Chapter 45: Banquet in the Rain

On the road where travelers walk, the wind suddenly grows fierce, repeating again and again.

Having neared the Sanshan Gathering, he saw the outline of the gathering from afar. Li Heng walked along the mountain path, trampling the originally upright weeds into the dust and mud, when he suddenly felt the wind rise.

Whoosh—

This wind was extremely fierce, blowing his robes until they snapped and rattled.

Chasing the wind across the sky came a pitch-black expanse, obscuring the Sun, a mass of gloomy dark clouds of various shapes.

Is it going to rain?

He looked up at the sky, his pace quickening involuntarily, wanting to avoid the impending heavy rain and keep himself out of it.

Splat.

The rain fell after all, accompanied by the wind—a gale—with water droplets the size of soybeans smashing onto the Earth, causing Heaven and Earth to appear behind an incomparably hazy curtain of rain.

Li Heng felt helpless; he had just arrived outside the Sanshan Gathering.

Sun True Fire rose, steaming away the moisture on his body. Then it covered his whole person, burning the torrential rain that dripped onto him. He had run too slowly just now.

In such a heavy rain, it was a pity there was no lightning or thunder. He shook his head, his body completely free of water vapor, forming a rain-free zone within a radius of three zhang, and walked toward the gathering.

Having entered the gathering, Li Heng wove through the eaves.

At this time, those small merchants and peddlers were still hawking their wares on the street, with small and medium-sized tarpaulins helping them block the wind and rain. However, the rain was falling far too heavily, and the wind was howling, burying their voices in the rain.

The pedestrians on the street gradually thinned, and there were a few more children.

Dressed in small cloth garments, with bare feet, they played and frolicked in the street; this curtain of rain covering all things in the world became their playground.

From time to time, some children would fall into the water because the street was truly too slippery, crying out loudly, which drew a wave of heartache from the elders who came to find them.

Li Heng looked at these scenes of the human world, gazing at the dark clouds that had already shrouded Heaven and Earth, his heart lost in thought.

This rain had come a bit too quickly.

Soon, Li Heng had arrived before the gate of the Demon Suppression Division station. Inside the courtyard, separated by only a wall, wisps of fragrance rose up. Even the curtain of rain falling from the Third Heaven into the world could not suppress it.

His eyes lit up; this was the aroma of fine food.

It seemed the old man had already arrived.

Pushing open the two tottering gates, he saw the pavilion standing in the middle of the courtyard, and saw the two people inside, one old and one young. The youth was serving respectfully.

"Sir, is this kind of food alright? Is it delicious? If it isn't, I will immediately have the restaurant's head chef remake it."

Xu Liang was respectful, even fawning as he tried to curry favor with Meng Lingyun.

"You brat, you've finally returned. If you hadn't come back, this victory banquet would have turned into your funeral feast." Meng Lingyun looked at Li Heng and smiled slowly.

Li Heng chuckled and walked straight to the pavilion.

"Old man, you underestimate me too much. This food and wine are not bad; suckling pig, eight-treasure duck, braised pork knuckle... these are all hearty dishes to replenish Qi and Blood." He sat down without standing on ceremony.

The fawning Xu Liang at the side swallowed his saliva.

Because he discovered that this Li official who had returned from killing enemies had no traces of being drenched on his body at all; his whole person was completely dry. Could it be that the official has already advanced to the True Qi Realm!?

"If I didn't bring some hearty dishes, with your current physical condition, you wouldn't be much better off than that brat Meng Hao."

Meng Lingyun shook his head and toasted Li Heng with a cup of wine.

Li Heng returned the toast and drank the cup of wine. He tilted his head to look at Xu Liang beside him, "Sit down. What are you doing standing here? The old man doesn't go in for that sort of thing."

"Yes... yes, sir."

Mentioned by name, Xu Liang seemed to be startled, but he quickly calmed down and sat on the chair to the side.

The three of them began to use their chopsticks, without conversation.

Until they were full of food and wine, Li Heng signaled for Xu Liang to leave.

"How is the Feiyun Chamber of Commerce?"

Li Heng looked at Meng Lingyun and said slowly.

"I read your letter and rushed over quickly. I stopped by the Feiyun Chamber of Commerce on the way; just a few stragglers left. However, I did find evidence of their involvement with the Weird, so I killed them offhand, which can be considered resolving some future troubles."

Meng Lingyun said it in an understated manner.

Hearing these words, Xu Liang clicked his tongue in secret. He had witnessed the process of that matter with his own eyes; was this just "offhand"? He was worthy of being the Demon Suppression Division Chief of Bei'an City.

"I did alright on my end, I suppose, having resolved the culprit. Here, this is Xu Yinghuan's Token; he is already dead. His corpse has also vanished into thin air."

He placed Xu Yinghuan's Token on the table. Meng Lingyun looked at this Token, his heart filled with emotion. That brat Xu Yinghuan actually left even earlier than this old man.

However, he was already sixty or seventy years old and had seen his fill of life and death, so his mood recovered quickly; he could only bury his student in his heart.

"You said you resolved the culprit? Are you sure?"

"Behind this Feiyun Chamber of Commerce is that mysterious and unfathomable Second Young Master. Even I don't know his origins, but I am certain he was a person from a Transcendental Family."

Meng Lingyun said slowly.

Li Heng nodded, "I can be fairly certain."

"That culprit should be the Second Young Master you mentioned. He had special abilities on his body and could control Yin Qi, which should fit the Transcendental bloodline family you spoke of."

"Then what about that Second Young Master?"

"Naturally, he is dead."

"Dead?" Meng Lingyun was surprised.

"Yes, dead." Li Heng nodded and casually ate a piece of pig's head meat, the savory sauce overflowing in his mouth.

"Then do you know that you have invited a great disaster! That Second Young Master was a person from a bloodline family. And such powers as families are deeply rooted in Great Li; they even have people in the imperial court!"

Meng Lingyun's expression was grave.

"What other way was there? It was a life-and-death duel; it was either him or me. So what if I killed him? Besides, it wasn't me who killed him, but he committed suicide himself, through a sacrifice."

"Suicide, a sacrifice?" He quickly caught the keywords.

Li Heng told Meng Lingyun the ins and outs of the matter, incidentally omitting the Yin Demon Primordial Fetus and the existence of the cave, saying only that it was a very evil ritual that he had destroyed.

"Is what you say absolutely true?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Very well! If he truly committed suicide, then even if the noble families find you, I, this old man, can protect you! In any case, without evidence, the noble families cannot make a move openly."

Meng Lingyun sneered and said.

"And what about behind the scenes?" Li Heng said with a smile.

"That will depend on yourself. After all, I cannot even see through your current strength, you brat. To think you could actually deal with a disciple of a noble family; I truly don't know how to evaluate you."

He shook his head, sighing immensely.

"It was merely a matter of chance and coincidence, not worth mentioning. How could it compare to you, old man? Sitting here, an aura manifests naturally; the wind cannot pass through, and the rain cannot splash in. It is truly miraculous."

Li Heng exclaimed in admiration.

At this moment, outside the pavilion, it was still pouring rain. Yet, sitting here, Li Heng could not feel the existence of the wind and rain, as if he were indoors, feeling incomparably calm.

"Enough, you brat, you can even flatter like this."

Meng Lingyun could not help but shake his head.

"This is the method of Dividing Spirit and Transforming Thoughts, the One Mind Two Uses technique you wanted. As for what you intend to do with this technique, I will not ask. Just don't use it to commit crimes or engage in illicit affairs."

He handed a book to Li Heng.