu Xiaosan, deep down he still hoped that Lu Xiaosan could be brutally cleaned up like this.

The piston motion continued for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before Lu Xiaosan was like a piece of food being picked out. He was shaken clean of dirty water in the air, rubbed against the edge of the vat, and then picked out and tossed aside, his whole body emitting white smoke.

Seeing that the mistress had been dealt with, the poster's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed a little.

Chang'an felt both nervous and expectant as he thought he would be next.

Unfortunately, there were no girls to accompany the bath; instead, they were simply thrown into wooden tubs and thoroughly rinsed.

The so-called old rule is to let the person giving the order carry it out themselves.

For Chang'an, the water temperature in the wooden bucket was much lower than that in the vat, and the poster's technique was also much gentler.

Compared to Lu Xiaosan's pig-like screams, the scene of Chang'an taking a bath was much milder.

He closed his eyes, enjoyed a comfortable hot bath, and was then left next to Lu Xiaosan.

The landlord coldly said, "There are two pieces of clothing left on the table."

Chang'an snapped out of her reverie from the comfortable hot bath and responded with an "Oh." But the host was already gone, nowhere to be found.

Chang'an glanced back at Lu Xiaosan and saw that he had fainted again and was motionless. His body was red and white smoke was rising from it. The only good thing was that his body odor was almost undetectable.

Chang'an reached out to touch his forehead, and with a "sizzle," he was burned and quickly withdrew his hand.

In just half an hour, Lu Xiaosan had fainted three times.

This experience seemed to be telling him that these pains were just an appetizer, and that the real suffering was yet to come.

Meanwhile, Chang'an, warmed by the heat of his body, had already drifted comfortably into a sweet dream, awaiting a tomorrow even more beautiful than his dream.

The next morning, Lu Xiaosan, who was fast asleep, suddenly experienced a full-body spasm, as if his muscles had been tied into tight knots. He was in so much pain that he rolled on the ground, unable to resist.

After being awakened, Chang'an could only stay by his side anxiously, watching helplessly as he endured the pain alone.

It's unclear who suffered more during this period.

After an incense stick had burned, Lu Xiaosan slowly opened his eyes amidst Chang'an's shouts, and his consciousness gradually returned.

After confirming that everything was alright, Chang'an explained the whole story to him.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaosan became furious and quickly sat up, asking, "What do they want this Blue Fluorescent Pearl for?"

Chang'an shook his head. "I can't."

Lu Xiaosan gritted his teeth and thought, "Without the Blue Fluorescent Pearl, it will be useless in Qiantang. I have to find a way to get the Blue Fluorescent Pearl back first."

He patted his head in self-reproach, "It's all my fault for getting angry and letting my temper cloud my judgment, causing us to mess things up. In the future... in the future... oh dear, I can't guarantee I won't do it again!"

"It's alright, brother. Every cloud has a silver lining. This trip might not be all bad," Chang'an gently comforted him.

Lu Xiaosan chuckled self-deprecatingly, "It's alright, I'll take the blame for the bad things, you take the good things."

Chang'an smiled awkwardly, "How...how could that be? Besides, it's so embarrassing."

Lu Xiaosan gnawed on his fingernails. "Forget it, let's not think about that too much for now. Let's deal with the immediate problem first. Where are they hiding the Blue Fluorescent Pearl?"

"It should... have been taken by the landlord."

Lu Xiaosan was taken aback upon hearing this, "The poster? What poster?"

Chang'an said, "It's the person who gave me a bath yesterday."

Lu Xiaosan was startled. "Goodness, someone actually dares to give me a bath?"

He thought and thought, but in the end he just shook his head. "Hmm, I don't remember. What did that unlucky guy look like? I'll go find him!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the poster walked in with a sour face.

Seeing that the black-robed cook's face was even more sour than his own, Lu Xiaosan couldn't help but feel angry.

"Hey, why are we here? And why are you looking so grumpy?" Lu Xiaosan was as irritable as a bandit, and with his resentment, he threw all his questions at the cook in front of him.

“He is the owner of this place…” Chang’an reminded him calmly.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaosan became cautious and dared not slack off in the slightest.

"You...you're the cook, and also the owner of this place?!"

Seeing that the owner of the building didn't answer, Lu Xiaosan took a deep breath and asked seriously, "Let's not beat around the bush. Tell me, what will it take for you to return the Blue Fluorescent Pearl?"

After looking Lu Xiaosan up and down, the poster smiled contemptuously and said, "Your servant's clothes fit you quite well."

Enraged, Lu Xiaosan was about to attack, but Chang'an quickly grabbed him, saying, "No, we have no chance of winning against him..."

Lu Xiaosan forcibly suppressed his anger and said to the landlord again, "Do you think we are not worthy to negotiate with you?"

While washing the vegetables, the poster said, "It's not that you're not worthy, it's that you're not worthy!"

"What?" Lu Xiaosan exclaimed in surprise.

"All I want is Lan Yingzhu and him. You are just trash that can be discarded at any time."

The mighty demon king had never been treated with such humiliation, and immediately flew into a rage, charging forward.

But the green light was faster and more ruthless than him, forcefully pulling him behind him.

Lu Xiaosan's anger intensified, and he continued running, thus only managing to stay in one place.

The landlord kept his head down and continued washing the vegetables. Then he wrapped himself in a servant's apron and started washing the dirty dishes and plates left over from last night with a clattering sound, completely ignoring Lu Xiaosan, who was acting crazy on the spot.

Seeing his state, Lu Xiaosan gradually calmed down. "What exactly do you do for a living? Call your supervisor over here! Call that matchmaker with ADHD from yesterday."

Chang'an nodded in agreement, for the first time agreeing with Lu Xiaosan's point of view.

“Every sect has its forbidden areas, and this place is no exception. The kitchen is a forbidden area of ​​the restaurant. Unless something extremely serious happens, other sect members are not allowed to enter.”

The host spoke slowly, but his hands moved with incredible speed. In no time, he had polished the pile of bowls and chopsticks until they gleamed. He then sorted them and neatly arranged them on the table.

"Disciples aren't allowed in? Are outsiders like us allowed in?" Lu Xiaosan questioned.

Chang'an shook his head helplessly from behind, "That can only mean..."

"Did you understand it?" the poster asked abruptly after finishing clearing the dishes.

"You... what did you say? Ugh..." Lu Xiaosan was lifted into the air by the green light.

With his back to him, the poster said, "If you don't want to watch, I'll give you three other options. First, take your ID and go wherever you want. I guarantee no one will stop you."

"Secondly, you will stay in the building and do the hard work, but don't worry, I will feed you until you die."

Lu Xiaosan spat, "You think I'd stay in this dump until I die?!"

The poster's eyes suddenly turned cold. "Die here? You don't deserve it! When you're about to die, someone will take you where you're meant to be."

Lu Xiaosan was so enraged that he lost his temper again, shouting, "I'll give you three choices too!"

"First, hand over the Blue Pearl to me, then hire a carriage to take us out of the city!"

"Second, I'll do it now... Ah—!" Lu Xiaosan's body was twisted into an arc shape.

"I'll ask one last time, which number!" The poster's face was full of murderous intent, with no trace of playfulness left.

Lu Xiaosan forced a smile, "Go...go to your...mother..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chang'an ran to his side and said urgently, "Brother, please stop talking."

"You promised me! We'd get to Qiantang safely together!" Chang'an was so anxious she was about to cry.

Lu Xiaosan was stunned upon hearing this, then lowered his head and muttered, "The agreement... and the revenge we... we must take... such important things, and we haven't accomplished them yet..."

Thinking of this, Lu Xiaosan gritted his teeth, turned his head to the side, his face full of resentment, but in the end he silently bowed his head before reality.

The poster took a deep breath and said coldly, "If you want to stay, then you must abide by three rules."

"First, you are not allowed to step out of the kitchen on weekdays. You are only responsible for chopping wood and washing dishes here, so as not to disturb other guests if you go out."

"Second, every three days you have to take a shower and change your clothes."

"Thirdly, and most importantly: you must always keep your distance from me, and right now the distance between us is the closest I can allow. It's best not to even look at each other."

Lu Xiaosan joked, "What, are you afraid that if you get any closer to me, you'll melt?"