Emperor’s Domination

The sands in this desert flew like the waves and burned travelers. There was no end in sight, only heat and sand. Even the birds avoided shitting in this place.

Strangely enough, there was a small tavern located in this desert. It was built from wooden planks in a shabby manner.

There were only two tables, looking old from an unknown era. The surface was black and ashen, not its original color. They seemed feeble and would break with some weight, this was the case for the wooden stools as well.

There was a piece of cloth hanging outside with the character, “hai”. It has been too long so it was barely legible. Plus, it was written in an ancient language. Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to recognize it. [re] Hai means ocean[/ref]

It was tattered as well; a strong gust of wind could rip it to pieces. This also applied to the rest of the shop. Only one worker was here, serving as both the boss and the waiter.

He curled up in a corner, seemingly asleep. His hair was ashen white but not the same white due to age. The strands seemed to have withered up for some other reason. Time had left a mark on his face given the number of wrinkles. Some would question if he was still alive while sitting there.

The only positive feature was his eyebrows. They were sharp and long, looking like unsheathed divine swords. The old man must have been dashing and perhaps handsome during his youth.

No guests would ever come to this desert but he didn’t seem to mind. Not selling a single cup after a thousand years didn’t affect him. His choice of location was indeed inscrutable.

Today, a dozen or so disciples came across this place by chance.

“What the heck? Why is there a wine shop in this bizarre place? Let’s have a drink.” One of them suggested.

“Boss, give us a round.” Another shouted at the old man.

“Old man, did you hear that? Bring us some drinks!” They became impatient since he didn’t respond.

“Is he dead?” One of them wondered.

The leading senior took a look and shook his head.

The old man finally looked up to see the customers. He opened his eyes and revealed how muddled they were.

The cultivators thought that given his appearance, he might not last another day. Nonetheless, it wasn’t any of their business.

“Please bring us a round of wine.” An older cultivator politely asked.

The man took his time getting out some bowls and a jar of wine. The bowls were covered in dust, clearly not washed for a long time. Some even had holes in them.

The old man didn’t have a problem with this and poured wine into the bowls.

Some frowned after seeing this. The cultivation world was tough so not all of them needed luxury and fine wine. However, this was just too crude and dirty.

One of them ignored this and lifted up the bowl for a drink. He immediately spat it out and shouted: “What the hell is this? Horse’s piss probably tastes better!”

“Pah! People can’t drink this crap!” Others spat as well and were quite annoyed.

The old man didn’t seem to care about their reception.

“Old man, don’t you have anything better? Give us a different jar.” One of them shouted.

“No.” The old man glanced at him.

Some were quite unhappy with his attitude. They were customers but he didn’t treat them as such. Most importantly, the drinks weren’t meant for human consumption.

The old man had zero reaction to the insult.

“Forget it, forget it.” A senior brother didn’t want to argue with this old man and said: “How much?”

“50,000 jades.” The old man had a bigger reaction this time as he held up five fingers.

“50,000?! You’re really trying to sell this shitty wine for 50,000?!” Another shrieked.

The old man flipped his palm over, seemingly determined to get his money.

“What kind of shady establishment is this? Your wine isn’t worth five coins.” One more disciple interjected.

“It’s fine, we’re paying.” Their senior paid up and told the group to leave.

Once they were outside, one disciple couldn’t help but ask: “Uncle, why did you pay him?”

The senior looked back at the shop and said: “Opening a shop in this desolate desert, he has to be insane, right?”

The juniors didn’t respond. Only a madman would try to make a living by opening a shop here. Not to mention making a profit, the owner would starve to death in no time at all.

“If he isn’t insane, then he is an eccentric cultivator and they don’t play nice. It’s best not to cause trouble.” The senior added.

The juniors agreed with him and nodded repeatedly.

“So why did he open a shop here?” One more became curious.

“Don’t try to understand, we can’t.” The senior concluded.