The Martial Arts World is Full of Experts Chapter 28

85

Zhang Xiaoyuan spurted out the tea in his mouth, spraying the entire table. Startled, Jiang Jianyu asked, "Xiaoyuan, what are you doing?"

Zhang Xiaoyuan felt like crying.

Second Senior Brother's luck was incredibly bad, traveling on the official road for most of the day, passing numerous inns and tea houses, yet he chose a shady one.

Oh no, could there be a drug in the shady teahouse's tea? Were the owners planning to kill them and make them into human dumplings? Second Senior Brother and Hua Liuque had already drunk the tea, even Zhang Xiaoyuan himself had taken a sip. If the tea was indeed drugged... it seemed none of them could escape.

Among them, it seemed only Eldest Senior Brother had not yet drunk the tea.

Seeing Lu Zhaoming slowly lifting the teacup, Zhang Xiaoyuan, in a panic, lunged forward, grabbing Lu Zhaoming's hand. His movement was too abrupt, and the teacup in Lu Zhaoming's hand overturned. It contained hot tea, startling Jiang Jianyu, who loudly exclaimed, "Junior Brother! You... you..."

Suddenly, he felt dizzy and disoriented, even his tongue seemed disobedient.

Hua Liuque suddenly collapsed onto the table. Jiang Jianyu's awareness blurred, and his vision darkened. Zhang Xiaoyuan, having only taken a sip of the tea, felt dizzy and weak. It seemed the drugs in the tea were potent and fierce.

The boss of the shady teahouse laughed heartily. "No worries, you're down to just one person now!"

Zhang Xiaoyuan, feeling utterly weak, mustered every ounce of strength and intermittently said, "Well... well, you guys will be in a sorry state..."

The most challenging person to deal with was the only one left.

His body swayed unstably, nearly falling off the chair. Just as the words left his mouth, a rushing sound filled his ears. Lu Zhaoming kicked his chair outward, and Zhang Xiaoyuan, struggling to sit, leaned back just in time to narrowly avoid the razor-sharp edge of a giant sword.

Seeing Zhang Xiaoyuan on the verge of falling, Lu Zhaoming supported him with one hand, hooked the table behind him, providing a makeshift backrest, ensuring he barely stayed seated. Then, he turned to face the enemy.

"What did you put in the tea?" Lu Zhaoming's voice was icy. "Who are you people?"

As he finished speaking, several burly, shirtless men emerged seemingly out of nowhere in the once-empty teahouse. Wielding large knives and clubs, they surrounded the group, their menacing gaze gradually closing in.

Zhang Xiaoyuan's mind was in chaos. His eyelids felt as if weighed down by a ton. Unable to endure any longer, he closed his eyes. Consciousness collapsed in an instant, and all that floated in his mind were the last images before his unconsciousness took over.

Lu Zhaoming, wielding a long sword, stood guard in front of him.

Unyielding like a rock.

......

Zhang Xiaoyuan woke up.

He was still leaning on the chair, feeling sore and weak all over. As he opened his eyes, he saw the teahouse boss and his wife a few feet away, their eyes fixed intently on him.

Zhang Xiaoyuan jumped in surprise, leaning backward and bumping into the wooden table behind him. Almost tumbling off the chair, someone steadied him. Looking up, it was Lu Zhaoming.

Zhang Xiaoyuan breathed a sigh of relief, wanting to utter "Eldest Senior Brother," but the words got stuck in his throat. However, he noticed Lu Zhaoming's white attire stained with blood and was alarmed, almost blurting out, "Eldest Senior Brother, are you okay?"

Lu Zhaoming paused, glanced down at the blood on his chest, furrowed his brows slightly, shook his head, and said, "Not my blood."

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "......"

Lu Zhaoming: "They missed their strikes."

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "......"

How could he forget Lu Zhaoming's incredible luck? Even the bride-kidnapping bandits ended up falling and injuring themselves in front of him. Now, facing a few robbers with unknown martial arts skills, Eldest Senior Brother was, of course, safe and sound.

Zhang Xiaoyuan then looked back at the teahouse boss and his wife.

The two of them, along with those shirtless men, were tied together, bloodied, with torn cloth stuffed in their mouths. They looked quite miserable.

The shirtless men were covered with steamer cloths, stained with blood. Zhang Xiaoyuan, puzzled, was about to inquire when Lu Zhaoming took the initiative to explain, "It's unsightly."

It took Zhang Xiaoyuan quite a while to understand the meaning behind Eldest Senior Brother's words.

The bare-chested men, without clothing, were considered indecent by Eldest Senior Brother, who didn't want to see them.

Zhang Xiaoyuan was momentarily speechless.

Turning around, he saw Hua Liuque and Jiang Jianyu sleeping soundly on the table. Jiang Jianyu even had drool on his mouth. Given their appearances, it was hard to believe Jiang Jianyu was the current emperor's elder brother.

Zhang Xiaoyuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Having been awake for some time now, the tea indeed only contained a sleeping drug. His limbs had regained strength. He turned around, intending to wake up Hua Liuque and Jiang Jianyu. However, they showed no response. Lu Zhaoming pulled a chair and sat behind him, saying, "It's useless. We have to wait for them to wake up on their own."

Zhang Xiaoyuan couldn't help but ask, "How long did I sleep?"

He had only taken a sip of the tea, later spitting it out. But now, the outside was pitch black, and the room was lit with candles. It seemed like he had slept for a long time. Who knew when Hua Liuque, who drank all the tea, would wake up.

"It's midnight," Lu Zhaoming said. "They might not wake up until tomorrow afternoon."

"Midnight?" Zhang Xiaoyuan touched his stomach. "This drug is really potent..."

No wonder he felt so hungry.

"Hungry?" Lu Zhaoming sighed. "I don't know if there's anything edible in their shop. We have to wait for them to wake up first."

After all, this was a shady teahouse. While the kitchen did serve genuinely tasty fresh food, there was a risk of dubious ingredients, perhaps even spiked with drugs. In other words, the rumors of teahouses serving human dumplings were not without basis. There was meat in the kitchen, and there were dumplings, but who knew what kind of meat and filling they contained. Lu Zhaoming dared not touch them.

They didn't bring much dry rations, thinking that they were not in the wilderness. They traveled along the official road, expecting to find places to replenish food and water. Little did they know they would encounter such an ordeal. Hua Liuque and Jiang Jianyu wouldn't wake up until tomorrow afternoon. They couldn't possibly wait until then to find another place to eat.

Zhang Xiaoyuan suggested, "Eldest Senior Brother, let's put Second Senior Brother and Hua Liuque on the carriage, and set off overnight. We can find something to eat on the way, right?"

"Even if we leave now, the nearest town won't be reached until tomorrow night," Lu Zhaoming said. "Don't forget, there's a curfew in effect."

That meant they could only enter the town the day after tomorrow.

Zhang Xiaoyuan felt like he was really starving.

"There should be taverns and teahouses along the way!" Zhang Xiaoyuan countered his own thoughts, "But it's so late. They probably have all closed by now."

Zhang Xiaoyuan slumped onto the table. "I'm going to starve."

Lu Zhaoming stood up. "I remember there are a few live chickens in their yard."

Living creatures couldn't have been drugged. They could safely eat them.

Chicken... chicken wings, chicken legs, chicken feet, chicken breast, grilled chicken, braised chicken, salted chicken! Zhang Xiaoyuan suddenly felt alive.

However, Lu Zhaoming stood still.

With hope in his eyes, Zhang Xiaoyuan blinked at Lu Zhaoming. "Eldest Senior Brother, what's wrong?"

Lu Zhaoming: "I..."

Zhang Xiaoyuan understood, "Do you need help?"

Lu Zhaoming: "I've never been in a kitchen."

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "......"

86

Zhang Xiaoyuan had never been in a kitchen either.

Truth be told, he had never touched a kitchen utensil in his entire life.

When he was at home, there were kitchen servants, and even if his father and mother occasionally wanted to cook, they wouldn't seek his help. For his father and mother, involving him only made things more complicated.

Lu Zhaoming, on the other hand, was even less accustomed to it. Spending over twenty years by his master's side, he solely focused on sword practice. His master wouldn't let him do other tasks, and he wasn't responsible for meal preparations. It seemed he hadn't even touched a stove.

Fortunately, he did know how to start a fire.

After all, he had once traveled alone on behalf of his master, and starting a fire was an essential skill for camping in the wilderness. Of course, he could do it.

But... what next after starting the fire?

Zhang Xiaoyuan and Lu Zhaoming stood in front of the stove, watching the flames vigorously burning in the pot, both lost in thought.

Zhang Xiaoyuan desperately tried to recall the steps his father and mother took when cooking. How does one slaughter a chicken? It seemed blood had to be drained first, but... how do you bleed a chicken?

Zhang Xiaoyuan froze.

He tugged at Lu Zhaoming's sleeve. "Eldest Senior Brother, we need to catch the chicken first."

Lu Zhaoming nodded. "Yes."

Being a martial arts expert like him, catching a chicken was indeed an easy task.

He pinched the chicken's neck, restrained its wings, pressed the chicken onto the chopping board, and then calmly asked Zhang Xiaoyuan, "What's next?"

Chicken: "Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck!!!"

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "Drain... Drain the blood!"

Lu Zhaoming: "Drain the blood?"

Zhang Xiaoyuan nodded earnestly, "Cut the neck to drain the blood!"

Chicken: "Bawk, bawk, bawk, bawk!!!"

Lu Zhaoming: "......"

Killing a chicken with a sword seemed too extravagant. If Master knew he used a sword to kill a chicken, he would probably not be pleased. Lu Zhaoming pressed down the struggling and innocent chicken with one hand, and from his waist, he drew a dagger. He gestured toward the chicken's neck, then furrowed his brow.

"Cut the neck?" Lu Zhaoming spoke with difficulty, "Do you mean cut it off?"

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "...There's no need to be so ruthless, right?"

Lu Zhaoming used the dagger to make a few gestures on the chicken's neck.

No, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

He lifted his head to glance at Zhang Xiaoyuan, who stood a distance away, nervously watching. In the eerie and mournful cries of the chicken, neither of them spoke.

Lu Zhaoming: "......"

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "......"

Zhang Xiaoyuan: "Eldest Senior Brother, let's just eat eggs."

Chicken: "Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck-da."

......

Eggs were easier. Conveniently in the chicken coop, just pick a few eggs, break them into the pot, stir-fry them casually, and that should be edible.

If all else failed, throw the eggs into boiling water. Boiled eggs were foolproof. Zhang Xiaoyuan was confident in himself. He believed he wouldn't fail!

Then he found himself struggling with cracking the eggs.

No matter how he tried, the eggshells seemed to have a mind of their own.

In the bowl, apart from the eggs, there were countless tiny, scattered shell fragments.

Zhang Xiaoyuan used chopsticks to pick through the eggshells, thankful that he had cleaned them before cracking the eggs into the bowl.

He painstakingly removed most of the broken eggshells, then reluctantly beat the eggs in the bowl. Afterward, he approached the large pot, pouring the beaten eggs into the blazing-hot pot.

He detected a strange burnt smell.

Anxiously, Zhang Xiaoyuan lifted the spatula, gripping it tightly with both hands, as if wielding a large knife. He forcefully scraped the rapidly solidifying eggs at the bottom of the pot, attempting to flip them.

The other side of the eggs had already turned completely charred, emitting sizzling white smoke. Zhang Xiaoyuan, at a loss, looked around in panic and, grabbing the cold water placed by the stove, poured it hastily into the pot.

White mist billowed in the kitchen. Lu Zhaoming, sitting by the stove, blinked at Zhang Xiaoyuan.

Zhang Xiaoyuan, still startled, stared at the unknown object floating and rolling in the pot.

He forced a smile, looking at Lu Zhaoming, and said, "It's... it's nothing!" Zhang Xiaoyuan tightly gripped the spatula, stammering, "I probably just forgot to add oil!"

The crisis-ridden Zhang Xiaoyuan tried to reassure himself and those around him.