Chapter 149: Summer Autumn Moon
In the middle of the Sixth Month of Jinghe Ninth Year, Qinghe should have started to feel like summer by now, according to previous years. However, it was still fluctuating between warm and cold, causing the most headache for Qinghe residents every day to be deciding what to wear.
But for Master Kuang of Qingyun Pavilion, the Artifact Refining Room was simply too hot. Every day, he wore a thin undershirt, and as soon as he entered the Artifact Refining Room, he would take off his outer clothes, revealing a body full of toned muscles.
Every time, it made Xiao Yun unable to resist looking at him a few more times.
Xiao Yun was a new apprentice recruited by Qingyun Pavilion, assisting Master Kuang.
As they worked together, some things began to change subtly.
One day, when Wen Weilan went to the back hall of Qingyun Pavilion to find Kuang Bowen, she witnessed this cringeworthy scene.
The young girl looked on with tender affection, while the master coldly hammered iron.
The muscles on his arm, gripping the large hammer, flexed and relaxed, tugging at the young girl's heart.
“Master Kuang!” Wen Weilan couldn’t stand it anymore and called out.
Kuang Bowen turned his head and saw an unfamiliar face, but considering her tone and the fact that she could enter the back hall of Qingyun Pavilion, who else could it be but Miss Wen, the second-in-command?
He quickly put down the hammer, wiped his hands with his undershirt, then lifted the hem of his shirt to wipe his face, revealing his eight-pack abs. Xiao Yun stared intently, without any hint of reserve.
Wen Weilan didn’t wait for him to speak. She directly tossed him the clothes hanging by the door and said, “Let’s go. Your old team leader has already arrived.”
Kuang Bowen immediately understood why Wen Weilan was looking for him. His heart tightened, and he quickly put on his outer shirt and grabbed his cane to leave.
“Xiao Yun, continue forging the Evil-warding Mirror’s outer casing,” he quickly instructed, then left with Wen Weilan without looking back.
Xiao Yun was a little disappointed, but she still followed her master’s instructions, raising the large hammer and striking the flowing copper on the fire again and again, fiercely.
It was like hammering a hard-hearted person.
“I’m telling you, with a girl around, you should dress more appropriately,” Wen Weilan said exasperatedly.
“But, it’s hot…” Kuang Bowen sounded a little wronged.
“If it’s hot, you can stick on ice talismans or drink iced water,” Wen Weilan glanced at him. “However, your muscles look like you’ve put in a lot of effort.”
“Yes,” Kuang Bowen was overjoyed when he talked about this. “The Mortal Martial Skill, Vajra Art, that my master gave me is very effective. I’ve been practicing it for a while, and my muscles have developed, and I have more strength for hammering iron!”
“So you deliberately wear so little, trying to seduce our little sister Xiao Yun?” Wen Weilan said coolly.
Now, once Miss Wen started with her sharp tongue, she was truly difficult to parry.
“No, no, absolutely not!” Kuang Bowen waved his hands repeatedly.
“Boss, rest assured, I am absolutely dedicated to my work. In my eyes, there’s no gender difference with Xiao Yun!”
“How dare I marry before Qingyun Pavilion has developed? So, I absolutely wouldn’t have such thoughts!”
“If the second-in-command doesn’t believe me, I’ll, I’ll…”
Kuang Bowen, who had been making repeated assurances, trailed off here, looking at his empty pant leg below, and hesitated.
“Enough, enough, I don’t care about any of that. Just don’t let that young girl down,” Wen Weilan quickly cut him off, always feeling that the rest of his words wouldn’t be appropriate to hear.
Ever since Kuang Bowen became a disciple of Liu Sheng and rejoined Sky Craftsman, he had become somewhat overly dedicated, even a bit dull, no longer possessing his former calm and intelligent demeanor.
She wondered if it was because Liu Sheng had left, dumping three hundred and eighty-two orders on him, causing him to work overtime every day.
Oh, right, now it had increased to four hundred and twenty-six orders.
Wen Weilan looked at the dark circles under Kuang Bowen’s eyes and his dull gaze, feeling a little uneasy.
Perhaps she should get him some Dragon Tiger Pills made by Senior Sister, he looked quite tired.
The two walked all the way to the small, grimy tavern named “Xiao Xiang House,” and directly and familiarly walked up to the second floor, entering the painting.
A small boat, a single leaf, drifted in the autumn rain towards the direction of “Dongting Autumn Moon.”
“This trade fair is being held at ‘Dongting Autumn Moon,’ so it seems the scale is extraordinary,” Kuang Bowen remarked.
Dongting Autumn Moon was a very large island in the lake, with a vast area, especially the Autumn Moon Tower at its center, which could accommodate tens of thousands of people for auctions and trades simultaneously.
“Yes, I heard there are quite a few weird objects at this trade fair,” Wen Weilan nodded. “Just thinking about it, we have eight of them on our side.”
“The last Star Chasing Journey yielded good results,” Kuang Bowen said with a calm expression, seemingly no longer bothered by having lost his cultivation and a leg because of it.
Wen Weilan naturally wouldn’t mention that in some Universes, their gains were not limited to this.
“But waiting in line for purification this time has taken so long, much longer than usual,” Kuang Bowen said with some confusion. Based on his past experience of hunting the strange and sending weird objects to Xiao Xiang House for purification, it had never taken a month to wait like this.
Fortunately, he had a job and wasn’t in urgent need of money, otherwise, he would have starved to death long ago.
Wen Weilan’s eyes darkened: “I heard there are many weird objects scheduled for purification now.”
“How strange, how strange.”
As the two talked, “Dongting Autumn Moon” was already reached.
The silent boatman slowly rowed the boat towards the “Dongting Autumn Moon” dock, making it convenient for the two to disembark.
On the dock, there was a large crowd, clearly Hunter of the Strange from various places who had come for the trade fair.
“Let’s go. Chen Shanyuan said he’s already waiting for us at the entrance of Autumn Moon Tower,” Wen Weilan checked her spirit message.
Kuang Bowen also received the message, and he felt a strange sense of unease.
Although the two had once been very close, their relationship had soured somewhat since the tragic incident in the Weird Domain.
Kuang Bowen didn’t know how to face Chen Shanyuan; he couldn’t deny the resentment in his heart.
And after Chen Shanyuan returned, he was almost completely out of contact, so Kuang Bowen didn't know what had happened.
If it weren't for this mission to settle the gains, Kuang Bowen would have doubted they would ever see each other again.
In front of Autumn Moon Tower, people were still coming and going, and since everyone wore dark masks, it was impossible to recognize anyone.
But everyone had their own methods; some carried special team flags, while others simply wrote large characters on a piece of paper and held it up.
Chen Shanyuan was the latter, holding a piece of paper with “Star Chasing Journey” written on it.
Lu Junan and Yu Jinling recognized him by this and successfully rendezvoused.
After a while, Chen Shanyuan saw a person slowly approaching, leaning on a cane and with one leg, and his heart sank.
Even with the mask, he recognized him; this was Kuang Bowen.
It was just that his body had become much sturdier, different from his former slender scholar appearance.
This was indeed strange.
He had thought that after such a great misfortune, Kuang Bowen would be completely demoralized.
Several times, when he dreamt at night, returning to the scene where Kuang Bowen lost everything for him, he would wake up in a cold sweat, almost having an impulse to immediately go find Bowen and see how he was doing.
But he ultimately did not act, because he was afraid.
If Kuang Bowen was truly not doing well, he would suffer from pain and guilt for the rest of his life, so it was better not to confirm this speculation and just let Kuang Bowen live well in his imagination.
As it turned out, Kuang Bowen was indeed living very well, even much better than him.