NOVEL NEXT Chapter 141: A Changing Tide
As our gazes met, my fiancée narrowed her eyes at me as if trying to determine whether I was really looking at her. From what I could sense, she wasn't a Qi Gathering Cultivator yet, so her vision shouldn't have been as good as mine, but still good enough to notice. Perhaps she thought I might be looking at someone in her direction.
I winked at her and smiled.
Her eyes widened, and she turned away after confirming that I was indeed looking at her.
After that little tease, I returned to monitoring people who looked like they might be planning something against Song Song. I did this until the higher-ups finished talking with each other, and the meeting was officially over.
"Now, with the introductions done, we will go to the feast!" the purple-haired girl declared, her eyes fluttering as she glanced at the Sect Leaders as if seeking their approval.
The elders guided us into different groups and routes. Still, I just followed behind Song Song and tried to recall the faces in the crowd that had shown hostility toward her. I used the Dancing Jade Armor Technique to form small jade coins that looked almost like genuine jade and then began engraving the faces from memory.
It was challenging, as Song Song had angered quite a few people. But I had planned and trained for this, so it wasn't too hard.
We followed the same route we had taken to get here, except now there were more people from the other Sects. Blue, white, gray, and black rarely mixed together despite the large clump of disciples.
Occasionally, I would rest my mind to better recall the faces. Despite having a good memory, it wasn't perfect, and there were bound to be some gaps.
I moved through some roads I hadn't walked on before, leading to a Chinese-themed palace with tables everywhere and a couple dozen servants at the Qi Gathering stage.
Huh, I had thought that all the inner sect disciples were at the meeting?
The tables were colored differently, with flags on each table. There was a red sun on a blue field representing the Blazing Sun Sect, which had the most disciples and three rows of big, long red tables for them. The flag with a giant dark sword with a red hilt atop a golden field belonged to the Titanic Sword Sect, which had gray-colored tables. The Azure Frost Sect had marble-white tables, and their flag was a white snowflake on a black field. Last but not least was the Void Piercing Sect, which had a large black crack spreading out like a spiderweb on a white field.
I found a specific spot at the corner of the first table and sat down next to Song Song. My three cousins from the inner Sect sat on the opposite side of us, and not many others dared approach. They avoided Song Song no matter what.
Sneakily, I nudged Song Song under the table with my knee. She didn't turn toward me but understood my message. I began passing her the coins with the engraved faces of the people, one by one. We both knew I likely hadn't gotten everyone, but there were still many coins to pass along.
Song Song kept her cold mask on and didn't seem as surprised as I was by the number of coins. This girl was too used to creating enemies for herself.
"There are quite a lot of people I have to memorize. How long can you keep these coins around?" Song Song inquired, to the surprise of my cousins, who didn't know what we were discussing.
"Indefinitely, unless I get exhausted in some battle or something," I shrugged.
Song Song nodded and took out one of the coins to inspect. A slight green gleam on the coins reflected off the sun.
I looked around for anyone else sending us nasty or hateful looks. Still, it was just the usual suspects I had already noted down. People were talking and whispering, and a guitar-like instrument played a soft, humming tune. I believe it was called a zither.
The Sect Leaders were nowhere to be seen, which was worrying and relieving. It always felt like they had an eye on everything, and nothing could escape their gaze.
"The Sect Leaders are not around," I told Song Song in case she needed to know.
"Without them around, people can relax. Kind of how you are relaxing right now," she pointed out while checking another coin. My cousins took a sip from their drinks and stared at us without saying anything.
"They're probably scheming something in a dark hole that will involve the rest of the continent," Song Song added, going under the table to take another coin as she sent a knowing smile my way. "Why else would the Titanic Blade Sect Leader even come all this way?"
Song Song's face gleamed as the sun reflected off her pale skin. Her smile was no longer creepy, and it even turned some heads away from people who didn't know her reputation.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
She could also read me like an open book when she wanted. Song Song had guessed exactly what I was thinking.
So many things were out of our control, and I could do nothing about it. I sighed, and my eyes wandered again, landing on my fiancée.
This time, her dark eyes met mine. She was amidst a gaggle of Azure Frost Sect girls who radiated danger. There was something about them that every instinct told me to stay away from. Though it was undeniable that they were all pretty, and while my fiancée didn't stand out amongst them, she could also be considered a beauty.
Of course, compared to people like Ye An or Song Song, who were blessed with unnatural beauty, my fiancée paled a bit. But I wasn't the male equivalent of a jade-like beauty either.
I waved and smiled at my fiancée. She looked unsure, glancing at her fellow Azure Frost Sect disciples around her. Their white robes billowed as they moved about.
First, she made sure that none of her white-robed friends saw her before she smiled awkwardly and waved at me.
What an interesting girl.
I stood up from the table, and some eyes were immediately drawn to me. While I mostly lived in Song Song's shadow, I also had my own reputation in the Sect.
But I acted like I noticed none of them and leaned in to whisper to Song Song, "I have to take care of a future problem."
The celebration drowned my voice, with people toasting each other and engaging in many other customary exchanges, which protected us from eavesdroppers.
Song Song looked at me, then her glance turned toward my fiancée in the distance, who was still staring at me. Finally, my friend's gaze returned to me, and she smiled. However, her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, and it was no longer that sweet, friendly smile.
She must have noticed the same thing I did.
"Good luck," Song Song said.
"Thanks, I will need it," I responded, walking away.
Yeah, I've had horrible luck with women.
I waved at Song Song, Liu Qian, Liu Bo, and Liu Heng while walking away from them. They still kept their eyes on me even as I went out.
The whole palace was bustling with activity as servants rushed about, and the disciples finally began mingling with each other. There was an air of friendliness in the air.
I glanced at the table I had left behind one last time and saw that Liu Qian was the only one who seemed relaxed around Song Song. Liu Bo was doing a lousy job hiding his frightened expression, twitching every second and looking around while sending scared glances at Song Song.
Song Song, on the other hand, kept staring at me with an amused smirk dancing on her lips. Her light blue eyes met mine, and she nudged her chin slightly toward me as a form of encouragement.
I approached the table where the Azure Frost Sect was, and as some girls noticed my approach, the temperature got colder. There was also a soft smell of different flowery perfumes, and the girls from the Azure Frost Sect only spoke in whispers.
But I kept walking through the cold and showed no signs that would make me appear weak.
Thankfully, I was not the only one here, so it was not just me attracting attention. A couple of guys from the Titanic Sword Sect came here to try their luck.
However, as soon as they approached the Azure Frost Sect group, their hard and determined looks wilted as they smiled. They chuckled and laughed like children running in a grassy field.
Some Azure Frost Sect disciples chuckled when they saw the two Titanic Blade Sect disciples acting like fools.
Well, I was the only one from the Blazing Sun Sect here. So that drew its fair share of eyes.
I finally reached where Fu Yating was, and we stared at each other for a few seconds before I introduced myself. "Hey, my name is Liu Feng."
"Hi…" Fu Yating said awkwardly. Her smile was as harmless as the winter sun.
Also, my back was going to hurt from carrying this conversation.
"What is your name? It would be a shame if I had to call you Azure Frost Sect Lady for the rest of my life," I stated.
Fu Yating looked around and noticed the gazes of her seniors were on us. But it was better to rip off the band-aid now rather than later.
"Fu Yating," she answered in a whisper-like voice, quieter than the wind. I could barely hear it. “My name is Fu Yating.”
Well, better get this girl out of her shell. It would be annoying if we had to always speak in riddles. I wanted to understand her as a person.
I leaned over the table, thankful for being quite tall even by cultivator standards, and softly grabbed Fu Yating's hand. Her hands were soft, and her palms were sweaty.
"Fu Yating, that is a beautiful name. Want to get married?" I popped the question like a balloon.
Similar to popping a balloon, the people who heard me were startled. Some of the senior disciples even sent hostile looks my way, like a ruthless ice storm.
Fu Yating, on the other hand, shyly looked away. That seemed to surprise some people even more than my question. For a blatant proposal like this, the normal response would have been to tell me to fuck off.
"Fu Yating!" A young woman next to Fu Yating yelled out; from her demeanor, she must be one of my fiancée's friends. "You can't act like this in front of some random man!"
The girl had brown hair and big brown eyes. Her fast speaking made her look like a chipmunk, and she seemed very easy to agitate.
But the spitfire young girl turned toward me and began nibbling at my ear with her words. Or at least she looked like she was going to. The young girl opened her mouth, but her gaze wandered up and down my body before it settled on my eyes.
"Oh, right… Liu Feng," the chipmunk girl whistled and turned away, trying to look innocent. As if her yelling from before hadn't gotten every eye in the banquet to focus on us.
But the gazes of all those people were nothing more than background noise. I leaned in and whispered to my fiancée, "How about we get away from the noise for a bit?"
Fu Yating looked unsure, her whole presence radiating like that of a harmless, unsure rabbit. But despite her hesitation, she nodded, and I gently led her away by her soft hand.
The background noise grew lower as we got further away from the crowds. The palace we were in was large enough for us to move far enough that others couldn't hear us, and we ended up in a beautiful garden.
The garden was a riot of colors, with red roses, yellow daffodils, and purple lavender swaying in the breeze.
I was about to lead her further away where no onlookers would even be able to see us. But then, my innocent fiancée halted and swiftly removed her hand from my grasp.
"Since when did the Liu Clan get gutsy enough to do something like this?" Fu Yating asked. Her voice was no longer a symbol of innocence; now there was a cold edge to her words, sharper than a razor.
Now that we were away from the feast, she could reveal her true colors. While they couldn't hear her speak, they could still see her, so if I wanted to do anything, that would be impossible. It was very smart of her.
I smiled, answering, "I knew the Fu Clan wouldn't send you out if you were as dumb as you appeared."