The wine and dishes were served.
Young Master Dong Tianleng then began the meal that would leave the biggest impression in his life.
"Are you able to consume so much? In a single sitting?" Dong Tianleng was shocked, his face a look of terror as he pointed to the big pile of mystical beast meat in front of Yun Yang.
"I've reduced my appetite by half now," Yun Yang replied pleasantly. It was true. He had eaten about fifty to sixty catties in the previous days; he estimated that he would be full tonight with just twenty catties. This was terribly good news for him.
Judging by this, he assumed that Emmie, too, should be about done with her energy absorption. It seemed that there was still hope for the day that he would return to normal.
How he longed for the days where he could be full from seven or eight meat patties!
"Reduced by half…" Young Master Dong Tianleng repeated in a voice that held a hysterical edge. His jaw was in danger of dropping off as well.
He was eating some twenty catties of meat per meal, together with other food and wine… and this was an appetite reduced by half!
"This is nothing." Yun Yang said nonchalantly, "Previously, my appetite had even scared myself!"
"You're indeed the idol of popinjays!" Dong Tianleng was impressed beyond his wildest expectations.
Look at him! Consuming mystical meat for every meal!
I'm a young master from one of the f*cking influential eight families but even I wasn't treated this well. Spending ten thousand of silver taels for a meal he's having all by himself… That's some character we have right here!
This is extravagant indeed!
"Since you're here, why not drink without restraint! Come, come!"
Clink!
Yun Yang placed a large wine jar in front of Dong Tianleng; the latter's eyes bulged in shock again.
This jar has got to be at least fifteen catties!
God, do all of you drunkards at Tiantang City drink like a fish?
Yun Yang then brought over another jar and waved invitingly at the two guards. The guards shook their heads to politely decline the kind offer; they had duties to carry out - such as ensuring their young master's safety! They had no assurances they could do so if they started to imbibe recklessly. They might even stick a sword in their own young master and not know it at all if they ended up roaring drunk!
"I'll just go ahead then." Yun Yang opened the clay seal with one palm and lifted the wine jar to his lips.
Under the amazed stare of Dong Tianleng, he gulped the liquid down; within a breath, half the jar was gone!
"Wonderful!" Yun Yang put down the wine jar and spoke, "Drink up, what are you doing just staring at me?"
Dong Tianleng's eyes continued to bulge as his jaw hung open, "Idol, do you all drink like that?"
Yun Yang rolled his eyes and said, "I do not know about other people but I've been drinking like this for a year."
"My lord!"
Dong Tianleng's lips were trembling and his eyes actually teared up as he held Yun Yang's hands, forgetting himself in his reverence. "From now on, you are my lord! You are my blood brother! You are simply astonishing! So flamboyant, even if it's just drinking wine... nobody in the past nor future could hope to surpass it! You must teach me…"
Yun Yang looked at the fellow speechlessly.
Whether it be eating or drinking, do you really think I wish it to be this way? Flamboyant? Flam my ass flambo- …
He was sorely tempted to drop his chopsticks and stop eating, feeling oddly dispirited.
It was then that Young Master Dong Tianleng cried out and lifted the wine jar in an attempt to emulate Yun Yang's manly gulping.
"Young master, don't…" Just as the guards spoke, Dong Tianleng was already choking on the fiery liquid, "Cough! Such a lowly popinjay like myself really can't hope to be as flamboyant as you are… gah!"
"Your Lion Dog is not all that bad." Yun Yang changed the topic, looking at the two-headed lion that was sitting obediently beside the dining table and continued to shower praise. "It's two-headed as well, and obedient to boot. Marvelous!"
"This is a Double-headed Elysian Lion…" Dong Tianleng glowed warmly as he spoke, "It is an eighth level mystical beast…"
"Uh-huh." Yun Yang pulled a bone that he had sucked clean out of his mouth and threw it to the supposed 'Double-headed Elysian Lion', saying, "You eat bones?"
"It doesn't eat bones…" The corners of Dong Tianleng's lips twitched. My lord, it's a Double-headed Elysian Lion; at home, it eats only the best. Even if it eats meat, it eats a complete piece of mystical meat, and would never stoop to eating something half-eaten by others… eh?
Dong Tianleng stared wide-eyed, looking at the Double-headed Elysian Lion that was chewing on the bone and happily wagging its tail beside the table. His eyeballs were in danger of popping clean out of his head.
You must f*cking pulling my leg.
"Doesn't eat bones?" Yun Yang looked at Dong Tianleng like he was looking at an idiot. "What do you suppose it's doing now?"
Dong Tianleng felt like digging a hole and burying himself in it. Looking at his Double-headed Elysian Lion that was chewing the bone with extreme contentment, great Young Master Dong Tianleng felt like his face had been soundly slapped.
Each crunch it took was two loud smacks across his face.
Why the f*ck won't it save your father some dignity?
Thinking of this, Young Master Dong Tianleng had a sudden realization, "Odd, this isn't right, why didn't I address myself as your father when I'm with this fellow?"
"This is obviously a Lion Dog." Yun Yang said with affirmation, "The only difference is that it's two-headed."
Dong Tianleng was unable to come up with a reasonable objection to the observation.
I'm f*cking looking at this thing chewing its bone and wagging its tail and I'm thinking that it's a Lion Dog too!
"This dog looks good." Yun Yang extended his arm to catch the Double-headed Elysian Lion by its tail.
"Don't…" Dong Tianleng immediately cried out in warning. This Double-headed Elysian Lion would eat people! Especially if its tail was threatened, no one could touch it at all. There were a few poor souls in the past who had wanted to touch it but the Double-headed Elysian Lion had gone berserk and left no parts of their bodies unharmed.
However, before he could even call out 'Young Master Yun', he choked on his words that had almost left his lips.
Yun Yang had moved incredibly swiftly; he had already gotten the fat tail in his hand with a swoosh, rubbing and patting it before lifting it a few times and said seriously, "This dog is really not bad at all!"
Dong Tianleng could only stare and could not get a single word out. He saw that the Double-headed Elysian Lion could still afford to look obsequious while it was chewing its bone and had even grovelingly pushed its rear end over as if afraid that this Young Master Yun could not get a good grip on its tail.
Was this still an eighth level Double-headed Elysian Lion? This was exactly how a Lion Dog would behave!
There was only one word for it; cheap!
Dong Tianleng could only wonder about his own state of being.
Am I f*cking ill? Or are my eyes going bad? Did I get hysteria? How could I imagine something so outrageous?
The two guards were also similarly startled and wondered what exactly was going on.
This Double-headed Elysian Lion had always been the ultimate darling back home. Without any regard for others, even its owner Dong Tianleng would have to pander to it and work hard just to give it a pat. Even then, the lion would only barely allow him to pat it lightly for a short while.
Just a short while!
However, it showed such obedience in front of this Young Master Yun Yang whom it had only met for the first time today! Both the guards were sure that even if it were dogs that they had taken care of since they were young… they would not be as obedient as the two-headed lion was right now in front of Yun Yang!
"Have another bone?" Yun Yang was still playing with it. "This one? There's still some meat on it, I just had two bites…"
"Here's a peanut… Come, jump to catch it…"
Swoosh!
Yun Yang tossed the peanut as the Double-headed Elysian Lion jumped up gracefully and caught the peanut in midair before landing and wagged its tail at Yun Yang to ask for its reward.
"Good boy!" Yun Yang handed over a bone that he had stripped clean.
Dong Tianleng was utterly bewildered.
The Double-headed Elysian Lion now had him wanting to reprimand the beast,"How could you offer yourself so cheaply!" The bigger question, however, was, "Why?"
Dong Tianleng slowly turned his numb neck in a stupor and looked at Yun Yang. "My lord… Oh, my idol… No… Big brother! Blood brother! How did you do that?"
Yun Yang looked at him in confusion. "Do what?"
Dong Tianleng let out a cry and suddenly stood up to lower his head in worship. "Big brother! Please, take me in! Little brother's admiration towards you is like the river of Tianxuan, flowing endlessly, and like the borderless ocean, its waves roiling for eternity…"
Both Yun Yang and the guards were rendered speechless by his frankness and cringe-worthy admiration.
That night, Dong Tianleng drank until he was completely inebriated, hugging Yun Yang's leg as he cried and blubbered with tears streaming down his face. At the end, Yun Yang was half pushing and half pulling to try to get the young master out of his door.
"Big brother, my lord, blood brother! Let me stay, I wish to learn from you… learn to be a popinjay… I'm absolutely sincere… don't chase me away, blood brother!" Dong Tianleng practically wailed in drunken desperation.
Sometime later, with the help of two very embarrassed guards and the intoxication of the alcohol in Young Master Dong Tianleng's system, he was finally carried away like a pile of logs.
"Peace, at last." Yun Yang could not help but sigh in relief, then chuckled humorlessly, "This fellow is remarkable indeed."
Lao Mei, who stood behind him, looked at him with a wondering gaze.
Yun Yang turned. "Lao Mei? What is it?"
Lao Mei breathed deeply and said, "I am uncertain how to say this, young master."
Yun Yang replied warmly, "My good man, you know you can always speak your mind."
Lao Mei composed his thoughts and said, "Well, I get the feeling that young master seems to have passed up on too many opportunities within these past few days."
Yun Yang frowned, "Whatever do you mean?"
"First, Lady Ji Ling arrived at our Residence of Yun. She obviously concealed the fact that she is from an illustrious family. Even if she wasn't, it couldn't hurt for both of you to be friends. In the end, however, young master totally did not bother to garnish your words. Even if not for her beauty but for something else, you could at least have pretended to be civil… This is my first uncertainty."
"Young master, you had already intimidated the four great young masters with your identity before they arrived here; if an alliance were to be forged, it would be possible to claim these four families' help, or at least one of two of them. This would be of great benefit to a family in Tiantang City but young master did not do so. Young Master Ma, Young Master Qin and the others have been swindled by young master a few times already. This time round, young master gave them ample profit to cover what they've lost and to earn even more. It should be the best timing to further improve your relationship with them but you have given up on this chance, even ignoring what happened after that day."
"Fourth on the list, the injured person can already move around now. Young master has mentioned that you would like to recruit him but you have just left him to lie, without even going in to see him for the past three days."
"Lastly, this Young Master Dong has obviously thrown himself at young master's feet in admiration. With some flattery, young master, you could immediately have him as an underling. Again, young master did not do what I would have expected you to do."
Lao Mei had said all of this in a rush of words, and was rather short of breath as he admitted, "Young master, Lao Mei really can't comprehend any of this at all!"