With only 8 years to live at the start, I'm going all in.

Chapter 47 Banquet

In the latter half of the night, Ding Yi kept drawing talismans to strengthen and ward off evil spirits.

After countless rounds, the statue on the table finally made a crisp sound and quickly turned into a pile of white powder, which fell onto the tabletop.

Ding Yi looked at the scene before him, raised an eyebrow, and then drew the last stroke on the white paper next to him.

"It consumed a total of thirty-two exorcism talismans, which is terrifying, but the reward is also amazing, giving me a full 17 years of lifespan!"

Ding Yi looked at the record on the white paper and was somewhat surprised.

Perhaps because of the prior experience of Qingyunzi and Miao Buzhen, Ding Yi originally thought that this statue could provide him with at least 20 years of lifespan, but unexpectedly it only lasted 17 years.

Moreover, after deducting the lifespan cost of the enhanced exorcism talisman, the remaining lifespan is only a little over 16 years, which is roughly the same as Qingyunzi's.

However, Ding Yi thought about it again and realized that this kind of safe way of gaining lifespan was practically a welfare benefit, so it wasn't bad to get this much.

"call!"

Ding Yi put down the pen and paper, and let out a heavy sigh. Only then did he realize how tired he was.

These thirty-two exorcism talismans were drawn by him in real life. Even though he was quite proficient in the exorcism talismans of the Yin-Yang Palace, drawing so many at once was still a bit too much for him.

"Fortunately, we don't need to figure out what to do with this statue."

Ding Yi looked at the pile of powder on the table and muttered to himself.

Looking at the sky, Ding Yi sighed. The statue issue was resolved, but there were still some other minor details to deal with. Whether he would be able to get a good night's sleep was uncertain.

...

As the sun rose, the first rays of sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the floor tiles inside the room.

Warm light gradually filled the room, which seemed to alert Ding Yi, who was sleeping on the bench. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to look at the place where the light was coming in.

"I was planning to take a short nap, but when I opened my eyes I was surprised to find it was already so late."

Ding Yi rubbed his sore eyes, quickly stood up from the bench, and then pushed open the door and walked into the courtyard.

He first stretched, then looked down at a small tree in the yard.

Having learned from Miao Buzhen's mistake, Ding Yi moved all his belongings from the bedroom to the courtyard last night and buried them in the soil under the small tree.

To cover up the traces of the newly turned soil, Ding Yi even moved the stone table from the courtyard and placed it on top of the new soil.

In this way, even if someone moves the stone table, they won't be suspicious because of the different color of the soil.

As Ding Yi left the courtyard, he didn't even glance at Miao Buzhen's yard, but strode straight towards the martial arts school.

When Ding Yi arrived at the martial arts school, everyone in the courtyard had already been standing in their stances for a while, so Ding Yi was naturally late.

"Ding Hai, why are you so late today?"

Cui Wancheng looked at Ding Yi, who had just entered the room, and immediately showed his displeasure.

"Ah, Senior Brother Cui, I was pondering boxing techniques for a while last night and went to bed late."

Ding Yi quickly explained.

Ding Yi's diligence was evident to everyone, so Cui Wancheng didn't doubt Ding Yi's words at this moment. Instead, he waved his hand and said, "Hurry up!"

Ding Yi quickly ran to his position and stood on the stake with the others.

"You didn't forget to take your tranquilizer last night, did you!?"

After Ding Yi had just posed, Xue Bao turned around and grinned at him.

"Hehe, Junior Brother Ding has been all alone for so long, what's wrong with experiencing it a bit?"

Huang Xuyang, who was in front, suddenly turned around and winked at Xue Bao.

"you!"

Ding Yi was taken aback by Huang Xuyang's actions and looked at Xue Bao beside him, as if asking him something.

In Ding Yi's memory, Huang Xuyang had always followed Ma San, but he never expected that Huang Xuyang would now seem to be hanging out with Xue Bao.

"Hehe, Senior Brother Huang has abandoned darkness and embraced the light."

Xue Bao, seeing Ding Yi's gaze, naturally knew what Ding Yi was thinking, and immediately grinned.

"Junior Brother Xue has made progress again today. I think we should seize the day and treat everyone to a good meal at my family's restaurant at noon!"

Huang Xuyang added.

"Excellent! I've heard that the Eight Treasure Duck and Snowflake Dew Cream at Zuixianlou are not something that ordinary people can get their hands on. I wonder if we'll be lucky enough to have them today?"

Xue Bao immediately perked up and asked.

"Don't worry, wrap it on me!"

Huang Xuyang immediately said.

Upon hearing this, Ding Yi immediately looked at Ma San on the other side. Sure enough, he saw that Ma San was also looking over, with a gloomy expression, seemingly very dissatisfied with Huang Xuyang pouring water.

"This Xue Bao, he really is..."

Upon seeing this, Ding Yi couldn't help but shake his head, thinking to himself that although Xue Bao was quick-witted, he was far too high-profile, having already made a name for himself in the courtyard before he even had a chance to hone his skills.

By noon, Huang Xuyang kept his promise and invited everyone to his restaurant for lunch.

Since everyone was free of other commitments, and practicing martial arts every day was rather monotonous, plus the food at Zuixianlou was indeed quite good, they all agreed to go.

Ding Yi, who hadn't originally planned to go, saw that everyone else was going, and since Zuixianlou was also where Miao Buzhen told stories, he was tempted and agreed to go as well.

Among the senior brothers, only two did not go. One was Cui Wancheng, who was too lazy to deal with these juniors. The other was naturally Ma San.

Everyone understood this perfectly well and said nothing more.

Around noon, everyone rushed out of the martial arts school and headed towards the Drunken Immortal Restaurant.

When Ding Yi arrived at Zuixianlou, he found that the lobby was already full of people. He subconsciously looked toward the corner where Miao Buzhen was stationed and found a group of people hurriedly drinking herbal tea.

"What time is it? Why isn't Mr. Miao here yet?!"

"I didn't ask for leave today either!"

"Hey, do you guys think it's possible that Mr. Miao forgot to take his tranquilizer last night and got high?!"

"Get the hell out of here! You're full of nonsense. Do you think Mr. Miao is like you?!"

"What should we do then? Maybe we should just leave today!"

"Hey? Wait a little longer, wait a little longer!"

Several listeners anxiously sipped their tea while frequently glancing at the street outside the restaurant, seemingly hoping to catch a glimpse of that familiar figure.

Ding Yi observed all of this without showing any change in expression, and followed his fellow disciples up to the third floor of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.

The third floor of Zuixianlou is different from the main hall on the first and second floors. Instead, it adopts a partitioned design, aiming to create a private space for distinguished diners.

Of course, in the outer city of Qingfeng County, not many people could afford a room on the third floor. Now that everyone has come up, there are quite a few places to choose from.

As the eldest son of the owner of Zuixianlou, Huang Xuyang was naturally most familiar with each room. He led everyone directly to one of the rooms and said to them:

"Although this place isn't the biggest, it's conveniently located by the window, offering a view of the street."

Then, Huang Xuyang said to the waiter who had followed him all the way:

"Bring my fellow apprentice ten hot dishes and eight cold dishes, all of them his specialties! And finally, three jars of Zui Chun Lou!"

"Understood, young master, I'll go prepare right away!"

The waiter shrewdly scanned the crowd, then smiled and said to Huang Xuyang.

After the waiter hurriedly went downstairs, Huang Xuyang addressed the group:

"Come on, let's sit down first!"

"Ha, Young Master Huang is indeed Young Master Huang!"

Someone cupped their hands in greeting to Huang Xuyang, and then sat down first.

With Master Bai and Senior Brother Cui absent, everyone was very informal and sat down one by one.

"Hey, did you hear? When I took that evil-dispelling talisman back yesterday, my dad knew it was no ordinary item at first glance. He praised my martial arts school for doing a great job!"

While Huang Xuyang was pouring tea for everyone, one person started the conversation.

"Of course! Do you think just anyone can get their hands on the Yin-Yang Palace's exorcising talisman?"

Huang Xuyang chuckled.

"It seems that the people from Qingsi Temple are quite troublesome, otherwise they wouldn't have issued something like this."

Someone analyzed.

"Well, the patrol division has been investigating for a long time but hasn't found anything, and they don't know what's going on."

As everyone was talking, someone suddenly exclaimed and pointed out the window:

"Look!"