Chapter 214: The Broken Engagement!
Lu Yang began to ponder whether or not to tell Senior Sister about their master’s fabrications.
If he told Senior Sister, their master would definitely get a beating, but if he didn’t tell her, Senior Sister might think he was colluding with their master.
“On one side is my master, and on the other side is my senior sister. It’s a tough decision,” Lu Yang sighed, feeling stuck in a dilemma.
He pulled out a coin, deciding to leave the choice to fate.
Lu Yang flicked the coin lightly, and it made a crisp sound as it spun rapidly in the air. The three of them kept their eyes on the coin, looking up and then down.
Clink.
It was heads.
“Looks like it’s fate for my master to suffer.”
“Brother Lu, try it again,” Li Haoran suggested. He had heard Elder Zhou Xin complain about Master Daoist Non-Speaker being unreliable while soaking in lava.
But still, the sect master was the sect master after all.Lu Yang nodded. He didn’t really want to tattle either, so he flicked the coin again.
The coin landed on tails.
Li Haoran sighed, the sect master had dodged a bullet.
Lu Yang sighed as well, “Looks like it’s fate for my master to suffer.”
“Wait a minute, Brother Lu. How come heads means telling Senior Sister, and tails also means telling Senior Sister? What would it take not to tell her?”
“That would be if the coin lands on its edge.”
Seeing Li Haoran’s bewilderment, Meng Jingzhou explained, “Think about it, there are two possibilities when the coin lands: flat or on its edge, right?”
“Right.”
“So, Lu Yang has a fifty percent chance of not telling Senior Sister. That’s already pretty high.”
Lu Yang gave Meng Jingzhou a look of deep appreciation.
Li Haoran twitched, “Brother Lu, if you want Master dead, just say it. Why bother with the process?”
Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou reminisced about Barbarian Bone. If it had been Barbarian Bone earlier, he would have believed it already.
As they talked, they arrived at Li Haoran’s old family home.
The old horse stopped, and Li Haoran got off first, showing the two of them around. “Brothers, this is my home. It’s a bit run-down, but it holds my childhood memories. I remember climbing the tree in front of the gate when I was little.”
“…Brother Li, I think ‘a bit run-down’ is an understatement.”
Li Haoran turned and saw his family’s old house being dismantled.
“Where’s my home?!”
He had only been away for a little over a year, how had his house disappeared?
“Hey, isn’t this the Li family’s kid? I heard you did well and went to the Dao Seeking Sect?” An old man recognized Li Haoran.
“Uncle Zhang, where’s my house?” Li Haoran asked hurriedly.
“Huh? Didn’t your parents tell you? To celebrate you becoming a Dao Seeking Sect disciple, your family sold the old house and moved to Chun Yuan Street.”
“…Did they really sell it to celebrate me becoming a Dao Seeking Sect disciple?” Li Haoran covered his face, feeling helpless.
Following Uncle Zhang’s directions, the three of them finally found Li Haoran’s real home.
Before entering, Lu Yang quietly asked Meng Jingzhou, “Did you prepare a gift for Uncle and Auntie?”
“I’ve been ready for a long time. I have plenty of good stuff in my identity jade token. How about you?”
“I went to the task hall before coming here and exchanged for some pills and heavenly materials.”
After their exchange, they felt at ease and got off the carriage.
Before Li Haoran could knock, they heard a strange woman’s voice from inside.
“I absolutely will not agree to this engagement!”
“A marriage arranged before birth? Was it agreed upon by me?”
“Don’t even think about me acknowledging this engagement!”
Then they heard Li Haoran’s father’s voice, “This engagement was agreed upon…”
Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou exchanged a glance. It seemed things were not going smoothly.
Li Haoran frowned and pushed open the door, deliberately calling out loudly, “Mom, Dad, I’m back!”
As the door opened, they saw a couple looking somewhat at a loss, as if things had gone beyond their expectations. They were Li Haoran’s parents.
Arguing with Li Haoran was a beautiful young girl who looked about his age.
Behind the girl stood an attractive female cultivator, who bore some resemblance to the girl. It was unclear if she was the girl’s sister or mother.
“Haoran, you’re back?” Li Haoran’s parents were overjoyed to see him return.
“Mom, Dad, let me introduce you. These are my senior brothers from the Dao Seeking Sect, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.”
“Hello, Uncle and Aunt,” Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou greeted warmly, presenting the gifts they had prepared.
“You didn’t have to bring anything.”
“These are just some small things we picked up on the way, nothing valuable.”
After some polite refusals, Li Haoran’s parents accepted the gifts.
“So, you’re Li Haoran?” The girl frowned at Li Haoran. To be fair, Li Haoran was quite handsome, but the girl found him displeasing at the moment.
“Who are you?” Li Haoran responded coldly to the girl.
Li Haoran’s parents, fearing the situation might worsen, quickly introduced, “She is Qin Yanyan, and this is her mother, Su Yiren, the master who saved us.”
In the spiritual space, the Everlasting Fairy chuckled, “This Su Yiren is impressive, she’s a Unity Stage cultivator.”
The Central Continent had many talented people, and there were many Unity Stage cultivators that Lu Yang had never heard of.
Not to mention Lu Yang, even Meng Jingzhou, born into the Meng family, hadn’t recognized all the Unity Stage cultivators.
“Unity Stage?” Lu Yang was surprised. Was Brother Li that valuable? Not only did a Unity Stage cultivator save his parents, but also arranged a marriage.
Lu Yang couldn’t see anything particularly special about Li Haoran other than his fire spirit root.
He neither had the misfortune of falling from genius to wastrel nor said strange things or behaved oddly.
The Everlasting Fairy teased, “You’re quite valuable too. Little Yun Zhi herself arranged a marriage for you and Lan Ting. If it succeeds, you’d have a group of Unity Stage cultivators backing you.”
Lu Yang rolled his eyes and didn’t respond to the Everlasting Fairy’s teasing.
Qin Yanyan scrutinized Li Haoran, “I heard you’re from the Dao Seeking Sect and ranked fifth in your batch. That’s pretty disgraceful, a fire spirit root only ranking fifth.”
Li Haoran thought about the top four: one with a sword spirit root personally taught by Senior Sister with talent equal to hers in spellcasting, one with a Single Spirit Root from the largest family, the Meng family, one with the rare and powerful Feathered Immortal Physique, and one with the legacy of the ancient barbarian tribe. Being fifth didn’t seem so bad.
Barbarian Bone was the last of the ancient barbarian tribe, and legends said the last member of a tribe would carry all its luck.
In fact, it would be strange if he could surpass the top four.
“I advise you to break the engagement. Let’s all go our separate ways and meet in the future as friends. If you refuse…” Qin Yanyan smiled coldly, implying a serious threat.
“What if I refuse?”
Qin Yanyan continued to sneer, but hadn’t thought of how to threaten Li Haoran if he refused.
(End of the chapter)