Jiang Hanyun, her face a shade paler, was punishing Tingtian Ao, the chatty dog, and admonishing in a low voice, "Shut up! If you dare to ddle again, I’ll have you executed right now!"
Unable to speak due to Jiang’s threat, Tingtian Ao instead wagged its tail and summoned a tiny wind spear in the air, aid right at Li Xuan and Xue Yunrou.
"How dare you!" Jiang Hanyun complained helplessly, "I heard that you like Sanweiju’s bone soup and Huanglongzui wine, right? I’ll treat you this week."
Tingtian Ao’s eyes lit up in excitent, and it wagged its tail again, changing the wind spear into three wind blades.
"Alright, three it is!"
Jiang Hanyun snorted, finally releasing Tingtian Ao’s mouth. Yet her Gang Qi still occasionally made cracking like firecrackers.
Actually, the bone soup and Huanglongzui wine were not expensive, almost negligible to them cultivators. However, this feeling of being blackmailed was really uncomfortable.
"I want more than just Sanweiju’s bone soup." Tingtian Ao smacked its lips, and chuckled gleefully, "The Hudan Soup and Golden Abalone Soup that your mother made for Li Xuan, he always praises them after drinking. It made also want to try these soups. Next ti your mother cooks the soup, please bring so Xiaowei Jiang. I won’t request much, just a small wine jar will do. I don’t really expect to have Aodan and Hudan, but you can give more bone soup."
Then it looked ahead, "So you followed them here, Xiaowei? This kind of behavior isn’t good. But I can understand. You are afraid that your cousin might take away your childhood sweetheart, right? He was once—Whoop!"
Before Tingtian Ao could finish speaking, Jiang Hanyun punched it on the top of its head. Although she didn’t strike hard, Tingtian Ao stumbled and almost fell.
"You’re lashing out from sheer sha!"
After regaining its balance, it grasped its head with two paws and stared at Jiang Hanyun angrily, "Four tis! Rember, you must bring the soup four tis. And also, if you hit again, I’ll fight back."
"All everyone could hear from your mouth were obscene things!" Jiang Hanyun’s face turned crimson as she furiously retorted, "I’m just worried that my cousin can be easily taken advantage of by that guy. You’d better not bring up unnecessary topics."
Tingtian Ao sneered, looking extrely disdainful. It thought to itself, how could a dog spit out ivory? This woman, she can be really unreasonable!
"Alright! Alright! But you can’t go on like this."
Considering how much food Li Xuan had gotten for it in the past and the fact that he had recently paid to set up its golden body, Tingtian Ao decided to endure it and give Jiang Hanyun so advice.
"Your cousin’s determination is very strong today. Do you know what her heart thinks with my Diting Divine Skill?"
"What’s she thinking?" Jiang Hanyun bit her lip and asked sideways.
"Her current thoughts are probably what you’re thinking right now."
Tingtian Ao scratched its face with its paw, "She is ready to give herself away, and even the white cloth for bed sheets are prepared. You need to stop being so proud and indecisive, or you will lose him sooner or later."
"The white cloth for bed sheets?" Jiang Hanyun’s entire being froze, her fragile face instantly changing from white to blue then to purple.
White cloth for bed sheets—was it what she thought it was? Was it the white cloth used in traditional customs for the bridal bed? Was Yunrou bold enough to have such thoughts this ti?
Tingtian Ao started to feel apprehensive, and thought, Li Xuan, in order to help you out, I have put myself at stake. It’s very risky to deceive this woman. It could be my demise!
Then Tingtian Ao looked at Jiang Hanyun in curiosity. It was wondering how this Blood Hand Butcher, this Iron-blooded Shura, would respond.
※※※※
When Li Xuan and Xue Yunrou arrived at the busiest part of the festival, the girl seed like a bird released from a cage, enthusiastically dragging Li Xuan around the various stalls.
Catching goldfish, ring toss, archery—Xue Yunrou enjoyed all these gas trendously and he playfully went along, forgoing any use of his cultivation, and accompanied the girl as she played wildly at each stall.
However, in this mysterious cultivation world, catching goldfish and the ring tossing ga were significantly more difficult. The goldfish were exceptionally energetic and the paper used to catch them would break easy; during the ring toss, the targets were placed far away and could move around.
Even with Li Xuan’s sharp senses, he gained very little which resulted in a loss of several hundreds of silver coins. These rchants were cunning—they charged cultivators excessively.
It wasn’t until they reached the stalls where riddles were being guessed that Li Xuan finally managed to redeem himself.
"Confusing peaches for apricots? That should be referring to calling a deer a horse."
"Monks and nuns conspire to leave Buddhism? It should be ’taken for granted’."
"Everything is of inferior quality, guessing a governnt position, Shangshu?"
Using his recollections from his previous life, Li Xuan solved the lantern riddles with ease. When he reached the middle of the stalls, a surprised sound suddenly escaped him. He saw a figure he was fond of not far from him: "Qianqian?"
Yue Qianqian, his favorite assistant, was standing just ten steps away. Next to her was a gorgeous boy in his twenties. The boy had also been solving riddles and had cleared them right from the other side of the lantern stalls.
"Colonel?" Yue Qianqian also seed astonished. But when she noticed Xue Yunrou grasping Li Xuan’s arm, her complexion turned pale. "Yunrou, what are you guys doing here?"
"I invited Li here to check out the festival." Xue Yunrou’s hold on Li Xuan’s arm grew firr as she spoke. Then, she smiled warmly at the boy next to Yue Qianqian. "And who might you be?"
"This is Song Zian, my cousin." Yue Qianqian introduced, though there was a strange look on her face. "He ca from Huai’an. My mother asked to accompany him."
Song Zian greeted them politely, "I’m Song Zian from Huai’an. Pleased to et you both. This must be Qianqian’s superior, the Iron-blooded Shura, Master Li. I’ve heard a lot about you. Thank you for taking care of Qianqian."
But for so reason, Li Xuan sensed hostility in Song Zian’s deanor. It seed he was deliberately trying to show his closeness to Yue Qianqian by stepping slightly towards her. However, Yue Qianqian subtly stepped back, maintaining a distance of three steps between them.
"You’re too kind, Brother Song!" Li Xuan replied while squinting slightly. Although he was pleased with Yue Qianqian’s reaction, Song Zian’s behavior had put him on guard.
So, was this guy planning on uprooting his favorite—no, stealing his assistant? This was truly unbearable!
anwhile, Xue Yunrou glanced at him, then followed his gaze to sothing else, looking puzzled.
At that mont, another surprised voice ca from the adjacent area. "What a coincidence! What brings you here, junior sister?"
Li Xuan turned to look and saw an unfamiliar Taoist who was holding a crutch and had no beard. He couldn’t seem to walk without the help of his crutch. His condition made it difficult for him to move, but an invisible barrier around him kept the bustling crowd at a distance.
"Brother Xuanchen?"
Xue Yunrou seed surprised and concerned. "What happened, older brother? How did you, an eighth house level spellcaster, end up injured like this? Where exactly did you get hurt? Who was it? Can I ask my uncle to help you?"
Master Xuanchen twitched his cheeks and instinctively glanced at Li Xuan and the Iron-blooded Shura standing behind him. In his eyes, a wave of resentnt erged.
Especially when he saw Xue Yunrou clutching Li Xuan’s hand, his anger was at its peak.
However, he restrained himself. "Let’s not talk about my injury, it should be better in a few days. As for the person who injured , I can handle him myself. He’s despicable. Just bringing him up would sully your ears, junior sister."
Master Xuanchen’s face lightened up with a smile. "So, junior sister, what brings you here?"
"I invited Li to the festival," Xue Yunrou introduced casually. "This is Li Xuan, the Colonel in charge of slaying demons for the Six Paths Bureau, the one I’ve ntioned to you, Brother Xuanchen."
As she spoke, Li Xuan distinctly felt the intense hostility radiating from Master Xuanchen. He also perceived a trace of resentnt in his eyes.
Master Xuanchen did a good job of hiding it, but Li Xuan’s male instincts had picked it up accurately.
His mind started ringing alarm bells. Was this another man trying to uproot his radish?
He grumbled about his bad luck. Who knew a simple date would turn into this ss?
Bumping into Yue Qianqian and her cousin was one thing, but why did Master Xuanchen have to show up? Was fate conspiring against him?
anwhile, Xue Yunrou was questioning Master Xuanchen, "If you’re injured, why are you here at the festival instead of resting at ho?"
There was a trace of suspicion in her eyes, and her tone was cool.
Master Xuanchen knew she was doubting him as soon as he heard her words. His junior sister was insightful, perceptive, and sharp-witted. There was no change on his face though, "I had a promise with a few friends to set up a ladder stunt at this year’s Chenghuang Temple fair to show off the talents of Jinling City. I couldn’t just break my promise. Plus, my injury isn’t serious. Look, that stage over there is where my friends have set up shop. Master Zhenru from Baosheng Temple, disciples Long Rui, Long Shouzhi, and Wang Jing, and the son of Quan Dingtian, are among the most outstanding young talents around Jiangnan."
Everyone followed his finger to a high platform where a sea of people had gathered. There were at least three or four hundred people bustling around, whispering and discussing enthusiastically.
Then, Master Xuanchen’s lips curled up into a half-smile. "My friends have really put a lot into the stakes this year. I wonder if the Colonel would be interested?"
Xue Yunrou’s eyes sparkled with a hint of anger. She had perceived a challenge in Master Xuanchen’s words.
Reviews
All reviews (0)