Chapter 16 of Volume 1: Chirping and Cheeping

  Jiang Qicai's untimely laughter made Ding Xiaomao, who had just finished his spell, blush bright red. Ding Xiaomao looked around at the expressions of the people nearby and glared at Jiang Qicai, saying: "What are you laughing at?"

  Jiang Qicai ignored him and continued to laugh. Then he turned around and asked the dog spirit under Ding Xiaomao's symbol with a sympathetic tone: "What are you crying about?"

  The dog seemed to understand human nature and, seeing Jiang Qi ask such a question, immediately let out two mournful wails, looking pitiful.

  Everyone's expression was no longer so tense, but instead very sympathetic to the dog Ling's situation.

  Cheng lawyer took a step forward, looked at Ding Xiaomao with a mixture of laughter and tears, and asked again, "Master, can you really confirm that everything in our wine shop was caused by... this dog?"

  Ding Xiaomao, who was already somewhat annoyed by Jiang Qicai's laughter, became even more displeased upon hearing this. Because he could see that Lawyer Cheng still addressed him as "Master", but his expression had clearly lost its previous enthusiasm, and a hint of doubt appeared in his eyes.

  Ding Xiaomao glared at Jiang Qicai, as if blaming him for meddling in other people's business. Then Ding Xiaomao patiently explained to Attorney Cheng, "All things in the world have a spiritual nature. Humans have souls, and other living beings naturally do too. I think this dog, after dying, although it was greedy, didn't have any malicious intentions. It's also possible that when it was alive, it was a stray dog, so after death, it attached itself to your wine shop and wouldn't leave!"

  "What about the woman's cry before, and what about that pair of scissors? Do you think this dog spirit can still use scissors?" Jiang Qicai retorted calmly, not paying attention to Ding Xiaomao's attitude towards him.

  Ding Xiaomao was momentarily speechless, and Jiang Qicai glanced around the room again before smiling and saying: "I agree with the first sentence you just said, that all things in the world have spiritual nature!"

  Ding Xiaomao secretly let out a sigh of relief. Jiang Qicai suddenly changed the subject, winking his eyes and saying: "But what you said later is completely nonsense. What stray dog, what gluttony, do you think this dog is still greedy for food, can it like to eat seafood in a restaurant?"

  Many people nodded in agreement after hearing this.

  Wang Shiyu hid behind the crowd, with great interest, her eyes fixed on Jiang Qicai's face without blinking, and for some reason, she always felt that Jiang Qicai's abilities were far superior to those of this Maoshan descendant.

  Ding Xiaomao saw Jiang Qicai completely deny his "merit" with just a few words, and of course he was even more anxious in his heart, but he couldn't say a word to refute it.

  At this moment, the eyes of Thailand's top eunuch, Kong He, were also fixed on Jiang Qicai, with a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth, but no one knew what he was thinking in his heart.

  Ding Xiaomao couldn't refute it, so he simply played dumb and said: "According to your words, apart from this dog spirit, there are other unclean things in this wine tower? I don't believe it!"

  Jiang Qicai didn't answer the question directly, but instead said: "To be honest, this dog spirit is actually greedy for something else, not just the food in this restaurant...". He glanced at Ding Xiaomao and hesitated.

  "What is it?" Attorney Cheng and others immediately urged.

  "Rather, it's the peach wood sword in this Taoist priest's hand!" After a pause, Jiang Qicai added, "To be precise, it's the dog blood on this peach wood sword that has attracted it!"

  "Fart!" As soon as the words fell, Ding Xiaomao immediately became excited and followed, "What do you mean? It was clearly brought by my magic, how can you say it's the dog blood on my sword..."

  "Sorry, I'm just telling the truth!" The implication of this truthful remark was that everyone understood in private that Ding Xiaomao's magic was completely useless, and what really worked was actually that bowl of dog blood. How could this not make someone who claimed to be a descendant of Maoshan angry?

  Ding Xiaomao was so angry that his whole body trembled as he shouted: "You say the things in this wine shop have nothing to do with Dog Ling, and I won't bother you about it. But if today you want to humiliate us Mao Shan, humiliate my magic, then don't think of leaving here!"

  Watching Ding Xiaomao raise the peach wood sword directly at Jiang Qicai's nose, Lawyer Cheng hurriedly pulled and persuaded, "There are good words to say, there are good words to say, don't hurt everyone's harmony!"

  Others also rushed over and joined forces to persuade Ding Xiaomao, who was furious with shame.

  But at this time, Kong He, who had always been worried that the world would not be chaotic from beginning to end, unexpectedly did not say another word, was very quiet, and even stared tightly at Jiang Qi with an inexplicable gaze.

  At this moment, no one saw how serious Kong He's face was, and there wasn't a hint of a smile.

  Ding Xiaomao suddenly broke free from everyone's entanglement, his right hand still holding the peach wood sword directly at Jiang Qicai's face, his anger not yet subsiding as he said: "Speak up! Have you become mute?"

  Jiang Qicai awkwardly shrugged his shoulders, "I absolutely didn't mean to insult you, it's just... what I said is also the truth, your magic is indeed very bad!"

  "You..." Jiang Qicai didn't show any sign of admitting his mistake, and Attorney Cheng hurried over to pull on his sleeve, hinting that he should stop talking.

  Originally, this lawyer was also kind-hearted, because Ding Xiaomao looked like he should know some martial arts. He was afraid that the student-like Jiang Qicai would suffer a loss.

  Who would have thought that Jiang Qicai was not only unafraid, but instead stared back at Ding Xiaomao with unwavering eyes, and in the blink of an eye, a good show had developed to this point, which was something no one had expected before.

  But everyone was of one mind, on the one hand persuading Ding Xiaomao not to get angry, and on the other giving Jiang Qicai a look, telling him not to say any more.

  The uncle who thought Jiang Qichen and Wang Shiyu were a couple earlier came out laughing to mediate, saying to Ding Xiaomao: "This little brother, calm down, that young man didn't mean it like that!"

  "Hmph, he doesn't know anything! He actually dares to lecture me!" Seeing so many people advising him, Ding Xiaomao's anger also subsided a bit. Moreover, Jiang Qicai had not spoken up until now, and he thought that Jiang Qicai was just talking nonsense, being young and ignorant.

  But who would have thought that Jiang Qi would touch his nose at this time and say leisurely, "I don't understand the fart, but I more or less understand whether your magic has any effect."

  Ding Xiaomao's anger, which had just dissipated, was suddenly rekindled. He pushed away everyone in front of him and laughed furiously: "Good, good, good! If I don't teach you a lesson today, I'll be unworthy of my ancestors, unworthy of Mao Mountain, and unworthy of all fellow Taoists!"

  Jiang Qicai was also somewhat annoyed by Ding Xiaomao's tone.

  He originally just kindly spoke the truth, but didn't think that this so-called descendant of Mao Shan really doesn't know what's good for them anymore. Moreover, Jiang Qi heard him and still wanted to take action to teach himself a lesson, which made him want to laugh even more.

  However, Jiang Qicai remained calm on the surface and said: "Alright, I'll just stand here, you come and teach me! I'd like to see what other abilities you have besides reciting that 'zī zī fù zī zī' spell!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, many people couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  Ding Xiaomao's expression became like a crab in a hot pot, his face flushed red with rage. His whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.

  Just as everyone was laughing the loudest, Ding Xiaomao's foot slipped and the peach wood sword in his hand suddenly fell towards Jiang Qicai's head. Wang Shiyu involuntarily let out a cry of surprise, "Be careful!"