Chapter 127 - Chapter 127: Thank The River God For Saving Your Life
At the Drunken Immortal Restaurant, Jiang Hao looked at the dishes and wine on the table.
Jiang Hao felt a little emotional. He had always wanted to eat at places like these but had never had the chance.
“I am Fang Jin of the Bright Moon Sect. May I know who you are?” Fang Jin asked politely.
Without his junior sister following him, he felt much more relaxed.
“Jiang Haotian.” Jiang Hao gave a fake name as close to his real name as possible.
“Fellow disciple Jiang,” said Fang Jin. “Junior Sister Lan is still young and reckless, and she may have offended you last night. I hope you won’t mind.’ “No problem,” said Jiang Hao.
He didn’t care much about such matters as long as they didn’t conflict with his interests. It was best to stay away from them, especially when dealing with people from the Bright Moon Sect. If conflicts arose, it could cause a lot of trouble for him. The Blackheaven Sect and the Sunset Immortal Sect were already enough for him to handle. Adding the Bright Moon Sect to that list would be terrifying.
“In that case, I thank you on behalf of Junior Sister Lan. By the way, this spiritual sword is not bad, it might suit you,” Fang Jin said with a smile as he took out an ancient sword.
The sword was still sheathed, and Jiang Hao couldn’t confirm the exact details. However, there was a fluctuation of spiritual energy around it, subtle yet immense. This sword was not as good as the one from last night, but it was much stronger than ordinary treasures. It could fetch a good price. Giving such a valuable sword for a slight incident from last night seemed excessive. “Do you need my help with something?” Jiang Hao didn’t touch the sword.
“Ah… you see through everything,” said Fang Jin.
“The Bright Moon Sect is extremely far from the Hidden Cloud Prefecture. We rarely set foot here. This time, we came mainly for a junior sister. We found that one of our junior sisters was missing, so we had to rush here. Tracking her trail led us to PO Lang. Junior Sister Lan can be… young and rude at times, but she is very talented at tracking people. She found him, but he stole her sword and ran away. That was how we ended up at the temple yesterday.
Unfortunately… we couldn’t get any information out of PO Lang.”
Jiang Hao lowered his head. ‘Is this the same person I am tasked with recruiting?’ His chances seemed slim.
He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I can be of any help. I know nothing regarding that.”
“That’s fine.” Fang Jin handed the sword to Jiang Hao.
Jiang Hao refused to accept it. He wasn’t of any help, so he couldn’t accept the sword. Carrying a special sword like that would undoubtedly attract attention.
Fang Jin did not insist. He didn’t ask more questions, either.
They just drank and made small talk.
Jiang Hao hadn’t tried alcohol for a long time. He mostly ordered tea. The tea was good. He decided to buy some.
After a while, Jiang Hao and Fang Jin went their own way.
Fang Jin sighed as he watched Jiang Hao disappear from his sight. He felt that Jiang Hao was overly cautious and wasn’t easy to get along with.
He had really wanted to give that sword to Jiang Hao as a gift so that they could at least be friends.
“Senior Brother Fang, you’re here! We’ve been looking for you everywhere,” said Lan.
“Have you finished eating?” asked Bai Qiong, the white-robed woman.
“Yes. I had a drink with the disciple we met last night. He’s a little difficult to get along with.” Fang Jin hadn’t gotten any useful information from him either. “It seems that he is heading to Heavenly Earth City to look for Zuo Lan, hoping to find some new clues.’
“Heavenly Earth City’s Zuo Lan?” Bai Qiong frowned.
“Heavenly Earth City’s Zuo Lan?” Bai Qiong frowned.
“He’s not weak,” said Fang Jin. “Anyway, I sent someone to investigate. The disappearance of our disciple might probably be related to people from the Great Thousand God Sect. That sect will do anything for money. So, whoever did it would have been paid well. Which also means there might be others behind them. It’s getting complicated. I can’t figure out what they want.” Fang Jin sighed.
“When are we going to Heavenly Earth City?” Bai Qiong asked.
“Now.” Fang Jin did not want to delay.
“Senior Brother Fang, the two people from yesterday… are they really very strong?” asked Lan.
“I don’t know. I observed him carefully today. He seems to be in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment Realm but… one can never know. There are many extraordinary individuals in this world. Although we are from the Bright Moon Sect, it’s important for us to lie low when we are outside our sect. It’s best if we avoid trouble and befriend people instead of making enemies. Of course, the most important thing is to strengthen our own abilities,” Fang Jin explained with a smile.
“This place is close to the Heavenly Note Sect. Could he be a disciple of the Heavenly Note Sect?” asked Lan.
Fang Jin laughed. “Does it matter? I find him amiable and worth getting to know a little. There’s no need to pry into where he comes from. Sometimes, we have to learn to play dumb. It might work to our advantage, especially when we venture outside.”
“I don’t really understand.” Fairy Lan shook her head. “Why should I befriend others? Can’t others take the effort to befriend me instead?”
Bai Qiong chuckled. “Junior Sister Lan, do you feel like anyone who approaches you might have an ulterior motive?”
“Yeah. Isn’t that true?” asked Lan.
The conversation ended, and the group decided to leave.
At this moment, Jiang Hao was walking along the street. He was taking familiar paths, or rather, the more he walked, the clearer his memories became. Which, in turn, made the place seem familiar.
There were some places that he didn’t remember. Some roads had been modified, and some new houses had appeared on streets that used to be empty.
After some time, he reached the riverside. There were some trees by the river. Under the shade, children played around. Jiang Hao smiled. As a child, he used to play there too, but he hadn’t fit in with the other kids so much.
‘Why did I come here?’
Jiang Hao recalled his childhood. He used to run away and hide by the trees in the riverside to escape from the endless chore of chopping firewood. However, his stepmother always caught him, and he had to go back home.
Standing there, Jiang Hao realized that most of his memories were of his stepmother. His biological father was scarce in his memories. Perhaps he had never scolded or cared for him. Jiang Hao stopped wandering around and found a place to sit. He watched the clear river and listened to the children playing nearby. For a moment, it felt like he had returned to his childhood.
It was not a good thing for cultivators to be too attached to the past. However, it wasn’t like he could forget these things. The memories came unbidden to his mind even when he didn’t try to recall them. He felt a bit… nostalgic.
Splash!
Jiang Hao turned and saw a child who had fallen into the river while playing.
“Mother, come quickly! Goudan fell into the water!’
Jiang Hao walked to the river and helped the child out. The adults were rushing over.
When Guodan’s father reached him, he saw the child sitting near the river. He was drenched but no one was around.
“How did you come out?” Goudanl s father asked.
“I… I don’t know.” Goudan said blankly. He couldn’t remember how he had come out of the river.
Goudan’s father smacked his son’s head.. “Aren’t you going to thank the river god for saving your life?”