When Daoist Master Guaji’s disciple said those words, what he originally waited for was Jian Zhen and the others being scared out of their wits.
After all, they were just a few newcomers who had just entered the jianghu. As long as they were frightened a bit, they would naturally know fear. But the Daoist master’s disciple discovered that aside from Yu, the others had no reaction at all.
Jian Zhen even started chatting right in front of them.
The young man with fair, clean looks wearing a plain-colored small Daoist robe first asked Fu Changhuan: “Have you seen him among the immortal clans?”
Fu Changhuan’s eyes were as still as an ancient well. In a light tone he said: “Never.”
So Jian Zhen turned his head and asked Ye Jisheng instead, obediently seeking an answer as he said: “Have you seen him among the demon clans?”
The man who was lazily leaning against the pillar raised his eyes and glanced at the Daoist priest and the others. His entire aura was loose, yet carried a kind of condescension from on high. He slightly parted his lips and said: “Is he worthy?”
Daoist Master Guaji: “……”
As soon as the words fell, the Daoist priest’s disciple was enraged. He drew his sword and was about to rush over: “You are truly audacious, daring to show disrespect to the Daoist master…!”
The one standing closest to him was Jian Zhen.
Jian Zhen had just raised his head and had not yet clearly seen the incoming sword move when a gust of wind swept past his cheek.
“Boom!”
The crossbeam of the corridor pavilion not far away suddenly collapsed. The person who came was abruptly struck and sent flying like a kite with its string cut, his entire body slamming hard into a beam and pillar, falling to the ground wailing in pain.
The speed was so fast that everyone could not even see who made the move.
Daoist Master Guaji’s expression changed drastically. He looked at Jian Zhen with vigilance and said: “Young friend, why was it necessary to strike so heavily?!”
Jian Zhen: “……”
The little grass felt wronged, the little grass felt unjust.
It clearly hadn’t done anything at all!
But it was also not a grass that would be bullied at will. Grass also has a temper.
Jian Zhen said: “Why not? You drew your swords first intending to injure people. I was just acting in self-defense.”
Daoist Master Guaji angrily said: “Sophistry! Is this how one defends? I would like to ask, is this how Fuling Mountain teaches its disciples, to strike and injure people?”
Jian Zhen said frankly: “Alright, then go ask.”
Daoist Master Guaji: ?
Jian Zhen looked completely unconcerned, his fair little face full of sincerity: “While you’re at it, ask whether, during our examination, catching yao together with you counts as results.”
Daoist Master Guaji’s face alternated between green and white, nearly fainting from anger.
Seeing this, Manor Lord Wang hurriedly came out to smooth things over and said: “Everyone, please do not be angry. How about this, since you have all come to my humble manor as a courtesy to me, then tonight let the Fuling Mountain disciples make the move to subdue the yao. If it does not succeed, then Daoist Master Guaji can take action. How about that?”
Daoist Master Guaji now had a way out, and naturally had no reason to insist further. He nodded, counting it as an agreement.
Yu also nodded and said: “That would be best.”
Manor Lord Wang proactively said: “Since everyone has gathered here in high spirits, how about I act as host and invite everyone to gather together and have a simple meal, alright?”
Jian Zhen’s eyes lit up.
But Fu Changhuan said coolly: “Thank you for the manor lord’s kindness, but we have already abstained from food.”
Manor Lord Wang nodded awkwardly and said: “So that’s how it is. Good, good, then I won’t disturb you any further.”
Everyone began to head back.
Jian Zhen was walking at the back. Seeing that Manor Lord Wang and the others ahead had already gone some distance, Yu hurriedly moved over and said in a low voice: “Brother Jian, why did you speak like that just now?”
Jian Zhen asked curiously: “What words?”
Yu held back again and again before saying: “I mean, why did you ask whether Brother Black and Brother White had seen that person?”
They said that the Immortal Lord and the Demon Lord would have to give some face.
What does that have to do with the two of them?
As the words fell, not only Yu, even the two people beside him cast their gazes onto Jian Zhen.
Jian Zhen hadn’t thought much about it just now. Being looked at by Yu’s eager-for-knowledge gaze, the little grass thought seriously for a moment and answered: “Because the two of them have some connections in the immortal clan and the demon clan.”
Mm!
Connections meaning the people of the immortal clan and the demon clan.
Rounding up and down, it hadn’t lied at all!
Yu suddenly understood: “So that’s how it is!”
Not only did he not feel there was anything wrong, Yu even looked at Fu Changhuan and Ye Jisheng with a bit of admiration: “Brother White and Brother Black truly have extraordinary backgrounds. I didn’t expect you to have such connections, and yet still be so approachable, benevolent and magnanimous!”
Jian Zhen had never heard anyone praise an elegant and aloof Immortal Venerable as approachable, or praise a moody Demon God as benevolent and magnanimous.
However, it wasn’t over yet.
Yu scratched his head and said: “I was just thinking, the Immortal Lord and the Demon God are what kind of figures? How could just anyone see them? They are the Venerables of the three realms. Let alone Daoist Master Guaji, I’m afraid even in my lifetime it would be hard for me to see them a few times.”
Jian Zhen: “……”
As he spoke, Yu also comforted himself with a smile, looked at the few of them and said: “But being able to know Brother Jian, and to know Brother Black and Brother White, I’m already extremely satisfied!”
Jian Zhen inexplicably felt a bit guilty.
In order to ease his sense of guilt, while Yu was still talking endlessly, Jian Zhen grabbed Fu Changhuan’s arm behind him and Ye Jisheng’s arm, and the little grass standing in the middle revealed a bright smile and said: “Actually, Little Black and Little White are also very good people, not inferior to those two at all.”
Yu’s face changed drastically. He looked left and right and said: “Brother Jian, you can’t speak carelessly like that!”
Jian Zhen was stunned.
Yu said: “The Immortal Venerable and the Demon Venerable are the Venerables of the three realms. If the people of the immortal clan and the Demon Venerable’s subjects were to hear you belittle them like this, it would be terrible.”
Jian Zhen asked: “Why?”
“After all, what kind of status do those two have? How could they possibly appear in this small manor.” Yu smiled lightly and said: “Unless red rain is about to fall from the heavens.”
As soon as the words fell, the pavilion in the distance that had been smashed completely collapsed, letting out a booming sound.
Jian Zhen: “……”
The heavens had rained dust.
While everyone was chatting, they returned to the small side courtyard not far away. Ever since finding the Xi Die, Yu had become much more cautious and looked around the room again. The Immortal Venerable, on the other hand, was looking at the red cords and bells hanging under the eaves, as if pondering something.
Jian Zhen and Ye Jisheng walked at the very back.
The evening glow gradually fell, adding a few touches of deep, cool feeling to the manor.
Jian Zhen raised his head and asked: “Just now in the corridor, was it you who made a move to save me? Didn’t you say you wanted me to temper myself?”
Ye Jisheng’s black robes fluttered at the hem in the wind. He walked unhurriedly and said lightly: “Is Daoist Master Guaji your tempering question?”
Jian Zhen’s dark eyes blinked and blinked. He obediently shook his head and said: “No.”
Ye Jisheng: “Then what reason does this venerable have not to make a move?”
Jian Zhen: “…That’s true.”
The two walked side by side, the afterglow of the setting sun stretching their shadows very long.
Ye Jisheng said lightly: “What, not happy about it?”
“Not at all.” Half of Jian Zhen’s small face was tinted orange-yellow by the afterglow of the sunset, the other half in shadow. He softly sighed and said: “I was just thinking, some people are really strange.”
Ye Jisheng said: “Strange?”
Jian Zhen nodded and said: “Yes, look, since he doesn’t recognize you, why does he still say he does?”
The corner of Ye Jisheng’s mouth hooked into a mocking smile: “Naturally because there is profit to be gained.”
Jian Zhen looked thoughtful. The little grass opened up a line of thinking, its eyes brightened: “So that’s how it is, turns out there’s such a way to use it!”
“What” Ye Jisheng lowered his gaze to look at him: “You want to use it.”
Jian Zhen shook his head and said: “No need.”
Ye Jisheng was somewhat surprised and raised an eyebrow: “Oh?”
“Because you’re right here. Why would I need to borrow a name?” Jian Zhen’s fair little face broke into a smile. It was quite clever, analyzing seriously: “When you’re not around, even if I say it, no one would believe me.”
He had thought his logic was flawless.
But unexpectedly, Ye Jisheng’s dark eyes moved slightly. The afterglow of the setting sun fell upon him, casting a dim layer of light over the man. He said lightly: “Saying my name directly might not be useful, but saying another form of address would work.”
Jian Zhen was curious: “What form of address is more effective than calling your name?”
Ye Jisheng said unhurriedly, stepping into the small courtyard, lowering his gaze to look at him: “Didn’t you already try it a few days ago?”
Jian Zhen: ??
The little grass froze, the little grass thought.
His memory suddenly jumped back to a few days ago when he had cried out calling him husband.
A certain grass’s ears instantly turned red all over. It, it had been a stopgap measure at the time, and besides, the baby’s safety wasn’t his concern alone!!
After everyone returned to the small courtyard, the sun had set to the west.
The group prepared their tools and then came to the madam’s small courtyard. Yu began drawing an array around the area. Jian Zhen did not know arrays or talisman drawing. It sat beneath the osmanthus tree in the courtyard,
Chatting with the osmanthus tree.
Jian Zhen bit into the dried plums that Fu Changhuan handed him, nodding as he said: “Wow, so that’s how it is.”
The osmanthus tree excitedly nodded its branches and even shook down quite a few golden flower petals.
Jian Zhen blew the osmanthus petals off the dried plums and said: “Thank you, don’t worry, I’ll take care of this matter.”
When he finished chatting, Yu, panting, ran over and said: “Brother Jian, how was it? What information did it tell you?”
Jian Zhen swallowed the dried plum in his mouth and said softly: “It said this courtyard is noisy every night, making it impossible for its flowers to bloom well, and it wants to ask me to help move it back to the mountain.”
Yu was dumbfounded: “That’s all?”
Jian Zhen nodded obediently.
Yu complained: “This tree is completely useless.”
As soon as the words fell, the osmanthus tree suddenly showered a great many golden petals down all over Yu.
Yu: “…It holds grudges.”
While the two were working hard here to catch yao, not far away two figures, one in black and one in white, sat in the pavilion drinking tea with an air of serene elegance. One would say they were slacking off, yet both of their presences were extremely strong. Clearly they were just drinking tea, yet they gave off a sense of doing something extremely important. After seeing this, Yu dared to be angry but did not dare to speak.
Night fell, laying a layer of somewhat eerie darkness over the entire courtyard.
In such an atmosphere, ordinary people would be extremely nervous, frightened to the point of not daring to breathe loudly.
Yet Fu Changhuan could still beckon to Jian Zhen and say: “Come.”
Jian Zhen ran over in small steps.
Fu Changhuan handed him the tea in his hand and said: “Drink a little to warm yourself.”
Jian Zhen took it and gulped it down in one go, with no awareness at all of wasting top-grade spirit spring water. He only felt that after drinking it his whole body felt moist and sweet. His eyes brightened and he said: “Delicious!”
The corner of Fu Changhuan’s mouth curved into a smile.
In the pavilion, the fragrance of tea overflowed.
Fu Changhuan wore a plain-colored disciple robe. Even though he had already transformed into an ordinary appearance, it could not conceal the refined elegance around him. He said to Yu: “Little brother, come have a cup as well.”
Yu walked up properly, took the teacup, and said: “Many thanks.”
He was the ninth prince of the demon clan and had naturally drunk quite a lot of fine tea, but none compared to this cup. After drinking it, it was like a clear spring entering sweetness, refreshing and awakening the mind, warmth flowing evenly.
This was definitely not an ordinary item.
That conclusion landed in Yu’s mind at once. He was just about to exchange a look with Jian Zhen and discuss how this tea was not simple.
However, beside him, Jian Zhen downed two cups in one breath and said softly: “Alright, not thirsty anymore.”
Fu Changhuan smiled: “That’s good.”
Yu: “……”
He finally understood what it meant to play the lute to a cow.
After the two finished drinking tea, they were about to return to the array, but almost as soon as the teacups were set down, Yu sensed an unusual power. His vigilance surged!
The lanterns in the courtyard went out simultaneously in an instant.
In the courtyard, the candlelight in the madam’s room flickered on and off. The cry of an infant came through, especially clear in the cold night.
Yu said: “It’s here!”
Everyone’s expressions changed. Jian Zhen only saw the array in the courtyard flare brightly, and then a black shadow appeared in the courtyard. The shadow was formless and traceless, charging straight toward the infant’s window.
Yu immediately drew his sword to activate the array, chanting an incantation: “Clear night of four directions, heaven and earth in awe, fierce winds and torrential rain, all for my use, Subjugating Yao Three Absolutes Array, activate!”
The small courtyard was enveloped in golden light.
Several strands emerged from the array, tightly seizing the ghostly shadow outside the window.
Just as Yu was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the golden threads of his array suddenly weakened considerably. The array, which should have been as impregnable as solid gold, loosened in an instant. After breaking free of the restraints, the ghostly shadow immediately lunged toward Jian Zhen and the others!
Yu raised his hand and held his sword to block this strike.
The ghostly shadow pounced again. Just as Yu was beginning to struggle, a yellow talisman floated over and knocked the evil spirit back.
Daoist Master Guaji appeared at the courtyard gate, smugly saying: “It seems that without this old Daoist, you really wouldn’t manage.”
Just as he was feeling smug, Jian Zhen’s clear voice rang out: “Behind you!”
Yu turned around and saw a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.
Countless evil yao and evil spirits crawled out from the ground and from behind the houses. The infant’s crying in the courtyard was extremely loud. Black shadows tightly surrounded Daoist Master Guaji nearby. Daoist Master Guaji cried out in alarm, releasing several talismans in succession. Yet no matter how many talismans he released, there were still endless black shadows pouring out in full force.
Daoist Master Guaji wailed in pain: “What’s going on, why are my talismans dissolving so easily? Save me, save me!”
Yu immediately said to Jian Zhen: “Brother Jian, there’s a problem with my array. You go help me check the situation at the array eye, I’ll go save him.”
Light flashed within the array. Yu held his sword and charged into the black shadows, chopping down several, yet the effect was still minimal. Blood and miasma splattered everywhere. Under the cold moonlight, the ground was full of twisted shadows mixed with screams, flesh and blood flying.
Jian Zhen took a few steps to the fence outside the courtyard.
That was where Yu had set the array eye in the afternoon. The talismans and stones on it had not been damaged. He squatted down and wiped the bluestone with his fingertip.
Suddenly, fragmented sounds came from behind him.
Jian Zhen turned his head and saw a black shadow baring its fangs in the night, attacking him at extreme speed.
At the critical moment, he heard someone in the night sky say extremely lightly: “Seeking death.”
A ripple of red light spread through the night. The bodies of the black shadows froze. All the black yao demons in the entire array let out painful, distorted sounds, mixed with the infant’s cries from within the courtyard. Countless black shadows exploded into blood.
Blood rained down from the air, like a grand rain of blood.
However, the very next second an invisible barrier spread open around everyone. All the blood rain bypassed the people and fell to the ground.
Jian Zhen looked toward the two people in the pavilion.
This power was very familiar to him, it was Ye Jisheng’s soul fire and the Immortal Venerable’s Clear Wind Barrier.
Daoist Master Guaji, who had narrowly escaped death, wailed: “Ah ah ah, my hand, my leg…”
Everyone’s attention was drawn over.
The courtyard returned to quiet once more, but the blood and flesh covering the ground and the stench of gore lingered for a long time. Manor Lord Wang led people over slowly. Upon seeing this scene, he too was startled.
Manor Lord Wang said loudly: “Many thanks to all the young heroes for eliminating the yao demons! I, Wang, also did not expect these demons to be so ferocious today. Many thanks to all of you young heroes for stepping in to help my child!”
Yu said: “Check on the child first.”
Manor Lord Wang hurriedly said: “Yes, yes, check on the child.”
The door in the courtyard was pushed open, and the infant’s crying came from the inner room.
Everyone stood at the doorway, only able to see figures moving back and forth inside. Manor Lord Wang seemed to want to look at the child, while the madam held the child and wept, her whole body trembling.
Manor Lord Wang came out and said: “Let everyone have a laugh. The child was frightened, so he won’t stop crying.”
Just in this extreme chaos, Fu Changhuan, who had hardly spoken, spoke up: “Manor lord, may I ask a question?”
Manor Lord Wang froze. He was very wary of Fu Changhuan and Ye Jisheng, and hurriedly said respectfully: “Young hero, please ask.”
Fu Changhuan said: “What are your honored wife’s and child’s original forms?”
For those of the yao clan, asking about one’s original form was a very private matter. Many people were unwilling to reveal their original forms, because doing so would expose their weaknesses.
Manor Lord Wang indeed hesitated: “This…”
Fu Changhuan said lightly: “If the manor lord has difficulties, there is no need to answer.”
Manor Lord Wang hurriedly said: “No, no. The madam and the child are both parasol trees that have attained spirit.”
Fu Changhuan raised his eyebrows and said: “Oh?”
The child’s crying continued to come from the room, unceasing.
Yu let out a breath of relief and looked at Jian Zhen, saying: “That’s great. This friend of mine is also a plant that has attained spirit. He can converse with plants, and his spiritual power has healing effects on plants. Perhaps if the manor lord lets him take a look at the child, it will be useful!”
Jian Zhen nodded lightly, his small face full of seriousness: “Mm, I can try.”
The manor lord’s expression changed drastically. He forced a smile and said: “There is a physician in the manor who will arrive shortly. Although young hero is a disciple of Fuling Mountain, in the end you are not a physician skilled in children’s ailments, so it would not be convenient to trouble you to act.”
This was the first time Jian Zhen had taken the initiative to help and been refused. He was just about to nod.
But Ye Jisheng, who had been lazily watching the scene by the doorway, let out a cold laugh, carrying a bit of contempt and mockery.
Everyone turned to look back.
Ye Jisheng was dressed in black, blending into the night. His calm eyes fell on the manor lord, yet carried an immeasurable sense of pressure. He said lightly: “Is it inconvenient, or are you afraid?”
Manor Lord Wang froze.
Inside, it was quiet; outside, the bloodstains were deep.
Manor Lord Wang’s expression was strange: “What does this young hero mean? Is it wrong for me, Wang, to care about the safety of my wife and child?”
Ye Jisheng said lightly: “Those filthy things outside, you raised them, didn’t you.”
Manor Lord Wang’s face instantly turned deathly pale!
Inside the room, the infant’s cries continued without end; outside, the people were drenched in sweat.
Manor Lord Wang said somewhat haltingly: “You, what are you talking about? How come I don’t understand? Don’t slander me with blood-spouting accusations. How could I harm my own wife and child? My relationship with my madam is extremely good. You can go out and ask around!”
Yu spoke up: “If your relationship with the madam were truly that good, you wouldn’t, while clearly knowing that evil yao demons were intending to harm the child, let your wife and child stay in the courtyard while you hid elsewhere.”
Manor Lord Wang’s face instantly turned pale. He said: “That’s because I needed to look for opportunities outside to assist you.”
It sounded like a decent excuse.
Jian Zhen spoke softly and said, “If you wanted to assist us, you wouldn’t have smeared something on Yu’s array core, causing his formation to fail halfway through its use.”
Manor Lord Wang’s gaze sharpened. “Baseless slander. Did you see it with your own eyes?”
Jian Zhen stood in front of Ye Jisheng, full of confidence, and said crisply, “I didn’t see it, but the stone of the array core has your scent on it. I wouldn’t smell it wrong.”
Manor Lord Wang’s expression changed in an instant. “Why would I do such a thing?”
That question left everyone at a loss.
Since they had come to help his wife and child, why would he do this? There was no motive or reason at all.
Just as everyone fell silent.
Fu Changhuan said calmly, “Then you’ll have to ask your child.”
The sound of crying inside the room continued, and in the quiet black night it sounded somewhat piercing. The man dressed in plain white stepped toward the inner room. Manor Lord Wang wanted to stop him, but was completely unable to, an invisible pressure descended, as heavy as a thousand jin, rendering him utterly unable to move!
Everyone followed them inside.
Fu Changhuan slowly walked into the room and saw a woman sitting inside, holding a child in her arms.
When the woman saw people enter, she shrank back in terror and cried out warily, “Don’t come any closer, don’t touch me, don’t hurt my child!”
Fu Changhuan stood where he was and said calmly, “The child in your arms has been crying nonstop. He’s hungry, isn’t he?”
The woman froze.
“He hasn’t eaten meat, so he keeps crying.” Fu Changhuan’s eyes were cold, carrying a chill like snow. “Before we arrived, how many cultivators did it eat?”
The woman’s eyes slowly widened, and she looked in terror at the man in white standing in the room.
Manor Lord Wang’s anguished voice sounded from outside: “I beg you, don’t hurt my wife and child. This is all my fault. They are innocent. If there’s anything, come at me!”
Everyone turned to look.
The ever-slick Manor Lord Wang was now kneeling on the ground in utter dishevelment. He kowtowed and said, “It was my fault. It was me who set up the formation to lure evil spirits. It was me who wanted to kill you. This is all my fault!”
The child’s crying inside the room grew softer and softer.
Yu drew his sword and asked angrily, “Why did you do this?”
Manor Lord Wang’s robes were already somewhat dirty. With tears streaming down his face, he spoke in despair: “My wife and I have been deeply in love for many years. My wife’s body has always been weak, and she was unable to bear children. This child was only born after my wife carried him for ten months with great difficulty. But this child was born with a frail bloodline. The physician said he might not live past half a month…”
Yu said, “What does this have to do with you harming people?”
Manor Lord Wang hurriedly said, “I originally wanted to comfort my wife, but after she learned the child might die young, she became extremely agitated, even somewhat unhinged. I couldn’t bear to see my wife in pain. Just at that time, someone came to me and said that the Luo family in the south of the city had a secret art that could extend the child’s life, but the price was… was…”
At this point, he did not dare continue.
Ye Jisheng sat on a chair in the outer hall, casually toying with a cup in his hand. Hearing this, he curled his lips into a smile and said indifferently, “The price was that you needed to continuously use the flesh and blood of cultivators with cultivation as sacrifices for them.”
Manor Lord Wang’s face turned deathly pale at this, and he could only nod.
The child’s crying inside the room gradually quieted, while outside the stench of blood soared to the heavens, it was no exaggeration to call it a human purgatory.
Fu Changhuan said, “All of this was taught to you by them?”
Manor Lord Wang nodded and said, “Yes. The Demon-Suppressing Grand Formation outside can absorb the cultivators’ power, refine their inner cores and flesh and blood, and the Luo family would then deliver pills to extend the child’s life. We really had no other choice…”
Yu shouted angrily, “What do you mean, no other choice? Your child’s life is a life, are other people’s lives not lives?!”
Manor Lord Wang’s face was ashen, and he did not dare speak.
Jian Zhen said, “Before we arrived, did all those who enthusiastically came earlier to eliminate the yao die?”
Manor Lord Wang did not dare look at his face and only nodded lightly.
Jian Zhen pressed his lips together and said, “By doing this, is it really good for your child?”
Everyone saw the child inside the room.
The infant who had originally been swaddled was covered in blood-red all over. When it cried, its mouth was full of sharp teeth, completely unrecognizable as the son of a tree spirit.
Manor Lord Wang wept and said, “Things have come to this, I have no room for regret anymore!”
Fu Changhuan said calmly, “The Luo family in the south of the city, could it be the Luo family of Luo Yunshan?”
Manor Lord Wang froze, then hurriedly nodded and said, “Yes, exactly. Does young hero know of them?”
Fu Changhuan said nothing.
Only Ye Jisheng let out a cold laugh, tinged with faint mockery.
Jian Zhen looked at the two in confusion.
Ye Jisheng said indifferently, “Luo Yunshan is the uncle of the yao clan’s eldest prince.”
And the yao clan’s eldest prince was the one most friendly with the immortal clan.
Jian Zhen vaguely recalled the eldest prince. It seemed Ye Jisheng had mentioned him before, saying he was a green-haired locust tree spirit. He said, “No matter whose uncle he is, harming people like this is wrong.”
Fu Changhuan said, “I’m going to make a trip to the Luo family.”
Jian Zhen looked at Ye Jisheng.
Ye Jisheng said calmly, “Using the demon clan’s Demon-Suppressing Formation to harm people, I naturally have to go see who dares have such audacity.”
Jian Zhen said, “I’ll go with you.”
Unexpectedly, the two said in unison, “No!”
Jian Zhen blinked in confusion. “Why?”
Fu Changhuan said earnestly, “That Luo family is not a good place to go. You can stay here. Besides, your body is the most important right now.”
Ye Jisheng, on the other hand, said, “That green-haired locust tree spirit may also be connected to the Luo family. You should see him less.”
No one else knew who the green-haired locust tree spirit was.
Jian Zhen thought for a moment and obediently said, “Alright then.”
In the past, Yu had always been very proactive in such matters.
But when the eldest prince was mentioned, Yu’s expression changed. He said, “Brother Jian, I think you’d better go together with Brother White and Brother Black. This entire manor is soaked in too much blood energy and isn’t suitable for you to rest. I’ll stay behind to handle the aftermath. Following the two of them will also be the safest for you.”
This last sentence was also the most important one.
Jian Zhen looked at the two of them. It was obvious that Yu’s words had also persuaded them, so they no longer objected.
The manor was anything but peaceful throughout the night.
Jian Zhen was prone to drowsiness. In the end, he still slept half the night in the side courtyard, until the next day when Ye Jisheng lifted him up to set off for the south of the city. Although it was something important, the two big shots were still calm.
Even so.
Halfway there, Ye Jisheng even bought Jian Zhen two small glutinous rice cakes to eat.
They did not arrive until they reached the Luo residence in the south of the city.
After knocking on the door, someone soon came to open it. The one who opened the door was a servant wearing drab gray clothes. He looked at the three people outside with some vigilance: a fair, tender-looking young man with a round face wearing a cyan cloth robe, and behind him stood two men dressed in black and white. These two men had ordinary looks, but their bearing was extraordinary, inspiring wariness.
The servant asked warily, “Who are you?”
Fu Changhuan said, “We have some business and would like to see the family head.”
The servant immediately tried to close the door and said, “Our family head is not someone you can see just because you want to. Unless you have a letter of introduction, he won’t see anyone.”
Fu Changhuan was very calm. “We were introduced by Manor Lord Wang.”
Upon hearing Manor Lord Wang, the servant’s motion of closing the door paused. He hesitated and said, “Introduced by Manor Lord Wang? But our family head only sees those with families. The three of you…”
Just as the servant was about to become suspicious.
Ye Jisheng curled his lips into a smile and said lightly, “Who said I don’t have a family?”
The servant was taken aback.
“This one.” Ye Jisheng pointed to Jian Zhen, who was eating pastries, and said unhurriedly, “Is my wife, and is currently pregnant.”
The servant looked at Fu Changhuan in confusion again. “Then him?”
This man in white, though he looked ordinary, had an otherworldly bearing, unlike a mortal, and was on par with this man in black. They were both surrounding this fair young man, could it be that…
The servant was making guesses.
The smile on Ye Jisheng’s face deepened slightly as he said leisurely, “This one is a servant I hired, responsible for taking care of my wife. No need to mind him.”
Servant: “……?”
Immortal Venerable: Heh heh.
