Chapter 207 – Gilded invitation
Youyan Pass became unprecedentedly agitated.
Very many people felt a trepidation that came just before the arrival of a disaster. This was especially so as more and more Jianghu people arrived at the Pass. There were even times that the army and the Jianghu people would have conflict with each other, and with fights breaking out within the city. Even the internal structure of the Jianghu people were not absolutely united. Different sects had different motives and schemes. There were some sects that originally had enmities between them and they brought these grudges along with them to Youyan Pass.
Using the light of blades and the shadow of swords to describe this period of time in Youyan Pass was absolutely perfect.
The disciplines and rigid rules that the [Youyan army] had taken so long to establish seemed as if it was about to be broken by something.
In these days, Ye Qingyu spent the large majority of his time within the White Horse tower. Apart from trying to erase that strange drop of blood in his palm earlier, he spent the rest of his time understanding and investigating the contents of the [Pill Mantra]. He was also accustoming himself to the increase in energy within his body. Ye Qingyu was not in a hurry to refine the little piece of Origin crystal that was left down.
Of course, Ye Qingyu was also concerned with the developments in the city.
There were even two or three times, that there were people with blind eyes that came to incite trouble at the White Horse tower. Bai Yuanxing scolded and chased them away, holding Ye Qingyu's military seal. As the saying goes, the fame of a person is like the shadow of a tree. Ye Qingyu was after all a Marquis that had been titled by the Empire through his contributions. He only exhibited his claws and fangs, and this bunch of Jianghu people did not dare provoke him anymore.
But the problem was, even the White Horse tower experienced such confrontations. One could imagine, just how chaotic the other places of the city were.
In these days, when Mother Wu went to purchase food, she would also tremble and quiver slightly.
Ye Qingyu thought it over for a while, then told Mother Wu to just bring her entire family to stay within White Horse tower so she could look after them. After all, apart from the four levels of the White Horse tower, there were also some courtyards and space that were completely empty. If there were some people inhabiting here, it would be better than the lonely state right now. The Ye Qingyu who had come from a poor district, preferred the hustle and bustle of the streets and alleys.
Mother Wu's family naturally thanked him for his grace, quickly rushing to move in overnight.
Ye Qingyu originally still wanted to head towards the Vanguard to find the little brother of the armoured sentry. But it was a pity that Liu Zongyuan and Wen Wan were completely busy these days, with rarely any free time available. Without the aid of Mad Tiger Wen, if Ye Qingyu went by himself in search for him, he would not find him anytime soon. Therefore, he could only wait patiently for a couple more days.
From the news coming from all channels, the piece of information that made the mood of everyone grave was that the [War God of Youyan Pass] Lu Zhaoge did not appear in the first great meeting of the Spring time offense of the [Youyan army]. The people that were originally worried about his injuries, became even more and more anxious.
In these tens of years, this was the first time that the [War God of Youyan Pass] had not attended such an important military discussion.
From all sorts of signs, the injuries that Lu Zhaoge suffered were most likely not as light as the most optimistic estimates were. Furthermore, there were constantly strange rumours that travelled out. The surface of these waves were already crashing within Youyan Pass, but the hidden currents were even more terrifying. There were higher ups of the army who tried to suppress this, but the effect was no longer as evident as before.
Apart from this, it was rumoured that the leaders of the younger generation of the top three sects and top three factions within the Empire had already appeared within Youyan Pass. It instantly caused a large swathe of discussion. There were many Jianghu people, and even normal citizens, who had long heard of the feats of these young people of the sects, that wanted to catch a glimpse of their true appearance.
There were rumours that the Li Qiushui of the Crepe Myrtle sect had already sent out invitations. He invited all the heroes within the sects in Youyan Pass to gather a month later. He wanted to host a Murim meeting that belonged to the people of the sects and Jianghu. They wanted to elect a Murim leader, to rule over the forces of the Jianghu in Youyan pass, so that they could cooperate more easily with the army.
"This is completely ridiculous." When Ye Qingyu heard this news, he was between laughter and tears. "When the Empire sent out the summons, the terms were already extremely clear. If the Jianghu people listened to the enlistment, and came to serve in Youyan Pass, the rules set from the beginning was that the sects would obey military orders and the [Youyan army] will lead. And now these people want to create a Jianghu leader, to negotiate with the army, could it be that their brains are not working? A bunch of retards that does not know anything about military warfare, to want to wrest leadership from the military, could they be even more impervious to reason than this?"
Ten days later.
Being confined for so long in the White Horse tower, and his cultivation had temporarily entered into a plateau, Ye Qingyu decided to relax his mood by visiting various parts of the city. As well as doing this, he could seek the supplies of the ingredients he needed for his pills. He was already preparing to create a pill.
Spring time arrived.
The accumulated snow in Youyan Pass began to melt. Within the vision of everyone, they were able to see blotches of green.
The sun above their heads also became warm, but there was still a shivering cold in the air.
Ye Qingyu came out alone.
But after exiting a hundred meters from the White Horse tower, he was slightly taken aback.
Nan Hua with a body hugging purple robe, had a large smile as she walked out from the tea restaurant, heading towards Ye Qingyu[1] .
"Marquis Ye, we meet again." Nan Hua came to in front of Ye Qingyu, greeting him as if they were old friends. This tight fitting dress completely complement[2] ed her perfect figure. As a woman, she had an extreme figure with long legs and a slim waist. She was slightly taller than the average woman, her skin white like jade, with well distributed proportions. The parts that were convex were convex and the parts that were concave were concave. Her hair was like a black waterfall. And because she had constantly practiced martial arts ever since she was small, there was a heroic spirit that one could hardly see on a normal girl. This easily roused a man's desire to conquer her.
In the illumination of the morning sun, it was as if every strand of Nan Hua's hair was flickering with a golden light.
She believed that she was very beautiful at this moment.
Because she was able to sense that there was a sense of shock in Ye Qingyu's eyes.
But the next words Ye Qingyu asked made her feel rage and defeat at the same time.
"You are?" Ye Qingyu frowned as he asked.
To have forgotten me?
He really did not manage to remember me?
Nan Hua grinded her teeth, then said with a faint smile, "Nan Hua, a Crepe Myrtle sect disciple. Marquis Ye, we have already met a few times before in the [Breeze and Drizzle building]." "Oh." Ye Qingyu nodded his head, then directly asked, "What do you want me for?"
Nan Hua pursed her lips together, then gave off a wronged smile, "Can I not find you if I have nothing to do?" "You have nothing to do, but I do." Ye Qingyu nodded his head. "Then… Bye."
Saying this, he completely stepped past Nan Hua, striding away.
With such a young and beautiful girl flirting with him, Ye Qingyu naturally would not reject since the vanity in his heart had received the greatest satisfaction. But without knowing exactly why, Ye Qingyu had an instinctive adverse reaction towards this girl called Nan Hua of the Crepe Myrtle sect. The he who had a photographic memory, of course remembered just who this Nan Hua was. Previously, when he had pretended not to remember her, was because he did not want to have any relations with her.
Nan Hua was stunned.
She was really angered. She was used to men chasing after her, just when had she suffered such a sight?
This Ye Qingyu, just what did he mean?
Could it be that he did not like women?[3]
Or was it… she had to loosen the reins in order to control him better?
Fiercely stomping on the ground, the smile on her face retreated. Nan Hua turned around, her hand flicking and a ray of golden light flew out towards the back of Ye Qingyu. "One month later, in the Youyan restaurant, the Li Qiushui of the Crepe Myrtle sect, as well as everyone of the Jianghu, waits for the arrival of Marquis Ye."
Saying this, she left in a fit of rage.
Ye Qingyu lifted his hand, catching this ray of golden light.
It was a gilded invitation.
Opening the invitation to have a look, the name Li Qiushui was at the very forefront. This was an invitation inviting Ye Qingyu to attend a Murim Jianghu meeting. Apart from the name of Li Qiushui, there were also numerous names written on it. They should be the famous characters of the sects within the Empire.
"This is really strange. I am not someone of the sects, why must they give me an invitation?"
Ye Qingyu was somewhat nonplussed.
He stowed away the invitation, not able to determine the meaning behind these people of the sects.
As to whether he would attend, he would decide later.
……
Hundred Herb Hall.
As one of the four largest medicinal ingredients provider in the Empire, this was a store that was well known. Different branches of it were stationed in each of the major regions of the Empire. When Youyan Pass was just created, in the first few years, a branch of the Hundred Herb Hall was already established and opened within the Pass. Through painstaking cultivation, as well as the long established cooperating attitude between the Hundred Herb Hall and the Empire, the business within Youyan Pass became more and more busy. It was rumoured that of the herbs used by the [Youyan army], a quarter of it was provided by this branch of the Hundred Herb Hall.
Therefore, the status of the Hundred Herb Hall was not small at all within Youyan Pass.
Before it had reached noon, Ye Qingyu appeared in the main hall of the first floor of the Hundred Herb Hall.
A clean and neat little worker was currently passionately receiving Ye Qingyu.
Ye Qingyu went to the edges of the hall to have a look.
The great hall of the first floor exceeded ten acres, with the space being extremely large. It was split into different areas. There were normal medicinal herbs and Spirit herbs that were sold, as well as an area where doctors were responsible for treatment and the distribution of medicine. Large copper-coloured medicine boxes were positioned according to the eight trigrams, situated in different locations. The little workers were like bees in a hive, they nimbly shuttled and travelled between these boxes.
In the dense fragrance of the herbs, an ancient classic fragrance could be smelled from the outside.
"Marquis, you came to collect some herbs?" The little worker came to beside Ye Qingyu, his smile filled with satisfaction and pride. "I am not bragging, but within Youyan Pass, only our Hundred Herb Hall has the best complete collection. The quality of the herbs is also the best, we can guarantee that they are of the correct age and suitable medicinal strength…"
Ye Qingyu smiled and nodded and was about to say something.
"You go to the other side and help. I will personally serve this Marquis." A lean old yellow man wearing a pale yellow robe with a goatee panted as he ran over. He lightly patted the shoulder of this littler worker, saying these words.
The little worker turned to have a look, shock in his heart. "Shopkeeper Sui? Fine, fine." Turning to pay his respects to Ye Qingyu, he quickly left.
"Marquis, I am the manager of the great hall of the first floor. I wonder what kind of herbs you want to obtain?" the goateed old man laughed, saying respectfully.
This lean goateed old man, was known as Sui Yiwen. Within Youyan Pass, he was known as the [Medicine man], and constantly interacted with herbs. He was familiar with tens of thousands of the medicinal properties of the herbs. His clear and discerning eyes could see the validity of each herb, and he had extremely high skills in terms of medicine and treatment. He had learnt the pill arts, and was extremely skilled in harvesting herbs. He was an authority in the terms of herbs in the Pass.
Ye Qingyu looked at this person. "You recognize me?"
