Seeing that things were not going well, Li Yu and the others exchanged a look. With the tacit understanding they had formed since childhood, they understood from each other's glances that they would not be able to deal with Li Yan this time. The few of them were extremely surprised. Although Li Yan had some tolerance for alcohol back then, he would not have been able to defeat two of them. Li Yu then used the excuse of going to the toilet and gave instructions to a few of them.
"From the looks of it now, Brother Yan is not like us anymore. He became a disciple of Strategist Ji several years ago. I'm sure you've all heard of Strategist Ji. He's a first-rate master of the pugilistic world. Brother Yan must have already received his true teachings. What we're seeing tonight is the legendary internal energy. I often see those pugilistic heroes coming and going in my restaurant. They are clearly drunk, but with a circulation of their internal energy, it turns into clear water, and then they call for more wine. One person can drink several jars and still be sober."
After hearing this, Li Shan nodded frequently at the side. His blacksmith shop was also a place that pugilistic heroes often frequented, and his knowledge was no less than Li Yu's.
"In that case, how can we get Brother Yan to tell the truth?" a sturdy young man asked, shivering. After pulling up his pants, he tightened his belt and said.
"I think we won't get any advantage from Brother Yan. Why don't we..." As Li Yu said this, he lowered his voice. Standing outside the latrine, he then gestured with his eyes in a direction from the latrine. Over a row of main houses, a section of a tall locust tree's branches and leaves was exposed.
"Ah? You want to make those two noble ladies talk? We'd better not anger them," another young man said with some trepidation.
"Da Liuzi, you idiot. It's not like we're really going against them. We're just trying to find a way to get the noble ladies to drink a little more, and then take the opportunity to ask a few questions," Li Yu said.
"Is that so? Will that work?" the young man called Da Liuzi asked with some apprehension.
"Come, we can do it like this..." Li Yu lowered his voice.
Li Yan was playing a drinking game with three or four people. But the four people beside him looked frustrated. They felt as if Li Yan had taken some kind of aphrodisiac. They had already changed the drinking game three times, but Li Yan still won more than he lost. And Li Yu and the others seemed to have fallen into a cesspool, having been gone for so long.
Li Yan looked at the four with a smile. If he wanted to win, he could make these few lose so badly that they wouldn't know which way was north, south, east, or west. So he had deliberately lost twice just now. Li Wei, on the other hand, did not take sides and watched with great interest as his own brother fought with others in a drinking game.
At this moment, Li Yu and the others staggered over. Seeing them, the four at the table couldn't help but say angrily, "Even if you had a child, it would have grown to be one year old by now." They especially glared at Li Shan. Li Shan's tolerance for alcohol was the best here, and he was also a master at that drinking game, yet he had also gone and not returned.
"Oh, it was Da Liuzi and I who threw up just now. Li Shan and the others were taking care of us. And now, after throwing up, we're fine men again," Li Yu said with a hehe laugh. Then, before the four at the table could continue to speak, he turned his face to Li Yan.
"Brother Yan, what you're doing tonight is unfair. You must have learned some advanced martial arts. We can't possibly beat you in a drinking game like this. And when we play this table drinking game, with your sharp ears and eyes and quick reflexes, we are no match for you either. Why don't we play a drinking game from our childhood? That way, you'll have to give up your advantages and be on an equal footing with us," Li Yu said with a look of dissatisfaction.
"Oh? A childhood drinking game? Which one is it? Tell me about it," Li Yan said with a half-smile as he looked at Li Yu and then glanced at Li Shan and the others who had returned with him.
Being glanced at by Li Yan like this, the few of them felt as if their thoughts had been seen through, and they couldn't help but feel a little flustered.
Although Li Yan hadn't released his Divine Sense to follow them, he had already guessed what they were up to. It was nothing more than that the few of them wanted him to drink more. He really didn't care and also wanted to see how much he could drink without circulating his spiritual energy.
"Hehe, it's naturally finding the locust leaves. When we were children and stole wine to drink, whoever wanted to drink more would use this method. This method relies entirely on the two words 'luck' and lacks any personal advantage," Li Yu said when he saw Li Yan agree.
"Oh, it's this method. That will do. But I seem to have been quite lucky lately," Li Yan said, then bared his teeth at Li Yu in a smile, revealing a row of white teeth. Under the moonlight, the few of them couldn't help but feel a tightness in their chests. Li Yan seemed to be grinning at them like a demon from the mountains.
"Brother Yan, listen to me. This drinking game isn't just about drinking one bowl if you lose. You've been the winner all night, so we're not going to play one-on-one with you anymore. Instead, if you lose, you drink two bowls, and if we lose, each of us will drink one bowl at the same time. How about it?" the young man called Da Liuzi said, avoiding Li Yan's gaze.
"Hehe, you are clearly cheating. You want me to deal with the seven of you alone. If I lose, I drink two bowls, and if you lose, each of you only drinks one bowl," Li Yan said, pouting his lips.
Seeing this, Li Yu was overjoyed. This was exactly the sentence he was waiting for. He immediately said, "This finding the locust leaves game was originally a one-on-one game, but the result has become one-on-many. This is because you are a martial arts master and have cultivated internal energy. Otherwise, how could your tolerance for alcohol have grown so frighteningly? Hmm, how about this? We won't take advantage of you. Didn't you bring friends with you? Let the two of them be in a group with you. That way, the drinking will be shared. Don't say that the friends you brought can't drink. Look at Little Shan's wife at that table, how drunk she is. She's one of the best among the women."
As Li Yu spoke, he blinked and pointed to a spot under the old locust tree. The atmosphere there was thick. Although they were not drinking as recklessly as the men at the other tables, as they ate and drank slowly, their faces were all a little flushed. The village women had been with the great mountains for many years and had long since acquired a bit of a rough and heroic air. Every woman could drink a little. And although Gong Chenying's and Zhao Min's faces were also red, their expressions were as usual.
Hearing Li Yu's words, Li Yan's heart was as clear as a mirror. He couldn't help but smile inwardly. 'So you are after the two of them for a drink. But you don't know that their cultivation is even higher than mine, and they have cultivated a body-tempering art for even longer than me. This is without them using spiritual energy to dissolve the alcohol. Otherwise, all the people in the village, plus me, would probably not be a match for the two of them. And you want them to share my drink.'
Although he thought so in his heart, a look of hesitation appeared on his face. He even hesitated in his speech. "This... is probably not a good idea. Although the two of them have some tolerance for alcohol, you don't know that it's also about the same. If they come over, it will be as if I'm still drinking by myself."
Hearing this, Li Yu and the others were overjoyed. No matter what the outcome of Li Yan's words, someone was going to get drunk. They didn't believe that Li Yan would be a victorious general in this drinking game either.
"You're speaking so clearly now, where is the drunkenness? You say you've become a high official in the court now, how have you become so wishy-washy?" Li Yu showed a look of disdain.
Li Yan seemed to be stunned by Li Yu's expression. He immediately gritted his teeth. "Then let's do it. I already said that I've been lucky lately." After speaking, he actually got up and walked toward the locust tree.
Seeing this, Li Yu and the others couldn't help but exchange smiles behind his back.
Not long after, Li Yan brought over the two women who had suspicious looks on their faces. He pointed at Li Yu and the others. "These few couldn't outdrink me, so they thought of a drinking game. But this method requires a team to drink. I haven't been home for many years and have long since lost favor. No one will be on the same team with me, so I pulled you two over to have fun together." Then he explained the rules of the drinking game and the outcome of winning and losing.
To find the locust leaves, one would pick a small branch with about four or five leaves each time, then mark out a certain area. Within this area, there would be one to three houses. These village houses usually had a foundation of green stones, and the upper half was made of adobe and miscellaneous wood. The walls of the houses were often mainly adobe, and they would have cracks, shallow or deep, from years of wind and sun. They were almost all over the walls, but because the main body of the walls was made of a clay-based adhesive firmly stuck to the green stone foundation and the wooden roof structure, it rarely affected the stability of the main structure. So ordinary families would not repair them until the cracks had widened to a certain extent, letting these fine cracks grow on the walls. And village children lacked places to play, so from their ancestors' time, they had created many childhood fun activities based on local conditions.
Finding the locust leaves was one of them, and it was best to play it on a moonlit night. It was easy to crack during the day, and it couldn't be played on a moonless night when it was dark all around.
After circling the houses in the area, one person would be chosen as the judge. After blindfolding the other party or having them turn their back, one person would take the soft locust branch with four or five leaves and, circling the few houses, find a crack in a wall or a gap in the green stone foundation, or even hide this locust branch on the wooden frame of the eaves. The premise was that they were not allowed to dig a hole in the wall or expand it themselves, nor were they allowed to hide it inside the house or higher than the eaves. Otherwise, this kind of wall-digging, climbing, and entering houses would have long been scolded by the elders, let alone playing.
After hiding the locust leaves, the blindfolded person would be released, and he would have to find the locust leaves in this area within a specified time. Otherwise, he would lose. After losing, the person who had placed the locust leaves would take the loser to the crack in the wall where the locust leaves were hidden in front of him, and let the loser check the crack, the storage location, etc., to prove that he had not violated the rules and make the loser admit defeat willingly. The next round would be a switch of positions between the two sides. The person who had just been looking for the locust leaves would now hide them, and the other party would look for them in turn, and so on.
After Li Yan explained the rules, he was about to let the two women sit down and go and tease the few of them first. He had only brought the two women over to pretend to go along with Li Yu and the others. But what Li Yan hadn't expected was that the moment he finished speaking, Zhao Min's and Gong Chenying's eyes instantly lit up.
As expected, after marking out the two nearby houses as the area, both sides chose Li Wei as the judge. In the first round, Li Yu personally took a string of locust leaves and marked it. After both sides had checked the mark, they found a cloth to blindfold Li Yan. Li Yu then went directly to the marked area. After a long while, he came back as if nothing had happened. And although Zhao Min and Gong Chenying were not blindfolded like Li Yan, they had turned their backs to the game area since Li Yu had taken the locust leaves. At this time, after Li Yu had returned and just shouted at Li Yan, Zhao Min had already turned around. Without even looking at Li Yan, she had already stepped into that area, leaving the about-to-get-up Li Yan behind. Li Yan rubbed his nose and had to sit back down.
Not long after, Zhao Min came over with a string of locust leaves in her hand, to the astonishment of Li Yu and the others. Li Yan looked at Zhao Min, who still had an indifferent expression, but he saw a trace of spirit in her eyes. At the same time, he also knew that although Zhao Min had won so easily, she had not used any Divine Sense or magical arts from beginning to end, relying only on her eyes.
Next, Li Yu and the others naturally each drank a bowl of wine. The two women on this side, as if they had agreed, in the next round, just as Li Wei had blindfolded one of them, Gong Chenying had already stood up directly, taken the locust leaves, and gone to the area to hide them. Li Yan, with a smile, simply sat at the table and picked up a piece of demonic beast meat, watching them and chewing slowly.
What happened next made Li Yu and the others' jaws drop. In the following seven consecutive rounds, they lost all of them. Whether it was finding or hiding them, these two overly beautiful young women were like they had divine help. After seven consecutive bowls of strong wine, they couldn't take it anymore. Although they had secretly gone to vomit several times in the middle, they were still drunk.
Although Li Yan had been watching with a smile all this time, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed now. Others couldn't see the reason, but how could he not know? Although the two women hadn't used any means at all, a cultivator was a cultivator. Whether it was their eyesight or hearing, they were far superior to ordinary people. Even Li Yan himself, after passing by a wall now, as long as he looked at it carefully once, he could remember all the patterns on it. And when Li Yu and the others were hiding the locust leaves, no matter how careful they were, they would damage the existing patterns on the wall. Although they had covered it up afterward, how could they escape the eyesight of a cultivator? What's more, Li Yan, sitting here eating, could even hear the sound of footsteps near and far in that area, and from that, he could judge where Li Yu and the others had stayed a little longer, and thus find it even more easily.
Thinking of this, Li Yan hurriedly sent a voice transmission to the two women, telling them to lose a few rounds occasionally no matter what. After hearing this, although the two women looked puzzled, they still did as he said. After losing a few times, Li Yu's side, which had already been in a state of listlessness, began to rise in spirits with Li Shan's loud roar. The two women also immediately understood Li Yan's intention.
But what happened next disappointed Li Yu and the others. They actually failed three more times in a row and had to drink again.