Light from countless stars sprinkled down to Earth from the vast expanse of the sky that was now covered by the curtain of the night, while summer brought the wind to carry its heat waves along the way. Tang Xiu, Gu Yan"er, and Xue Yu had returned back to the surface, and Tang Xiu immediately decided to return to Ning City. However, he faintly noticed that something was a bit wrong with how the two women interacted with each other.
"You both already know each other now, so we"re our own people in the future, got it? I want you two to get along well in the future."
While standing on the hillside and looking up to the starry sky, Tang Xiu spoke in a very particular low and heavy voice.
Gu Yan"er grabbed his arm and went silent for a long time. Then she slowly said, "I don"t want to be a junior under her, Master."
"I could care less about that," interjected Xue Yu coldly.
Tang Xiu forced a wry smile and said, "Yan"er, Xue Yu is my woman, I…"
Gu Yan"er raised her hand to interrupt his words and said, "You"ve clearly known about what"s inside my mind, Master. The one and only thing that has made me able to survive these past thousands of years is the thought of finding you and accompanying you forever. I can never leave, nor will I ever give you up, even if the Immortal World must be destroyed—and even if the total destruction of all myriads of living beings must happen. I couldn"t care less, nor do I want to spare any mind, about your other women. But there is one thing for sure—I must follow you, and n.o.body can separate us, ever!"
Looking somewhat distressed, Tang Xiu patted her shoulder and softly responded, "Silly child, how could I have the thought to abandon you, huh? I"m the one who has raised you. You"re my dearest disciple and there"s no one more important to me than you. Even… your position in my heart is the same as my mother."
"I always knew that I was the most important thing in your mind, Master," said Gu Yan"er excitedly. "But I"m not the previous little girl I was anymore. I"ve already grown up. It"s been thousands of years and my age is just equal to the ancestor of her ancestors, so I don"t wanna be a junior below her."
"About this…"
Tang Xiu felt both helpless and overwhelmed.
Xue Yu squinted her eyes. She was also a woman and could clearly feel what feelings Gu Yan"er had towards Tang Xiu. Back when they were still in the underground cave, she also admired this female after she learned of her true ident.i.ty. After being silent for a while, she broke the deadlock and said, "Tang Xiu, she won"t give up on you, so you shouldn"t give up on her either. Besides, she has survived many millenniums and has managed to get here. Even you can see that the girl you once knew has now become a woman. I do think that the sentiment between you both has surpa.s.sed a relations.h.i.+p of a Master and his disciple already, so why must you rigidly get tied down by such punctiliousness? Besides, you already have a lot of women, to begin with. Whether you add her to the total or not doesn"t really matter. What I wanna say is that she doesn"t want to be a generation below me, so just simply make her your woman too."
"Nonsense!" chided Tang Xiu angrily.
After hearing Xue Yu speak, Gu Yan"er"s eyes gleamed with surprise and happiness. She looked at Xue Yu and asked, "Do you really have those thoughts in mind?"
"Yeah," answered Xue Yu. "Frankly, I"m also a latecomer myself. If I were to use the addressing form on Earth, the most pleasant address to hear is that I"m his lover, whereas the unpleasant t.i.tle is I"m the third woman, or maybe fourth, or fifth…"
"Alrighty!" Gu Yan"er immediately s.n.a.t.c.hed the moment and said, "Then call me Big Sis! I"ll call you Lil Sis Yu, and you can call me Sis Yan"er."
"Sis Yan"er," gently responded Xue Yu with a nod.
With a pleased and satisfied expression, Gu Yan"er said, "Sis Yu, since we"re already sisters, then I gotta give you a gift for our first meeting. But then, what I should gift you though?"
She frowned and mulled over it for dozens of seconds. Right as Tang Xiu was about to speak out his piece, she suddenly spoke happily, "Got it! Your current cultivation level has reached the Soul Formation Stage, right? Then I"m gonna gift you a flying sword! The name of this flying sword is Snow Cicada Star Monarch. I spent some thousands of years to collect many precious treasures in the Immortal World to refine this one, so it can be said to be a top-grade weapon even in the Immortal World."
After saying that, an immortal sword as thin as a cicada"s wing appeared out of thin air in her hand. The sword"s whole body was covered in a faint blue light and caused a huge turbulence in the surrounding air the moment it appeared. It was as if the s.p.a.ce itself was about to split apart.
Xue Yu could sense the extraordinariness of this immortal sword. Merely the pressure it emitted out the moment it appeared already made her body freeze. She also fell in love with it at first sight.
"Thanks a lot, Sis Yan"er!"
This time, it was truly a sincere thanks from the bottom of her heart.
Gu Yan"er affectionately grabbed Xue Yu"s hand and then scratched her finger with the immortal sword. Then, she taught her how to unleash and cultivate the sword, concluding with her complacent statement, "Sis Yu, you don"t need to thank me. We"re of the same family in the future, so there"s no need to say such trivial words anymore."
She was happy. Truly and unusually happy and satisfied.
Prior to this time, she used to know that Tang Xiu was always reluctant and unwilling to have any romantic relations.h.i.+p with her given their Master and disciple status. But now, she seemed to see a shortcut—a shortcut that could make him accept her and become his woman.
That is… to get the approval of all his women.
Yet, it gave a headache to Tang Xiu after he saw how the two belles became so close all of a sudden, especially the address Xue Yu gave to Gu Yan"er and her att.i.tude. He truly wanted to reprimand them, but he was afraid that it would make Gu Yan"er sad. Thus, he could ultimately bury that depressing feeling in his heart.
"You should go back now, Yan"er."
Gu Yan"er"s smiling face replied, "No worries, Master. I just came, so I don"t need to go back that quick. That"s right, where are you off to next? Shall I send you there?"
Tang Xiu gave it a thought for a moment. His eyes suddenly lit up and he smilingly suggested, "If so, then you can tag along to deal with something with me! Take us to Ning City in the Haiqing Province."
"Alrighty!"
She grabbed Tang Xiu"s hand and also gently held Xue Yu"s shoulder. A huge aura then exuded out of her as their figures instantly disappeared.
By the time Tang Xiu and Xue Yu felt that heaven and the world were spinning around for a short while, they appeared in a remote place in the Eastern Munic.i.p.ality of Ning City.
"We"ve arrived!"
"Already?"
Xue Yu looked around in surprise and looked puzzled.
"Yan"er"s actual strength is of an Immortal, so let alone a distance like this, even going to the moon would only take her a second," said Tang Xiu. "Anyway, let"s set off! Now that we"ve arrived in Ning City, there"s no rush to go to that place, so we"re heading to the Miao to make some plans first."
Xue Yu only stared at him with a half-believing, half-doubting look. She may have transformed into a powerhouse at the peak stage of Soul Formation all of a sudden, but she hadn"t yet learned any spells at all, so it was natural that she never knew of such a flight speed.
Quickly after, the trio then took a taxi. Only after they entered the bustling downtown street did Xue Yu really realize that they had indeed returned to Ning City. As shocked as she was, she yearned even more to learn how to fly. She could only imagine how free and happy it would be to be able to fly freely in the sky.
The Manor of the Miao Family Residence.
After combining coercion and bribery to force the taxi driver to drive to the manor"s gate, Tang Xiu gave the driver several hundred-yuan bills and entered the Miao Family"s manor under the respectful gaze of the six security guards.
"Brother Tang!"
When Miao Wentang received the news of his arrival, Tang Xiu was already at his residence. After he rushed over, however, his mouth turned into a big O and his eyes turned big when he saw the two women around him.
"A-Again? … another superb… peerless beauty?"
Tang Xiu couldn"t help but laugh and said, "Brother Miao, why are you showing that current face of yours, huh? Anyway, lemme introduce you to my disciple. Her name is Gu Yan"er."
"I"m also Master"s woman," added Gu Yan"er hurriedly.
Her comment invited Tang Xiu"s angry glare as he said, "Don"t listen to this girl"s nonsensical talk, Brother Miao!"
As for Miao Wentang, he composed himself and wryly smiled, "I"m truly convinced now, Brother Tang. Each and every woman around you is truly a stunning beauty. You make me feel like all the belles under the sun have become your woman, you know that?"
Though smiling, Tang Xiu snappily snarled at him, "Hey, old man, can you not make fun of me here? Let"s just sit down and have a cup of tea. We shall head off to the Lian Family directly after Awu comes with his report. We"re going to completely eradicate this wicked family."
The last word from Tang Xiu made it so that Miao Wentang had to suppress his shock inside, and he was able to respond with a solemn face, "The Lian Family is literally a malice cancer if they are not removed ASAP, that I know. But… we just can"t weed them out just like that, can we? In case…"
Tang Xiu waved his hand and said, "Nah, there won"t be any predicaments later. You also know that I naturally won"t strike them if I don"t have a.s.surance, don"t you? Just put your worries in your belly, Brother Miao!"
"But Brother Tang, then the card in your hand is…" replied Miao Wentang with a confused face.
While pointing at Gu Yan"er, Tang Xiu smilingly said, "Well, it"s rather fortunate that my dearest disciple came here; I"m kinda using her strength to deal with them. Even if both of us don"t act, the Lians will definitely be doomed today. Completely."
Miao Wentang looked at Gu Yan"er and incredulously exclaimed, "What did you say, Brother Tang? Miss Gu? Is… this even possible? Please don"t throw such a joke at me."
"Well, well. Aren"t you looking down on women?" questioned Tang Xiu smilingly.
"I"m not holding any contempt because she"s a woman, mind you," rebuked Miao Wentang with a bitter smile while shaking his head. "It"s just that Miss Gu is a young lady and she"s also your disciple, so how could she have a way to deal with the Lians? Brother Tang, we are facing quite a serious problem here, so let"s be serious. We cannot harm Miss Gu in any way."
Tang Xiu, however, let out a strange smile and said, "You also know about the Everlasting Feast Hall, don"t you? But do you know who established it?"
"Of course I know about that. It"s that Little Boss Gu Xiaoxue"s Master who founded it," answered Miao Wentang with a nod. "You… huh, what? You mean…"
Nodding and smiling, Tang Xiu replied, "Yup. She"s Xiaoxue"s Master, so now you should understand, right?"
Miao Wentang desperately gulped down. He looked at Gu Yan"er with shock fully covering his face. He then muttered, "It turns out that once one"s cultivation has reached a certain realm then that person can really keep their youthful looks. M-Miss… Miss Gu… No. That"s not right. I should address you as Senior Gu. It"s just that I never expected that the founder of the Everlasting Feast Hall would turn out to be so young and as stunningly beautiful as you are."
Tang Xiu burst into laughter and smilingly said, "Oh, my. Please don"t throw the flattery. That trick won"t work on her."
However, Gu Yan"er smilingly interjected, "But I think his words are very effective on me, Master. I"m indeed a very beautiful flower as well as so young and promising. How can I otherwise deserve to be your woman, right?"
In the end, it was Miao Wentang whose head got short-circuited, as he was now unable to figure out what kind of relations.h.i.+p there was between Tang Xiu and Gun Yan"er.