Chapter Seventeen: Poisonous Wine

  After a while, Huamanlou woke up and quickly got up. He called Li Yunfei and Lu Xiaofeng to wake them up.

  "Hua Man Lou hastily wiped her face and said: 'This is Yu Xiu Mountain Villa, my room. How did we end up here?'"

  Li Yunfei and others got down from bed, Lu Xiaofeng walked to the table and said: "There are so many things to eat here."

  Li Yunfei also pretended to know nothing and said: "Yes, there is still a jar of water over there."

  Hua Man Lou was very anxious after hearing the news, and hurriedly searched for an exit everywhere. However, all around were filled with steel plates, making it impossible to find a way out. Just as Hua Man Lou was getting desperate, Lu Xiao Feng said according to the script: "Don't bother looking, this place is surrounded by steel plates, there's no way out."

  "What's going on? Who has confined us? How is my father? I want to go out."

  "Don't worry, fortunately, I have a Huo Yun Pili bullet from Jiangnan Pili Hall. Hopefully, they didn't inlay the roof with iron plates."

  The roof exploded and several people flew out. They rushed to the Peach Blossom Bower of the Hua family on horseback. Coincidentally, the dazed servant who was full of peach blossoms was there.

  A figure leapt onto the balcony and seized the servant, demanding: "Speak, why did you secretly plot against me?"

  Just as the servant was stuttering and unable to speak, a voice caused Hua Man Lou to release his grip. "Lou Er, let him go, I'm the one who told him to do this," said Hua Ru Ling.

  "Hua Man Lou asked in surprise: 'Dad, why are you doing this?'"

  "Hua Rulan sighed and said: 'I received a letter some time ago.' While speaking, she took out a piece of paper."

  Lü Xiao Feng asked: "What does this bloody footprint mean?"

  Hua Manlou was taken aback at the time and said: "This is the sign of Tie Xue's theft."

  Lu Xiaofeng asked in surprise: "Didn't you already kill that Iron Shoe Thief, Uncle?"

  Hua Rulang said, "Yes, the Iron Shoe Thief was killed by me, but in his lifetime, no one had ever seen his true face. Whether the dead person is really the Iron Shoe Thief or not is still unknown. Your guesses over the past few years were correct, Lou'er."

  Li Yunfei said in a cold voice, "Daring to choose this day to seek revenge, this person is really bold and reckless." Li Yunfei and Lu Xiaofeng exchanged a glance, both of them smiled at each other. They knew that for the sake of friendship, they could stab each other in the back, and telling a lie was nothing.

  "Hua Rulian sighed and said: 'I, Hua Rulian, have lived a life of integrity and honor, with no regrets to the heavens or the earth. There's nothing to be afraid of. But as one grows old, there are more things to worry about. Lou'er, you are the one thing that I am most worried about in this lifetime!'"

  "Hua Manlou said urgently: 'So, Father, you've locked me up, but with the great enemy at hand, how can I possibly retreat now?!'"

  "Hua Rulan said: 'Dad has a way to deal with him, he can't beat me, don't worry.'"

  Hua Manlou said: "I'm no longer a child, let him come, and it's also good to end this feud."

  "Hua Rulang said: "Lu Xiaofeng, Li Yunfei, you are both close friends of Lou'er. This time, I've dragged you into this, and I'm doing this out of necessity. Please, for the sake of Lou'er's face, forgive me."

  Lu Xiaofeng said: "Uncle, you don't have to be so polite." Li Yunfei also cupped his hands and said: "Uncle, you are being too courteous, I dare not, I dare not."

  Three people walked out, at this time an official came over and asked about their accommodation. Lu Xiaofeng went forward and shouted: "Jin Jiuling, how are you also here?"

  "You can come, why can't I?"

  Hua Manlou smiled and said: "So it's the great Golden Captor of the Sixth Gate who has arrived. My humble abode is in a flurry to welcome you, please don't mind if the reception is not up to par."

  Li Yunfei looked at this embroidered flower thief who was about to sit in court for dozens of big cases, and he was proud and made people feel good, no wonder Lu Xiaofeng thought he was a friend.

  "This is my good friend Li Yunfei, and this is Jin Jiuling, the chief catcher of Liu Shan Men."

  After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Jin Jiuling was about to take his leave when Hua Manlou said: "Someone, escort Gold Captor to the Ziwei Pavilion to rest."

  "Everyone, I'll take my leave," said Jin Jiulian, and followed his servant out.

  The three of them walked into the room together. Huamanlou sighed and said, "Brother Lu, Brother Li, listen to me." After finishing speaking, he stood up and sighed again. It was the first time Li Yunfei felt that Huamanlou had an unresolvable knot in his heart. Huamanlou slowly revealed the painful events of that year.

  "That was fifteen years ago. At that time, I was playing at home and wanted to find my father. When I arrived home, I found that the secret room in our house had been opened. So I sneaked in and found that my father was fighting with a person wearing a mask at that time. The man was no match for my father and was cut on the leg by my father's sword. He could only threaten my father by grabbing me. My father was afraid that I would be hurt by Tie Xue, so he had to let Tie Xue go."

  Hua Manlou sighed and said, "I was kidnapped by Tie Xue Da Zei to the banks of Meng River. I tore off Tie Xue's face with one hand, and he threw me under a tree."

  Li Yunfei asked: "But why did he want to blind your eyes?"

  Hua Man Lou said, "I was knocked unconscious at the time, and when I came to, this iron shoe actually showed me his face. He told me that his face was the last thing I would see. Then he gouged out my eyes. He said he'd be back." Hua Man Lou spoke calmly, but Li Yun Fei knew there was still a shadow in his heart.

  Perhaps recalling those unpleasant memories, Huamanlou looked somewhat tired and then said: "Later my father joined forces with the five great experts to kill Iron Shoe Thief. But I always believed that Iron Shoe Thief was still alive."

  "This is just your guess, Iron Shoe Thief should be dead!"

  Hua Manlou said: "No, I have a basis. My intuition tells me that the Iron Shoe Thief has been lurking in Taohuabao all these years, and it's just near that underground secret room."

  Li Yunfei asked: "Have you ever been to that underground secret passage?"

  "Ever since the incident, my father had the secret room renovated. Nowadays, except for my father, no one knows where the entrance to that secret room is! It's just that in recent years, I haven't felt the presence of Iron Shoe Thief."

  "Alright! Since you can't feel him anymore, he might have left because he couldn't find his way."

  Hua Manlou said again: "This makes me even more worried, the Iron Shoe Thief's arrival this time must be inauspicious, and there may be a big conspiracy behind it."

  Li Yunfei said: "Don't worry, Iron Shoe Thief's arrival this time is a good opportunity for us. We will definitely make him pay back in blood."

  Hua Man Lou said: "I won't let him off easily this time."

  Li Yunfei interrupted, "That's right, with so many masters arriving this time, we will definitely eliminate the Iron Shoe Thief."

  Hua Ru Ling had a grand birthday celebration and built a Zi Wei Pavilion to entertain friends and guests. The Hua family will hold a three-day grand banquet to celebrate this matter.

  "Hua Ru Ling said with a smile: 'Thank you all for coming, if it were just my birthday, I wouldn't have dared to disturb all of you. Tonight is the Menghe Lantern Festival, and we will be releasing lanterns for seven days and seven nights. Besides the feast, you can also go upstairs to admire the lanterns and enjoy the flowers. Isn't that delightful?'"

  The hall was filled with laughter and conversation, but they had no idea that many people would soon be dead.

  Li Yunfei and Lu Xiaofeng were at the head of the table, with fine wine and dishes. Just as these people were drinking and enjoying themselves, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed foreigner jumped in, dancing, and said in his awkward Chinese: "Ladies and gentlemen, I am Emil, sent by the King of Huanhai to congratulate Huadao on his sixtieth birthday. I have prepared a small trick to help the atmosphere."

  After saying that, many big buckets rolled in, and a child emerged from each bucket. These children came out with gifts, including gold, silver, pearls, and jade.

  Just as everyone was applauding, a woman wearing a veil walked in and started dancing in a different style. It was also very beautiful.

  Everyone was delighted and started drinking again. Lu Xiaofeng continued to drink cup after cup. The whole table, only Li Yunfei and Hua Manlou did not drink.

  Li Yunfei didn't drink the wine because he knew it was poisoned. But Lu Xiaofeng, on the other hand, drank cup after cup.

  Lu Xiaofeng raised his wine cup and said to Li Yunfei: "Come on, let's finish this cup of wine."

  Li Yunfei waved goodbye and said: "I don't want to drink, I'm not feeling too well."

  Lu Xiaofeng smiled and said, "What's wrong? With this beauty in front of us, a full house of noble guests, wine in our cups, and meat on our plates. This is the most enjoyable moment in life, why aren't you happy?"

  Li Yunfei intercepted him and whispered: "This wine is not right, can't you tell?"

  Lu Xiaofeng asked: "What's wrong? This wine is fragrant and intoxicating, it's a rare Western grape wine, what's wrong with you?"

  Hua Manlou interrupted, "Don't you think this wine is too fragrant? It also has a flavor of Western spices."

  Lu Xiaofeng raised his cup and said, "What's that? I only smell the wine. Don't be too nervous, everyone is here, even Iron Shoe Thief wouldn't dare to come with all his boldness."

  "Hua Man Lou said: 'You can drink slowly, I'll go back to my room first.' After saying that, she bid farewell and went back to her room."

  Li Yunfei pulled up Lu Xiaofeng and said: "Come out with me, I have something to say to you."

  Lu Xiaofeng and Li Yunfei walked out together. Li Yunfei said: "Lu Xiaofeng, are we friends?"

  Lu Xiaofeng said: "Yes, we are bosom friends."

  "Do you believe me?" Li Yunfei asked.

  Lu Xiaofeng looked puzzled and asked: "What did you just say?"

  Li Yunfei said, "Today, the wine you drank contains poison. I've seen this poison before, it's not easy to detect when mixed with wine, but I once heard that this poison is called Chi Xia Hong. So I know that the manifestation of this poison is a flavor similar to Western spices. I will never remember wrong. Huamanlou's feeling was right."

  Lu Xiaofeng said: "How is this possible? The Hua family's guards are strict, how can there be poison in the wine?"

  Li Yunfei said, "I don't know either. You go back and don't let anyone suspect anything. I'll head back to my room first. You can go back by yourself. If anyone asks, just say I'm not feeling well." After that, Li Yunfei walked towards his room.