‘Canned Fruit’

"Here we go~"

Li Yuan’s nose twitched slightly. An indescribable aroma of wine flooded his nostrils and went straight to his mind. He instantly felt refreshed, and his whole body relaxed considerably.

Gu Sheng held up the wine gourd and tilted it slightly. A stream of pale-red wine poured out, landing precisely in the teacup. Once the cup was full, the fragrance of wine in the room became even more pronounced.

Gu Sheng put away the gourd. Seeing Li Yuan’s reaction, he smiled faintly, picked up the cup, and walked over to him. Placing the wine before him, he bowed slightly and gestured. "Lord Li, I’d like to ask you to taste this wine."

"This…"

Li Yuan licked his lips excitedly. His throat felt dry. He lowered his head and leaned closer, narrowing his eyes as he took several deep sniffs. A look of delight spread across his face as he respectfully and cautiously picked up the cup.

He brought the wine to his lips and took a sip. After smacking his lips twice, he closed his eyes and exclaimed, "Fine wine, fine wine! This is it! This is what I’ve always pursued…"

Li Yuan drank half a cup of monkey wine and immediately felt completely at ease, brimming with vitality. Reluctantly, he set down the half-empty cup and looked at Gu Sheng with excitement. "Brother Teng, this wine… do you have any more? I, Li, am willing to pay a high price. No, name your terms!"

"Certainly!"

A smile played at the corners of Gu Sheng’s lips. Li Yuan really was easy to deal with. He did not say much, merely asking, "I’d like to ask you, Lord Li, if I gave you its raw materials, could you recreate its brewing process? If I gave you substitute materials, could you brew a wine with similar effects?"

Gu Sheng’s actual goal was to produce Iron-Arm Ape’s monkey wine in large quantities.

Although Gu Sheng had plundered most of Iron-Arm Ape’s stock, this wine was water without a source. It would eventually run out. The truly effective method was to follow the original process and brew spiritual wine of his own.

However, if he wanted to use Vermillion Fruit Wine to brew his own spiritual wine, several crucial problems had to be solved.

The first was the materials. The main ingredient of Vermillion Fruit Wine was the Cinnabar Fruit, while the supplementary ingredients were various other spiritual fruits and medicines from Iron Arm Ape Mountain. These were local specialties unique to the savage wilderness’s Iron Arm Ape Mountain and could not be found elsewhere.

Gu Sheng had already made preparations for this problem when he decided to act. While in Ape King Cave, he had not only stolen the Vermillion Fruit Wine but also gathered the remaining materials piled up inside the cave.

During the days after leaving Ape King Cave, he and the Jade Azure Serpent Qing Ling avoided the Iron-Arms Apes searching for them and scoured the mountain according to the drawings. They found a large bundle of fruit seeds and saplings, and had even snatched back a Cinnabar Fruit seedling. He had kept it with him ever since, leaving it in the care of Qing Ling, his Demon Beast gardener. Thankfully, none of the saplings showed any sign of dying yet.

The second problem in brewing the wine was the process. Gu Sheng knew how the Ape King did it and had even cleared away the stone basin and stone pestles it had used for hundreds of years, sweeping them up as an incidental bonus.

But there was a problem: he was not a brewing craftsman. Even after obtaining the equipment, he had no idea how to use it and could not deduce the process. Although repeated experiments might eventually lead to success, he had no time to waste. It was better to ask a professional.

As he happened to have arrived near Wan City today, he entered the city to find Li Yuan’s family. After all, they were a family of brewers.

Li Yuan suddenly grabbed Gu Sheng’s arm with great excitement. "You know the materials!"

"I found some. They should be the materials!"

Gu Sheng awkwardly stepped back. Li Yuan’s enthusiasm made him uncomfortable. He was straight and had no interest in being so intimate with a man.

"As long as we have the materials, that’s good. With them, we should be able to give it a try."

Li Yuan also realized that he had been overly excited. Looking somewhat awkward, he let go of Gu Sheng.

Gu Sheng took out a bundle from the side and spread it open, revealing a large stone basin and several short stone pestles. Inside the basin were various blue and white wild fruits. "These should be the materials. As for the main ingredient, it’s the savage wilderness spiritual medicine, the Cinnabar Fruit!"

"Sniff, sniff~"

Li Yuan lowered his head and examined the fruits in the stone basin. He picked up the various fruits one by one and smelled them, occasionally taking a bite.

"Knock, knock~"

Li Yuan scraped a finger along the bottom of the stone basin, rubbed his finger, and sniffed it lightly. A trace of delight appeared on his face. He flicked the rim of the basin with a bent finger and smiled at Gu Sheng. "Brother Teng, don’t tell me you doubt your old brother’s abilities so much that you brought this to test me. This thing has some years on it, doesn’t it? You took someone’s livelihood away from them. Aren’t you afraid the owner will come after you?"

"Brother Li, your eye is as sharp as ever. Well, do you have a way?"

Gu Sheng smiled faintly, knowing he had found the right person. Li Yuan could recognize that the stone basin was used for brewing wine. Only a man with genuine skill could do that!

"Without this, I really would have had to spend quite some effort!"

Li Yuan gently stroked the stone basin, his movements so tender that it seemed he feared damaging it.

"However, these are only supplementary materials. Although they can be used to brew spiritual wine, without the main ingredient, its effects will be greatly reduced. It might not even reach one-tenth of this cup!"

Li Yuan picked up the wine cup and took another small sip.

"Brother Li, come with me."

Gu Sheng smiled faintly, stood up, and led the way. Li Yuan followed him out, swaying the shallow cup of wine in his hand.

The two arrived in the courtyard, where Chu Xin, Li Jun, Old Master Li, and Madam Li were all present. The Black Wind Leopard was lazily lying on the ground, while the five Crimson Shadow Wolves had imitated it. Several large gourds and various other items had been neatly arranged to one side.

At that moment, Chu Xin and Li Jun were holding some fruits and the like, apparently intending to tease the six Demon Beasts. Fortunately, after spending these days together, the huge creatures’ wildness had faded considerably and their tempers had improved. They were not angered by Chu Xin and Li Jun’s actions. Instead, they watched the women’s "performance" with great interest.

"Roar~"

As soon as Gu Sheng arrived, the Demon Beasts all called out in greeting. They were quite satisfied with this "scoop-shoveler."

Chu Xin’s lips nearly stuck up to the sky at the sight. She had spent quite a while with the Demon Beasts too! Why were these creatures all so attached to that "perverted tiger"? Could it be because they were all "beasts"? Chu Xin thought viciously as she glared fiercely at Gu Sheng.

"What’s going on? Is someone speaking ill of me?"

Gu Sheng felt an itch in his nose. He rubbed it several times before it improved.

Gu Sheng rummaged through a pile of luggage and pulled out an extremely crudely made jade bottle. This was his "masterpiece." He had discovered the material while searching for a saltpeter mine on Iron Arm Ape Mountain. He did not know what kind of jade it was, but had brought it back to his lodgings with the intention of making a few bowls.

When leaving Iron Arm Ape Mountain, Gu Sheng and Qing Ling, the two great thieves, had taken advantage of the weak defenses around the various Cinnabar Fruit saplings and thoroughly looted the mountain, obtaining four more mature Cinnabar Fruits.

Aside from one he had used to subdue the Black Wind Leopard, he had sealed the rest inside the jade bottle together with the Vermillion Fruit Wine, making it an otherworldly version of "canned fruit."