"Got it, we'll be right there! Xiaoyao, let's go take our seats," Luo Baochai responded to Eighth Brother, then said to Xiaoyao. She had now omitted Xiaoyao's surname.

"Mm, let's take our seats. However, if you sit with me, people will gossip," Xiaoyao said.

"What's to fear? Fame and fortune are just external things," Luo Baochai said with a smile. The others also nodded. This was because Xiaoyao's recent Buddhist teachings could still influence them—perhaps after a while, they wouldn't think this way.

Besides, this was just eating at the same table, nothing too significant. Why worry too much about it?

Xiaoyao and the others came to the dining hall at the back. This dining hall was arranged for pilgrims and was separate from the monks' own dining area. At this time, more than ten tables of vegetarian dishes were set up here, but it didn't feel too crowded. Instead, it felt quite spacious—this place could accommodate several times more people.

At this moment, everyone else seemed to have already started eating, with various laughter and chatter. Xiaoyao and his group found an unoccupied table to sit at. There were still several empty tables available.

"Why are you sitting with him? Aren't you afraid he's a toad wanting to eat swan meat?"

When they saw Xiaoyao's group take their seats, a wealthy young lady came over to mock them. She seemed to be one who had previously argued with Xiaoyao over the kite issue.

...

...

"Miss, you've got that saying wrong. Generally speaking, toads don't want to eat swan meat because they can't catch swan meat," Xiaoyao said with a smile.

"At least you have some self-awareness. Behave yourself and play your toad role," the wealthy young lady sneered.

"So are you a swan?" Xiaoyao asked.

"Of course I am—at least compared to you!" the wealthy young lady said proudly. Her haughty neck really did resemble a swan's.

"Then I should be afraid!" Xiaoyao said with apparent concern.

"What are you afraid of?" the young lady was somewhat confused.

"Generally speaking, swans always want to eat toads. It's a swan's nature," Xiaoyao said very seriously.

"..." Everyone fell silent for a moment, unable to figure out Xiaoyao's meaning.

"Haha..."

Soon, a burst of laughter erupted.

"Xiaoyao, you're really interesting! You actually made that work!" Luo Baochai laughed heartily, clutching her stomach as if she was about to collapse from laughter.

"What? This is originally a fact. Only swans want to eat toads. If you don't believe it, find a toad and a swan—the swan will definitely chase the toad," Xiaoyao said with complete seriousness.

"Haha... I know, I know..."

Xiaoyao's seriousness made the laughter even louder. Everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter, while only that wealthy young lady's face alternated between red and black—quite a spectacle.

"Hmph!! You only know how to flap your lips. Talking with you is simply degrading," the wealthy young lady left resentfully. She knew that with her status, she could only engage in verbal sparring with Xiaoyao, gaining some verbal advantage. She couldn't really fight—she wasn't stupid enough to pick a fight with someone from the Luo family, even if Xiaoyao was just an external clan member.

Now, clearly unable to match Xiaoyao in verbal sparring and having been inadvertently played by him, she could only retreat, leaving behind a trail of resentment.

"Fighting with me, you're still too green," Xiaoyao said nonchalantly.

"Xiaoyao, you're really amazing," Luo Baochai gave a thumbs up.

"Of course, of course. Don't keep staring at me—eat the vegetarian dishes! I heard the vegetarian dishes here are very... ptui, can't eat them!!" Just as Xiaoyao picked up some vegetarian food and was about to eat it, his tone suddenly changed.

"These vegetarian dishes taste very good. What are you spitting for? Don't tell me you still don't want to eat with me?" Luo Baochai looked at Xiaoyao somewhat unhappily, her expression seeming a bit aggrieved, as if she was about to cry.

"No, there's something wrong with these vegetarian dishes! Everyone, don't eat them!" Xiaoyao stood up and shouted loudly.

"What's wrong?" Everyone was stunned, looking at Xiaoyao, not understanding why he suddenly shouted for everyone to stop eating.

"Xiaoyao, what's wrong?" Luo Baochai asked very puzzledly, and this question was on everyone's mind.

"There's something wrong with these vegetarian dishes. If everyone has eaten them, you'd better spit them out immediately!!" Xiaoyao said seriously.

"Do you know what you're doing? What's wrong with these vegetarian dishes? I just ate quite a bit, and I don't feel anything wrong," someone questioned Xiaoyao.

In fact, basically everyone here had already started eating. Xiaoyao's group had arrived relatively late, and even so, Luo Baochai and the others had also eaten quite a bit just now because Xiaoyao had just been engaged in conversation with that wealthy young lady. Only he hadn't swallowed any of the vegetarian food.

"Listen to me—these vegetarian dishes contain a type of drug that's colorless and tasteless. It has no effect on ordinary people, but if martial artists eat it, they'll soon be unable to use their internal energy. The more they try to use internal energy, the faster the drug will take effect," Xiaoyao said. He couldn't say what this drug was called—not because he didn't know, but because he didn't know what this drug was called here.

"Are you telling a story? Why would the people of Yanhua Temple poison us? What benefit would that give them?" People didn't believe it. They were just here to play and had no grudges with Yanhua Temple. How could they encounter such a thing?

"I don't know whether they were the ones who administered the drug, or perhaps it's just a coincidence—the food was contaminated with this drug. But these vegetarian dishes can't be eaten, unless you want to be without internal energy for more than ten days," Xiaoyao said. The effect of this drug wasn't permanent—it would be fine after more than ten days. But the problem was that people with schemes usually only needed a little time—even a quarter hour would be enough.

"How alarmist! If you want to show off, don't tell such lies. Since you say it's colorless and tasteless, how do you know about it?" someone raised a skeptical point that seemed crucial to them.

"I can identify any drug in the world," Xiaoyao said.

"Keep bragging! I heard your bragging skills are amazing. I didn't expect what I heard was just hearsay—not even half as good as the reality," a wealthy young lady said.

"If you don't believe me, you can wait. I think there's a big problem. I'm leaving first," Xiaoyao decided to escape alone. If he could get away, he'd be safe and could also rescue these people.

Just then, the situation changed in a way that no one except Xiaoyao had expected.

"Keke..." A strange laugh reached everyone's ears. "This kid is interesting—he can even detect the taste of Bone-Softening Powder."

Then, a figure appeared before Xiaoyao. Without attacking Xiaoyao, he just blocked his path. This figure appeared so quickly that everyone understood this was an expert.

Now, anyone with half a brain would understand something was wrong. It might be as Xiaoyao had just said—they had all fallen into someone's trap.

Among these young masters and ladies, quite a few were intelligent people—the next generation with high hopes placed on them. Naturally, they could perceive the problem. They all immediately gathered their qi, preparing to fight or escape depending on the situation.

As a result, after gathering their qi, they all immediately went limp, discovering they couldn't use their internal energy or even physical strength. They had indeed been poisoned.

Their first feeling now was that they were wrong—they hadn't believed Xiaoyao, and now the facts were right before them. They had been slapped in the face immediately.

Of course, this was just a fleeting thought. What they were thinking about more now was: who were these people, why were they targeting them, and what were their objectives?

"Kid, although you didn't eat anything, you're just King Level. You can't stir up much trouble! Actually, even without drugging you, it would be the same—none of you could escape. It's just that way there might be some bloodshed, and we don't want to see that," the person standing before Xiaoyao said.

"Um, sir, I'm actually just a household servant. You want to catch them, right? So you continue doing your thing and let me go," Xiaoyao said with a smile.

Coward!

Everyone gave Xiaoyao intense contempt. At this moment, they had forgotten that it was Xiaoyao who had discovered the situation just now. Even if they remembered, they thought it was just Xiaoyao's dumb luck and couldn't stop their contempt.

"If you're a servant, that means you're useless. Then like those servants outside, go meet the Buddha," the man said coldly.

"Ah, is that so? Actually, I'm not a servant. I'm very useful—I haven't married or had children yet, so I can't meet Lord Buddha," Xiaoyao immediately said seriously.

"..."

Shameless!

Although Xiaoyao's behavior was very contemptible, some people noticed something—Xiaoyao seemed completely unafraid of the current situation. Was this because he was ignorant, or was he putting on an act?

Under everyone's gaze, Xiaoyao returned to his seat and even ate a few bites of vegetarian food...

What? He actually voluntarily ate the vegetarian food, knowing there was something wrong with it. Was he stupid?

No, he wasn't stupid. This way, he wouldn't be treated as a special case but would be the same as everyone else. Mixed in with so many people, no matter how they arranged things, it wouldn't be his turn.

"Very good! Those who understand the times are wise. Although your strength isn't much, you're smart enough—I like that!" The man was also stunned when he saw Xiaoyao eat the vegetarian food, but then he understood and looked at Xiaoyao with satisfaction, nodding approvingly.

(End of Chapter)