I wish the waiter would bring a plate of melon seeds so I could crack them while listening.
"…What are you waiting for? Chengfeng, execute the order!" Bai Qingcheng frowned at me.
"Oh, oh." I pulled out my phone and sent a voice message to Yaoyao, "Call Diana, Daji, Shao Chen, and… Xu Ran."
Xu Ran is familiar with Jinling and can act as a guide.
"You five, have Kunkun buy you plane tickets for tomorrow morning to Jinling and await orders," I sent another voice message.
Yaoyao must have used text-to-speech, as her reply came faster than the voice message playback time, but it was still a voice message: "Why are we going to Jinling?"
"To castrate the Miao King," I said truthfully.
Yaoyao sent back a question mark emoji, but I didn't explain further. I then said to the two ghost newlyweds at the table, "You two, study the map. After dinner, head to Jinling on your own. I'll have someone there to receive you."
They didn't have ID cards and couldn't buy plane tickets, so they had to use their Swift Wind Art. This way, they could travel from north to south and experience the beautiful scenery of modern Yan Xia. Zheng Baobao was from the Qing Dynasty, and Xiao Nu was from the Tang Dynasty. They were already amazed walking on the streets of the capital earlier. But this is a bustling metropolis, the capital of capitals. Heading south, they could see scenery of different styles, especially experiencing the new rural construction—the underworld towns are just low-spec versions of new rural villages, making the comparison easier.
"Aren't you going?" Bai Qingcheng asked me again.
Lin Chi immediately chimed in, "I've arranged for Chengfeng to take the high-speed train tomorrow morning. He'll arrive at Jinling South Station at nine o'clock."
*Buzzz*, my phone vibrated on the table. I swiped to open it and saw the electronic tickets for Yaoyao and the other four. They were flying from Lüshun at five in the morning and would arrive in Jinling at seven, even earlier than me.
I showed the tickets to Bai Qingcheng, "It's arranged. Rest assured, Madam. Please instruct on the specific execution."
Bai Qingcheng's frown finally relaxed, "No need for arrangements. When you get there, I'll take you. You do know how to castrate someone, don't you?"
If you asked me if I knew how to slaughter a pig, I'd say yes. It doesn't matter how, whether it's slitting the throat or stabbing the heart, I can find a way to kill a pig. But castrating someone… I haven't studied which part to cut, or which parts to leave. I did see pig castration when I was a child, but I only remember that after it was done, the castration master threw a small piece of meat outside the pigsty, and I couldn't tell what it was.
"I don't know much. Daji and the others should be experienced," I said. After all, with thousands of years of standby and experiencing countless dynasties, there have always been many eunuchs in each dynasty.
"You don't know?" Bai Qingcheng pouted and chuckled. "Among us, only you have those things. You still claim ignorance… are you pretending to be innocent?"
"He fails to see the true face of Mount Lu, solely because he is in the mountain itself," Lin Chi offered in my defense, though the wording seemed inaccurate. My understanding was that "The bamboo stalks sway in endless waves, but one knows not which swallows the hook" would be more precise.
"Second Sister, if that's what you mean, have you seen it before?" Bai Qingcheng asked Lin Chi.
I felt that the ages of the three of them were probably fluctuating, all around their thirties. But I always felt that Bai Qingcheng was slightly older than the Lin sisters. Perhaps it was because they were used to calling each other "Eldest Sister" and "Second Sister" internally, and they just followed suit regardless of age, just like in a company where highly respected individuals, even if not very old, are often addressed as "Brother Mou" or "Uncle Mou" out of respect.
"I haven't! Ask my sister about this! She spent more time with Chengfeng and was alone with him at times, right, Sister?" Lin Chi turned the spearhead towards Lin Xi.
Lin Xi was very calm, "Neither have I."
Having dispatched such a powerful legion to assist Bai Qingcheng, her mood improved considerably. She looked at Lin Xi, "Eldest Sister, I haven't had dinner yet."
Lin Xi pressed a button on the table to call the waiter while asking, "What would you like to eat?"
"Want some flank steak to vent your anger first?" Lin Chi said with a sly grin.
Bai Qingcheng shot her a glare but remained silent.
The waiter came in. Lin Chi seemed very familiar with Bai Qingcheng and knew her preferences. She directly ordered for her, "One filet, raw."
"Raw?" the waiter asked in a low voice.
"Raw," Lin Chi confirmed, then asked seriously, "Do you have flank steak?"
"Yes."
"How is it prepared?" Lin Chi asked again, seemingly very familiar with this ingredient and its different preparations. I only knew it was available at barbecue stalls.
"Only stir-fried."