White-Robed Chief

It was already midnight by the time Chu Li reached the Public House.

He decided to first return to the East Garden. The boat reached shore and he hit the ancient jade xylophone. The sound immediately reverberated throughout the island.

After a moment, Li Yue, in his pajamas, rushed out with messy hair and drool at the corner of his mouth. His eyes had not even opened entirely when he saw Chu Li. Li Yue impolitely stared at Chu Li as he shook his head.

“And here I was wondering who it was!”

Chu Li smiled at him cheekily. “Brother Li, it’s been such a long time!”

“Ha… brother, you’re finally back!” Li Yue sighed.

Chu Li arched his eyebrow at the statement. What was he talking about?

Li Yue talked while they made their way back, “It would’ve been really bad if you took any longer!”

“What’s going on?” Chu Li activated the Omniscient Mirror and scanned the East Garden. Nothing was out of the ordinary; the plants were still fine, and all of them were healthy and growing well.

Li Yue sighed. “Something happened to the Moonlight Orchid that had been sent to the West Garden!”

The two of them went to the courtyard and sat beside the stone table. Chu Li lit up the lanterns, he lit so many of them that it made the courtyard look as if it was still morning.

Li Yue scoffed, “After you left, something happened to the Moonlight Orchid in the West Garden, so I went to have a look. It really looked like it was genuinely wilting. It looked as though it was going to die at any moment! Gu Litong is trying to save it, but he hasn’t come up with a solution yet.”

“It’s been a month, but they still haven’t wilted?” Chu Li asked bemusedly. “Gu Litong dragged out its lifespan till’ now? He’s not as useless as I thought he was. I’ll check on it tomorrow.”

“What do you mean tomorrow? Go now!”

“Now?” Chu Li shook his head. “Half a day doesn’t make any difference.”

Li Yue widened his eyes in disbelief. “Brother, if the Moonlight Orchid really dies, then Master Xiao will be furious! I heard that he really likes the flower!”

Chu Li smiled. “The Third Lady is indeed powerful, but she still needs to listen to Master Xiao. If she ever provokes Master Xiao, it’ll only end in total disaster!”

Li Yue heard this and let out a little smile.

“What did Gu Litong say?”

“Him?” Li Yue twitched his mouth as he thought for a while before replying. “He said that the pot may have come directly from the Moonlight Island since it only has a lifespan of a month!”

Chu Li squinted his eyes and scoffed. What a vicious thought!

Li Yue slammed his hands on the table. “What does he mean by that!? Is he saying that all the Moonlight Orchids we grew were taken from Moonlight Island? How dare he!”

“Haih… In any case is there any news from Master Xiao?”

“Master Xiao didn’t say a thing, but Gu Litong said you ran away because you are trying to hide from your mistakes!” Li Yue said through clenched teeth.

Chu Li scoffed again, “Gu Litong…’

“He believes that he can do anything he wanted just because he has a good father!” Li Yue spat. “They better hope they don’t bump into me, or I’ll really teach him a lesson!”

Gu Litong had always relied on his High Official father. He dared to speak in an unrestrained manner and purposely offended a lot of people because of his relative “immunity”. No one could do anything to him due to the restrictions of the Public House, which is why he had been arrogant up until this point.

Chu Li shook his head. “Seems like we’re going to need to solve this issue properly.”

“I’m afraid that Gu Litong will kill the Moonlight Orchid once he receives news of your return. If that happens then we really won’t have any evidence to prove otherwise!” Li Yue sighed as he stared helplessly at Chu Li. “We need to be careful of their trap.”

Chu Li sighed before smiling. “Anyway, it’s getting late, you should return to sleep.”

“Just remember to be careful!” Li Yue yawned. He covered his mouth and went back to his room.

Chu Li returned to the west room. There was nothing to worry about, everything their foes had cooked up to now would probably just turn out to be some cheap insidious trick. He even had the protection of the Third Lady. There would definitely come a time for him to prove himself. He was not afraid of the trap he was about to walk into.

…

Chu Li took the boat to the Jade Guardian Island early in the morning.

Su Ru gently arrived to greet him in her apricot gown, accompanied by a pleasant smell.

She smiled like a flower as she looked at Chu Li from top to bottom. “Looking good, aren’t you?”

Chu Li greeted her with a closed fist salute.

Su Ru shook her hand and scoffed. “I heard that you lived with some beauty for about a month?”

“I assume Aunt Xiao Yueling told you this?”

“Of course! ”

Su Ru elegantly left, passing through the woods as she entered a small valley full of flowers. There were quite the number of beautiful maids passing by who bowed to greet her.

“I can’t disobey Aunt Xiao Yueling’s orders.” Chu Li shrugged and replied, “Great Aunt said a lot of good things about you.”

Su Ru pursed her lips and smiled. “She said that you were a clever person. By the way, have you completed your cultivation for the Light-body Technique?”

Chu Li smiled as he nodded his head.

“You’ve seriously completed cultivating it already?” Su Ru could not hide her surprise.

She, along with Lady Xiao, had also cultivated Narrowed World before, but they were unable to complete it, and still felt unwilling to do so up until now. They had guessed that Chu Li would not be able to complete it and that he definitely would not have completed the cultivation!

Chu Li grinned at her. “I’m just lucky.”

Su Ru’s watery eyes looked hesitant. Then, she rolled her eyes and looked away. “Seems like your comprehension is still pretty good! In any case, have you heard the news about the West Garden?”

Chu Li nodded.

Su Ru scoffed, “This Gu Litong, he’s just…”

Chu Li did not reply.

“Chu Li, tell me the truth. Did anything happen to the flower?” Su Ru probed.

She was not too clear on what happened, but back when Chu Li began breeding the Moonlight Orchid, he had gone to the Floral House to buy one of them and it didn’t wilt. She had suspected that the Moonlight Orchid sent to the West Garden was the one he bought at the Floral House.

Chu Li had the guts. He was the type who dared to do these kinds of things.

“Chief, do you really think that I’m that kind of person? The Moonlight Orchid is fine. And it’s even healthier than the other ones. I was even worried that they couldn’t breed it so I went out of my way to choose the best one for them!” Chu Li retorted.

“Then why do they have problems over there?”

“The Moonlight Orchid is fragile. Problems are to be expected.”

“But your parterre never had any problems before!”

Chu Li smiled. “Brother Li follows what I tell him to do strictly, but I don’t have that guarantee in the West Garden!”

“I suspect that Gu Litong and Zhou Yuting sabotaged it. They must be the ones who messed with the Moonlight Orchid!” Chu Li accused them angrily.

“Are you sure?” Su Ru was startled. She furrowed her brows and asked. “Would they really dare to do such a thing?”

“Jealousy pushes many people off the edge. They will do things that are beyond our understanding.” Chu Li sighed before continuing. “Couple that with Gu Litong’s temper and you get a real possibility that he’s the one who’s doing this!”

Su Ru contemplated for a while then slowly nodded her head.

The entire Public House knew that Gu Litong was petty and that he would do anything necessary to get what he wanted. Not to mention, he had done a lot of bad things before. If he wasn’t a genius with plants, then the judiciary, who was headed by Lady Xiao, would have already punished him.

The two of them went to the third floor of the Stargazing Tower.

Xiao Qi was practicing her swordplay in her white and clean gown. She looked like a fairy from another world, raised separately from the common folk.

The cold rays reflected off the sword in her hand. It was like a feather, quiet, soft, invisible. It did not give off even an inkling of lethality.

Chu Li had seen her practice her sword before, but the rays that reflected from the sword at the time were fierce and cold. This time it was completely different, the way she wielded her sword was graceful and calm. It had lost any trace of ferocity that was so prevalent the last time.

“Lady Xiao!” Chu Li saluted her with his fists closed.

Xiao Qi tossed her sword to Su Ru, who caught and sheathed it into the scabbard on the wall.

“When did you get back?” Xiao Qi sat daintily on the embroidery with her back pencil straight. Her jade-like finger pointing at the embroidery opposite her.

Chu Li took his seat and replied, “Midnight yesterday.”

Xiao Qi’s bright eyes almost pierced him with their gaze. “Were you well over there?”

Chu Li told her everything that had happened prior.

“Faction Leader?” Xiao Qi took the white jade teacup from Su Ru and slowly took a sip. “I thought that you’d bring her along with you so that you could protect her.”

Chu Li took a cup as well and offered his thanks. “It was different this time. Lady Chen Siyu is stronger to the point that she even wants to take over the Startling Cloud Faction’s legacy.”

“The Startling Cloud Faction…” Xiao Qi furrowed her brows and shook her head. “She’s a weak woman. It would be dangerous.”

Chu Li put down his teacup and flashed her smile. “I’ve already removed anyone who posed a threat to her before I left. Besides, I’ll go back often to check on her.”

“It would be bad for the faction if you let the people know your identity,” Xiao Qi pointed out.

“I used a fake name,” Chu Li replied.

“You need to be more careful,” Lady Xiao muttered as she held onto her teacup. “Seems like I need to give you an official fake identity.”

Chu Li looked at her, shocked.

Xiao Qi stared at Su Ru who stood beside her. “Young Su Ru, I’ll hand this job over to you.”

“Yes, Lady.” Su Ru nodded her head and stared at Chu Li.

Xiao Qi looked over at Chu Li. “Don’t underestimate the people of the martial arts world. They have concealed talents and there are a lot of geniuses out there. The Startling Cloud Faction will discover your identity and won’t let you go. I don’t even need to mention the Heaven’s Equal Faction!”

Chu Li slowly nodded his head and told her about the steps he had gone through to protect his real identity.

However, Xiao Qi shook her head. “You’ll be discovered far too easily. Just let Su Ru do the arrangements.”

“I’ll find someone that looks like you to stay at your residence,” Su Ru said.

“I don’t think finding someone like that would be that easy, would it?” Chu Li’s hand moved to touch his own face.

Su Ru rolled her eyes in response. “Don’t worry, I’ll somehow find someone that looks like you. He just needs to look somewhat similar for it to work.”

Chu Li smiled when he heard this. “Then, I shall leave it to you, Chief.”

Su Ru scoffed. “She’s great aunt’s friend, so of course I need to be cautious. We cannot not help when she is in a rough patch! I’m not doing this because of you.”

Chu Li smiled and nodded.

Xiao Qi stared fiercely at Su Ru, who bit her tongue and kept quiet. Then, she redirected her attention towards Chu Li. “Have you completed cultivating Narrowed World?”

“Yes,” Chu Li replied.

Xiao Qi looked at him. “You’ve actually totally completed your cultivation?”

Chu Li disappeared, then reappeared by the window, then back at his seat. The cup he held still held the same amount of liquid as before and he was still, looking as though he had not even moved a muscle. An outsider might have suspected themselves of losing their mind.

“Narrowed World…” Xiao Qi sighed softly.

Su Ru scoffed. “Enough now. It’s no use showing off. Narrowed World consumes a lot of inner energy. You’re only going to end up needing to bring along more bottles of the Energy Pill!”

Chu Li smiled at her response.

“The Narrowed World isn’t only about martial arts, but also about your body movement technique, particularly the mystery of the heart technique. If one completes their cultivation of it, then their martial arts skill will improve dramatically,” Xiao Qi finished.

Chu Li nodded his head.

After learning Narrowed World, his body movement technique was like that of a demon – so much so that normal fighters would not even have the chance to defend against it. His martial arts had indeed improved by leaps and bounds.

“Lady Xiao, we need to quickly settle the issue regarding the West Garden,” Su Ru reminded Xiao Qi.

“Let Chu Li investigate it. He suspects that someone is sabotaging the flower.”

“Very well. You go with him,” Xiao Qi instructed.

Su Ru grunted then replied coldly, “Understood.”

They bid farewell to Xiao Qi and left. Chu Li actually wanted to return to his courtyard to check whether his plants were growing well or not, and in the meantime check on how the Grass of Raven had grown, but Su Ru laughed at him and insisted that he wanted to go back to meet his beautiful Scribe.

Chu Li gave in and decided followed her to the West Garden.