Donghai Lin blinked multiple times and rubbed his eyes occasionally as he stared at the curvaceous lady, who was acting in a flirtatious manner. "Are you really Immortal He Xiangu?... And why does the lady in the mural look exactly like you?" He asked.
He gulped down a mouthful of saliva and perhaps it was because of the intoxication, he opened his mouth, saying boldly, "Granny He, even though I'm this drunk right now, things are turning harder and harder for me to understand and distinguish these inner fabrics of reality and this state of pleasant delirium I'm currently showering upon. Hic-Hic!"
He then reached out his right hand for her face to examine.
The lady caught it in mid-air and said coquettishly while chuckling. "Master Lin, it's highly inappropriate of you to do something like that to a delicate lady like myself… Just the view is enough, right?"
She then looked down and saw Donghai Lin's legs start burning with a white flame and disintegrated into white mist and it went on spreading toward his upper body. And she wondered in her head, saying: 'Hmm, as I thought, the Eight Immortal Wines of the Eight Drunken Immortals are too much to handle for a mortal body..'
She then asked with a charming smile on her face. "So now tell me. Which one did you prefer the most among the eight wines you just tasted?"
As if interested as well in hearing his reply, the seven immortals in the mural who were also drinking inside the tavern turned their heads toward Donghai Lin.
"Oh," Donghai Lin pondered and after several minutes, he spoke. "About that, I um…. I can't really put my hand and come to a final, conclusion as all of them have their own perks per se when the first wine entered my mouth the odor is perfect and when I swallow down at first I felt this hotness and then followed by this coldness and gave me the feeling of this heroic feeling I have never experienced before."
He added as he closed his eyes while remembering everything he experienced. "Second wine has this potent smell, but it somehow feels like my tongue's palettes are excited the moment they make contact…. The same goes for the other six wines. I believe after today my palettes will never agree with other wines in this world." "Hey, still, you haven't replied to my question yet."
"Oh-ho, about that." The lady replied with a big question. "What if I told you that I am who I am as you say, and all the strange things that you have experienced here today are not just the result of being drunk, but rather, the result of you having this ability to clearly, see everything around you? Will you still believe me?
"Hahahaha... You are not only amazing in my eyes today, but your jokes are truly fantastic and you almost got me there... Hahaha…" He said and burst into a peal of hysterical laughter.
He shook his body while laughing, then yelled suddenly in shock, "What… the… fuck!?" as he spotted that half of his body below his waist was not there and a white glowing thing was still burning his body upward. His brain instructed his body to stand up but failed, as there were no legs anymore.
Amid his crisis, the lady said, "Master Lin, relax! Just look at me."
"Relax! Are you fucking kidding me? I have lost half of my bo…..oo...dy." Donghai Lin howled, bloviating as he freaked out, but suddenly halted when his eyes drifted and contacted her eyes.
It seemed like she had put a charm on him, making him relax suddenly.
In addition, he now saw her holding a lotus in her right hand and a fly-whisk in her left, leading him to make him believe that she was the real legendary Immortal virgin and the only lady in the eight Immortal Daoist pantheons as he said earlier jokingly.
And everything supernatural things happening here came to a single picture now, making him believe and admit the fact that everything magical happening in this room was real.
"Am I really going to die?" He asked softly, realizing his current situation.
"Yes, you have already consumed the finest eight immortal wines of the entire 10 planes. And your mortal body is not enough to hold and digest them." She replied and asked. "Anyway, forget about everything and just answer me this; did you have anything left to do in this world or perhaps love interests?"
"I-I-I….." Donghai Lin failed to answer her question.
"Exactly, even though you are so famous, I guess one of the richest business owners in this world, but on the contrary, you have nothing here; no family, parents, spouse, or anything else... Just admit it already, your sole passion for living is just to have a taste and feel this intoxication of liquors that keeps you alive. Am I wrong? Judge me." She said, going ballistic at him.
Her words gave an immense blow to him, and his inner thoughts were in chaos.
After a minute of silence, he first calmed himself and replied. "You're right. Except for my genuine passion for wines, I have nothing else in this world other than the useless wealth that I keep stockpiling every second. So what now, lady He?… No, my bad, where are my manners?" He then corrected, saying courteously. "Shall I call you Reverend He Xiangu or perhaps, Goddess He Xiangu instead?"
"That's good to hear… Oh, and you can call me whatever fits you consider." On seeing that the white flame reached his chest, the beautiful lady, who turned out to be the only female Immortal pantheon, He Xiangu further added, saying. "We have little time for this."
She then suddenly raised the hand holding the golden lotus and poke at his forehead with her index finger. "Master Lin, I'm now about to begin the last part of the ritual... Multiple reincarnations!"
Soon, a white miniature-shaped human that looked exactly like Donghai Lin, which was his soul, came out of his forehead and was forced to drift toward the gigantic mural on the wall by some strange force.
In his soul, Donghai Lin's consciousness was still intact, so he was astonished to see himself suddenly appear, sitting between the one and only female Immortal He Xiangu and the old man holding the Fish Drum.
"Oh my God, I am standing among the Eight Drunken Immortals! What a strange life I lead? Is this for real?" He exclaimed in delight.