Chapter 96

Liu Xiaolou didn't understand this kind of grand dual-cultivation ceremony of noble families, and few people in the entire Wulong Mountain understood it either. When Wei Hongqing was preparing to marry the young lady of the Xia family, there weren't so many formalities; it was just decorating the cave with red silk and setting up a few tables of food and wine at the entrance of the cave dwelling.

So Liu Xiaolou was completely in a daze. Even though the steward had told him the detailed procedure in advance, when it came time to perform the rites, he still couldn't distinguish them. Fortunately, there were experts by his side at all times, reminding him what to do at every step, so he just did as he was told like a marionette.

After bowing to each other as husband and wife, they bowed to heaven and earth, then to the elders. There was shooting geese, jumping over fire basins, and then leading the bride into the temporary wedding chamber behind the Gualu Hall, which left him drenched in sweat.

Fortunately, a son-in-law had no qualifications to go out and toast the guests, and all subsequent proceedings were handled by the Su family, which made him feel relieved. As for what Hou Hou Guanshi Lin had asked him to remember about who was who, it was of no use at all during the ceremony. With hundreds of guests, how could he distinguish who was who in such a short time?

The only thing that surprised him was that he actually met an acquaintance—the "Tiger-Headed Jiao" who had also been temporarily recruited by the Cang family last year when the three sects of Zhanglong, Dongyang, and Tianmushan besieged the Qingyu Sect on Wulong Mountain.

He remembered that this fellow was quite familiar; even though he had no feelings for him, he acted as if they were close friends and even volunteered to enter the mountain with him to investigate the enemy situation of the Qingyu Sect. He hadn't seen this fellow since then, and he had even burned incense to pay respects to him, but he never expected him to appear at his own dual-cultivation ceremony today. He didn't know how he had snuck in.

The door closed, the matrons and maids retreated, and only he and the bride remained in the wedding chamber, along with the tall, flickering red candles.

Su Wuniang sat by the bed, her red veil still not removed. She waited for a while but didn't see Liu Xiaolou come over to lift the veil, so she asked, "What are you waiting for?"

Liu Xiaolou said "Ah," hurriedly went to the table to find the jade ruyi, then held it and walked to the bed, saying cautiously, "Then... shall I lift it?"

"Lift it."

"Okay."

As the veil was lifted, Liu Xiaolou finally saw Su Wuniang's face. That goose-egg-shaped face glowed with a layer of fluorescence under the candlelight, and her eyes blinked from time to time under her long eyelashes, sizing him up.

After looking at each other for a while, Su Wuniang said, "There is food and wine on the table. If you are hungry, eat."

Liu Xiaolou replied, "Okay."

Su Wuniang said again, "Let's leave it at this for tonight. It's not convenient to go out. If you are sleepy, sleep on the floor." She threw the bedding from the bed to Liu Xiaolou: "I still need to cultivate, don't disturb me."

Liu Xiaolou carried the bedding to the corner, spread it out, and sat down. He saw Su Wuniang sitting cross-legged on the bed, holding a spirit stone in her palm, and she had already begun to breathe and transform.

Liu Xiaolou didn't dare to move around. This so-called wife was actually his employer and a Foundation Establishment expert. Naturally, he had to strictly follow her words.

Looking at the flickering flame on the candle stand and the wine pot and snacks on the table, Liu Xiaolou quietly lost himself in thought for a while, thinking about a mess of things, or perhaps actually thinking about nothing at all.

A moment later, he also took out a spirit stone, closed his eyes to regulate his breathing, and continued to strike at the last acupoint of the Hand Jueyin Meridian—the Tianchong acupoint.

He sat like that until dawn.

Knock, knock, knock...

A knocking sound rang out, and Susu asked from outside the door: "Young Luo Luo Niangzi, Young Master-in-law, it is the end of the Mao hour, it is time to wash up."

The Gualu Hall was only a temporary wedding chamber. After washing up, they moved to the Qingyu Furong Garden to live. Liu Xiaolou looked curiously at the pavilion that occupied most of the garden, as well as the archery targets and the beast heads on both sides, and whispered to Susu: "Is this... the place where my wife practices?"

Susu said, "One of them. Young Luo Luo Niangzi... no, the Mistress usually practices Daoist arts here. There are two more places in the back mountain, much larger than this."

"What are the two rows of beast heads for?"

"They spray water, used to extinguish fires."

"Does the Mistress specialize in fire arts?"

"Yes, if there were no water-spraying beasts, the garden would be burned down."

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"Is the fire that intense?"

"Young Master-in-law, let's go into the room."

While they were talking, they had already arrived at the two-story building in the courtyard. Liu Xiaolou crossed the threshold and felt that the furnishings inside were exquisite and elegant. As for exactly how exquisite and how elegant, he couldn't say a word.

Su Wuniang paused in the flower hall in the center of the first floor and instructed Susu behind her: "You take him back to his room." Then she went up to the second floor.

Xiaohuan followed her upstairs, while Susu led Liu Xiaolou from the side room around the hall to the suite in the back.

This suite was part of the two-story building and was a dripping-water courtyard connected to the back. There were three rooms surrounding the courtyard, with a dripping-water pool in the middle, in which a few fish were swimming. The entire layout was the same as Liu Xiaolou's courtyard in Wuchao Town, but slightly larger.

"The Young Master-in-law will live in the main room on the east side, and Xiaohuan and I will live in the west room." She pointed to the two-story building that served as a high wall and stuck out her tongue: "That window is the Mistress's room."

Liu Xiaolou looked up. The window lattice was propped open at one corner, and the window was slanted open, but he couldn't see inside. His cheap wife should be changing clothes behind that window right now, right?

Entering his residence, the middle was a guest hall. There were a few chairs on both sides of the table, and two white jade porcelain vases as tall as a person stood in the corners of the room. A plaque hung above, with "Half-sunny, half-rainy, heaven as a canopy" written on the left and "Three acres of lotus land as clothing" on the right, and "Yiling Hall" on the horizontal plaque.

The side room on the left was the master bedroom, which went without saying. The one on the right was the study, with various miscellaneous books available on the market piled on the bookshelves, interspersed with a few treasures such as incense burners, seal stones, and paperweights. Liu Xiaolou went in and browsed through the book covers roughly, but didn't find any cultivation techniques or Daoist scrolls related to the Su family's secret inheritance, which made him feel very disappointed. On second thought, even if there were any, they would definitely have been put away by the Su family. As a temporary son-in-law with a three-year term, what qualifications did he have to come into contact with them?

For the next three years, Yiling Hall would be his home. Liu Xiaolou stretched and felt quite satisfied.

The room had been tidied up long ago. Susu went in to tidy up a little more and came out, saying: "Young Master-in-law, if there is anything you are not satisfied with, you can tell me."

Liu Xiaolou smiled and said: "Satisfied. It feels like a good place for quiet cultivation. It wins by being quiet; there is no need to worry about strangers breaking in, and there is no interference from so much noise."

Just as he was speaking, "Boom, boom" and "Thud, thud" sounds suddenly came from outside. Susu pursed her lips and smiled: "It is the Young Luo Luo Niangzi—the Mistress—practicing her blade arts."

Liu Xiaolou curiously returned to the front courtyard and saw Su Wuniang, who had changed into tight-waisted attire, on the pavilion. Blade lights flew toward the archery targets one after another, followed by bursts of fire.

Looking at that waist, Liu Xiaolou suddenly felt a rush of blood to his head, and his heart thumped twice.

"Young Master-in-law? Young Master-in-law?"

"What kind of blade is this?"

"Lotus Flying Blade."

"I mean the blade."

"Bone blade."

"Bone blade?"

"The horn bone of a Wind-Qilin Beast."

"Wind-Qilin Beast?"

"A type of high-grade spirit beast that excels at eating and spitting fire."

After finishing a set of bone blade practice, Su Wuniang stopped, glanced at Liu Xiaolou, and said to Susu: "Don't bring the Young Master-in-law over when I am cultivating in the future."

Susu hurriedly lowered her head: "Yes. Young Master-in-law, let's go back."

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