WJ Chapter 30

Beating the Drums (2)

The next day, the Sect Leader and Protector of the Zhuyin Sect led their respective horses and mixed in among the martial artists from various regions, entering this peach garden named “Fusheng Huan.”

Although the Fusheng Huan garden did not belong within Wanci Manor proper, everyone in the area knew in their hearts that this place was the Duanmu family’s territory. Entering from the garden gate, the first thing that rushed into view was naturally vast expanses of peach groves. If it were spring’s flowering season, it would surely be extremely magnificent, but because it was now the depths of winter with all flowers and leaves fallen, it appeared somewhat desolate.

Among the trees, dozens of rows of long tables and wooden chairs had already been set up. Golden goblets and silver pitchers filled with fine wines and beautiful liquors; jade plates and rhinoceros bowls laden with delicacies and famous dishes. Manor disciples welcomed guests from the garden entrance inward, managing to guide this group of martial artists with vastly different temperaments in an orderly fashion, displaying the grand bearing of a great aristocratic family to the fullest.

Wanci Manor, with incense fires extending over a hundred years, passed down through medicine, proudly calling itself “The one who toys with the King of Hell,” meaning it dared to snatch lives from beneath the King of Hell himself. The manor held two sacred medicines: one was a thousand-year blood ginseng king that could revive those who must die; the other was a nine-leaf jade clarity lotus that could cure the most evil of poisons.

These two items were both heavenly treasures nurtured by the essence of sun and moon for a thousand years, treasured by Wanci Manor as heirlooms for nearly a hundred years, and had never been used to this day. Even those who knew of these two medicines’ existence were very few.

——When Guan Wujue explained this carefully to the Sect Leader yesterday, Yun Changliu nearly became angry enough to directly grab the Protector and head home.

This Protector Guan was truly audaciously bold—it turned out he had come directly for someone else’s sacred medicine!

“Young Master… Sect Leader! Sect Leader, please let Wujue explain… your subordinate isn’t trying to target the nine-leaf jade clarity lotus! No matter how bold and presumptuous Wujue is, he knows this item is something Wanci Manor would never hand over.”

“I only seek a bit of stem, leaves, or fine roots, then have the Medicine Gate combine it with other antidote medicines to prepare a new formula. Suppressing Fengchun Sheng poison for five more months is absolutely no problem.”

…In the end, it was only after the Protector begged and begged, persuaded and persuaded, from “what will happen to the Zhuyin Sect and the old Sect Leader if you give up like this” all the way to “just treat it as keeping Wujue company for a few more days, won’t you,” that he finally forced the Sect Leader to agree to first go to the peach garden for the banquet and see how things went.

Setting aside idle talk, let’s speak of entering the Fusheng Huan peach garden. Fortunately, the inspection wasn’t strict, nor did they check names against the invitation list, so the two encountered no obstacles along the way.

Guan Wujue swept his eyes around—about a hundred-plus martial artists had been invited. There were those who came in groups, those who came alone, with varying weapons and varying postures, noisily chattering away.

Yun Changliu, shrouded in long sleeves at his side, asked in a low voice, “Have you encountered any acquaintances?”

“Not yet,” the Protector replied, “but Wanci Manor has invited quite a few people. Looking at this situation, we’re bound to run into acquaintances… we can only try our best to avoid them. Young Master, you should also restrain your aura a bit…”

Actually, the two had already discussed this issue last night. What should they do if someone recognized them and reported it to Wanci Manor? As a result, after thinking it over, they found there was no solution, so they had to rely on their skilled boldness and take it one step at a time.

Taking ten thousand steps back, even if something really went wrong, they still had the hidden Yin Ghosts to fight with. However, once the Yin Ghosts appeared, it would escalate into a conflict between the two sects, with unimaginable consequences. Therefore, Yun Changliu had also issued a prohibition beforehand—the Yin Ghosts must not appear unless it was a critical moment.

Guan Wujue still wasn’t entirely at ease and wanted to urge the Sect Leader to carry the Dragon-Chasing Whip with him. But Yun Changliu said that those in the martial world who recognized the Dragon-Chasing Whip were certainly many times more numerous than those who recognized his face… The Protector could only laugh helplessly and agree.

Given this situation, the two didn’t dare hand their horses over to Wanci Manor disciples, so they found a place with few people and tied Liuhuo and Feixue’s reins to a tree.

Walking a few more steps inside, rows of long tables appeared before their eyes—the banquet hadn’t officially started yet. A circle of people was gathered, seemingly with some important figures from Wanci Manor conversing with guests there.

The two uninvited members of the Zhuyin Sect naturally wouldn’t rush over to show their faces, so they casually stood in a corner off to the side, waiting for when the banquet began and seats were taken to pick an inconspicuous position.

“…Speaking of which, Wanci Manor has indeed declined quite a bit these years.”

Guan Wujue, arms folded and leaning obliquely against an old tree, suddenly sighed. Following his gaze, manor disciples were bowing and smiling apologetically to those martial artists. “If it were in the previous dynasty, how would it have come to this.”

Yun Changliu nodded lightly. “Rigidly adhering to old methods, sticking to conventions. Naturally declining over a hundred years.”

Actually, not just Wanci Manor—all the great martial world aristocratic families had declined to varying degrees in this dynasty. Yulin Hall was the first to react, abandoning the century-old practice of marrying into the Yu family of martial aristocrats, and married Lin Wanxia into the Zhuyin Sect. Relying on Yun Guyan’s prestige that shook the Four Seas of those years, they barely managed to halt the slide in reputation.

However, Wanci Manor still persisted in its old rules. The Duanmu family had always followed the path of “neutrality,” relying on ancestral medical skills to muddle through dealings with various major forces in the martial world.

This impartial way, during the previous dynasty when the Duanmu family was at its peak, had made it so that not a single force in the martial world dared disrespect Wanci Manor. However, every generation produces talented people—the Duanmu family thought too highly of themselves, believing their medical skills were number one. They were neither willing to lower their faces to learn and progress together with other families, nor dared to casually modify their ancestors’ legacy… Over time, this position of number one in medical skills was clearly about to be lost, yet they still maintained this style of “offending no family, befriending no family,” and naturally the result was one year worse than the last.

Yun Changliu pondered. “Wanci Manor needs a manor master with courage and determination.”

Guan Wujue sighed softly, “The Sect Leader always sees through things…”

He seemed lost in thought, so Yun Changliu said no more. The two leaned under the tree shade in silence, rather out of place with the surrounding noisy bustle.

“Young Brother Yun! Young Brother Yun!”

Suddenly, a booming call came from the side, the voice quite familiar. Guan Wujue turned his head and couldn’t help but smile.

He saw two burly, robust men, one carrying double hammers on his back, one carrying double axes—weren’t these exactly the “Hammer-Frightens-Tigers” and “Axe-Slays-Leopards” sworn brothers from yesterday!

The two men had been coaxed and deceived by Guan Wujue yesterday into complete delight, so naturally they were happy to meet again by chance. “Hahaha, we meet again. What fate, what fate!”

Guan Wujue smiled slightly and cupped his fists. “So it’s you two elder brothers.”

As he spoke, his feet imperceptibly took a step back, dodging the two men’s enthusiastic embrace, avoiding being “overly familiar and improper” in front of the Sect Leader again.

These two elder brothers didn’t mind—or perhaps simply didn’t notice anything amiss. Axe-Slays-Leopards Chen Tang rubbed his bald head and looked toward Yun Changliu, saying, “Aiya, we saw this immortal-like young master in white from afar earlier and were wondering with elder brother which talented youth this was, but it turns out to be the companion Young Brother Yun mentioned.”

Hammer-Frightens-Tigers Hong Kuo also said cheerfully, “Our brother’s brother is naturally also our brother! I wonder how this…”

He was about to blurt out “how should we address this young master in white,” but then saw Yun Changliu coldly glance at him, his face like frigid ice, his eyes seemingly holding frost. Chen Tang, who usually feared neither heaven nor earth, felt his spine suddenly go cold.

He was secretly shocked, thinking that Young Brother Yun’s companion had such formidable bearing, his strength must be considerable, and his gaze toward Yun Changliu immediately changed.

Meanwhile, Guan Wujue, seeing the atmosphere becoming somewhat awkward, stepped forward between Yun Changliu and the Tiger-Leopard brothers. “Cough, my young master… doesn’t like to talk much. Please forgive us, elder brothers.”

The two brothers showed puzzled expressions. “…Young Master? You two…”

Guan Wujue said, “Ah, I am his…”

Before finishing his words, Guan Wujue himself paused.

This had come out of his mouth reflexively. But in this situation, he suddenly couldn’t think what identity should follow “his.”

If this identity was stated too lowly, like some household servant or page, Sect Leader Yun would definitely turn hostile on the spot; if he wanted to state it highly, that wouldn’t work either—what kind of friend or brother would have one party address the other as “young master”? It would certainly invite further questions.

So Protector Guan was struck dumb, with this sentence stuck halfway and unable to continue.

Hammer-Frightens-Tigers was completely confused. “You are his?”

Axe-Slays-Leopards looked utterly bewildered. “What does ‘you are his’ mean?”

Guan Wujue immediately felt a headache coming on.

He forced a smile, just about to muddle through, when unexpectedly Sect Leader Yun, who had been quietly listening from the side, now apparently unwilling to let his own Protector be looked down upon by outsiders, suddenly had a flash of inspiration and coolly interjected, “No matter, I am also his.”

Guan Wujue: “…”

When Yun Changliu said this, Guan Wujue felt a breath stuck in his chest. Good Sect Leader! Would you please just not speak—

This matter could have been glossed over with some smooth talk!

Seeing the Tiger-Leopard brothers’ gazes going back and forth between himself and the Sect Leader, and becoming increasingly strange, Guan Wujue could only steel himself and laugh it off. Fortunately, both men were simple-minded, and after he deflected with a few words, they stopped asking.

Guan Wujue made an excuse about having matters to attend to and finally parted ways with the pair of brothers. Just as he breathed a slight sigh of relief and turned around, he saw Yun Changliu looking at him with a smile, as if he’d watched a good show.

The Sect Leader said with complete seriousness. “You said you are mine.”

“And forced me to have to say I am also yours.”

With that, Yun Changliu suddenly leaned close to Guan Wujue’s ear, curving his lips and whispering quietly, “Protector Guan is so very bold…”

Ever since the last time the Fengchun Sheng poison flared up, Sect Leader Yun’s behavior had been increasingly unrestrained. Though usually reserved and self-controlled, these past days it seemed as if he was deliberately looking for every opportunity to tease him.

To this, Guan Wujue could only respond with a bitter smile. “Young Master, please spare Wujue.”

The Sect Leader then gradually restrained his smile and quietly gazed at the Four Directions Protector for a long time. Until the cloud shadow blocking the sunlight overhead shifted and moved away, his snow-white robes were illuminated brilliantly.

Yun Changliu, in the warm winter sun, squinted slightly and suddenly said very softly, “Perhaps living a bit longer wouldn’t be so bad.”

“——I am yours!” Guan Wujue jolted, suddenly grasping Yun Changliu’s hand firmly, “You can have whatever you want! Wujue is yours!”

Yun Changliu shook his head with a laugh.

He said softly, “It was just a joke. Who wants you to be mine.”

In the distance, people were successively taking their seats one after another, and the disorderly clamor within the peach garden gradually subsided.

The crowd gathered together up ahead dispersed somewhat, and a thin middle-aged man about forty years old with long eyebrows and delicate features walked out, bowing and saluting toward the seats on both sides.

Wanci Manor’s banquet was finally about to begin.