Chapter 68: You Want to Be My Friend?

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: You Want to Be My Friend?

"Miss Yun once mentioned in passing that Crown Prince Li Xun wants to marry her," Fang Xu said, feigning a moment of thought.

"Li Xun!? That little dwarf from the Seventh Prince’s family!?"

Hearing this, Yun Qing immediately lost his composure. Seemingly disregarding Li Xun’s status entirely, he bellowed, "He wants to marry my sister? A toad lusting after a swan! He’s completely out of his league!"

Fang Xu suppressed a smile and put on a serious face. "Perhaps Miss Yun had no intention of agreeing to this marriage either.

"But Li Xun is a royal Crown Prince after all. Considering the future of the Yun Family, she couldn’t flat-out refuse him, which was why she decided to venture into the Tilan Mountain ruins."

Without dragging himself into the matter, Fang Xu merely suggested that all of this might have been Yun Wan’s own plan.

"You make a good point." Yun Qing nodded, surprisingly without a shred of doubt.

With his level of intellect, it never even crossed his mind to question why his sister would give her personal token to this nameless nobody before him, nor why she would make a promise to protect him.

"That damn dwarf! If it weren’t for him, my sister definitely wouldn’t be in this life-or-death situation right now!" Yun Qing cursed indignantly.

Fang Xu didn’t dare interject.

"Young Master Yun, Fang Xu, the food is here." Lu Qingluo walked in from outside, carrying a food container.

Fang Xu hurriedly reached out to take the container and brought out the dishes and wine inside.

"I’ll go get Mu Yun," she said, heading into Chu Muyun’s room to wheel her out.

Under the moonlight, Chu Muyun sat in her wheelchair, dressed in a small silver brocade jacket. Her lovely hair was tied loosely behind her back, and a milky-white pleated skirt covered her knees. Her vibrant eyes held a trace of curiosity as she observed Yun Qing, who looked much like an enraged lion.

"Qingluo, who is this?"

At the sound of her soft, sweet voice, Yun Qing slowly turned around. When his gaze landed on Chu Muyun, he froze for a brief moment. Then, he hastily took his foot down from where it had been resting on the stone stool, straightened his clothes, and cupped his hands in greeting toward her. "I’m Yun Qing! May I have the honor of knowing your name, miss?"

Chu Muyun blinked, glanced at Fang Xu and Lu Qingluo, and then replied somewhat timidly, "Chu Muyun."

"Chu Muyun. Chu as in delicate and touching. What a beautiful name," Yun Qing chuckled like a fool.

"Time to eat, Young Master Yun," Fang Xu called out as he finished setting the table.

Yun Qing snapped back to reality. He was just about to plop down carelessly into a seat, but then he scrambled up, hurried behind Chu Muyun, and took over the wheelchair from Lu Qingluo, carefully pushing her up to the table.

"HEH... I’ll sit right here!"

After taking the seat right next to Chu Muyun, he grabbed the wine jug on the table and smacked off the clay seal. He poured a bowl for Fang Xu first, then filled bowls for himself and Lu Qingluo.

"So, Fang Xu, you’re a friend of my sister, which makes you a friend of mine! Come! Let’s drink!" With that said, he tipped his head back and downed the wine in his bowl in one gulp.

Seeing this, Fang Xu frowned slightly. He mused that this was yet another friend delivering himself right to his doorstep.

"Fang Xu!" Just as he was hesitating over whether to accept Yun Qing as a "good friend," Chu Muyun glared fiercely at him from the side. "You can’t drink in your current condition!"

Lu Qingluo also offered her advice. "She’s right, Fang Xu. Your body is suffering from a severe deficit of qi and blood. It’s best if you don’t drink."

Seeing that both girls had spoken up, Yun Qing hastily nodded and snatched the bowl of wine right out of Fang Xu’s hands. "Miss Chu is absolutely right! Save the drinking for when you’re fully recovered."

As he spoke, he tipped his head back and downed Fang Xu’s bowl of wine as well. Just as he was about to pour himself another, a Golden Scale Guard walked in through the courtyard gates.

"Young Master Yun, the Crown Prince requests your presence," the Golden Scale Guard said, politely cupping his hands.

The Crown Prince? Yun Qing cast a rather displeased look at the Golden Scale Guard.

As the legitimate son of the Yun Family and the highly likely future Lord of Huangzhou, Yun Qing dared to call Li Xun a dwarf in private. Out in the open, however, the royal family were the rulers and Huangzhou were their subjects. He couldn’t be too insolent.

"Right now?" Yun Qing asked flatly, setting down the wine jug.

The Golden Scale Guard cupped his hands again. "Yes."

Hearing this, Yun Qing sighed, standing up with a grumble. "I can’t even enjoy a proper meal."

"Let’s go." Shaking out the hem of his robes, he strode out of the courtyard, with the Golden Scale Guard following closely behind.

Fang Xu glanced at his friends list, feeling an immediate wave of disappointment when he noticed that Yun Qing’s name had not appeared on it. He lamented that a perfectly good friend had just slipped right through his fingers.

With Yun Qing summoned away by Li Xun and no telling when he would return, Fang Xu and the others didn’t bother waiting for him. The three of them simply continued to eat and drink.

"Fang Xu, we’re safe for the time being." Draining the wine in front of her, Lu Qingluo spoke up. "Before Young Master Yun even entered the town, he first made a trip to the Wu Family Manor and killed Wuhuan with a single sword strike."

Fang Xu already knew of Wuhuan’s death, but he still feigned a look of great surprise. "Did you not tell Young Master Yun that the Ascension Association was backing Wuhuan?"

Lu Qingluo shook her head. Sweeping her gaze over their surroundings, she lowered her voice. "If he had known the power backing the Wu Family, he definitely wouldn’t have dared to strike. If Wuhuan hadn’t died, the two of us would never have known peace. Even if we left Fenglin Town, we would have had to constantly watch our backs against a Third Realm Martial Master."

A barely perceptible trace of guilt flashed across Lu Qingluo’s face before she continued, as if to comfort herself. "Neither the Yun Family nor the Ascension Association are entities we can afford to provoke. It’s only through the clashes between major powers that we have a chance to survive in the cracks. Besides, the Ascension Association surely wouldn’t publicly go to war with the Yun Family over a worthless disciple like Wuhuan."

Fang Xu nodded slightly upon hearing this.

He had already realized that Wuhuan held very little value in the eyes of the Ascension Association.

That night when he had gone on a killing spree in the Wu Family, Wuhuan had been driven to desperation and tried to attack him. The fact that Mu Xuan had stopped Wuhuan was proof enough that the Ascension Association’s so-called protectiveness over its members was conditional and weighed against the pros and cons.

To them, comparing Wuhuan to the Yun Family was simply no contest at all.

"Fang Xu, what are your plans next?" Lu Qingluo asked after taking a bite of food.

The Ascension Association’s assessment was held at the end of the year. It was already approaching early summer, meaning there were only a little over seven months left until the assessment.

"The Blood Food hoarded at home is almost gone, and there aren’t many Qi Blood Pills left either." Fang Xu pondered for a moment before continuing. "Mu Yun’s legs can be healed, but it will require consuming a massive amount of Blood Food. Now that Wuhuan is dead, the bounty has naturally been rendered void. I plan to head out of town in the next couple of days to purchase some Blood Food and Elixirs."

Lu Qingluo nodded. "How about this: you and Mu Yun move over to Zhiyuan Hall later. We’ll all be together, which will be a bit safer too."

Fang Xu hesitated for a moment before agreeing. "That works. Zhiyuan Hall is relatively large; it can accommodate us."

After the three of them finished eating and drinking, Lu Qingluo headed back to Zhiyuan Hall alone. Fang Xu also returned to his room after helping Chu Muyun with her routine massage.

At 9 p.m.

Fang Xu roused from his cultivation. After sneaking out of the courtyard on tiptoes, he hurried toward the Wu Family Manor under the cover of night.

With Wuhuan dead, the servants in the estate had long since fled. The valuable soft goods and artifacts out in the open had been taken by them, leaving the entire compound completely ransacked and chaotic.

After taking a moment to survey the courtyard, Fang Xu headed straight for the backyard.

Alchemy required a quiet environment, so he guessed that Wuhuan’s Alchemy Room would be built somewhere in the backyard.

Following a faint medicinal fragrance, Fang Xu searched for quite some time. Eventually, he found the entrance to the Alchemy Room hidden away in a secluded corner of the backyard.

However, when he saw that the door to the Alchemy Room was left half-ajar, a sense of foreboding rose in his heart.