74. Bright Dawns And Warm Lights
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Under a dark sky, in the dead of night, two figures stood a short distance from the forest, their red and white robes gleaming.
"Father, must we stay in this place?" The son asked, biting into an apple. He promptly spat it out. "Urgh! You already killed that woman, so why don't we return?! This place is beneath us! Even the fruits are low-level!"
"A-Zhen, behave." The father replied. "The fruits are the same. I simply bring ours in from outside Baishan...
"And besides," He turned away, his hands behind his back. "That woman was the love of my life! I won't spare them for making me end her life!
"Nor can I ignore whatever that brat or Sect Leader Xu, or even the Sect or Xu Elders might know..."
"But why didn't we just help her escape?" The son asked.
"Do you think I didn't consider that? But then, the Wulin would have come after her, which puts them on our trail. That's also why we must abandon A-Cheng! No trail must lead back to our family!"
"Tch! I don't see why we must be so careful..." The son muttered. "Don't we have people within the Wulin?"
"A-Zhen!" The father warned, and the son fell silent. "We might have people in the Wulin, but the righteous members of the Wulin are not to be taken likely, and nothing, I repeat, NOTHING is more important than the family name and reputation!
"Pay attention... Because I might kill you if you threaten to harm the family some day."
There was silence, where the son brought out another apple, deciding it was better to eat 'low-level' fruits, than to annoy his father.
"My Lord, they're here." A cloaked figure had appeared, bowing behind them, and the father smiled.
"Hao." He said, and behind them, from the forest, a large group of cloaked individuals were hiding, blending into the trees.
"This Final Stage will be memorable!"
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There was bright sunshine at dawn the next day, sending hearty sun rays into Luoyin's room as he took a leisurely bath within a large wooden tub.
"Xiaobai, must you take part in this tournament?" Yinying asked, toying with his gray beard. "Given your current level, even a Senior Disciple can't beat you, so you must be careful not to draw attention to yourself!"
"Aiyaya, if I don't go, others might say I've listened to the false rumours about my own greatness and become too proud! That would harm Weiyan and my father-in-law's reputation.
"Don't worry! I intend to lose within my opponent's first three moves."
"Hmm, hmm." Yinying nodded in agreement. "What about your father? Do you think he will give up?"
From the moment Zhang Guo had repudiated Zhang Furen and kicked Zhang Cheng out, he had instantly written a letter to the Yan house, begging Luoyin to return to the Zhang Mansion.
Luoyin had ignored it, but in the past two days, at least five more had arrived, each promising him anything from 'naming him as House Head', to 'letting Weiyan run the entire household', to 'spending all he had for their betterment'...
But Luoyin wasn't fooled, and at present he rose out of the bath. "That fellow has some sense." He said, catching a robe Yinying tossed him. "One can always count on a donkey to bray, much the same way we can bet on Lord Zhang to calculate his gains and losses...
"Right now he doesn't want the Zhang name to wither in his hands, so he wants to rope me and Yanyan in, thereby killing four birds with a single stone!" He explained, as he waved a hand, drawing all the water from his hair and directing it back into the bathtub.
"The 'White Swallow' becomes his direct daughter-in-law, Sect Leader Xu becomes a closer brother-in-law, the Divine Light cub will be under his roof, and by bringing me in, he would be praised for turning over a new leaf and making amends to me and my mother.
"But once the dust settles and the family is standing again, he will slowly reestablish his place as House head by gradual emotional blackmail, and by going behind us to the many trade contacts who have been his friends for years.
"He might even go as far as turning opinions against us, demanding why a young son should rule over his own father..." He belted his white inner robes, then stuck an arm into the usual light blue disciple robes.
"Those tactics won't work on me, but he'll certainly target Yanyan."
"Hmph! Birds of a feather indeed flock together... He deserved that poisonous woman!" Yinying declared with a headshake, but Luoyin barely heard him, as a few of his own thoughts spiralled within.
At first, he had assumed Xu Weiyan was mostly heartless, but that was a lazy assumption from a newly resurrected immortal who had been stabbed by her.
Especially since he had wanted nothing to do with the confusing feelings pulling him towards her.
But soon after his awakening, she had come to save him from evil spirits, and had even broken into the Zhang Mansion to care for him that same night.
Since then, far from being annoyed that she was engaged to 'trash', she constantly stepped in to defend him, and had gone as far as dueling Zhang Cheng to keep their engagement.
All that could indeed be written off as Xu Weiyan trying to save her own face, but recent events had him thinking Xu Weiyan might simply be awkward at expressing her own feelings, and for once he wondered whether she had really turned away from 'Luoyin' so easily in the past.
In Luoyin's memories Xu Weiyan had followed him almost everywhere even after his cultivation began failing, and up till her father drew her away for training.
Back then Xu Weiyan accepted whatever her mother or siblings did, barely saying anything in protest, even when it was hurtful. And this was why Luoyin often dragged her away to the Zhang Mansion in the first place.
So what if, like Luoyin, Xu Weiyan had also hinged a hope on Luoyin's response back then? All for Luoyin to blatantly cancel the engagement...
Wouldn't her cold and disappointed look as she walked away make some sense...?
He presently sighed, turning back to Yinying, who still wore an annoyed scowl.
"Just ignore Lord Zhang. We'll never move back." Luoyin said, then froze when Weiyan's familiar aura washed over him. "The Lady is here..." He said with a subconscious smile, making Yinying smirk.
"Xiaobai, be careful, your eyes are almost turning into crescents!"
Luoyin scowled at him, hastily straightening his expression.
As Luoyin wasn't fully dressed, Yinying approached the door, but it was almost two minutes before Xu Weiyan reached the door and her tell-tale soft knock met their ears.
'I'm beginning to sense her from further away!' Luoyin realized as Yinying opened the door.
"Ah, it's the Lady!" Yinying exclaimed with an over-exaggerated look of surprise. "We didn't sense you coming at all!"
Behind a screen, Luoyin slapped his forehead. ~"Can you be more natural?!"~
~"Don't blame me! I rarely relate with anyone but you!"~ Even in sky Realm, he spent most of his time in Bailong's Inner Realm, unless Bailong was alone, or sent him on a mission.
Meanwhile, Weiyan was a bit surprised to see Yinying.
All she knew about the odd old man was that he was Luoyin's 'Granduncle', but she had only glimpsed him a few times, usually going to care for, or play with the Light tiger cub.
She cupped her hands and bowed. "Elder, forgive me for not offering my greetings since the wedding. Please tell me how to address you?"
"Er..." Yinying was still not used to being bowed to!
~"Xiaobai! What do I say?!"~
~"Say, 'Ah, no need for such formalities! You can just call me 'granduncle'!"~
"Ahem!" Yinying coughed. "Ah, no need for such formalities. You can just call me granduncle."
It was so obviously recited that Luoyin slapped his forehead again. ~"Are you acting in a play?!"~
Thankfully, Weiyan didn't seem to notice anything, and simply bowed again.
"Granduncle, I was wondering if A-... A-Yin and I would go to the Arena together...?" Her voice trailed off towards the end, and Luoyin briefly forgot the belt he was supposed to be tying...
~"Er..... Ah, tell her to wait for me at the gate!"~
~"Ehehehe."~
~"You-!"~
Yinying beamed at Weiyan, finally acting naturally as he said, "Aiya, my grand nephew's withered garden is finally showing blooms!"
~"Laoying!"~ Luoyin protested, but Yinying ignored him.
"Don't worry, I'll ensure that brat accompanies you, no matter what! He'll meet you by the gate!"
Weiyan bowed as she left, and an amused Yinying shut the doors. "Ahem! 'Hand in hand beneath dawn's blush, they walk-... Mountains hush, soft winds trace their joined shadow'..."
"Tch!" Luoyin could do nothing about his reddened ears. "I thought you didn't relate with humans! When did you learn poetry?!"
He had already pinned most of his hair up in a simple bun, but now his hand subconsciously undid the bun, while also reaching for a magnificent hair accessory.
"But Xiaobai, weren't you already done with your hair?" Yinying teased, as Luoyin redid his hair, leaving most of it to flow down, with an elegant bun held in-place with the hair accesory.
And then he went on to replace his plain belt with a deep blue and silver belt!
"Ha!" Yinying observed him in amusement. "One really dresses as a flower to attract the butterfly!"
Luoyin was beginning to scowl, but suddenly smirked. "Heh! Says the one who even trimmed his thousand year old beard and changed clothes for a certain white tiger! What face are you using to tease me?
"I'll bet you learned Poetry for Yiguan-!"
Yinying had let out a low growl, and in the next instant, a large black tiger was chasing Luoyin round the room
"Laoying! Spare me! Weren't you teasing me as well?!"
"Just one bite and you're free to go!"
"No, no! I didn't mean it... I misspoke!"
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A little later, Xu Min joined Luoyin near the markets, and his eyes rounded in surprise to see Weiyan with him.
'Ho?' An amused smile broke across his face, but Luoyin shot him a dissuading look so he straightened his expression.
However...
"Ei?! 2nd Disciple Zhang is finally accompanying his wife!" They had run into the others and Xu Lin exclaimed with not a shred of hesitation.
"Idiot!" Xu Wen slapped the back of his head.
"Ow! What did I do?!" Xu Lin demanded in protest.
"Hmph." Xu Lian folded her arms with an annoyed scowl, and Tao Yun patted her head.
"There are plenty of fish in the sea..." But he withdrew his hand when she glared at him.
As for Luoyin and Weiyan, the air was a bit cool, but they had near-identical reddened ears and cheeks!
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