Chapter 357 The Scholar with Delicate Hands

"What? Pick up two?"

Lan Yan, accompanied by the fox spirit, slowly walked over from behind.

Looking at the four people and one dog standing in front of him, clearly familiar with each other, Fang Duobing felt even more aggrieved: "Brother Lan, you've all reunited but you don't care about me... You only see the new people laughing, but you don't hear the old ones crying..."

Li Lianhua shook her head speechlessly: "Fang Xiaobao, have you been learning opera all this time?"

"Don't call me Xiaobao!"

Fang Duobing blushed with embarrassment and rushed over to cover Li Lianhua's mouth in a flurry. Li Lianhua dodged around, while Fang Duobing was grabbed by the neck by the overly familiar Li Xiangyi.

"So you also have a name, Xiaobao. It sounds like your family likes you a lot."

Fang struggled, but found he couldn't break free at all. How could this stranger be so strong?

"You're right, but could we not use this name?"

Forced by circumstances, Fang, despite his illness, spoke to Li Xiangyi in a gentle and amicable manner.

"Alright, junior brother, let him go."

To maintain secrecy, Lan Yan did not use Xiang Yi's real name when he was outside.

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangyi obediently let go, but Fang Duobing stared wide-eyed in surprise, and it was his turn to hold onto Li Xiangyi tightly.

"Junior brother? You're Brother Lan's junior brother?"

"yes."

"Li Lianhua, why didn't you say so earlier?" Fang Duobing glared at Li Lianhua, then turned to look at Li Xiangyi with a smile. "You are Brother Lan's junior brother, so we are family."

Li Lianhua was so angry at this brat's behavior that she laughed: "Fang Xiaobao, aren't you being too unfair?"

"How can you guys who just leave me on the side of the road every day compare to Brother Lan's junior brother?"

Fang Duobing answered confidently, and Li Xiangyi laughed loudly: "Hahaha, that's right. How can Li Lianhua compare to me, Li...? Fang Duobing, you have good taste. Li Xiangyi might want to take you as his apprentice."

"You know that?"

"With your ambition, it's hard for me not to know."

"You flatter me, you flatter me."

Seeing Fang Duobing and Li Xiangyi suddenly become familiar with each other, Li Lianhua felt a wave of dizziness and a very bad premonition.

"The road ahead is fraught with peril."

Lan Yan patted Li Lianhua on the shoulder with a sigh, though it might have been more convincing if he had toned down his smile.

Li Lianhua looked at Lan Yan with a sly smile and said, "Then why don't you do something about him?"

"The kids are getting older, they're harder to manage now."

"..." Is he really hard to manage, or is he being deliberately indulged?

Good, good, he's seen through it all. Lan Yan is indulging Li Xiangyi, but he's the one who's harming Li Lianhua, right?

The flute, which had remained silent and had been completely unnoticed, was suddenly mentioned.

"And who is this?"

Di Feisheng looked up, meeting the polite and curious gaze of the sick man above, but remained silent.

“Oh, Lao Di,” Li Xiangyi explained before he could even speak, “is my senior brother’s fanboy.”

"Fan... fanboy?" Looking at the man in front of him, dressed in all black with a cold and aloof demeanor, Fang Duobing was puzzled. This person didn't fit the word at all.

Given that Xiao Di is a fan of his senior brother, then in another world, Lao Di would also be a fan of his senior brother. There's absolutely no problem with this equation, Li Xiangyi nodded confidently.

"That's right. Don't let his quiet nature fool you. It's only because we're around that he talks a lot, and he's quite cunning, in front of my senior brother."

"Yeah?"

"Of course, let me tell you..."

The two walked arm in arm at the front, sharing the story of Xiao Di "hooking up" with Lan Yan.

Behind him, Di Feisheng, shrouded in black aura, coldly said, "I will defeat him."

Li Lianhua looked at Di Feisheng with pity. He could see that in the past ten years, Di Feisheng had only pretended to learn to speak, but his mind had stopped working.

Whether he can defeat Li Xiangyi is another matter entirely. But until then, Di Feisheng's title as the Great Demon King will be in jeopardy.

Given Li Xiangyi's ability to spread rumors... wait, could it be true?

"You know..."

Li Lianhua pointed at Di Feisheng with her eyes, then realized that Lan Yan couldn't see her. Just as she was about to change her words, Lan Yan spoke up: "If it's Xiao Di, I do know someone."

"?" Now it's not a question of whether it's Xiao Di or Lao Di, the question now is, can Lan Yan really not see?

"I just understand what you mean better."

“?” Very well, Li Lianhua now suspects that Lan Yan’s problem isn’t whether he can see or not, but whether he has mind-reading abilities.

"No, I don't have that."

"!"

"Li Lianhua, are you mute?"

Di Feisheng suddenly spoke up, and Li Lianhua gave him a speechless look: "Old Di, if you don't want to talk, then don't talk nonsense."

Di Feisheng looked Li Lianhua up and down, and said seriously, "You're too weak. I'm worried something will happen to you if you don't make a sound."

Very well, so Li Lianhua is going to be pitied by his mortal enemy now! Has his status in this family become so low?

"You vixen, I'll cook dinner for you tonight."

"Woof woof!"

The fox spirit moved closer to Lan Yan's legs, calling out, "Who are you calling? Who are you calling? It has already betrayed its master."

"..." Li Lianhua took a deep breath. "Fine, even a fox spirit can look down on me. I won't eat it. I'll eat it myself."

"Oh, by the way," Lan Yan said casually, stroking the fox spirit's head, "the medicine has been working well lately. If nothing unexpected happens, you'll regain your sense of taste tonight."

"Then let's go to the inn and have a good meal."

"Woof!"

"snort--"

The fox spirit and Di Feisheng both made mocking noises at the same time, but Li Lianhua ignored them and pulled Lan Yan forward, saying, "Hurry up, those two should go first, or they'll cause trouble."

...

"Oh, you look unfamiliar. This one's even wearing a mask, trying to hide yourself. Are you here for the feast too?"

"That's right!"

Fang Duobing and Li Xiangyi nodded in unison, without any hesitation.

"Then, young master, may I inquire what time Your Excellency departed and which shortcut you took?"

Fang Duobing and Li Xiangyi exchanged a glance, sensing that there seemed to be another meaning behind those words.

Fang Duobing gave Li Xiangyi a reassuring look, then turned around and said directly, "I set off the day before yesterday, taking the official road."

"Um??"

Upon hearing this, the people in the seats stood up in surprise and vigilance, and drew their weapons.

Fang Duobing and Li Xiangyi were puzzled, but they also picked up their weapons. Fang Duobing took his Erya sword, while Li Xiangyi, having lost his Shaoshi sword during the time travel, took Lan Yan's Wumo fan.

"The bamboo whistles and panpipes are making a sound. These two friends are also listening to music in the same room as us. They speak in different accents from both the north and south."

Li Lianhua, accompanied by Di Feisheng and Lan Yan, slowly walked in, speaking in a language that Fang Duobing and Li Xiangyi could not understand.

"Gentlemen, these two young men don't usually work in the fields and are a bit immature, so please don't take offense."

Upon hearing this, the group slowly sheathed their weapons. Looking at the group of people around Li Lianhua, they couldn't help but mock, "Such a grand display, bringing so many people. What time did you set off, and which shortcut did you take?"

"We'll set off at the 20th of the hour," Li Lianhua said calmly, flicking her sleeves. "We'll be taking the Duzhu Road."

"Oh, you're quite the veteran. May I ask if you're carrying a banner? And what are the words on it?"

"Carrying the golden banner."

Li Lianhua's three lightly uttered words caused the expressions of everyone in front of her to change.

"The four characters left in front of the Minglou Pavilion at the Imperial Mausoleum in southern Beijing thirteen years ago..."

The group exchanged glances, then bowed and greeted the senior scholar with clasped hands: "Greetings, Senior Scholar Su Shou."

Looking bewildered, Fang Duobing nudged Li Xiangyi from behind the crowd and whispered, "What do you mean?"

“I don’t know,” Li Xiangyi shook his head. Thirteen years ago, “I wasn’t old enough.”

"Huh?" Fang Duobing was even more puzzled. What did this have to do with age?