Chapter 18 Two Postures Tie Zhilan bid farewell to Wu Chen and immediately flew towards…

Tie Zhilan bid farewell to Wu Chen and immediately rushed towards the summit.

Du Xiaoyu invited the two to sit down in a nearby pavilion. "I'm so sorry to both of you. I'll have them serve tea right away."

While the young man went out to boil water, Lu Qing approached Du Xiaoyu and said, "Sister Du, why do you look so worried and preoccupied? The gong just sounded, we don't even know what happened yet. You don't need to worry so early."

A flicker of sadness crossed Du Xiaoyu's eyes, and her hand instinctively rested on her still-flat stomach. She ultimately said nothing, instead asking, "May I ask what brings Lord Wu and this young lady here?"

Wu Chen smiled slightly. Even Lu Qing, who was used to his gentle demeanor, felt as if she were basking in a spring breeze, let alone Du Xiaoyu. "Actually, it's nothing important. She has just started cultivating, so I came to forge a suitable weapon for her."

Upon hearing this, Du Xiaoyu's eyes filled with unconcealed grief, which she lowered to hide. "I see. However, forging divine weapons is no easy feat. I wonder if Lord Wu and this young lady are in such a hurry?"

Wu pondered for a moment, "It is urgent, after all, we cannot stay in the manor for long; but it is not urgent either, she has only just begun her cultivation, so she can practice with ordinary weapons."

Du Xiaoyu's eyes lit up with hope. "Young Master Wu, I have a favor to ask. Could you please come back next year to retrieve this divine weapon?"

Before Wu Chen could answer, footsteps echoed along the mountain path. A dignified-looking middle-aged man in fine clothes hurried over, accompanied by Tie Zhilan. From a few steps away, he cupped his hands in greeting, saying, "I was unaware of the presence of the Witch God Attendant. Please forgive me."

Tie Zhilan quickly introduced, "This is my father."

"Oh, so it's Tie Xiao, the master of the Sword Forging Manor." Wu Chen stood up and solemnly returned the greeting, "Greetings, Master Tie."

Lu Qing's attention wasn't on Tie Xiao. Although she followed Wu Chen in bowing, she was actually glancing at Du Xiaoyu's expression out of the corner of her eye.

As expected, Du Xiaoyu showed obvious fear on her face and immediately lowered her head, obediently standing behind Tie Zhilan.

Lu Qing followed suit and stood behind Wu Chen, avoiding Tie Xiao's intentional or unintentional scrutiny.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Wu Chen and Tie Xiao...

Tie Xiao then said, “Lord Wu, you are too kind. If my son hadn’t come to report this, I wouldn’t have known you were here. Please stay at our manor for now, and let us do our best to be your hosts. This young lady is welcome to choose any weapon she likes at Qiuqiang Pavilion. We will definitely forge a divine weapon that will suit your needs perfectly.”

Du Xiaoyu suddenly looked up, her face ashen.

Even Tie Zhilan couldn't help but speak up, "Father..."

Tie Xiao gave him a cold look, and Tie Zhilan immediately dared not utter another word.

Tie Xiao summoned a disciple from the manor, saying, "You accompany Lord Wu to the guest courtyard to rest. Lord Wu, I am hosting a banquet at the manor tonight, and I would be honored if you two would grace us with your presence."

Wu Chen smiled and said, "Master Tie is too kind to refuse. I will gladly accept your offer."

After saying that, he seemed oblivious to anything amiss and followed the disciple away.

Lu Qing walked beside him. He smiled and took Lu Qing's hand without any hesitation, and they walked side by side.

Du Xiaoyu witnessed this scene from behind, feeling both envious and heartbroken.

After Wu Chen had walked away, Tie Xiao's face darkened, and he turned to Du Xiaoyu and Tie Zhilan, "Since we have distinguished guests, you should be careful in your actions. You should know what to say and what not to say."

Du Xiaoyu didn't even dare to cry, and bowed meekly, saying, "I will follow my father-in-law's teachings."

Tie Xiao said to her, "You go back and rest first. Zhi Lan, come with me to Wanlian Peak." Then he casually beckoned to one of his trusted disciples, "You escort the young mistress back to rest."

After saying that, he led Tie Zhilan all the way to Wanlian Peak.

Du Xiaoyu turned her head and walked back on her own, tears streaming down her face like a broken string of pearls. The trusted disciple didn't say a word, but silently followed behind her, escorting her all the way back to her residence. He then greeted the other disciples guarding the courtyard gate before returning to Wanlian Peak.

Wu Chen and Lu Qing were taken to the guest courtyard.

Those who are treated as honored guests at the Sword Casting Manor naturally receive excellent treatment.

Strangely, there were few young maids in the guest quarters; the female guests were served by middle-aged servants.

Since she was going to a banquet that evening, it was inappropriate for Lu Qing to dress up like this.

Her eyes lit up, and she asked the maid, "I just saw your young mistress. I think she's about the same size as me. May I ask her to lend me some clothes?"

The maidservant laughed and said, "That's no problem at all. I'll run the errand for you, young lady."

“That won’t do.” Lu Qing quickly shook her head. “It’s already very impolite of me to have to borrow clothes from the host family when I’m a guest. So I prepared some small gifts to send to her, so that my parents won’t punish me by making me copy the ‘Book of Etiquette’ again.”

She spoke sweetly and without any airs. The maid smiled, "Then I'll accompany you, young lady."

Unexpectedly, Lu Qing stretched out her small hand in front of Wu Chen, "A gift."

Wu Chen was both amused and annoyed, but still took out a porcelain bottle from his spirit pouch. "This is a spiritual medicine called Shattered Fragrance Dust. We usually use it to treat wounds, and female cultivators like to use it as a face mask. You can... use it to offer to Buddha."

"Hmph, fine, give it to me if you want, but you had to provoke me like that." Lu Qing rolled her eyes at him, and then earnestly advised him, "You have to be careful what you say. You were going to give it to me anyway, but you had to say something extra to get yourself a lesson. If you hadn't said anything extra, I would have thanked you. But you had to say something extra, oh dear, what am I going to do with you!" She looked like she was really worried about him.

Wu Chen reached out his hand, "Take it back if you don't want it."

Lu Qing immediately slipped away.

Wu Chen watched her retreating figure with a mixture of amusement and helplessness until she turned a corner outside the door and disappeared from sight.

Wu Chen sighed, looked around, and suddenly felt a little lonely. He stood there quietly for a while with his eyes lowered, then went outside.

The guest courtyard was large, with a koi pond and a stone table and chessboard, but unfortunately, there was no one to play with, making it even more desolate. However, there was an artificial hill outside the courtyard gate, with a pavilion on top, presumably offering a panoramic view.

Wu Chen said to the servant boy, "Please bring a pot of tea to the pavilion."

The boy said "Yes," and hurried off to brew the tea.

Wu Chen stood leisurely with his hands behind his back, admiring the scenery of Mogan Mountain. A few clusters of green peaks rose into the distance, seemingly reaching for the sky, displaying a sense of grandeur. Wu Chen gazed at the distant view, lost in his own thoughts.

The young boy came over to serve tea, but seeing that he didn't speak, he didn't dare to disturb him. He put down the tea tray and quietly withdrew.

Wu sat quietly for a while, pouring himself a drink. Others saw him as leisurely and content, but he himself felt rather lonely.

Just then, two people walked over. Their steps were heavy, and they looked preoccupied.

They didn't see Wu Chen and went straight into the guest courtyard on the other side of the artificial hill. The other guest courtyard was much smaller. The two men, probably feeling stifled, closed the door and started talking without even entering the room.

"What's going on with this Sword Forging Manor? We've already accepted the gifts and drawn up the sketches. They said it would be finished in a month. But how come they've postponed it like this? It'll be this time next year before we can start forging. They make it sound so easy, but what about my trial three months from now? My whole family practically went bankrupt to gather all that stuff. They just postpone it like that, what am I supposed to do?" The middle-aged man was agitated and paced back and forth in the courtyard.

The old man, however, was seasoned and composed, and advised, "Don't be hasty. Impatience won't solve anything. That's what the steward said. I heard that Master Tie is hosting a banquet tonight. We can go and inquire about any changes that may occur, and what we can do about it."

The middle-aged man was nearly driven mad with worry, but the payment had already been given to the Sword Forging Manor. If he were to ask for it back now, he feared he would never be able to get the manor to forge weapons for him again in his lifetime. But if he really had to wait until next year, how could his entire family possibly survive this year's ordeal?

He sighed and squatted down on the ground, holding his head.

Next year, and another next year. What exactly happened at the Sword Forging Manor? Why can't the forge be opened until next year? No, that's not right. Just now, Du Xiaoyu did ask them to wait until next year, but Tie Xiao didn't mention it at all. He even seemed eager to forge weapons for Lu Qing. Why is that?

Wu Chen looked in the direction Lu Qing had left, wondering what information that little girl would get out of Du Xiaoyu.