143 Asking to elope!?

After the walk down the slums and the rotten red light district, the pair circled back and returned to Uncle Gu's tea house and found a corner to properly chat.

Liu Sumeng offered her some alcohol which she intelligently refused with a giggle. Instead, she ordered a few sweets and melon seeds to share with tea. Not his preferred drink but she insisted on it, pointing out that drinking excessively in daylight would only invite more unwanted attention.

Liu Sumeng relented, knowing that Nan Chang was right.

Uncle Gu's tea house was suitably busy at this hour. There was a weird air about the city of late, both triumphant and tense.

Two schools of thoughts were born both mingling and clashing with each other. On the one hand, there were those that basked in the victory won over the hoard of monsters and demons, loudly cheering and singing in the streets. But on the other hand there were those who scorned any sense of merriment and took the battle as a harbinger of worse to come. After all, their main foe, Seven Moons Sect and the Demon King had yet to be defeated.

Luckily, no one really noticed the Ivory Sword Saint tucked away in the corner of the shop. Nan Chang had a few talismans that would help with being discrete and had carefully placed them below their table and chairs. She told him that they could speak freely, so long as no powerful cultivator breached their territory. Liu Sumeng would be the one who had to make sure of that so he stayed alert.

Or at least tried to.

A few words were exchanged between them and Liu Sumeng went pale, his teacup clattered against the wooden table when it came down a little too strong.

Nan Chang's brow raised and it was the only thing that betrayed a reaction, as her smile was still cheerful and easy.

Liu Sumeng's expression was naturally still but if one learned his tells, they would find that the Ivory Sword Saint was a very expressive person. Nan Chang was getting the hang of it, watching the corner of his lips tighten and twitch and his pupils contract.

Was it really that surprising that the Chen Princess was still intent on the wedding? Perhaps to the Ivory Sword Saint. The only thing that shocked Nan Chang personally was the spreading of rumors about the fact and how it reached so far so quickly. She didn't dwell on it for now and listened to what Liu Sumeng had to say.

"I broke off my engagement with Chen Anyue. I don't know what you're talking about." This was partly a lie. Because he wasn't completely deaf to the whispers that surrounded him but had desperately ignored them in favor of believing their falsity.

After all, hadn't he gotten his feelings to her clearly? Liu Sumeng had already tried and tried again. But now that Chen Gaoyong was dead, he'd have to go to Chen Leike if Anyue refused to listen to him. The thought of that made him dizzy, fatigued.

Liu Sumeng couldn't even begin to understand how this issue was dragged on till now. And even Anyue had said they would drink as Brother and Sister, then why…?

"You know…" Nan Chang began slowly, her head slightly tilted as she picked at a glazed steamed bun, "it seems that you and Xuelan are the only two that think this. You said that you've spoken to Lady Chen about your desires?"

"Yes. I made them clear. She understood me clearly. I made sure of this." Liu Sumeng tried to really enunciate this. Though he knew that his communication skills weren't good, he had already been certain that there was no misunderstand between them so why…!

"I see…" Nan Chang hummed around the dessert stuffed in her mouth. She took her time chewing, consolidating the information in her mind. "You know, I've been thinking that Lady Chen has been acting very weird lately. I've known her since she was a teenager you know? And she's never been so moody before. I don't think you can trust her anymore."

"..." Liu Sumeng did not wish to believe the validity of Nan Chang's words over Chen Anyue's. After all, one was his wife in his previous life, and the other a hateful villain in Yuan Xuelan's harem.

Still, he couldn't ignore how things have changed and shifted in this new timeline. The more he wanted to hate Nan Chang the more he realized the benefits of having her on his side.

Unlike many others that he knew and were close to, Nan Chang was both cunning and patient. She was shamelessly sly and knew how to curry favor even among those she disliked, so long as it might benefit her in the end.

"You can keep trying to run away from the wedding, but you know that they're going to use it against you, right?" Nan Chang wiped some of the sugar off the tips of her lips before washing it down with tea. "If I were you, I'd follow along for now until I figure out what they were after."

"What 'they' are you talking about?"

"Lady Chen and the Immortal of Luck. I have a feeling they might be after different things, but they're both intent on the wedding for reasons that not even Nan Chang understands. I can try picking at them for you, but I value my safety over other things so I hope you can understand that. For now, if I were you, I'd just go along with it." She added a little giggle at the end of the sentence.

"..." Liu Sumeng couldn't help but find the entire affair strange. It seemed that a lot of negative rumors were being stirred up about him and Yuan Xuelan from the whole situation. What was the point then, to continue with a wedding that no one had any interest in? Aside from maybe Chen Anyue, who had romantic feelings for him.

"I refuse to marry her."

"If you don't have proper leverage against them, they will only shame you and make you lose face."

The thought of which made him inwardly cringe, but Liu Sumeng didn't feel like he had a choice. He absolutely refused to go along with it. "I don't care."

"..." Nan Chang sighed and rested her face in her hand. "Even if Master Ivory Sword Saint doesn't care, others will and cause trouble for you, you know? But I get it. You're dumb and honorable. Since Nan Chang is here to help you, I suggest that you run away from here for now. I'll see if I can find out what exactly it is that they're after."

Liu Sumeng made a face, unsure if he had a good excuse for running away. Perhaps he will return to Wangyun Peak now that New Years was soon upon them again, but did it truly justify leaving the south in the hands of Chen Leike, Peng Zhugen, and Zhao Fanyu? Why was it that he felt that combination was going to be disastrous?

"I know what you're thinking," Nan Chang singsonged, "but it doesn't hurt to rely on others to do your dirty work, you know? I can assure you that things will only get worse if you stay around Reling. You'll never be able to win against Chen Leike head-on you know?"

Liu Sumeng couldn't really understand the analogies that Nan Chang was using but she probably had a point. But that would mean going back home and for some reason Liu Sumeng was feeling uncomfortable. He was growing used to that little study and growing used to sharing all his meals with Yuan Xuelan. He didn't want to part with Xuelan. Was that being too unreasonable?

Caught up in his thoughts, Liu Sumeng noticed a breech in the barrier a little too late. A hand came down and slammed against the wood of the table, making both ceramic and Nan Chang jump. "Eeek!"

"Just what on earth are you two even talking about!?" Yuan Xuelan's voice was loud and bellowing, startling them both.

"Ahhh! Who is this villain!? Nan Chang almost died! You almost killed her, you murderer!" She wailed with that high-pitched voice, so different from the easy, simple tone she was using with Liu Sumeng earlier.

Yuan Xuelan scowled at her and eagerly crept up to Liu Sumeng's side, grabbing at his arm and tugging Sumeng toward him possessively. "I didn't do anything to you. I didn't even touch you, how could I have tried to kill you?"

"My heart almost leaped out of my mouth, it was just a hair's breadth away from the scene of a crime I tell you." Nan Chang huffed at him. "Just where did Xuelan come from anyway? And why are you being so moody and weird?"

Liu Sumeng wondered this as well. He looked up and saw that Xuelan was still busy glaring at Nan Chang, his face scrunched up from a sour taste. How funny. A part of him was brimming with joy that his Xuelan had come to find him and it was only the small veil of shame and decency that kept the Ivory Sword Saint to react too brazenly and pull Yuan Xuelan down for a shameless kiss.

Ah, he was much too old for something like that.

Still, his heart sped up at the thought.

"Xuelan," he said, catching the younger's attention. Yuan Xuelan's irritated expression melted instantly.

He looked down at Liu Sumeng with smiling eyes and shifted behind him to hug him over the chair. "I missed you." He sighed, burying his face in the crook of Liu Sumeng's neck.

Nan Chang raised a brow at the brazen display of affection.

Liu Sumeng felt instantly embarrassed even though he knew that she felt no shame doing something similar, if not even more scandalous. He pulled away, but only a little and turned his head over to face Yuan Xuelan. He was close enough to feel Yuan Xuelan's soft breath and it would only take a single, little tilt of the head for their lips to meet.

"Stop that, Xuelan." Even the way he chided the other was not harsh, full of soft caring tones of sweetness.

Yuan Xuelan smiled and straightened his back but he did not move away, his hands still resting on Liu Sumeng's shoulder. "Does Sumeng want something of me?"

Yes, firstly, he wanted to tell Yuan Xuelan that he missed him too, but that felt too embarrassing to say in public and in front of someone else watching them so closely. So it was probably wiser to ask him about his short little trip and what Hui Moxiang talked to him about.

Instead, Liu Sumeng blurted out something else entirely, "Come home with me. To Wangyun Peak."

A flush of red colored Yuan Xuelan's cheeks. Surely, he was misinterpreting it, but wasn't it like asking to elope!?