Drunken

Chapter 1

In the depths of winter, snowflakes are slowly falling like goose feathers, and the simple courtyard is covered with thick snow, making the deserted and desolate.

A young man hurried into the small courtyard, rubbed his reddened arms, and pushed open the door of the dilapidated wooden house.As soon as he entered the room, he immediately closed the door to keep the wind and snow out.

"Mom, are you feeling better today?"

"Cough... I'm much better after drinking the medicine."

The young woman lying on the bed, although her face was haggard, could still see her beautiful and upright face, when she saw the young man coming, she immediately struggled to sit up.

"Mother, you are not well, you should lie down." The boy came to the bed and helped the woman to lie down, and covered her with a quilt.

Although the young man only tied up his long hair casually and wore only simple linen clothes, his pair of shining black eyes seemed to twinkle like stars, and a faint blush appeared on his flawless face like fat jade, which made him look handsome. Smart.

"No, I've been lying in bed all day and I want to go for a walk."

"Then let me help you sit by the window. It's snowing outside now, mother be careful." Nangong Wuhui smiled and helped his mother get out of bed, sat on the stool by the window, and carefully covered her with a quilt.

"Why is it so lively outside?" The young woman squinted her eyes and looked at the lively front yard from the window.

"Today is the Patriarch's [-]th birthday." Hearing this, Nangong Wuhui's expression darkened, and his hands clenched into fists.

"No wonder I didn't see you in the morning. Do you want you to bring wine? Is your father okay?" The young woman smiled lightly.

"Mother, he's not my father... He treats you so well, why do you still remember him?" Nangong Wuhui bit his lower lip tightly, a layer of indignation covered his star pupils.

Since he was a child, he lived with his mother in a dilapidated small courtyard, and his famous father had never visited him.

The Nangong family is a well-known big family in the Jianghu, but as the youngest son of the Nangong family, he has had to look at people's faces since he was a child, and was bullied all the time, all because the eldest wife of the Nangong family couldn't tolerate him and his mother. .

His mother was originally the daughter of a restaurant in the town. She was beautiful and intelligent. She brewed good wine since she was a child. She could inherit the family business, but she met the Nangong Patriarch.

Although the Patriarch of Nangong at that time was over [-] years old, but with a handsome appearance and personable manner, he quickly captured his mother's heart.At that time, she was young and disregarded her parents' opposition and insisted on marrying into the Nangong family as a concubine, and the tragedy began from then on.

At the beginning, Patriarch Nangong treated her well, but as the years passed, his love diminished day by day. The man was already romantic by nature, and not long after, he had a new love outside.And the eldest lady already had two sons, even if the mother gave birth to him again, the situation did not change, what's more, the eldest lady rejected their mother and son very much.

And since he was 14 years old, the eldest lady knew that he had a unique skill in brewing wine, so she often threatened him with his mother and forced him to brew good wine for the government.

Mother's health has never been very good, and she contracted a cold two months ago, and she has been sick since then, but the eldest lady said that if the wine is not delivered to the warehouse on time, the doctor will not let the doctor see her, Nangong Wuhui has no choice but to , I had to take care of my seriously ill mother while making wine hard.

"No regrets, it will be doomed for mother to meet your father. If you meet a girl you like in the future, don't be like your father, and treat her well." Resting her head on her son's chest, the young woman closed her eyes wearily.

"Mother is sleepy, go back to bed and sleep." Not wanting to say anything more, Nangong Wuhui just suggested lightly, and wanted to help the young woman up.

At this time, the lively music coming from the front stopped, and instead came bursts of noise.

"No regrets, what happened?" The young woman grabbed his arm and looked out the window in confusion.

"Wait, mother, I'll go and see right away." Nangong Wuhui frowned, hurriedly helped mother back to bed and lay down, and then ran to the lobby in three steps at a time.

But before he entered the lobby, he heard a miserable cry, and he rushed in.

The hall was in chaos, and the guests were discussing, screaming and crying one after another.

Nangong Wuhui looked left and right, no one could ask what was going on, so he found a quiet corner to take a closer look, unexpectedly passing through the crowd, he saw his father whom he hadn't seen for a long time lying motionless in a pool of blood, The eldest lady knelt down on the corpse and wept unceasingly, while the two elder brothers also stood aside, complaining with tears streaming down their faces.

Only then did Nangong Wuhui realize what had happened—

Patriarch Nangong, who he should call his father, died.

But how it happened, no one can tell why.

All I know is that Patriarch Nangong died after drinking for three rounds, suddenly vomited blood, convulsed all over his body.But there was no poison in the wine, and there was no sign of conspiracy. A guest who is proficient in medical skills checked and said that he died suddenly due to angina.

Although the two young masters of the Nangong family could not accept such a statement, it was neither poisoning nor conspiracy, and they could do nothing if they could not find the criminal.

Outside the gate of the Nangong Family, the servants busily took down the high hanging red lights and replaced them with white curtains.

What was originally a banquet to celebrate her [-]th birthday soon turned into a funeral.

But all of this had an unexpected impact on Nangong Wuhui, who never admitted that Patriarch Nangong was his father.

After he returned to the small courtyard, he planned to hide the news from his seriously ill mother, but the mother had already guessed something from his unnatural expression. Come to the vestibule.

When she saw her husband's body, the seriously ill young woman couldn't stand the blow, she fainted on the spot, and died that night.

In the lobby, Nangong Wuhui, dressed in filial piety, stared angrily at the two half-brothers with bloodshot eyes.

"Why not let my mother be buried in the ancestral grave?"

"Your mother is just a restaurant girl, so she has no right to enter our Nangong family's ancestral grave." Nangong Xiao, the eldest son of the Nangong family, snorted coldly and stretched out his hand to push him.

"Although my mother is a restaurant girl, Patriarch Nangong personally greeted her back then." Nangong Wuhui, who had fallen to the ground, quickly got up.

"That was at the beginning! Now that my father is dead, everything in the Nangong family is in the hands of my son. If I say no, I won't let it go." Nangong Xiao patted his chest arrogantly, and his second brother Nangong Lin who stood beside him followed suit. Attached.

"Yes, besides, your mother always sells wine in public before entering our Nangong family. Who knows if you are the seed of our Nangong family."

"You... you guys are too deceitful!" Nangong Wuhui was so angry that he was shaking all over, he rushed forward and threw out a punch.

It's fine to insult him, but he can't tolerate other people insulting his mother, his mother is the gentlest and nicest person in the world!

"Wild species, you still want to beat me with your skills?" Nangong Xiao practiced martial arts since childhood, so naturally he didn't take Nangong Wuhui's random fists in his eyes.

He raised his leg, kicked him hard in the lower abdomen, and kicked him to the ground.

"Hmm..." Nangong Wuhui struggled to get up while clutching his sore stomach, but Nangong Xiao stepped on his back and fell down heavily.

He has never been so angry at his own powerlessness for a moment like he is now, angry at himself for not being able to fight at all, and can only be bullied by others.

Before she died, mother held onto his hand tightly. Her only last wish was to be buried with father, but she couldn't even do this for her!

Thinking that his mother's last wish could not be fulfilled, and he could only be bullied by his elder brother, he really wished that he could learn peerless martial arts immediately and seek justice for his mother!

"Come on, don't throw this bastard out!" Nangong Xiao glanced at him contemptuously and waved his hand. Immediately, a family member stepped forward and dragged Nangong Wuhui out of the lobby.

"Let go, let go quickly." He struggled desperately, his gums were about to bleed, but he was still thrown out of the door.

"Hmph, when you can beat me one day, I will let your mother be buried in the ancestral grave." Nangong Xiao looked down at him and sneered, then ordered the servant to close the door and shut Nangong Wuhui out.

Lying on the icy snow with injuries all over his body, Nangong Wuhui sat up in embarrassment, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and slowly stood up against the wall.

What should he do?Going in again is undoubtedly asking for humiliation, but mother's last wish... It would be great if he knew martial arts, so that he wouldn't have to be despised or looked down upon!

Looking at the heavy vermilion lacquer gate, he took several steps forward but then took them back, standing by the gate unwillingly but helplessly, not knowing what to do for a while.

"Young master." At this moment, the small door used by the servants next to the main door opened, and a middle-aged man dressed as a housekeeper walked out from inside.

"Butler Zhou." He grinned at the corner of his injured mouth and responded with a forced smile.

Steward Zhou has been taking care of him and his mother in private all these years. If it wasn't for him to take care of them, even the servants would have climbed on top of their mother and son.

"Young master, this old slave is useless and can't help you." Steward Zhou helped him up, looking at him with pity and pain in his eyes.

Although he has always felt unfair about the situation of Mrs. Side and the young master, he can do nothing for them except for some private help. After all, he is just a servant of Nangong Mansion.

"Don't say that, just blame me for being useless, I can't beat Nangong Xiao." He forced a smile, but accidentally pulled the wound on his mouth, and gasped in pain.

"Forgive me for talking too much, but in my opinion, the young master's body is the most similar to the master's when he was young. If you worship a famous teacher, your future is absolutely limitless."

"I don't want any future, I just want to fulfill my mother's last wish." Nangong Wuhui shook his head, he understood that Butler Zhou was just comforting himself.

Besides, it's useless to say these things now, the children in the family have never had his share in martial arts, so how could he immediately learn advanced martial arts and defeat his elder brother?

"Young master, this old slave has heard that there is such a number one person in Jianghu..." Butler Zhou said slowly.

Not long ago, a knight-errant who came to a birthday banquet mentioned it while chatting with other guests. More than 50 years ago, the famous wine devil who was famous in the world suddenly reappeared and killed several villains!

It is rumored that this senior wine demon possesses peerless martial arts and is jealous of evil, but his whereabouts are erratic, and it is difficult to find him.After he became famous in Jianghu, he had been active for a few years, and then suddenly disappeared. No one knew where he went. At the beginning, some people speculated, but after a long time, some people said that the wine demon had passed away.

Unexpectedly, today, 50 years later, the drunkard reappeared!

Steward Zhou knew that his words of "resembling the master when he was young" were just to comfort the young master, but when he thought of the drunken devil's jealous personality, as long as the young master found this hero, even if it was too late to learn from a teacher, the drunkard would be too late. Hearing such injustices, Xia thought he would definitely take care of them. If the young master could take this opportunity to learn one and a half moves of self-defense martial arts, that would be even better!

He told Nangong Wuhui about the legend about the drunken devil. Of course, he would not tell the young master who has a stronger personality.

"You said that senior was called Liquor Devil?" Nangong Wuhui heard this, and his eyes immediately lit up with a glimmer of hope.

"Exactly. A few days ago, someone saw the wine demon appearing in Nanzhen. Apart from good martial arts, the wine demon also has a quirk. Whoever gets the wine will have the opportunity to make a request to the drunkard."

"I see, Steward Zhou, thank you, I'll prepare right away." Nangong Wuhui understood, and Steward Zhou wanted him to find the wine demon, use the wine he brewed to worship the wine demon as a teacher, and after learning martial arts Come back to fulfill my mother's wish!

He originally thought that it would be impossible for him to practice martial arts in his life, but if he could learn from a peerless master, he might still have a chance.

"Young master, this old slave has prepared everything for you. Everything is in the backyard." Steward Zhou patted him on the shoulder and pointed to the back door.

"Okay, I'll go right away." His eyes lit up, and the long-lost smile finally appeared on Nangong Wuhui's face again.

On the same day, he took his mother's ashes and several altars of good wine brewed by himself, and rode a horse all the way south to find the drunkard.

More than half a year later, Nangong Wuhui walked in the direction Steward Zhou pointed out, and almost searched Nanzhen and the surrounding towns, but still did not find the drunk demon.

"No, if this continues, I will starve to death before I find Senior Liquor Demon." He touched the last few copper coins on his body, and sighed deeply.

The money on his body is almost used up, the only valuables on him are horses and wine, but without a horse to travel, how can he continue to search for people?

It seems that I can only sell a jar of wine as a road fund.

"Shopkeeper, do you collect wine here?" After the horse was tied up, Nangong Wuhui walked into the restaurant with a jar of wine in his arms, and gently placed it on the counter.

The shopkeeper raised his head and saw that he was wearing coarse clothes, so he naturally had a bad face, "Where is the poor boy? Go away, don't hinder my business!"

"This... shopkeeper, please help me..." Being scolded like this, Nangong Wuhui's face flushed red, but in order to make trouble, he still bite the bullet and spoke again.

"Go, don't disturb my business." Seeing that he didn't leave, the shopkeeper impatiently called the shop assistant to chase him away.

Seeing that the situation was not right, Nangong Wuhui raised the wine jar and was about to leave, but unexpectedly, he was pushed hard by the waiter from the side.

"boom!"

Caught off guard, he let go of his hand, and the wine jar fell out, breaking into several pieces on the ground, the wine spilled all over the floor, and the rich mellow aroma wafted around.

At this time, the wine demon sitting on the second floor had a panoramic view of all this. Without saying a word, he jumped down from the private seat, stood neatly in front of Nangong Wuhui, and stretched out his hand to help him.

The wine demon is different from the other three brothers among the four demons. Wine is his source of strength and an indispensable thing in his practice. In addition, he is addicted to alcohol, and he will not drink unless he is good, so he has to go down the mountain every once in a while. Looking for wine.

His temper is not very good, and after going down the mountain, he always acts according to his whims.I remember one time when I was interrupted while drinking, I shot and killed several people in a fit of rage, and unintentionally saved a master who was said to be a decent family.Since then, he has been restless, and people from time to time search for his whereabouts in the rivers and lakes, trying to win him over.

At the beginning, he helped people when he saw them pleasing to the eye, and beat them when he didn't see them.I don't know why his reputation is getting better, and it has brought a lot of troubles, so after collecting enough fine wine, he retreated back to his cave and stopped getting involved in the affairs of the rivers and lakes.

But after several decades, he was tired of drinking the wine in the cave, and he decided to go down the mountain to find some good wine not long ago.However, because of a momentary hand itching to take care of a few other things, he was accidentally recognized by others, and remembering the troubles that followed in the past, he was more careful to hide his identity.

If he hadn't smelled such an intoxicating aroma of wine now, he would not be willing to make a move and cause unnecessary trouble.

"Little brother, are you alright?" Taking a deep breath, the brown pupils of the wine demon immediately turned black.

It smells so good!The color and luster of this jar of wine should be about ten years old, but the mellow aroma is beyond the reach of fine wines that have been around for decades. It is really a good wine!

It's a pity that such a good wine is gone, and he didn't even taste it. It's really a pity.

"My lord, I'm sorry to disturb your elegant mood. Please go back and sit upstairs, and just leave it to the younger one." The shopkeeper saw that the sudden appearance of the person was extraordinary, and he must not be an ordinary person, so he hurried forward to smooth things over.

But Nangong Wuhui in this room, seeing that his hard work was smashed like this, his brows were frowned, his heart ached to death, and he wanted to ask the shopkeeper for justice.

"You...you pay me for the wine!"

He carefully brewed this wine, which took a year and stored in the kiln for several years after brewing. During the brewing process, he added a special formula developed by himself, so that the wine that has only been ten years old has decades of mellow aroma.Even when Mrs. Nangong pressed her hard back then, he was always reluctant to take it out, but he didn't expect to ruin a jar for nothing now.

"What do you pay for? You overturned it yourself!" The shopkeeper rolled up his sleeves and raised his fist, ready to hit someone.

"Wait a minute, is this wine yours?" The wine demon stretched out his big hand, stopped the shopkeeper, and took another deep breath.

If the wine belonged to the young man in front of him, maybe not just this jar, he didn't want to miss the opportunity to taste the fine wine.

"its mine."

"Do you have any more?" Hearing this, he grabbed Nangong Wuhui's arm, as if he was afraid that someone would run away.

"Yes, but..." Startled by the sudden eagerness of the man in front of him, Nangong Wuhui hesitated for a moment, but still answered honestly.

Although I don't know what this big brother wants to do, this person helped him after all, so it's not good to deceive him.

"How many more, I'll buy them all." The drunkard untied the money bag from his waist without saying a word, and threw it to him directly.

"No, no, this wine is not for sale." But for the heavy purse, Nangong Wuhui returned it to the wine devil without looking at it.

"Why, don't you think it's too little?" Is it possible that this kid is a greedy person, seeing that he likes to drink, he wants to take the opportunity to earn more money?

"No." Nangong Wuhui shook his head, not wanting to talk about his private affairs.

"You take the money, and give me the wine first. If it suits my appetite, you will benefit from it." No matter what, he is going to order this fine wine!

"No, I'm going to give these wines away, so I won't sell them for more money." Seeing the other party's entanglement, Nangong Wuhui didn't want to cause more trouble, so he ran out of the shop in a hurry, grabbed his horse and was about to leave.

Knowing that he had misunderstood, the drunkard's face softened a lot, and he looked like he was easy to discuss.

Following Nangong Wuhui out of the restaurant, looking at the four jars of wine hanging on the saddle, the wine devil's eyes lit up, "Well, anyway, you still have four jars here, how about selling me two?"

But Nangong Wuhui still shook his head, "Thank you big brother for looking at my wine, but these wines are really for giving away and cannot be sold to you. When I come back from looking for someone, if I see you again by fate, I will invite big brother Drink the good wine I keep at home."

He only brought five jars of wine with him when he went out this time. Now that one jar has been broken, only four jars of wine are left. Accept him as an apprentice?Now even if there is no money on him, the wine can no longer be sold.

"Since that's the case, then it's no good for me to have this good wine." The wine demon looked at the wine jar reluctantly, a little helpless, but he didn't intend to embarrass Nangong Wugui anymore.

He has never liked being difficult by others, and this young man is simple in heart, he doesn't even want money, if he keeps making things difficult, it will appear that he is bullying the small.

"I still have something to do, let's go ahead." Nangong Wugui cupped his hands, turned and left.

In a small town, the road is bustling with pedestrians, occasionally a few small vendors hawk along the street, peaceful and quiet.

Nangong Wuhui led the horse all the way to inquire about the whereabouts of the drunkard, asking everyone he met, but found nothing.

And not far away from him, a gray-clothed man with a squirrel-headed face stood in the corner, pointed to the guide Gong Wuhui, and whispered to a red-faced man beside him, "Boss, that's him."

"It looks good, with thin skin and tender meat."

"Boss, I heard that the boss of Yingfeng Building is buying newcomers, and he is very generous. I think he looks like this and it's worth the money." The gray-clothed man stretched out five fingers. "The little one has already found out clearly that he is alone."

"With you, your benefits will be indispensable after the matter is completed." The red-faced man patted the gray-clothed man's shoulders twice. "Then do it tonight."

Nangong Wuhui didn't know that he was being watched, and he didn't start looking for a place to stay until it was dark.It's a pity that it was too late, and there was no money around to stay in the hotel, so I had to find an ordinary farmer's house outside the city to borrow for the night.

The farmer kindly kept him for a meal. Although it was a simple meal, it was no different from a delicacy to him who had been hungry all day.

After the meal, the farmer took him to the firewood room and gave him another quilt.Because there is no spare room, he can only sleep in the woodshed tonight.For this reason, the simple farmer kept apologizing to him.

But he has stayed in places that are more difficult than this before, and now he can have a place to sleep, and it is already very good if he does not sleep in the open.

The night was quiet, and after everyone fell asleep, two black shadows quietly appeared in the backyard of the farmhouse. They were the gray-clothed man and the red-faced man who had followed Nangong Wuhui all day.

Nangong Wuhui was tired all day and slept soundly, not knowing that someone outside was coveting him.

"Boss, he slept very deeply." Through the window, the man in gray had a clear view of the woodshed.

The red-faced man skillfully took out a bamboo pipe from his arms, stretched it in through the window, and blew hard, a puff of white smoke drifted into the firewood room.

After about a stick of incense, the red-faced man pushed the door lightly and went in, stretched out his hand and pushed the person on the ground, but nothing happened.

Seeing that the prey was in his hands, the red-faced man rubbed his hands and urged his companions, "Okay, tie him up quickly."

Two traffickers tied up the drugged Nangong Wuhui and carried him on their shoulders.

At this time, the man in gray noticed the four altars of wine that Nangong Wuhui had placed beside him, thinking that he might get some more money if he didn't want to take it for nothing, so he picked up the wine and followed the red-faced man along the original path. road away.

And all of this did not disturb the farmers in the front yard at all.