Dual Cultivation God Returns-Chapter 985: I craved some wine tonight
Gong Cui sat in Wu Long’s embrace, her back against his chest, covered in front with her inner robe like a blanket. They were still under the large peach tree, and she was eating the rest of the peach, giving him a bite from time to time as well.
"Hehe, it really is tasty, but not as sweet as the ones growing in Big Sister Wei Lan’s garden - it’s really fascinating, even though they’re the same tree from the same place"
"Mm, I am not really well versed in growing plants and gardening - one of the areas I didn’t actually take a closer look at all that much - but I always assumed that if it was possible, the people who could do something like that would probably be Wood Attribute Cultivators. Though it makes sense now that I think about it since Earth is the foundation"
"So if Big Sis joins hands with her, they could do something even more amazing?"
"Perhaps", Wu Long shrugged with a pondering look on his face as he turned his eyes up toward the flowering tree above them which was basking in the glow of the setting sun, "Liwei already likes to help with her garden anyway, so they’re getting along and spending a lot of time together either way. And since her heart lies in Medicine Dao aspect of the Wood Attribute rather than combat, she would be far more interested in Life Qi side of the equation, which could be linked to what Lan’er is doing as well"
"Hehe, so they can make super delicious peaches", she leaned her head back onto him, with an innocent gaze full of wonder.
"Hahaha, that’s right", he laughed, caught slightly off guard by the sharp contrast in what he was thinking and what he heard, underlined by how pure her thoughts and motivations were.
They spent a bit more time like that, chatting and laughing as it gradually became darker and darker, until Wu Long’s communication jade made a slight fluctuation, which prompted them to put clothes on in case of Gong Cui and change clothes into specific ones in case of Wu Long as he sent out a communication talisman message.
Before parting, Wu Long took out the big cup-shaped bell, as well as two small round crotal bells ringing with sound frequency below human perception that could be put inside sleeves as presents for Gong Cui who accepted them with joy and excitement, hugging him.
Her reaction brought a smile to his face as he loved to make her happy, to see her eyes lit up with that spark of almost child-like excitement and delight.
He spent a bit more time with her, reluctant to part with her warmth, delaying his departure as much as it was possible before disappearing with Fen Baihu’s help as he no longer had even a moment for any kind of travel to his destination.
"Oh, good, I thought something serious happened", Zhao Xieren sighed with great relief seeing him appear out of a cloud of mist while putting on the mask of the Talisman Master last-second. They were in an alley near the wine pagoda tower that he visited with Hong Yue just a few days before.
Wu Long nodded to him, and released talismans around them, and then as they came out of the alley, they appeared to be two different random people taking a stroll through the late evening street, and then coming into the wine tower for a drink.
The same seat as last time was reserved under them, and they proceeded to sit there, ordering wine and some snacks.
"Do you think he will come?", Zhao Xieren asked first.
"I wasn’t sure before, but I am certain now", Wu Long nodded.
"The opposite for me, I am not sure this will really work, Valley Master. He might just send... hmm? ... oh, I see", Zhao Xieren first sighed with doubt, but seeing Wu Long turn his head to eye the floor of the pagoda tower they were sitting on, chuckled with delight instead.
"Heh, it seems our stunt last time worked out well enough", Wu Long chuckled as well, "You should be getting final confirmation soon enough I guess"
"...!", Zhao Xieren felt his communication jade react and smiled, "Right on time, you are correct again. I really cannot win against you, Valley Master"
They sat there for some time, seemingly discussing something, and then a ruckus came from the staircase.
"Well well well, for some reason I craved some wine tonight, and I happen to like that particular seat, but was told that it is reserved. In fact it has been reserved quite regularly over the past few months, wasn’t it? Haha, always by different clients but the reservation always happened a day prior...", the one who appeared was none other than City Lord, Ko Zhumen, who was never seen entering or drinking wine in this establishment, followed by all four of his sons, and a few City Guards, "Do you mind if I join you, Fellow Daoists? And please, don’t insult me with the continuation of your little charade"
The ’Talisman Master’ and Zhao Xieren exchanged glances, and with a light hand gesture of the former, the illusion broke down as they stood up to greet the City Lord.
"Oh, please don’t stand up, sit, sit. Hahaha, but you really are very skilled, I was inwardly shaking from nervousness about embarrassing myself with that speech right until the last moment. I couldn’t see through the illusion even when I was this close... very impressive", City Lord made a ’nervous laugh’ and then gestured with his hand for them to sit back. After approaching and taking an empty chair on the way, he placed it to the side of the table in between them, and sat down without ceremonies or scruples, as if he was long since invited to this venue.
"City Lord, please forgive us, we didn’t expect such an esteemed company-...", Zhao Xieren began.
But was cut off by City Lord Ko, "Oh, I don’t mind drinking cheap wine from time to time", who raised his hand to signal the waiter for an empty wine cup, and proceeded by turning to look at the Talisman Master, enunciating the first few words, "You... are... an extre~mely... hard man to find. And you have avoided answering my indirect invitation all this time, so I had to come and find you instead"
"It is my honor to be sought out by the City Lord", the Talisman Master spoke, seemingly carefully weighing his words, "I haven’t answered your invitation because-..."
"Ah~ details, it really doesn’t matter why...", he waved off the answer with his left hand while receiving the empty cup from the waiter with the right, which he then raised up over the table as if waiting to be poured a drink, but when Zhao Xieren tried to take up the porcelain wine bottle, he stopped him with a hand gesture of his left hand without looking at him, continuing to lock eyes with the Talisman Master, "...it is important that you did"
"City Lord Ko...", as the Talisman Master spoke up, Ko Zhumen loudly placed the porcelain wine cup on the table.
"Pour. The. Drink.", a dangerous light flashed in the City Lord’s eyes and then disappeared as quickly as it appeared, once again making a friendly expression.
"You seem to be requiring my services, I hardly see any other reason for you to seek me out. In that case, this is not the best strategy of obtaining what you seek", the Talisman Master’s tone shifted from polite to distant.
His words, however, caused the sons of the City Lord to frown, while the City Lord seemed to still be in a ’friendly’ mood.
"Heh, you’ve got guts, I’ll give you that", Ko Zhumen, chuckled.
At this point, however, the customers on the entire pagoda tower floor they were sitting on stood up in perfect unison and became still, as did the waiters.
Zhao Xieren’s pupils shrank into pinholes as he instantly became even more on guard while the City Lord’s sons now had smiles on their faces.
’Heh, like father - like son. They would’ve made a great theatrical duo, honestly...’, Wu Long inwardly chuckled as even he almost believed the old man was surprised.
The City Lord slightly moved the still empty wine cup toward the Talisman Master, which made a short sound as it slid on the wooden tabletop.
But as the tension began building up in the room, another commotion rose from the staircase, and the City Lord who never truly lost composure during his appearance became visibly shaken for the first time, as shock appeared in his eyes for a brief moment, as he abruptly stood up and turned to the staircase where voices and ruckus continued to grow closer.
"Y-You can’t go in there..."
"Hah!!! ’I’ cannot go in there? Me?!"
"Eh... no, m-my apologize, o-of course y-you can but..."
"Of course I can! There are very few places I can’t go into. There’s none in this kind of place"
"B-but Y-Your Highness...!"
"Enough, quit bothering me, I am just dropping by to say hi"
Soon, Wei Yuanjie’s figure appeared from the staircase, and a delighted look appeared on his face as he saw the City Lord, who managed to regain his composure.
"Ah~! There’s the man I was looking for! You must be the City Lord! Hahaha, I have been craving some wine tonight so I came out into the city. You know, I had some wine in good company right in this wine tower the other night... oh! Hahaha! Speak of the Devil, one of the people I drank with is right here, and I brought the others as well!", Wei Yuanjie spoke in an extremely friendly tone,ignoring the sour faces of the City Lord’s sons, as the Elder of the Ember Palm Pavilion appeared following him from the staircase, with a few Disciples, and Duan Feng at the end, though it seemed there were still a few people coming up.
The Imperial Prince then continued rambling without giving the City Lord a chance to put in a word, "Oh! And this time I took the liberty of inviting the Martial Alliance envoy with me. But then I heard you were here... what luck!"
The last exclamation, made with enormous enthusiasm from the prince, in sync with a triumphant pose of raising both hands into the air, as if to say "am I right? Isn’t this amazing?", almost caused the City Lord to change the color of his face as his hands hidden by the long sleeves of his robe formed tight fists, turning almost white.
Meanwhile, the prince continued on with a very slight, almost imperceptible, change in both tone and expression, "Haha, you know, I’ve been in the city on a mission from the Imperial Father for quite some time but, let alone a visit, I didn’t even receive a single letter from you... Hahaha, I started thinking you were deliberately avoiding me, hahahaha! Ahahaha!" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
The Elder of the Ember Palm Pavilion, and the envoy of the Martial Alliance who finally came up to the floor as well, both laughed along with the prince.
"Haha, it is a misunderstanding, Your Highness, I was-..."
"Eh?", Wei Yuanjie widened his eyes as his eyebrows went up, completely naturally - and entirely consistent with genuine surprise and confusion. At the same time, both the Sect Elder and the Martial Alliance envoy also visibly showed shock.
"P-Pardon my manners, Your Highness... it has been a while...", Ko Zhumen’s voice slightly trembled in the beginning, as he lowered his head in a very short bow, speaking with solemn and heavy tone, "I greet His Imperial Highness, 9th Prince of the Wei Dynasty. Long live the Emperor, Eternal Glory to the Wei Dynasty!"
His sons, looking visibly shaken, followed suit, but with lower heads displaying full courtesy, as did all the uniformed city guards and the entire crowd of plain-clothed guards on the floor of the pagoda tower.
"Eternal Glory to the Wei Dynasty", Wei Yuanjie lightly answered with a nod, and added in a nonchalant tone, "You were saying?"
"Khm, I was saying that me avoiding you on purpose is a complete misunderstanding, Your Highness. The City Lord Manor is busy year round, requiring my constant and complete attention, and I hardly have enough heads and arms for everything", the City Lord spoke now with impeccable manners, any signs of previous cracks in his demeanor completely gone, "My apologies if you took it that way. By no means did I intend to insult you. I happened to have just a moment of free time, which is why I visited a man I wanted to talk to, but even that short time has passed, and I am afraid I cannot stay much longer"
"You’re not going to join me for a drink?", Wei Yuanjie raised his eyebrows.
"I am afraid my time really is limited, I can lend you the company of one or two of my sons if you-..."
But before he could finish speaking, Wei Yuanjie unceremoniously cut him off with a wave of his hand, "No, it’s fine. It’s a shame you won’t be staying. However, since we’ve met like this and since it looks like you are indeed incredibly busy, I suppose we can suspend formalities and have you formally greet my mission into the City now"
For a few moments, silence hang in the air.
These few moments, the atmosphere was so tense, one could cut air with a knife and have it stuck as the City Lord looked at the prince without a change in expression, as if frozen in time.
"B-But how could I be so discourteous to do so in such a shabby-...", Ko Zhumen then finally spoke, bringing the tension down.
"That’s quite alright, I’ll allow it. You said it yourself, you are extremely busy, so much so you didn’t have a moment to send a message to me in months I’ve been here", Wei Yuanjie shook his head with a look of benevolence, and then, slightly obviously stressing the first three words, continued, "My Imperial Father... often says that accommodating the difficult circumstances of the people is one of a sovereign’s prerogatives and virtues. There is no need to make you go through the difficulties of organizing a formal ceremony which would take much time from your busy schedule. We have the Martial Alliance and a Sect Elder here as envoys, so we can make do with a simpler one"
This next silence was even more tense than the previous one.
Absolutely everyone present except for Wei Yuanjie and the City Lord was on the highest alert, as the City Lord’s sons and both uniformed and plain-clothed guards were visually assessing the other side which was obviously severely outnumbered, but with high cultivation members, and the other side did the same.
And then, Wu Long’s pupils in the cutouts for eyes in his mask shrank as his Dao Runes began rotating faster around his Grandmist Core.
Ko Zhumen whose expression began to very slightly falter, suddenly widely smiled, "Of course, Your Highness..."
He lowered his head once again...
A long second later...
’Whew~... I thought I miscalculated’, Wu Long suddenly inwardly sighed with relief when he felt a change.
"I, City Lord of the Silver Wing City, Ko Zhumen, formally welcome the diplomatic mission led by His Imperial Highness the 9th Prince to the City, and pledge the City’s continued allegiance to the Empire as well as our cooperation. Eternal Glory to the Wei Dynasty!"
