Spring Banquet (15)

After that, the two sisters exchanged a few more words, but Ren Yifei no longer paid attention to them. He was thinking about this crucial moment a hundred years ago.

The younger sister, Hua Li, was brought in a hundred years ago. rJHAV5

A coincidence? It was also the time when the original owner was pitted and forced to go into seclusion.

He recalled a short line about the events of a hundred years ago on his resume.

Above was the date of a certain year, which when converted to the Gregorian calendar is such and such year. Below that was a very simple description depicting junior brother Qing Hong bringing wine over and the two of them drank until they were drunk. When the original owner woke up, he found that three drops of blood was stolen from his heart and went to find Qing Hong in a fit of rage.

Nothing else was said of that incident afterwards. The resume simply stated that the two had a falling out, the original owner went into closed-door cultivation, and that he just recently came out after receiving the invitation to this banquet. "If I make a link between the twin lotuses and the flower on her head..." Ren Yifei paced around in his room.

"Senior brother, you shouldn't have come," he remembered the secret voice transmission the eldest wife had sent him at the beginning. After they meet again, what did she want to tell him? Does this have anything to do with the three drops of blood that the original owner lost? What did she want the original owner to prevent?

Her body was flamboyant while her headdress was plain, which did not mix well at first. Furthermore, she even deliberately stroked the turquoise flower in her hair. Was this her trying to tactfully hint to him of this flower's strangeness.

Isn't that garden very much like a stamen and pistil? If that's the case then, the glowing flowers would be the pollen that floats around. If the garden is likened to a flower core, then the courtyard would be a huge flower at night.

Ever since he found out that the sweet scent originated from these flowers, he has been exceedingly more cautious of the flowers, and now that he had learnt that these sisters may be flower demons, how could he not come up with even more theories?

Ren Yifei had always felt that he was coming very close to the truth, it was just separated by a layer of paper. However, he doesn't know where that paper was.

The little sparrow tilted his head and couldn't help but take two more steps towards the door.

"Who's there?" itPzNe

When he was just about to listen more carefully, the voice of the host of the banquet suddenly appeared. Ren Yifei was startled and thought that his illusion had been seen through.

The little sparrow stiffened for a second. It then shook its feathers again and tilted its head.

He saw Qing Hong standing at the bottom of the steps as he stared that the little sparrow. It was unknown when he had arrived

Ren Yifei subconsciously held his breath to reduce his sense of existence. This person might be suspicious of the little sparrow; his senses were too keen. dpVdca

Qing Hong observed for a while but only saw a frozen sparrow, there was nothing unusual, so he thought that he was just being paranoid.

However, his voice was heard by the two women in the room and the door opened. The concubine, Hua Li, came out first followed by the first wife.

According to the norms, Ren Yifei thought that the favoured concubine would come out to act coquettishly or something, but he didn't expect that they would just call out 'My Lord' very cautiously while being careful to not lean in too close. What favoured concubine and their benefactor, this was clearly a subordinate and their superior.

As for the first wife, she didn't even spare him a single glance. She simply lifted her foot and left. TJZ1f

"Hua Yu," Qing Hong stopped her, "Don't bother senior brother again."

The first wife stopped. While she had her back turned towards Qing Hong and the concubine, her side profile was caught by the little sparrow.

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Ren Yifei looked through the sparrow's beady eyes, he saw that she gave a bitter smile before her expression hardened again, and with a hint of mockery, she said, "Qing Hong, you can stop me, but can you stop the other person?"

Ren Yifei tried to guess the sequence of events as if he was watching a show: This other person, she couldn't be referring to the dessert player, right? oNO kr

"I have my own plans," Qing Hong responded coldly and then said to Hua Li, "The same goes for you, don't worry about anything else."

"But..." Hua Li bit her lip.

When there were no outsiders, Qing Hong was cold to his 'favoured' concubine, "There are no buts."

"But someone has noticed..." the concubine repeated.

"Don't worry," Qing Hong looked in a certain direction, "In two days, they won't have any more suspicions."

Two more days?

They really were planning something, Ren Yifei was shocked.

"Who?!" Qing Hong's attack was faster than his words. 7kqihz

Ren Yifei wasn't able to control his emotions for a moment and alerted these people.

With the mentality that he would rather kill wrongly than let something slip, Qing Hong directly attacked the little sparrow.

This was not good, the sparrow was just an illusion made from a paper medium and has no combat power. How could it have the strength to fight the demon head-on?

The little sparrow fluttered its wings and hurriedly tried to dodge. However, it was unable to dodge in time and the sword energy directly split its body. The white paper fluttered slowly down onto the ground. kaRwjh

In a distant hall, Ren Yifei indirectly resisted the attack and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Someone had actually snuck in... for a while, Qian Sui Hall was extremely quiet, only the first wife laughed as she walked away.

Qing Hong bent down and picked up the piece of white paper. The paper was stained with a small amount of blood, which was bright red and had some pure energy mixed in.

The demons here were more or less tainted by sins from killing, a person with such pure energy... he took in the scent of the blood and looked up in a certain direction. nYAui1

"My Lord, what is it..."

"Shh," Qing Hong put his index finger to his lips. He twisted the bloodstain paper in his hand and tucked the torn pieces into his sleeve, "I'll deal with this matter!"

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Hua Li looked at his actions and gritted her teeth, "He Jun appeared in the garden yesterday and he seems to already have some suspicions. This is very unfavourable to our plans. I beg your Excellency to move forward with the preparations quickly, otherwise, a hundred years of planning will only... will only go to waste."

Qing Hong pondered for a moment, "Arrange the flowers and trees. We'll hold the flower viewing banquet today." gz4a6Q

"Yes. My Lord, this concubine dare to ask for permission for temporary control over Ting Yun Pavilion. If there are any accidents, they can be dealt with easily," Hua Li bowed her head and said respectfully.

Temporary control over Ting Yun Pavilion? Qing Hong replied, "Only for these two days."

"Thank you, My Lord," Hua Li, who had her head bowed, revealed a cruel smile.

After the master ordered it, the entire Ting Yun Pavilion ran like a sophisticated machine. pUJhQE

Many players who were wandering around were given orders: The chefs had to prepare many elegant meals while the servants had to clean the garden, corridors and even some remote rooms. Only the maids still had to entertain the guests.

The most unfortunate would probably be the players who were given the roles of performers and were ordered to entertain the guests well.

These unfortunate children might not be able to do their tasks properly and thus be labelled as being 'negligent toward their duties', resulting in becoming ingredients for the cooks. Either that or they had to reluctantly let those NPCs eat tofu.

A dancer player almost cried, "Is it true that players have no human rights?" UGOi04

As for the guards, they received orders to strengthen their patrols and defences. In addition to the crowd, they even had to pay attention to the insignificant birds and animals.

"It seems that someone somehow broke into the Qian Sui Hall," the players passed the message around.

"Who did it? That place is so strict, I even tried to get some news several times and each time without any success."

"Could it be one of the bigwigs? I heard that there are a lot of high-level players here." 1BEt4z

The players had already felt that a large storm cloud was looming over them. Even the salted fish players had also felt that something was amiss.

"Maybe this is another hundred-player instance that planned on wiping out everyone," the players shivered as they remember the previous hundred-player instance that had no survivors.

The sense of crisis forced the players to speed up their exploration, while Qing Hong— the one who had caused all of this— was on his way somewhere.

The residence that Qing Hong had chosen for He Jun was outside the main hall, surrounded by only grass and tree, making that place very quiet. Ever since He Jun moved in, everyone there has been ordered not to allow entry to uninvited guests, not to make loud noises and not to disturb the person inside. 6KFevW

If someone was bothered by this then they only needed to take a look at the lesson taught to the little old man.

But now, Qing Hong himself was walking through that place in a hurry. He waved at the maids who saluted him and stretched out his hand to push open the door.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

The man who was meditating in the residence slowly opened his eyes, "What's the matter?"

Qing Hong paused, "Senior brother?" x3qDsE

The other person was sitting on a long wooden chair, he was dressed in white and his hair was tied up with only a ribbon.

He was sitting in a somewhat relaxed posture; he had one leg crossed and the other one hung down naturally, revealing a jade-coloured barefoot. Some of his black hair scattered and intertwine on the chair while the others hooked out and hung beside his foot. The contrast between his bare skin and his black hair only made the white complexion look more beautiful and flawless.

That being said, this sitting posture did not diminish the reserved and self-disciplined aura of this person. He was obviously a demon, but at this moment, he was more like a holy monk who had never eaten meat nor touched mortal soil since birth.

Qing Hong's breathing stopped for a moment as complex emotions rolled around in his throat. He was finally only able to call out, "Senior brother." Oaldd5

Ren Yifei slightly raised his eyes.

All the doors and windows in the room were closed. It was dim with the only light source being the warm yellow light that peaked through the gaps. Long eyelashes caught the light and turned it into tiny even spots which glowed like snow. However, this only made the eyes look more cold and distant.

Qing Hong was stabbed in the heart by this glance— it was as if he was a mortal who had received a casual glance from a great god.

There was neither joy nor sorrow and neither love nor hate in his eyes. oJ 3md

Was it the same for everyone, or just him?

Qing Hong's countless tangle of complex emotions made him feel an indescribable hatred and forget his original purpose of coming to this place. The only thing he wanted to do was question the person in front of him.

But when he stepped forward and met these indifferent eyes, Qing Hong couldn't help but take a step back and said with a miserable smile, "Senior brother, you are really cruel."

Cruel? jvw09q

He was being cruel. To be able to quickly cut off the rotten flowers, how could he not be cruel?

It's really hard to be a senior brother these days. Not only do you have to be responsible for the cultivation problems of your junior brothers and sisters, but you are also responsible for their emotional problems.

However, Qing Hong didn't immediately suspect him? It was not in vain that he purposely found such an angle to pose.

Ren Yifei let out a melancholic sigh. While other people were playing the game by deciphering clues, he was playing the game by resolving emotional issues. zyJniv

He was a single dog, so who was provoking whom?

"Someone broke into my residence," Qing Hong stared into Ren Yifei's eyes.

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Ren Yifei looked back, with five words written on his face: How is it my business?

Qing Hong choked. yJGQuk

However, he felt that with his senior brother's strength, he would never be discovered by him, so it was unlikely to be him.

"You're indifferent even if I'm hurt? Senior brother is really that cruel?"

Qing Hong used the little sparrow to create something out of nothing and continued to sell misery, "I could be considered to be raised by you, isn't there even a bit of old affection?"

Was there still something like that? Was there actually such a thing as him personally raising the other party? EdGStC

Ren Yifei shed a tear for He Jun, he was too miserable.

When he finally showed an expression other than indifference on his face, it was a self-deprecating one, as if he couldn't bear to look back at the past, "I'm tired, You should go."

Seeing Ren Yifei's expression, Qing Hong was flustered and went to find another topic, "Will senior brother come to the flower viewing tonight?"

"I won't," Ren Yifei said bluntly, "Return my blood and we'll end things here." aZN68n

If you help me complete the character quest then I'll be good, you'll be good, we'll all be good.

End things here?

Qing Hong's expression visibly darkened, "You want to leave me? Don't even think about it. I have waited a hundred years, so I can also wait a thousand years. Between you and me, we will never 'end things here'!"

"It's up to you," Ren Yifei closed his eyes again. fXwoYZ

His indifferent and ignorant appearance made Qing Hong's heart hurt and he blurted out a threat, "Senior brother, if you don't go then I'm afraid that little demon, Da Peng, will have a little trouble."

Ren Yifei opened his eyes, his gaze cutting into the other party like sharp blades, "You dare?"

Qing Hong took another step back, "We have known each other for so many years, yet you're... threatening me for him?"

The always indifferent senior brother was angry for another person? A knife directly pierced into Qing Hong's heart. He looked at Ren Yifei incredulously, his lips quivered twice and he actually spat out a mouthful of blood. G1d6XM

T/N: A little (unfinished) fanart of how I imagine Ren Yifei (as He Jun) and Saman (as Da Peng) would look like

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And this is Fish next to the two giants:

hSGwVm

Sorry for the late post hehe...please let me know if there are any typos and mistakes (sorry TT) I kind of rushed when editing this chapter.