Chapter 398: Drink Today While There’s Wine

Sitting on the stone bench, Lin Dong ignored the top chefs who followed him and focused on planning the next steps. From the moment he decided to keep Feng Yue around, Lin Dong had resolved to take a bold gamble and force Feng Yue to compromise. If successful, Lin’s Inn would gain another peak-level warrior within a year; if not, he would have to rely on Old Ding’s strength to reconcile with Feng Yue. The cost could range from offering various precious herbs as compensation to the risk of Feng Yue going back on his word after receiving the compensation, turning into a major threat to Lin’s Inn.

There was no turning back, so Lin Dong didn’t overthink it. He had already made up his mind to push Feng Yue until he compromised or gave up. What needed to be considered was how to push him to the limit. Given Feng Yue’s personality and his pride as a near-peak warrior, physical coercion would be useless. Lin Dong’s plan was to tease and mock Feng Yue from time to time.

A near-peak warrior being teased and mocked would surely be furious. While this alone wouldn’t make him compromise, it would increase the chances of him giving in in order to regain his strength and restore his dignity.

Lin Dong naturally wouldn’t do such a task himself—he chose Qiao Tianhao for it. First, Qiao Tianhao would do it better than him. Second, Lin Dong didn’t have enough time to tease Feng Yue. Most importantly, even if Feng Yue genuinely compromised, he still needed to vent his anger—allowing him to beat Lin Dong several times, or even dozens of times, was inevitable.

Qiao Tianhao was clearly more suitable and accustomed to acting as a scapegoat.

With a slight frown and his gaze wandering, Lin Dong was clearly deep in thought. Hua Wuyue and the others wisely chose to remain silent. Only Feng Yue suffered—without any spiritual energy in his dantian, he couldn’t project his mind outward. With his eyes closed and everyone else silent, he could see or hear nothing. Coupled with the eerie atmosphere of the autumn night, even Feng Yue felt a chill run down his spine.

Finally, the sound of footsteps approaching from afar warmed Feng Yue’s chilled back a little.

“Owner!” Cheng Bao came over to the stone table, carrying a tray in each hand. After calling out, he set the trays down.

“That’s enough. Qiao Tianhao, stay!” Lin Dong suddenly opened his eyes and waved. “You all can go back.”

Cheng Bao and the others nodded and left.

After they disappeared outside the courtyard gate, Lin Dong arranged the bowls and chopsticks, then took out several jars of top-quality wine reserved especially for Old Ding from the mobile cabinet and placed them on the stone table. The sound of the jars hitting the table emitted a clear and pleasant noise, causing Feng Yue’s body to tense slightly. “Senior Feng, how about trying some?” Lin Dong lifted the jar, allowing the rich aroma of the wine to spread everywhere. Feng Yue remained silent, like a monk in deep meditation. Lin Dong smiled, grabbed the jar, and poured wine into the large porcelain bowl in front of Feng Yue. “Let’s start with a bowl. If you like it, we can drink directly from the jar.” Feng Yue stayed as before, while Qiao Tianhao, standing beside him, couldn’t help but swallow hard, staring intently at the crystal-clear wine, wanting to say something but fearing he might disturb Lin Dong’s plans. Fortunately, Lin Dong didn’t forget Qiao Tianhao. After signaling him to sit down, he also filled a bowl for him before serving himself. “Senior Feng, would you like to try?” Lin Dong asked. Feng Yue gritted his teeth, striving to keep his expression calm. The aroma of the wine didn’t hold much appeal for him, and his mood wasn’t as peaceful as it seemed on the surface. What truly disrupted his composure was the scent of the dishes, which intertwined with the wine aroma and lingered in his nostrils. Ever since infancy, he had been soaked in chili water made from spiritual ingredients for nearly twenty years. Although he hadn’t been soaked in chili water again since then, his meals still consisted mainly of such chilies. Throughout his life, Feng Yue had become inseparable from chilies—they were the things he knew best. The moment he smelled the dishes, he could tell there were seven plates in total. He couldn’t identify the main ingredients, but he could detect a large amount of Tianfeng chilies in each dish. In the first plate on his left, though chopped into small pieces, there were probably sixteen Tianfeng chilies. The second plate had fourteen, and the third, also chopped up, contained eighteen… Of the seven dishes, Feng Yue could determine the number of Tianfeng chilies in each. Unconsciously, saliva began to flow abundantly in his mouth. It had been over a minute since he last ate chili. Aside from the few days when Yun Cangqiong captured him, he had never gone so long without eating chili while awake. His mouth felt so bland it annoyed him, so bland he wanted to bite off his own tongue.

Yet, he had no choice but to endure it. Not only did he have to keep his expression calm, but he also had to be careful as he swallowed the saliva filling his mouth, trying not to reveal any signs. This shows just how difficult it was for him.
“Senior Feng is being too polite,” Lin Dong said, turning to Qiao Tianhao with a smile. “Since Senior Feng is too shy to take action, you should help him.”
Qiao Tianhao stood up with a grin. Under other circumstances, he would never dare confront Feng Yue—after all, Feng Yue could knock him out with just one glance. Qiao Tianhao thought it was only fair to be defeated by someone who could easily kill him.
But now, a hairless phoenix was no match for a chicken. In Qiao Tianhao’s eyes, Feng Yue was just an easy target. As for whether Feng Yue would cause him trouble after regaining his strength, Qiao Tianhao wasn’t afraid at all. As long as he could have fun today, he didn’t care about suffering tomorrow.
Live for today—this chance to mistreat a near-peak powerhouse didn’t come every day. Approaching Feng Yue, Qiao Tianhao smirked and grabbed his chin with his hand.
“Senior Feng, don’t be too polite.”
With a slight squeeze of his right hand, Feng Yue’s jaw slowly opened under the irresistible force. Pushing him forward slightly, Qiao Tianhao patted Feng Yue’s face and then stroked it back and forth, marveling, “I didn’t expect it to be so strong—few bumps at all. Truly worthy of being someone closest to peak strength. This face feels different from ordinary people’s.”
At that moment, Feng Yue really thought about biting his tongue to end it all. Reaching out with his left hand, he grabbed a porcelain bowl on the table. With a cruel grin, Qiao Tianhao poured the top-quality wine from the bowl into Feng Yue’s mouth.
Obviously, Qiao Tianhao didn’t want to waste this rare chance to mistreat a near-peak powerhouse. He only tilted the bowl slightly, allowing a thin stream of wine to flow down Feng Yue’s throat. Just as the fine wine was about to fill his mouth, Qiao Tianhao would either tighten his grip on Feng Yue’s jaw, forcing him to swallow the wine in pain, or lift his knee and strike Feng Yue’s stomach, making him open his clenched throat.
Watching Qiao Tianhao’s excitement, Lin Dong was stunned in silence. Such cruelty—if Feng Yue managed to escape, it would be a matter of life and death. Even if he agreed to submit willingly, it would likely take a lifetime to avenge today’s humiliation.

Originally, seeing Qiao Tianhao getting beaten by Cheng Bao every now and then, Lin Dong still deliberately provoked Cheng Bao from time to time, thinking this guy was extremely bold and itching for trouble. Now it seemed it was far more than just being bold.
To be honest, Lin Dong would never dare do such things to Feng Yue—at most he might speak in a sharper, harsher tone. There was no need to bring future misfortune upon himself just for momentary pleasure.
Qiao Tianhao—truly worthy of his name.
A bowl of wine, slowly poured by Qiao Tianhao, was finally finished.
Not a single drop spilled on Feng Yue’s chest, showing how careful Qiao Tianhao was.
After drinking that bowl of wine, as Lin Dong had expected, Feng Yue truly hated Qiao Tianhao. If the situation reversed and Lin Dong and Qiao Tianhao were captured and brought before him, he would definitely choose to grind Qiao Tianhao to dust first before turning to Lin Dong.
“Owner, any more?” Qiao Tianhao looked at Lin Dong with lingering desire, feeling a bit regretful—he should have poured it slower.
“No need!” As disappointment flashed across Qiao Tianhao’s face, Lin Dong picked up his chopsticks and asked Feng Yue with a smile, “Elder Feng, how about trying the skills of our Lin’s Inn’s top chef?”
Feng Yue had countless reasons to want to taste the dishes made with Tianfeng peppers, but just as many reasons not to. Unaware of this internal conflict, Lin Dong felt an increasing sense of guilt.
Of course, to gain another peak-level warrior for the inn, Lin Dong could easily suppress that guilt.
Taking out a Spirit-Death Pill from the mobile counter and tossing it to Qiao Tianhao, Lin Dong said, “Elder Feng, you’re too polite. You suggest the dishes; we’ll take turns, one bite at a time.”
Overjoyed, Qiao Tianhao immediately grabbed Feng Yue’s jaw again, forced it open, threw in the Spirit-Death Pill, and used spiritual energy to push it into his stomach.
Picking up the chopsticks on the table, he took a piece of cucumber from the oily pepper soup and stuffed it into Feng Yue’s mouth.
Just as he was about to use spiritual energy to push the cucumber further into Feng Yue’s mouth, Lin Dong’s voice rang out, “Let Elder Feng chew it.”
Qiao Tianhao slapped his own head—chewing it not only prolonged the process but also allowed him to use both hands, making it even more enjoyable.
Full of excitement, Qiao Tianhao reached out, grabbed Feng Yue’s jaw, used spiritual energy to push the cucumber near his teeth, then moved his hands up and down. Feng Yue’s teeth moved accordingly, making crunching sounds.
Only after the cucumber was chewed up did Qiao Tianhao push it all into Feng Yue’s stomach.

Lin Dong, who was staring intently at Feng Yue’s face, secretly allowed a smile to appear. He saw it—the effort Feng Yue was making to conceal his enjoyment.
Cheng Bao’s seven spicy dishes were, for those who liked spicy food, no less than the best delicacies in the world. Feng Yue was no exception.
Ding: Congratulations! Your inn experience points have reached full capacity. You have received an upgrade task: “Help the inn’s most urgent guest fulfill their wish.”
Just as Lin Dong was about to remind Qiao Tianhao again that Feng Yue could only take one bite of each dish, the long-absent system notification sounded. Even though he was prepared, it still caused the faint smile on his lips to widen.