*Ding!*
Tao Bai lit one himself, puffing away.
"Does Shen Yuan from the Shen family still live here?"
"Never heard of him."
"How long have you been working security here?"
"Four or five years, I guess?"
"Then is there anyone who's been doing security here for seven or eight years?"
"Hmm, Old Zhang, who's taking over my shift later, seems to have been a security guard for eight years."
Old Zhang?
Old Zhang?
Old Zhang still working security here?
He was over fifty-seven years ago... Must he be sixty now?
...
After midnight, he'd go to the nearby bank to withdraw cash, then buy some cigarettes at the local store, and finally seek out Old Zhang for more information.
With his mind made up, Tao Bai headed to the barbecue stall on the food street, planning to grab a bite while killing time.
As midnight approached, the barbecue crowd remained fairly thick, with calls of "Hey, boss!" echoing back and forth.
Metal grills sizzled with grilled clams, oysters, snails, grasshoppers, frogs, bamboo worms, beef tripe, and rice field fish...
All bubbling with oil.
Vegetarian options included grilled leeks brushed with spicy sauce, sliced eggplant topped with garlic paste, and tofu coated in sauce when it bubbled...
The street was also filled with roasted sweet potatoes, taro, and candied chestnuts...
Here, everything could be grilled.
The smoke from partially burned charcoal mingled with the aroma of food, permeating the entire food street.
People eat grilled snacks, drink beer, and laugh and chat.
Meanwhile, the owner and servers are constantly flipping grilled items, taking orders, wiping tables, and rushing about nonstop.
"Boss, ten skewers of bamboo worms, two bee larvae, two eggplants, five skewers of pork belly, five skewers of mushrooms, five skewers of leeks, seven chicken wings, two grass carp, and two bottles of ice-cold Tsingtao."
Tao Bai glanced at the array of food on the stall, found an empty seat, and casually ordered a few items.
"Got it!"
The server called out, then asked about spice levels for each dish, jotting down the preferences before handing the order to the owner.
They brought Tao Bai's table some melon seeds and peanuts, along with a pot of fragrant barley tea, suggesting he snack while waiting.
As Tao Bai cracked sunflower seeds and sipped tea, he suddenly sensed an aura distinct from the crowd approaching him.
The figure stepped down from a van. Tao Bai gauged the spiritual pressure emanating from him—roughly Foundation Establishment stage.
"Hey! Never expected to meet a fellow cultivator here. I'm Tan Yang. May I ask your name?"
The newcomer wore a small wooden tag engraved with runes around his neck and a loose, dark-colored Taoist robe.
Standing about 5'9", he had short-cropped hair, a slightly stocky build, and narrow, sharp eyes behind his glasses.
He appeared to be under thirty.
When he grinned at Tao Bai in greeting, the latter noticed a gap in his lower teeth and two nose hairs poking out of his nostrils.
He placed a dark backpack on the bench, its contents jingling softly.
Tao Bai glanced at the bag.
He guessed it likely contained magical tools like a compass, a peachwood sword, bells, or array flags.
"Tao Bai."
Tao Bai smiled in response.
"So it's Brother Tao（桃师兄）!" Tan Yang said familiarly.
"Mind sharing a table?"
Without waiting for Tao Bai's reply, Tan Yang sat down.
It was an unspoken Taoist rule: when encountering peers outside one's own sect, address them as "Brother（师兄）."
Note: Hard to translate 师兄 here…The author shed tears of sheer ignorance…So, please bear with it.
"Please, Brother Tan."
"Weter(Actually is waiter)! Ordering! EsQs me! Ordering!"
Tan Yang waved his hands, shouting.
"Senior Brother Tan speaks English, too?"
"Of Curves!"
Tan Yang patted his chest, flashing a mischievous grin that revealed his gap-toothed smile.
"Ten grilled oysters, ten skewers of grilled snails. Got lamb kidneys?"
"No."
"Pork kidneys?"
"No."
"One whole rice-fed fish, a plate of stir-fried bean sprouts with glass noodles, ten skewers of grilled tofu, ten skewers of leeks.
Grab a couple of bottles of ice-cold beer, too.
That's all for now.
If it's not enough, I'll order more later."
"Are you all together?"
The waiter glanced at Tao Bai, who nodded.
Soon, the dishes Tao Bai ordered began arriving.
Tan Yang watched, swallowing involuntarily.
"Brother Tan, please."
Tao Bai gestured invitingly.
"Sure thing."
Tan Yang replied briskly, wiping his palms on his Taoist robe before snatching a pair of disposable chopsticks from the holder and snapping them open with a sharp crack.
Having just descended the mountain, Tan Yang had recently resolved a case for a benefactor in Liucheng involving a mischievous hedgehog spirit.
The two thousand yuan in cash still warm in his pocket gave him the confidence to foot the bill.
"So good!"
Tan Yang popped a golden, crispy bee larva into his mouth, his face beaming with delight.
"Brother Tao, you really know how to order... "
"Where did you cultivate, Brother Tan?"
"It's hardly cultivation,"
Tan Yang bit into a grilled bamboo worm, his mouth filling with crispy goodness.
"Just spent a few years at Mount Mao.
Here, here, eat up... Oh, is Brother Tao from Quanzhen?"
Tao Bai shook his head and began eating a skewer of grilled pork belly.
"We're all Zhengyi disciples, right? Want a whole one?"
After a bite of meat and a sip of wine, Tan Yang pulled out a pack of Yuxi hard-pack cigarettes.
He flicked the pack with his finger, ejecting a cigarette, and offered it to Tao Bai.
Tao Bai took it, pulling out his lighter.
With a distinctive metallic "ding," he lit the cigarette.
"Holy crap, what kind of lighter is that?"
Tan Yang's eyes lit up as he stared at the brass-colored lighter in Tao Bai's hand.
"Zippo 75."
Catching his admiring gaze, Tao Bai quickly slid the lighter into a hidden pocket of his Taoist robe.
"Cheapskate."
Tan Yang muttered after lighting his own cigarette with his lighter....
"Keep the change."
Tao Bai paid during a lull.
Their total came to less than three hundred yuan.
Before parting, they exchanged QQ contacts.
Tan Yang tapped Tao Bai's profile picture, shot him a sideways glance, and asked suspiciously,
"This isn't your secondary account, is it?"
"Just registered this one. Lost access to my old one."
"Got it."
Tan Yang belched, "Hit me up for drinks sometime."
They'd downed a dozen beers.
By the time they were stuffed and satisfied, it was already 1 a.m., and the owner was packing up.
Tan Yang grabbed his backpack, returned to the van, reclined the seat, and collapsed into sleep.
Tao Bai found a secluded spot, shook his body vigorously, and rattled all the alcohol out of him.
His mind cleared instantly.
An hour later, Tao Bai withdrew 300,000 yuan in cash from various banks using 15 debit cards.
He then headed to a small supermarket near the barbecue stall and bought some cigarettes.
....
"Hey, Old Zhang, night shift duty!"
Tao Bai glanced toward the guard booth, tapped lightly on the glass window, and called out.
Old Zhang, dozing off, jolted awake at the sound.
"Click-click-click-clack..."
He opened a fist-sized window, letting a blast of cold wind hit him, making him shiver involuntarily.
"You who?"
He eyed Tao Bai up and down, his expression filled with confusion.