Rumors are such that some believe them, while others do not.
Especially after Ji You returned home and didn't come out again, it wasn't long before someone pointed out the strange logical inconsistencies in the rumors, analyzing eloquently how Ji You couldn't be an Immortal.
This person's name was Wang San, and he lived by the Nanya River.
Two and a half years ago, he also worked for the Ji Family, but was expelled for petty theft.
On the day the Ji Family suffered misfortune, he was the first to cheer, so naturally, he couldn't accept hearing that Ji You was an Immortal.
During this time, some also brought up the fact that the Qiu Family's daughter had returned safely to refute the claims, but they were all rebuffed with a simple, “Let's set those aside for now.”
However, when a group of households with some assets in Yuyang County rushed to Paifang Street, carrying rice, grains, poultry, and livestock, and waited nervously at the Ji Residence's gate, Wang San finally fell silent.
These households who rushed to Paifang Street had taken some of the Ji Family's property and enjoyed a share of the spoils when the Ji Family faced misfortune.
Items like plowing oxen, utensils, and farm tools, which couldn't be taken during their flight, were mostly divided cleanly among them.
More than two years of peace had already made them feel completely at ease, especially seeing Young Master Ji's lack of ambition and his idleness on the streets, which made them feel even more justified in their appropriation.
Until Grandfather Fang summoned them to the yamen just now and informed them of the truth.
Thus, the impending dread made them restless, so they grabbed whatever they could and rushed in a panic to beg for forgiveness.
However, the gate of the Ji Residence remained closed, and no one answered, leaving them sweating profusely.
Finally, someone with a quick mind pointed them to a clear path, so they hurried out of the city and returned everything to the Qiu Family.
“These people, they usually have quite a good relationship with Grandfather Fang, and they even snatched two fen of our family's grain fields…”
“It seems the rumors in Yuyang County are true…”
“Hey, hey, hey, don't look, leave quickly! No gathering and shouting in front of an Immortal's residence!”
Just as a group of people were gossiping, a group of constables arrived, wielding their intimidation sticks, some of them with slightly swollen cheeks.
At this moment, the Ji Family's reputation as Immortals truly began to awe all quarters.
In fact, Fang Zhongzheng, the Yuyang County Magistrate, also wanted to come and apologize.
Early in the morning, he went out for official business with his subordinates, and upon returning home, he saw his chrysanthemums all over the ground, damaged, and he was furious. Then he heard his servants talk about Ji You, and he remained silent for a long time.
Who would have thought that the son-in-law he had looked down upon that day would today make Fengxian Villa not dare to say a single word?
However, just as he stepped out of his house, he was immediately stopped by his daughter.
“Father, your daughter will also be an Immortal of Tianshu Academy. It's just that I started a little later than Ji You. Why must you be so obsequious?”
“Ruoyao, the matter of Immortals is not something to be trifled with.”
“If you really go to apologize, wouldn't it confirm throughout Yuyang County that I abandoned him when he was in trouble two years ago and was unvirtuous?!”
Fang Ruoyao already possessed quite an Immortal Aura, and her strong stance made Fang Zhongzheng abandon the idea of going to the Ji Residence.
He didn't know what cultivation was truly like, but he felt that what his daughter said made some sense; since they were both Disciples of Tianshu Academy, neither should be inferior to the other.
And just as he was about to sit down for tea and carefully check the grain ledger, he saw Cao Jinsong, carrying a Sword Qi, storm out of the yamen, then soar into the sky, cursing terribly.
“Xiao An, Cao… Cao Xianren, where is he going?”
“Master, Cao Xianren sensed a Spiritual Qi sweeping through the air and said that the people from Fengxian Villa are back again, trying to dig up Young Master Ji. Cao Xianren is furious and plans to face them alone with his sword, cutting them down outside the gate.”
The servant boy, specifically responsible for serving the two Immortals, spoke and then hurriedly followed him.
Listening to the incessant “Motherf***er” from the sky, Fang Zhongzheng remained silent for a long time, finally gathered some silver, and rushed to the Qiu Family outside Yuyang County.
And apart from Fang Zhongzheng, the households who had taken Ji Family property, and the Immortals from Fengxian Villa, there was also someone else who wanted to meet Ji You.
At dusk, the sun was setting, and the sky was silent.
Kuang Cheng walked through the back alley to the Ji Family ancestral home and stopped in front of the gate, looking at the faded red and black couplets on the door.
After the news of Ji You reached the Kuang Family, because the elders in the family knew that the two of them were childhood friends, they sent him to pay a visit. After all, in this world, if one could connect with an Immortal, it might be a life-saving opportunity.
He was a bit bolder than others, and after only a moment's hesitation, he pushed open the gate, stepped inside, and reached the second courtyard of the Ji Family ancestral home.
The Ji Family members had already moved out all the items from the courtyard during their escape, leaving only broken bricks and tiles and shattered pottery fragments, scattered among the knee-high weeds that had grown, with some light green moss, looking desolate.
“It's strange how things in the world are. The people in the courtyard are gone, but the grass has grown lush.”
Kuang Cheng was slightly startled, looked up, and Ji You's voice already came from the room, as if he had already noticed.
This, perhaps, was the divine peculiarity of a cultivator.
Kuang Cheng stood at the door, looked into the room, and after a long silence, spoke: “These past two days, even when someone cursed you from behind the wall for being a coward, you pretended not to know. Were you actually diligently cultivating to break through to the next realm?”
“What? Someone dared to curse me from behind the wall for being a coward?”
Kuang Cheng touched his nose: “No, no, perhaps I misheard.”
Ji You was silent for a moment, and his voice came from the room: “I originally wanted to get along with you all as an ordinary person, but I didn't expect to be met with alienation. I'm not pretending anymore, I'm laying it all out.”
Kuang Cheng took a step forward and said again: “So that evening, when you heard me talk about Tianshu Academy, what you thought was not to seek help from Fang Ruoyao, but to become a Disciple of Tianshu Academy yourself?”
“How can one place hope in someone who hastily came to break off the engagement when her fiancé's family suffered a tragic change?”
“So that's how it is…”
Kuang Cheng laughed self-deprecatingly after hearing this.
The world said scholars were pedantic, and he thought that was just a worldly prejudice.
But after this incident, he realized that when faced with trouble, he could only move his lips to curse, but he couldn't even distinguish who he should have cursed in the end.
Kuang Cheng paused for a moment, then stiffly bowed and said, “Young Master Ji, I, Kuang, have been disrespectful to you in the past. My father disciplined me after learning of this matter. Tonight, he wishes to host a banquet at home to apologize to you.”
Ji You was silent for a moment before speaking: “No need, I've already eaten. Please go back.”
“A light drink, surely no harm?”
“Leave.”
Kuang Cheng was stunned for a long while, then bowed and said his goodbyes, turning to walk out.
He was not someone who would readily flatter; if his family hadn't forced him to come, he might not have stepped foot in this place. Seeing that the other party was not receptive, he naturally wouldn't stay longer.
In fact, he felt slightly relieved; his childhood friend was still a kind-hearted person, and that was enough.
As for their past friendship, Kuang Cheng did not dwell on it much.
Ji You was now a Junior Third Realm Completion Disciple of Tianshu Academy, with a noble status, transcending the world, a world of difference from him, a commoner.
He still remembered that Fang Ruoyao seemed to be the same back then, suddenly becoming arrogant.
She herself had explained that it was because cultivators needed a pure state of mind, unperturbed by external things or personal sorrows, only then could they reach the peak of the Dao, and it wasn't that she looked down on her former friends.
Though he didn't know if it was true, it was acceptable.
However, just as Kuang Cheng stepped out, there was suddenly a clatter from the room behind him, like the sound of wooden furniture such as a table or chair falling to the ground, accompanied by a muffled groan, as if someone had fallen.
Kuang Cheng was slightly startled for a moment, then his expression changed slightly, and he stepped into the room.
At this moment, Ji You was slumped on the ground, his left hand still resting on the fallen wooden chair, his lips covered in fresh blood, staining large patches of his white robe's collar crimson.
Some of the blood had clearly darkened, appearing to have been coughed up earlier and now dried.
“I told you not to come in, but you insisted. Ignorant child, now that my Blood-Coughing Divine Art is complete, I'll use you for practice!”
“?”
Kuang Cheng looked at him in silence for a long time, not believing a word.
Seeing that he didn't believe him, Ji You also fell silent with him.
(This is not about suppressing the protagonist, this book aims for enjoyment, and will absolutely not play the card of suppressing the protagonist. This is a crucial turning point in the setting, an original trope. Please vote for monthly tickets, please keep reading!)