"What we wish for is to drink wine joyfully. Men wander throughout the world, must chance meetings end up becoming acquainted? Once it's over, we will go our separate ways and may never miss today. The name is nought but a mark. Would it be a fortune if you recalled it? Would it be a misfortune if you forgot it?" Jun Moxie remained immersed in his sorrows.
It was obvious that if he had said out the words 'Jun Moxie', his real name, who knows if this man would end up panicking and run away even in this heavy rain? After all, his notorious reputation as a debauchee can be considered quite the lethal object.
"Floating through the world without a name, treating it as a game, ask not the gentlemen his name! Men wander throughout the world, must chance meetings end up becoming acquainted?" The nobleman slowly repeated the words and could not help but be moved by those words.
"Good sentence! A truly good sentence! I did not expect you could be able to utter such great words. Not even a learned scholar is able to utter such phrases. It seemed that I was being too rude again." Looking at Jun Moxie, he laughed leisurely. "Little brother's logic makes sense, it is I who was too rigid in following tradition, I am willing to accept another cup as punishment!"
Jun Moxie hastily stopped him. "You have drunk continuously while I have not even drunk a single cup. Are you sure you are not finding an excuse to drink more than me right?"
The man became startled before breaking into laughter. He gulped down his cup before wiping his mouth.
"Even though this wine is without a name, it can still be considered a good wine, strong and piquant! A real man should be drinking this wine! True, it should be normal to find more excuses for the sake of drinking more of this wine."
"This wine? This can be considered good?" Jun Moxie sneered. "Brother, could it be that you have never had any good wine? This wine can only be drunk when you have no better options on hand. If this kind of wine can be considered good, then wouldn't there be no bad wine in this world?"
The man's eye lit up as he said. "Old Song's wine shop may not be big, but his wine is highly desired within this city. All wine lovers treat it with reverence. If not for the rain today, this place would have been full by now and also why both of us are able to enjoy this wine. This is a lucky day for both of us! You may not know but Old Song sells only twenty jugs of wine a day, ten in the afternoon and ten in the evening. He will not sell even a jug more! If your words were to be heard by Old Song, I fear he will not let you go."
"Hahaha… You are a superb person. To think that you are able to make me laugh when I am feeling like this" Jun Moxie was trying to hold in his laughter but he was unable to do so. "How laughable! Such a weak wine actually has such a limited amount? The wines that this young master has had before were at least a hundred times stronger than this!"
The words spoken were not a boast. The strength of the wine was only around twenty percent of Baijiu. For Jun Moxie who was accustomed to drinking the world's finest wines in his past life, this wine was indeed inferior. In fact, people from the modern times might not even be willing to drink this wine. After all, In terms of quality, the wine was also slightly turbid, as though it was lacking in hygiene!
The middle-aged man's face became somewhat unsightly. "Little brother, I can see that you are an elegant scholar, but how can you say something like this? Food can be eaten in whatever way we like, but the same cannot be done with words! The wines I had at the Royal Palace was not even a fraction in comparison to this. It only had extra flavour due to its luxury, but was instead less spicy and vigorous! The wine was incapable of arousing my blood. To me, this wine is a fine wine that can rarely be found in this world! Little brother, saying that the wines you had tried are a hundred times better are a mere exaggeration!"
"Hehehe, oh? You do not believe me?" Jun Moxie looked at him with slit eyes. "I have no reason to make you believe me, hahaha… However… drinking wine! Fellow brother, do you know what it means to drink wine? Do you know what it takes for one to be considered drinking wine?"
The middle-aged man was made speechless. He had begun to regret coming over. This kid was far too abnormal; he had come over with such good intentions, and yet this kid did not show any appreciation or respect at all. Even if he was a talent, he was still just a prideful and unrestrained scholar; it would be difficult for him to become a great renowned talent.
Jun Moxie gave out a "heng" and said in a low voice. "The true act of drinking wine is to drink in one's emotions! Or even one's thoughts! Pouring wine into one's belly alone cannot be considered the act of drinking wine. That is simply the act of wasting good wine! Wine! Oh, wine! To think that not only were there no good wine in this world, there is also none who understands wine, much less the act of drinking wine! There is no such thing as wine tasting, no such thing as appreciation for wine! The virtuous and ancient sages were all solitary figures, only drinkers leave their names behind. How pitiful! Within this vast world, not a single drinker can be found! What a world encompassing sorrow! How uncalled for!"
Having drank his final cup, Jun Moxie stood up. Raising his head, he gave a hearty laugh. "A great distance of a million kilometers, a sea of humanity numbering hundreds of millions; yet, not a single one can keep me company as I drink, and not a single wine is worthy of making me joyful as I drink! This world is simply too sorrowful! Ahaha, when drinking wine with a bosom friend, a thousand cups are too little, when words exchanged are disagreeable, even a little is too much! When the wine is not good, the people become weary. Where is the meaning in drinking? I will take my leave!"
This kind of inferior wine… is actually a rare wine? When I point out its inferiority, someone actually objects? What the hell? Jun Moxie's heart was filled with fury; he felt as though he was playing the lute to the cow. This world was full of nothing but country bumpkins…
How can such a person be worthy of accompanying me, the Evil Monarch, as I drink?
A silver ingot fell onto the table with a loud sound. Jun Moxie then walked out the door with laughter filled with pride; his body penetrated through the heavy fog and rain, disappearing in an instant.
Even with his composure, the middle-aged man found himself somewhat angered. This youngster was so young, and yet so conceited! No matter what, he was still someone with a lofty identity. To think that the wine that he liked the most and had considered as the best was actually worth less than trash to the youngster! Wasn't that simply implying that he…
However, his heart was a little envious of Jun Moxie's carefree and wilful nature, that personality of conceit and unrestrained arrogance! When will I be able to live such a life? This city is just a huge cage…
"Even though he seemed unrestrained and arrogant, this may not be his true character. The virtuous and ancient sages were all solitary figures, only drinkers leave their names behind, what a good sentence!" The middle-aged man contemplated silently, raising his cup to drink. Could it be a psychological effect? Or was there some other reason? The wine, which he had always felt was one of the best, had suddenly felt harder to swallow.
"The ancients created poems for every seven paces they take."
"I always thought they were just flattering the ancients. It seemed that a poem for every seven paces is indeed nothing excessive, especially the last two sentences. It is truly something!" He gently murmured to himself. "When drinking wine with a bosom friend, a thousand cups are too little, when words exchanged are disagreeable, even a little is too much! Not bad, not bad at all. This scholar really does have some skill."
Having said that, the middle-aged man suddenly fell silent as he thought of something, then he laughed. "This bastard, he actually meant to say that I am not his bosom friend and that the words we exchanged were disagreeable, haha… to think he had actually cursed at me before leaving, and having used such an indirect way to do it… he is truly an educated scholar! However, in this entire Kingdom, the only other person who dares to openly curse at me like that is only my royal brother. This brat had truly made me feel refreshed."
In his life, Jun Moxie has had many kinds of labels placed on him, a mad assassin, a bloodthirsty devil and other immeasurable names. However, "educated scholar" was never one of them. Even Jun Moxie could not have imagined that his recalling of old memories and his few successive verses had caused him to be labelled as an "educated scholar"! Not to mention, he was believed to be indirectly cursing at others. If he were to know about this, he would be filled with a sense of ridiculousness.
If Jun Moxie had wanted to curse at someone, then he would undoubtedly point at the person when doing so. What do you mean cursing indirectly? For Jun Moxie, even the act of cursing someone face to face would not suffice.
The middle-aged man laughed for a good while. Suddenly, he felt something amiss. Turning around, he saw a short, thin withered looking old man gazing with dim eyes at the direction that Jun Moxie had taken. He stood motionless, his face expressing regret.