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Chapter 280 Lazy Man
A few days later, in Songzhou, outside Xuanhe City.

In front of a certain tavern.

Manager Sun sat behind the counter, counting his earnings over the past period with a distressed expression.

The cabinet contained mostly copper coins, with few large coins, and only some loose silver coins, most of which were covered in grease and were not of very good quality.

As for the legendary gold, forget about it. He's hardly ever seen any in his life. That kind of thing is usually something only big men can afford.

—But when will we be able to earn some money and get married?
Shopkeeper Sun, who was over thirty and still a bachelor, was looking distressed as he kept calculating on his abacus while secretly plotting in his mind.

There is a widow in the east of the city. She is not particularly beautiful, but she is at least young and seems to be fertile. It's just that the dowry is a problem.
Manager Sun calculated the amount of silver needed, and his expression darkened further.

Just as he was becoming increasingly desperate about the future, a voice suddenly came from not far away.

"Shopkeeper, please add some hot soup!"

"Okay!"

Manager Sun locked the drawer, hurriedly ran out from behind the counter, picked up the teapot from the stove, and began adding water with a smile.

For a small business like theirs, they can't afford to hire waiters or helpers. This little tavern actually only has two employees.

He, and the cook in the kitchen.

Just as he was adding water, Manager Sun slightly raised his head and glanced around as if casually.

After that, he finally managed to force a barely perceptible smile onto his face.

Compared to the previous few days, business was better today. At least half of the tables were occupied. Although it wasn't completely full, we were still able to make some money.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but resent the government again.

If they hadn't inexplicably come here to conscript laborers to build some kind of 'water diversion canal,' would my little shop have fallen into such a dilapidated state?

In the current situation, forget about getting married; just not going bankrupt completely is a blessing!

Thinking of this, Manager Sun's head started throbbing again.

For some reason, he had been having a headache lately, and he wasn't sure if it was because he had been working too hard or what. But even so, he didn't dare to see a doctor—he couldn't afford to go through all that trouble—so he could only ask the Goddess Hou Tu for some talisman water.

Whether it's useful or not, he can only keep going like this.

After refilling another table with hot water, Manager Sun vigorously wiped his forehead. Looking at the sweat on his palms, he felt a little weak, so he staggered a few steps, wanting to go back to the counter to rest for a while.

But at that moment, the simple, greasy curtain was lifted again.

"Shopkeeper, are there any seats left here?"

Seeing that a customer had arrived, Manager Sun didn't even have time to rest. He quickly stood up and went to help the customer lift the curtain.

"We have seats available, we have seats available. How many of you are there, sir?"

"Gentlemen, could you please help us find a clean, quiet table, and some cooked food to fill our stomachs? We've been traveling all day and are starving. Oh, and if you have any alcohol, please bring some, but nothing too strong, as we have things to do later."

Manager Sun nodded repeatedly to indicate that he had made a note of it—but after a while, the so-called second person still did not come in.

"Um, sir, are you sure there are two of you?"

Upon hearing this, the man turned his head, his face immediately darkening.

Immediately afterwards, the man threw down the curtain and ran out. After a while, he pulled a young man with a white cloth wrapped around his face back in.

"Are you fucking lazy? It's just a few steps, and you actually expect someone to carry you?"

The young man yawned deeply and replied sleepily.

"Taoist Master, don't be in such a hurry. I just wanted to catch up on some sleep since it's daytime and the weather is nice."

"Catch up on sleep? What were you doing last night?"

"What else can we do? Sleep."

"You sleep at night, and you sleep for half a day. So you want to sleep for twelve hours a day?"
"It's not that long, it's just about sleeping for nine hours."

"—You're sleeping all the time except when you're eating or going to the toilet!"

Seeing that the two were about to fight, the shopkeeper quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

"Hey, gentlemen, please listen to my advice, don't get angry—and what's wrong with this brother? Why is his face wrapped in white cloth?"

"Don't worry about it, he got burned by fire."

"How could a perfectly healthy person be burned by fire?"

The first person to come in spat forcefully.

"Pah, he's just too lazy!"

—Did I make the worst decision of my life?
Zhou You sat on a chair in the tavern, looking at the young man across from him who still seemed to be half asleep, and felt utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally.

After killing Wang Chengen, he and the people from the Zhenxie Division naturally began to travel together—after all, they had the same goal: to kill kings, and their ultimate aim was probably the prince who sought immortality.

However, after traveling together for some time, Zhou Youfang discovered Tao Le'an's problem.

This young man has a good personality; he is well-educated, polite, and knowledgeable. Whenever you encounter any difficulties, you can ask him for answers.

But the problem is
This guy is so lazy!
No, it wasn't just ordinary laziness, it was a laziness that completely exceeded Zhou You's imagination.

For this person, sitting rather than standing, crawling rather than sitting, and lying down rather than crawling are just the most basic rules. Being fed and clothed is a trivial matter. He won't even glance at the stream right next to him, even if he's so thirsty that his eyes are blurry, he's too lazy to take a step!
He only seems normal when he's working; otherwise, he's clearly a lazybones.

If left unattended, Zhou You had no doubt that this person could die of thirst or starvation.

Zhou You had truly exhausted himself on this journey.

He picked up the teapot on the table, poured himself a cup, and gulped it down. He felt the hot soup flowing into his lungs and finally felt like he had come back to life.

Just then, the young man opposite him weakly raised his head and said.

"I say, Master, could I have a drink too?"

"The teapot is over there, can't you get it yourself?"

"I'm too lazy to move, you can pour it for me."

"Why don't I go all the way and feed it to you?"

Tao Le'an was overjoyed.

"Hey, is that okay?"

"I can't believe you, you old bastard!"

Zhou You slammed the teapot down and then pressed hard on his temples.

This isn't to say he has any problems, but rather that he's just overwhelmed by worry.

Seeing Tao Le'an sigh and pick up the teapot as if he had suffered a great injustice, pouring himself a cup, Zhou You couldn't help but become a little suspicious.

Is this guy the same one who played the child so convincingly and ultimately succeeded in assassinating Wang Chengen?

Zhou You examined it for a long time but still couldn't figure out what was wrong, so he could only sigh.

"Hey you, how did you even survive before, being this lazy?"

The young man named Tao Le'an leaned his head on the table, sipping water with only his fingers—he was too lazy to even lift the cup—before replying, "Because most of us in our Demon-Suppressing Division are working, we're more motivated and can usually take care of ourselves. As for when we're free... I don't know why, but as soon as I show my face, a bunch of girls immediately surround me, so I simply moved into a brothel, and there's a line of people waiting to serve me every day."

That damn handsome guy!

Zhou You rolled his eyes so hard they were practically pointing to the sky, but upon hearing this, he suddenly remembered something.

"Hey, don't you have that Transformation Bead that you can use? Why have you been covering your face with a white cloth ever since you came out?"

Tao Le'an sighed softly.

"It's called a Mirage Pearl, but those things are also divided into different grades. Since we, the Eye Riders and Ear Riders, don't need to infiltrate and hide like the Finger Riders, the quality of the Mirage Pearls we get is naturally not very high. So we need to wait a while before we can use them again, and naturally we can't use them on ordinary journeys."

That's a decent explanation.

Zhou You took a sip of tea and then spoke again.

Regarding that matter you mentioned before...

Time passed slowly in the midst of their conversation, and before long, the food and wine were ready in the kitchen, which the innkeeper brought out.

However, looking at Manager Sun's pale face, which was still covered in cold sweat, Zhou You asked a question as if it were unintentional.

"Hey shopkeeper, you don't look too well. Is everything alright?"

Manager Sun was taken aback, but quickly forced a smile and replied.

"Thank you, sir. It's nothing, I'm just a little worried because business hasn't been good lately."

"Business is bad?"

Zhou You looked around at the guests and then smiled.

"Shopkeeper, you must be joking. How can you say business is bad with this number of customers?"

Who would have guessed.

Upon hearing this, Manager Sun's distress did not ease; instead, his face furrowed even more deeply.

"This is the only time in the past few months that things have turned out like this. On normal days, there are hardly any customers even during mealtimes. In difficult times, the entire tavern can't even be found with a single customer."

After hearing this, Zhou You became somewhat curious.

"Hey shopkeeper, your location is pretty good. It's only about eight or nine miles from a big city like Xuanhe. You should have plenty of people coming and going, so how could this situation happen?"

Manager Sun immediately sighed.

"It's all because of the government conscripting laborers. All the men who used to eat and drink are now digging pits. Who's going to patronize people like us?"

Halfway through his sentence, Manager Sun suddenly realized something was wrong—in this world, casually discussing the government was a serious crime—so he hurriedly put down the food and wine, saying he needed to urge them to prepare a few more dishes, and ran back to the kitchen.

So, only Zhou You and Tao Le'an remained at the table.

Seeing that the guy opposite him had slumped back onto the table, Zhou You picked up a pair of chopsticks and threw them at him, then picked up a few green vegetables, intending to put them in his mouth.

But at that moment, he suddenly stopped moving.

Before they knew it, the noise around them had subsided considerably, and several pairs of eyes were now focused on them.

A few breaths later, Zhou You suddenly laughed.

He put down the dishes first, then tapped the table with his chopsticks to wake Tao Le'an.

"Master, I was just about to catch up on my sleep, what are you doing?"

"You can sleep whenever you want, but if you miss this meal, you'll have to wait for the next one—forget everything else, why don't you try this dish first and see how it tastes?"

Tao Le'an also picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks, but just like before, he stopped when he brought it to his mouth.

He paused for a few moments, as if carefully considering his words, before helplessly tossing the vegetables back onto the plate. "It's burnt."

The heavy breathing sounds around them also subsided.

"It's just a small country shop, so don't expect too much. How about you look at the others?"

Tao Le'an looked around, his expression growing increasingly bored.

"This is too salty, and this is burnt. As for this one..."

He picked up a piece of pork with his fingers, shook it, and then sighed.

"They're all half-baked. What's wrong with this cook? Is this his first day? With this quality, even monkeys from my hometown can cook better."

Seeing that none of the dishes on the table were edible, Zhou You poured himself another cup of wine and then said.

"You have a good sense of smell, so why don't you try this wine and see if it's palatable?"

—At the same time, all eyes were drawn to them again.

To everyone's surprise, Tao Le'an only sniffed it once before immediately shaking his head.

"This is terrible, absolutely terrible. The color is murky, the smell is pungent; this isn't wine, it's more like horse urine."

"So you mean this wine is undrinkable?"

"You can't drink it, you can't drink it."

Seeing this, Zhou You picked up his wine glass and continued.

Suddenly, it was scattered directly outwards.

It was originally going to go up to the ground, but for some reason, the angle suddenly changed, and it went straight into the face of another table of guests.

In an instant, the amber liquid splashed all over the man's face.

Zhou You, who had caused the trouble, quickly stood up and laughed.

"Sorry, sorry, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings just now—hey buddy, are you alright?"

Right before his eyes, the person who had only been splashed with wine suddenly cried out in pain, covering his face as if trying to run to the kitchen to wash it off.

But before he could take two steps, his legs buckled and he fell to the ground. When you looked again, his entire face had been completely corroded, leaving only bare bones.

Faced with this scene, the other guests all stood up abruptly, their faces filled with blatant murderous intent.

Only Zhou You seemed completely oblivious as he smiled at Tao Le'an.

"Hey Lao Tao, this place's liquor looks really strong. This guy only had one cup and he's already heading straight for the Western Paradise."

Tao Le'an let out a heavy sigh, then swayed as he stood up.

"Indeed, but this is really inconsiderate. He got drunk and just fell backwards, not caring about how hard the shopkeepers have to clean up."

Looking again, the previous dejection was no longer visible on that face.

"Master, what should we do now?"

Zhou You waved his hand, summoned Duan Xie from Diancang Ring, and then laughed.

"Since they lack public morality, then we're the only ones left to deal with."

"I'll reluctantly teach them a lesson."

(End of this chapter)