Wait a minute, where is my master?

The joyful voice fell silent.

Then came the thumping sound of footsteps on wooden stairs.

Jin Xu and his two companions looked in the direction of the noise.

At the top of the staircase, a woman dressed in elaborate and elegant clothing, her face full of delighted surprise, approached their table.

"Madam Proprietress."

The waiter bowed as he addressed the newcomer.

The woman feigned annoyance and scolded him.

"You lot discuss the success stories of our Yixiang Building every day, yet today you fail to recognize the person in question when I arrive. It's a wonder where all your observation skills have gone to.

"Go, hurry up and have the 'Exotic Fragrance Duo' prepared, and later send it up to the top floor."

The waiter stood there, dumbfounded, then stole a disbelieving glance at the three Taoists before complying with a nod and racing off in the direction of the kitchen.

However, he'd hardly taken two steps when the proprietress called out to him again.

"Wait, just brew a few pots of fine tea and send them up to the top floor later.

"As for the kitchen, I will go there myself to cook in a moment.

"By the way, remember to have someone check if Granny Tang is awake in the backyard."

After finishing, she turned her face, beaming with a smile, and politely addressed the three Taoists.

"Benevolent patrons, when I was on the second floor, I thought the voice sounded like yours. I didn't expect that when I popped my head out, it actually would be the three of you.

"These children have not seen you before, and the hospitality may have been lacking. Let's move to the top floor now. Have some tea first, and I will bring up the 'Exotic Fragrance Duo' for you shortly, all right?"

Jin Xu looked up at the bun seller who had become not only more elegantly dressed but whose skin and appearance seemed somewhat younger.

He thought to himself how affluence truly nourished a person.

He didn't bother with false pleasantries and stood up generously, cupping his hands in thanks and saying,

"Thank you, Madam Proprietress. This makes it unnecessary for the three of us to make another trip tomorrow."

"What are you saying, honored patron? Without those two Spirit Stones you gave, there would be no Yixiang Building.

"If you ever crave our specialties again, simply send someone to give us a message, and I will definitely have the items prepared in advance for you.

"If you do not have the time to come out, we can also deliver them directly to your residence.

"Just think of Yixiang Building as your own private restaurant."

The proprietress's attitude was incredibly warm, and while speaking, she reached into her sleeve and brought out a Communication Jade Scroll, passing it to Little White who stood behind the Taoist.

But Jin Xu quickly intercepted the Jade Scroll mid-way with his hand.

Given the sudden sparkle in Little White's eyes as the proprietress spoke, he had reason to believe.

That if the Communication Jade Scroll reached Little White's hands, she would definitely be ordering "takeout" every day!

Guided by the proprietress, the three stepped onto the wooden staircase and made their way to the top floor.

As they ascended between the fourth and fifth floors, Little White, who was always in a hurry and walking in front, suddenly exclaimed in surprise,

"Hey, Temple Master, look! The person painted on this wall looks just like you!"

Upon hearing this, a flash of astonishment crossed Jin Xu's face.

He quickly took two steps forward, reaching the landing, to find the wall between the fourth and fifth floors was unlike the walls on the lower levels, which were adorned with landscape paintings and calligraphy.

Instead, he directly painted several murals on the wall.

The little Taoist fixed his gaze and saw that there were five murals.

The first depicted a woman setting up a bun stall in front of a vermilion gate, emphasizing the woman's hardship and the scorching weather.

The second, a figure in a Taoist robe wearing a mask, as if giving the woman something, which made her look extremely surprised.

The third and fourth murals, one showed the woman making some buns that seemed extremely fragrant, attracting passersby to fight over them. The other showed the figure in the Taoist robe appearing again, dispersing the crowd, and giving the woman something once more.

As for the last mural, it simply depicted a Yixiang Building.

"Madam, what are these murals about?"

Jin Xu raised his eyebrows, turning to ask the landlady who was hurrying to catch up behind him.

"My benefactor, please let me explain. These murals are..."

Then the landlady told the little Taoist and his two companions a simple story.

It turned out that soon after she developed buns with "Little Hong's body fragrance," her turnover surged, and she upgraded from a mobile vendor to a fixed shop.

This "Exotic Fragrance Bun" also became popular in Shangjing City, captivating officials, nobles, and wealthy tycoons who competed to purchase them.

However, in Shangjing City there were too many rich people, and the daily production of the buns was far too small.

It was always impossible to satisfy everyone's appetite every day.

It was precisely because of this that when people in the city discovered that the owner of "Exotic Fragrance Buns" seemed to be an ordinary person with no background or power,

those with malicious intentions began to harbor ulterior motives.

First, dirty substances were thrown at the storefront of the landlady, and then there were claims of finding filth in the "Exotic Fragrance Buns."

Even rumors started spreading in Shangjing City, alleging that the buns tasted so good because the landlady was not human but a demon practicing Evil Skill!

Afterwards, the landlady who was forced to close for a day found a piece of paper with crooked handwriting by her bedside.

"Be a good girl and leave the secret bun recipe by your bedside tonight, or we have many more tricks up our sleeves!"

Facing this threat, the landlady...

immediately took the note and planned to go out to report to the authorities.

However, as soon as she stepped out, she saw a woman dressed as a night watch officer, carrying two men directly in front of her, asking the landlady if she recognized these two men who had caused trouble in her bun shop a few days earlier.

The landlady, stunned, recalled briefly and recognized that these were indeed the two who claimed to have found earthworms and grasshoppers in her buns, and thus she nodded bewilderedly.

"My benefactor, I later found out that the night watch officer's name was Lord Kui, with a single character for Lei.

"She told me not to worry about anything else and to move in to reopen at Yixiang Building, guaranteeing that no one would ever bother me again.

"As for these murals, they were here when I arrived.

"At first, I also thought that the contents of the paintings were biased and wanted to erase them. But Lord Kui said, if you saw these murals, just tell you they were arranged by an old friend with the 'Yun' character in their title, and you would understand."

After she finished speaking, the landlady cautiously glanced at Jin Xu.

"Hmm, not bad, the paintings are pretty accurate."

After hearing the story, the little Taoist had a flicker of realization in his heart and led the two women, stepping towards the top floor.

Seeing this, the landlady let out a slight sigh of relief and a smile returned to her face.

She was about to follow when suddenly she heard a rapid sound of someone climbing upstairs.

"Madam, Little Cui from the backyard says Granny Tang left yesterday and hasn't returned this morning."