?

  This time the insect fight still invited "Feng's Insect Club" boss Feng to host, Tang Xiaosan came over and asked: "Young master, do you want to personally provoke 'Untouchable' into opening its mouth?"

  Zhou Xuan nodded and walked to the center of the arena, bowing his fists in gratitude to the eighty insect enthusiasts present, who had all bet at least ten taels of silver. These people were somewhat influential in Jiangzhou and were passionate about insect fighting, so they needed to be won over - after all, it was their money that was being earned.

  "---This insect war is the most important bettable insect war since the establishment of 'Super Autumn War Hall', with one side being the renowned Qingbei insect from Duhoufu, and the other side, although not visually impressive and without a loud Three Kingdoms warrior name, only has a nickname 'Untouchable'. But I, 'Super Autumn War Hall', produce good insects. Since we let 'Untouchable' fight against 'Famous General Zhang He', there will definitely be no one-sided victory or crushing defeat. All insect friends can see a wonderful insect war soon---"

  Zhou Xuan bowed slightly and said elegantly: "Next, please welcome Miss Lin Hanyin to open the 'Famous General Zhang He'."

  Lin Han Yun walked to the center of the field with a joyful smile, still wearing her green dress and small hat. However, people from Jiangzhou couldn't help but recognize her - wasn't Lin Er Niang, the second young lady of the Lin family's governor, supposed to have already undergone the hair-pinning ceremony? Why was she still out and about, showing off her face everywhere?

  Zhou Xuan bowed again to Abu: "Please let Mr. Abu, one of the three big bosses of 'Super Autumn War Hall', open his mouth for 'Mo Bu De'."

  In the midst of the crowd's gasps, Abu walked out with a spirited and proud expression on his face. Merchants had always been looked down upon, despite their wealth, and even a poor scholar could despise them. But now things were different - Abu had risen above the rest! Last time he was drinking in the Du Hu Fu residence, no one believed him when he said it out loud, but now they did! He, Abu, was able to fight alongside the Second Miss of the Du Hu Fu residence!

  Open the sluice gate and let the insects go.

  The "Famous General Zhang He" with yellow helmet and green armor strides across the midfield, and Lin Huan's cicada slightly stirs up, shaking its wings and making a long, sonorous cry, like iron striking stone. The momentum of this green-backed insect is truly unique, especially after defeating "Yiyang Wei Yan", another green-backed insect of the same rank, in the previous battle. The momentum of "Famous General Zhang He" has grown even stronger. Only masters like Zhou Xuan and San Chou can see that "Famous General Zhang He" is a bit superficially strong but inwardly weak. If it encounters an evenly matched opponent, it may not be able to withstand a protracted battle.

  Abu had never played with insects before and whispered to Zhou Xuan: "Master Zhou, how do I get started?"

  "Just sweep it twice on the bug's tail and you're done."

  Abu carefully accepted the water caltrop handed over by Hu Tong, stretched it into the basin, and touched the tail of the small black-and-white insect with a slight touch. The originally motionless black insect at the bottom of the basin suddenly opened its big teeth, grinding them loudly, and the red thread at the tip of the sharp teeth was like a dagger stained with blood. The buzzing sound was also harsh and piercing.

  "General Zhang Heng" swung his pincers and strode forward, "Mo Bu De" angrily confronted him, the two pairs of white pincers clashing together with a "clang". General Zhang Heng was rich in experience, as soon as they clashed, he started shaking his head, using his six legs to exert force upwards, trying to flip "Mo Bu De" over in an instant.

  Don't look at the "untouchable" physique, which looks slightly smaller than "General Zhang Heng", but Zhou Xuan has weighed it before, and its actual weight is even heavier than "General Zhang Heng" by a thread, that is to say, the body of "untouchable" is quite sturdy.

  "General Zhang Heng" shook twice without moving, loosened his teeth, and prepared for the second attack. "Untouchable" showed his teeth extremely quickly, taking advantage of "General Zhang Heng"'s momentum, he gave a heavy bite, knocking "General Zhang Heng" into a daze, and then fiercely shook his head, throwing "General Zhang Heng" against the wall of the bowl.

  The onlookers held their breath, those who bet on "untouchable" were excited, it was a 14-to-1 odds, winning would be a small fortune. Those who bet on "General Zhang He" were nervously cheering for him, believing in the power and strength of the green-backed insect, and were sure to turn the tide.

  Zhou Xuan was also intently watching the two insects fighting, assessing the speed and agility of "Mo Bu De". This insect battle had nothing to do with money for Zhou Xuan, but rather it was a test of "Mo Bu De"'s true strength. If "Mo Bu De" lost, it would mean that it only possessed great school-level strength, with limited value. But if it won, then "Mo Bu De" would be on the same level as Si Chou's "Hu Chou Xu Chu", a mid-general level fierce insect.

  Lieutenant General-level fierce insects are extremely rare, and it's not often that one can be found in the entire Jiangzhou region in an autumn season. As for Marshal-level and Insect King-level ones, those are even more elusive, and a bug player may not catch one in their lifetime.

  "General Zhang Heng" suffered a series of losses and was enraged, roaring as he charged forward. "Mo Bu De" struck him with a painful blow to the head, and the two bugs' large teeth clashed together with a loud "crack". Surprisingly, they were both flung out of the fighting bowl at the same time.

  A low murmur of surprise echoed through the arena, intense, intense, indeed intense!

  Two insects return to the tray for another battle, both sides' large teeth lightly touch each other, then they take off from where they are, it can be seen that they are extremely cautious. "Mo Bu De" makes the first move and knocks back "Ming Jiang Zhang He" several steps.

  "General Zhang Heng" has never been defeated since his debut, how can he show weakness? He immediately fought back with four teeth tightly locked together, two insects stretched out their bodies and fiercely pushed up a insect bridge. After a brief confrontation, "General Zhang Heng" suddenly charged forward, then shook his head, this was a combination of attacking moves, attempting to throw his opponent out of the fighting basin. However, the powerful strength of "untouchable" finally revealed itself, sidestepping and avoiding being thrown out by its opponent. Suddenly, with two pincers exerting force, it made a "crack" sound and pressed "General Zhang Heng" down to the bottom of the basin. Immediately after, it raised its head and surprisingly lifted "General Zhang Heng" high above its own head!

  A shout of surprise echoed through the insect arena, never having seen an insect with such overwhelming power!

  "General Zhang Heng" head down tail up, six legs kicking wildly but to no avail, "can't touch" with another flick of the head, "General Zhang Heng" was thrown out of the bowl like a stone, more than half a meter away, landing on his back, and the six legs trembled for a while before flipping over and crawling up.

  To make the betting insect friends exciting, the two sides of the decisive battle must fight until they can't open their mouths. Zhou Xuan personally used a grass whip to stir up "General Zhang Heng", making it re-motivated to fight.

  "General Zhang Heng" was once again put into the pot, but its power seemed to have been exhausted. "Mo Bu De" became more and more courageous, with one mouthful of fierce bombing after another. "General Zhang Heng" was in a precarious situation, although it managed to withstand "Mo Bu De"'s wave after wave of attacks with its strong willpower. However, the signs of defeat were already apparent, and it fundamentally had no power to fight back. "Mo Bu De"'s pair of sharp fangs launched a fierce attack without any restraint, and finally grabbed an opportunity to bite down on "General Zhang Heng"'s left cheek. With a "hiss" sound, it tore out a long wound from "General Zhang Heng"'s cheek to face.

  "General Zhang Hu" was extremely painful and jumped out of the basin, jumping around a few times, and finally ran away.

  "Untouchable" flapped its wings and cheered, celebrating victory.

  Mr. Feng held up the small hammer in his hand and struck the copper gong, declaring "Mo De Bu" the winner.

  The insect pavilion suddenly became lively, with discussions and arguments everywhere. Those who won the bet were overjoyed, while those who lost cursed "the famous general Zhang Heng" for being all talk and no action.

  Then there were young men running to the outer courtyard, running to the street, loudly proclaiming "Mo Bu De" victory. As a result, the whole street was stirred up, and those who won came to collect silver or copper coins with their betting tokens, making a big fuss like it was a holiday.

  Wu Kuan Wu Baozi took a risk this time and won 140 taels of silver, so he was beaming with joy and went to Pingkangfang to drink flower wine with several friends.

  Zhou Xuan had already put the "untouchable" treasure back in the insect room with Tang Xiaosan, and couldn't suppress the joy in his heart. He spent a thousand coins and actually managed to buy a mid-general level strength fierce insect, it was truly a blessing from heaven.

  Zhou Xuan smiled and asked San Chi: "How is it? Didn't expect this insect to be so fierce?"

  The three fools said: "The master is wise."

  This time, the "Super Autumn War Hall" made a profit of one hundred and sixty taels. In addition, tea houses and wine shops were also booming with business, with no empty seats, making the bosses of the other three insect societies envy them.

  After this battle, "Untouchable" gained great fame, and in Jiangzhou, there was no one who could match him. However, being too unbeatable wasn't good either, as he couldn't find an opponent to fight and therefore couldn't earn any money. Zhou Xuan considered taking "Untouchable" to nearby states and counties to seek out battles, pretending to be weak while actually being strong, and winning more silver. This was a very interesting thing to do.

  Lin Han Yun heard it and immediately said she would go too.

  Zhou Xuan did not respond with a yes or no, thinking to himself: "Take you on the road, wandering from state to county, this is impossible. I'll go quietly and won't let you know."

  Back at the Zhou residence, Zhou Xuan was in a good mood and rewarded San Ci with a rare and precious Go problem called "Luo Shui Zong". This was a dead-alive problem that required a series of clever moves to solve, and ordinary methods were useless. It would take San Ci several days of intense thinking to crack it. In the past, Zhou Xuan had relied on books, trying to solve it for a while before giving up and looking at the answers in the back of "The Go Manual". He had simply memorized the correct solutions due to his good memory, but he didn't truly understand these intricate dead-alive problems.

  That night, Old Dong from the Du Hu Fu came to pick up Zhou Xuan to learn about tea ceremony again. San Chi was as sharp as a hunting dog and had been thinking deeply in his solitary room about that tricky "Lushui Gunzong" move. But when Zhou Xuan left, he followed closely behind, keeping his promise to protect Zhou Xuan.

  Zhou Xuan rode in a carriage, while San Chi walked on foot. When they arrived at the gate of Chaoyang Fang, San Chi was already waiting there, with his arms crossed and an extremely patient look on his face.

  Lin Han Yun greeted Zhou Xuan at the gate, smiling and saying: "You came early today, now focus on learning tea ceremony, otherwise Jian Nu will be won back by others again."

  Zhou Xuan asked: "Lin Deputy Director, what did you say to your sister?"

  Lin Han said, "I didn't say much, I didn't mention anything about the wandering knight, just that someone wants to have a tea duel with you and the stakes are high. I asked my sister to help you, but she didn't respond. You should ask my sister yourself."

  Arrived at "Jiunan Mountain House", entered the tea room and sat down. Today, Zhou Xuan brought another bottle of flowers, a delicate high-waisted porcelain vase from Chai Kiln, about six inches tall, with a small mouth and thick bottom, inserted with a branch of Shixi chrysanthemum, emitting a subtle fragrance, elegant and understated.

  "Zhou Gongzi, I heard that you will be competing in a tea contest with someone else after a month. How can you, who has just started learning, possibly win against others?"

  Zhou Xuan replied: "Of course I won't be able to do it alone, but Sister Dao Yun is a tea fairy after all. With your help, what's there to fear?"

  Jingyi Xianzi shook her head and said: "Nonsense! How can a lady's way be compared with others in a tea contest?"

  Tang Dynasty had a custom of "fighting tea", also known as "tea war" or "tea battle". It usually refers to competing in the color and fragrance of tea, which is the ninth difficulty of the nine difficulties of tea - "drinking". This was quite popular among scholars and elegant gentlemen.

  Zhou Xuan said: "Sister must help me, if I lose it will be terrible."

  Jing Yi Xianzi heard Zhou Xuan call her "sister" and secretly smiled in her heart. She asked, "What's wrong?"

  Zhou Xuan said: "Will be asked to never drink tea for life, hearing the word 'tea' will have to cover their ears and walk away quickly."

  Lin Han Yun couldn't help but laugh "heh heh heh" as she leaned on the tea table, covering her mouth after hearing Zhou Xuan come up with such a ridiculous excuse to deceive her sister.

  Jingyi Xianzi said: "I thought being a woman was just about losing some silver coins, I didn't expect to gamble for this, it's really embarrassing."

  Lin Han Yun raised her head and said: "Sister, don't help him, he's just not drinking tea, it's not like he's not drinking water, he won't die of thirst."

  Zhou Xuan said: "I'm learning tea from Dao Yun sister, and the more I learn, the more fascinated I become. If I weren't allowed to learn, it would be even more unbearable than not being allowed to drink water when thirsty. My dream is to one day become a great tea master like my friend Zhang. With Dao Yun sister teaching me, I'm sure I can reach that level. Unfortunately, one month's time is too short. Alas, heaven is jealous of talented people!"

  Jing Yi Xianzi smiled softly: "Let's start learning." Then she had Ming Feng and Jian Yue bring water to let Zhou Xuan taste.

  Zhou Xuan knew that Jing Yi Xian Zi was helping him by default, so he put his mind at ease and seriously tasted the famous springs of the world.

  ……

  Zhou Xuan is now learning a lot of things, after studying the art of tea and returning in the middle of the night, he still has to practice "bedroom skills" under Qin Que's guidance. Zhou Xuan is becoming more and more durable, making Qin Que teacher who advocates for dedication a bit overwhelmed, can only hope that Sister Zhenni will join the learning ranks soon, with two teachers teaching one student, it should be manageable.

  In the following days, Zhou Xuan was busy with the clothing store during the day and went to learn tea ceremony from Jingyi fairy at night. The clothing store had not officially opened yet, and the tailors who were hired were rushing to sew the sample clothes made by Zhenni. As for the tea ceremony, Zhou Xuan felt that his progress was very slow, and he really didn't know when he would reach the level of his good friend Zhang Dai.

  It's been a long time since he moved, and there are still more than half a month before the day of the tea ceremony. Even if he temporarily holds on to Buddhism and studies the art of tea in a hurry, it won't work. Zhou Xuan wants to go out for a walk in counties outside of Jiangzhou, bringing "untouchable" with him, pretending to be a pig, eating tiger-shaped cookies, and relaxing.