The meat on the duck neck was indeed pitifully small compared to the duck leg. There were strands of tender meat stuck between the bones. It was only by the teeth and the tip of the tongue struggling to “circle” with the bones that the meat on top could be removed.

Liu Yuan stretched out two fingers to pinch the two ends of the duck’s neck, biting it bit by bit, sucking it from time to time. The marinade that seeped into the deep bones of the duck’s neck entered between the lips and teeth. There was a slight sweetness in the slightly spicy taste, which was a spicy and sweet taste.

The taste of this marinade was really strange, but the duck with this marinade made people not want to stop.

After a good fight between the teeth and tongue, the duck’s neck was not completely gnawed. Looking at the tender meat that could not be gnawed, Liu Yuan had no choice but to give up this piece of duck neck, and then, he could not wait to pick up another piece and gnaw it.

After another long battle of tongues and lips, Liu Yuan finally ate the duck neck clean. He smacked his lips and said with a feeling of being unsatisfied: “Ji Caimai, the ‘shopkeeper’, is getting better and better. I ate the duck neck… I just whetted my appetite, and it was gone!”

Although it was a pity that he didn’t have the duck neck, he still had the duck leg! Liu Yuan picked up the big duck leg and ate it.

Indeed, it was Master Wen’s handiwork; the braised duck leg was excellent. Unlike stewed meat, which tends to be soft and mushy, this duck leg was firm yet not at all dry. The peculiar sweet and spicy marinade had penetrated deep into the duck leg, making it extremely flavorful. With each bite, a rich and robust meat aroma filled the mouth completely.

Liu Yuan ate and walked away. When he arrived at the inn, the duck leg in his hand had been gnawed clean, leaving only bones.

Looking back at the big black dogs that followed him all the way, who didn’t rush to grab the food, threw the bones in their hands to the dogs, and Liu Yuan walked into the inn.

As soon as he stepped into the inn, he saw the handsome envoy An Zaihe chatting and joking with his fiancée and the Jùnzhǔ¹.

Listening to the three people laughing happily from time to time, Liu Yuan glanced at his fiancée and the jùnzhǔ’s hands behind their backs and shook his head.

He also shook his head with the serious-looking older envoy beside him, whose Chinese name was Quan Liyu. It is said that this general was also a great general in Goguryeo when he was young. When he was old, he was transferred to a sinecure by the Emperor of Goguryeo. Now he was the chief envoy among the Goguryeo envoys.

It was a pity that the envoy’s words were useless and no one listened to him. Whenever he and Bai Zhu came to ask questions, the envoy just shook his head and looked helpless.

However, although he was an envoy who could only shake his head, he was still the only one among the envoys who had never told a lie. It was a pity that he knew too little.

“Your Excellency!” Liu Yuan walked over and greeted him.

Quan Liyu nodded and asked him in stiff Chinese: “Does your Excellency Liu have anything else to ask?”

Liu Yuan said “Hmm”, took out a piece of paper from his arms, and then opened it, pointing to the totem on it, and asked Quan Liyu: “Have you ever seen this pattern, Your Excellency?”

As soon as the totem appeared, Quan Liyu’s face changed before Liu Yuan could ask.

As soon as Liu Yuan finished speaking, Quan Liyu hurriedly said something in the Goguryeo language.

Liu Yuan had been dealing with them for a few days, and he could only understand a few simple greetings and responses in Goguryeo. This sentence was obviously beyond his “knowledge range”. Just when he wanted to find the guide who knew Chinese in the envoy group to ask, he heard Quan Liyu speak in Chinese, stammering: “It is… it is the totem of the Moro religion!”

Liu Yuan only knew about Taoism, Buddhism, etc., and he didn’t seem to have heard of the Moro religion. However, judging from Quan Liyu’s face, the Moro religion didn’t seem to be a “recognized” sect for the Goguryeo people.

After finding the guide, Liu Yuan knew what kind of sect this Moro was through the guide’s gesture translation.

“Ten years ago, the Moro sect appeared in Goguryeo. At first, there were only a few people. Because it didn’t become a big deal, many people didn’t pay attention to the Moro sect.” The guide said, “Later, the Moro sect developed gradually. The Moro sect leader was a man who knew magic. He claimed that he wanted to unify Goguryeo, but he was suppressed before he could gather all his troops.”

Liu Yuan nodded when he heard this, but he didn’t find it strange: whenever a sect revolted, the leader was most likely not an “ordinary man”, so it was not surprising that it was suppressed.

“I heard that the leader of the Moro sect was thousands of years old, but he still looked like a middle-aged man in his forties. But he was still killed by our General Quan!” The guide said, looking at Quan Yu, who was serious, with a bit of admiration in his eyes, “The Moro sect followers saw that the leader was a mortal, so they fled.”

Although Envoy Quan killed the leader, the saints and messengers of the sect escaped and became the fish that slipped through the net. Because they had not appeared for ten years, even Envoy Quan who killed the leader almost forgot about the Moro sect.

Unexpectedly, the Moruo Sect, which should have long been disbanded, reappeared at this time and was related to Su Dan Sheng, who had died a few years ago, as well as Prince Yu.

It turned out to be a Goguryeo sect! Upon hearing this, Liu Yuan sighed, thanked Envoy Quan, and was about to leave when he saw the three lovelorn men and women still there, deeply engrossed in their affections. He couldn’t help but twitch his mouth: “These people are really quite clingy!”

After going to the inn, Liu Yuan thought that he did not waste any time, and it was only an hour. But when he returned to the Dali Temple, he saw that almost everyone he met on the road, passed by in the corridor, and in the lobby was holding braised ducks in their hands. Liu Yuan: “…”

How did he become a colleague with such a greedy group of guys? He was only out for a while, and the ducks at “Shopkeeper Ji” were probably sold out! If he had known this, he would have bought more!

Liu Yuan muttered to himself as he walked into Lin Fei’s room in annoyance. When he saw the full plate of various braised ducks on Lin Fei’s table, the pile of bones on the side, and the clean mouth of his superior, Liu Yuan: “…”

He didn’t expect that his superior was a rare person who knew to wipe his mouth after stealing food.

Ignoring Liu Yuan’s resentful look, Lin Fei looked up and asked Liu Yuan: “How is it? Did you find out?”

Liu Yuan nodded and said: “It is a totem of a sect called Moro. I heard it was an uprising sect in Goguryeo. However, after the leader was killed in public ten years ago, the sect disbanded.”

Of course, it didn’t disband completely. It seemed that it had made a comeback.

However, the matter of this uprising sect should be the concern of the Emperor of Goguryeo. Why was it that now, by some strange coincidence, the officials of the Dali Temple had to worry about it?

In the final analysis, it was because of the relationship between Prince Yu and Su Dan.

After listening to Liu Yuan’s story about the Moro sect, Lin Fei pondered for a moment and asked Liu Yuan: “Was Quan Yu among the envoys who went on the mission the year the Su Dan died?”

Liu Yuan shook his head and said, “Because he seems to be the only one who is willing to tell the truth, we have checked and found that this Envoy Quan was not among them. This is his first time to come to our country!”

Lin Fei nodded and said to Liu Yuan: “Call Wei Fu, I want him to check someone’s account!”

(End of this chapter)

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Footnote

1. Princess of Second Rank.