Chapter 162 Her family was gone, her marriage was off. She nodded in response…
Raindrops fell one by one, and then it poured down.
In the heavy rain, Li Mengbai and Wen Yizhan stopped fighting, and almost simultaneously thought of the same thing.
Jiang Yuhuo is still outside. Will she get wet in the rain?
The courtyard gate was pushed open.
The female cultivator in black sat on the steps, half her body sheltered under the eaves, the other half exposed to the rain. Her figure, gazing up at the sky through the rain, appeared utterly alone.
Hearing the door open behind her, she turned around, already soaked, rain streaming down her face.
I still haven't learned to cherish myself.
Wen Yizhan waved a spiritual energy barrier, which blocked the rain. He then took out a dry handkerchief and reached out to wipe the rain off her face.
Li Mengbai had already reached Jiang Yuhuo's side and stood with her in the rain, only wiping the water droplets from her face with his hand.
Almost the instant he saw her, Li Mengbai remembered that they had met in the rain like this before.
He had gone to great lengths to lure her to Luoyue City, then appeared before her gracefully, holding an umbrella. At that time, he was unaware that he had changed his feelings for her, and thus simply looked down upon her disheveled state.
It shouldn't be like this... He should be with her no matter what.
"you……"
Jiang Yuhuo stood up, both of them covered in bruises and red marks on their faces and bodies. She had never seen them in such a disheveled state before.
Wen Yizhan grinned, "It's nothing, just a superficial injury. I'll be fine after a bit of rest." He simply handed her a handkerchief, "Wipe yourself off, your hair is all wet."
Jiang Yuhuo took the bag and wiped her face haphazardly. Regardless of the fact that her body temperature was higher than average, getting wet in the rain would actually cool her down. Besides, she was a cultivator, so getting soaked wouldn't bother her.
Li Mengbai ignored everything and hugged Jiang Yuhuo tightly, whispering aggrievedly in her ear, "It hurts..."
The punishment from the patriarch's decree hurt, Wen Yizhan's fist hurt, and seeing her lonely figure in the rain hurt his heart... Li Mengbai felt pain all over his body, so much so that he was delirious. The only way he could think of to relieve the pain was to hold her.
Jiang Yuhuo instinctively tried to push him away, but suddenly felt a warm liquid slide down her neck, which felt particularly hot on her skin that had just been rained on.
It was this moment of hesitation that Wen Yizhan noticed.
His knuckles cracked as he gripped them, but he still couldn't extend his hand.
Jiang Yuhuo pushed the person away and turned to Wen Yizhan, "Senior brother, I have something to say—"
The person she pushed away then fell straight to the ground.
"Li Mengbai!"
Jiang Yuhuo was startled. "Wake up! What's wrong with you?"
She kept patting his face, but Li Mengbai was completely unconscious. She sent a wisp of spiritual energy into his veins and discovered that his spiritual sea was severely injured, as if it had been subjected to torture.
“Send him back to the Li family,” Wen Yizhan said immediately.
The situation was urgent. Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuhuo simply nodded and carried the person away without noticing Wen Yizhan's gesture of bending down and reaching out.
Wen Yizhan felt a pang of sadness. He rarely saw Jiang Yuhuo care so much about anyone. In fact, he could have just delivered it himself; she didn't need to do it personally.
*
Upon arriving at the Li family residence, the servants were astonished to find their young master unconscious in a woman's arms. They were even more dumbfounded when they saw the eldest son who had accompanied them. Those who came to their senses quickly went to fetch a physician.
The old medicine man and the apprentice who had been following him arrived soon after.
Jiang Yuhuo asked, "How is he?"
The old doctor pondered for a moment, “There’s nothing seriously wrong, but his spiritual sea was restrained by the patriarch’s order all night. It will take at least seven days of rest to recover. But the young master left in a hurry, and…” He glanced at Wen Yizhan and muttered softly, “He can’t be blamed for fainting.”
"The patriarch ordered restraint?" What was that? Jiang Yuhu noticed the unusual tone in his words. "Why would the spiritual sea be restrained?"
The old herbalist's expression was strange. "Miss Jiang, are you really completely unaware of this?"
Jiang Yuhu shook his head, "Please tell me, old herbalist."
The old doctor glanced at the unconscious Li Mengbai and immediately became troubled. "Well, this is a family matter of the master, and I can't say for sure. Miss Jiang, you should wait for the young master to wake up and ask him yourself." He put away his needle pouch and handed it to the apprentice. "I have already administered acupuncture to the young master, and he should wake up soon. But whether it will be an hour or three hours, I can't say for sure. Miss Jiang, please wait for now."
"Remember, young master must rest quietly for seven days, and during this time, your mind must not fluctuate violently." He tapped Li Mengbai's head with his hand. "The body can recover from injury, but if the spiritual sea is injured and not healed, the mind will become chaotic." After saying that, he didn't care whether Jiang Yuhuo understood or not, and drifted away.
"The Patriarch's Decree is a magical artifact used to restrain members of the Li family. Controlling the spiritual sea is one of its methods of punishment."
Jiang Yuhuo snapped out of her daze. The person speaking was Wen Yizhan. She had almost forgotten that her senior brother was also a member of the Li family.
"So, Li Mengbai was punished by the Li family?" Jiang Yuhuo asked. "But why was he punished?"
Wen Yizhan forced a smile, "You'll have to ask him about that."
Before Li Mengbai could wake up, Wen Yizhan was summoned away. The person who came had a strand of white hair on his forehead and treated Wen Yizhan with utmost respect.
Jiang Yuhuo remembered the voice; it belonged to the wind manager who had appeared in the cave that day.
She couldn't help but glance at her a few more times, and Steward Feng bowed to her, "Your Highness, the Eldest Princess."
Upon hearing this address, Wen Yizhan suddenly looked up and gave Jiang Yuhuo a deep look.
The steward continued, "It is a rare occasion for Your Highness and the eldest son to grace us with their presence today. The head of the family has ordered a banquet to be prepared to welcome you both. We hope Your Highness will do us the honor of attending."
Jiang Yuhuo was eager to meet the Li family, especially Li Yanluo who possessed the Spirit-Subduing Wood, so she agreed first. However, she couldn't help but wonder why the Li family was throwing such a grand banquet to welcome Li Mengbai, who was still unconscious and whose awakening time might not be known. Were all immortal families so unceremonious?
Li Mengbai still hadn't woken up by the time the banquet began, so Jiang Yuhuo went to the banquet alone.
With Li Mengbai absent, Jiang Yuhuo sat alone in the first seat on the left of the main seat, while Wen Yizhan sat in the second seat.
His injuries from the daytime beating had completely healed. He was dressed in the robes of a Kunlun disciple and sat next to Jiang Yuhuo. Although they were not behind the same desk, their similar attire made them look more like a couple from a distance.
Someone joked, "I think it would be good if Zhan'er went instead."
The speaker was a young man with delicate and beautiful features.
Jiang Yuhuo glanced at the man, who was Li Qianbing, a distant relative of the Li family. He looked as young as Li Mengbai, but in reality, he was several generations older than Li Mengbai.
As she took her seat, a servant introduced all the people at the table to her, and Jiang Yuhuo memorized them all. The clan elders she hadn't been able to meet that day had all arrived at this time.
Immediately afterwards, a beautiful woman said calmly, "I think Qian Bing is confused. How can someone who isn't listed in the genealogy be considered a member of the Li family?"
Li Ziying. By all accounts, Li Mengbai should call this woman "Grandma".
“Just get it registered.” Li Qianbing turned to Wen Yizhan. “Yizhan, now that you’re back, let’s register the family genealogy together this time. What’s past is past, why keep holding a grudge against your family?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Yuhuo saw out of the corner of his eye that Wen Yizhan suddenly clenched his fist.
"Alright." The person in the seat of honor said in a deep voice, his narrow phoenix eyes sweeping over everyone, and an invisible pressure immediately filled the room. "This banquet is to welcome Zhan'er and Princess Ji. Let's not talk about anything else that is irrelevant."
As soon as Li Shichuan spoke, Li Qianbing shut his mouth in a huff, drank a few mouthfuls of wine in silence, and then started exchanging pleasantries with Jiang Yuhuo.
Jiang Yuhuo gave a few polite but perfunctory words, her impatience barely concealed; the person she wanted to see hadn't arrived.
The first seat to the right of the head of the table was empty; that was Li Yanluo's seat.
"I heard that on the day Princess and Mengbai pledged their vows, the sky was ablaze with color, and the entire city of Xidu was deserted – what a magnificent sight! It's a pity I had the chance to witness it." Li Qianbing raised his wine cup to Jiang Yuhuo in greeting. "The grand ceremony for the pledge will be held in Yanling City in the future, where cultivators from all over the world will gather. My Li family will welcome them with a ten-mile-long procession of red bridal procession – the spectacle will certainly rival that of Xidu!"
"Yes, after all, she is marrying into the Li family. The contract was made in Xidu, so the ceremony should be held in Yanling."
"Why wait until a year later? Now that the Li and Ji families have formed an alliance, the marriage should be arranged as soon as possible..."
Sitting among this group of equally beautiful and young members of the Li family, Jiang Yuhuo felt an inexplicable sense of unease. Compared to their predecessors on Kunlun Mountain, these people seemed to age at an abnormally slow pace. Listening to the discussions about her marriage to Li Mengbai, Jiang Yuhuo grew increasingly impatient. Without Li Yanluo present, this banquet held no meaning for her.
She made up an excuse and left the table.
She drank a few sips of wine at the banquet. She rarely drank wine, and now she felt hot after only a little. She didn't go straight back to Li Mengbai's room, but left the Li family. She needed to think carefully about how to investigate Li Yanluo.
"Why didn't you tell me when you became the eldest princess of the Great Zhou?"
Jiang Yuhuo was sitting on the high roof. Hearing the sound, he turned around and saw Wen Yizhan standing on the roof ridge with a pot of wine in his hand and a slight smile on his lips.
"Senior brother, why are you out here too? Aren't you going to spend time with your family?"
Wen Yizhan chuckled and shook her head, "Family?"
He went there because of her; if it weren't for her, he wouldn't have wanted to stay there for even a second longer.
“Those are not my family.” He walked over and sat down next to Jiang Yuhuo, conjured two wine cups, poured one for Jiang Yuhuo and one for himself, and looking down at the myriad lights of Yanling City, Wen Yizhan suddenly said, “Junior sister, let me tell you a story.”
The story begins with a family of officials. The official's rank is not high; he is merely the magistrate of a county. However, he is upright and honest, and is praised by everyone in the county as a benevolent official. This family has a daughter who is quite outstanding in both appearance and talent. She was betrothed to the eldest son of the prefect at a young age, and they were just waiting for the prefect's eldest son to return from his studies in the capital at the end of the year so that they could get married.
But that year, demons wreaked havoc in the city, causing a plague. The woman knew some medicine and would treat people while distributing porridge in the plague tents. One day, a horribly grotesque and dying man was brought to the plague tent. The other doctors in the tent examined him and simply shook their heads, ordering the soldiers to carry the man out and cremate him. The woman went to check on him one last time, and it was then that the patient suddenly grabbed her hand and made a sound in his throat, as if calling her name.
So, she saved the patient. The scars faded, revealing a very handsome man. He loved looking into her eyes and, before leaving, asked her to remove her protective veil so he could see her. The woman was initially reluctant, but the man said he wanted to remember his savior's face. The moment the veil was removed, the woman saw this man, who always seemed so troubled, smile for the first time. He asked if she would like to leave with him, but she refused. During their time together, she had developed some feelings for this handsome man, but she had family and marriage commitments, so she simply wished him a safe journey.
The man is gone, the plague is over. Her fiancé is about to return.
A year of abundant snowfall had arrived, but the county town, where so many had perished, desperately needed a joyous occasion. The woman waited at home, preparing for her wedding at the end of the year. On the day of her return to the city, she was overjoyed; she and the county magistrate's eldest son were childhood sweethearts, their bond forged since infancy. But she never saw her fiancé again, only the news that her entire group had been murdered by demons outside the city.
On a snowy day, the woman ignored all advice and went alone outside the city. When she arrived, her fiancé's body was already cold. Overwhelmed with grief, she knelt in the snow. The snow covered everything, and only faint, demonic footprints could be seen.
Misfortune soon followed. The county magistrate was falsely accused of corruption and abuse of power, and the disheartened prefect, having lost his son, did not offer any help. As a result, the entire family was executed or imprisoned, while the woman who had saved the entire city was forced into prostitution. Her life was shattered in an instant. Later, the man she had once saved reappeared and asked her again if she would like to leave with him.
This time, she lost her family and her marriage was off. She nodded in agreement.
After being with the man, she discovered that he was no ordinary person, but a cultivator skilled in magic. They lived a good life for a while. Until one night, she accidentally saw the man take something from a magical beast. The beast obeyed him, but the beast's footprints were exactly the same as the ones she had seen in the snow that day.
She understood everything in an instant.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
