421: Chapter 27: Taoist, Sword Cultivator, and Monk 421: Chapter 27: Taoist, Sword Cultivator, and Monk Ying City was a small city located sixty miles southwest of the Imperial City, in Ba County, Southern County.
Merchants wishing to enter the Imperial City would often choose to rest here, making the little city affluent and prosperous.
As a result, many generous young nobles from the Capital City would come to spend lavishly and enjoy themselves to the fullest.
Tonight was just an ordinary night in Ying City.
Except for the heavier rain, there were no other peculiarities.
Inside the private room of a small tavern,
the portal of the Transmission Array Talisman disappeared into the air, turning into specks of twinkling light.
Deng Baiyi, resting her chin in hand, stared at the young man dressed in black in front of her, falling into a daze for a moment.
When True Master Jun Shan had proposed going to the Imperial City together, Deng Baiyi hesitated for quite some time before choosing to agree.
The fuss over the Tai Shang House was growing loud, and she feared that the feud between the Taoist sect and the Da Sui Sword Palace would escalate.
Perhaps her presence could be of some help.
But she never anticipated that the meeting with Xie Zhen would be so sudden.
Xie Xuanyi was also stunned.
He had thought about what the scene might be like after following True Master Jun Shan through seven transmission portals.
But he never imagined it would be like this.
Reunions often happen when you least expect it.
The room fell silent for a moment.
“You seem to have lost some weight?”
Xie Xuanyi took the initiative to break the silence, speaking with a smile.
Indeed, Deng Baiyi had lost weight, quite a bit of it.
Since parting ways in Lichao City, braving the wind and the dew, cultivating Primordial Energy, and attempting fasting, she had become much leaner.
The “Pavilion Master Tang” incident had left her looking somewhat haggard.
However, she herself hadn’t noticed these changes.
“Is that so…”
Deng Baiyi smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear and said softly, “You seem to have lost weight too.”
Xie Xuanyi had not lost weight.
But Deng Baiyi hadn’t “seen wrongly”; due to the condensing of the Rule of Destruction, Xie Xuanyi’s temperament had undergone a change.
His black attire now appeared even more severe than it had half a year ago.
Although they had exchanged only a few polite words, this reunion was much warmer than Xie Xuanyi had anticipated.
If there hadn’t been a third person.
“Hey, surname Xie, mind lifting your butt?
It’s a bit cramped here!”
A childish voice broke the stillness.
The child in the Daoist robe murmured quietly, “That damn baldy was too harsh.
My beloved clothes are all torn…”
True Master Jun Shan lifted his sleeve and stroked the fabric back and forth with a finger, showing distress.
His Azure Star Robe had just suffered a tear during his clash with Miao Zhen when it was ripped by the Ming Sha Treasure Staff.
But he didn’t consider it a loss since Miao Zhen’s Buddha Beads had also been chipped.
This third voice subtly altered the atmosphere in the tavern.
“Ahem…”
Xie Xuanyi silently moved to the side.
The private room was actually quite spacious, not to mention three people, even if a few more joined, there would be sufficient space.
“It’s still cramped!”
True Master Jun Shan was still frowning and spoke impatiently, “You, you, you, sit across from us, next to Deng little miss.”
“…?”
Xie Xuanyi sighed softly and moved across.
He realized by now.
True Master Jun Shan had intended to bring him here.
Even if they hadn’t encountered Miao Zhen tonight, he would have found a way to bring him to this place eventually.
In truth, signs had already been there.
When he crossed the spatial portals with Jun Shan, Xie Xuanyi faintly sensed a familiar presence…
If he hadn’t guessed wrong, several of these seven Array Talismans were likely inscribed by Deng Baiyi herself.
“True Master Jun Shan!”
Deng Baiyi blushed to her ears and first called out, then quickly conveyed through transmission, “You told me to wait here tonight…
Was it to meet Xie Zhen?”
“Isn’t this good?”
True Master Jun Shan ignored the transmission and responded directly with nonchalance, “While you were practicing the sword at Carp Lake, weren’t you yearning to see Xie Zhen?
Since I brought you to the Imperial City, isn’t an early meeting the best arrangement?”
This response left Deng Baiyi completely speechless.
She placed a hand to her forehead and sighed deeply.
After a long while,
Deng Baiyi said helplessly, “Of course…
it’s good.”
“Good, then that’s the best.
We’re all young people here, what’s there to be shy about?”
True Master Jun Shan enjoyed such scenes.
He sat with one leg crossed over the other, teaching without any composure, “Little Miss Deng, you’re just too shy.
I’ll speak for you—”
He paused, then turned to Xie Zhen, “With the farce at the Tai Shang House escalating, Deng Baiyi was worried something might happen to you, so she came to the Imperial City.
She wants to persuade you to ‘make peace’ with the Taoist sect.”
“She wants to persuade me to make peace?”
Xie Xuanyi glanced at Deng Baiyi and gained immediate understanding, speaking indifferently, “The idea of making peace is probably the senior’s own, isn’t it?”
“That can be said as well.”
True Master Jun Shan gradually became more serious, “You can see I have no hostility towards you, Reincarnated True People should follow karma and comply with the natural order when they are out in the world, hence the previous strike at Moss Ridge…
Tonight, I deliberately chose this place and brought this little miss to meet with you, to have an honest and open chat.”
“Chat about what?”
“The Taoist sect and the Da Sui Sword Palace should not become enemies.”
True Master Jun Shan spoke earnestly, “You killed Fang Hang, you killed Qi Yu, it’s really nothing…
But if you kill Li Chen, then the matter truly won’t be able to rest.”
As these words were spoken,
Xie Xuanyi felt as though he heard a very interesting joke.
He inquired with interest, “Does the senior really think a minor Grotto Heaven like me could kill Li Chen, who is at the Late Stage Yin God level?”
“Of course.”
True Master Jun Shan replied calmly without hesitation, “It’s just a matter of time.”
Xie Xuanyi couldn’t help but laugh.
It had been less than a year since he stepped into the worldly society under the name Xie Zhen.