"Oh, really?... Then I can't wait to see all of them." Donghai Lin replied.
"Okay, then just drink up all the remaining wine cups one at a time. And in the meantime, you keep looking at it as I help you with that." The gorgeous lady in disguise said as she picked up another wine cup and placed it in his hand.
Involuntarily, he gulped it down in one gulp as he gazed at the giant mural without blinking.
As he downed another glass of wine, the lady gave him another cup, and this continued until he had finished seven wine glasses, at which point he belched up loudly.
"Master Lin, are you okay?.... There is still one more cup of wine left on the table. Can you still continue?" The lady asked.
"I'm fine. I… can… still… carry… on. Hic! Hic!" Donghai Lin replied as he hiccuped.
"Uh-oh, more people are appearing one at a time… There are now," he raised his hand and started counting with his finger. "One, two, three,..ah-um...., seven people inside the room, sitting around the roundtable, drinking. Thinking about that Granny He, is it because I'm really drunk and it's my brain playing with me? Even so, I can say that this mural is really the most wonderful piece of art I have ever seen in my whole life."
And he added, asking her, "Is this tricky art of trompe l'oeil some kind of masterful trick?"
"Trompe l'oeil?" The lady repeated the words in question.
"Which means- to trick the eye!" He answered as he peered at the mural and continued observing all the seven Daoists drinking inside the tavern.
"Not exactly, but you can say that in this case... Anyway, can you tell me more about all the others that are currently in the room?" The lady replied and then she asked, coming straight to the point.
"Other than the old man with the Fish Drum and the dude with the Jade Clapper, who has already been there before. Just on the left side of the dude with the Jade Clipper sat another beggar-looking old man holding an iron clutch and a Calabash Gourd bottle…. Uh, this guy is ugly, and he stinks!" Donghai Lin said, portraying the appearance of the old man in his eyes as he saw his dirty face, a scraggly beard, and messy hair which was held by a golden band. "Hmm, anyway, he is a gentleman when it comes to his drinking style. Still, quite likable."
The lady hushed in her mind, saying: 'Oh, so the third drink belongs to Cripple Li Tieguai.'
"Tell me more about the others?" The lady insisted as she held up the last wine cup.
"Next to that beggarly old man, on his left side is another man who is bare-chested and bare-bellied, holding a fan made from horsetail hairs, reclining his back on a giant cauldron… Ah!" Donghai Lin said, the first impression of him was the way the man dressed and he exclaimed in surprise the next second when he gazed at his face.
"Anything wrong, Master Lin?" The sweet voice of the lady chimed as she asked worriedly.
"Nothing. It's just that… um… this man has a unique face. Hahaha… thick ears, long eyebrows, deep eyes, red nose, square mouth, high cheeks, scarlet lips, and in addition, he had a broad forehead. And now he is chugging the wine as if it's water and drinking like a fish… Hah," Donghai Lin described the man, and then his eyes went to the next guy.
The lady reminded herself in her head: 'Hmm, the fourth drink turned out to be that strange face, Immortal Zhongli Quan.'
Donghai Lin further added, "Next to him is a suave-looking handsome youth with a sword on his back…. Oh, interesting, he seems to be a scholar of those ancient periods. It seems to me that this guy is the one normal person I see in this bunch."
Hearing that, the beauty scoffed in her head, citing: 'Normal, my arse! He's the most fierce among us eight. Even those ruthless evil spirits cried when they heard his infamous name, Immortal Lu Dongbin, the leader of us eight…. In bout of anger, for no reason, he even once deformed a riverbank… Normal, that's just his exterior. Deep down he's someone even we wouldn't want to provoke.'
"Oh, this is getting better and better, next is another youth with a golden Chinese flute in his hand… Wow, pretty cool." Donghai Lin said.
He then eyed the last one and further added, saying. "Last but not least, seems to be not only the youngest among these seven but also the wittiest one among them. Just wow, they all just keep drinking and they don't seem to care about anything... If they were to present here, I would be happy to share my table with them… Drinking beside them will be more pleasurable than just me… alone." His last tone showed a lonely feeling and jealousy when looking at the seven.
The lady whispered under her breath. 'So the last sixth and the seventh wine cups are the specialties of Flute Immortal, Han Xiangzi, and that kiddo, Cao Guojiu… Then hee-hee-hee, as I expected, I'm the luckiest one among us eight.'
She then asked, "Master Lin, it seems to me that you really admired all of them from the bottom of your heart? Then do you wish to learn about the real identities of this group?"
"That would be lovely," responded Donghai Lin.
"Okay, first, before I come to them. Let me ask you this: have you ever heard of the Drunken Eight Immortals?" The lady asked.
"Um, yes, when I was little, my mother used to tell me the fable stories of the eight drunken immortals every night before I went to bed and I loved it... I still remember their names even though it seems vague…." And then he recited the names of the eight immortals.
"Good, then this will be easier than I thought." The beauty continued, "Master Lin, will you believe me if I say those stories are real and the seven people inside the mural are the seven of the Drunken Eight Immortals?" She then passed the last wine cup in his hand.
As he heard that, he took another look at the seven people on the gigantic mural and began comparing them to the characters in his mother's stories, and they all perfectly matched each other. Meanwhile, he gulped down the wine.
"Granny He, hahaha... I'm so drunk right now that I can believe anything." His laughter was loud and then he froze immediately when he saw something on the mural that made him look more intently at it.
Then, for the first time, he looked away from the mural and eyed the beautiful lady in front of him. And he said, pointing at her. "You-you-you're the Immortal He Xiangu!"
Then the curvaceous lady curled her lips into a seductive smile.