Chapter 32 - Hundred Forging Valley
The echo of the earth-shaking "rainbow fart" of the Holy Son Lingxiao seemed to still linger over the Wanxiantai, but after the burst of laughter, the atmosphere became extremely weird.
A dead silence fell on the Tianjian Sect's flying boat. The disciples' faces were ashen, and they wished they could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Ling Xiao himself was forcibly carried back to the cabin by two elders with gloomy faces and standing hair and beards. The green jade cabin door carved with cranes slammed shut with a loud "bang", blocking out all the probing and mocking gazes from outside.
Just at the moment the door closed, one could still seem to hear an extremely suppressed roar, like that of a wounded beast, coming from inside.
On the Guixu Sect side, the "KeCPhao" was emitting wisps of green smoke and was crookedly parked on a few broken white jade tiles, like a huge monument emitting the smell of poverty and social death.
Though the target of ridicule had shifted, the gazes directed at the Guixu Sect hadn't diminished; instead, they had become more complex. There was suspicion, fear, curiosity, contempt, and a hint of something... difficult to describe. No one dared to challenge them anymore, but the invisible sense of rejection and scrutiny remained as tangible as ever.
Xie Zhao seemed completely oblivious to the subtle atmosphere. He clapped his hands, brushing off the nonexistent dust, and his slightly scoundrelly smile returned to his face, though a hint of fatigue lingered deep in his eyes.
He turned around and shouted towards the tilted cabin, "Guys! Get off the boat! We've arrived at our 'five-star berth'!"
There was a noise in the cabin.
Tie Niu was the first to jump down. His huge body landed on the ground with a dull sound, which made the white jade fragments under his feet jump again.
He carried the enormous animal hide bag and looked around blankly at the gorgeous surroundings and the monks in fine attire in the distance. He said in a deep voice, "This place... is really bright! But the ground is a bit slippery."
Luo Hongyi followed closely behind, her beautiful face showing a hint of laziness and fatigue, as if the farce just now was just a boring show.
She smoothed out the messy hair at her temples with her slender fingers, and the animal-skin bag at her waist swayed gently with her movements. Her eyes casually swept around the surroundings, like a queen inspecting her territory.
But when she flew past the Danxia Sect's flying boat, her gaze paused for a moment on the group of female cultivators dressed in gorgeous Dan robes, and a faint sneer appeared on her red lips.
The white deer held the still somewhat wilted Moon-Eating Rabbit in his arms, and followed Tie Niu with a pale face, trying hard to reduce his presence.
Su Tang hopped down like a nimble rabbit, her psychic eyes blazing with light. She never put down her photo stone, muttering to herself, "Material of the Holy Son's exit...Material of the surrounding sects' reactions...Closeup of Senior Brother Chu's sullen expression...Closeup of Second Senior Brother's smugness...All done!"
Uncle Chen finally came down slowly, leaning on his broom. His cloudy eyes glanced at the shattered white jade tiles beneath his feet, then at the mirror-like ground around him. He muttered disapprovingly, "Dirty..." Then, to everyone's astonishment, the old man actually bent down and, with his battered broom, began to slowly sweep away the collapsed metal fragments and smoke around "Ke CP No." The rustling sound of sweeping was particularly harsh and... absurd in this sacred place of immortals.
Chu Linyuan was the last one to leave the bow. He flashed and landed silently beside Xie Zhao.
The murderous aura that had erupted from humiliation had subsided, leaving only an icy, repellent air. He didn't even glance around, his gaze fixed on the shattered white jade and the tilted, torn boat beneath his feet, his brows furrowed slightly.
The red tassels around her waist were stained with a little cigarette ash and swayed slightly with his slight movements.
In this slightly awkward silence, a slightly hesitant voice sounded:
"That fellow Daoist from Guixu Sect?"
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.
Not far away, there were a few people standing next to a flying boat that also looked a bit shabby.
The flying boat was gray all over and made of an inconspicuous ironwood, with a simple hammer mark engraved on the hull.
The leader was a short, stocky, dark-skinned, middle-aged man wearing a coarse cloth jacket like a blacksmith's. He was followed by an equally stocky young man carrying a large hammer, and a thin old man who looked like an accountant, holding an account book.
All three of them had a complex expression of embarrassment and... sympathy on their faces.
"I'm Tie Kuang, the master of Baiduan Valley." The short and stocky man clasped his fists. His voice was loud and metallic, but his eyes flickered. "This is my son Tie Dun, and this is the manager, Lao Qian."
"Baiduan Valley?" Xie Zhao raised his eyebrows and quickly searched his memory - it seemed to be a small sect that made a living by refining weapons and was dependent on a medium-sized sect. It was at the bottom of the weapon refining business in the Immortal Alliance and lived a tight life.
"That's right." Tie Kuang's face showed a trace of bitterness. "We... just witnessed fellow Daoist's... uh... heroic deeds." He chose his words carefully, glanced at the crooked "Ke CP Number" and the broken floor tiles, and quickly glanced at the closed hatch of the Tianjian Sect in the distance. He lowered his voice and said, "Don't blame us, fellow Daoist, we mean no harm.
"It's just... looking at your flying boat, it seems to have suffered quite a bit of damage? And these floor tiles... the compensation for Wanxiantai is not cheap..."
He hadn't finished speaking, but his meaning was very clear: We are all poor people from the same place, you have caused big trouble and damaged public property, and I'm afraid you will have to pay compensation until you go bankrupt.
Before Xie Zhao could answer, Tie Niu interrupted in a muffled voice: "Did we break the floor tiles? Then...then I'll pay for it! I have stones!" As he said that, he was about to untie the huge burden.
Tie Kuang and Diedun's eyes widened when they saw the black stone, which was the size of a millstone and exuded a strong evil aura, that was exposed from Tie Niu's bag!
Tie Dun couldn't help but exclaimed, "Shenyuan Sha Iron?! And such a big piece?! Dad! This is a top-notch refining embryo! How many armor-piercing hammers can it make with it!"
Tie Kuang quickly held his son down, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and his eyes looking at Tie Niu instantly became much more eager: "My fellow Taoist...what strength! What material! This evil iron...are you selling it?" He rubbed his hands, and the instinct of a weapon refiner overwhelmed his worry.
"No!" Tie Niu hugged the bag tightly, "This is my dry food!"
Tie Kuang: “…”
Xie Zhao looked at the reactions of the father and son, then at Tie Niu's way of protecting his food. His peach blossom eyes flashed, and his smile became a little warmer: "So you are the Iron Valley Master of Baiduan Valley! I have heard of you for a long time! I am Xie Zhao from Guixu Sect.
"Just a few floor tiles, nothing to worry about! As for this boat..." He patted the smoking stern, "Small problem! My second brother... uh, I know a little about runes, so I can just fix it. But the Valley Master just said that the compensation for the Ten Thousand Immortals Terrace is not cheap? I wonder how much it will cost exactly?"
Tie Kuang sighed and gestured to the manager, Lao Qian. Lao Qian flipped open the account book and adjusted his glasses: "Wanxiantai's 'flawless jade' is three inches square and has a market price of one hundred low-grade spirit stones.
Just now, your clan's flying boat landed, and the damage totaled... seven and a half pieces.
In addition, for causing disturbance in the anchorage area, the Immortal Alliance Stewards may impose additional fines... Preliminary estimates suggest at least one thousand low-grade spirit stones."
"One thousand?!" Su Tang exclaimed, her face pale. Although she had made a lot of money selling jade slips, most of it was spent on "CP numbers" and concealment arrays, leaving her pockets empty!
Tie Niu was also dumbfounded: "I... I have to move so many stones..."
The coldness around Chu Linyuan seemed to have intensified.
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