"You little bastard sure ran fast. You said you were going to support your third disciple, but you just vanished without a trace?"
"You just threw your hands up and took off with so many things left unresolved?"
Yu Yang Daozi stood in the center of the great hall, pointing directly at Chu Xingchen's nose as he continued his furious tirade.
"You're the one who called me here to handle things in the first place. You even promised that Chun Nuan wine would flow freely once the job was done, yet after it was all over, I couldn't even find hide nor hair of you."
"Never mind the wine — I couldn't even see your punchable face."
Inside the great hall.
Li Yingling sipped her tea in silence, her gaze drifting slightly toward her master.
Just going by those words alone, it did sound like something her master would pull — and not in a particularly upright manner, either.
After all, anyone who could point at her master's nose and not get torn apart by his venomous tongue was either dealing with a master who genuinely knew he was in the wrong, or someone who shared a genuinely close relationship with him.
Had their relationship been poor, her master would have picked a fight even without a leg to stand on.
San Dong, who had originally been hoping to listen to a story, now held a half-eaten red bean bun in its hands, staring at the two strangers with a somewhat bewildered expression.
It pinched the bun tightly — the filling was already threatening to ooze out. San Dong wanted to hurry up and finish eating, yet the atmosphere felt somewhat tense, and it worried that chewing away might come across as disrespectful.
Still, San Dong could more or less tell that these two were likely friends of their sect master, so it wasn't truly nervous deep down.
"We're all brothers here — dwelling on it too much is pointless."
Chu Xingchen wore a warm smile as he rose to his feet, glancing at Li Yingling, who was still quietly watching the drama unfold.
"What are you staring at? Go brew tea for your two martial uncles — the finest we have."
Li Yingling rose and cupped her hands respectfully. "Yes, Master."
When outsiders were present, Li Yingling always reined in her playful side, giving her master full face and making sure no one could mock their sect for lacking proper decorum.
The right degree of composure was something she naturally understood as the eldest disciple.
The only problem was that their sect's absolute finest tea... was still just ordinary mortal tea, albeit slightly more expensive than most.
Perhaps because their third martial sister's tea-brewing skills had reached the pinnacle, even mortal tea came out remarkably well in her hands — it merely lacked that final touch of spiritual essence.
But as long as one drank tea brewed by the third martial sister, the absence of that wisp of spiritual essence would hardly be worth mentioning.
Li Yingling turned and withdrew, heading outside to find her third martial sister and have a pot of tea prepared.
Seeing that Chu Xingchen's attitude was at least tolerable, Yu Yang Daozi merely snorted coldly.
"You promised all the Chun Nuan wine we could drink. If Brother Xu and I don't drink our fill this time, neither of us is leaving."
Chu Xingchen nodded in understanding, then called out to Li Yingling, who had just reached the doorway.
"Yingling, prepare two guest rooms for your two martial uncles as well."
Hearing this, Yu Yang Daozi laughed despite his irritation.
"You really have no shame, do you?"
"Now that's just wrong — I always keep my word when I'm out in the world."
Chu Xingchen spoke as he retrieved three jars of talisman-sealed Chun Nuan wine from his spatial ring.
"What I mean is, we don't stop until we're drunk. Nobody leaves until they've had their fill — you're staying right here in my sect."
"If we run out, I'll personally take you to Tianyan Sect and demand more from Yan Yun."
Yu Yang Daozi's eyes lit up at the sight of the wine jars. He reached out and unsealed one, and the pure, fragrant aroma of Tianyan Sect's spiritual wine wafted through the air.
Xu Jin couldn't hold back either, stepping forward eagerly.
Chu Xingchen raised an eyebrow with a grin. "How's that for hospitality?"
Yu Yang Daozi drew a sip of Chun Nuan into his throat, then spoke with satisfaction.
"Mediocre. It'd be passable if you hadn't left Brother Xu and me behind to clean up the mess."
Chu Xingchen sighed softly. "I had to leave so that—"
Before he could finish, Yu Yang Daozi's gaze snapped up.
"Stop right there. The two of us combined couldn't out-argue you even on our best day. I can't be bothered to bicker with you."
Yu Yang Daozi grabbed hold of his wine jar.
"Whatever you have to say, say it over the wine."
Chu Xingchen laughed freely and raised his own jar, clinking it lightly against those of Yu Yang Daozi and Xu Jin.
San Dong watched as the formerly tense atmosphere dissolved into an inexplicably relaxed mood, all from the mere clink of wine jars.
It couldn't quite understand how things could shift so dramatically, but for San Dong, this was good news — the red bean bun that had been about to drip from its hands could finally be eaten.
Watching the blissful, satisfied expressions on their faces and breathing in the incredibly sweet, wonderful fragrance of the Chun Nuan wine, it felt as though spring itself had arrived.
It kind of wanted to try some too...
By the deep pool.
Qinghe wore a look of deep displeasure, looking like someone who had suffered an injustice with no way to seek redress. He picked up small stones and tossed them into the lake.
The force behind each throw wasn't particularly strong — they only sent up tiny splashes of water.
In the past, his background had been absolutely first-rate. In a world this vast, the Eighteen Immortal Sects had only eighteen core disciples in total, so how was it that now they seemed to be everywhere he looked?
Qinghe understood full well that if he actually killed any of these fish, Chu Xingchen — that black-hearted brat — would probably find a way to conscript him into gatekeeping duty. That was why he hadn't used any real strength.
"Lord Qinghe, what are you doing?"
A puzzled voice came from behind him.
Qinghe didn't turn around, waving his hand to shoo Cui Hao away.
"Bothering me. Go away."
Cui Hao shook his head slightly and walked to Qinghe's side, glancing down at the startled fish swimming below.
"These fish are incredibly precious. A couple more throws and you might actually scare them to death. I'm temporarily in charge of them, by the way."
"When Third Martial Sister wants some fish to pass the time and finds there aren't enough, I'm the one who's going to end up as the replacement."
Qinghe turned his gaze toward Cui Hao, taking in the mournful expression on his face.
Cui Hao turned his head to meet Qinghe's eyes.
"What kind of matter could possibly trouble someone as distinguished as Lord Qinghe?"
"Just now, two core disciples showed up and called me Chu Xingchen's Jiaolong. I told them I belonged to Zhuji Peak, but then some obnoxious fellow said what difference does it make?"
"That's it?"
"What do you mean, 'that's it'? I inexplicably became your sect's gatekeeping Jiaolong."
"Isn't that a good thing? One Jiaolong representing two sects' prestige." Cui Hao's face was practically glowing with envy. "Jiaolong of other Immortal Sects can only claim affiliation with one sect at most, but you, Lord Qinghe — you can claim two."
"These days, the more names you can drop, the higher your status and the deeper your backing."
"Where would an ordinary Jiaolong ever get such fortune? If Tianyan Sect would accept me, I'd go register there in a heartbeat."
Qinghe's gaze shifted, sensing that something was off about this logic, yet finding it strangely persuasive at the same time.
Cui Hao pressed his advantage. "Besides, if something actually happened to you, do you think my master wouldn't stand up for you? All you're doing is lending your name, but my master would be the one doing the real work."
"How is this not the deal of the century? Tell me honestly, Lord Qinghe — are you just here to show off to me?"
Hearing this, Qinghe once again found himself agreeing.
He was merely being talked about by others, while Chu Xingchen was the one who would actually have to put in the effort.
Qinghe's mood improved considerably. Cui Hao really did have a good head on his shoulders — thinking it through, this was genuinely a good thing.
Just as it was about to stand up and strut around a bit, another voice came from the sect entrance.
"The Buddhist Son, Wu Kong, requests an audience."
Qinghe froze, instinctively glancing toward Cui Hao.
Cui Hao raised an eyebrow slightly. "Someone from the Buddhist Sect — definitely not a friend. Lord Qinghe, now is the time to demonstrate your formidable backing!"
"Restore the glory of the Jiaolong — let all behold the might of Qinghe today!"
Qinghe nodded vigorously at these words, then transformed into a streak of rainbow light and shot toward the main gate.
Cui Hao watched Qinghe's departing figure and finally could no longer hold back his smile.
Lord Qinghe was truly interesting.
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