“Has everyone enjoyed the meal offered by our establishment?”
The young man was not a cultivator as An Fei had expected, but instead the restaurant owner’s son. With his fists cupped in the general salute of the jianghu, he swept his gaze throughout the entire dining floor of the restaurant, locking gazes with a few certain individuals hidden deeply within the sea of customers.
“The afternoon hours of the restaurant has now closed. Esteemed Cultivators, please begin conducting your business!”
Having received little disparaging remarks or expressions of dissatisfaction, the young man briefly nodded his head in assent. Bowing with a genial expression on his countenance, the Young Master of the restaurant departed through a side door installed near the corner of a wall. The servants soon began to follow, and soon the entire dining floor of the restaurant was occupied strictly by its customers.
“Why did he leave, just like that?”
An Fei palmed her cheek as she lazily tossed a question towards the still dining Xu Lingxin. The temple maiden brushed at her lips with a folded satin cloth, and gazed back towards the young girl with an airy smile on her lips.
“That was the Young Master of the Chun Family,” she fluttered her fingers.
“Though none of the Chun Family’s members were blessed with the ability to cultivate, they stand amongst the pinnacle of the secular clans – and even cultivators dare not breath heavily in their presence. By not knowing this, Little Sister’s certainly not from this region, ah?”
“I…”
An Fei immediately began responding with the words that Wen Jiu had once imparted to her, declaring her identity as a travelling merchant from Great Yan. However, the instant the first word left her lips, the young girl screeched to an abrupt halt.
Thinking again, this was the second time Xu Lingxin had raised this question. Why was that?
The first time was when she had circled around on her path to return to her and the Haunted Buddhist Sect’s cultivator to dispose of the Shadow Blighting Pearl… was it based on her wording…?
“Little Sister?”
Xu Lingxin slightly raised her pitch to regain the young girl’s attention. After confirming An Fei’s scarlet irises locked onto her figure, the temple maiden softly coughed while pointing towards the general area of the seated customers.
“Little Sister, it’s not a good idea to lose track of your thoughts in front of cultivators,” she cautioned with a gentle smile.
“Others may not care so much as Little Sister is a mortal, but those with malicious thoughts will certainly make use of their abilities to peer into your mind. There are indeed martial arts techniques that allow spiritual connection, and the side effects after being subject to one of them are truly scary…”
“Er… many thanks for Elder Sister’s concern…”
An Fei quickly bobbed her head in assent, and her eyes imperceptibly flickered towards the corner of her right eye. There, she found the lingering shadow of a gleaming, steely light – sharp and vicious with the tenacity of a honed edge.
“Alright! Elder Sister’s helped ward off a devil cultivator’s baleful gaze from your body. This favor I owe, is now fulfilled, no?”
“…huh?”
The young girl briefly froze in place as she stared at Xu Lingxin’s unashamed figure. Before she could voice neither dissent nor inquiry, the cultivators seated in the restaurant had completed much of their internal deliberations, and were fully prepared to engage in heated discussion.
“Since nobody is speaking, I, Jang Yoon, will begin!”
A brash youngster leapt to his feet with great haste, accompanied with a shout of energized excitement and youth. The young cultivator Jang Yoon coughed as he quickly remembered his teachings to clasp his fists in greeting, and swept the sleeve of his robe behind him.
“As of three days ago, our Breaking Clouds and Treading Winds Sect has returned from the principal borders of Jiang Lin Prefecture. The battle was a resounding victory, and we returned with numerous treasures from the hands of the despicable Great Yong!”
“Numerous treasures?” a languished cultivator softly snorted in disagreement.
“Jang Yoon, you – ah, didn’t your Breaking Clouds and Treading Winds Sect have to receive extensive protection from the Violet Jade Pavilion to even survive the border conflict? After paying such heavy and expensive protection fees, where would there be such glamourous and precious treasures remaining?”
The remaining cultivators seated within the restaurant erupted in chuckles and laughter upon witnessing the youngster’s ears flare scarlet with embarrassment and humiliation, and some devoted themselves to the extent of rapping against their winecups with their chopsticks.
Jang Yoon breathed heavily to calm himself down, but the shaking of his fists couldn’t be hidden from a casual gaze, much less than an observant one.
“Of course, our Breaking Clouds and Treading Winds Sect have some treasures left over from our spoils of the border conflict. However, I think the information regarding such… unglamorous treasures should be left until the next time I participate in this meeting!”
“Aih, aih… our Brother Jang here, don’t mind the words of that brat! Here, come here and have a drink, you won’t be disadvantaged in our group!”
Several cultivators immediately dropped their conciliatory attitude and beckoned towards the glaring youngster, smooth porcelain cups filled with wine clenched in their palms.
The cultivator who had outwardly displayed the demeaning attitude was swiftly chased away from his seat by several others, and Jang Yoon found himself standing upon a rather spectacular pedestal.
“Treasures from the border conflict between Bei Tang and Great Yong? Basically… spoils of war?”
Having heard the temple maiden’s ‘kind translation,’ An Fei frowned to herself in light thought, her nimble finger tapping her chin as she pieced together the missing context from Jang Yoon’s rushed and excited words. Ignoring the quiet and inquiring look from Xu Lingxin, the young girl’s gaze flickered from her cup of water, the cultivators within their vicinity, and Jang Yoon who was now being ushered to his newfound spot as a glorious ‘donator’ of treasures.
Initial thoughts and analysis of his actions would indicate that Great Yong had lost again, just as Wen Jiu often complained about. However, for this Jang Yoon to be confident of possessing treasures that would usually be requisitioned by the Violet Jade Pavilion, then Bei Tang’s cultivators and military forces similarly had to be damaged to a significant extent…
Did the Taiyi Sect interfere? Or was it the Heavenly Sword Sect?
“I only managed to bring several low-grade spiritual artefacts we obtained from the conflict. Well… since you know my… usual circumstances when I do come to these meetings, you should also be aware that I don’t possess any highly valuable treasures, but I do know their relevant information!”
“Haha, Brother Jang, that’s more than enough! For us individuals who are not within a sect as flourishing as Brother Jang, even low-grade spiritual artefacts are a lifesaver!”
The majority of those seated quickly raised their winecups in assent, and nobody dared display any expressions of complaint towards the slightly flustered Jang Yoon. With beckoning hands, they forced the youngster to display one treasure after another, and a table was soon cleared to display a sizeable assortment of glimmering objects and sealed bottles.
“Nine-layered Cloud Sword, a spiritual artefact forged from the depths of Bingfeng Mountain! And this – heavens – this is a Shangguan’s Stamp of Artifice!” the first of the few cultivators who had crowded around to take a look breathed sharply, and felt a wave of inferiority and awe wash through his body.
“Brother Jang, you… you really have excellent treasures with you!”
“Hmph!” the youngster shook his sleeve, and a smug expression emerged on his countenance.
“Now you stop doubting my ability? I still have more treasures that I personally brought back from the battlefield, but I don’t know if you all can afford them…”
As the throng of people swarming around Brother Jang Yoon increased by the passing second, Xu Lingxin was patiently ‘educating’ An Fei regarding the basic gestures and interactions between cultivators. The Morning Star Temple maiden waved her arms about, displaying two parts elegance and several parts laziness.
“Little Sister, ah, you must be aware – first and foremost – that many cultivators you will come across belong to either of two factions – those with a sect, and those without. The former will possess an aura of explosiveness and commonality, and can be offended however you desire should you possess the ability, but as for the latter –“
“Heavens… Brother Jang, did you rob a city treasury? High-quality Spiritual Concentrating pills, and you have a hundred per bottle!? And what is this darling thing – a Guanyin bracelet!?”
Just as An Fei was about to ask for confirmation regarding the jianghu’s attitude towards cultivators belonging to sects, the frenzied shout of a shell-shocked cultivator echoed through the restaurant.
At the same time, the young girl witnessed a temple maiden engaging into the secular world as Xu Lingxin’s figure melted into a blurry mix of color and shadows.
