Otherworldly Merchant - Chapter 527: The Classic of Tea
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Chapter 527: The Classic of Tea

I had rested for around half an hour

 when m

y strength finally recovered. I decided to return to the hotel. I felt anxious 

at

 the beg

inning of the night, but

 what happened 

after

 was like a stage rehearsal. Those female ghosts didn’t show up. I felt somewhat disappointed. 

Right 

at

 this moment, I seemed to hear someone 

walk

 on the path that led to th

village. My senses heightened immediately. I walked behind the house 

and

 spotted a stealthy figure 

move

 through the village. 

A person that came to such an eerie place at midnight

 

must 

be scheming something

As he 

came 

closer, I couldn’t wait anymore. I started 

to follow

 him. After a while, the man seemed to sense something. He turned around to check. 

I rushed aside to hide. When he started to walk again, I got out

 and followed 

him. This trick worked well as it had helped me avoid him many times. He hadn’t spotted me yet. 

In the end, he stopped in front of a stilt hous

e and crouched down

The uncomfortable feeling in my

 heart rose to my throat. I guessed he had found me. Unexpectedly, he didn’t 

turn

 around to see me but started to dig the soil. 

My 

vision

 was hindered, so I didn’t know what he was doing over there. I saw him 

dig

 something for a while

. He disappeared after that

. I guessed that place 

led to

 a tunnel. 

I wanted to go there to see. However, my heart suddenly shivere

d, and weakness expanded

 to my whole body. It was the side effect of the Heavenly Dipper formation. It was beyond my expectation that some ghostly creatures dared to intrude the Heavenly Dipper formation! 

I cursed under my breath. I had to give up on 

this

 clue

 

had been

 following for the whole night. I 

needed

 to go back to save Lu Ming. But before I could move, the weak feeling in my body disappeared. I felt even better than before. 

This

 proved my assumption. It was the 

word

 of the old ghost that had helped Lu Ming escape the female ghosts. 

When I had decided to take the risk 

and

 jump into the gorge, the old ghost used his cane to hold my leg. At first, I 

mistakenly

 thought that he wanted to harm me. 

When Lu Ming told me what he had encountered in the village, I had a feeling that it was the old ghost who had saved him. 

He also

 said that the voice that had guided him sometimes disappeared. It could 

have been

 because of my Yin and Yang Umbrella and the medium-level spirit talismans that were striking the teapot at that time. 

When I saw the fine cracks on the teapot spout, I recognized that the old ghost had pulled me to safety! 

My Heavenly Dipper formation had just been activated, but the pressure on my body soon disappeared. It didn’t mean that something evil was trying to attack the formation. It meant something inside wanted to get out

.

I supposed that only the old ghost was in that house

After I untangled the relationship between the events, I suddenly felt 

grateful

 to that old ghost. In the back of my mind, he 

was no longer

 an opponent. He was a nice and kind elder. 

R

ight from the beginning, I 

felt as though

 he didn’t want to 

kill

 Lu Ming. I was certain that Lu Ming had done something he shouldn’t 

have

, which provoked the old ghost. 

We had 

just got off a rocky start

. Our real enemy wasn’t that old ghost, but the man that 

just went 

underneath the floor over there. 

I became worried. If the 

old

 ghost was on our side, I was certain that he wanted to break the Heavenly Dipper formation to save me. In other words, I was in danger! 

I wanted to retreat, but I also wanted to stay here. After considering it, I decided to stay and observe. If the ghost was fast enough, he would come here on time. I drew the Sirius Whip

 and entered 

the tunnel. 

After jumping into the tunnel, I quickly assessed the surroundings. I dropped my jaw in awe. Th

at

 place was a tea house

!

 

The chairs and tables were arranged neatly. There were teapots on the tables, too. 

A desk was positioned

 against a wall

, and t

hick books 

were placed on top of it. 

However, I didn’t see the man 

from earlier

I wasn’t familiar with this place, so I didn’t look for him. I 

went over

 to the desk to check. 

One of the

 

books

 on the desk was written in ancient words that I couldn’t understand. 

However, there were many illustrations of tea leaves in 

the

 book, so I guessed it was a book about tea. 

I felt

 a little disappointed

 and kept looking

 around. Inadvertently, I then saw the ghost’s portrait! 

I became suspicious. From the clues I 

had

 gathered until now, the 

person

 that had enticed me to come down here wanted to harm us while the old ghost wanted to save us. There should be a hostile relationship between them. But 

why did the

 

culprit

 

keep

 the portrait of the old ghost? 

Since I couldn’t read the words, I 

switched

 to another book. This book also recorded many things about tea. It also had a portrait of the old ghost in the back. 

At this

 moment, I heard low footsteps from the depths of the tunnel. It seemed the other person was returning. I became anxious

 and picked 

up the third book. Surprisingly, I could understand this book as it was written in traditional Chinese! 

On the first page, the name of the book was written in large text

“The Classic of Tea.” The main contents of the book included how to brew tea and how to enjoy it. There were also some short cultural stories about tea. 

When 

I reached this part of the book

, I suddenly recognized something. I directly jumped to the last page of the book. Under the portrait of the old ghost, I 

read

 his name

. It was 

Tea Sage Lu Yu! 

My hands were shaking. That old man was the author of 

“T

he Classic of Tea.

 The 

later

 generations knew him as the Chinese Tea Sage, Lu Yu! 

It was no

 wonder he could possess Lu Ming 

in daylight. It also explained 

why he was strong but his Yin energy was 

low

He 

wasn’t

 a

n evil 

spirit! He 

was

 an immortal! 

Lu Yu was a famous figure in the Tang Dynasty. He was well-known for his obsession with tea. He had mastered the tea ceremony

 and

 traveled to the North and South just to taste the teas in the mountains and learned how the locals brewed tea. In the end, he wrote the first known monograph on the teas in the world, called 

The Classic of Tea.

 The world then referred to him as the Tea Sage. 

It was said that Lu Yu’s good friend, Monk Ji Gong, was also a tea-lover. 

Not only

 could he 

easily discern the kind of tea

but he could also

 tell what kind of water was used to make that tea. This tea

-

tasting ability of his 

became

 

widespread. Eventually, 

Emperor Taizong of Tang 

got wind of

 

him

Emperor Taizong didn’t believe the rumor. He summoned 

M

onk Ji Gong

 and asked 

him to personally taste 

his

 tea. 

When 

M

onk Ji Gong came to the palace, the Emperor asked his eunuch to make him a cup of top-quality tea. Monk Ji Gong thanked him and then gently took a sip. But then, he put the cup back

 and didn't

 take 

a

 second sip. 

Emperor Taizong found it strange. “Why 

don’t you

 drink more?” 

Monk Ji Gong just smiled. “

All of the

 tea I

’ve had was

 made by Lu Yu. After drinking his tea, everyone else

’s tea

 tastes like plain water.” 

Emperor Taizong asked, “Where is Lu Yu now?” 

“Lu Yu loves nature. He’s traveling the country to 

visit famous

 places and 

tasting

 the tea there. I don’t know where he is now.” 

Emperor Taizong then asked his imperial guards to ride the best horses

 to search 

for Lu Yu everywhere. After one week, they found him in Zhejiang. They invited him to the 

I

mperial 

P

alace. To Emperor Taizong, although Lu Yu stammered when he spoke, he looked aloof like an immortal with great wisdom. He liked the old man as soon as he saw him. He asked Lu Yu to prepare some tea for him to see if his tea was as good as the rumor

s

Lu Yu happily agreed. He used 

the

 tea leaves he had collected 

before the Qingming

 

F

estival and brewed the tea using spring water. When Emperor Taizong received the cup of tea, he gently opened the 

lid

. A refreshing aroma welcomed him. The tea inside was clear with a light green color. 

After taking

 the first sip, he knew that it was the 

best tea

 in th

e

 world. He asked the maid to send another cup of tea to 

M

onk Ji Gong, who was also in the palace. After only one sip, 

M

onk Ji Gong was stunned. “Oh, Lu Yu is in the palace, too?” 

The Emperor was surprised. “How did you know that Lu Yu is here?” 

Monk Ji Gong laughed 

heartily

. “Only Lu Yu can make such good tea. 

This is not the tea of the 

mortal world anymore. 

This is

 the tea they enjoy in the world of the immortals.” 

Emperor Taizong admired Lu Yu’s tea brewing technique. He wanted him to stay in the palace to serve hi

m

 tea. However, Lu Yu wasn’t interested in wealth 

or

 titles. Soon, he got on his horse, 

traveled,

 and 

set

 his mind on writing 

“T

he Classic of Tea.

I thought that Lu Ming 

could be

 Lu Yu’s descendant. Lu Ming had done something wrong, which made Lu Yu return to give him a lesson. 

It explained the reason why Lu Yu kept hitting Lu Ming’s head in his dream… 

And, even if Lu Ming wasn’t Lu Yu’s descendant, 

as

 a tea merchant, he 

had to

 know something about Lu Yu. He 

would be able to

 recognize Lu Yu for sure. However, he had never told me this. 

He

 

had to

 

be hiding

 something from me! 

I recalled that before I left the hotel, Lu Ming had called me 

while

 

looking

 so hesitant

. He looked as 

if he wanted to tell me something

, but 

he didn’t. I guessed he wanted to tell me the truth

 but was too

 embarrassed at that time. I left before he could tell me anything. 

If 

“The 

Classic of Tea

 

was

 here, I guessed the women who died here had 

a

 close relationship with Lu Yu. 

The

 otherworldly item case I had accepted this time could be relate

to an event that wasn’t recorded in history. I was so excited

 that I 

couldn’t wait to untie all of these knots!