Chapter 163: The Li Family

In the pavilion halfway down the mountain, not long after Elder Green Bamboo and Granny Silverflower departed, Yu Yinxin arrived driving a carriage. However, mere moments of conversation between this maiden of the Demonic Sect and Lady Yuzhi from the Yihua Sect were already fraught with mutual suspicion, which indeed gave Mo Bai a bit of a headache. What surprised him even more, though, was that the usually smiling Yu Yinxin suddenly launched a cold dart, sweeping a chilling glint straight at Yuzhi’s brow. This completely caught Mo Bai off guard.

Lady Yuzhi truly lived up to her reputation as the prized pupil of the Ancient Dream Daoist; she had been exceptionally clever since childhood. Feeling a sudden chill on her cheek, she knew something was wrong. At that moment, attempting to dodge was likely too late. Relying on her innate spiritual roots and quick wit, she recalled Granny Silverflower’s ear-pinching stunt from earlier. With a swift flick of her delicate hand, a flash of blue light cut through the air, and with a crisp *clack*, she actually caught the projectile flung by Yu Yinxin dead between her index and middle fingers. Her eyes flashed as she finally made out what had attacked her: it was a silver, scorpion-shaped hidden weapon, and at that instant, the scorpion’s stinger was a mere hair’s breadth away from her eyes, showing just how perilous the moment had been.

"As expected of a woman from the Demonic Sect, resorting to such venomous hidden weapons," Yuzhi said, flicking her wrist and sending the silver scorpion flying toward a large boulder several zhang away. The silver scorpion pierced straight through the rock, leaving a gaping hole—a testament to both the immense force behind Yuzhi’s strike and the lethal sharpness of the weapon.

Yu Yinxin let out a soft sound of surprise, clearly not expecting this seemingly ordinary Daoist nun to possess such formidable skills. Her alluring eyes shifted. Originally, she had assumed that once the other party caught her hidden weapon, it would be hurled back, and she had already prepared a counterattack. Never did she imagine that Yuzhi would embed the weapon deep into the boulder instead. This feat left a slight ripple of shock in the heart of this proud daughter of the Demonic Sect.

Since ancient times, the righteous and the demonic could never coexist in peace. Every encounter between them usually sparked storms of blood and slaughter. She hadn't expected to launch a sneak attack first, only for her target to let it pass without retaliation. It was an unexpected turn of events, to say the least.

Yu Yinxin’s crescent-moon eyes curved as she looked at the somewhat awkward-looking Mo Bai and smiled. "Consider this carriage a gift from me. I have no mind to play with you folks any longer. However, teehee, that Divine Weapon Gathering is bound to be quite interesting." With those words, she flicked her silver-clad figure, completely unconcerned by the gazes of those around her, and departed gracefully. Yu Yinxin came in a rush and left with startling speed, leaving a lingering sense of unreality in her wake.

On the contrary, Mo Bai rather admired this kind of free-spirited and unfettered lifestyle. He used to live just like that, but why had he recently become so hesitant and overly cautious? Yet, recalling the split second when Yu Yinxin ambushed Yuzhi, he could only shake his head helplessly. If this girl truly crossed paths with a peerless master, such a temperament might well prove to be her undoing.

"Giddyup! Giddyup!" Just as Mo Bai was lost in his stray thoughts, a man shouted loudly as he took the reins of the carriage. "Mo-da, if you don't get in, we're leaving without you!" The speaker was none other than Wu Luohua.

Mo Bai looked up to see that the little demonic girl and Lady Yuzhi had somehow already boarded Wu Luohua's carriage. Little Hua cracked his horse whip, setting the carriage into a gallop while shouting, "We finally got to pull one over on Mo-da! I'm in a simply wonderful mood."

"Oh? Is that so, Little Hua? Who are you talking to?"

Wu Luohua's face instantly twisted into a miserable expression. "Mo-da, you can't just move that fast! Can't you slow down a bit?" As it turned out, after a few blurs of motion, Mo Bai had already quietly slipped aboard the carriage.

"I'm not accustomed to eating dust from behind." Mo Bai stretched lazily, then indolently crawled into the soft interior of the carriage.

"I don't want to eat dust either! Do you think there's no dust upfront?" Little Hua screamed agonizingly from the driver's seat.

Similarly, Yuzhi hadn't expected Mo Bai's knowledge and experiences to be no less vast than her own. Furthermore, his perspectives as a mature man allowed her to comprehend problems that had baffled her for ages. Before they even realized it, the carriage had advanced into a remarkably bustling town.

Little Hua reined in the horses to a stop, and the little demonic girl was the first to leap out. Although the carriage was exceptionally spacious, being cooped up for the past few days had driven her nearly mad. While the bizarre tales and interesting anecdotes shared by Mo Bai and Yuzhi had kept Nalan Xiner from being entirely bored along the way, she had constantly found herself unable to chime in, reducing her to an inexplicably sidelined second female lead. This had plunged the little demonic girl into deep depression for a time. Now that they had finally reached a large town, how could she possibly continue to laze about in the carriage?

"Oho! Brother Little Hua, look how lively it is up ahead! Why are there so many people?" the little demonic girl shouted toward the front.

Lifting the curtain, Yuzhi stepped down from the carriage accompanied by Mo Bai. She said softly, "This is the legendary Li Family Manor."

"Li Family Manor? The Divine Blade Sect's Li family? Have we arrived here already?" Over the past few days, the little demonic girl had absorbed a great deal through immersion. Previously, she only knew of the Five Spiritual Sects, but now she had gained an understanding of several prominent factions across the Exquisite Continent.

"That's right, Xiner is truly clever. This is the Li Family Manor of the Divine Blade Li family. With so many people here, they must all be participants for the Divine Weapon Gathering that Yu Yinxin mentioned," Yuzhi nodded and said.

"Lady Yuzhi is right. Look at these passing pedestrians; they are quite different from people in other places. Clearly, every last one of them is a spiritual cultivator, yet all of them carry weapons. Seen this way, we're the unusual ones here," Mo Bai observed his surroundings and said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

With a *snap*, Wu Luohua flicked his folding fan open and declared, "Don't say that. Look at Young Master Wu here—I'm perfectly normal. This folding fan happens to be a top-tier weapon."

Nalan Xiner burst into giggled laughter and said, "Right, Brother Little Hua, you also have a top-tier horse whip."

Everyone burst into hearty laughter, only for someone nearby to chime in, "Oh? Is this brother also an expert in the art of the fan? What a coincidence; I dabble in a few fan techniques myself. I wonder if you might bestow some pointers upon me."

Mo Bai silently cursed his bad luck; they had barely managed to stand their ground when trouble found them again. Wu Luohua wore a bewildered expression as he looked at the dashing young master standing before him, asking, "What? Is a young master not even allowed to fan himself to cool down?"

The man smiled faintly. "Haha, this brother jests. Of course I couldn't interfere with you cooling yourself off, but you shouldn't use *that* folding fan to wave."

Wu Luohua was stunned. "Then what kind of fan am I supposed to use?"

The man waved his hand, and several attendants stepped up from behind him. One of them handed a delicate, feminine hand-fan over to the young master, who then said, "See? Do you see this? This is the kind of fan suitable for you to fan yourself with."

This was simply going too far! It was a blatant insinuation that Wu Luohua was effeminate. Unable to endure it any longer, Wu Luohua snapped his paper fan shut and said, "Kid, you've got quite a bit of attitude! What, does everyone in the entire world who uses a fan have to use women's trinkets just because you say so? I think you'd better keep that one for yourself."

The young master threw his head back and laughed aloud. "Haha! It seems you don't know who I am, nor do you know the rules of the Divine Weapon Gathering."

Mo Bai stepped around to stand before Wu Luohua, pressed a reassuring hand on Little Hua's shoulder, and turned to address the man. "Who you are is none of our concern. However, I don't wish to look at you right now. If you don't vanish immediately, I'll turn you into a human pin cushion with folding fans."

"You!" The young master clearly hadn't expected someone so reckless to suddenly step forward. He was momentarily choked with anger, then sneered, "This granduncle goes by the name of Young Master Fei, and in the cultivation world, I hold the title of the Flying Fan公子. Today at the Divine Weapon Gathering, this young master wouldn't dare boast about claiming the title of the number one divine weapon cultivator, but I am determined to sweep through every single person who uses a fan! Hmph, what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm telling you to get lost. Didn't you hear me?" Mo Bai cared little whether he was the Flying Fan or a Falling Fan. Across the Exquisite Continent, there were always those who managed to cultivate a shred of spiritual power and ran amok brandishing it; this Flying Fan was simply one of them.

"Good brat! Draw your fan; Your Lordship is going to teach you a proper lesson," Young Master Fei growled through gritted teeth.

"Teach my foot! Didn't you hear my Mo-ge tell you to get lost?" The little demonic girl’s temper had finally reached its boiling point. Even as she yelled at him to scram, her hands didn't pause for a fraction of a second. With a swift flip of her wrist, a purple orchid flower of spiritual energy materialized directly in her palm, shooting straight toward Young Master Fei's face in the next instant. Having witnessed Granny Silverflower's ear-pinching masterpiece, Xiner had been itching to see what someone's face would look like if her Purple Flower Acupoint-Sealing Hand landed squarely on it, blooming like a peach blossom. And now, she had found her target!

"Agh!" Young Master Fei’s attention had been entirely focused on Mo Bai; he never expected this seemingly frail girl standing beside him to strike. Caught completely off guard, he took the brunt of the little demonic girl's Purple Flower Acupoint-Sealing Hand square in the face. The impact blasted him flying over a dozen *zhang* away. Tumbling and rolling, he failed to stand up for a long time, his face thoroughly swollen as if it had been pelted by an explosion.

This delighted the little demonic girl immensely. Her chubby little hands began clapping rapidly like flapping wings. "Fun! So much fun! The feeling of slapping someone across the face really isn't ordinary."

Little Hua remarked, "Xiner, you didn't hit him hard enough. If it were me, I wouldn't have let him get back up."

Nalan Xiner pouted and indeed saw that Young Master Fei was finally struggling to his feet with the support of his attendants. Although his face was horribly swollen, he hadn't been knocked unconscious, proving he still possessed a bit of genuine skill.

Nalan Xiner let out a puzzled "Oh?" and muttered, "Why is that? Could it be that my strength wasn't enough?"

Across the way, Young Master Fei could no longer contain his fury and roared, "Go to hell, all of you!"