Chapter 101: No Misunderstanding That a Meal Can't Resolve

Anyway, Qing Wu had already been fed to wild beasts, so whatever he had said was entirely up to Wei Yuning to fabricate. Of course, Wei Yuning's lies could be considered conscientious by the standards of the lying profession—he had merely embellished things slightly.

"You insolent brat!" A trace of black qi surfaced on Qing Yun's face, a faint indigo-blue welling up from beneath the skin, but it quickly receded again.

"Farewell, Senior Brother Qing Yun!" Wei Yuning knew when to stop. He stood up and walked toward the door.

"The one pulling the strings behind the scenes is Qing Cong, along with Acting Sect Master Tai Heng. As for the specific reason, I don't know either!"

Wei Yuning opened the door. When half his foot had already stepped out, Qing Yun's voice came from behind him. Wei Yuning paused, said "Thank you," then closed the door and left.

Qing Yun looked at the fine pearwood chair beneath his feet that had shattered into pieces, and said in a low voice, "What a pity!"

Wei Yuning returned to his cave, activated the protective array, and began his daily cultivation at no fixed time.

When evening arrived, knock knock knock, a knocking sound rang out.

He opened the door—it was Man Niu, covered in dust from the road.

"Brother Niu, come in quickly!" Wei Yuning said warmly.

Wei Yuning suddenly realized that the originally peaceful Cloud Concealment Sect was actually fraught with danger on all sides. He considered himself already quite low-key in how he conducted himself, and had never actively provoked anyone, yet in less than half a year since joining the sect, he had somehow ended up with enemies everywhere—and none of them weak ones either.

Divine Martial Gate, the Thorn Demon, Dao Ling, Tai Feng, Tai Heng, Qing Cong, Qing Wu—the weakest among them was at least an inner sect disciple. Now there was also this underground organization called the Shadow Pavilion. If he really counted them all, Xu Chen seemed to count as well. Good heavens—at this rate, life was only going to get harder and harder.

By contrast, Man Niu had been in the sect for over five years. Though he had few friends, he didn't have a single enemy either. Wei Yuning felt that he himself was a failure at conducting himself in life.

Man Niu entered the room and sat down. Wei Yuning once again warmly served him a cup of "health tea" made by Steward Hong Le.

"Senior Brother, don't be so polite!" Man Niu accepted the teacup with a smile.

"I must, I must. You've worked hard, Brother Niu!" Wei Yuning said sincerely. Looking across the entire Cloud Concealment Sect, the only person who truly treated Wei Yuning like a brother was Man Niu.

"It wasn't exactly hard work—this distance is nothing for the Mountain Patrol Team. It's just that I nearly froze to death!" Man Niu sighed.

"What do you mean? Isn't the weather pretty good?" Wei Yuning asked curiously. The Geng Yue month was already more than half over, and the temperature had risen to between fifteen and twenty degrees—the most comfortable time of year.

"I went to Red Plum Villa. That place is eerie—bright sun outside, but once you enter the villa, the snow never stops, and the temperature is extremely low, even colder than winter on Nine Clouds Peak!" Man Niu shook his head, seeming as though he still hadn't recovered from the cold.

"So what did the other party say? Are they selling the wood essence?" Wei Yuning asked about this crucial question.

"The one in charge inside is a young lady. When she heard I was from the Cloud Concealment Sect, she neither agreed to sell nor refused to sell—she only said the wood essence belongs to the one with destiny!" Man Niu scratched his head as he spoke.

"Then what happened next? Don't tell me you just left?" Wei Yuning said helplessly. He had sent Man Niu over precisely because Man Niu was honest and straightforward, and wouldn't offend the seller. But this also came with a drawback—he couldn't adapt flexibly.

"I didn't just leave. Miss Mei said she'd like to pay you a visit, to see whether you're the one with destiny!" Man Niu said.

"Why would she suddenly think of visiting me?" Wei Yuning asked, exceedingly curious.

"Miss Mei is skilled in divination. She cast a hexagram for me, and it was extremely accurate. She said that a couple of days ago, on a sudden whim, she cast a hexagram and found that her destined one would appear soon. But after meeting me, she discovered I wasn't her destined one. So, she wants to come visit you!"

"The one with destiny? There's actually such a bizarre thing. This young lady isn't some desperate boy-crazy woman, is she!" Wei Yuning couldn't help muttering to himself.

"What does this young lady look like?" he asked again.

"She wore a bamboo hat and a thin veil over her face, so I couldn't see her looks clearly. But she's definitely a great beauty!" Man Niu said with certainty.

"If you couldn't see her looks, how do you know that?" Wei Yuning said.

"Feeling!" Man Niu waved his hand and said with a sly grin.

Wei Yuning was speechless. Man Niu had actually learned his trick—truly despicable-looking behavior, deserving of a beating!

"When will she arrive?"

"She didn't say. I gave her your divine sense marker. If she comes, she'll contact you!" Man Niu said.

Although the result was less than ideal, there was at least still room for maneuver, and Wei Yuning felt a bit more reassured.

Adding flowers to brocade is not as good as sending charcoal in the snow. If he could help Xu Yan successfully advance to the Integration stage this time, he would have a stable artifact-crafting master as an assistant.

Glug glug glug—Man Niu quickly drank the health tea down to the last drop. Wei Yuning refilled his cup.

"Thank you, Senior Brother!" Most of the time, Man Niu was quite proper.

"Brother Niu, since you're back, contact Senior Sister Qing Fei. Let's go out for a meal together tonight—she's still misunderstanding the whole dao companion matter, and I want to apologize to her in person! Also, don't mention that I'm going too!" Wei Yuning had kept this matter in mind all along. Now that Man Niu was back, it definitely needed to be resolved quickly.

"Hah, serves you right!" Man Niu said this with his mouth, but was overjoyed in his heart. Since Wei Yuning was doing this, then the matter was a hundred percent a misunderstanding. Without Wei Yuning as a rival, Man Niu's confidence had returned.

Man Niu's relationship with Qing Fei was no ordinary one. After sending a message via flying bird, he quickly received a reply.

A dozen or so minutes later, the three of them met at the Flowing Cloud Plaza on Guest Arrival Peak. When Qing Fei saw that Wei Yuning was also there, frost immediately appeared on her face. Fortunately, Man Niu's face carried enough weight that she didn't leave right away.

All misunderstandings stem from a lack of communication. With Man Niu explaining things in between, Qing Fei quickly got the situation straightened out.

Not only were the two dao companions fake, but they had also run off. Once this embarrassing matter came out, Wei Yuning, who had been "growing grass on his head," immediately earned Qing Fei's full sympathy.

Soon, the three of them returned to their previous natural and harmonious way of getting along.

With Wei Yuning the rich one present, naturally he was the one treating. To show his sincerity, Wei Yuning deliberately chose the highest-class restaurant in the Flowing Cloud Pavilion on Guest Arrival Peak—Star Plucking Tower—to host the two of them.

After becoming an inner sect disciple, her income had risen greatly and her horizons had broadened. Qing Fei was no longer the female cultivator who had once happily gorged herself on ordinary food. She had become much pickier about food, and this was not her first time at Star Plucking Tower.

By contrast, it was the first time for both Wei Yuning and Man Niu at such a high-class establishment.

The food at Star Plucking Tower was very expensive. A single-person meal cost roughly thirty to fifty low-grade spirit stones. A Foundation Establishment stage cultivator's normal monthly salary from the sect was only a few dozen low-grade spirit stones. After Man Niu joined the Mountain Patrol Team, his initial monthly salary was only sixteen low-grade spirit stones. The price of one meal here was several times the normal monthly income of Foundation Establishment stage disciples like them.

Wei Yuning had just entered the Heart Stirring stage and hadn't yet officially registered with the sect, so this month he would certainly still be drawing a Foundation Establishment stage salary.

Qing Fei was Wei Yuning's partner in the Secret Medicine Pavilion, so naturally she knew he wasn't short of spirit stones. Therefore, she had no intention of saving money on his behalf.

The three of them went up to the front counter on the first floor. Upon learning that the top-numbered room was unoccupied tonight, Qing Fei immediately and unceremoniously chose that one. Wei Yuning, of course, had no objections. Man Niu was just there for a free meal, and he too smilingly accepted.