“So you are Xu Long, Zhong has told me much about you, this is probably not the most auspicious of first meetings, but here we are. I am Li Yaling.”
Xu Long slightly bowed his head. “It’s nice to finally meet you, thank you for your hospitality these past couple of weeks. You have a beautiful establishment and I have greatly enjoyed my time here.”
Li Yaling smirked when she saw how he bowed his head only slightly despite knowing just how powerful she was, but she couldn’t sense any disrespect in his attitude, he gave off the impression that he would respect power but would never bow to it. Looking at him standing there completely confidently with a hand on his sword, he cut a fine picture of an unbreakable hero.
“I can see why Ruolan likes you.”
After their brief exchange she could feel the idiot child of the Luo finally coming to grips with what had just happened, and he was clearly about to start throwing another tantrum. She turned her head in his direction.
“As for you Luo Jian, you are banned from this establishment for 10 years, hopefully your time in the Academy will teach you some manners and humility.”
“What! That peasant just tried to kill me in your establishment and you are banning me! Are you trying to make an enemy of the Luo Family you old hag!”
An unseasonable cold descended on this portion of the restaurant as Li Yaling stared at the blustering young man, whatever color had returned to his face promptly left it again when he realized what he had just done. She started to slowly walk in his direction as she spoke.
“He didn’t try to kill you, he did kill you, the only reason you are alive at this very moment is because I stopped him. So tell me young man, did I make a mistake in doing so?”
Luo Jian backed up with an all consuming fear in his eyes as he felt an abominable cold seep into his very soul. Just when he thought he was going to die, the woman took a deep breath and stopped advancing on him before she looked away from him.
“Ruolan, will you please escort this young man to the Luo estate.”
Li Ruolan then materialized behind the young man and placed a hand on his shoulder, just as she was about to leave with him, her mother stopped her with a gesture.
“One moment, Ruolan.” She then turned her attention to Old Wu and held out her hand. “Wu Zhong, if you would.”
He laughed as he produced a small blue marble that appeared to have faint lightning coursing through it and threw it over to her.
Li Yaling caught it, then handed it over to Li Ruolan. “Hand this to his father and tell him it will explain why his son is no longer welcome in my establishment.”
Li Ruolan was slightly confused but nodded and took it nonetheless, she then promptly disappeared along with Luo Jian who was looking quite traumatized from two consecutive brushes with death in as many minutes.
Li Yaling then turned her attention to the other guests who had arrived with Luo Jian and Bai Mei and were looking at the woman with trepidation. “The rest of you are welcome to stay and utilize the Luo reserved table if you would like, or you can follow him back to the Luo Estate.”
A handsome young man stood up and clasped his hands and bowed his head towards Li Yaling. “Thank you for your consideration Senior, we are guests of the Luo while we await enrollment in our respective Academies. I have heard great things about the delicacies of your establishment and would hate to miss such an opportunity over an altercation started by such a trifling matter.”
The subtle dig at Xu Long was not lost on him, he simply looked in the young man’s direction and smiled before he retook his seat with Old Wu and Xu Xing. Li Yaling, however, judged the young man to be slimy politician and dismissed him entirely, she turned her attention to Bai Mei who was looking at the small spirit fox with a tinge of nervousness clouding her features. When she saw that, she actually smiled lovingly at the girl.
“So, Xiao Mei, tell me did your mother accompany you for your enrollment?”
Being addressed shook Bai Mei out of her daze and she looked up at Li Yaling. “Sorry Aunty, Mother was too busy to make the journey and sent Big Sister Yue to escort me.”
Li Yaling shook her head and mumbled, “that woman…” Then collected herself and continued, “you let her know that I expect her here next time.”
Bai Mei replied. “I will pass it on, Aunty.” while stealing glances at the small spirit fox who seemed to be ignoring her.
Exasperated that the girl's attention was clearly on the spirit fox and not her, she shook her head and sighed. “We will talk later Xiao Mei.” Then she disappeared before Bai Mei could answer her.
The young woman steeled herself for something that she appeared to have been building up to for a while and took a deep breath before she bent at the waist and bowed deeply towards Xu Xing.
“I apologize Xu Xing, what Luo Jian said and the way he acted were reprehensible, I hope that you can forgive me.”
Xu Long couldn’t help but chuckle. “I think you laid it on a little thick Xiao Xing. Please stop bowing to her Bai Mei, it will go to her head.”
Bai Mei raised her head with a look of confusion and saw Xu Long smiling and a small spirit fox that was somehow sporting a cheeky grin sitting on the edge of the table in front of her wagging its tail. “What is going on?”
“Xu Xing was messing with you, she is a very mischievous little girl.” Xu Xing actually yipped at that happily as if to say ‘that’s right!’, which caused Xu Long to chuckle again. “Anyway, would you like to join us?”
Bai Mei, still a look of confusion on her face, absentmindedly nodded her head and sat down at their table, after which Xu Xing immediately jumped into her lap and started demanding pets, which were promptly delivered. She then looked at Xu Long and asked the burning question on her mind. “I don’t understand, shouldn’t the two of you be at least a little upset with me?”
Xu Long smiled at her. “I trust Xu Xing implicitly, and you are the first person she has ever taken to that quickly besides me, so it seemed pretty obvious to me that someone who Xu Xing likes almost certainly does not have much, if any, of a connection to someone like that, I would even hazard a guess that today was the first time you met the young man.”
Looking more than a little shocked that she had been judged and found worthy by a small spirit fox and that that was all it took to warrant instant trust from this mysterious blindfolded young man that just tried to kill one of the children of the head of the Luo Clan like it was nothing.
“If she likes me so much, why did she mess with me, as you call it?”
“Just because she likes you doesn’t mean that the company you keep doesn’t reflect on you, I imagine that was just her little revenge, that being said, she doesn’t mess with people she doesn’t like.” He paused before turning his head towards Old Wu. “Or people who over retaliate with the flick of a finger.”
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“Hey, I apologized, but she needed to learn not to go around hitting men in the testicles for fun.”
Xu Long sighed. “I only wish that lesson had stuck.”
Bai Mei, still feeling a little overwhelmed by the strangeness of this entire encounter suddenly burst out laughing, she wiped a tear from her eye and then looked down at the small spirit fox on her lap who had a distinct look of pride on her face, and smiled at her. “You’re a good girl, aren’t you, you were just putting those mean men in their place.”
Which got a happy yip affirming her innocence in reply.
Wondering how this conversation had steered in this direction, and then realizing that technically it was his doing. Xu Long had to sigh again, he had a lot to learn about talking with people who weren’t Old Wu or his mother, then he thought about how his conversations went with them and he realized that maybe he had a lot to learn about conversations in general.
While he was pondering this, Bai Mei was still happily bonding with Xu Xing who was still turning on all her charms for the young woman, when they were both interrupted by the young man from Bai Mei’s original group who spoke for them to Li Yaling.
“Miss Bai, can we order you anything for when you are finished petting the spirit fox?”
She looked up from her very important task at the young man. “That won’t be necessary Song Hai, but thank you. Also, you needn’t wait for me as I won't be returning to the Luo estate.”
Sounding very flustered from this latest revelation, Xu Long heard this young snake falter for the first time this evening. “Ah Miss Bai don’t you think…that is to say…what should I tell your escort when I return?”
“Oh, that is true, I should let Big Sister Yue know.” She then proceeded to materialize a small token that Xu Long could feel quite the elaborate formation on when she put her qi into it which quickly died out and then disappeared when she put the token away.
“Thank you for your consideration, Song Hai, but I will be fine, you should feel free to go about your evening.”
Xu Long had to laugh in his head, all the implied meanings behind simple exchanges seemed exhausting. He had been warned quite a few times by his mother about the social and political struggles in the cultivation world, especially amongst the clans and the powerful sects, but seeing that it trickled all the way down to young men and women who had barely started cultivating seemed ridiculous to him.
“Very well Miss Bai, it was a pleasure to have met you, I imagine we will see each other again in the Azure Dragon Academy.”
“I imagine we will, Song Hai, have a pleasant evening.”
“To you as well Miss Bai.”
Xu Long sat and listened to the whole exchange and then watched as the this Song Hai went back to his table, he got the impression that he had gotten a few dirty looks from the young man but didn’t actually know for sure and quite frankly didn’t care, when he felt the young man had returned to his table he looked in Bai Mei’s direction.
“I am getting the impression that you or at least your clan are quite a big deal.”
That actually caught her off guard and she stopped petting Xu Xing and looked at the young man in front of her in a new light. “You have never heard of the Bai Clan?”
He just shook his head in reply.
“Did you know who Luo Jian was when you tried to kill him?”
He once again just shook his head.
“Who are you?”
“I am Xu Long.”
…
“Patriarch, Miss Ruolan has arrived with your son and says she was instructed to give you a message from her mother.”
Luo Qiang diverted his attention from the beautiful young woman sitting opposite of him at the small table in the rear grounds of his estate. He sighed.
“What has the boy done now? Very well, bring them here would you, Wen.”
The young looking attendant bowed at the waist and then moved with casual haste to retrieve their guest.
The two sat in silence, expecting their guest shortly, for although the Luo estate was large by Tianyun standards, it was a very compact estate by the standards of the rest of the realm. And indeed the attendant Wen was soon seen approaching with Li Ruolan and a dejected looking Luo Jian in tow.
When they arrived Wen bowed once again and made himself scarce, whereas Li Ruolan clasped her hands and bowed to the two seated. “Patriarch Luo, Sister Yue, my apologies for interrupting.”
“It’s fine Ruolan, no need to be so formal with me, I have been a very happy customer of your mother’s establishment for many years.”
Li Ruolan dipped her head again. “Thank you Patriarch Luo.”
“Congratulations on your advancement since we last met Little Sister Ruolan, I will have to redouble my efforts lest you catch up to me.”
Giving Bai Yue a smirk, Li Ruolan simply replied, “don’t take too long.”
Li Ruolan then changed her face into a neutral bearing as she turned her attention back to Patriarch Luo. “I’m sorry to be the bearer of unfortunate news Patriarch Luo, but my mother instructed me to hand this to you and to tell you that it would explain why your son is no longer welcome in the House Heavenly Respite.” As she was talking she held out the small blue marble that had the faint sheen of lightning.
Patriarch Luo’s face went dark, this was far worse than what he was expecting, this son of his had really outdone himself this time…
He glanced at his son and saw that he had his head down and was desperately trying to avoid looking at his father. He sighed as he held out his hand and had the small marble fly to him at a rapid speed. As soon as the marble entered his hand he could tell that despite its simple outer appearance, inside it was utterly extraordinary, he simply reached out and touched it with his qi and a blinding flash covered all four of them.
When the flash subsided they found themselves looking at the scene in the restaurant of the House of Heavenly Respite that Li Ruolan and Luo Jian had just come from, which was quite a surreal experience for the both of them as they were now looking at themselves as they viewed the altercation from the point of view of the old man who provided the blue marble.
While the two of them were wide eyed with shock, the two older and more experienced seated cultivators were absolutely floored, this was the most perfect projection either of them had ever seen and that included from all of the Elders in their respective families, just what kind of expert was there as a witness to these events?
They sat in stunned silence, not wanting to give away to the two juniors just how much the projection affected them, as the four of them watched the entire chain of events starting with Bai Mei walking up and asking to pet the small spirit fox on the table that the expert who crafted this projection was sitting at.
Patriarch Luo’s face darkened further and further the more he watched. From his son blustering in to the scene like he owned the place to his temper tantrum when the young blindfolded man threatened him, to being totally outmatched in a fight he did not even anticipate despite the fact that he started it and almost being decapitated, to then throwing around the Luo name in the one establishment in the entire city where it means next to nothing and then finally to top it all off calling one of the most powerful Dao Seeking experts in the city an ‘old hag’ right to her face, in front of a crowd of people no less.
Just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse they reached the point at the end of the projection when Li Yaling asked the seated expert for the projection of the events, and she called him Wu Zhong, instead of Zhong as she had previously done, clearly she did so deliberately, and it was likely for his sake. He put the pieces together in an instant, a Dao Seeking Realm expert capable of producing the most perfect projection he had ever seen, lightning qi, surnamed Wu, it all pointed in a single direction.
‘Thunder God Wu…’
Patriarch Luo put a hand over his face. It was clear to him at this moment that he had not been paying as much attention to his youngest as he did with his older children. As he was contemplating how to handle this, he heard Bai Yue mumble under her breath. “So it’s him.”
Just then, Bai Yue felt an anomaly in her communication talisman that connected her to Bai Mei, she materialized it from her ring and quickly received the message. She shook her head when she heard it.
“Patriarch Luo, Bai Mei has informed me that she will be spending the rest of the week before enrollment with her Aunt, so I am afraid I am going to have to head over there now.”
Luo Qiang immediately came out of his contemplative daze and shot out of his seat. “Miss Bai, I am sure that this situation can be rectified.”
Bai Yue shook her head. “Please don’t misunderstand Patriarch Luo, this is a thoroughly minor and unimportant incident and I doubt anyone in the Bai Clan will even hear about it, much less care. Ultimately it is between you and Li Yaling and I also doubt that she holds any ill will towards you. The reason that we will no longer be guests of your house is far more ridiculous than all of that.”
Bai Yue sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose before continuing. “She doesn’t want the spirit fox to think that she has any connection to your son.”