Xiao Du held onto the letter and walked into the backyard. He then went to the front of the main hall and said softly, "Greetings, Lady. There's a man outside who wants to see you. He has claimed that he's your younger cousin brother and he has a letter with him!"
"Come in," replied a woman. Her voice was bright but sounded a little hoarse. Nevertheless, it was attractive.
"Yes," Xiao Du replied politely and pushed the door open gently.
A delicate, pretty girl stood at the door and received the letter. She then passed it onto the young lady who was sitting in the middle of the hall.
Chu Li used the Omniscient Mirror to take a look at this young lady.
She had fair and delicate skin, long eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, a sharp nose and slightly thick, red lips – a combination of innocence and sexiness.
Though there was a layer of pathetic bitterness over her eyebrows, she still looked very attractive.
Chu Li understood that she was the Chen Siyu whom he needed to protect.
She was dressed in a plain, white gown. Her hair was styled up with a white flower on it – indicating that one of her family members had recently passed away.
She read the one-page letter, and she smiled. "Yue Er, it's my younger cousin brother, Chen Li. Quickly, bring him in!" Chen Siyu said as she returned the letter into its envelope.
"Yes, Lady," Yue Er replied brightly and went out to the door of the main hall.
Chu Li was waiting outside with his hands crossed behind his back.
Yue Er looked at him from top to bottom and asked, "Are you Master Li?"
Chu Li responded with a fist salute. "You are… ?"
"I am Lady Chen's maid, Yue Er. Master Li, please follow me!" Yue Er smiled. She noted Chu Li was full of youthful vigor and behaved with a serene composure. Safe to say she had a good first impression of Chu Li.
Chu Li followed Yue Er into the front courtyard and entered through the side to arrive at the backyard before reaching the front of the main hall.
Chen Siyu was at the stairs waiting, looking tall and elegant. The sun may have been shining on her, but it was still not able to chase away the sorrow on her face.
Chu Li greeted her with a fist salute. "Nice to see you, cousin sister."
Chen Siyu forced a smile and observed Chu Li. "Cousin brother, why are you here?"
Chu Li sighed helplessly. "I am here to seek shelter. My parents have passed away and I do not know how to earn a living so I have come in search of you! I hope that you will be able to offer shelter for me."
"Since you are here, you might as well stay and think of what to do next." Chen Siyu nodded.
"Yue Er, find my cousin brother a place to stay."
"How about the Perfume Courtyard?"
"That's fine." Chen Siyu nodded. "Tell the kitchen to prepare a reception to welcome my cousin brother."
"Will do," Yue Er replied crisply. She turned her head to Chu Li and smiled. "Master Li, please follow me."
Chen Li gave a fist salute to Chen Siyu. He followed Yue Er, passing through a garden, and entered a small courtyard through a moon shaped door.
Yue Er smiled and said, "Master Li, Lady Chen stayed here quite a while ago. You will be staying here from now on."
Chu Li grinned. "Thank you."
Yue Er hurriedly waved her hands and laughed. "I cannot accept your thanks. Master Li, if you need anything, just call me over. Or should I assign two maids for you?"
Chu Li shook his hand. "I will be fine."
After Yue Er left, Chu Li sat at the courtyard's roundtable, pondering.
Zhao Lun's Mountain Split – Chu Li had never heard of it, but Zhao Lun sounded like an authoritative and powerful figure. Since he had joined the Public House, Chu Li was only concerned with news of the Public House and as such, did not care much about affairs outside of it.
Looking at the situation now, it was about time for him to take in the state of the world outside of the Public House.
There were four persons sitting outside – three of them were Innate Masters, one had completed his Acquired Mastery, and the others were Guardians and Clan Leaders. It seemed like this faction should not be underestimated.
Innate Masters in the Public House were generally rank six Protectors. It may sound like nothing special, but outside the Public House, they were excellent Grandmasters. Enlightened Masters were just tales of legend.
If Zhao Lun's Mountain Split was truly that powerful, then he should be an Innate Master.
After contemplating for a moment, Chu Li began to think about Imminent Skyline.
He would need to visualize the Yong Quan Point, in order to locate that specific acupuncture point -- the finest amongst all.
Chu Li had the Omniscient Mirror. He could perfectly perceive everything but he was still unable to find the specific acupuncture point. It was neither inside nor outside the body. This was really mysterious, true to its Taoism roots and style.
Chu Li began his meditation and tried looking for it. The Yong Quan Point started off as a small acupuncture point, but it grew bigger in time as he meditated and visualized. In time, it would have grown to the point of infinity, as infinite as the sky.
Chu Li was not in a rush. If Xiao Yueling herself did not manage to complete her cultivation for this, it was clear that it was not an easy feat to achieve at all. Since he was going to stay here for a month, it may be the best time for him to meditate and cultivate.
Given that he was from the Public House, Chu Li could not expose his identity. Chen Siyu's household was obviously a martial arts faction, and it was taboo for factions to have any forms of interaction with the Public House, otherwise, they would face isolation. Other than that, the Tempest Temple also had a powerful influence in almost every corner of the martial arts world. He really needed to be careful to make sure he was not discovered.
The monks of the Tempest Temple still believed that Chu Li was still in the Public House, they could have been waiting right outside of the Public House.
If Chu Li did not appear, it would not have been unusual. They could believe that Chu Li was simply hurt in the battle and was merely recuperating in the Public House. If Chu Li was suspected of having a plan up his sleeves and they went to track him down, he would have already returned to the Public House.
---
The sun started to set. It blanketed the residence with a glow of rose red.
A tall and sturdy old man stepped into the residence, followed by four other middle-aged men.
The old man had a square face, a pair of vigorous bright eyes as well as high grandeur. It was obvious from his authoritative behavior that he was used to giving out orders. This man used to hold a high position.
Chu Li activated the Omniscient Mirror to investigate. He had a casual chat with Yue Er in the afternoon and got to know that the man was the Association Leader for the Startling Cloud Association, Xu Zhichun. The other four people in the main hall earlier were Guardian Xu, Guardian Zheng, Hu Hai, Clan Leader of the Thunder Clan, and Lan Jingzhong, the Ambassador.
Xu Zhichun stepped into the main hall. Zheng Gongming and the four other men stood up and greeted him with a fist salute. "Leader."
Xu Zhichun waved his hand, indicating acceptance of their greeting. "Is everything alright?"
"Leader, Lady's younger cousin brother came today. He's inside the residence now," Guardian Xu said. "We were not able to do anything about it."
"Younger cousin brother…" Xu Zhichun frowned and fondled his beard.
"How old is he?"
"Around 20 years old," Guardian Xu replied in a deep tone. "He's a commoner, knows nothing about martial arts."
The tall and plump Hu Hai said, "Leader, we need to be more cautious at this point of time!"
"Elder Hu, do you think something's not right?" Xu Zhichun asked slowly.
Hu Hai scoffed. "Isn't this too coincidental?"
Guardian Xu grunted. "Leader Hu, how is it possible that Lady was not able to recognize her own cousin brother?"
Hu Hai pursed his mouth. "What if she was caught in something and she couldn't tell the truth? Or Zhao Lun wrote a letter to threaten her?"
Guardian Xu said in disdain, "The Startling Cloud Association is not afraid of Zhao Lun!"
Hu Hai scoffed again and felt that his own reasoning was not strong enough. He was not convinced, and pushed again. "We can't be too careful. What if we accidentally put ourselves into trouble?"
Guardian Xu put on a face of disgust. "He does not even know martial arts. How could he even cause trouble?"
Xu Zhichun nodded his head in agreement with Hu Hai. "Elder Hu is right, we cannot be too careful. Young Xu, you need to learn!"
"... Yes, Leader." Guardian Xu gave Xu Zhichun a fist salute. He gave Hu Hai a reluctant and unwilling glare.
Xu Zhichun pretended to not notice their altercation, and said, "I will check him out on my own and welcome him while I'm at it. You guys can go back and rest."
Hu Hai hurriedly replied, "Leader, we can stay here. We have nothing to do even if we went back."
Xu Zhichun scoffed and waved his hand angrily. "If you guys continued to remain here, the beauty in your residence is going to be mad at me! Hurry up and get out of here. Zhao Lun wouldn't dare to come close when I'm here!"
"Hehe, with Leader's martial prowess, of course, Zhao Lun wouldn't dare to come. Very well then, we'll leave now!" Hu Hai laughed.
The four of them bid farewell and left.
Xu Zhichun crossed his hands behind his back and went to the backyard.
Chen Siyu was sitting quietly at the stone table staring blankly up at the sky.
Tall and slender, she had delicate shoulders and a slim waist. She may have been wearing a white gown, but it was still difficult to hide her curvaceous figure.
Xu Zhichun walked in and coughed lightly. Chen Siyu did not seem to hear him, continuing to gaze up at the sky and remaining motionless.
"Your younger cousin brother is here to visit?"
"Yes." Chen Siyu continued to look up at the sky, not even glancing at Xu Zhichun.
Xu Zhichun coughed again. "Is he from your hometown?"
"He's my Third Aunt's son," Chen Siyu replied lightly. "He has been spoilt since young. They did not want to let him suffer so they never allowed him to learn martial arts… now he's useless!"
Xu Zhichun shook his head and sighed. "Your Third Aunt is right. Not learning martial arts is also good."
Chen Siyu smiled coldly. "You will be bullied if you do not know martial arts!"
"Being bullied is better than being killed!" Xu Zhichun sighed.
"If I could turn back time, I would have never let Yunpeng learn and cultivate martial arts. I'd rather he be a playboy!"
Chen Siyu stared at him, she sneered. "If you were able to, you would still force him to learn martial arts. No one would be able to inherit the Startling Cloud Association otherwise. Who would be able to take over your estate?"
Xu Zhichun let out a heavy sigh. "But now… it's the same now, isn't it?"
Chen Siyu sneered again. "Well, you still have other sons! One died, but you still have two more! Why don't you let them learn martial arts too?"
Xu Zhichun was speechless, he did not know how to reply. He shook his head and said, "Let's welcome your younger cousin brother tonight. What is he here for?"
Chen Siyu scoffed. "He couldn't survive by himself, so he is seeking shelter from me."
"Then I'll assign a position within the clan for him," Xu Zhichun said.
"There is no need for it! He does not know martial arts, he will become a burden to the others if he joined. I don't want him to participate in martial arts affairs. Just let him study or read some books!" Chen Siyu insisted.
"You… Alright, reading is good too, I suppose." Xu Zhichun shook his head.
Yue Er walked in cautiously.
"Lady, Elder Master, dinner is ready."
"Let's start dinner then," said Xu Zhichun.
Chen Siyu nodded, and told Yue Er, "Go and invite Master Li to have dinner at the front hall."
"Yes." Yue Er turned and left.
Xu Zhichun sized up Chen Siyu. She was expressionless and did not even bother to look at him.
"Sigh… Siyu, don't be too sad. The dead cannot be brought back to life. Yunpeng would not want to see you like this from heaven."
Chen Siyu glared coldly at him.
Xu Zhichun shook his head helplessly, stood up and left.
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