Chapter 80: Crashing the Banquet

Chapter 80: Crashing the Banquet

A half-dozen burly men and women crashed down from the skies, digging craters as they landed around the two of them. Dressed in black and white, they all held vicious weapons and regarded Hui and his master with dark eyes.

The servant backed away, breaking out of the circle. Behind her, the cultivators lounging on the rear pavilion sat up, peering toward them. A few let out whoops or whistles, and Huis ears caught a few bets getting exchanged between the rowdier cultivators.

The biggest of the burly cultivators, a man with a pair of punching gauntlets, stepped forward. He nodded at Weiheng Wu. You come along with us, or things will have to get dangerous.

Ah. This kind of reinforcements, Weiheng Wu said, disappointed.

What kind of reinforcements did you expect? Hui replied, too startled to hold back his voice.

Weiheng Wu waved his hand. We could have continued to discuss the issue with someone higher up the chain. There was no need to resort directly to violence.

Alright, now, come with us. We dont need to cause trouble for the Matriarch, the leader said. Casually, he slapped one fist into the opposite palm. A crack as loud as thunder rolled through the yard.

One of the burly men paused. He leaned into his leader and whispered something that sounded a lot like "fiance" and "Weiheng Wu."

The leader glanced at Hui and his master, then shook his head back. "They're just unruly guests. It's your imagination."

Hui edged closer to Weiheng Wu, quietly circulating his death qi. Would you believe if I said it's not your imagination? Wait, don't tell me, is this all happening because these servants somehow don't know our faces?

... On second thought, that's not so unreasonable. The matriarch called the first banquet on a whim and held it immediately. It's likely many of the members of the clan, especially low-ranking ones, were on missions or working their usual duties, and didn't attend. As for not knowing my face and name after I saved the clan, well, I hid out in my room. Unless they saw me during the fight or at the earlier banquet, why would they know me?

Master might be famous, but at the end of the day he's a shut-in who does nothing but hide on the peak and cultivate all the time. A random Bai clan servant not knowing his face isn't surprising.

And as for my name...

Name. Wait, hold on. Have either of us mentioned our names yet?

Hui's eyes widened. Ah! I called myself Xiao Hui by force of habit earlier! And Master hasn't bothered to introduce himself at all!

Damn my habits! If only I'd said Weiheng Hui, we wouldn't be here! Now it's too late, far too late.

Im not causing trouble at all, Weiheng Wu replied, and in the same instant, the servants, the bouncers, and the guests in the back pavilion all crumpled to the ground.

Hui stared, startled out of his thoughts. Is this did Master defeat them with pressure alone?

Come along, Hui. There is no point in arguing with a bunch of donkeys, Weiheng Wu said, striding toward the banquet hall.

I have said nothing that cannot be comprehended. Hui, you must work harder on your comprehension skills. This is not the first time youve struggled to understand simple concepts, Weiheng Wu lectured.

The Golden Merchant laughed. I understand. I understand now. How about you, Weiheng Hui? Do you have any needs? Wants?

Hui smiled at her, pained. Unfortunately, senior, Im poor!

Wait, no, wait. He reached into his robes. Would you be interested in making a purchase? I have some talismans to sell.

Oh? The Golden Merchant smiled at him. She leaned in as he set his wind talismans out before him.

Second stage wind talismans imbued with the Boulder-Cutting Wind art. Rends enemies and leaves a signature scar in the earth after it. Useful for cutting, er, boulders, stone, earthworks, and the likes as much as for attacking, Hui said, pointing one at her.

She picked one up and felt it. Durable. This is fine silk, no? That should raise the price some. The technique itself is somewhat lackluster, and second stage is a limitation, but even so shall we say, ten spirit stones per talisman? A total of a hundred spirit stones.

One hundred spirit stones for all my hard work, when I have a debt of millions? Hui resisted the urge to groan. Its a start. Its better than nothing. Deal.

She grinned, revealing gold teeth, and scooped up his talismans.

If I were to sell third stage talismans, how could I expect the price to change? Hui probed.

A third stage talisman would be worth a hundred spirit stones, depending on the technique, of course. Fourth stage, a thousand, fifth stage, ten thousand, and so on. I myself rather like talismans, since they can be used by any stage of cultivator regardless of strength If you bring me a talisman that I find useful, I might be able to squeeze out a few more spirit stones.

Good to know! Useless right now, but good for later. After all, the talisman formulas I know for third stage talismans all belong to Bai Luoren. I cant steal his formulas for myself without risking the wrath of the Bai clan. If I make third-stage versions of the Boulder-Cutting Wind, thats fair game, but Im not going to spit in the face of someone who put in so much effort to help me.

Hui reached into his robes and drew out all the extra garbage he had on hand: the crystals from the cave, and the rest of the detritus hed picked up along the way. And this?

The Golden Merchant sifted through the pieces, picking here and there. She twisted her lips, then shrugged. Twenty spirit stones for the lot.

Deal.

The Golden Merchant handed him his spirit stones, and Hui shoved them into his robes. I could use that spatial ring, Bai clan!

Weiheng Wu glanced at Hui. Dont lose yourself on the path of wealth. There is little of merit and many distractions on that path.

The Golden Merchant clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

Disciple hears and obeys, Master, Hui replied. The path of wealth? More like the path of no-debt! Im so far from wealth that its not even funny!

There, right there, the servant girl said, charging back into the room.