Fang Jingru was most adept at social maneuvering. Once everyone had gathered, he introduced them one by one. Along with the six women of Qingcheng returning were two other heroines: one called Flying Swallow Chu Jinghong, and another known as the Lady of Three Talents, Zhang Huier.
The Qingcheng women, upon seeing Wang Chong, all had ambiguous expressions and tittered softly. Chu Qiuzi, however, remained composed, smiled gracefully, and spoke gently: "Young Master Wang, we meet again."
Wang Chong, after all, had tempered his thick skin; by now he had recovered his composure and smiled. "There must be some fate that caused us to part ways, and now we are reunited."
Chu Qiuzi had originally been full of resentment, but upon hearing this, most of it dissipated at once. She casually said, "I, Qiuzi, am also quite surprised." Her beautiful eyes glanced around as she asked, "So it turns out Young Master Wang and Daoist Brother Fang are old acquaintances—how is it I've never heard of this?"
Wang Chong quickly coughed and said, "It was Brother Jingru who helped me greatly, so I had the fortune to make his acquaintance."
Hmm, he was still worried about the "lecher" identity. Although he always felt he shouldn't have transmigrated into a lecher, many details did match, so he dared not be too certain.
Wang Chong said this to make Chu Qiuzi mistakenly think he and Fang Jingru had long been acquainted, and then use his prior acquaintance with Chu Qiuzi to create an impression among Fang Jingru and the others that he was familiar with the Qingcheng women. Both sides would corroborate each other, and no one would suspect him.
Anyone who had worked a few years in society, even if they hadn't learned these social skills, had seen plenty of them. Spelled out, they weren't worth much; as long as no one exposed them, one could navigate smoothly.
Fang Jingru heard Wang Chong vaguely praise him, and since he did indeed recall helping Wang Chong by blocking those jianghu people, he laughed and said, "A trivial matter, not worth mentioning." At the same time, he thought to himself, "Brother Wang Chong is indeed a proper disciple of the Wudang lineage. Those fairies of the Qingcheng Sect are clearly familiar with him—surely the elders of both families are acquainted."
Chu Qiuzi also slightly misunderstood, thinking to herself, "Although our Qingcheng Sect is also among the Nine Meridians of the Mysterious Gate, we are after all only female disciples, not as familiar with the disciples of Wudang and the Celestial Master Prefecture. It's laughable that we sisters once suspected Young Master Wang of being the lecher White Chrysanthemum, making a laughingstock of ourselves."
Qin Han and the others were all proud and arrogant. This time, gathering for the Chrysanthemum-Killing Alliance, they had lost face twice in a row: once when Fang Jingru, Qin Han, and Zhou Yuchen were defeated by a little girl—afterward, who knew how many people laughed at them—and again just now, when the seven of them working together failed to detain Qian Luo Yi.
These people had a tacit understanding: in front of the Qingcheng women, they never mentioned the siege of Qian Luo Yi. Fang Jingru introduced everyone and then proposed, "Our Chrysanthemum-Killing Alliance has rented a house nearby for meetings and discussing how to capture the lecher White Chrysanthemum. Since this wild countryside is no way to treat guests, why not all go together? We can also wait for allies gathering intelligence, and see what news you bring back today."
Chu Qiuzi, as the second senior sister of the Qingcheng Sect, held extremely high status. She nodded slightly and said, "We shall follow your arrangements, esteemed friends."
Fang Jingru immediately led the way. Wang Chong didn't want to draw attention, so he used the lightness skill Riding Clouds and Treading Wind and fell to the rear. Under the cover of her junior sisters, Chu Qiuzi also hung back slightly, walking beside Wang Chong. The Qingcheng Sect's lightness skill posture was like a divine bird—graceful and elegant.
Chu Qiuzi initiated conversation, asking about the Chrysanthemum-Killing Alliance.
The Chrysanthemum-Killing Alliance was composed of sixty-one young martial heroes from the seven southern provinces. Chu Qiuzi didn't know exactly who they all were, and she wasn't particularly interested in who was in the alliance; she was just finding an excuse to talk.
Where would Wang Chong know who was in the Chrysanthemum-Killing Alliance?
Fortunately, he was clever and didn't stubbornly force small talk about the Chrysanthemum-Killing Alliance with Chu Qiuzi; instead, he quickly switched to a topic he was familiar with and talked about poetry with her.
This topic was exactly to Chu Qiuzi's liking. When traveling the jianghu, she often lamented having no kindred spirit. Whether in scholarly pursuits or martial arts, reaching a certain level required diligent effort. Among both great families and jianghu heroes, those accomplished in both literary and military arts were extremely few, while those who achieved nothing in either were many.
Wang Chong, after all, was a person who had received proper higher education and had respectable academic credentials. Earth's educational resources crushed this world a thousand times over. The books that gave him headaches since childhood would be considered family heirlooms in this world. The last time they chatted, they talked for two shichen and he was still holding back.
Chu Qiuzi felt that the two were increasingly kindred spirits. Without realizing it, she heard the person ahead say, "This is Chrysanthemum-Killing Mountain Villa. Brother Liu Xiong is skilled in lightness skill and has already rushed back ahead of time to arrange a banquet." She couldn't help but smile gracefully and say, "I'll come find you tonight, Young Master, for a chat." She slightly increased her speed, caught up with her junior sisters, and gracefully departed into the distance.
Wang Chong bared his teeth slightly and thought to himself, "I must find out as soon as possible whether I am the lecher White Chrysanthemum, or Wudang's Mo Yuncong, or someone else entirely."
"Logically, I don't know the Ice Soul Finger, so I shouldn't be White Chrysanthemum, but I happen to know Holding-Candle Swordplay……"
"How did this lecher called White Chrysanthemum learn such a varied assortment of techniques?"
In this group, Fang Jingru was informally a semi-leader, and being socially adept, he had long been surrounded by seven or eight people like stars surrounding the moon, gathered at the center, holding forth and speaking eloquently. Wang Chong wasn't so "attached" to him and didn't go over; instead, he calmly blended into another small circle, led by Qin Han. Those several people were clearly from official and gentry families and had common topics.
Wang Chong didn't feel he had common topics with these children of officials; rather, he felt these connections might be useful soon. After all, he was still an unregistered resident with no proper job, and these people all had "classical civil servant" identities, which would be a great help to his "civil service examination" career.
Moreover, in the two days since transmigrating, he hadn't been idle; he had long heard that the martial world sects in this world were different from those on Earth.
People in the martial world were eager to take in high officials, nobles, and children of wealthy households as disciples to strengthen their sect's power. They would also take in poor but talented children and send them to serve as bookboys, servants, household guards, or estate stewards by the side of people with status and learning. First, to secure a good livelihood; second, if these people achieved success and prominence, good ties would naturally be formed, benefiting the sect. Mingling with government officials was not considered particularly shameful.
Back then, the Grand Princess herself became a disciple of Wudang and learned martial arts. When she raised her army, many Wudang disciples followed. It was precisely because this premier sect under heaven gave strong support that she was able to drive back the troops of the eighteen grassland tribes. Nowadays, many Wudang disciples serve in the imperial court and are all called Disciples of the Heavenly Empress.
With his authentic Wudang martial arts and suspected status as a proper Wudang disciple, he naturally should get close to Qin Han. Even Qin Han's small circle wasn't surprised that Wang Chong approached them, and even felt a degree of closeness.
After all, there were many Wudang people in the imperial court. Who knew if this fellow named Wang Chong had some powerful figures, high court officials, in his family? It wasn't worth offending him.
Wang Chong was busy consolidating his "social networking" when suddenly he heard someone call out loudly, "We've received great news: Lotus Fairy Nan Xinlan has already rescued Fairy Mingzhu of Iron Pear Mountain Villa!"
Wang Chong, upon hearing this news, immediately felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave……
……Wang Chong: I ought to kill to silence them……
……Tie Mingzhu: No, you don't want to……
……Nan Xinlan: How can I clear my name and restore my purity……
Chapter 15