The Youth Returns, Chapter Two: So It Was You, You Little Thief

Within the city of Beigu.

Yi Heng walked down the long street. Along the way, he encountered no passersby, but he noticed that many doorways were adorned with funeral arches that had yet to be taken down—there were more than ten such houses.

"Strange! What has happened in this city? Why have so many people died recently? If it were just natural causes, it would be impossible for so many to die all at once."

Though Yi Heng was puzzled, he did not dwell on it and continued walking forward.

Looking up again, he saw the Sifang Inn. Unlike the deserted streets he had passed earlier, the inn was bustling with people coming and going.

Driven by curiosity, Yi Heng entered the inn. From the chatter of the crowd, he soon learned why it was so lively. It turned out that three days ago, a young nobleman had arrived at the inn and set up a gambling table: if anyone could drink him under the table within three days, he would gift them the hundred pieces of gold on the table.

However, for two full days, no one had succeeded. Instead, several of the city’s notorious drunkards had been drunk into a stupor. Upon seeing this, the onlookers were content to just watch the spectacle, no longer daring to step forward. Gold was desirable, but one needed to be alive to spend it.

Today was the third day, and the onlookers speculated that no one in Beigu City could outdrink the young nobleman.

Yi Heng had no interest in drinking. He wove through the crowd, brushing past a young man in white. With a silk money pouch now in his hand, he sat alone in a corner.

The waiter approached and asked, "Are you staying the night, or just here to eat, sir?"

Yi Heng placed a piece of silver on the table and said, "Prepare a room for me, and use the rest to bring me a few of your signature dishes."

The waiter took the silver, glanced toward the upper floor, and said, "Sir, the young nobleman is in high spirits today. He said that anyone dining in the inn will be treated to a jar of wine. Would you like some?"

Yi Heng was taken aback, surprised by the youth’s generosity, but he had no love for alcohol and naturally declined. He looked up at the loft and asked, "Who is this young man? He is remarkably lavish."

"I don't know who he is either. By the look of his clothes, he doesn't seem to be from around Beigu City. He must be from a larger city! Only in such big cities would you find a young nobleman who treats gold like dirt and looks even more beautiful than most women."

"A beautiful young nobleman!" Yi Heng frowned, though he didn't give it much thought. He looked down at the money pouch in his hand and joked to himself, "Perhaps his money was acquired just as easily!"

About half an incense stick later, the waiter returned with five large plates of food, including Mapo Tofu and boiled fish fillets. After the waiter left the change and departed, Yi Heng ate his meal in peace, undisturbed by the noise of the inn.

Just as Yi Heng finished his meal, a commotion erupted outside. He looked up and saw the very person he had returned to Beigu City to find: Magistrate Li, dressed in civilian clothes, emerging from the crowd.

*Why is he here?* Yi Heng wondered.

"Where is that young man who is drinking?" the assistant magistrate grabbed the waiter’s shoulder and demanded.

Though the waiter didn't know why the assistant was bringing the magistrate here, he didn't dare to delay and pointed to the loft. "Sir, the young man is on the second floor."

The assistant released the waiter and said to Magistrate Li, "Magistrate, the young man is in the loft. Let us go up."

Magistrate Li nodded and headed toward the loft through the crowd. The onlookers followed, curious to see why the magistrate had come—was he there to cause trouble for the youth, or did the magistrate himself wish to challenge him to a drinking contest?

"Come on, let’s go up and watch!" someone shouted.

"I want to see why Magistrate Li is here."

Yi Heng put down his chopsticks, pulled his felt hat low, and followed the crowd up to the loft.

***

In the loft, the onlookers formed a circle. On one table in the center sat two gold ingots, each weighing fifty taels, radiating a dazzling light. However, everyone's gaze was focused on the other table. As for those who tried to steal the gold during the chaos, they had long since been tossed out of the circle by the young man.

At the other table, empty wine jars were scattered everywhere. A drunken brute threw down a jar and collapsed to the floor, waving his arms. "Five… I haven't… I haven't lost yet."

The young man in white, his back to the door, waved a hand. "He is drunk. Drag him out." Two men from the crowd stepped forward and hauled the drunkard away.

"Who else dares to come up?" The young man in white turned around, looking at the crowd with contempt. None of the onlookers dared to meet his gaze.

"It seems that not only is there no one in Beigu City who can drink, there isn't a single person who knows how to play a drinking game." The young man lifted his fair chin; his skin was as delicate as mutton-fat jade. The carefully groomed mustache on his lip twitched as he spoke, like a victorious general looking down upon his defeated foes.

"I will!"

An old man, his face flushed red, squeezed through the crowd and stepped up to the table.

The young man in white froze, then laughed. "Old man, if you want a drink, I’ll give you a jar to take home."

"What? You look down on me? I have been drinking for sixty-six years, ever since I was a toddler. How can I let a little brat like you look down on me?" The old man rolled up his sleeves, picked up a bowl of wine, and downed it in one go.

But he had only taken one sip before the young man snatched the bowl away. "I never bully the elderly. I count this as my loss. Take the hundred taels of gold."

"Ridiculous! I treat money like dirt. I want to settle this on the drinking table. If I win, the gold is mine by right—I don't need your charity."

The young man frowned and looked around. "What! Is there no young man in Beigu City left to step up, so you send an old man?"

"Who says there are no young men in Beigu City? I’ll do it."

A young man dressed in a scholar's robe, his posture upright yet unable to hide his lack of experience, took a deep breath. He pushed through the layers of onlookers and stepped firmly to the table. A stubborn, unyielding light shone in his eyes. "How shall we drink? Finger games or straight up?"

The young man in white curled his lips in a sneer and waved his hand dismissively. "Oh! Drink however you like, it’s all the same to me." In his eyes, the scholar was merely another arrogant fool.

The scholar was unaffected by the young man's attitude. "Then straight up. One bowl for you, one for me. Whoever falls first loses."

With that, he grabbed a wine bowl. The waiter quickly filled both, and the rich aroma of wine filled the air. The scholar picked up his bowl first, his arm trembling slightly—whether from nerves or excitement. He threw his head back, his Adam's apple bobbing as he poured the strong liquor down his throat like a rushing stream. After finishing, he slammed the bowl onto the table, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and stared resolutely at the young man.

The young man remained composed, a smile playing on his lips. He picked up his bowl slowly and elegantly, as if performing a ritual unrelated to drinking. He parted his thin lips and drained the bowl in one swallow, then set it down with a crisp click, as if announcing his certain victory.

After a few rounds, the scholar's cheeks were flushed like a sunset, his eyes beginning to blur. His body swayed, yet he forced himself to reach for the bowl, his hand wavering in the air before he managed to grip the rim.

In contrast, the young man had only a light flush on his fair skin. His breathing remained steady. With a mocking smile, he watched the scholar, picked up his bowl, and downed it with ease.

After another bowl, the scholar's legs could no longer support him. He collapsed to the floor with a thud, his eyes filled with frustration.

"Oh! Lost again."

***

"That young man in white must be a demon! For three days, despite everyone taking turns, he hasn't just remained standing—he barely even looks flushed."

"I don't think anyone can outdrink him."

The crowd whispered. While they hated the young man's arrogance, they had to admire his incredible capacity for drink.

The young man glanced down at the scholar on the ground and let out a cold laugh. "Take this one away."

The two men stepped forward again and carried the drunken scholar away.

"Magistrate Li has arrived!"

A shout rang out from behind the crowd. The onlookers turned, saw the magistrate, and cleared a path.

The young man looked up at Magistrate Li. "Magistrate, are you here to drink with me as well?"

Magistrate Li stood before the table and had his assistant pull the old man who had been clamoring for a match to the side. He glanced at the two gold ingots and noticed they bore official seals. *The young man before me might not be a cultivator, but he certainly has a noble status—perhaps a descendant of some high-ranking court official here in Beigu City for a visit.*

He said, "I am not here to drink, but to ask for your help with an urgent matter."

"Ask for my help? What kind of help?" The young man put down his wine bowl, surprised.

"This place is too crowded. It is not convenient to talk here."

"If it’s not convenient, then don't say it. Anyone who wants my help must first outdrink me." The young man kicked a bench and lay back on it. He picked up a bowl of wine and poured it into his mouth, the liquid flowing like a mountain stream. "Good wine!"

Magistrate Li looked troubled and glanced at his assistant. "Do you have any ideas?"

The assistant whispered, "Why don't you drink with him, sir? You might just win."

"Hmph!" Magistrate Li let out a cold snort, causing the assistant to shrink back.

Magistrate Li said unhappily, "As the Magistrate of Beigu City, how can I engage in a drinking contest here? Even if I won, it wouldn't be honorable. And if I lost, I would be the laughingstock of ten thousand people." He added, "Did you not see the scholar who was just carried away? Do you want me to be carried away too?"

The assistant turned pale and shook his head. "I wouldn't dare, sir."

After finishing his bowl, the young man tossed it aside and stood up. "It seems I overestimated Beigu City. There isn't even a single person with the guts to step up and drink."

The onlookers were indignant, but no one was willing to come forward. It was easy to drink, but if one couldn't even manage a single bowl, wouldn't that just be asking for humiliation? By now, Beigu City had already lost enough face; there was no need for anyone else to add to it.

"Make way… let me through."

Yi Heng squeezed out of the crowd. Looking up, he saw the young man in white. He gritted his teeth and spat out, "So, it was you, you little thief!"