Universe Infinite Canteen-Chapter 449 Mediocre People

Yuan Mei was still eagerly hoping that his powerful follow-up attack, which ignored defenses, would take effect and deal heavy damage to his opponent.

Unexpectedly, as he turned his head, someone had stripped away a layer of his Drunk state.

For Ma Lu, acquiring one layer of Drunk didn't mean much, as at least three layers were required to launch a follow-up attack; however, the loss of even one layer for Yuan Mei was a significant problem.

His powerful follow-up attack was suddenly unleashed, but that wasn't all—the drop to eight layers of Drunk automatically shifted him into a greedy drinking state.

Under the greedy drinking state, any damage Yuan Mei received would be further increased by two layers and he was left without any Moves to parry anymore.

What was even more fatal was that Ma Lu still had two cards in hand, as well as ten points of True Qi remaining, and the Ice Skin state still active, enough for him to launch a powerful attack.

Yuan Mei had initially thought this was just a match where a senior was giving a junior a handicap and hadn't expected to be so heavily pressured by the junior he hadn't taken seriously in the first round, causing his mind to tense up, losing all the elegance and composure of a Drinker.

He stared intently at Ma Lu's palm—are there any Attack Cards among those two remaining cards?

The answer was affirmative.

And his luck was very bad this time; Ma Lu had drawn the second Move of the Innate Pure Yang Palm—Aggressive Like Fire.

This Move had a formidable power of 82 points, normally requiring 13 points of True Qi to initiate. However, in the Ice Skin state, the True Qi required to activate it dropped from 13 points to just 10 points.

And Ma Lu happened to have exactly 10 points of True Qi left in his hands.

As a result, Ma Lu launched Aggressive Like Fire.

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Then… then the battle was over.

Aggressive Like Fire itself dealt 82 points of damage, which against Yuan Mei's greedy state, increased to 97, and with the 1.5 times multiplier from the Chef's Knife, the final damage reached 146 points!

Yuan Mei had a total of 134 points of health, and having been previously hit by the Soul Severing Spear and the Shadowless Ghost Hand, lost another 29 points, obviously unable to withstand this strike; he was sent flying backward, crashing into and shattering a coffin.

Fortunately, this was only a sparring mode, and Yuan Mei wasn't injured, yet the mental blow of this battle might take a lifetime to heal.

Yuan Mei sat on the broken coffin boards, stunned.

Defeated! He had actually been defeated, and by a junior at that. And it wasn't just a defeat—he had been completely drained of life in a single round.

On the side, his partner—the towering man wearing a bamboo hat—was also showing an unprecedented seriousness on his face.

As for Shopkeeper Wan, he was currently mourning over the damaged coffin.

Gu Qingyi was also stunned. Unlike the others, she had seen Ma Lu take action. Just two weeks prior, it had taken both of them to defeat a gravely wounded Yan Wuji.

Now Ma Lu alone had defeated the Drunken Judge, Yuan Mei, who had quite the reputation in Jianghu. His progress in Martial Arts was astoundingly swift, and moreover, the techniques he used every time were different.

Considering how Ma Lu always collected a bunch of secret medicine before leaving, could it be that he really was consuming them as if they were food?

It took a while before Yuan Mei came back to his senses. He stood up from the ground and cupped his fists, saying.

"I have misjudged. Your Martial Arts skills are indeed the highest among the young generation in Jianghu. I had previously ridiculed you as a nameless junior, setting a match within three moves, truly a case of 'an eye yet blind, bringing disgrace upon myself.'

Yuan Mei laughed at himself, then turned towards Gu Qingyi, "Miss Third, with such an expert assisting you, according to the agreement, Warmth Divine Catcher and I will no longer force you to return home. However, I did not lie before; Yuchang County is indeed dangerous now. The Beggar's Gang and the Heavenly Dragon Sect have had deep grudges for years. The Lotus Bowl is merely a precursor; a decisive battle between them is inevitable."

Gu Qingyi nodded, "Thank you for the reminder, Divine Constable Yuan. I will be cautious while in the city."

Perhaps feeling embarrassed, Yuan Mei and that big man wearing a conical bamboo hat hastily left the coffin shop after giving their admonitions.

Soon after, Gu Qingyi and Ma Lu prepared to head to Crouching Tiger Hill to find someone, but were stopped by the old shopkeeper who extended a hand.

"Is there something else, Shopkeeper Wan?" Gu Qingyi asked, puzzled.

"Of course, you fought in my shop, damaged my coffin, and you think to just leave like that?"

"Oh." Gu Qingyi didn't give it much thought and reached into his money pouch to take out five taels of silver pieces.

However, Shopkeeper Wan shook his head, "Not enough."

"How much more is needed?"

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"Another one thousand one hundred ninety-five taels."

"Ah, you're asking one thousand two hundred taels for a coffin?" Even without much knowledge of the Jianghu, Gu Qingyi knew the price was wrong and blurted out, "Is this some kind of extortion?"

"How can you speak like that, young man? This is the most expensive coffin in my shop, made of red sandalwood. And this red sandalwood is no ordinary wood, it grew behind the Abbot's Room at Hui'en Temple, absorbing the Buddhist nature from the abbot's daily recitations.

"Before this, I had an offer of one thousand five hundred taels from a wealthy merchant and I didn't sell. Now that it's been destroyed in your battle, charging you one thousand two hundred is already letting you off lightly," said Shopkeeper Wan.

Gu Qingyi was baffled by his bluster, but Ma Lu, who was by his side, had already caught on and bluntly said, "Shopkeeper Wan, just tell us what you really need us to do."

Caught with his intentions exposed, Shopkeeper Wan's old face reddened, but he quickly regained his composure and spoke.

"You are highly skilled in martial arts, could you do me a favor? If you do, I won't pursue the matter of the damaged coffin."

"What favor?"

"Help me save someone."

After Shopkeeper Wan finished speaking, he saw Ma Lu looking him up and down with an astonished gaze and said, "What are you looking at me for?"

"Earlier, those Beggar's Gang members spoke of you with great respect, and you were quite authoritative when commenting on those seven bodies. Knowing we were from Iron Clothes Sect and had Chu Qianyuan's token, you were undaunted. I thought you were a hidden expert from the Beggar's Sect. Why don't you save them yourself?"

"Go on, go on, how many high-level experts do you think there are in this world?" Shopkeeper Wan stroked his beard and said, "I only have a higher seniority in the Beggar's Gang. I was the cousin of the former, no, the predecessor to the last Beggar Gang Leader."

Hearing this, Gu Qingyi couldn't help but become solemn, "So you are Ninth Duke's brother. Then your martial arts..."

"I have no talent for martial arts, so I gave it up to study hard..."

"And then you passed the Imperial Examination?"

"No, I found that I didn't have any aptitude for scholarship either. Neither martial arts nor academia worked out for me, so I started learning business. But I failed at everything I did, quickly losing my family fortune. In the end, it was only through my cousin that I could be the shopkeeper of this coffin shop."

"Ah, that..." Gu Qingyi was at a loss for words, his face showing sympathy.

But Shopkeeper Wan waved his hand, "My experiences are nothing special. Young and talented individuals like yourself are the minority. There are many more who live mediocre lives like us, and that doesn't stop us from living well.

"I've digressed. If Deng Youtai were still alive, I would have gone straight to him with this matter. But he's dead now, and the only one who still takes me seriously is that Chu fellow. He's a stickler for principles and I don't want to bother him."