The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

Chapter 39: Painting Obsessive, Young Master, Landlady

The boy eating grapes winked at the woman who looked like the landlady, "See, I told you, the one named Wei is here, and there are fewer people coming to eat tonight. Everyone can just sit on the first floor."

Wei Zixian snorted coldly, but first greeted the middle-aged painter, who hurriedly returned the greeting. Then, when he saw Xia Huai behind Wei Zixian, his eyes suddenly lit up.

He couldn't wait to pull out a piece of prepared Xuan paper, a writing brush, a stick of pine soot ink, and a stone inkstone from his painting bag. He looked around for clear water but couldn't find any, so he actually grabbed the wine pot on the table and poured it directly onto his inkstone.

Then, he ground the ink, picked up the brush, and began to paint with his head down, ignoring the noise around him.

Xia Huai looked a little nervous, but the woman who looked like the landlady smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, the Painting Obsessive has no malice. He's always been like this. When he sees something he wants to paint, he can't control his hands. Conversely, if he doesn't want to paint, you can talk until your mouth is sore, and he won't lift a brush. In the capital, a noblewoman once offered a hundred taels of gold to ask him to paint her, to capture her most beautiful side, but when this guy saw the real person, he directly left a blank sheet of paper, saying that the madam was most beautiful at that moment.

"He's willing to paint for you, which just shows that he thinks your beauty is worth preserving in the world. If I were ten years younger, I'm afraid I would be jealous right now."

"Sister doesn't need to be ten years younger; you look very good now too," Xia Huai said sincerely.

The woman who looked like the landlady was about thirty years old, with a few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, marks left by time on her body. However, her chest was still firm and upright, and even in loose casual clothes, it was still difficult to hide her proud assets. At the same time, because of her martial arts training, there was not a trace of fat on her calves and waist, which was precisely when a woman's charm was at its peak.

Between her smiles and frowns, there was a natural charm flowing.

She seemed very happy to receive praise from Xia Huai, and directly pulled the girl to sit next to her, while also introducing the people at the table to her and Lu Jing.

"The Painting Obsessive, I've already mentioned him. This person has no sect or school. The martial arts he learned came from an ancient painting, and he only started practicing martial arts after he was over thirty, but now he has already entered the second-rate level, worthy of being called a genius. It's a pity that his ambition isn't here; he prefers painting to practicing."

After speaking, she pointed to the boy eating grapes, "That one over there is the twin brother of Baiyu Gongzi of Xiaoyao Villa, Lu Meilang. Although he didn't make it onto the Qingyun List like his brother, it has nothing to do with his aptitude. It's just because he spends too much time eating, drinking, and having fun. Tianjizi once commented on this person, that once he can focus his mind, his future progress in martial arts may not be slower than his brother's."

The boy eating grapes seemed to have heard the landlady-like woman's words, but he grinned and said, "I can't focus my mind. Xiaoyao Villa has Baiyu Gongzi Lu Ping, that's enough. Lu Meilang should just continue eating, drinking, and being his rich young master."

The woman who looked like the landlady finally introduced herself, "Wei Danniang, someone who manages money at a pawnshop."

"Danniang is too modest. Rentong Pawnshop is all over the north and south of the river, with more than three hundred branches. The boss, Zhu Fugui, is a top master on the Heavenly List, and he also has twenty-four great shopkeepers under him. Wei Danniang is one of them."

This time, it was Lu Meilang's turn to clear up the doubts for the two. After a pause, he added, "Is Xijian Pavilion so interested in that secret manual? It's one thing for Wei Zixian to come, but they even sent two more disciples to join him."

"Oh, I'm not from Xijian Pavilion," Lu Jing explained.

A look of doubt flashed across Lu Meilang's face. He had quite a wide circle of friends in the Jianghu world, and he basically knew all the most outstanding people of the younger generation, but Lu Jing was the first time he had seen him.

He originally thought that this person was a disciple of Xijian Pavilion, but he didn't expect Lu Jing to deny it outright. And given Wei Zixian's temperament, to be able to tolerate a young man who wasn't from his sect by his side, Lu Meilang suddenly became interested in Lu Jing's background.

However, before he could ask any further questions, he heard the Painting Obsessive suddenly shout, "It's done!" and then threw the brush in his hand aside.

Everyone was attracted by his action and gathered around, only to see a clear, beautiful, and smiling girl vividly on the paper. Who else could it be but Xia Huai? Moreover, this painting not only depicted Xia Huai's form but even her spirit was exactly the same, which was something even a camera couldn't do.

Wei Danniang praised, "Truly worthy of being a master of painting."

When Xia Huai saw the painting, she was both happy and shy. She was happy that the Painting Obsessive had painted her very beautifully, but she was ashamed that the girl in the painting looked so much like her. Seeing the painting was like seeing the person. If this painting fell into the hands of someone with ulterior motives, wouldn't it be the same as her being played with at will?

Just as the girl was worried, she saw the Painting Obsessive holding up the painting and walking towards her, "I apologize for painting without permission. Please accept this painting as my apology."

Xia Huai was stunned when she heard this. She had just heard Wei Danniang say that the Painting Obsessive's paintings were hard to come by even with a hundred gold, but she didn't expect the other party to give her the painting just like that.

In the end, it was Wei Danniang who said in her ear, "Silly child, why don't you take the painting? Do you want this painting to fall into someone else's hands?"

Xia Huai shuddered and hurriedly reached out to take the painting.

And after the Painting Obsessive gave away the painting, he actually got up directly. While putting his set of brush, ink, paper, and inkstone back into his painting bag, he opened his mouth and said, "It's enough to create this painting tonight. I'm not interested in participating in the banquet later, so I'll take my leave from you all."

After speaking, he picked up his painting bag and drifted away in the stunned gazes of the heroes.

Lu Meilang laughed when he saw this, "Truly a painting obsessive."

Then he looked at Xia Huai and said with great interest, "Miss Xia, I am willing to offer two hundred gold for this painting..."

"No sale, no sale," Xia Huai shook her head like a rattle drum, while tightly holding the painting in her arms, not even caring that the ink stains were rubbing off on her body.

After this little interlude, it was already Hai Shi (9-11 PM).

Waiters carried plates of refreshments and cold dishes to each table, including seven plates of dried fruits, ten flavors of carved honey preserves, eight plates of snacks, twelve dishes of appetizers for drinking, soy duck, fish sashimi, frozen croaker, crystal pork knuckle... everything was available.

However, none of the heroes in the hall touched their chopsticks, only coldly watching the delicacies on the table.

Everyone was very clear that with the strength of the Qingzhu Gang, it would be impossible to cope with the current crisis without using insidious tricks, so everyone would naturally pay extra attention in this regard.

Like Lu Jing and the others, they had all eaten dinner before coming out, and they had eaten quite full, so looking at the delicacies and fine wines in front of them, although they felt a little pity, they didn't have any appetite.

And after the cold appetizers were served, Xie Liancheng, whom everyone was eagerly waiting for, still didn't appear.

Instead, a group of Yingying Yanyan (a group of beautiful women) walked out of the corridor opposite.

Some were plump, some were slender, each with their own style. As the musicians played the Sheng song, they also waved their water sleeves and danced to the music.

Seeing pairs of bare feet stepping on the ground, jumping and leaping to the rhythm, and at the same time, slender waists constantly twisting in the air, many people in the crowd began to breathe heavily, their eyes wide open, as if they wanted to pierce through the thin gauze clothes and reach the mysterious forbidden area beneath.

However, when those dancers stepped in front of them with enchanting dance steps, not a single person actually reached out their hands. Instead, some people with poor concentration gritted their teeth and closed their eyes, simply choosing to ignore what they couldn't see.

After a song, the dancers returned with disappointment in their eyes.

Immediately after, eight porters carried two heavy boxes, walking out of another corridor.