Ling Yihan coughed lightly twice, lowering his voice slightly, "Fellow Daoist Ji Mo, please don't blame me for overthinking."
"Did you and Fellow Daoist Qi truly marry out of genuine affection? Or was it because he was seriously ill that you two had no choice but to do so?" she asked.
The fusion of water and milk is a highly effective method for treating the weak, but it will cause some damage to Ji Mofan's body. If that is the case... then Ji Mofan is truly foolish.
"It's really not right for Senior Sister Ling to worry about us." Ji Mo Fan replied with a polite smile, his expression unchanged. "But Senior Sister is overthinking it. There's nothing between us."
"When Xiaoyu comes out later, you can ask him what he thinks."
"I didn't mean to sow discord between you, I'm sorry." Since the other party had said that, Ling Yihan could only suppress whatever thoughts she had in mind.
So be it. What do other people's opinions have to do with her?
The path we choose is our own, so we shouldn't regret whatever future we end up in.
Ji Mofan escorted Ling Yihan and another disciple who had accompanied her to the banquet to their seats.
Returning to the entrance, Li Jinchu was still standing there, surrounded by three people dressed in light orange. They seemed to be talking about something. Noticing Ji Mofan's gaze, Li Jinchu took the initiative to greet him.
“We just met not long ago, yet you kept your marriage a secret so well, not letting me hear a thing.” Li Jinchu was still dressed in an extremely glamorous outfit, and the folding fan in her hand had been replaced with a more expensive one, the ribs of which seemed to be made of jade, with exquisitely carved patterns on it.
"It wasn't certain at the time, and I didn't dare to trouble Senior Brother Li with his worries for nothing." Ji Mofan said politely, his gaze shifting from Li Jinchu to the other three people beside him.
"This is the first time I've met any of you." He greeted them politely. "You must be friends of the Chaoming Palace."
The Chaoming Palace ranks second in overall strength among the five major sects.
While the number of disciples under their tutelage is not the largest among the five major sects, their individual strength is exceptional. One can only imagine the extraordinary talents who would become the most outstanding among them and be recognized by the sect as the chief disciple.
That person also shone brightly at the Dao Inquiry Conference three years ago, standing out from countless cultivators and taking second place on the Heavenly Ranking.
Unfortunately, he suddenly disappeared from the cultivation world a year ago. The Chaoming Palace said that he died from injuries sustained by lightning during his breakthrough.
The funeral was held in a grand manner, and Ji Mofan also represented the Yun Cang Sword Sect to attend the ceremony.
He felt it was a great pity.
They had only fought once three years ago, and that person's talent was no less than that of Ji Mo Fan, yet he unexpectedly died for this reason.
Although many high-level cultivators die in the tribulation of lightning, this was a super genius who was the focus of so many people's attention. Such an ending is truly lamentable.
"Chief Jimo." The woman who seemed to be the leader of the three stepped forward and greeted Jimo Fan. "The last time we interacted with Yuncang Sword Sect, it was related to our Senior Brother Sheng. I wonder if the Chief still remembers."
“Senior Brother Sheng Xi, of course I will not forget.” Ji Mo Fan lowered his eyes. “Back then, Senior Brother Sheng defeated me in less than ten moves on the arena. I was thinking that I would have the opportunity to learn from him again, but I did not expect it to turn out like this.”
"Life is unpredictable." The woman sighed. "On such a joyous day, let's not talk about him. Chief, my name is Jiang Shiyun, and these two are Junior Brother Gu and Junior Sister Feng. We apologize for disturbing you today."
“We are deeply grateful for the honor of your presence, and we dare not utter the word ‘intrusion’.”
After several rounds of meaningless small talk, the three unfamiliar disciples of Chaoming Palace were finally seen off. Ji Mofan wanted to secretly breathe a sigh of relief, but Li Jinchu caught him red-handed.
“You don’t seem very happy.” Li Jinchu closed her folding fan and pointed at him from afar. “It’s supposed to be a Daoist Couple Ceremony.”
"Everyone says that the four great joys in the world are rain after a long drought, meeting an old friend in a foreign land, the wedding night, and passing the imperial examination.[1] But look at you now, why do you seem to have a cloud of sorrow between your brows?"
"Naturally, it's because Xiaoyu's illness keeps recurring, and I'm worried about her." Ji Mofan continued to use ambiguous words to evade the question, his expression flat as he spoke, making it impossible to tell whether he was being sincere or not.
"Really? You care so much about your young sect leader." Li Jinchu's tone was light and airy.
"...If you have something to say, just say it directly." Ji Mofan couldn't help but ask bluntly.
He was truly fed up with Li Jinchu's habit of beating around the bush when it came to saying anything.
“Since you’ve put it that way,” Li Jinchu smiled, “I’d like to know why you’re deliberately spreading gossip about yourself now that your wedding is so close.”
Ji Mofan raised an eyebrow, but before he could utter a single syllable, Li Jinchu spoke again.
“‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said. ‘You’re trying to play dumb again, aren’t you? That trick won’t work today.’”
Jimo Fan: ......
The way he says that makes it sound like he could play dumb someday.
He finally understood that Li Jinchu was a stubborn and rigid person at heart. Even if he couldn't get the answer to his curiosity, he would still insist on pursuing it to the end.
Even if the initial intention was merely to satisfy his own feelings, just like last time in the Misty Secret Realm, when he clearly discovered Ji Mofan's identity, the information that was ultimately circulated was still vague, such as "it might be Lin Ju'an".
As long as there is no conflict of interest with him, even if he gains knowledge of something, he will not cause trouble for no reason.
The perfunctory response prepared for export took a turn on the tip of his tongue, and Ji Mofan changed his words.
“I’m doing this to bring someone over,” he said.
*
The Yuncang Mountain was bustling with activity.
Only one courtyard was deserted and quiet, with no servants coming and going, and not even the festive decorations had spread there.
A fiery red robe swept across the dusty threshold, and the uninvited guest quietly stepped in, without attracting anyone's attention.
"What bad luck! Why did I have to draw the shortest chopstick?"
"Stop complaining, hurry up and finish your work so we can go upstairs for a drink."
A voice approached, and the figure standing alone in the center of the courtyard suddenly turned into black smoke, drifting towards an inconspicuous corner behind the door.
Two junior disciples dressed in the uniforms of the Yun Cang Sword Sect pushed open the long-sealed door.
"Senior Brother Li's courtyard is so nice..."
"And what about Senior Brother Li? He's a traitor who fell from grace."
————
[1] Quoted from Wang Zhu's "Joy" (Song Dynasty).
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