Chương 242: Black Gorilla

Plum Manor. Inside his room, Song Que was rapidly flipping through the latest edition of the Martial World Chronicles. Finally, near the very end, he found a small section talking about himself. Ignoring the less-than-ideal placement, he enthusiastically held up the book to read. The two little maids, Yang Mi and Yang Zi, were also incredibly curious, pressing close behind his back from both sides and craning their necks to peek.

"Song Que. Native of Qinghe County, Lingjiang Commandery, Yangnan Circuit. Pavilion Master of the Moon-Lacking Pavilion. Sixteen years old this year. Orphaned, born to an ordinary mountain village family. 5th Grade cultivation, born with divine strength. It is said that at barely over ten years old, he could venture into the forest alone to hunt for a living, tearing apart tigers and wolves with his bare hands...

Battle Record: On the 6th day of the twelfth lunar month, exchanged a hundred blows with the First-Tier expert, Wind Demon Staff Gu He, without losing. Afterward, joined forces with two other 5th Grade martial artists to defeat the Wind Demon Staff. Title: Black Gorilla!" Heh! It had been less than twenty days since that battle. The speed at which the people of the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion gathered intelligence was truly terrifying.

Factoring in the time for printing and transportation, they had probably only spent a day or two to dig up eighty or ninety percent of his information. Formidable! Truly formidable! In reality, Song Que was overthinking it. The fact that he had fought Zhu Yinming to a draw earlier had already drawn attention. The Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion had specifically gathered his information back then; it just happened to perfectly coincide with this latest edition, allowing them to use it now.

Unexpectedly, it managed to inspire awe in Grandee Song. I have a title now! I am highly regarded by the people of the martial world —the rascal Song thought triumphantly. Black Gorilla Song Que! The flavor of this new title... the more Grandee Song thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Black = dark-skinned; Gorilla =... an ape. What the f*ck! Song Que's eyes instantly bugged out.

Thinking about how, in the future, people on the streets would loudly call him "Gorilla Song"—was this praising him or cursing him? Having figured this out, Grandee Song's face turned from black to pitch-black, and from pitch-black to a deep, flushed red. A terrifyingly fierce aura, even scarier than Xiong Ba's, radiated from his body, causing everyone in the room to shudder involuntarily. Terrified, the Yang sisters took a few steps back.

Old Nie's expression also changed as he hurriedly asked:"Young Master, what's wrong?"

"Hmph, the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion is bullying people too much!" Leaving behind an abrupt, contextless sentence, the thief Song angrily threw the Martial World Chronicles on the ground and huffily returned to his private room. He didn't even have the mood to care about that new renowned saber anymore. Left scratching their heads, the group hurriedly picked up the newspaper to see how the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion had offended their Young Master.

But even after reading it several times, they still couldn't figure it out. Only Old Nie had a vague suspicion in his heart, but it wasn't until the next day, after testing the waters with Grandee Song, that he finally understood. Not giving him a domineering title was one thing; at least something like Iron Man, Black Panther Warrior, or Black Tiger would have been acceptable.

Giving him the title of "Gorilla" wasn't just ruining his image; it was deliberately tarnishing Grandee Song's bright and majestic demeanor! The thief Song truly hated the people of the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion to death. Locking his door, he took out a small notebook from his spatial storage and began writing carefully. The notebook contained several names. Some were intact, while others had been aggressively crossed out with red ink, looking incredibly messy.

The top two names had luckily survived intact, reading:"Blood Robe Venerable — Mortal Enemy. Du Ruhui — Great Enemy..." Squeezing the words into a small blank space at the very top, the thief Song gritted his teeth and crammed in a new line. Only then did his mood improve slightly.

"Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion — Mortal, mortal, mortal, mortal enemy!!!!!!" Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. No wonder Old Tie had said that casually giving someone a title or calling out the wrong name could cause a bloodbath. This time, Song Que truly believed it. This grudge, Your Father will remember it well!....... The Lunar New Year Approached. During these days, Grandee Song was so busy his feet barely touched the ground.

If he wasn't hosting people coming to offer New Year's greetings, he was heading into the city to offer his own greetings to Xu Qing, Wu Tian, Auntie Li, and the others. He handed out bonuses and New Year's gifts to the brothers in the Pavilion, meeting them, encouraging them, and checking on them so everyone could feel the care of their Pavilion Master. Lazy as Song Que was, he still knew these matters couldn't be done half-heartedly.

The Moon-Lacking Pavilion had gone through considerable hardship to gather its current popular support. He could afford to do nothing, but he occasionally had to step out and show his face. Especially during festive occasions like this, he needed to emphasize his image as a man of the people. If the brothers below felt neglected, their loyalty would easily scatter. Because of this, he was tired as a dog these days.

He visited the Headquarters, checked on the winery and the Forging Workshop, glanced at the Silver Wave Lake construction site, and encouraged Su Bucktooth's toll station squad. Just handing out the bonuses was enough to make his arm fall off. Money flowed out like a rushing river, making little Yang Mi's heart ache to the point of near death. Thinking about having to do this all over again after the New Year, Grandee Song felt mentally exhausted. Being a leader is not easy!

It wasn't until the twenty-eighth of the twelfth lunar month that he officially got to rest. He had visited everyone he needed to visit, and everyone who needed to offer greetings had come. Now, it was time to relax. Walking around the courtyard, directing Old Nie and the servants to prepare things, the atmosphere in Plum Manor was bustling with unparalleled excitement. Wrapping Chung cakes, Pounding Giay cakes, Rolling firecrackers... Though it was busy, it was incredibly joyous.

The New Year tree, strings of firecrackers, green Chung cakes, Fatty meat, pickled onions, red couplets. He had prepared everything for this year's Tet. Now that his household had the means, Song Que didn't mind recreating the traditional customs of his past life over here. To him, only by seeing these things could he truly feel that the New Year had arrived. It could also be considered a beautiful memory to recall his past life........ New Year's Eve.

Gathered around the dining table with Xiong Ba, Nie Feng, Daozi, Yang Mi, Yang Zi, and his pets, Song Que felt an exceptional warmth in his heart. Unfortunately, Li Xin and Chung Hong had both returned to their own families and couldn't celebrate the New Year with him here. Within the Pavilion, aside from Shen Ziming, Tie Feilong, and a few others whose households were in the county, the rest of the Elders had mostly taken leave to visit their families. This was the warmest New Year he had ever experienced.

He was an orphan in his past life, and in this one, he also had no parents. At the end of the year, he would only drop by the Li family for a short while before returning. Celebrating with so many people gathered together like this was a first for him.

"The old year is passing, and the new year is approaching. Let's light the firecrackers first to liven up the atmosphere and drive away the bad luck, then we'll have our New Year's Eve dinner."

"Yay! Young Master, can I light them?" A'Zi excitedly grabbed his hand and acted coquettishly. These past few days, Grandee Song had been leading the two girls in rolling firecrackers. The little girl had played around with it a few times and had grown extremely fond of the crisp, popping sounds. Thus, she immediately volunteered for the task. Song Que didn't refuse, lovingly petting her small head and smiling:"Alright, but be careful. Stand a bit further away; don't let the explosion hurt you."

To him, the power of these small firecrackers was naturally no different from a mosquito bite. But the two little ones had only just become martial artists in the past few days, and their skin wasn't thick and tough like the others. If they accidentally got burned by the firecrackers, he would be heartbroken to death.

"Hehe, this servant knows." Yang Zi smiled happily, her eyes curving into crescents as she nodded. She was seen running to fetch a long stick, tying a smoldering ember to the end before standing far away to light the firecrackers. Bang... bang... bang... A continuous string of explosions rang out. Everyone curiously watched the red firecracker shreds dancing in the air, finding it incredibly beautiful.

"Young Master, it's so beautiful!" Yang Mi said in awe, voicing the thoughts of everyone present. Due to limited materials, Song Que had only made one string of firecrackers like this, and it was quickly finished exploding. Still full of excitement, Yang Zi led Wukong and Husky, the two of them running all over the ground to find unexploded firecrackers to light, the courtyard ringing with their constant giggles. The whole family watched the little ones play with joyous harmony.

Only after a long while did they excitedly head back to the table for the banquet. At this moment, Yang Mi brought out a bottle of liquor and began pouring it for everyone. This liquor was a bright, amber-red color, and its fragrance was refreshing and intoxicating. It was a fine liquor meticulously brewed by Grandee Song using the remaining leaf yeast. The ingredient used was Dragon Fire Fruit, a thumb-sized fruit unique to this world.

This item was hard to find, so he had only produced a few dozen bottles for his own use. Taking it out for commercial sale would still require a long period of preparation.

"Come, everyone, let's raise our cups to celebrate the New Year. May we all turn bad luck into good fortune this year, and may everything go as we wish."

"Young Master, Happy New Year!"

"Cheers!" Even the Yang sisters and the pets excitedly chimed in to offer their congratulations. Not far away, Little Black and Lightning similarly let out a sharp cry before lowering their heads to tackle the food in front of them. ….. Joyously enjoying this once-a-year festival together until late into the night, Song Que finally returned to his room to rest, accompanied by Yang Zi, Yang Mi, and Husky.

"Young Master, wishing you a good night's sleep!" Looking at the two little girls and recalling the flash of sadness on their faces earlier, they must have been thinking of their deceased family members. Grandee Song felt a surge of pity. Gently stroking their small heads, he smiled reassuringly:"A'Mi, A'Zi. Don't be too sad. I believe your parents down there also want you to be happy every day. Just treat this place as your own home.

If anything happens in the future, this Young Master will protect you, understand?" The two sisters were moved to absolute tears. With red eyes, they sniffled and nodded:"Young Master, thank you. Meeting you was our greatest fortune!"

"Haha, it's the New Year, what are you crying for? Give this Young Master a smile." Only then did the two of them pucker their lips, crying and smiling at the same time, looking incredibly adorkable.

"Hehe, that's better. Go to sleep!" Patting their heads lightly, he turned around and headed toward his own room.

"Young Master!" Yang Mi suddenly called out. Thump! By the time he turned his head to look, he saw the girl pulling Yang Zi down to kneel, looking up with earnest eyes. It seemed they had something important to say. Song Que's heart instantly sank.