The Wei family manor is extremely large, and several places are luxuriously decorated, but no one lives there now. In an area deep in the backyard, there is a large house with lights on. Through the gaps in the doors and windows and the broken window paper, you can see a lot of shadows inside.
Although the little paper crane was very small, it flew very fast. It had just left Ji Yuan's side, and the next moment it had flown to a lighted house. The whole process was silent, and it finally landed on the window frame outside the house. Looking inside the house through a hole in the window paper, it seemed very lively inside, and guests kept coming in from a small door at the back.
There was a large round table in the room, on which many delicious dishes had been placed. Some people were moving chairs and placing stools, while others were carrying a hot pot and adjusting the charcoal fire.
"Come on, come on, put the chairs straight." "Put the warming basin here, and over there too."
The man who had been busy in the house was a very wealthy man with a fair complexion, a small mustache, and a smile on his face.
"Hahahaha, I'm late!"
A man trotted out from the small door at the back, hunched over. When he reached the door, he stood up straight and bowed to the people inside.
"Hahahaha, you're here just in time, just in time, you're not late, please come in quickly, please come in quickly."
"It's just a small gift. It contains Hongfuji's roast meat!"
"My dear brother, your gift is just right for the occasion. Hahahaha, just right for the occasion. Please come in quickly!"
The people inside and outside the house followed all the etiquette, from greetings to bows, but in the eyes of the little paper crane, it looked so strange. First of all, the strangest thing was the walking posture. In fact, when the people outside the house bowed, they subconsciously bit the rope wrapped around the gift in their mouths, leaving their hands free to salute.
"Uncle, I'm here, look what I brought!"
There was another young man, wearing a brocade robe made of silk, who came in excitedly from outside, holding a jar in each hand and shaking them excitedly.
"I can already smell the aroma of wine. We're short of wine today. You've come just in time. Come in!"
"Come on, come on!"
…
There were about twenty to thirty guests already in the house, including those who were arriving one after another. Most of them came with things in their hands or mouths, mainly food, and occasionally there were those who didn't bring anything at all. At this time, the faces of other guests who had already arrived in the house would immediately become ugly, but as usual, after exchanging pleasantries, they would still invite the other party in, and no one was driven away.
As the number of people increased, the atmosphere in the house quickly reached its peak and preparations for the banquet began.
The little paper crane laid its wings on both sides of the window hole, and a small head poked into the window hole, staring intently at the situation inside. This large round table was indeed one size larger than the usual one, but it could only seat twelve people at most. However, nearly thirty people in the room were all crowded around one table, which looked extremely funny.
What’s even more exaggerated is that with a table full of delicious food and fine wine in front of them, these twenty or thirty people in gorgeous clothes looked like they had never seen the world before. They were drooling at the sight of the delicious food and wine.
"Well, let's start eating!"
"Okay!" "Let's eat!" "I've been waiting for this sentence for a long time."
"Eat, eat, eat. I want chicken legs." "I want one too!"
"Pour the wine!"
All of a sudden, twenty or thirty people stretched out their chopsticks towards the table, each of them picked up the dish they wanted to eat, and some even started eating directly with their hands. Their eating manners were very exaggerated, and the wine jar was passed around, with people scrambling to pour the wine.
Ji Yuan walked slowly, as if taking a leisurely stroll, to the backyard. From afar he saw the brightly lit hall of the mansion, which was bustling with activity. The sound of cups clinking and drinking games played to liven up the atmosphere, and the aroma of food and delicacies was even richer.
Jin Jia followed behind Ji Yuan without saying a word. His eyes, which almost never blinked, seemed to reflect not only the lights, but also some other auras.
"Did you see that?"
"Your Majesty, they are all evildoers."
Ji Yuan shook his head.
"It's a monster, but it's not a bad thing. It's just a petty theft. Let's go visit someone."
Being used to seeing demons and monsters rampant and harming people in the land of Zu Yue, Ji Yuan found it quite interesting to occasionally see scenes like tonight.
With this thought in mind, Ji Yuan led Jin Jia directly to the door of the mansion, took a look at the little paper crane lying on the window, smiled, and then reached out and knocked on the door gently.
“Boom boom boom…”
There was a knock on the door. Although the sound was not loud, it was heard throughout the house. The twenty or thirty people who were eating and drinking enthusiastically inside all stopped at once. It took less than a breath for the noise to go down to complete silence, which showed how sharp these people's reactions were.
"Uh, is there a knock on the door?"
"It seems so..." "I don't smell anything..."
“Boom boom boom…”
There was another knock on the door, and everyone inside looked at each other.
"Will you open the door?"
The wealthy man who had been busy in the house put down the half chicken leg in his hand, wiped his hands on the table and said.
"Quickly clean up yourselves, I'll go open the door!"
Upon hearing this, the people in the room looked at each other's eating manners, quickly sat up straight, picked up the fallen chairs, and wiped the grease off their hands on their clothes.
At this time, the wealthy man had already reached the door. He straightened his clothes and looked outside through the hole in the window paper on the door. He saw a leisurely scholar and a tall and mighty follower. After thinking over his words in his mind, he opened the door.
"Squeak~~"
The moment the door opened, the bright moonlight coming in from outside seemed to briefly overshadow the firelight inside the house, but upon closer inspection, the light outside was obviously dimmer than that inside the house, so the previous feeling was regarded as an illusion.
"Uh, who is this gentleman? What brings you here so late at night?"
The wealthy man first bowed to Ji Yuan, and then asked a few questions in a kind voice. Everyone in the room looked at the door strangely, but there was complete silence.
If an ordinary person faced this kind of scene, he would definitely feel terrified, but Ji Yuan didn't care. He just looked around the room and then bowed gently to the wealthy man in front of him in return.
"My last name is Ji. I came to Luping City from another place. It was already night and the city gates were closed. I saw such a large manor here and wanted to stay overnight, but I found that the manor was deserted. I never thought that I could see a fire in the backyard, so I came here to take a look. If I have disturbed you, please forgive me! If it is convenient, can you allow me to stay for one night?"
As Ji Yuan was speaking, his peripheral vision fell on the room. He saw the mess on the table and the fact that most of the clothes of so many people inside were stained with oil. He couldn't help but find it funny.
"Well, sir, if you want to stay overnight, just find a place to rest..."
The attention of the wealthy man and almost everyone in the room was three-tenths on Ji Yuan and seven-tenths on the golden armor. Even in his current state, even though the energy and blood he displayed was not as strong as that of a martial arts master, the golden armor still gave people a sense of oppression that could not be ignored.
"Oh, by the way, if you two are hungry, you can also come to the banquet together. As the saying goes, guests from afar are welcome..."
"Then I will respectfully obey your orders!"
Without waiting for the other party to finish speaking, Ji Yuan stepped into the house, and Jin Jia followed in. The people near the outside of the house subconsciously stepped back and vacated several chairs near Ji Yuan and Jin Jia.
Ji Yuan's Dharma eyes had already scanned all the people in the room and saw clearly what they were. In fact, they were a large nest of foxes, the most common spirit animals.
These foxes are certainly not transformed monsters, but just artificial bodies. They cannot even retract their fox tails under their clothes or skirts, so they can only hide under their clothes.
"Not bad, not bad, a table full of delicious food, oh, and good wine!"
Ji Yuan walked to the table, glanced at it, reached out and pulled off a relatively clean chicken wing, brought it to his mouth and took a few bites.
At this time, the wealthy man also came back. Seeing that everyone else in the room was looking at him with resentful eyes, he had to try to smooth things over.
"Everyone, sit down, everyone, go on, come on, pour some wine for the guests!"
Having said that, everyone had no choice but to sit back. Fortunately, Ji Yuan did not take up a seat, but just stood aside eating chicken wings. The big guy Jin Jia stood behind Ji Yuan without moving.
"Sir, a toast to you." "And this strong man, please drink."
The wealthy man handed over two wine glasses. Ji Yuan smiled and took them directly. Jin Jia hung his arms at his sides, with an expressionless face and cold eyes, not moving at all. The more he looked at him, the more frightening his eyes became. The wealthy man stood beside Jin Jia and swallowed his saliva, not daring to even breathe.
At this time, Ji Yuan had already finished the wine in the glass, but because of the golden armor, the wealthy man was still frozen in place. The others felt that the atmosphere was not right, and they, who had already spoken many times more quietly, became quiet again.
Suddenly, a powerful and violent roar came from the window.
“Woof woof woof… Woof woof woof…”
"Ah!" "There's a dog—"
“Ouch…” “Run!”
"Bang..." "Bang..."
…
For a moment, everyone in the room fled in panic. Some opened a small door on the side and crawled, while others even threw themselves forward. Pieces of clothes shrank in mid-air, and foxes jumped out of them, jumping into the darkness outside the door and escaping. In just three breaths of time, the room was empty.
Ji Yuan turned his head to look towards the window. A paper crane had stretched its head into the room and was tilting its head. The barking of the dog just now was all due to the little paper crane. It knew that Hu Yun was very afraid of the barking of dogs. Judging from the reaction of the people here, many foxes might be afraid of it.
"I haven't said a word yet, but I've learned a lot of nonsense!"
When Ji Yuan was laughing and scolding, there was someone in front of him with a crying voice.
"Wuwu... Sir, no, Master, I have never done anything to harm others, please spare my life, please spare my life..."
The wealthy man still stood in front of Ji Yuan. It was not that he did not want to run. In fact, he was one of the foxes with the fastest reaction. But he could not run away because Ji Yuan had one foot on his fox tail.