Xuanqing Guard

Chapter 317: Chapter 317: Going Home

After drinking through this meal, Shen Hao found everything tasted bland in his mouth.

The wine wasn’t nearly as good as Wuliangye, and most of the dishes were tasteless, with hardly any oily or meaty stuff on the table. It sounded fancy though, this "Jade Leaf", that was some "Immortal Melon"... But aside from the fact that eating them could provide far more Spiritual Qi energy for converting in the body to True Qi, there was nothing to talk about in terms of flavor.

Nie Yun, on the other hand, ate with great joy, mostly because he brought his own Wuliangye and was shoveling down bowls of rice rich in Spiritual Qi, claiming it was all for healing.

After dinner, a lot of people chose to stay the night, but Nie Yun and Shen Hao didn’t, and set off down the mountain immediately. Since Shen Hao was there, the Teleportation Array was still usable at night, so there was no need to wait until morning.

Just down the mountain, after saying goodbye to the several disciples of Chang Baifeng who came to see them off, Nie Yun whispered to Shen Hao, "What did Yu Ao Feng say to you just now?"

The two walked one after another, Shen Hao leading a horse a bit behind, Nie Yun in front.

"What else? He asked about the matter inside the Sword Emperor’s Tomb, then asked if I’d join their Celestial Toad Sect, even said he could take me as a disciple and let me cultivate under him."

Nie Yun grinned, "Looks like Yu Ao Feng really suspects you had something to do with his great-grandson’s death. Tsk tsk, but the fact that you came back like this means you didn’t give yourself away?"

"What do you mean didn’t give myself away? Yu Shengjue’s death had nothing to do with me in the first place." Shen Hao certainly wouldn’t admit to anything.

"Heh, so did you agree to Yu Ao Feng’s invitation? Celestial Toad Sect isn’t Chang Baifeng—it’s a legit first-class sect. And this is the Great Elder himself recruiting you, what did you say?"

Shen Hao shook his head, "Hell no. I’m doing just fine in my official career, why go to Celestial Toad Sect? Not interested."

"Hey, not going is the right move. Even Chang Baifeng isn’t a good choice compared to Celestial Toad Sect. Yu Ao Feng’s not an easy guy to deal with. If he suspects you, he’s not going to let you off so easily. If you think you can bluff your way through with a few words, that’s not likely. My guess is, he’s recruiting you to bring you into Celestial Toad Sect so he can have more ways to mess with you. Once you lose Xuanqing Guard’s protection and the ’Gui Mountain Cultivation Institute Named Disciple’ title, plus he becomes your master, he can shape you however he sees fit.

And you’ve got a lot of potential after your epiphany. As long as nothing goes wrong, advancing to Primordial Pill Realm is pretty much guaranteed. Celestial Toad Sect isn’t short of Primordial Pill Cultivators, but they won’t mind adding another. So even if you really had nothing to do with Yu Shengjue’s death, Celestial Toad Sect doesn’t lose anything."

Shen Hao was stunned for a moment, thinking there was indeed a possibility.

Nie Yun kept going, "When you get back, be careful in every aspect, don’t show any flaws. When sects investigate someone, they’re no worse than you Xuanqing Guards. Also, if you don’t want to join a sect, just do your best to climb the ranks in Xuanqing Guard. Once you get to Households Officer or a bigger real position, even Yu Ao Feng wouldn’t dare lay a hand on you easily."

Shen Hao nodded in agreement. That matched his thoughts. The Jingjiu Dynasty balances so many first-class, second and third-tier, even super sects within the borders, definitely has ways to intimidate every direction—like the four Front Armies, those Golden Sword Cultivators, and certainly other forces he hasn’t touched yet.

They walked a while, Nie Yun started using his Body Technique, Shen Hao followed on horseback, moving much slower than when they’d come.

When they reached the city gate, Shen Hao used his Waist Token to unlock the Teleportation Array, and the two instantly arrived in Lianfeng City.

"With all these injuries, I won’t return to Fengri City with you. I’ll have to save the next drink for another time. By the way, the wine in my gourd won’t last much longer, so next time I come, have some ready for me, alright?"

"Alright. Next time you visit, I’ll prepare some more for you. Then, farewell!"

"Great, I’m off."

The Teleportation Array glowed faintly, Nie Yun sent himself straight to Pingjiang City, while Shen Hao returned to Fengri City after returning the horse he’d rented earlier.

Seeing familiar sights, Shen Hao subconsciously relaxed a bit inside.

Though it was only two days away, Shen Hao felt an odd "detachment", as mundane life and sect life were truly worlds apart. Especially after witnessing the battle between sect cultivators like Nie Yun and Fairy Qing Wan, Shen Hao finally understood what "real cultivator duels" meant—it nearly flipped his old concepts of fighting upside down.

Looking back at himself, Shen Hao’s old idea of "I’m pretty strong" felt like a joke. It also rang some alarm bells in his heart.

The road of cultivation is long—if you don’t move forward, you fall back. Even slow progress will get you left behind.

He knocked on the door, Xiaoma opened the tiny window, saw it was Shen Hao and immediately grinned, opening the big gate to welcome him in.

The patriarch is home, so everyone in the house had to come out and greet him.

"Get me some sour soup noodles, didn’t eat enough at dinner."

The cook Li Erfu had already gone home; he didn’t live at the residence. So if Shen Hao wanted food at night, it was always Xia Nu cooking in the kitchen.

While waiting for noodles, Hu Tian personally brought Shen Hao hot water to wash up, saying it was to help him relax, and that he had something to report.

"Master Shen, the new house assigned by Thousand Households Station is ready and organized. I’ve trained the staff as well. When do you want to move in?"

Earlier, Shen Hao was promoted to Junior Fifth Grade and made Second-Grade Viscount; Thousand Households Station then assigned him a new residence. He’d checked it out before—nearly brand new, three times bigger than his current place. He’d asked Hu Tian to find people to refurbish and tidy it up, and train some staff. Didn’t expect it to be done so fast.

"Where did you find the staff?" Shen Hao took the hot towel and washed his face, and with Xiaoma’s help, removed all the things hanging on him. He leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes to relax.

Hu Tian handed Shen Hao another hot towel and answered, "The staff was recommended by Wang Xiaoqi. After I took over, I trained them for a few days—they’re all experienced, caught on quick."

"Good, from now on if you need to add more people for the house, ask Wang Jian to screen them first. Don’t let the wrong ones in. Got it?"

"Don’t worry, I’ll do exactly as you said."

"Let’s set the moving date to the last day of this month. Tomorrow, prepare some gold-printed invitations for me, I’ll write them after I get back."

Hu Tian counted in his head; today was December 15, still quite a while until the end of the month. He was about to ask if it should be a few days earlier, but seeing Shen Hao had his eyes closed and didn’t speak, he didn’t dare interrupt. He took up the basin and quietly left.

Xia Nu knew the master’s taste best—lots of chili, lots of sour, plenty of topping covering the bowl, and the greens shouldn’t be overcooked.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo..."

Proper noodle eaters slurp fast, so they can bite into scalding noodles without getting burned. Shen Hao was the king at this, merciless iron mouth.

"Master, I’ve got something to give you."

Shen Hao: "?"

Before Shen Hao could reply, Xia Nu brought out a small box from behind and handed it over.

Shen Hao was curious what this silly slave was up to again. He put down his chopsticks and opened the box—inside were several silver notes of small denomination.