Chapter Thirty-Seven: Slapping Him to Death

  That afternoon, a new couplet was hung at the entrance of 'Ri Tan', which was not neat and did not rhyme, let alone the tone and rhythm. However, the content of the couplet was quite interesting:

  Sitting in a coffin, riding a paper horse, timid people should not drink alcohol.

  Kick the stool, hit the table, great strength doesn't cost money

  Liang Xin also took the liberty of adding a horizontal banner: "Fighting to the death!"

  The strokes on the horizontal scroll are written like a knife cut and an axe chop, very powerful.

  Liang Xin's two neighbors, Hei Wuchang and Bai Wuchang, were both stunned when they saw the couplet. Hei Wuchang chuckled and shook his head, standing at the door of the Dayan Tavern, pointing at the horizontal inscription and asking Liang Xin inside: "Who are you going to cheat now?"

  Liáng Xīn hugged the "Yangjiao Cui", and the "Yangjiao Cui" hugged Liáng Xīn, both masters smiled but didn't speak, sizing up Zhuāng Zhōu from top to bottom, seemingly pondering where to place their hands for a good feel...

  Passersby see the day's poster and can't help but stop and take a look, followed by a smile. Everyone knows that this restaurant is next to two funeral homes, and some curious people come to ask what "great strength doesn't cost money" means, and who is being slapped to death...

  It was already time for dinner, and the 'Ri Xian' restaurant was still quiet. Qu Qingmo sat at the counter, listlessly shaking the abacus so that it rattled loudly, and asked Liang Xin: "I think Mr. Dong's plan may not work either."

  Mr. Liang smiled and replied: "Your idea was never a get-rich-quick scheme, it needs to be slowly nurtured."

  Two people were chatting idly when the sound of footsteps came from outside, dozens of burly men strode in with a majestic and intimidating air.

  Qingmo was initially delighted, but immediately sank his face and smiled coldly. 'Yangjiao Cui' even showed fear on his face, jumping and skipping into the counter, while Liang Xin didn't change much, still smiling.

  The big men who entered the store were all disciples of the Tian Ce Men, surrounding their leader Zheng Xiaodao.

  Zheng Xiaodao's arm was still in a splint and wrapped in gauze. After entering the store, he looked around before walking up to Liang Xin and revealing a relaxed smile: "I heard that at this restaurant, if you can slap the table with one hand, you don't have to pay for your meal?"

  This is the plan that Mr. Dongling helped Liang Xin come up with. Now, those who dare to enter and eat are all bold and generous people. They eat until their mouths are full of oil, drink until they are half-drunk, and then slap the table with a loud noise, causing even more excitement!

  Moreover, it can knock over tables and save on food expenses. To put it bluntly, this is just a gimmick.

  The wine in the Dayan Inn is generally ordinary, because it's sandwiched between two mourning shops, and can only do business with bold people who don't believe in evil spirits. Mr. Dongling wrote a couplet using the method of urging, if you don't come to the Dayan Inn to drink, then you can't be considered a big-hearted person.

  This couplet is written for rough people to see, and naturally it cannot be as elegant as a well-crafted poem with four characters in the first line and six characters in the second line. It only seeks to be crudely powerful.

  The enthusiasm is in front, the nonsense is behind. With time and effort, it may not necessarily be popular, but there is a crucial point: the table!

  If the table is knocked over, the meal is free. The table can't be too shabby, or it will turn into a charity event if it's easily knocked over; but the table also can't be too sturdy, or no one can knock it over and everyone will lose interest.

  It's all about being just right here, able to spark everyone's interest without making a loss on the business.

  It's best if there is a mechanical design, and the owner can secretly control it.

  This matter, ordinary people absolutely can't do it, but Qu Qingmo is an exception. After all, she's a second-level cultivator of the Xuanxin Sect. After adding some spells to each table, she can make any table fall down as she wishes.

  Zheng Xiaodao began to carefully examine the tables again, occasionally slapping them twice to see if they were sturdy. Qu Qingmo sneered: "After dinner, slap the table and get a free meal; don't eat but just slap the table, get beaten!"

  Zheng Xiaodao burst out laughing and said to Liang Xin: "We're not here to cause trouble, the Tian Ce Men wouldn't do something so stupid as to ruin their own reputation."

  Liáng Xīn didn't say a word and waited for Zhèng Xiǎo Dào to continue speaking.

  "Since we're fellow travelers, I'll help you out this time. If we become friends in the future, we'll naturally take care of each other. And if we become enemies, then Tian Ce Men will have done all it can to show benevolence and righteousness." Zheng Xiao Dao finished speaking, his gaze began to wander around the hall, finally saying: "Get me a table that's not very sturdy!"

  Dozens of Tiandemen disciples sat at tables, shouting for wine and ordering dishes. Some impatient ones had already started banging on the tables. Among these disciples, there were many with great strength, but the table was also very strange. After withstanding several blows, it began to shake and sway, as if it would collapse at any moment. However, even after being smashed with ten more palms, it still remained in that state.

  When the wine and food were plentiful, the sound of slapping the table became even more intense. Zheng Xiaodao's performance was particularly forceful, with one arm swinging wildly. Qing Mo initially felt a bit worried that his magic wouldn't be able to withstand Zheng's strength, but later discovered that although Zheng slapped loudly, his actual strength was quite small...

  The whole street was filled with the sound of laughter, wine glasses clinking, and loud chatter. This place was the most lively spot on Iron Shoe Street. Later, several other tables of boisterous customers arrived, including some local rascals and what appeared to be well-educated nomadic merchants.

  Passersby see the bustle inside and can't help but smile. The two funeral homes are bullying people, but justice is in people's hearts. Especially seeing Tian Ce Men standing up to them, everyone feels comfortable. However, the owners of the coffin and paper horse shops, seeing that it's getting dark, are still quarreling with Rì Huàn, their faces showing some anxiety.

  Everyone at the Tian Ce Gate had been drinking until the moon was high in the sky, and when it was time to settle the bill, they even clapped their hands on the table with great enthusiasm. It seemed like they were about to go back to the sect to fetch their swords... In the end, Zheng Xiaodao didn't manage to shatter his own table, but a young Tian Ce Gate disciple suddenly slapped the dinner table in front of him, causing everyone to be both shocked and amused.

  Liáng Xīn smiled and waived the meal fee for that table of young disciples. The young man regretted it, muttering: "If I had known, I would have ordered two more fish!"

  Zheng Xiaodao burst out laughing and slapped the back of the disciple's head with a loud slap: "I'll beat you senseless!" Then he settled the bill and left, feeling satisfied.

  The young boy didn't understand why he was being beaten, and followed the master with a dazed expression. Just as they were about to leave the gate, he suddenly felt his leg tighten, turned around to see that Yangjiao Cui was hugging his leg, anxiously grinding his teeth...

  Liāng Xīn hastily ran out and took the little monkey away, scolding as he went: "After breaking the table, don't ask for money, don't come chasing after us!"

  It was late at night, and among the other tables of guests, there were also some people who smashed their tables and got a free bill. After closing time, they would settle the accounts and still make a small profit.

  Liáng Xīn understood that with the help of Tiān Cè Mén, this "free and exciting" gimmick would soon spread throughout Tóng Chuān, and even if it was just a small thing, business would gradually pick up. He felt excited and itchy in his heart, calling out to Qū Qīng Mò to pour wine and serve dishes, the two of them sat down to enjoy a good dinner together.

  Actually, with Liang Xin's current skills and his achievement of cultivating the Double Ferocity Origin Technique at the age of thirty, not to mention a small restaurant, even the entire Tongchuan shouldn't be underestimated. But this is just his inherent personality - it's not about the size of the matter, if he likes it, if he wants to do it, he will do it solidly and thoroughly.

  Liang Xin is not a person who can get by with just getting by.

  In the following days, every lunch and dinner time, there would be disciples from Tian Ce Men coming to Liang Xin's place for meals. The slogan "Don't drink if you're timid, don't pay if you're strong" gradually spread in the streets. Although the business was not booming yet, it had improved. Among the customers who came to eat, the number of Tian Ce Men disciples decreased, while the number of herdsmen and good men increased. This restaurant, sandwiched between two funeral homes, even had a hint of the flavor of Tie Xie Da Jie.

  Zheng Xiaodao handled things efficiently, and Liang Xin naturally took on his favor. Even before the day's business began, he would take 'Yangjiao Cui' to Tian Ce Men to chat with the instructors, play with the disciples, and soon became familiar with them. Naturally, he also asked about Yangjiao Cui's origins, which was a Hu merchant selling it on the street, and the Tian Ce disciple thought this monkey was clever and interesting, so they bought it back.

  It's been a month since Liang Xin and Qu Qingmo arrived in Tongchuan, and their restaurant has been open for twenty-odd days. Business went from booming to plummeting, then gradually picked up again, and they even managed to save a struggling carpentry shop... Now everything is finally calm, and there are only six days left until Mr. Dongli's public lecture.

  These days, the old cat has never shown up and doesn't know what it's busy with.

  As many sects' cultivators came to Tongchuan to investigate the murder case, the murderer became even more rampant. In the month since Liang Xin arrived in Tongchuan, apart from the four cultivators who were killed earlier, more than a dozen people have been murdered, including two disciples of 'Nine Nine Return One'.

  The five major and three minor sects have gone into hiding, and the elder council 'One Line Heaven' is also rarely active. The remaining nine major sects, known as 'Nine Return to One', represent the pinnacle of power in the cultivation world. Not only are their disciples deeply cultivated, but they also hold high positions. This time, two people from Tongchuan died, and another wave was stirred up in the cultivation world.

  It is said that someone has already reported Tongchuan's strange phenomenon to 'Yi Xian Tian'.

  These things have been spread all over the streets and alleys, even ordinary people know that cultivators are being killed in the city, and the murderer is still at large.

  The murderer was rampant, and more monks came to investigate the case. Now in Tongchuan Prefecture, cultivators can be seen everywhere.

  Although he couldn't sense it, Liang Xin could guess that all his actions in the past few days would be monitored by the investigators. As soon as he and Qingmo arrived at Tongchuan, they clashed with the Tiandao Gate, and on that night, cultivators began to be killed. It would be strange if he wasn't suspected.

  But the matter had nothing to do with him, and he wasn't worried about it either. He just focused on doing business, anyway, every time a monk was killed, he would be in his shop, and sooner or later, he would clear himself of suspicion.

  Qingmo's embroidery water illusion originated from her secluded cultivation, and had never appeared in the Cultivation Path before. Even a highly skilled cultivator couldn't see through her true appearance, let alone worry about being discovered by Donghai Jian's disciples...

  That night, after Liang Xin finished cleaning up and was about to go to the backyard to practice his skills, a knock at the door came suddenly. The voice outside the door was slow and polite: "Is the boss in? I'm Zhuang Zhou, here to pay a visit."

  Another voice followed: "And Song Gongjian, haha."

  The boss of the two mourning shops came to visit in the middle of the night for some reason.