Hearing this, Huang Peng's body stiffened on the spot, and like him, Su Yan was also stupefied; only the two little guys, Huang Min and Huang Xiaohai were staring at the roast meat with shining eyes. Neither of them understood the real meaning of Huang Xiaolong's words when he said Big Sword Sect had found the Huang Clan Manor's people.
The group of guards and servants who followed Huang Peng from Huang Clan Manor were also looking sad.
"Xiaolong, promise Father, you must destroy the Big Sword Sect!" A long time later, Huang Peng spoke and his voice choked and sounded a little hoarse.
"Don't worry Dad. I will." Huang Xiaolong nodded his head in promise, not for Huang Ming and his sons, but for his parents and little siblings.
He absolutely would not allow the existence of Big Sword Sect to threaten his parents' and siblings' safety.
"Big Brother, is the roast meat ready? Can we eat?" At this point, little Huang Xiaohai inquired, breaking the stuffy atmosphere; his stomach obediently collaborated him, issuing a 'gululu' rumbling sound, "My stomach is already flat from hunger!"
Huang Xiaolong chuckled, "Okay, let's eat!"
"Yeahhhhh!" When the two little guys heard their Big Brother's permission, both jumped with joy.
The night gradually became brighter. Huang Xiaolong and his group had started their journey for the day.
And two days later, they arrived at the Luo Tong Royal City's big gates.
Standing before the big gates leading to the Royal City, Huang Peng, Su Yan, the two little guys, and the rest of the group were in a daze. The big city gates gave the new arrivals a strong visual impact.
"Big Brother, this is our Luo Tong Kingdom's Royal City? Very, very, very big ah!" A long time later, little brother Huang Xiaohai chirped exaggeratedly, using three 'very' in a sentence.
Very big?!
Watching his younger brother's cute reaction, Huang Xiaolong smiled.
"Let's go, enter the city." Huang Xiaolong laughed and said.
Hearing this, the two little guys rushed in front of everyone else towards the city gates, competing with each other to see who would enter the city first.
At first, the city guards wanted to block Huang Min and Huang Xiaohai's path, however, when they noticed Huang Xiaolong and Marshal Haotian coming up behind the two little brats, the guards instantly retreated to the side and knelt down on one knee.
"Greeting Lord Marshal Haotian!"
These guards, of course, recognized Marshal Haotian.
"Rise." Marshal Haotian nodded his head, allowing the city gate guards to stand up. The guards hastened to stand up and retreated to the side respectfully.
Huang Xiaolong and his parents walked at the front, followed by Marshal Haotian and Fei Hou behind them, passing the city gates into the Royal City.
Huang Min and Huang Xiaohai cheered, rushing through the gates and in the end, Huang Min won the race. Although Huang Xiaohai's talent was higher than Huang Min's, his martial spirit had just awakened not too long ago-- how could he surpass Huang Min who had been cultivating battle qi for more than a year?
The two little guys were panting heavily, wiping beads of sweat from their foreheads.
And while the two little guys were wiping off sweats from their little running competition, the city guards were wiping off cold sweat from their own foreheads from the ordeal.
"Who is that kid? To actually have Marshal Haotian walking behind him?"
"You surely don't know this since you just arrived in the Royal City a few days ago. It's normal that you don't know-- he is Huang Xiaolong!"
"Huang Xiaolong? Who is Huang Xiaolong?"
".........…"
In the time the city guards were gossiping among themselves, Huang Xiaolong and his group disappeared from view.
Entering the Royal City, strolling in the bustling, wide city streets, Huang Min and Huang Xiaohai ran all around. Sometimes looking at some stalls on the right, and then to the left, they were extremely excited and happy.
Even the little violet monkey on Huang Xiaolong's shoulder ran down to join the two little guys, running here and there, laughing happily.
Watching his little sister and brother playing, Huang Xiaolong also felt happy.
After strolling for an hour or so, when they passed by the Delicious Restaurant, Huang Xiaolong suddenly stopped. Turning around to Huang Peng and Su Yan, he inquired, "Dad, Mom, how about we go in and eat something?"
Huang Xiaolong remembered the first time he came to the Royal City, when he was here with Fei Hou. The dishes and the Snow Moon Wine of this restaurant were quite good.
Before Huang Peng or Su Yan could answer, the little violet monkey was already clapping and squeaking in agreement, greedily smacking his lips as if its saliva was about to fly out. Obviously, it still remembered the taste of the Snow Moon Wine.
Seeing this, Huang Peng Su Yan nodded and everyone broke out in laughter due to the little violet monkey's antics.
Thus, they went into the restaurant. The one attending to Huang Xiaolong was the same server as last time. Seeing Huang Xiaolong, the little server's eyes lit up and hurried to welcome Huang Xiaolong, full of respect.
Though it has been a year, the little server's memory of Huang Xiaolong and Fei Hou was very deep.
At that time, the Delicious Restaurant was nearly demolished, how could he forget them otherwise?
With respectful bows and pleasing smiles, the little server led Huang Xiaolong and his group up to the first floor of the restaurant.
Soon after, Huang Xiaolong and the rest were seated, and the restaurant's boss came over, still short of breath as if he ran over from some distance away, sweat was pouring from his face.
Quickly tidying his appearance, he came to Huang Xiaolong's table, and the boss saluted Marshal Haotian and personally arranged the dishes and wine for the two tables Huang Xiaolong's and his companions. The boss even took out the Snow Moon Wine that had been kept for more than a decade to serve them.
The moment the Snow Moon Wine was placed on the table, and before anyone could make a move, the little violet monkey had already jumped onto one of the wine urns, lifted it up, and started to drink greedily. It let out a loud burp after it was satisfied, making people break out in laughter all around.
As the food and wine were served up, a tantalizing fragrance weaved in the air, causing the two little guys to drool. Chopsticks shot out frequently as sounds of utensils and cups moved.
When everyone was enjoying the meal, a pair consisting of a young man and a young woman came up the second floor. Judging from their attitude, they were regular patrons of the Delicious Restaurant.
Huang Xiaolong took a glance at them from the corner of his eyes, noting that both of them looked familiar. Then he remembered when he first arrived in the Royal City with Fei Hou, they were the Young Master and Young Miss Lin of the Marquis Mansion.
He remembered at that time, this so-called Young Master Lin and Young Miss Lin were riding on Stage Four Flame Beasts entering the city. Of course, they need not pay entry fees at the city gates.
Reaching the first floor of the restaurant, Lin Ke looked around and saw Huang Xiaolong's group occupying two large tables with two little kids that were eating noisily. Lin Ke frowned. She threw a bag of gold coins to the server behind her and pointed towards Huang Xiaolong's direction, and in a commanding tone, she said, "The entire first floor, I'm reserving it. Drive out these lowly commoners, tell them to eat below."
Lowly commoners!
People eating at the two tables, including Huang Xiaolong, stopped turned around.
That server was dumbfounded.
Lin Ke noticed the little server was in a daze and she snapped: "Didn't you hear what I've said? We are reserving this entire floor, drive these lowly-commoners down and tell them to eat on the floor below! Otherwise, they will affect our appetite!"
Marshal Haotian and Fei Hou's expression changed. Yet, when Marshal Haotian and Fei Hou wanted to stand up, Huang Xiaolong raised his hand to stop them.
Huang Xiaolong waved at the little server, saying "You, come over."
Despite being a different server than the one who welcomed Huang Xiaolong, and was not aware of Huang Xiaolong's identity, earlier the boss had instructed each of them to serve these two tables respectfully, and not show the slightest neglect. So, when the server heard Huang Xiaolong calling him, he scurried over without the slightest delay to Huang Xiaolong's side, inquiring "Young Noble, what are your orders?"
Like the other side, Huang Xiaolong threw out a big bag of gold coins to the server, and pointed at the two surnamed Lin, "I don't want to see them in the Delicious Restaurant, drive them away from the restaurant to avoid them influencing my appetite!"
Note:
In case anyone is wondering, below is an excerpt from C36, describing the first meeting, before Meng Xia (The death Duke' son) came stampeding towards the city gates.
At this time, a young man and woman riding a Stage Four Flame Beast mount swaggered into the city. The guards at the gate didn't block them, instead, the guards bowed deeply as they passed by.
Huang Xiaolong's expression turned cold, and pointed at the two people who had just passed by: "Why don't they have to pay admission fees?"
History has a tendency to repeat itself.....