Chapter 122: Reunion
Standing in front of the gates of Cangfeng Mystic Palace, Yun Che let out a sigh of admiration. “As expected of the number one mystic palace of the Cang Feng Empire. It’s at least ten times more imposing than the New Moon Mystic Palace, and in terms of sheer presence, they’re not even on the same level.”
After ten days of long-distance travel, Yun Che and Lan Xueruo had finally arrived at Cangfeng Imperial City. It was Yun Che’s first time visiting the imperial capital of the empire he was born in, and along the way, he had indeed been quite shaken. Lan Xueruo was very familiar with Cangfeng Imperial City. She introduced him to the locations of many of the city’s core landmarks, and then brought him straight to the gates of Cangfeng Mystic Palace.
The first thing she wanted to do was settle Yun Che into Cangfeng Mystic Palace.
“Of course. Cangfeng Mystic Palace has a legacy of one thousand eight hundred years. It has direct oversight and supply from the imperial clan, abundant resources and cultivation conditions, and instructors famous throughout the empire. Those branch mystic palaces naturally can’t compare.” As Lan Xueruo spoke, she took out a short-range sound transmission talisman she had bought along the way and placed it on her sound transmission jade. The moment the talisman shattered and disappeared, a small formation appeared on the transmission jade.
“I’ve arrived, I’m right at the main gates of the mystic palace.” Lan Xueruo spoke into the sound transmission jade. As her voice faded, the formation on the jade also vanished.
Not long after, a middle-aged man in a purple robe with a gentle and refined appearance hurried out from the mystic palace gates. He spotted them at once and, from a great distance, shouted excitedly, “Xueruo! Yun Che!? You’re both all right? Thank goodness!”
“Palace Master Qin? Why are you here?”
The person opposite them was none other than the new Palace Master of the New Moon Mystic Palace, Qin Wuyou! This truly caught Yun Che off guard. As the newly appointed Palace Master of New Moon Mystic Palace, why would he be here instead of staying properly in New Moon City? He turned to look at Lan Xueruo and asked in surprise, “The person you just transmitted to… was Palace Master Qin?”
Lan Xueruo smiled and nodded.
“And you’re asking why I’m here?” Qin Wuyou looked at them, let out a long sigh of relief, and spoke with a lingering fear on his face. “First, you disappeared for several days. Xueruo went looking for you alone at the Xiao Sect branch sect, and then there was no news of either of you. I had to personally go to that branch sect, only to find their entire sect in complete chaos. After I got there, I had a fight with that Xiao Tiannan. Later, Xiao Zaihe returned and said you had fallen into the central area of the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range and had disintegrated without a trace. Tsk, it scared me so much I nearly lost my soul. For more than a month, I’ve been on tenterhooks, unable to stay in New Moon City any longer. So I came here to search for news of you, since Xueruo once said she would bring you here.”
The lingering fear and relief Qin Wuyou showed were genuine and without any pretense. This raised doubts in Yun Che’s mind. He absolutely refused to believe that he himself would cause Qin Wuyou to worry this much. The reason for Qin Wuyou’s reaction was undoubtedly Lan Xueruo. For a dignified palace master of a mystic palace to be so terrified, to the point of traveling all the way to Cangfeng Imperial City… the only explanation was that Qin Wuyou had known Lan Xueruo long before, and they shared a relationship that went far deeper than what was apparent.
“Palace Master Qin, have you… told my father?” Lan Xueruo asked very carefully.
“Tsk, how would I dare? Otherwise, if I let your… father know that I failed to protect you, my head would be… ahem. Thankfully, you’ve returned safely. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t have been able to hold on.” Qin Wuyou wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Yun Che: “…”
“Palace Master Qin, you won’t be returning to New Moon Mystic Palace, will you?” Yun Che suddenly asked out of the blue.
Qin Wuyou was startled, then nodded. “That’s right. They’ve already dispatched a new palace master to New Moon Mystic Palace. But how did you know?”
“Just a guess.” Yun Che smiled and said casually. In his heart, he thought silently: So after all, the reason Qin Wuyou went to New Moon Mystic Palace was for Lan Xueruo. It seems Lan Xueruo’s identity is indeed no ordinary one. Now that Lan Xueruo has returned to Cangfeng Imperial City, he has no reason to stay in New Moon Mystic Palace anymore.
“Yun Che, where exactly did you go those days you disappeared? Why were you together with Xueruo, and chased by the Xiao Sect? How did you escape after falling into that Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range, a place even I dare not enter? Could it be that Xiao Zaihe, failing to catch you, deliberately lied?” Qin Wuyou fired off a string of questions.
“I’ll explain these things to you later. Palace Master Qin, when you left New Moon City, what was the situation with the Xiao Sect branch sect?” Lan Xueruo asked.
“Heh, that branch sect.” Qin Wuyou chuckled. “I think it’s about done for.”
“About… done for?” Lan Xueruo was surprised.
“That’s right.” Qin Wuyou nodded and said slowly, “I don’t know what calamity befell them, but according to the intelligence I gathered, it seems they invited a quack who pretended to be a divine doctor. That quack completely crippled Xiao Luocheng—his meridians were ruined, his profound veins destroyed. Not to mention ever possessing profound strength again, he can’t even stand up for the rest of his life. He can only spend it forever in bed. And that’s not all—it’s said that before leaving, that quack used some unknown method to loot their sect’s treasure vault clean. That’s practically digging out most of this sect’s foundation.”
“So, did they find out who that ‘quack’ was?” Lan Xueruo glanced at Yun Che with an amused expression.
Qin Wuyou shook his head. “No. I heard that quack was disguised, so there was no way to trace him.”
Yun Che curled his lips. He knew it—even if Xiao Tiannan knew full well that he had done everything, he would never spread it. Because if outsiders learned that their grand sect had been completely brought down by a sixteen-year-old boy with mere Xuan Entry Realm profound strength, not only would their branch sect lose face, but even the main sect would be humiliated abroad.
“But that branch sect is still quite large. They can grit their teeth and barely get by. But what happened later was even more interesting.” Qin Wuyou’s face began to show a gloating expression. “It’s said that to save his son Xiao Luocheng, Xiao Tiannan personally went to the Black Moon Merchant Guild and bought a King Xuan Dragon Pill! Yes, you heard that right—a King Xuan Realm Dragon Pill! But the next day, he barged into the Black Moon Merchant Guild again, insisting that that King Xuan Dragon Pill was fake. Originally, all this was kept secret… but what kind of existence is the Black Moon Merchant Guild? Would they sell fake goods? Back then, Xiao Tiannan bought the Dragon Pill together with Xiao Baicao. If it were fake, how could they not have detected it at the time? Faced with Xiao Tiannan’s aggressive accusations, Puhe of the Black Moon Merchant Guild flew into a rage and spread the news that Xiao Tiannan had bought a King Xuan Dragon Pill from him.”
Yun Che’s brows twitched… Oh, oh! I originally thought that since I was forced to leave New Moon City in a hurry, that fake King Xuan Dragon Pill, besides diverting Xiao Tiannan and Xiao Baicao, couldn’t play the role I had designed for it. I never expected the Black Moon Merchant Guild to give it a push… And this push was far more effective than if I had stayed in the city and tried to spread the news myself! As Qin Wuyou said, what kind of existence is the Black Moon Merchant Guild? They are fair to all, and their word is as good as gold! Could something they sold, something they said, be fake?
“As soon as this news broke, it naturally stirred up a huge commotion. The next day, all the inns in New Moon City were full. The streets were packed with Spirit Xuan Realm and Earth Xuan Realm experts. I even sensed two terrifying Heavenly Xuan Realm experts. It’s said that on the very first night, the Xiao Sect branch sect suffered dozens of waves of invasions and stealth thefts. Later, Xiao Wuji, the Chief Elder of the Xiao Sect’s Medicine Sect, personally came and demanded that the branch sect hand over the King Xuan Dragon Pill. If they handed it over, it would be a great merit and they would be heavily rewarded. If they couldn’t, the branch sect would be permanently expelled from the Xiao Sect. Xiao Tiannan was stubborn—first he insisted it was fake, then he claimed it was stolen. In short, he absolutely couldn’t produce it…”
Yun Che sneered inwardly… Nonsense! Even if he wanted to hand it over, how could he? That fake King Xuan Dragon Pill was fabricated using a Secondary Xuan Pill obtained from Lan Xueruo back then. It could only maintain its form for four days. By the fifth day, the King Xuan Dragon Pill aura that had been infused into it would completely dissipate, and its color would change from crimson to dull gray. What could he hand over? Could he really take that low-grade Secondary Xuan Pill and tell Xiao Wuji that this was the King Xuan Dragon Pill?
If he did that, Xiao Wuji would probably kill him on the spot.
“After that, I left New Moon City, and I didn’t inquire about what happened later. But I’m certain that the Xiao Sect branch sect in New Moon City is completely finished.” Qin Wuyou finished speaking with a faint smile. After all, he had only met Xiao Tiannan twice, and both times they had fought at first sight. Now that Xiao Tiannan was at the end of his rope, he naturally felt some satisfaction.
“Oh, right.” Qin Wuyou turned to Yun Che and said, “I also brought Yuanba along. Back then, I told him that since you were together with Xueruo, there was a good chance she would bring you here. When I was about to leave New Moon City, he begged me with all his might to bring him along, saying he wouldn’t be at ease until he saw you again. So I brought him. In a little while, you can go—”
“Brother-in-law!!”
Before Qin Wuyou could finish, an excited shout came from nearby. Yun Che’s gaze passed over Qin Wuyou and he immediately spotted Xia Yuanba, standing at the entrance of Cangfeng Mystic Palace with tears in his eyes.
And beside Xia Yuanba was someone he never expected to see here…
Murong Ye!
Why was he here?
“Brother-in-law!!”
Xia Yuanba shouted again, sprinting over. His massive body lunged at Yun Che, his thick arms tightly embracing him as he wailed, “Brother-in-law… you’re really all right… thank goodness… thank goodness… A month ago, when I heard you fell into the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range, I thought… I thought…”
Xia Yuanba had the physique of a giant, but now he was crying like a child. Yun Che’s eyes also moistened slightly. When he was very young, he knew that if he died one day, only three people in this world would weep for him… one was his grandfather, one was his little aunt, and the other was Xia Yuanba.
“All right, stop crying. I’m fine, aren’t I?” Yun Che patted Xia Yuanba’s arm and comforted him. “And how many times have I told you? Don’t call me brother-in-law.”
“Wah… I know, brother-in-law. I won’t call you brother-in-law anymore… Wah… Brother-in-law, I’m so glad you’re all right. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t know what to do…”
Yun Che: “…”