"There's no need for the temple keeper to do this. I can just do it myself."
Ji Yuan didn't want to reject the temple keeper's kindness. He was afraid that the temple keeper would be too attentive and might even pick up food for him. Ji Yuan really didn't like others picking up food for him all the time, even if it was out of good intentions. It had been like this in this and past life.
The temple keeper was also a shrewd man. He knew how to handle things in a measured way and knew when to stop. He would never offend anyone and responded quickly after placing his chopsticks.
"Mr. Ji is a distant guest. I am showing hospitality as a host. By the way, everyone is here. Mr. Liu, Mrs. Liu, can we have dinner?"
"Master Zhao, you are the temple keeper, you have the final say."
Mr. Liu responded casually. Seeing that Ji Yuan had no objection, the temple keeper made the announcement without hesitation.
"Everyone, eat, eat!"
Everyone then picked up their bowls and chopsticks and started eating.
"Here, Madam, have a piece of longevity cake."
Mr. Liu held the bowl and picked up some food for his wife, and the people around him also started eating.
There were rich dishes on the table today. Mr. Liu not only brought fish and meat, but also a cook. Although the temple workers at the land temple could cook, their skills were limited after all. The cook brought by Mr. Liu was different. Every dish he made was delicious and fragrant.
Some of the dishes on the table were obviously specialties of Moyuan County or Tingliang State. Ji Yuan had never seen them before. He was already in a good mood, and when he picked up his chopsticks to taste these specialties, his mood became even better.
Although the temple keeper was eating, he was always keeping an eye on Ji Yuan. Seeing him smiling while eating, he felt relieved, because he was worried that the dishes would not be to his liking.
"Master, fill it up for you."
At the same time, a servant of the Liu family stood up, picked up the wine jug and filled it with wine for Mr. Liu, then poured some for Mrs. Liu, and then poured some for himself and others. When it came to the temple keeper, he waved his hand.
"Thank you very much, I can do it myself!"
The temple keeper took the wine jug, but did not pour wine for himself. Instead, he looked at Ji Yuan who was tasting the food.
"Mr. Ji, would you like to drink? This is the famous wine of our Moyuan County. Outsiders only know the name of Yuanmo, but they don't know that this Moyuan fragrant wine definitely tastes good."
Ji Yuan was a wine lover, so how could he not drink? He smiled and nodded. The temple keeper picked up the wine jug and filled it for Ji Yuan, and then poured for himself.
After taking a sip from the glass, Ji Yuan could taste the essence of Mo Yuan Xiang. This kind of wine has a slightly high alcohol content. It may seem average at first sip, but it is actually a wine with a very good aftertaste. You need to drink it slowly and savor the flavor before swallowing it.
Liu Yuanwai knew at a glance that Ji Yuan must have tasted Mo Yuan Xiang before or was a person who knew a lot about wine, otherwise a stranger who drank Mo Yuan Xiang for the first time would not be able to taste its flavor.
He had also been observing Ji Yuan for quite a while. He was wearing a plain white robe without any patterns or accessories, but he had an extraordinary demeanor and temperament. The jade hairpin on his head was not an ordinary item, so he must be from an important family.
"I wonder who this gentleman is from. Has he ever drunk Moyuanxiang before?"
This was the first time Mr. Liu took the initiative to talk to Ji Yuan.
It is normal for ordinary people to chat at the dinner table, Ji Yuan put down his wine glass and responded.
"Ji is a Dazhen person. I have never drunk Moyuanxiang before, but I have drunk quite a bit of wine, so I know a little more than ordinary people."
"Oh! It turns out to be the scholar from the Dazhen Dynasty!"
Everyone present, including Mr. Liu and the temple keeper, was shocked. Dazhen was not close to Moyuan County. For ordinary people, it was almost far away. In addition, the relationship between Zuyue Kingdom and Dazhen was extremely bad. It was extremely rare for a Dazhen caravan to come to Moyuan County occasionally. Most of the source ink from Dazhen was brought over by merchants from Tingliang Kingdom to sell, or smuggled from second-line merchants from Zuyue Kingdom.
"Then why did you come to Moyuan County this time? Can you tell me?"
"Ahem, um, Mr. Liu, Mr. Ji is a close friend of our temple and a distinguished guest of our temple. He may have other important matters, so let's not ask too much."
Mr. Liu knew that the man came here through smuggling and bypassed Zu Yue, so he didn't dare to ask more questions.
"Oh, yes, Master Zhao is right. Let's talk about something else. By the way, I heard from merchants who have been to Dazhen that Dazhen is now prosperous. I guess it must be a rich and powerful country, right?"
Ji Yuan smiled.
"Not as good as the best, but better than the worst. Dazhen is indeed okay, but Tingliang is not bad either."
"Alas, Mr. Ji, you are wrong. My Moyuan County is certainly not bad, but other places in Tingliang Country may not be the same. There are many people who are hungry and cold."
"Um."
Ji Yuan put away his smile and nodded. It did make sense.
"By the way, I also have a question for Mr. Liu and the temple priest. Have you ever heard of Daliang Temple?"
Although judging from the chess pieces, everything was fine with Monk Huitong, and now we know that Tingliang State is relatively stable, and although we are not sure about the details of Tianbao State, at least it is not really full of evil spirits, and the murderer who killed Mo Jiao has also been found.
But since they had arrived at the territory of Tingliang State, Ji Yuan just asked a few questions.
"Mr. Ji, do you know Daliang Temple? I have certainly heard of this temple. It is a famous Buddhist temple in northern my country. It is said that many eminent monks have come here and it is very effective. There is also an interesting story that has been spread over the years. I don't know if it is true or not."
When Mrs. Liu heard what Mr. Liu said, she covered her mouth and laughed, and even the temple keeper smiled.
"Is Mr. Liu referring to the monk in love?"
"Hahahaha... what else could it be? Of course it's that thing."
Seeing the smiles of these people, as well as the general smiles on the faces of the people around him, Ji Yuan inexplicably thought of something, and then a handsome face appeared in his mind. Well, this face had a bald head.
'Isn't that what I thought?'
"What is the matter with the monk lover?"
Ji Yuan pretended to know nothing and asked in confusion.
The temple keeper looked at Mr. Liu, and seeing that he seemed to want to speak, he shut up decisively. Sure enough, Mr. Liu took a sip of wine and spoke with a smile.
"Sir, you may not know that there is a great monk in Daliang Temple, whose Buddhist name is Huitong. Although he is not young anymore, he still looks very young and handsome. The cassock on his boat is even more dazzling. I don't know how many female pilgrims he has charmed, and there are also many wealthy merchants, nobles and other women who are attracted to him. There was even a ridiculous prince who went to Daliang Temple in person to ask Master Huitong if he could return to secular life..."
OK, it’s him!
Ji Yuan wanted to remain serious, but he couldn't help laughing.
"Haha, this is really interesting. Did Master Huitong agree?"
"Hahahaha, of course I didn't agree, but there are still people who keep thinking about it. For a while, Daliang Temple was very popular, but it was a little abnormal. There were an unusual number of female relatives!"
The temple keeper also added with a smile.
"So later on, Master Huitong probably got a little scared, so he simply stopped living in Daliang Temple and often went out to travel, sometimes for a year, sometimes for several years. I believe other monks who travel to cultivate Buddhism, but Master Huitong must have gone there to avoid women! It's a pity that no matter how long he was away, all his efforts would be wasted when he came back. A few years ago, he went back to Daliang Temple and was almost kidnapped by the princess. Hahahahaha..."
“Hahahahahaha…” “Yes, yes, hehehe…”
"Ha ha ha ha… "
Everyone in the temple kitchen was laughing, among them was Ji Yuan. It seemed that Monk Huitong was living a pretty comfortable life, well, at least it was quite exciting.
Although the "Sword Intent Post" was in his sleeve, considering that there were more than a hundred active little guys in it, Ji Yuan deliberately did not isolate the outside world's visual and auditory perceptions. He only unilaterally prohibited the sound from leaking out, so the "Sword Intent Post" was even more lively at this moment.
After laughing like that, the atmosphere at the table became noticeably more harmonious, and the toasting and pouring of wine became more ordinary. When asked by Mr. Liu and others, Ji Yuan also told many interesting stories, not limited to Dazhen, but all the things he had experienced over the years.
Some supernatural things were also talked about, but they were mostly preceded by a title of "heard" or "rumor". However, they were told in great detail, making the listeners feel as if they were personally on the scene. However, Mr. Ji's tone was always very calm, even more mysterious than some storytellers. Many people forgot to pick up their chopsticks several times and their hearts were pounding.
"Oh, why are these fish balls tasteless and not elastic at all?"
Mr. Liu suddenly called out, and took another fish ball with a spoon, and found that it had flavor.
The temple keeper immediately shouted exaggeratedly.
"Congratulations, Mr. Liu. You are eating fish balls that have been tasted by the God of Land. You will be blessed!"
When he said this, the temple keeper looked at Ji Yuan guiltily, fearing that the other party would expose him. After all, he had been making up this story for many years. He was slightly relieved when he saw that Ji Yuan did not move.
"Oh, yes, yes, yes. I've heard that things eaten by the God of Land will lose their original flavor. That!"
Mr. Liu gritted his teeth, put the half meatball back into his mouth, chewed it twice and swallowed it.
Ji Yuan could only pretend he didn't see it. This was indeed eaten by the land god, but it was too much to say that it would bring fortune and wealth. It was true that it had no nutritional value, and it would only fill the stomach if eaten too much.
The meal was a great pleasure for both the host and the guests. Even Ji Yuan had not expected it to be so enjoyable. When they returned to the room, the God of Land appeared quickly with a big box in his hand.
"Mr. Ji, I have prepared a box of top-grade pine soot ink for you. There are a total of 163 standard ink sticks. Don't worry, this is not all. I will help you get all the top-grade ink from Moyuan County. You can keep these for now!"
Ji Yuan bowed in thanks.
"Thank you, God of Land."
"Hey, as long as you like it, I'll take my leave now!"
The God of Land did not bother them any more and simply disappeared into the ground.
Ji Yuan didn't say that more than a hundred yuan was enough. It wasn't that he was not satisfied, but that the coin was definitely worth more good ink.
I walked to the box and picked up a piece of pine soot ink. It had patterns and gold threads on it, and there was a faint, unique scent of ink floating around. It was indeed better than the ones with small characters before.
He took out the "Sword Intent Post" and spread it on the table. Looking at the small words on it that seemed a bit unbearable, Ji Yuan said something to comfort the patient.
"Don't be impatient. The way you eat is too wasteful. You will feel bloated if you eat too much. It is not the best way for your cultivation!"
Ji Yuan quickly put the entire box of ink into his sleeve, leaving only an ink stick, and took out the inkstone, pen holder and wolf hair brush.
"Everyone, be quiet. I'll help you put on the ink."
Looking at this, all the little characters understood that the master was going to use a wolf-hair brush dipped in ink to paint on them. They were all extremely excited, and the entire page of "Sword Intent Post" kept swaying on the table as if there was wind blowing.