Ziwei Immortal Path

Chapter 66 Hongmen Banquet

Xu Boyang understood what it meant when he heard it. He had seen many places with red wine and beautiful women before. However, the Xu family had a very strict family tradition. He had never been interested in such things and had never been there even once. He did not expect that Zhang Guanzhi, a handsome man, was well versed in such things. He was both amused and sad for a moment and whispered:

"My surname is Xu, and I'm from Yuchuan. I won't go. I don't have any hobbies except wine. Everything else tastes like chewing wax!"

Zhang Guanzhi was already a heavy drinker, so he thought what he said made perfect sense. He gave a thumbs-up and said, "Brother Xu, you're right! Brother Xu, you're right! I'm the one who's fallen behind!"

"Come on, come on!"

Seeing that the time was ripe, Xu Boyang pulled Zhang Guanzhi over to Su Yanlu in a secluded place not far away.

"Brother Zhang, let me introduce you. This is Master Su Yanlu from the Cangwu Su family, and the one next to him is Master Su's sister, Miss Su Zilu!"

Su Yanlu glanced at the tall, thin man wearing the yellow dog mask through the mask, laughed loudly, and clasped her hands slightly:

"I think this is the friend Brother Xu mentioned these past two days, the young master of the Nanhuai Zhang family?"

"How dare you!"

Zhang Guanzhi's spiritual consciousness turned around and found that the two people opposite him were both cultivators at the eighth or ninth level of Condensation Yuan. He immediately put away his contempt and politely tried to get closer to them.

"The Cangwu Su family, could it be the Su family that follows the Sanyu family?"

Su Yanlu did not expect that Zhang Guanzhi, who was located in the south, actually knew something about the Cangwu family. It seemed that this person had a high status in the Zhang family.

Su Yanlu is a cultivator from the Immortal Sect and is knowledgeable. He knows all the slightly famous families in Qingshen. He knows that this person is a descendant of the Zhang family in the Qihuang Valley of Nanhuai.

Nanhuai Qihuang Valley is an outlier in the entire Nanhuai County. Originally, the entire Nanhuai County was famous in Qingshen for its weapon refining. Unexpectedly, a Qihuang Valley Zhang family emerged, standing out with its healing pills and superb medical skills. It is also well-known in Qingshen, and has some connection with the Cangwu Pei family in pills.

He almost forgot about this and was secretly surprised. He also realized that Xu Boyang's move was to test him deliberately. Humph, this kid really has some calculations in his heart. I hope his sister will not be deceived by him in the future.

He smiled and said softly,
"Young Master Zhang's ancestor once studied at the Sanyu family, and later learned the art of Qi Huang from the art of alchemy. He is truly a disciple who surpasses his master!"

Zhang Guanzhi didn't dare to accept such flattery, and quickly waved his hands.
"Brother Su, you are too kind. Brother Su, you are too kind. My ancestor is only in the late stage of foundation building. How can he compare with the Cangwu Three Feathers Family? I dare not say this!"

Regardless of whether these words were sincere or false, Su Yanlu was secretly happy when she heard them and said with a smile:

"I heard from Brother Xu that Master Zhang often travels abroad. This time, our families have the same purpose. I hope Master Zhang can give us some guidance!"

"I dare not," Zhang Guanzhi sighed softly and said truthfully, "My family just has many children, so I had no choice but to make two extra trips."

Xu Boyang was watching from the side. Seeing that he was getting to the point, he coughed and asked, "Brother Zhang, you come here often. I wonder if there are any restaurants on this island? How about we go for a drink?"

"Yes! Yes!"

Zhang Guanzhi slapped his thigh and laughed,

"Yes! Brother Xu is absolutely right. Why are you just standing there? Come on, come on, brothers, you and I will bring our families and go have a drink!"

The four of them set off as soon as they said they would. Led by Zhang Guanzhi, they left the dock and headed towards the Fox Hair Tribe, which was like a village.

There were a lot of people along the way, of all kinds, which really opened the eyes of Xu Boen and Xu Boxiao. There were fox people, cat people, dog people, cow people, and horse people wearing clothes of various colors, walking on the dirt road of the Fox Hair Tribe like zombies.

Everyone had no expression on their face and just walked along the road.

After Xu Boyang knew the reason, he was no longer surprised. However, Su Zilu and a group of children were terrified and kept avoiding them from a distance.

Xu Boyang was still thinking about the two northerners who had just flown away. He still felt it was incredible and couldn't help but ask Su Yanlu in a low voice.

Su Yanlu smiled and said, "It's not surprising. We are Taoist monks, and they are Confucian scholars. The ancient Confucian scholars do not cultivate the Zifu Qingxu Dao, but what they call the Haoran Zhengqi and the Great Way of the Sage."

"This 'righteous energy,' in our terms, is the 'Xun Wind' of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Therefore, the Confucian scholars of Guliang only need to absorb the energy and enter what they call the 'Li Qi Realm'. Then, without external aid, they can control the wind and fly, even riding the wind and walking on the sea, and speeding like lightning."

"I just looked at these two people. They are not masters. At best, they are about the same as the sixth-level Nascent Soul cultivators here."

Xu Boyang felt a little ashamed after hearing this, suspecting that he was looking down on him, but he had no evidence.

Su Yanlu frowned and said softly:
"Even the Confucian scholars from Guliang can freely enter and leave Qingshen. Who knows what these people are doing here? Qingshen is really like a sieve now, full of holes."

Xu Boyang was silent after hearing this. This statement was indeed impossible to refute.

Before he came out, he thought Qingshen was the most peaceful place. There were no monsters or witches, and even the wandering cultivators were polite and did not fight. He, a mortal, had been in the ghost market for many years without a scratch. At most, some bad guys were among the mortals, such as robbers and hooligans. For him now, these were easier than pinching an ant to death.

I didn't expect that after I went out, I found that there were undercurrents. Everything was not as I imagined. The digging wizard, the mountain-moving rat, and the northerner all suddenly appeared.

It seems that I just live too comfortably, not that the world is just like this.

From this perspective, Qingshen's Immortal Sect is not just unkind and blindly exploiting the family, but is doing its best to seek peace for the people of the four counties despite things that most people are unaware of.

Xu Boyang suddenly remembered a sentence from his previous life.

There is no such thing as a peaceful life. It's just that someone is carrying the burden for you.

After so many years of life, all the memories of the past life have been obliterated and disappeared. To be honest, there are not many words I can remember. Only a few sentences are left, which are still engraved in my heart.

The group walked and stopped, chatting as they walked. After a while, they meandered up along the island reef and came to a bungalow built on the cliff. There was a flag on the roof with the word "wine" written on it. Apart from that, there was a dirty door curtain hanging, nothing else.

"arrive."

Zhang Guanzhi bent over, rubbed his hands, and smiled, then immediately lifted the curtain and walked in, followed by everyone else.

The exterior looks unremarkable, but the interior decoration has been carefully considered. However, it is not as complicated as Qingshen. It is straightforward and simple.

There are braziers placed everywhere in the tavern. Many people sit around the fire, drinking and eating meat. The environment is not noisy. Apart from the lobby, there are private rooms built on the cliff, each with a suspended platform.

It seems that Zhang Guanzhi is well-informed and deliberately chose a place that is not particularly noisy.

The drinkers inside were of all kinds, but it looked like most of them were still crowded.

Xu Boyang, Su Yanlu, and a group of cultivators arrived with the child. Everyone paused, looking the room over for a few moments before recovering. Su Yanlu glanced around and spotted several demonic beings seated there. Their auras were strong, but none of them seemed hostile. She immediately lowered her guard and followed Zhang Guanzhi into a spacious private room, surrounded by greenery and offering a tranquil and elegant atmosphere.

The one who greeted everyone was a good-looking beautiful lady wearing a bright red coat and with a sharp look. Xu Boyang took a look and found that the woman was a human, and an ordinary mortal at that.

It is quite rare that humans, monsters and beasts coexist on this island.

After Zhang Guanzhi ordered the dishes, he asked everyone to sit down and said with a smile:

"The Fox Fur Tribe of Wan Yaoze is affiliated with the Black Tooth Tribe of the Shiwan Mountain Tribe. Although they are all foxes, they are not a force of Qingqiu."

"The Black Tooth Tribe of the Hundred Thousand Mountains is located right next to the Zhufen Wilderness, so many of them come to the Myriad Demons Lake to make a living. Furthermore, the Black Tooth Tribe enjoys practicing Taoism and interacting with us Qingshen people. In fact, they are considered one of the more friendly tribes among the barbarian demons."

"Many demons like to live with mortals. Some even marry and have children, giving birth to demon children. The one just now was most likely a demon child."

"The probability of these demon children being born is very low, but once they do survive, they look just like us, but their lifespan is very long, almost twice as long as ours. If you come across a demon child with telepathic powers, it's even more incredible. They are almost all rare geniuses!"

"Humph!"

Su Yanlu was indignant and couldn't help but say, "Mr. Zhang, you're exaggerating. There's no such thing as one in ten thousand. As far as I know, there's only one demon in ten million who possesses telepathy. The vast majority are just mortals with longer lifespans and stronger bodies."

Zhang Guanzhi wanted to show off, but he was embarrassed when he met someone who knew the subject. He laughed dryly and said, "I'm exaggerating. I'm sorry to make you laugh. Brother Su is right."

Su Zilu was shocked when she heard this. She had never heard of these things before. How could they be talked about in Qingshen? It seemed that there were too many taboos in Qingshen, and even her brother didn't dare to talk about them casually.

"Don't these barbaric demons and demon children eat blood?"

Xu Boyang secretly observed the surrounding environment and asked in a low voice.

"Why don't you eat?"

Zhang Guanzhi poured tea for everyone and whispered, "However, in order to maintain good relations with Qingshen, they generally do not eat Easterners. Instead, they specifically raise Westerners or Northerners in the Zhufen Wilds to eat."

As soon as these words were spoken, it was like a biting cold wind that penetrated people's hearts, making Su Zilu and the other children shudder.

"Sorry sorry!"

Zhang Guanzhi saw that several people looked unhappy, so he quickly said with a smile,

"Sorry, I forgot there were children here. It's a mess outside, but without the Green God's taboos, you can say whatever you want."

"Your Majesty, please use it with ease!"

After a while, the beautiful lady in the red coat came like the wind, bringing all kinds of delicacies, covering the table, and also brought a pot of wine. She didn't say much, just said a few words, and then left.

"Miss Su, don't worry. This shop is specially opened for Qingshen's customers. The ingredients are very clean and all prepared according to Qingshen's methods. You can feel free to feed your children!"

As Zhang Guanzhi explained, he took the wine pot and wine glass and began to pour wine for Xu Boyang and Su Yanlu.

Xu Boen looked at the colorful and fragrant table, and his appetite was aroused. He took a pair of chopsticks, chopped up the food, and started to pick up the food. When he put it in his mouth, his eyes lit up:
"good to eat!"

When the other children saw that their older brother was the first to eat, they immediately stopped being polite and started to eat with relish.

Everyone looked at him with a smile, and Zhang Guanzhi said with a smile: "If it tastes good, eat more!"

After saying that, he poured himself a glass and raised it to gesture.

Su Yanlu ignored him, but looked around, stood up and pulled up the curtain. She flicked her fingers and a golden light curtain emerged like ripples on water, instantly covering the private room. She said lightly:
"When you go out, be careful and beware of the neighbors who have ears hanging!"

Xu Boyang had no intention of drinking. He just took this opportunity to get closer to the other party and get the upper hand. After all, he had just arrived and the environment of Zhufen Wilderness was similar to what he had imagined, so the risk was not small.

He raised his glass and said:
"Brother Zhang, Brother Su, it's rare for us to be together outside of Qingshen. I'll offer you both a toast. There are no outsiders here, so why not be frank with each other?"

After saying that, he drank it all, put down the glass, and reached out to take off the mask.

Su Yanlu laughed, stretched out her hand, and the black pig mask on her face disappeared, revealing her chubby face.

Zhang Guanzhi looked at the two men and found their faces to be so unfamiliar that he couldn't remember where he had seen them before. This was especially true for the young man surnamed Xu, about whom he had no impression at all. He felt strange in his heart and slowly took off the yellow dog mask.

Xu Boyang looked at him with a puzzled look, and suddenly felt strange. Could it be that he didn't remember him?
Come to think of it, he is probably overwhelmed with things at Jianyi Pavilion every day, so how could he remember so many people? Besides, it has been nearly four years since this happened, so it is not surprising that he can't remember them. Wouldn't it be better this way? Anyway, the last meeting was not a pleasant one.

Now he said directly:
"Brother Zhang, we're family, so we don't talk about other people's things. Brother Su and I came here knowing nothing about this Zhufen Wilderness. We only know that there's a sect called 'Three Thousand Academy' on the Thousand Stars and Ten Thousand Islands Lake. They offer temporary storage of spiritual seeds and teachings for families who pay tuition. As for other things, we don't know much, so I'd appreciate it if Brother Zhang could enlighten us!"

"Brother Xu is absolutely right. This is our first time here, so I'd like to trouble Master Zhang to explain."

Su Yanlu's eyes flickered as she poured herself a glass of wine.

The two men suddenly restrained their postures, their expressions became solemn, and they sat upright with their bodies stretched out like tigers, with both pairs of eyes staring at them with fierce and scorching gazes.

Zhang Guanzhi swallowed his saliva, and then he realized that today's meal might have been premeditated. It seemed that he had encountered two devils this time, and it looked like they were determined to take advantage of him. He was afraid that if things didn't go well, he would have no chance of getting away with it.

He laughed dryly twice and nodded.
"Of course, of course. This is your first time here, brothers. I've been here a few times before, so I'm here to serve you."

After that, he put down his wine glass and said slowly,
"These Three Thousand Academies do exist. They are located on the Thousand Stars and Ten Thousand Islands Lake. They are quite powerful, claiming to control three thousand islands on the lake. However, whether this is an exaggeration or not is unknown."

"I heard that there are three masters in the academy, all of whom are former Qingshen cultivators. They are all in the late foundation building stage and are very powerful. As for who else is behind them, there is no way of knowing."

Upon hearing about the level of cultivation, Xu Boyang, Su Yanlu and Su Zilu were secretly awe-inspiring, but their thoughts were different.

Xu Boyang was very excited:
"So there's a high-ranking cultivator here, founding a sect. It seems there shouldn't be any major problems. I just don't know who these three are and what their character is like. If they're high-ranking cultivators with no ill intentions, Bourne and Boxiao should be able to entrust them with their services. It's a pity we don't have enough spirit stones right now. I wonder if this Zhufen wilderness has any spiritual energy. I'll try to gather a few to exchange for spirit stones to fill the gap."

Su Yanlu hated it:
"So there are actually Qingshen cultivators who are disloyal and have set up their own sects outside. However, with such cultivation, they are already powerful and influential in the Qingshen territory. Apart from the Yushi, they don't need to take anyone seriously. Why would they neglect their own interests and come to this barren land to engage in these illegal activities?!"

Su Zilu was worried:
"Late Foundation Establishment stage? Isn't that even more powerful than my brother? It's hard to investigate this matter any further... My brother is also stubborn and self-willed. It would be better to return to Qingshen and report to the Immortal Sect, and let the feathered masters make the decision. Why take such a huge risk?"

I wish you all a happy weekend!

There should be another chapter in the afternoon!


(End of this chapter)