Three months had passed since Lu Yang's return from the Five Elements Sect. On this day, Eldest Senior Sister received a letter transmitted from ten thousand li away and was taken aback for a moment.
She pondered for a moment in her cave abode and let out a soft sigh.
"It seems I'll have to have Little Junior Brother make a trip."
At that moment, Lu Yang had reached a crucial juncture in his cultivation.
With his mouth wide open, he swallowed spiritual energy. Sweat poured from his brow and turned into mist, gathering above his head like an auspicious cloud.
"Phew, finally cultivated from the Golden Core Seventh Layer of Heaven to the Golden Core Eighth Layer of Heaven!"
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Eldest Senior Sister standing right in front of him, asking without any expression, "Since when was the Golden Core stage divided into a seventh and eighth layer of heaven?"
Lu Yang decisively gave up the mastermind behind the scenes: "The Fairy told me that! She said the more finely cultivation stages are divided, the more motivated you are to cultivate, and every step brings a sense of achievement!"
"Hey, hey, hey! Just like that, you sell out this Immortal?" The Immortal Fairy emerged discontentedly from Lu Yang's body. Clad in pink pajamas, she had just woken up only to hear Lu Yang speaking ill of her.
"How can you call this selling you out? Eldest Senior Sister was merely asking a question, and I answered truthfully."
"This is selling me out."
"This isn't selling you out."
Eldest Senior Sister felt that if she let the two of them keep arguing, nothing would get done today.
She pulled out a letter. The handwriting on the envelope was delicate and lovely, inscribed with: *To Senior Sister Yun Zhi, For Her Eyes Only.*
"This is..."
"A letter sent from the Demon Domain by your Third Senior Sister, Gan Tian. She says she encountered some things related to antiquity in the Demon Domain and wants me to find a scholar familiar with antiquity to study them with her or help answer her questions."
This was no ordinary letter, but a magical treasure split into mother and child counterparts. Eldest Senior Sister possessed the mother artifact, while Third Senior Sister possessed the child artifact. Whatever characters Third Senior Sister wrote on her letter would synchronize onto Eldest Senior Sister's.
"Thinking it over, you are the one who understands ancient history the best. If you aren't busy lately, you can make a trip to the Demon Domain."
Lu Yang thought about it. Having broken through to the Eighth Layer of Heaven realm, he was still a long way from the Ninth Layer of Heaven. Staying in the sect to cultivate all the time wasn't ideal anyway; he might as well go out and wander around.
"I'll go."
Seeing Lu Yang agree so readily, Eldest Senior Sister seemed to catch a glimpse of their master's shadow in him.
She reminded him, "You may make new discoveries at the border between the Central Continent and the demon race. Once you meet Third Junior Sister, you can ask her."
***
A cultivator clad in gray satin descended. With hands tucked into his sleeves, he wore a faint smile, looking genial and beamish, his eyes squinted into slits so narrow that his eyes were almost invisible.
"Halt! Who goes there?"
The Dao Seeking Sect disciple guarding the mountain gate raised a hand to block the satin-clad cultivator from entering, watching him warily.
Having anticipated this, the satin-clad cultivator fished a letter out of his sleeve and handed it to the two guards.
"Pardon me, gentlemen. I am Xu You, head steward of the Meng Family, here to visit our Eldest Young Master. Please grant me passage."
The Dao Seeking Sect disciples opened the envelope. Inside was a letter of introduction issued by the Meng Family verifying Xu You's identity; no one dared forge such a thing.
It had always been a matter of the Meng Family swindling others; who would ever dare impersonate the Meng Family? Anyone doing so would surely be tired of living on the Central Continent.
"So it is Senior Xu. May we ask what business Senior Xu has with Junior Brother Meng?"
Everyone throughout the Dao Seeking Sect knew Meng Jingzhou was the Meng Family's Eldest Young Master; they simply never brought it up.
Xu You sighed, the smile fading from his face. "What else could it be? Nothing more than trying to persuade the Eldest Young Master to change his mind. His parents miss him and sent me to urge him to return home for a visit."
As he spoke, he fished out two storage rings from his sleeve and pressed them into the hands of the two Dao Seeking Sect disciples.
"In this bitter, freezing weather, guarding the mountain gate cannot be easy for you two. There are a few worthless trinkets inside the storage rings. Please make things convenient and let me through."
The Dao Seeking Sect disciples repeatedly declined.
"This will never do! The sect strictly forbids accepting bribes. If discovered, the punishment is severe!"
"Take them, both of you. This matter stays between us. If none of the three of us says a word, who could possibly know?"
Seeing that they could not refuse, the two Dao Seeking Sect disciples had no choice but to accept them.
"It is only human nature for parents to miss their son. Senior Xu, please enter." The Dao Seeking Sect disciple folded the letter, slipped it back into the envelope, returned it to Xu You, and stepped aside.
Once inside the Dao Seeking Sect, Xu You put away his sorrowful, sighing expression, and a benign smile reappeared on his face.
The river spirit poked its head out, breaking the surface of the water.
Xu You bowed respectfully to the river spirit, waiting until it submerged back into the water before continuing forward.
He had inquired long ago: the Eldest Young Master was at his cave abode on Body Tempering Peak. Outside the entrance, Old Horse was grazing on grass, making it very easy to find.
He greeted Old Horse, who snorted in response, letting him know Meng Jingzhou was inside.
Xu You tapped lightly on the stone door—three gentle knocks. He waited quietly for thirty seconds. Seeing no response, he tapped three more times.
Just as he was about to knock again, Meng Jingzhou pushed open the stone door impatiently. "Who is it? I'm not in seclusion. If you want to see me, just walk right in..."
Looking up, he caught sight of Xu You's face. Not expecting him to be the one knocking, he asked warily, "Steward Xu, why are you here?"
"Young Master, could we talk inside? Some things are inconvenient to discuss out here."
Meng Jingzhou had no choice but to invite Steward Xu in.
Entering the cave abode, Steward Xu found a straw mat, sat down, and explained the purpose of his visit. "The Master saw that you haven't returned in two years and wants you to make a trip back. He said he misses you dearly."
"No way."
Meng Jingzhou refused without a second thought. How unyielding and proud he had been when he ran away from home back then! Only two years had passed—how could he go back now?
"The Master said he knows all about the mistakes you've made, and he has already forgiven you."
Meng Jingzhou eyed Xu You's smiling face suspiciously, trying to discern truth from falsehood in his words.
"Really?"
"Really."
Meng Jingzhou was overjoyed. "Deliberately arranging for my dad and my maternal uncle to squander thousands of gold at a brothel competing over the courtesan, only for the clash to escalate until both pulled open the curtains and stared awkwardly at each other—my dad found out and forgave me for that?"
"Beating up Minister Li's youngest grandson, Minister Gong's youngest son, and the little prince—I thought I had covered my tracks thoroughly, but who would have thought my dad found out anyway? He forgave me for that too?"
"When my dad wanted to take a concubine and I ratted him out to my mom, causing my maternal grandfather's side to beat him up under cover of night—my dad traced that back to me and forgave me for that as well?"
"And also..."
The more Xu You listened, the more alarmed he grew. When he set out, the Master had only mentioned two or three of these matters; he hadn't said a word about the rest!
He coughed twice and forced himself to say, "Eldest Young Master, you actually don't need to be in such a hurry to return home. The Master has been busy with government affairs lately and might not have time to see you anyway. You can return on another day."
"My main reason for coming this time is for another matter."
"What matter?"
Xu You said with a beaming smile, his voice dropping low and sinister: "I heard you are very close with Prodigy Lu, Lu Yang. The Master says this youth possesses extraordinary talent and will surely accomplish great things in the future. Perhaps he could be put to use by our Meng Family..."
Chapter 557