"None taken!..... Sure, actually, I am the kind of guy who has a strong, disdain for those who spill... Anyway, ah!...." Donghai Lin replied earnestly and exclaimed suddenly when an intoxicating, redolent smell of the wines assaulted his olfactory nerves.
He started, sniffing without the slightest reserve for his table manners as he shut his eyes.
Seeing that, the curvaceous lady curled her lips into a smile and wondered once again in her head: 'Perfect! His love for wine is quite admirable... the same as my own when I was his age...hah(chuckle)! except he has such a strong regard for his drinking etiquette, this and that, which I don't…. Alright, let me see whether you can drink all the eight inheritance wines of the eight drunken immortals.'
His current state of sniffing the air was disturbed as she jumped into a conversation, saying. "Master Lin, shall I excuse myself?.... Earlier.."
"Of course not," Donghai Lin replied. "Well, I would like you to stay here….. As such, why would I send out someone who shares my philosophy with me, and moreover, why would I send out someone as beautiful as you when I, alone, can enjoy this?.... Please, stay."
The beautiful lady made an amiable smile and sat on the floor just before the table facing him.
"Alright, then why don't start, master Lin?"
Reckoning her, Donghai Lin picked up the closest wine cup to him, brought it near to his nose, took a long sniff, and gulped it down in one fell swoop.
The next moment, he seemed to feel that he was floating up gradually in the air as he sat cross-legged and he exclaimed in delight. "Wow! Just Woah!... Look Granny He, I'm floating in the air."
Plop!
The lady snapped her fingers and Donghai Lin fell and returned to his seat.
"Master Lin, just look at the wall in front of you and tell me what you can see?" Granny He in this case more likely Lady He asked.
Momentarily, Donghai Lin followed her pointing finger and replied as he gazed intently at the southern wall he was facing. "Oh, there is a mural of the Red Vermillion Bird… And it's not moving at all like last time." And he yelped, "Hey, little birdie, move… just move!" He then turned his attention to her.
"Alright, keep looking once more." She instructed.
"What is the big deal with the murals anymore? If they don't move like last time… then… wow!" He replied and the next moment his eyes gazed on the wall again, he exclaimed abruptly in surprise.
The sight that Donghai Lin saw this time was miraculous.
This time, instead of the moving beasts like last time, he saw all the murals floating in the air and flew toward the southern wall and then repaired it together with the mural of the Red Vermillion Bird which was already there, forming an enormous mural that filled the entire southern wall.
He noticed that all the pictures of earlier beasts, including men, were all in the gigantic mural.
"What did master Lin see?" The beauty asked again.
"Um….ah, I see all the murals are now mended together to the southern wall forming a single large mural... On it, there are still all the images of beasts and people from the Hans Dynasty period. And the four directional legendary beasts are also in it." Donghai Lin answered as his eyes were still on the mural.
"Is that all?"
"Yes,"
"Then keep looking more intently." The lady insisted and then she pondered in her mind: 'No, I'll just guide you this time. There is no loss in that, anyway.'
And she asked, "Do you want to see something more amazing?"
"Oh, cool! I'm totally in; whatever voodoo or spell you are going to cast?"
"Master Lin, did you see a river in the mural?" asked the lady, once more.
"Yes, I can see that!"
"Then keep looking and do exactly as I say?.... Follow the stream to the east and tell me if you can see a tavern there?"
"Yes-yes, I can see it… Eh, it looks exactly like yours, granny He!"
"Then enter it and tell me. What do you see now?"
"Oh, it's exactly the same as this room we're currently in…. And there's a man… um… an old man to be exact with a fish drum[1] in his hand sitting just before the dining table." Donghai Lin replied.
"So, can you describe his appearance?" The lady asked curiously.
Donghai Lin responded as he eyed the man. "Okay, he is kind of fat, but he's not obese per see... He has white hair, a long white beard, and a black topknot tying his locks, and now he's drinking wine passionately…. I must say, I like this old man's drinking etiquette."
'So the first glass of wine he drank belongs to that old eccentric fool, Zhang Guolao… Fine, let's continue the ceremony.' thought the lady.
She shook her head, picked another wine cup, placed it in Donghai Lin's hand, and said, "Master Lin, I have placed a wine cup in your hands…. Drink it up without looking away from the mural."
It was as if her words had a melodic quality to them that made him do exactly as she said without even knowing what she was saying.
He raised it up to his lips and gulped it down in one fell swoop.
"Other than the old man drinking wine in the tavern, did you see any other changes?" The lady asked again.
"Of course, now, I see a man... no, a lady perhaps. No no no,... now I'm confused and lost….. Anyway, this dude seems to be some kind of wandering musician and there is a jade's clapper[2] in his hand. He sits just beside the old man and currently, he's drinking wine courteously…. I like this drinking style, too." Donghai Lin replied as he continued admiring the sexually ambiguous guy.
'Hee-hee-hee, of course, that wine belongs to Lan Caihe.' The lady wondered in her mind as she giggled.
"Alright, continue focusing on the mural while I will help you with your drinks, and believe me, a lot of connoisseurs of wine are going to turn up inside the tavern each time you chug up a wine cup." Her mellifluous voice chimed in his ears.
[1] Fish Drum: A Chinese percussion instrument, which is a tube-shaped bamboo drum with two iron rods or mallets.
[2] Clapper: It's a basic form of percussion instrument and comprises two long solid pieces that are struck together to produce sound. Usually, they are made from wood or bamboo, or jade in the case of Immortal Lan Caihe.