Chapter 451 450: Evenly Matched

"But I have to make one thing clear. I'm a Wine God, famous far and wide. If you're competing with me, you'd better be prepared to get trampled!"

"At our last class reunion, all the guys passed out, but I was totally fine. I even drove them all home!"

"If you admit defeat now and say you can't handle it, I'll understand. We're all young, and we all have moments where we try to show off. It's no disgrace."

Jia Ming was deliberately provoking Mu Lin, trying to bait him. Once Mu Lin took the hook, Jia Ming could use his vast array of tricks to flatten him.

That way, when Zhou Ying saw the human shield she'd personally dragged over get defeated, she would understand just how powerful he was.

'And when that time comes, I'll just use a few more tricks... Won't she be mine then?'

The more Jia Ming looked at Mu Lin now, the more agreeable he seemed. 'What a great guy.'

The more arrogant Mu Lin acted now, the more pathetic he would look later, and the more profound the shock would be for Zhou Ying.

All of this would lead to a better outcome.

With these thoughts in mind, Jia Ming decided to keep trying to lure Mu Lin into his trap.

But Mu Lin just smiled and said with great confidence, "Well, Young Master Ming, it looks like you've met your match today. I can honestly say I've never made a scene, not even once."

This made Jia Ming even happier.

'The bigger the bullshit Mu Lin spews, the greater the impact will be on Zhou Ying later.'

'Mu Lin is actually helping me out here.'

"Damn, brother, you're something else. I'm really looking forward to settling this with you." Jia Ming picked up a glass, slammed it down in front of Mu Lin, and pointed at it.

"Let's start now!"

Mu Lin glanced at the glass and curled his lip in disdain. "What's this? You want to drink like this? Where's the fun in that?"

"Then how do you want to do it, brother Mu Lin? I respect your choice. How do you want to compete?"

Mu Lin said, "A case each. We chug straight from the bottle! Not a single drop of liquor can be spilled. Spill even one drop, and it's an automatic loss! How about it?"

"Not only can't we spill, but we also have to drink fast and a lot, and we can't get drunk."

Jia Ming's eyes lit up. 'Mu Lin is making things harder on himself!'

This was his favorite way to compete, and it was also what he was best at.

It was an incredibly thrilling method.

He hadn't suggested it himself simply because he was afraid Zhou Ying would start to hate him for it.

But now Mu Lin was eagerly serving himself up on a platter. If he didn't accept, it would be a disservice to the audience.

"Alright! Bring the drinks!" Jia Ming waved his hand, and a waiter immediately brought out the alcohol that had already been prepared.

Mu Lin smiled. "Just this?"

"Look at you, you haven't even finished one case and you're already thinking about the next one? Do the other guests not get to drink? Once you get to the last bottle, I guarantee they'll bring you more!"

Jia Ming really, really liked this big idiot Mu Lin. The more he looked at him, the more he liked him.

'This drive to dig his own grave is just too amusing.'

Zhou Ying, however, was panicking. She had never heard of drinking like this before.

She felt this was bound to end in disaster! It could even become a matter of life and death.

"Don't do it!" she stepped forward and said. "I've never seen Mu Lin drink. He can't really hold his liquor, don't listen to his nonsense!"

She saw the look on Jia Ming's face. He definitely had some scheme waiting for Mu Lin. What would happen once Mu Lin walked right into it?

Xia Xin grabbed Zhou Ying, pulling her back into the crowd. "Yingying, for men, the drinking table is a battlefield. You think you're helping Mu Lin by stopping him, but he might not be too happy about it."

"As women, we should just watch them from the side! We can't interfere in men's business."

Zhou Ying trembled as she listened, but then she saw Mu Lin smile at her. "Don't worry, it's fine. Everything I said is the truth."

Seeing Mu Lin so calm, Zhou Ying thought, 'Maybe he really knows his limits.'

Still, she felt the whole thing was just too outrageous.

"If you can't take it anymore, just admit defeat. Don't try to be a tough guy! Nothing is more important than your health!"

Mu Lin looked at Young Master Ming. "Young Master Ming, when do we start?"

Young Master Ming's eyes were filled with mockery and ridicule. He then turned to Zhou Ying.

"You see, Miss Yingying, men just won't listen to reason. They're all gluttons for punishment."

"You might as well indulge him and let him have his fun! Come on, countdown!"

Zhou Ying was so angry she wanted to smash all the bottles with a stick.

But she held back, feeling she should still give Mu Lin some face in public.

"Three! Two! One!"

Jia Ming's hand shot out like a venomous snake, grabbing a bottle and bringing it to his lips.

The liquor went GLUG GLUG GLUG down his throat. The entire sequence happened incredibly fast.

Mu Lin was just as fast, his movements carrying a sense of challenging everything and everyone.

One bottle down. Simultaneously, they both grabbed the next.

Seeing Mu Lin's speed, a flash of excitement crossed Jia Ming's eyes.

"Not bad. It seems you weren't just bragging, Mr. Mu. I'm afraid you and I are both Wine Immortals."

The moment Jia Ming's words fell, they both snatched another bottle, their speed astonishing.

Two, three, four, five, six bottles were continuously poured down their throats.

The surrounding crowd erupted in thunderous cheers.

Xia Xin and Zhou Ying, on the other hand, were genuinely terrified.

'Are they really going this hard?'

'These men are truly willing to sacrifice anything for face.'

'And are their stomachs bottomless pits? How can they drink so fast, making it all disappear in an instant?'

'Why is it so smooth? Why is it so insane?'

In just a moment, a dozen or so bottles were gone. Jia Ming's pace had slowed considerably; he was nowhere near as fast as before.

His lips were also gradually going numb, and he wasn't able to form as tight a seal around the bottle as before.

But Mu Lin had said that if any spilled, it was an automatic loss.

He hadn't thought much of it before, but now he felt that this rule was absolutely brutal!

In order to ensure every last drop made it into his stomach, Jia Ming's speed slowed down uncontrollably.

But on Mu Lin's side, he was still just as fast, showing no signs of change whatsoever.

Jia Ming grew anxious. He never expected Mu Lin to be able to drink so much.

'But it's impossible to have no reaction after so much alcohol. His reaction is probably just delayed.'

'As long as I hold on, there has to be a way!'

The drinking contest continued.

In the blink of an eye, they were over twenty bottles in, and Jia Ming couldn't take it anymore.

His mouth was so numb he couldn't keep a seal on the bottle, and droplets began to fall.

He quickly wiped them away, but couldn't stop more from trickling down.

Mu Lin, however, was still drinking calmly, his pace consistently just a little faster than Jia Ming's.

'As long as I win, that's enough. No need to go all out.'

'Every mouthful I don't drink is a little True Qi I don't have to use.'

Mu Lin put down a bottle. "Young Master Ming, I've finished thirty bottles now. Should I wait for you?"

Jia Ming truly couldn't handle it anymore. He ducked his head, grabbed a trash can, and began to vomit violently into it.

The faces of the surrounding crowd were a mixture of surprise and awkwardness. They had no idea what to say.

At this point, whether they tried to comfort Jia Ming or say anything else, he would take it as mockery, so they simply said nothing at all.

Jia Ming wiped his mouth and looked at Mu Lin with a gloomy expression. "You're incredible. I can't beat you. I lose!"

Mu Lin was a little surprised. It was rare to see someone admit defeat so honestly.

Mu Lin said, "Young Master Ming, you're already very impressive among your peers! No need to be so upset."

Everyone was quite surprised. They never expected Young Master Ming to actually lose to Mu Lin.

In the end, there's always a higher mountain. Today had really been an eye-opener.

Zhou Ying sidled up to Mu Lin. "How are you? Do you feel like throwing up? Should I go find you a bag?"

Mu Lin chuckled. "I don't feel like it at all. In fact, I feel like I could chug dozens more!"

Zhou Ying shot Mu Lin a glare. 'Does this guy have any sense? Here I am, worried about you, and this is how you respond to me.'

"Why don't you just go jump in a vat of wine and drown yourself!" Zhou Ying pointed at Mu Lin, scolding him in a delicate but sharp tone.

To Jia Ming, their playful bickering was like a massive blow.

'Aren't they just mocking me?'

Seeing Jia Ming's sour expression, Xia Xin quickly went to Zhou Ying's side and gently tapped her on the nose.

"Look at you. This kind of concern is totally unnecessary. Men don't want you to worry about them like that!"

Zhou Ying was actually very displeased. She had only invited Xia Xin to accompany her because Xia Xin had said she felt unsafe at tonight's party.

But now it seemed something was off. Xia Xin was fitting in just fine.

She clearly felt like she had been tricked.

But she couldn't get hung up on it right now. She could ask Xia Xin about it later.

Jia Ming approached Mu Lin with surprising warmth. "Brother, a friendly fight makes for a fast friendship. Let's go order some more food and have a proper drink, huh?"

Mu Lin felt quite uncomfortable. Jia Ming's change in attitude was too fast, unreasonably so.

In all his time since coming down the mountain and wandering the Jianghu, Mu Lin had never met someone so annoyingly persistent.