A few dishes were finally served. With a wave of the white-haired elder's hand, a pot of wine appeared on the table.
"Just a pot?" The skeleton-like person frowned, "I haven't even drunk water for so many years and now that I get to drink your wine, you're only giving us one pot?"
The white-haired elderly scoffed and said, "You know nothing about drinking wine. If hundreds of pots of good wine were to be presented at once, then everyone will think of them cheaply. There is such a thing as too much, you know. Then, they will drink eight taels at most, when they could have drunk a catty."
"I want everyone to think that it is a limited resource. Then everyone will have the 'I'll drink more lest I suffer a loss' mentality. Only then will the drinking session be meaningful!" the white-haired elderly explained with no small measure of disdain.
"Very clever!"
Dugu Chou and the middle-aged man were bright-eyed. The skeleton-like person chuckled as well and went on to break the clay seal, asking, "Then, how many pots of this wine do you have?"
"Only this pot in the entire world." the elderly answered.
All three of them were stunned. Only this pot?
"Truly?" The middle-aged man asked with surprise, "Why do I feel that you don't normally make it a habit to tell the truth?"
"Believe whatever you want," the white-haired elderly replied haughtily.
The clay seal was broken. The wine's aroma rose instantly and formed a fog above the mouth of the pot. There were mountains, valleys, and rivers within the fog; heaven and earth were clear to view. The fog lingered on for some time.
The elder looked calm but there was a faint hint of pride hanging at the corners of his lips.
Even Dugu Chou and the middle-aged man watched such the remarkable wine with dazed eyes; they could not help exclaiming in wonder, "What a great wine! A superior wine indeed!"
The skeletal man did not speak. As both Dugu Chou and the middle-aged man watched the scenery form within the fog until it dissipated, they turned and caught the skeletal man already picking up the wine pot and pouring himself a full bowl.
One of his hand held the wine pot while another hand of his picked up the bowl swiftly. With a swoosh, the bowl was immediately emptied. He then began pouring wine into it…
"Halt!" Dugu Chou said angrily, "How can you hog it all to yourself!"
The middle-aged man hollered as well, "How much of such exquisite wine can this world actually have? Do you sneakily plan to drink it all up?"
"What do you know? This is the greatest respect a drinker like me can have for the brewer!" the skeletal man retorted.
Dugu Chou and the middle-aged man was about to object simultaneously but found it difficult to argue with that logic. Seeing that there was not much wine left, both of them joined in the wine struggle.
"Mine!"
"I'll have this bowl!"
The skeletal man did not let go of the wine pot. With a slight movement from Dugu Chou, a tendril of wine shot out and landed in his bowl. The middle-aged man opened his mouth and orange liquid flew straight into it.
The pot of wine was gone within a flash.
The three of them chortled together.
"Gratifying indeed!" They exclaimed at the same time.
"Where's the wine?"
The three of them put down their bowls and looked at the white-haired elder. The latter was speechless, looking at the empty wine pot on the table with his eyes widened. His pot of wine was gone, and he had just managed to take a whiff of it! He was the host of this drinking session, but he did not get to drink even a single drop!
"I guess you fellows aren't the most courteous bunch around." The white-haired elder mumbled under his breath and said rather crossly, "My wine is gone right after I presented it. However, my wine wasn't meant to be consumed so thoughtlessly!"
Dugu Chou spoke with a hint of glee in his voice, "Oh? Do you mean that you're letting us drink to ask us for help? Can I decipher it this way?"
"Of course, you naturally have to do something for me after drinking my wine! This old man has never let anyone drink his wine for free in this lifetime!" the elderly said with a smirk.
The old man had spoken aggressively but the other three chortled simultaneously after meeting his eyes.
"Old man, let me tell you this. You have found the right people by coming to us tonight. There aren't many things in this world that we can't achieve if we were to act on it," Dugu Chou said.
The middle-aged man smiled, saying, "However, a pot of wine won't be enough to ask for favors."
The skeletal person was suddenly enlightened and nodded violently, "That's right! My character has always been that I won't do anything if I don't get enough of a drink!"
"You are all known experts. Are all of you actually… actually blackmailing me? Where are your heroic spirits, as the martial world's pillars?" the white-haired elder retorted in outrage and shock.
He turned his head to look at Dugu Chou and said, "Thankfully there's still Old Brother Dugu. Old Brother Dugu has made a promise to me earlier. I don't care if the both of you refuse to do it."
Dugu Chou was taken aback. "Since when did I promise you anything?"
The white-haired elder was flabbergasted.
"Was it because I said that you've found the right people and there aren't many things in this world that we can't achieve?" Dugu Chou asked, "I meant every word of it. Unfortunately for you, I only said that there aren't many things I can't do; I didn't say if I was willing to do them."
The white-haired elder began to cough violently. His face and neck were flushed, so enraged that he could not even speak. His finger pointed accusingly as he bellowed, "All of you! You… how can you all be so shameless?"
Dugu Chou rolled his eyes. His hand flicked, the empty wine pot on the table rotated continuously. He mumbled, "This wine… is really exquisite. It's just too little, as little as the things we can't do…"
The middle-aged man stroked the wine bowl and sighed softly, "It's too little, no matter how much you drink when you drink with confidants… But if the wine isn't enough, then… it's really… excessive to speak even a word more…"
The skeletal man tapped his chopstick against the wine bowl and sang, "Ding ding ding, dang dang dang, ding ding dang dang dang. Let's drink some wine, the wine is aromatic. I don't force it if I'm not given it. No wine, no talk, no help, no help! No talk, no help! Dang dang…"
Dugu Chou and the middle-aged man laughed until there were tears in their eyes.
"Well, are you helping or not?" The white-haired elder was shaking from anger as he asked his question.
"No!" The other three men answered together.
"All of you are too much!" The white-haired elder was so angry his beard was actually trembling.
The four of them were very advanced in their years and it was obvious that they had never met each other prior to this. Furthermore, they had not informed each other of their names other than a simple "Guess" after they had met.
In spite of this, they had sat together and chattered along. It exuded the vibe that they were old friends who had known each other for decades and not strangers who had met for the first time!
"It isn't too much." The three of them shook their heads in unison. "Guarding the God of Wine… and not trying to extort more exquisite wine with all we can, now, that's really being too much!"
The white-haired elderly expression remains unchanged as he looked at the three of them stoically. All of a sudden, he guffawed as well and cursed, "F*cking hell!"
With an abrupt flick of his wrist, another pot of wine appeared on the table. He feigned anger and said, "Only this pot is left, no more!"
The other three's eyes glowed, swiftly snatching the pot and opening it before pouring some for themselves. They had totally ignored what the old man said.
The white-haired elder picked up his bowl and went on to pour some wine as well, murmuring, "If I don't drink now, I won't be able to drink the wine I brewed myself…"
Another pot of wine vanished.
Dugu Chou stroked his belly and sighed, "My drinking instinct has been further rekindled. I don't want to do anything now. What should I do?"
"Me too…" The middle-aged man dressed in black looked as troubled.
The skeletal person said, "From now on, I shall talk no further. Whatever the two of them say shall represent my thoughts as well!"
The white-haired elder was tongue-tied from anger. After some time, he suddenly ground his teeth and stomped his foot. With a wave of his hand, voila! Wine pots filled the table, under the table, and the foyer of the inn. He cried out angrily, "There, drink to your demise!"
"Coming!" The three of them responded with delight.
"This old man must be extorted. Gentle words with him will get you no wine."
"Exactly. He must be extorted. The rumor isn't just a rumor after all."
"Correct!"
The white-haired elder was utterly enraged. "Who said gentle words won't do? Have you fellows thought of just asking nicely?"
The other three men paused, the air frozen between them. Then, everyone guffawed.
"Tell us. What is it that made you come out of the mountain to look for us for help?" asked Dugu Chou.
The white-haired elder answered with a chuckle, "Actually, I would have done it myself if I didn't meet all of you. But since I've met all of you, I'm too lazy to do it on my own."
"Earlier, an heir of my late friend found me and mentioned that he had been grievously deceived. Someone had disguised as me, using my name, and became his forefather… He'd even used my identity to wreak havoc in the Empire of Ziyou. I was quite angry about it, but that heir of my friend stressed that the person wasn't a bad person nor did he actually damage my reputation…"
"Still, how could he have used my name in vain?" the elderly said huffily.
"To imagine, something like this could happen." Dugu Chou and the skeletal person looked into each other's eyes and chortled.
The middle-aged man clad in black frowned, looking at Feng Xiange in confusion.
The white-haired elder whom they called God of Wine was, of course, the Phantom Physician God of Wine of yesteryear, the legendary, Feng Xiange!
"Who is this person?" the skeletal person asked with a laugh.
"It's the Empire of Yutang's pillar, the sole survivor among the Nine Supremes, Lord Supreme Cloud," Feng Xiange replied.
Once his answer had been uttered, the entire inn suddenly fell silent.