"Back then, that ghost's corpse was discovered in this very vat."
"The autopsy report said it was drowning, with traces of alcohol poisoning."
"But clearly, there's sothing fishy about it."
"Who was he here?"
"He was the old master brewer, started working here when he was young."
"Heard that it was a sweet deal—room and board, and all the booze he could want."
"This old guy was the type who'd dunk his breakfast youtiao right into booze."
"Sotis if he had stuff to do, he'd just wet his lips, and could still down over a catty a day."
"No one knows what his liver was made of—drank one and a half catties a day and, in the end, his liver was the healthiest organ he had."
"Now he's turned into a ghost, still soaking in the wine vat."
Huang Zhiji pointed at the giant wine pool; inside, a skinny old man holding an enal cup drifted out, swaying about.
Then, like he was taking a bath, he leaned against the edge of the wine pool, sipping from that old-fashioned enal mug.
"Kid, you're here again? If you're gonna beat up or kill , can you hurry? You're here bothering every damn day."
"The boss said, I've worked here for decades, and even if I'm not here anymore—"
"As long as the brewery's around, I get to drink however much I want, anyti I want."
"Even if I die, boss said it still counts; a promise is a promise."
"If you don't like it, kill if you can; otherwise, quit pestering every day."
The old man hugged his enal mug, leaned on the edge of the wine pool, facing Huang Zhiji—talk about attitude.
Huang Zhiji just lost all his temper, cupped his hands and said,
"Sir, drink up, no one's stopping you. Go ahead. I just wanted to check in, otherwise if I finally get a case and it's marked unfinished, I'd be embarrassed."
Wen Yan grinned cheerfully and walked up to the old man.
He was actually planning to switch on Water Ghost Nesis and give it a try.
But after the old man spoke a few words, Wen Yan felt there was no need.
He squatted down next to the old man, who then raised his enal mug.
"Want a sip?"
"I'll pass. I don't really like alcohol."
"Don't be scared, even though my body was found in this pool, I couldn't bear to take a crap or piss in here, even after death. This wine, it's really not dirty."
"I worked my ass off for months to brew this one vat—it's the best batch I've ever made."
"I'm only offering you a taste 'cause I like you more than that other punk."
Wen Yan burst out laughing and said, quite seriously,
"Sir, I genuinely just don't like drinking."
He stuck out a finger and tapped the enal mug, giving it a little boost of Yang energy.
"Here, let add sothing—try it, see how it tastes?"
The old man felt the Yang energy in the alcohol, imdiately took a big gulp, then exclaid,
"I told you drinking warms you up! They never believe ! Say it's not scientific! Look at —I've turned into a ghost, what's scientific about that? Even as a ghost, I can still drink and feel warm!"
"..."
Wen Yan couldn't help but laugh; this was his first ti eting a ghost who, after getting the Scorching Sun Blessing, would say sothing like that.
Seriously, if this old guy lived next door, he'd be a mythical figure for sure.
This is real love—love for brewing, and love for drinking.
Wen Yan glanced around, and any curiosity about whether the old man drowned or drank himself to death just faded away.
He figured it didn't matter anymore—as long as the death wasn't homicide, who cares what kind of ghost the old man was? The old man himself didn't give a crap, so why should anyone else?
What the old man cared about, most likely, was simply brewing and drinking in this distillery.
The mont he thought that, Wen Yan saw a prompt.
"Brewer."
"Spent his whole life drinking and brewing, always pushing to reach new heights."
"He doesn't know fancy terminology, but can taste the difference between batches and knows exactly which step causes changes in aroma, body, smoothness, and the balance of flavors."
"He always thought his skills weren't good enough, so his sales lagged, and kept trying to improve his craft."
"If this guy's willing to drink it, you can rest assured there's nothing nasty in the wine."
"As for how he died—if it's not important to you, don't bother guessing."
"Temporary Ability: None."
Wen Yan saw the prompt and thought, other than 'rest assured and drink,' nothing else seems all that helpful.
But whatever, no big deal.
He was about to leave anyway, just happened to glance at the other wine pools and the big vats in the distance.
"Sir, now that sothing's happened here, I bet it's hard to sell the wine, right?"
"Yeah, no kidding. Each of these pools is separate—it's not like they're connected. The other batches weren't affected at all, but no one dares buy any of the wine from here anymore."
"Do you know the boss's phone number?"
"Why, you want it?"
"Yeah, I reckon with your skills, the wine you brew can't be ordinary. I'll get so to share with friends."
The old man looked Wen Yan up and down, then gave him a phone number.
Wen Yan dialed the number.
"Hello, is this Du's Brewery?"
"Yeah, I want to order so wine. Ten vats first, delivered to Taibao County."
"Yeah, I know about what happened. I'm buying because of this master's skills."
"Let's start with ten vats. If they're good, I'll order more in the future."
"As long as it's made by this master—I don't want anyone else's."
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