I Can Devour Spirits

Chapter 178: The Misery of the Turtle Slave

Duan Rong listened to what Hong Xue said and understood immediately.

Lan Ying had been weak for years and seemed to have sought Gu Suxiu for physical recuperation.

At this moment, Duan Rong’s medical skills had already far surpassed Gu Suxiu’s. After examining Lan Ying, he had already identified the root cause of her symptoms.

Lan Ying’s illness lies in the heart, and I’m afraid medicine is of no use.

"Miss, you need to make yourself happier for your health to improve. If I may be frank, your illness stems from the heart, and it’s not something medicine can cure."

Lan Ying was touched by the sparkle in Duan Rong’s eyes. She knew her own issues better than anyone.

Lan Ying said, "Sir, your words are spot on. Unfortunately, with my temperament, how could I ever be happy?"

Jiang Qingyu and Ximen Kankan sat there, confused. One moment they were listening to a song, and suddenly they were discussing medicine. Moreover, Duan Rong seemed quite knowledgeable about medical principles, and both of them felt unable to join the conversation.

Duan Rong smiled slightly and said, "At least start by singing some cheerful songs."

As he spoke, Duan Rong got up and went to the desk, picking up the pen and paper on it, and started writing with great flair.

After finishing, Duan Rong handed the paper to Lan Ying and said, "Miss, you may compose a song with these lyrics. It will surely lift your spirits."

Lan Ying looked at Duan Rong with a puzzled expression, but still reached out and took the paper, lowering her head to read it.

She saw several lines of elegant calligraphy on the paper, the writing quite skilled. Lan Ying quietly read the lyrics:

Stopping the swing, getting up lazily to tidy slender hands. Heavy dew and thin flowers, light sweat seeps through thin clothes. Seeing guests enter, stockings slip off golden hairpins. Run with shyness, leaning on the door to look back, then smelling the green plum.

The lyrics were bright and clear, sketching the innocence and shyness of a young girl vividly, as if right before one’s eyes, as if etched in one’s heart.

The last line, leaning on the door to look back, then smelling the green plum, was a masterstroke, seeming to pull one into the carefree days of youth with just a sentence.

Lan Ying read these words, and her eyes suddenly brightened. She held the paper and went to the zither table, starting to tune the strings. Lan Ying was already quite knowledgeable in music, and she particularly liked these lyrics, so soon she was playing and singing at the zither table.

After the song finished, even Hong Xue noticed a difference and said, "Miss, this time you sang like a nightingale..."

The melody was cheerful, the lyrics clear, and Lan Ying’s voice naturally became clear and melodious, sweeping away the decadent mood of the previous song...

Lan Ying’s eyes were joyful as she looked at Duan Rong, saying, "It’s truly a delightful song. As I sing, it feels like I’ve returned to the past days..."

As Lan Ying spoke, her eyes glistened with tears. She rose from the zither table and bowed to Duan Rong.

Poetry and songs have always been a divine medicine for healing, but only if used properly can they be effective.

Lan Ying sat back down, clearly more energetic, and even suggested playing the game of guessing riddles and whoever lost would drink.

Jiang Qingyu was slightly surprised. Lan Ying had always been fond of quiet, detesting drinking games. How could she suggest playing today?

But regardless of the reason, seeing Lan Ying happy, Jiang Qingyu also cheered up.

Ximen Kankan’s eyes lit up upon hearing about a game and exclaimed, "Playing games is what I do best. See if I don’t beat you today and drink you under the table..."

Meanwhile, in a certain room on the first floor of Huaying Building, during the lively drinking games in Lanxiang Garden.

This room was much smaller than Lan Ying’s Lanxiang Garden. At a round table sat a brawny man with his chest exposed, devouring food greedily, with a slightly plump woman beside him.

The brawny man’s large hand constantly touched various parts of the woman’s body. Her face, thickly powdered, was full of smiles. Not far behind them, a bed with curtains hanging.

At this moment, suddenly a Turtle Slave darted in from outside the door, bowing and saying, "Sir, you’ve been in the building for three days. Madam said it’s time to settle these days’ account first."

The brawny man raised his heavy eyebrows and, with a hoarse voice, said, "Didn’t I put down fifty taels of silver when I came?"

"Oh... listen to you... this is Huaying Building, and you’ve been eating and sleeping here, drinking so much of our aged wine. Fifty taels won’t cut it."

The brawny man snorted heavily through his nose and said, "Then tell me, how much did I spend in these three days?"

"When I came in, I already calculated for you. It’s a total of two hundred and eighty taels!"

"What? Two hundred and eighty taels?" The brawny man slammed the wine cup in his hand on the table, shaking the cups, plates, and dishes on it.

The brawny man glared at the Turtle Slave, angrily saying, "You see me as an outsider, taking me for a fool, right?"

The Turtle Slave, frightened, laughed obsequiously, "No need to worry, sir. I have the bill here for you to look at."

The Turtle Slave said and placed a paper filled with items on the table. The brawny man glanced at it and grabbed a large chopper from beside his feet, slapping it on the bill, saying, "I’m out of silver, so this chopper is for you."

"Sir, you must be joking?" The Turtle Slave’s face instantly twisted and said, "How can this broken knife be worth two hundred and eighty taels of silver?"

"If I say it’s worth it, it’s worth it!"

The Turtle Slave suddenly said in a sarcastic tone, "Oh... so you want to eat for free? Why don’t you go out and find out! Daring to eat for free in Huaying Building, I think you picked the wrong place!"

"Ask your mother!" The brawny man suddenly flipped up his hand, and with a flash of blade light, sliced off one of the Turtle Slave’s ears.

The Turtle Slave only saw a flash of cold light, then felt a sharp pain at his right ear. When he reached to touch it, he felt sticky blood.

Only then did the Turtle Slave notice a small patch of blood on the chopper on the table, and his severed right ear was swaying at the edge of the chopper...

"I’m asking you again, is my chopper worth two hundred and eighty taels?"

The Turtle Slave saw the brawny man’s fierce and cruel face, immediately terrified, holding his bleeding ear, screaming like a pig being slaughtered, and ran out of the room...

Duan Rong and the others were in Lanxiang Garden, drinking and playing, when suddenly they heard a piercing scream from outside the building.

"What’s going on?" Hong Xue asked.

"Let’s go, see what’s happening." Ximen Kankan was the first to jump up.

Everyone left their wine and rushed out the door, crowding in front of the second-floor railing, looking down into the first-floor hall.

They saw the Turtle Slave stumbling in the hall, falling to the ground, his face pale with fear, his hand clutching his ear, quivering, with blood dripping from between his fingers and under his palm, staining half his neck...

"Bang!"

Suddenly, the door of a room on the first floor exploded, and amid flying wood and curtains, a dark shadow shot out at an incredibly fast speed!

Seeing the speed, Duan Rong’s Divine Sense stirred, and he said, "Third Level of Inner Breath Realm!"

The brawny man flew out of the room, flickered, and was already standing in front of the Turtle Slave, his large chopper almost simultaneously at the Turtle Slave’s neck, coldly saying, "I’m asking you a question and you didn’t hear me, right? I think your ears are just for show; might as well cut them all off!"

As the brawny man said this, he flipped his wrist, about to slice off the Turtle Slave’s other ear, but at that moment, a long, slender figure leapt down from a railing on the second floor, floating down like a willow leaf in the wind, with no effort at all.