A wide smile spread on the girls' faces. They had long since made peace with him, even A'Jiu was smiling so beautifully at Anthony.

"Is that true?" Su Ying asked, her eyes shining with excitement.

"Of course. Can't you see I have been eating like a greedy sow all day? I will be honest, this food is more tasty than the one back home. Ever since I left home, the only other place I ate such good food was when I stopped by a friend's place. The food here is so amazing that I don't want to stop eating." The moment Anthony said it they clapped, wide with joy.

"Is this true? It's better than the one back home?" One of the girls asked, grinning widely.

"Of course, you guys made the food better than the chefs in the manor. You girls are amazing. Any man that marries any of you would be truly lucky." Anthony said, nodding vigorously.

At this point, the four girls before him were wild with joy. Girls love being praised, and telling them that they made better food than the professional chefs in his family which they assume was very wealthy truly gladdened their hearts.

Xinglan opened the new jar of wine, and a rich fragrance filled the air.

"This is the legendary King's delight from southern Lan, so precious that there are only five jars at home. But we sneaked one out from the two papa gave us to entertain his old friends, have a taste."

Anthony smiled, not knowing if he should feel honored about being offered stolen wine.

"Mmm, since the wine was meant for important people, I really shouldn't drink it." Anthony said, pushing the jar away.

Miao Miao frowned on hearing his words.

"What do you mean? Aren't you an honored guest too?"

"That's right, young master. It would be such a pity if after coming here you still didn't get a taste of King's delight." Xinglan said, her eyes wide and innocent.

Anthony shook his head, still smiling at them.

"No, I'm already full with all the delicacies I had tonight. You should return your papa's treasured wine and use it to serve his friends. When you're given something, it ought to be used according to the giver's intention. I already had lots of wine, so taking an extra won't make a difference."

Miao Miao pouted and sighed.

"What a waste. I will pour you just a cup then and return the rest once we take a few sips. Don't refuse it."

"I bet that once he gets a taste of the wine, he's going to regret not accepting the entire jar." Another girl chipped in.

Anthony chuckled and accepted the cup.

'No matter how good the wine is, could it be half as good as the one made by that perverted god?'

The rest of his thoughts drowned out as he finally had a taste of the wine. He instinctively closed his eyes to savor the taste.

"How is it? You're regretting not taking the entire jar, right?" The third girl asked with a smug grin, her expression mirroring that of the others.

Anthony cleared his throat and looked at them.

"The wine is amazing, I must say. But I still stand by my decision. I won't take another once I'm done with this cup, not even a single drop. It's not right to take a gift prepared for others." He said, pretending to be righteous. Who was it that cleared the entire Tian Luo forest of all its immortal herbs?

"Hmm. Don't bother, Meng Meng, his pride and honor are way more important to him than giving in to his desire and satisfaction. That's commendable, let's go. It's almost time to perform." The girls left with the jar of wine to the next booth where people dressed like merchants and noblemen were seated. But there were also ordinary looking people among them, and some also came with their children.

Anthony took another sip of the wine.

"I didn't expect mortals without experience or technology to be so good in their craft. The wine is truly good. However, since they see me as some god, I must uphold the principles and image expected from the heir of a powerful first class martial arts family."

He sighed and took the last drop, before diverting his attention to the rest of the delicacies before him. He soon cleared everything and relaxed lazily on the fur blanket, picking his teeth with a toothpick which he fashioned out from a broken piece of wood.

The suspicious person Anthony saw a while ago passed by again, this time he was holding a parcel. A man dressed like a beggar accepted it from him in a quick exchange, and gave him a small porcelain bottle which was closed by stuffing a black cloth into the mouth.

The transaction, or rather exchange was quick. No one noticed. Everyone was busy eating, dancing, chatting, and making new friends. If not because Anthony originally found the man suspicious and began to monitor him, he wouldn't have found something either.

'What's in the big parcel? And what's in the little porcelain pill bottle? This looks like those things used to store poison in Chinese historical dramas. And this world I'm currently in is equivalent to a time travel to historical China. But the difference is the presence of powerful cultivators and vibrant spiritual energy. Who are they trying to poison?'

Just as Anthony wanted to watch them, the girl referred to as Meng Meng rushed to him and dragged him up.

"Miao Miao and her troupe are about to start the dance performance. You must not miss it for any reason in the world." She said and giggled, dragging him up.

Anthony stood up to humor her. However, when he turned around, the man whom he was initially keeping an eye on was gone. He gasped and a strong sense of danger assaulted him.

'This is bad. He got away. If it's really poison and someone dies in Miao Miao's event, there's going to be a huge problem. I can't let that happen. She has been so good to me.'

Just as he was about to go find him, the giggling Ms Meng dragged him to the center where Miao Miao was performing with some girls. She was among those playing the instruments and she dressed elegantly in white as she elegantly beat the drum while doing the five drum dance.

"Aren't they amazing? Anytime they perform in big cities and other towns, they get a lot of money as gifts. But she's performing for free because she's the host for today's carnival and bazaar. She might look elegant doing the five drum dance, but if you see her dancing with her white cloth, she's so beautiful. I once saw her perform at the beach. That year she was so amazing that some rich young masters even dropped gold flakes, instead of just copper and silver coins. The water kept splashing elegantly around her, creating an amazingly beautiful effect. Hahaha. I bet you're shocked now. Let me tell you, she even does acrobatics like walking on ropes. She might look like a fragile young miss with no knowledge about the world, but she's actually very flexible and graceful."

The girl kept chattering on, not noticing Anthony's internal struggles. He wasn't even paying attention to the dance, and kept looking around to find traces of the man. He sighed in resignation when he still couldn't find him.

'Forget it. What will be will be. It's all fate. If I'm unable to save them, so be it. Besides, there's no cause for alarm. What if after alarming the girls to conduct a search, it turns out not to be poison? What will I do then? That's right, it could be something else, or a servant working for the village chief. After all, I don't know or recognize anyone here. If I rashly accuse an innocent person, I won't just leave a smear on my name but also create a very awkward situation for everyone involved.' Anthony thought and sighed, taking deep breaths to pull his mind together and return his concentration to the scene before him.

The smiling Ms Meng suddenly caught sight of Anthony's troubled expression, making her smile disappear.

"What's wrong, young master? Could it be that the performance is not to your liking and enough to hold your attention? Did someone offend you? Or is there something else that makes you concerned?" she said, looking worried.

"It's nothing. Let's watch the show."

"How could it be nothing when it made you so uncomfortable? Miao Miao entrusted you to me, to ensure your comfort and happiness while she performs for the guests. She's someone that's obsessed with being a good hostess. If you end up unsatisfied, she would be very sad and unhappy with me. If there's anything on your mind, make sure to tell me." She said, smiling at him.

"Of course, I'm truly enjoying the festival, or is it a carnival?" Anthony said and grinned at her. She smiled broadly and nodded, returning her attention to the stage where the troupe responsible for the crowd's cheering on top of their voices were dancing.

Anthony also began to watch them, soon he began to clap with the rest because the performance was truly superb. However, the nagging feeling won't go away. He kept feeling as if there was a storm brewing in the dark, waiting for the cheering crowd to sleep before it could manifest.

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