"Alright! Chen Fei…" Qin Weiwei nodded, taking note of the name.
"There"s also Yan Xiu as well." Miao Yi smiled. "If Yan Xiu seeks you out one day, I have to trouble you to take care of him as well."
Qin Weiwei was immediately surprised. She was well-aware of the relationship between him and Yan Xiu. Why would Yan Xiu seek her out? She couldn"t help herself and asked suspiciously, "Are you in some sort of trouble?"
Miao Yi knew from her expression that she still had no clue about the candidate list for the Sea of Constellations Subjugation Crusade, and shook his head in response, "What else but the matters of the School of Blue Jade. Well, it"s nothing to be honest. I just want to prepare everything just in case."
This was the only arrangement Miao Yi could manage for Yan Xiu. If Yan Xiu still wanted to remain as an official when the time came, the newly appointed Cave Masters stationed at Mount Calming Sea would not use his trusted subordinate. He feared that the days to come would be difficult. Seeking refuge with Qin Weiwei wasn"t a bad choice. If he wanted to leave with Yao Ruoxian, he would have to look for Qin Weiwei to remove his Immortal Records. With her background, it wouldn"t be a problem to do so.
As for Qian"Er and Xue"Er, it would be best for them to leave with Yao Ruoxian if he were to perish. Yao Ruoxian would never abandon his two daughters.
Naturally, Qin Weiwei had heard of the incident with the School of Blue Jade. However, she couldn"t quite understand the connection between that and asking her to take care of Chen Fei and Yan Xiu. But since Miao Yi had asked, she didn"t refuse his request. Instead, she asked, "Then how are you going to thank me? I have been helping you all the while, yet you have never once repaid me."
Recalling that Yang Qing was the one that secretly coerced him, Miao Yi forced a smile and said, "You wouldn"t go as far as have me devote my heart to you, right?"
Qin Weiwei raised her leg and used the tip of her toe to draw a mark on the snow. As if she were joking, she said, "If you are willing, nothing is impossible."
"Since Mountain Chieftain Qin is such a beauty, I would be the one benefitting from it the most. It has nothing to do with whether I"m willing or not." Gesturing off in the other way with his mouth,he said, "The unwilling one is in there."
He tried to tell her that it wasn"t him who was unwilling to help her, but because he was powerless to do so.
"Oh!" Qin Weiwei had already guessed the truth of the situation. She scoffed, "If you are sincere in repaying my favor, who can possibly stop you from doing that? There"s no harm in avoiding that person."
Miao Yi took her words as a joke and humored her, "Are you trying to do something with me that cannot be undone?"
A rarely seen mischievous expression appeared on Qin Weiwei"s face. She blinked her eyes and said, "That"s not a bad idea. Why don"t we try that?"
"HAHA!" Miao Yi laughed. He realized that she wasn"t hard to get along once he spent more time with her. She could even crack a joke like this too. Quite unlike the usual cold front she displayed when she first appeared. However, if they continued joking like this—as a man, he had no problems—he would have to bear the suspicion of being a hoodlum to someone"s daughter. It would be excessive if they continued any further. Taking the hold of the conversation, he changed the topic and said, "I will entrust you with them both. Just take it as a favor that I owe you. If there"s a chance, I will repay your kindness one day."
Qin Weiwei did not go into the matter of "devoting his heart" any further. She had her own restraint as well, and she wasn"t a shameless person. However, there was a little confusion in her bright eyes. She immediately flashed a pleasing smile and said, "Alright. I will wait and see how you will repay me when the time comes."
Just as in years past, Manor Head Yang Qing drew out a batch of Orbs of Will as prizes. The location of the compet.i.tion was the exact same place they were currently in.
Everyone gathered on the mountainside to spectate the compet.i.tion. Miao Yi felt awkward as he joined the others. One could say that he was somewhat uncomfortable because Qin Weiwei was visibly sitting her mount next to him and continued conversing with him.
From behind, Gongsun Wu would at times shoot his gaze at them. When he saw Weiwei and Miao Yi talking so closely, it wouldn"t be an understatement to say that there was jealousy and envy in his eyes.
He had followed Qin Weiwei to Mount Shaotai, so naturally, she wouldn"t treat him unfairly. She had allowed him to continue his position as a Cave Master.
No one dared to raise an objection toward the change of personnel at Mount Shaotai. First of all, Qin Weiwei had ties with Yang Qing and secondly, Xiong Xiao"s incident had shocked everyone. It wasn"t because of the personal grudge between Xiong Xiao and Miao Yi, but because they had a.s.sisted Xiong Xiao in his defection. It was already considered fortunate for them that no investigation was held to discover who was responsible. No one dared to raise any objections and allowed Qin Weiwei to handle matters however she liked. All of them behaved themselves with all sincerity.
With respect to Yang Qing"s wishes, Qin Weiwei took the opportunity to demote every Cave Masters stationed in the two caves into positions handling various other tasks. There was instantly ten extra posts for Cave Master available, which was how Gongsun Yu managed to obtain his position successfully.
Miao Yi had also seen Tu Sanliang behind Qin Weiwei. Facing this person who had ambushed East Arrival Cave back then and tried to take Miao Yi"s life, Miao Yi instead greeted him with a smile and a nod.
However, Tu Sanliang gave him a look that was a little disdainful and turned his head away, seemingly scornful of Miao Yi.
At the same time, Miao Yi also sensed the subtle glances that Yang Qing was shooting at them. Miao Yi sighed in his heart. He knew that Qin Weiwei only did this so that she could attract Yang Qing"s attention. Even so, he didn"t feel it was right to drive her away from his side.
The compet.i.tion began. Each respective Cave Masters mounted their dragon steeds and rushed down the mountain slopes to enter the arena. Gongsun Yu was rushing down as well.
However, no one from the Mount Calming Sea was partic.i.p.ating. This attracted a lot of mocking gazes from the crowd. Those gazes were clearly saying that once the School of Blue Jade fell, this guy had became a coward after losing his foreign aid.
Liu Qian and the others felt a bit uncomfortable, let alone Tian Qingfeng himself. No matter how you went about it, they were now part of Mount Calming Sea after all. They felt disgraced having their Mount Calming Sea being looked down upon.
Even Qin Weiwei from her place beside Miao Yi, was able to easily sense the mocking gaze from everyone. She tilted her head to look at Miao Yi, but all she could see was an indifferent expression on his face. His eyes were calm, undisturbed by the disdain the surrounding people were shooting at him. His attention was focused on the compet.i.tion below.
To Qin Weiwei, this didn"t seem like the trouble-causing att.i.tude that Miao Yi would normally display. She commended him for this att.i.tude in her heart. This man had grown increasingly mature as the years went by… Perhaps this was what was meant by "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder".
Unexpectedly, from where he stood behind Qin Weiwei, Tu Sanliang seemed intent on shaming Miao Yi and said, "Mountain Chieftain Miao. Why aren"t the Cave Masters of Mount Calming Sea partic.i.p.ating in this compet.i.tion? Perhaps they are afraid of showing an embarra.s.sing scene and are hiding themselves?"
People from both ends instantly burst into laughter. A frown creased Qin Weiwei"s forehead and she turned to glare at him. Only then did Tu Sanliang let out a humorless laugh and fell silent.
Miao Yi didn"t intend on offending the members of the three main schools due to his imminent journey to the Sea of Constellations. However, if people wanted to hara.s.s him, he wasn"t someone to be trifled with. He burst into laughter and said, "Indeed. They are afraid of causing embarra.s.sment, because if my subordinate Cave Masters were to fight in the compet.i.tion, the other Cave Masters would not be a match to them. I fear that the others will be embarra.s.sed and shame their comrades, which is why I didn"t bring them along."
His words were like a smack to the face of all the Mountain Chieftains, including Qin Weiwei. Because of that, Qin Weiwei gave him a sharp glare. Miao Yi smiled back and apologized to her.
A Mountain Chieftain with the surname "w.a.n.g" scoffed, "Mountain Chieftain Miao. Aren"t you afraid of biting your tongue with that haughty tone of yours?"
"Biting my tongue?" Miao Yi shot a glance at him and calmly continued, "Those who know me will understand that I don"t like making statements just for the sake of being eloquent. I prefer to do things seriously with real blades and spears. My subordinates like to kill and spill blood to achieve their goals. If you want a compet.i.tion for fun, then forget about it. That sort of thing isn"t suitable for them. I don"t wish to blow my own horn, but imagine how twenty of my men from Mount Calming Sea were brave enough to a.s.sault Thriving Ten-Thousand Manor and pluck Xiong Xiao"s dog head from his body. How can they be afraid of a mere compet.i.tion? Speaking of that, aside from my Mount Calming Sea, are there any other mountain that can achieve the same? If any Mountain Chieftain is unconvinced, why don"t you sign up for a challenge? So long as you aren"t afraid that you will not live to see the day, I will personally lead twenty of my men to enter battle next time!"
"Not live to see the day?"—when those words were uttered, both sides burst into an uproar and condemned him for his arrogance.
Miao Yi, on the other hand, remained calm amidst the storm. Simply giving a cold glare to those people below. If anyone dared to accept his challenge, he wouldn"t mind placing an additional bet to the prize money. It just so happened that he was recently a bit tight on his budget as well.
Several in the crowd around him were throwing curses and almost lashed out at him as a mob. However, none of the Mountain Chieftains dared to accept his challenge.
If it were any other, then perhaps someone would shout something like "Who"s afraid of who" along with their curses. However, the main problem was that Miao Yi was known widely for his notoriety, so no one dared to accept his challenge. It was already proven that this lunatic would treat everything seriously. The number of Blue Lotus cultivators in Mount Calming Sea numbering over twenty was no joke. No one was willing to play with their lives like that.
Tian Qingfeng and the others, Liu Qian included, instinctively straightened their backs. The words spoken by their Mountain Chieftain were truly powerful and had vented his spite upon those people.
Qin Weiwei was speechless. After just praising him for being mature, who knew he would challenge every single Mountain Chieftains after just one remark thrown at him!
Yang Qing let out a deep "Mmm" and c.o.c.ked his head, narrowing his eyes at them. The crowd immediately stopped their condemnation of Miao Yi in response, and forced their attention back on the compet.i.tion below.
During the third round of the compet.i.tion, Gongsun Yu was defeated. He felt ashamed facing Qin Weiwei afterwards.
Qin Weiwei didn"t think much of it. Indeed, the strength of her two manors were been greatly increased now. Many of the Cave Masters were members of the three main schools, who were both skillful and capable. It would be impossible for Gongsun Yu to come out on top again like before.
After the compet.i.tion ended, Miao Yi took the initiative to look for Qin Weiwei. He asked for her to help introduce him to the experts from the three main schools currently stationed in South Edict Manor.
Qin Weiwei did not refuse his request. She only told him that he owed her another favor.
When he paid a visit to the experts from each of the three main schools in sequence, Miao Yi prepared a few modest gifts and presented them to each one to help establish a relationship.
Unfortunately, the responses the experts gave him were far from warm. They accepted the gifts, but did not give in to Miao Yi. If it wasn"t for Qin Weiwei, they would not have even responded politely when Miao Yi visited them.
Some of them went straight to the point. Mount Calming Sea had unfairly demoted the people sent from the three main schools quite swiftly. If a bond were to be established, they hoped that Mountain Chieftain Miao would repent his ways in time before it was too late.
The meaning to their words were very obvious. In other words, he should brush off the School of Blue Jade in Mount Calming Sea, and reinstate the positions to their own disciples. Otherwise, there would have nothing more to talk about.
To be honest, when Miao Yi subverted the people from the three main schools before, he never expected that the School of Blue Jade would be destroyed.
Back then when he supported the School of Blue Jade, he did so for his own benefit. The sects were always openly and secretly fighting for their own interests and no one was able to bring them together. Thus, going to the Sea of Constellations, he did not count on the fact that they would revolve their lives around him when the time came. They could care less about him since they had safety in numbers. One should know that the three main schools had disciples stationed elsewhere aside from the two manors. Even Yang Qing himself would not be able to command the three main sects within the Sea of Constellations. However, the School of Blue Jade was a different case. The benefits of the School of Blue Jade in Mount Calming Sea were tied to Miao Yi. Once he went to the Sea of Constellations, the School of Blue Jade would definitely ordered their disciples to protect him carefully. It was easy then to determine the right choice to make.
However, no one had expected the School of Blue Jade to be abruptly destroyed. Miao Yi was taken by surprise because of that. He was helpless against it as well.
Even though he wouldn"t indulge in getting revenge for the School of Blue Jade"s sake, he wouldn"t go as far as to reshuffle each and every position of the School of Blue Jade disciples in Mount Calming Sea once again. If that were the case, wouldn"t he become a wretchedly fickle man?
Miao Yi wasn"t a man of great moral integrity, and he didn"t mind being a wretched person either. Yet even so, he would never become that sort of vile, deceitful and treacherous person.
One could well imagine how that ended. Without getting any promises from the three main schools, Miao Yi gave his presents in vain. He didn"t manage to establish any sort of relationship with them, and ended up empty-handed.