The entire sect is obsessed with love, but I'm the only one who's truly insane.

"Sister, do you know how to get to Qinglu Village?" Lin Du asked the proprietress who was resting at the door, seeing that the two people hadn't finished eating yet. He was too lazy to sit down and asked her.

The proprietress was quite old, not very tall, with a round face and big eyes, still retaining a youthful air. Hearing the young boy call her "sister," she smiled slightly, rubbed her hands on her apron, and then asked, "Qinglu Village? What are you going to Qinglu Village for, young master?"

"I heard that there are fragrant mushrooms to eat in the village at this time of year."

As soon as she said that, the proprietress laughed and turned to ask the person who was still busy, "Old Miao, do you know Qinglu Village? I can't quite remember it."

The man was cooking rice noodles. He deftly scooped the noodles out, and the white rice noodles bounced twice in the air before being neatly tucked into a porcelain bowl. Without looking up, he shouted back to the woman in the noisy shop.

"You old woman, Qinglu Village is the same as Zhaiqian Village. Your great-grandmother came from there. Before she died, she told her children and grandchildren to bury her in Zhaiqian Village. We searched for a long time before we found out that it was renamed Qinglu Village five hundred years ago."

The proprietress suddenly realized, "I know, young master. Just go west out of the city, and look at the mountain closest to the city on the west side. That's the one at the foot of the mountain."

"This Zhaiqian Village is a village in front of many Gu villages in the mountains. It is nestled against the mountains and by the water. It is a beautiful and spiritual place."

Lin Du thanked him and turned to see Tao Xian arguing with someone.

"You ate fourteen bowls of noodles, so why did you only pay for two?"

Lin Du: ...Do all the local bullies have to smear people to eat a few more bowls of noodles?

"Don't try to deny it, boss. I saw it clearly; they only put the money for two bowls on the table!"

Just as the proprietress was about to say something, Tao Xian shouted, "I only ate one bowl of noodles! She only ate one bowl of noodles too, so of course she only pays for two bowls."

The shopkeeper pointed with the tip of his knife at the table—a knife used for slicing braised meat, its back black and its blade gleaming. "There are fourteen empty bowls on that table. You still say you only ate one bowl of noodles?"

"I really only ate one bowl of noodles. You don't believe me? If you don't believe me, then I'll throw it up right now and show you!" Tao Xian was clearly indignant at being slandered.

Lin Du and the other two ate quickly and were standing at the door. The twelve coarse porcelain bowls were neatly stacked in three piles on the table. Tao Xian thought that since he had already ordered, he had to finish them all, so he was a step slower.

A bystander, eager for a good show, egged them on, saying, "They're still wearing the Flying Star Sect's disciple robes, yet they don't pay for their meal."

"Don't be afraid, boss. We brothers will hold him off. If he dares to try and escape, we're not pushovers!"

Tao Xian became even more anxious upon hearing this, "No, how could a woman and I eat more than ten bowls of noodles? Do I look like someone with such a large appetite? It's clearly her..."

He pointed out that Mo Lin and Tian Wu were waiting at the door, while Lin Du was still inside, with the proprietress standing beside him. She was extremely thin and had a pale face.

The boss turned to look at him, his face clearly saying, "Do you think I believe you?"

The proprietress immediately realized that the boss had made a mistake and hurriedly tried to squeeze in, but the group of troublemakers formed a human wall and she couldn't get in no matter what she did.

"I'll do it."

Upon hearing this, the proprietress turned to look at the sickly young apprentice beside her.

Holding a somber folding fan, she gently parted the crowd with a burst of energy. People along the way sensed the biting cold and instinctively made way for her.

Lin Du didn't leave first. "Sister, come in. I think the boss has misunderstood."

The proprietress was the one who was busy collecting money. It was only because she was involved that those busybodies went to call the proprietress.

The people at that table clearly entered the restaurant around the same time as them, so it's impossible that they didn't know that the twelve bowls weren't meant for them.

The proprietress hurriedly went in to talk to the boss, while the people surrounding Tao Xian continued to chatter.

Tao Xian, his face flushed and neck red, argued with the local who was deliberately stirring up trouble, almost coming to blows, when a heavy iron folding fan suddenly appeared between them.

Lin Du, his voice slightly hoarse from finishing the spicy food, interrupted, "How can you prove you saw my fellow Daoist eat fourteen bowls of noodles?"

"I saw it with both eyes!" The man glared at the person who had cut in, but seeing it was a pale-faced child, he suddenly felt emboldened. "What? I was just trying to kindly remind the boss!"

Lin Du suddenly smiled, "You saw it with both eyes? It seems you didn't see it very clearly. How about I personally send your two eyeballs into my fellow Daoist's stomach to see how many bowls of noodles he actually ate?"

Her voice was hoarse from the spiciness of the chili peppers. The sun was about to set, and the candles in the shop hadn't been lit yet, making it somewhat dim. She looked up at people, her lower face revealing a cold and fierce expression.

Noticing the man staring at her fiercely, and with a group of people gathering around her, she raised her eyebrows defiantly.

Mo Lin was standing at the door with his sword in his arms when he turned around and saw that his junior uncle, who had been standing not far inside the door, was gone. He was startled and cried out, "Junior Uncle!"

Xia Tianwu quickly turned around and realized what was happening, "Junior Uncle!"

She raised her hand, her domineering aura pushing through the crowd. The proprietress had already finished her lecture and was now pulling the boss by the ear to apologize.

Mo Lin was tall, taller than everyone else in the store, and quickly located Lin Du's position.

All that could be seen was a tall young man in a red robe and black skirt, carrying a sword and staff. He had a slightly furrowed brow, pursed lips, and an unfriendly expression. He then pushed through the crowd and stood in front of the young boy, asking, "Junior Uncle, what happened?"

The boss apologized honestly, not daring to offend the person who had first reported Tao Xianshao for not paying enough money, saying it was just his own carelessness.

Lin Du glanced at the group of people. The fabric they wore was typical blue-and-white printed cloth, which was abundant in western Yunnan. Next to them were straw raincoats, eyebrow-length sticks, steel knives, and spears, many of which still had dark rust marks on them.

One strike will at least inflict tetanus, along with enchanted damage.

Lin Du is now certain that these people did it on purpose.

"Why are you glaring at us? We're just trying to be helpful. You disciples of a big sect think you're so great? If you're so capable, go outside and have a real fight!"

"Especially you, you don't look like a good person at all! Putting a woman in shackles, are you some kind of fake Seven Star Sect disciple?"

As the man spoke, he reached out to pull Shao Fei, who had been sitting silently on the table, but a long, black gold staff blocked his arm.

"Mo Lin, the 100th generation direct disciple of the Supreme Sect, is escorting a malevolent cultivator who has injured others, on the orders of the sect leader. Fellow Daoist, did you not see the insignia of my Supreme Sect on that spirit-sealing buckle?"

Mo Lin gripped the side of his sword staff in one hand and declared loudly, "The Supreme Sect only eliminates evil spirits and does not harm good people."

His dark, bright eyes stared straight at the man, showing no sign of the weakness caused by the poison that prevented him from using his spiritual power. He kept staring until the man reluctantly lowered his hand.

Lin Du looked thoughtfully at the group of people, then flipped his fan, revealing a short blade. "May I ask, fellow Daoist, you clearly knew that those twelve bowls of noodles were for the three of us, yet you deliberately misled the owner into thinking he hadn't paid, trying to keep the other two. Why?"

Her gaze shifted from Shao Fei to the group of people behind her.

"The mutton rice noodles aren't good today, let's not eat them, let's go." Another person who had been huddled in the back held a bamboo pipe.

Lin Du, struck by a sudden inspiration, asked with a smile, "Want to lock up sheep?"

She wondered why these people had suddenly started a fight because they hadn't paid for the powder; it turned out they were bandits from western Yunnan.

The book says that Phoenix has lax city rules, and fighting, brawling, and extortion are commonplace. She thought it was an exaggeration in the book when she went there, but now it seems to be true.

Shao Fei used to be a bandit in the forest, so she naturally knew the secret language. She probably took advantage of the fact that they were all guarding the door and not paying attention to her movements, and used the secret language or gestures.

When the group saw that the child understood their slang and even exposed their deliberate attempt to provoke trouble and rob them, their expressions changed drastically.

Lin Du looked at the group with a smile, "Gentlemen, would you like to learn from our Supreme Sect disciples?"

The group of people all shook their heads. They thought that the three were not with them and were just ordinary scions of noble families. Who would have thought that they were actually from the Supreme Sect?

Even the most ignorant mountain bandits would know about the Supreme Sect, and they certainly didn't want to provoke such a powerful figure.

A woman's voice suddenly broke in, "Masters, don't fight here! Go outside and fight at the martial arts school!"