flstandardbreds Chapter 391: Qi-Suppressing Cauldron
Chapter 391: Qi-Suppressing Cauldron
A few dishes immediately convinced the two chefs.
One of the cooks even murmured to himself, "It seems I got a lot of inspiration today. I must study it carefully when I get home."
The other chef nodded in agreement. He knew that behind this seemingly simple dish lay profound cooking skills and a deep understanding of the ingredients.
It wasn't hard for them to realize that the gap between them and the young owner wasn't just in technique, but in their philosophy of fine dining. Needless to say, the difference between the two was immediately apparent.
Chen Changfan had no idea what the two chefs were thinking. He actually just made a few home-cooked dishes, which was not a show of skill at all. After all, for him who came from a country of big foodies, these were just part of his daily diet.
After tasting the delicacies at the banquet, Yue Lingfei wiped the corners of his mouth with satisfaction, and even burped, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed.
Chen Changfan smiled and gestured for Deng Jiuxian, the cook, and the others to leave. Suddenly, he looked at Yue Lingfei and Shen Wanwu with a serious expression and said, "The four major markets are now at loggerheads with our Yongxin market. We must prepare a response strategy. Based on your understanding, what tactics do they usually use?"
Yue Lingfei was stunned at first, then pondered for a moment before analyzing, "They've always been known for their price wars. They might try to lower the price further to attract customers."
Shen Wanwu frowned and added, "They may also use various means to spread rumors that are detrimental to us, such as discrediting the quality of our products or fabricating some unfounded rumors."
Chen Changfan sneered in his heart. If all the markets in this county town were of this standard, then there would be nothing to worry about.
In his opinion, since a market of such a scale could be built in the county town, there must be some unusual means involved.
He felt that he still had to make some preparations, after all, it is better to be prepared.
Business wars must not be taken lightly. Not only must we despise the enemy strategically, but we must also take the enemy seriously tactically.
"Regarding the business war, I have a few ideas. I'll share them with you in advance so Old Shen can start preparing now. Once the four major markets start to make moves, we'll begin to counterattack and strive to destroy them in one fell swoop, or even replace them."
Shen Wanwu was startled and immediately pretended to listen attentively.
Yue Lingfei looked curious. She knew nothing about business wars and had no interest in them, but she was very interested in the idea of taking down the four major markets.
Chen Changfan whispered with the two for a long time, and Yue Lingfei only understood half of what they said. On the contrary, Shen Wanwu was excited and looked at his boss with more and more respect.
……
Yongzhou City.
A team of fast horses came galloping all the way, and the people in the city all retreated in panic.
Three fast horses led the way and rushed straight to the city gate. A carriage followed far behind. From the carriage came the voices of an old man and a young boy complaining about the bumpy ride, but the coachman never stopped whipping the horse and looked quite anxious.
Seeing this team of fast horses rushing towards them, the soldiers guarding the city gate wanted to intercept them. However, after seeing the waist badges with the word "Ning" displayed by those people, they immediately made way and saluted them respectfully.
The leader of the city defense army saw that those people looked unhappy, so he immediately bowed and said with a smile, "I didn't know it was the guest official from Prince Ning's Mansion who left the city. I deserve to die!"
Those men ignored the soldier and rode away without slowing down at all.
There were three people in the group, one of them was Shuiyue, a beautiful woman in a black robe and a mask.
A middle-aged Taoist priest in a green robe and holding a feather fan, Xing Yan.
The other burly man with blood and energy surging all over his body, carrying a large bronze tripod on his back, was Lei Shan.
"Brother Leishan, are you planning on carrying this Qi-Suppressing Cauldron all the way to Qinghe County?" Shuiyue said playfully, but Leishan replied nonchalantly, "This cauldron only weighs nine thousand pounds. I can carry it like nothing on my body."
Shuiyue shook her head slightly, obviously speechless about this guy whose brain was all about muscles.
On the contrary, Xing Yan beside him smiled slightly, waving his feather fan, and said leisurely: "Brother Lei Shan, you can bear it, but the thousand-mile horse under your crotch can't bear it."
Lei Shan was slightly startled, then looked at the horse under his crotch. The back of the sturdy and powerful chestnut horse was already covered in sweat, its four strong hooves had begun to tremble slightly, and its breathing became heavy.
A thousand-mile horse is good at running, and can travel a thousand miles a day, but it cannot bear long-term heavy loads. Lei Shan frowned slightly, finally realizing that he had ignored the horse's endurance limit.
He patted the horse's back tenderly, signaling it to stop, and then whispered soothingly, "I'm sorry, old friend. I was too careless and almost caused a disaster."
The chestnut horse was quite human-like and stopped steadily. Lei Shan dismounted, tightened the Qi-Suppressing Cauldron on its back, and said, "You guys run your way. I can catch up with the Qi-Suppressing Cauldron on my back."
Lei Shan smiled innocently.
Shuiyue snorted, "I admit that seventh-rank warriors are indeed physically strong, but it's a full three hundred miles from here to Qinghe County. How much strength will you have left after running all that way? If a fierce battle breaks out, how will you handle it?"
Xing Yan frowned slightly, tapped his feather fan lightly, and said in a deep voice: "Brother Lei Shan, don't underestimate the cost of a long journey. Don't forget the purpose of our trip."
Dragon spirit.
This is exactly the purpose of their trip.
In the past few days, Xing Yan has been refining the Zhenqi Ding all night long in order to gather the dragon energy. If Lei Shan, the main fighting force, is unable to exert his full strength at the critical moment due to excessive physical exhaustion on the road, wouldn't all the previous efforts be in vain?
Upon hearing this, Lei Shan's expression became serious and he nodded in agreement. However, the weight of this huge tripod was right there, and it would be really troublesome to transport it.
Xing Yan's gaze fell on the Qi-Suppressing Cauldron he had refined, and a hint of annoyance flashed in his eyes.
This magical instrument was refined in such a hurry that the convenience of carrying it was not considered. If it wasn't for the urgent need to deal with the unusual movement of dragon energy, why would it be like this? Xing Yan pondered for a moment, and suddenly an idea flashed. He waved his feather fan lightly and pointed at the carriage behind him:
"I'll set up a feather magic array on the carriage so that the Qi-Suppressing Cauldron can be carried by it. However, this will slow down the carriage's speed."
"Then the three of us will go first. It will surely take some effort to capture the dragon. I estimate that by the time we subdue the dragon, the Zhenqi Ding will be almost here." Shuiyue gave her own idea.
Lei Shan and Xing Yan felt that something was wrong, but it seemed that this was the only way at the moment, so they nodded in agreement.
After the three of them set up the red-haired formation, they carefully placed the Qi-Suppressing Cauldron on the carriage. The formation glowed slightly, the cauldron was as solid as a rock, and the horses did not seem to be burdened. It was obvious that this idea was feasible.
"Three heroes, will you trust us, grandfather and grandson, to transport this great tripod?"
Deng Qixian was speechless.