Chapter 125: Fireside Night Talk (Seven): Did Master Get Drunk? Part 2

Her gaze shifted from the girl’s shoulders to Shang Shan, who was squatting by the furnace anxiously watching them. She rummaged in the pouch. “How much does my stupid disciple owe you? Let’s settle it.”

Qin He took the money pouch. Hearing this, she perhaps recalled what Shang Shan had bought with the borrowed money. Her face flushed uncomfortably at first, then she shook her head. “No need, I wasn’t planning on making her repay…” Before she finished, several ingots of silver were stuffed into her hand.

Mu Qian Tan put away the storage pouch. “Keep the extra for yourself.”

Qin He stared down at the money for a good while before stowing it all away with the little floral pouch. She bowed deeply. “Thank you, Immortal.”

“Go eat.”

She held the bow for a long time before straightening up. After taking two steps, she turned back, removed the overcoat, and offered it back. “You should have this back.”

Mu Qian Tan made another not-so-funny joke. “You look down on me?”

“No,” Qin He denied quickly, lowering her head with trembling lashes. A moment later, she looked up. “Your health isn’t good. You need it more than I do.”

Mu Qian Tan could not help feeling a bit depressed. How did everyone know about her poor constitution?

As they walked back together, Shang Shan saw they were both fine and raised her hands high with a laugh. “Great! You didn’t fight!”

Qin He sat down cross-legged. “Yao’e Immortal has been very kind to me. It was I who was ignorant before.”

The child was as polite and proper as her master. Mu Qian Tan had done what she wanted smoothly, yet she inexplicably felt tired without knowing why. She did not want to wait any longer and prepared to brave the heavy snow to return and rest.

Before setting off, she thought about whether there was anything else undone today to avoid trouble later. Sure enough, two things came to mind. One was that she had not bought the materials to make the golden dragon-locking ring for the stupid dragon. The other was that Red Satin had not yet reported to her.

Her forehead throbbed faintly. Mu Qian Tan turned to speak with Fu Li when she suddenly heard flustered footsteps from below the steps. Then, a person burst in through the snow, utterly disheveled, face full of tears, body covered in snow—it was Nan Yayin.

“Li, Master, Master,” Nan Yayin had just climbed the last step when she collapsed to her knees as if she had used up all her strength. She weakly clutched at Fu Li’s robe hem, her face deathly pale, her voice shattering. “Someone just came to tell me that my mother has fallen ill again. She’s unconscious and won’t wake no matter how we call. Please go see her, Master. You can do whatever you want to me—just please treat her again. I beg you…”

By the end, it was an unbearable sob, but that beautiful voice sounded moving no matter what. Fu Li was stunned for a moment before reacting. She seemed to relish this begging posture and said unhurriedly, “Say it again.”

Still kneeling, Nan Yayin bent down to tug at her robe hem, her forehead touching the icy floor. As if knowing what she wanted, she repeated, “Please, I beg you. Please, I beg you.”

Fu Li was in a great mood. She pulled her robe free and pushed her away, looking down from above. “Since you’re so sincere, I’ll reluctantly go take a look. I brought in the best people, but I can’t guarantee a cure. Don’t make a fuss later.”

Nan Yayin straightened up. Her throat was so hoarse it took effort to speak. “Okay, okay. It doesn’t matter. As long as you’re willing to look, that’s enough.”

She had probably fallen hard just now. She tried several times to get up from the floor by supporting herself but failed each time. Fu Li watched her struggle without offering any help. Qin He and Shang Shan couldn’t bear to watch and both stood up to support her from either side. Nan Yayin thanked them incoherently, already completely flustered.

It seemed her mother’s condition was very serious. Fu Li did not want this bargaining chip who could tie people up to just die like that, so she prepared to set off. Mu Qian Tan saw this and called out to stop her, informing her of the things she wanted to buy.

Fu Li listened and said casually, “Upper Immortal, just take whatever you want. You are my sisters’ Master, no need to pay.”

This was probably the only benefit brought by the plot change. Mu Qian Tan continued, “I want to use that to forge some things. The craftsmen outside don’t have good skills and they skimp on materials. Your family specializes in this, so you should know more about it. Do you have any craftsmen you can recommend?”

Fu Li said, “Since you’ve come to the Radiant Palace, you should know there are no craftsmen better at making things than those in my palace. Why go outside? Just forge it directly here. Later, I’ll have someone send the catalog to your room.”

Mu Qian Tan said, “That works perfectly.”

Nan Yayin listened to their conversation. Even though her heart burned with anxiety, she couldn’t urge them to hurry and could only tremble as tears kept falling nonstop.

Qin He stared fixedly at Mu Qian Tan’s profile. She couldn’t understand how the person who had just handed her the cloak for fear she would be cold could turn around and ignore someone else’s suffering. Shang Shan angrily called out, “Talk about it later, Master! We’re in a hurry right now!”

That woman naturally ignored her. Shang Shan gritted her teeth and went to tug at Fu Li. “Hurry up!”

Fu Li staggered from her pull. “What’s the rush? Fine, fine, stop pulling. Let’s go.”

And so, the third barbecue banquet ended just like that. None of the banquets hosted by this unlucky Fu Li ever had a good beginning and end.

The four of them disappeared into the heavy snow. The corridor fell silent enough to hear a pin drop.

After handling the first matter, she should have gone back to rest, but Mu Qian Tan stayed silent for a moment before sitting down on the topmost step again.

She looked back at the wine flask Fu Li had prepared, picked an unopened one, removed the seal, and a rich aroma assaulted her. She gazed at the swirling snowflakes, drinking the wine that was so sharp it burned her stomach, letting her thoughts drift empty.

She was truly muddled. She had actually said those words to Qin He and even given away the rusty sword. Wasn’t that just showing her vulnerability? What’s more, to someone who was already a threat to her…

Though she had these thoughts in her heart and regretted it, she also did not regret it too much.

Even though she knew there were risks that could not be ignored, if she did not do something, she probably could not forget the sight of that little girl crying for her sister.

She always felt… that her own little sister in the Modern World had cried like this too.

She took another sip of wine. This time, she drank too quickly, and the cold, burning liquid went down the wrong pipe. Mu Qian Tan coughed violently, as if she were going to cough up her lungs, until her entire face and even her neck turned bright red before she finally stopped.

She wiped the wine from her lips, clutched her burning chest, and lowered her gaze to catch her breath. The heavy snow did not fall on her, yet it seemed to weigh down her back.

Once upon a time, she had sat on steps like this too…

“Master.”

This soft call seemed to come from a dream, ethereal and illusory. A few more sounds followed before it finally landed real. Mu Qian Tan was slightly startled and looked toward the person who had returned, climbing the steps step by step. “You didn’t go?”

Shang Shan brushed off the snow covering her body and jumped up, patted her butt, and sat shoulder to shoulder with her, radiating heat like another stove. “I didn’t want to leave you here alone, so I arranged for Qin He, who’s even more capable than me, to go along. She’ll tell me tomorrow how Nan-jie’s mother’s situation is.”

She turned her head, wanting to help her catch her breath. “Why are you drinking?”

Mu Qian Tan elbowed her hand away and took a sip of wine. “None of your business.”

Shang Shan said, “Can I drink with you?”

Mu Qian Tan warned, “If you get drunk and freeze to death in the snow, I won’t care about you.”

Considering her own alcohol tolerance, she would probably be the one freezing and drowning in the snow. Shang Shan gave up on the idea, sniffed with her nose tip, turned around enticed by the aroma, grabbed all the barbecued meat from the grill plate and ate it, then patted her belly in satisfaction.

Hearing the swallowing sounds, Mu Qian Tan scoffed, “Didn’t know you ate just now.”

Shang Shan wiped the oil from her hands. “I was worried about you earlier, afraid you all would argue and be unhappy.”

“Do I need you to worry about me?” Mu Qian Tan downed a big gulp of wine. Her throat burned like fire, her eye corners reddened from the fumes, and she murmured dreamily, “Take care of yourself…”

There were still a few golden plates on the ground. Shang Shan had no appetite to eat anymore and wanted to reach out to support the somewhat swaying woman. “Don’t drink anymore, Master. Too much wine will make you uncomfortable.”

Her lower lip slipped between her teeth and, when released, bore a row of bite marks. Her index finger brushed her eye corner. Mu Qian Tan’s brows and expression remained unchanged, yet she breathed deeply, finished the last sip of wine, threw the empty flask down the steps, where it rolled away with a gurgle.

She supported herself on her knees to stand. “Winter is for drinking to warm the body. You don’t even understand this little thing, idiot.”

Though the wine tasted sweet, its alcohol content was not low. Downing a whole flask in one go, unless one had exceptional tolerance, one could barely speak coherently—but her tolerance was only average. As soon as she stood, she couldn’t steady herself and fell back down.

Perhaps the alcohol numbed her nerves, Mu Qian Tan couldn’t control her expression, revealing a hint of bewilderment and confusion. She didn’t understand why she couldn’t stand up. Were these steps opposing her? Hadn’t they heard of the Demonic Evil Immortal’s prestige?

Anger surged in her heart. This time, she used all her strength to stand and charged forward fiercely, but her legs went soft and she pitched forward. Before her eyes, the steps loomed large. In the end, however, she did not crash into the steps but landed in an unusually hot embrace.

“Master! You scared me to death! What are you doing?!” Shang Shan thought she was going to tumble down and broke out in cold sweat. She scrambled down to catch her. The unusual heat from the person in her arms made her realize something was wrong.

Her Master… was drunk?