When the sun was high in the air and it was not inappropriate to make visitations, a messenger came from the inn opposite to them, relaying that his superiors would like to request Wu Long to join them for tea.
Wu Long, having long expected this, did not decline and went along. As he was crossing the street he was impressed by how thoroughly the place was cleaned out, as there was not even a hint that something out of the ordinary happened on it just last night.
He was led into a spacious and elegantly decorated room with an adjacent small private garden, and the petals from the flower trees in the garden were occasionally falling into the room through the open sliding doors that led there.
Inside, was a veiled figure of a woman, and the old man who was sitting to the side in front of her. There were also four guards standing inconspicuously in the small garden and two guards in front of the door to the room.
“Welcome, sir. I would like to sincerely thank you for helping us out yesterday. Please excuse my manners in inviting you here instead of heading to you to express my gratitude, our situation did not leave me much choice” the veiled figure spoke in a gentle and soothing voice of a young maiden, as she slightly lowered her head to express her thanks. The veil was a peculiar one, going from a golden tiara woven into her hair, and covering almost all of her face, leaving only her beautiful cherry lips and well shaped chin visible. There were several massive pieces of exquisitely made golden jewelry at the sides on the lower part of the veil to keep it always down with their weight even if a gust of wind blew past her.
“I would also like to express my gratitude, young friend, as you truly helped us out” the old man stood up and bowed to Wu Long as well, but there was vigilance and intense scrutiny in the eyes behind his mask.
“No need for so much courtesy, if I knew that there is such a beauty in need of assistance I would have helped earlier, but as I did not, I only interfered because they expressed their hostility to me. Besides, even if I did not make my move nothing would have happened to you with such a dependable person guarding your side” Wu Long smiled as he looked at the veil, making the person behind it feel like there was no veil at all and he was looking straight in her eyes.
“Is it perhaps possible to know the young friend’s name and where did you come from?” the old man asked while the veiled maiden was somewhat overwhelmed. He was a bit unnerved, as his existence and words seemed to be completely ignored with the sole focus being on her.
“My name is Wu Long, and I am a disciple of the Yin Yang Unity Palace” he replied nonchalantly, finally taking a quick look at the old man, before returning his gaze to the veiled figure.
“May I ask who I am speaking to?” he then asked.
“That-…”
“Song Lingfei”
Before the old man could interject, a soft voice spoke the name, causing him to look at her with round eyes behind the mask.
“Your… my lady…”
The old man said, somewhat rebukingly but also confused.
“It is nice to meet you, Fairy Song”, Wu Long replied not at all caring about the old man’s reactions.
“Please, have a seat, the tea should be arriving soon” Song Lingfei also said not paying any mind to the already turning transparent old man.
Wu Long did not stand on ceremony, and sat on the seating mat offered to him. The servant, a young girl, walked in with a tray, and served tea and sweets to the two, and only noticing that she did not serve tea to the old man when he slightly cleared his throat as she was about to leave. She became flustered before apologizing and nimbly serving him tea and sweets and leaving.
While this was happening Wu Long and Song Lingfei already began tasting the tea, taking in the aroma first and then taking a sip.
“You said that you came from the Yin Yang Unity Palace, is that a renowned sword sect?” she said after a short tranquil time of enjoying the tea.
The old man, who was just about to speak up, closed his mouth as he now completely lost his chance at self-introduction, as doing it at this point where the conversation moved on to discussions would be extremely awkward. His figure seemed to blend in with the room, becoming one with the world. Even some of the most skilled assassins in this secluded world would be amazed at such a level of skill.
“No, the Yin Yang Unity Palace is a dual cultivation sect, it has no notable sword inheritance” Wu Long replied to her question.
The air seemed to move in the background when he said the words ‘dual cultivation’, but both of them did not pay any mind to it.
“Dual cultivation? Is that some special type of cultivation? Pardon my asking, I seem to not know of such a term” she replied after taking a moment to digest his words and trying to remember if she had ever heard of such a thing.
“It is a part of cultivation, but one that cannot be done alone as it requires cooperation. I will leave you the excitement of learning about it on your own” he said with a slight smile.
“I see, then do you mind sharing where you learnt the sword, I was told that such skill could not be learnt even in a few hundred years”
“I learnt sword from a friend of mine, and it indeed took a long time” he said vaguely
“I see, pardon my curiosity, I never expected to meet such a master here while not knowing about you before”
“No need for such courtesy my lady, as I must thank that curiosity for the company of a beauty”
At this point, Song Lingfei blushed slightly, mystified at the feeling of certainty that the veil, which had special formations and restrictions etched into it, did not impede him from seeing her.
They talked a bit more, shifting to more detached topics and casual discussions.
When it was appropriate time, Wu Long said “thank you for your hospitality, Fairy Song, but I should not overstay my welcome, and my companions may be looking for me soon”
“Ah, it is already so much time, my apologies for keeping you here with me for so long, I am rarely able to enjoy the company of my peers, I hope you do not find offense. Thank you for your time”
“Not at all, I will be seeing myself out. Oh, and I should warn you, that your condition will only worsen if not dealt with through proper means, though you should probably know that by now. But if you do not find any solution and it gets worse, feel free to seek me at the Yin Yang Unity Palace, and I will help if you so desire” he said, while standing up and leaving.
But as he said those words, an intense killing intent exploded from nowhere, as if from the thin air itself, as a figure of an old man in a mask gradually became more solid to the side of Song Lingfei. 𝒃𝙚𝙤𝙫𝒆𝒍．𝙘𝒐𝙢
“Uncle Ren! Stop it!” she said, as there was premonition of an imminent and deadly attack.
“Youngster, stop right there!” the old man said menacingly, while his palm glowed with a profound light.
Wu Long stopped his steps and half-turned, narrowing his eyes at the old man. In fact, there were many reactions he made, and many instances with which he tried to interject into the conversation between the two before. But none were so hostile and apparent with the intent to take action as now, hence his presence being acknowledged by Wu Long only at this instant.
“Youngster? Heh, I should warn you, that you should not ‘choose wrong’ like certain idiots yesterday when I gave them a choice. Tuck back that paw there before you make this irreversible and we can all part amicably” he said, as the air around him changed, becoming ancient and profound. He accentuated the words choose wrong in the exact same tone he said it the night before.
The old man suddenly felt as if there was a cold blade right beside his neck, and he was standing before an unfathomable existence.
His glowing palm gradually returned to normal, as his back was soaked with cold sweat. Song Lingfei also felt a bead of sweat going down her forehead under the veil.
“I will excuse myself now then” Wu Long said and went back to his inn.
In the room, the old man was feeling worse than he did while being ‘the perfect assassin’.
“Your highness, you are being too careless, this man is very dangerous” he said in a rebuking tone
“I know, I am sorry, uncle Ren, but there is something about him that made me feel like it was okay to tell him my name. Regardless, he is not our enemy, as there would be no need for him to help us”
“But… still…”
“It is alright, I will handle explaining the incident to my father. And about his last words, it is not bad to have at least some hope for a last resort if the trip to the Frozen Garden Palace does not help” she said resolutely.
Meanwhile Wu Long returned to the inn, and the group of Song Lingfei departed from the city shortly after, while the Yin Yang Unity Palace waited for a couple of days more for Liu Li to finish her seclusion.
During this time, Wu Long mostly spent the days in the inner courtyard garden with the flowers flocking to him each time, and evenings in his room cultivating. By the time Liu Li came put, he have also finally made some progress, reaching the 8th level of Body Transformation Realm with the Yin Yang Conversion Cauldron Body and tempering his physique a lot more with the Yang attribute medicines he had.