Drawing a deep breath, Xu Ziqing collected himself and continued walking.
Whatever the situation, he would have to see it with his own eyes before he could know the truth.
Before long, he reached the gates of Yun Family Manor.
More than a dozen well-dressed boys were waiting there to welcome guests. They guided anyone who arrived inside, regardless of status.
Someone promptly stepped forward to greet Xu Ziqing as well.
The boy was around ten years old. Smiling brightly, he cupped his hands. “Honored guest, please follow me inside!”
Xu Ziqing smiled warmly and followed him.
Ten years had passed, and a few things within Yun Family Manor had changed. Yet most of it was just as it had been before, making Xu Ziqing feel a trace of familiarity.
The boy quickly led him to a large building, then cupped his hands in farewell and went back to the gates to receive more guests.
A broad path led up to the building. The arriving guests followed it and were ushered through the entrance by the attendants standing there.
Xu Ziqing looked up and saw someone at the doorway wearing a brilliant red wedding robe. The bright color was almost dazzling, and the man was dressed in the full splendor of celebration.
At a single glance, however, relief flooded Xu Ziqing’s heart.
With his eyesight, he could clearly distinguish the person’s features even from a distance. The groom was tall, and his face resembled the reborn Yun Lie by some seventy or eighty percent. Yet the groom was much sturdier in build, and the finer details of his face were unmistakably different from Yun Tiangang’s!
Xu Ziqing could not help laughing at himself.
He had already achieved Golden Core cultivation, yet he had lost his composure simply upon hearing something concerning his senior brother. He really should have known better.
Besides, his senior brother’s will was unshakable. Since they had already agreed to marry, he would hardly promise himself to another person merely because his primordial spirit had sealed its memories.
Parental commands might matter greatly, but someone pursuing the immortal path remained true to his own nature and would not allow another person’s wishes to shake his resolve.
As he thought this, Xu Ziqing unknowingly arrived at the entrance.
Just then, Yun Zhenhai, who had been entertaining guests inside, came out and found himself directly face-to-face with him.
Yun Zhenhai froze. Then his face filled with delight. “Pharmacist Xu?”
He looked the visitor up and down. The green-robed man was unchanged from the pharmacist who had departed without farewell ten years earlier!
His beloved son’s survival until now was largely thanks to Pharmacist Xu. Yun Zhenhai and his wife were profoundly grateful to him.
Xu Ziqing smiled. “Greetings, Manor Lord Yun. It has been ten years. Is everyone well?”
Yun Zhenhai laughed heartily. “Well! We’re all well! It’s all thanks to Pharmacist Xu!” Then he slapped the shoulder of the person beside him. “Tianyou, pay your respects to the pharmacist! Pharmacist Xu healed your elder brother. You should thank him too!”
So the man getting married today was not Yun Tiangang, but Yun Zhenhai and his wife’s younger son, Yun Tianyou.
Xu Ziqing did not know why Yun Tianyou was marrying at only sixteen, but the occasion still deserved a hearty congratulations.
Back when he was nourishing his senior brother’s meridians, Yun Tianyou had not lived nearby, so Xu Ziqing had scarcely seen him. And this Yun Tianyou… probably had very little impression of Xu Ziqing himself.
Yun Tianyou was very filial and immediately saluted him. “Greetings, Pharmacist Xu! Thank you for saving my elder brother!”
After thinking for a moment, Xu Ziqing took a fist-sized, pearl-like object from his sleeve and said, “I did not know the young manor lord would be marrying today, so I came unprepared. Please excuse this humble gift.”
Yun Tianyou accepted it, examined it, and found he could not identify it.
Yun Zhenhai was more widely traveled. He recognized it at a glance. “Tianyou, put that away at once!”
It was a taisui, a legendary divine substance. One could eat from it without exhausting it, satisfying hunger and, if eaten for a long time, maintaining a healthy, vigorous body. Though it would be of little help after the seventh Houtian level, it could still strengthen the body and prevent accumulated internal injuries from developing into chronic ailments.
An item so precious would certainly bring trouble if others saw it. It was better to put it away quickly.
Hearing this, Yun Tianyou hurriedly tucked it into his sleeve.
Yun Zhenhai turned to Xu Ziqing. “Pharmacist Xu, this is too valuable. Once we are inside, please take it back.”
Although the idea pained him, he felt it was improper to accept such a treasure from someone else and restrained his greed.
Seeing this, Xu Ziqing praised him inwardly. The father of his senior brother’s reborn body truly had an excellent character. If Yun Zhenhai could enter the immortal path, he might well achieve something noteworthy.
Xu Ziqing shook his head with a smile. “This is of little use to me. Once I give something away, I have no reason to take it back.”
A taisui was certainly precious to mortals, but to an immortal cultivator it remained only a mortal medicine. Xu Ziqing had obtained this specimen when a green mouse produced through his Myriad Woods Spirit-Transformation Art discovered it in a mountain outside Yun Family Manor. He had intended from the beginning to give it to Yun Zhenhai in thanks for caring for his senior brother. Now was the perfect occasion.
Seeing that Xu Ziqing truly felt no reluctance to part with the treasure, Yun Zhenhai regarded him with still greater awe. He did not press the matter, but instead said, “Please come inside, Pharmacist Xu. My son Tiangang has not seen you for many years and has missed you greatly. He will surely be delighted to hear that you’ve returned!”
Xu Ziqing was startled. Then his feet carried him forward, and impatience stirred in his heart. “I have… missed Tiangang as well.”
Standing nearby, Yun Tianyou found his expression and words a little peculiar, though he could not understand why.
He did not dwell on it. He simply watched his father lead the pharmacist inside, then resumed welcoming guests.
Yun Zhenhai showed Xu Ziqing extraordinary courtesy. As the manor lord and the host, he had no need to be so attentive. Many seated guests were therefore curious about the green-robed visitor.
Xu Ziqing paid no attention to their gazes. As soon as he entered, his spiritual sense roamed through the building in search of his senior brother.
Soon he found Yun Tiangang.
The building was spacious, laid out as a wedding hall.
Many seats lined both sides, and more than half were already occupied. At the upper end was the honored place for Heaven and Earth, and in front stood an incense burner, kneeling cushions, and special seats for the parents.
Long tables and smaller tables were also arranged before the chairs, giving the entire setting a very solemn and elaborate appearance.
Yun Tiangang sat in the first seat on the right.
He had grown quite tall. His face was not the same as Yun Lie’s before rebirth, yet the aura surrounding him had become rather similar to Yun Lie’s.
The difference was that between an immortal and a mortal.
The moment Xu Ziqing saw him, he began examining him carefully.
Previously, Yun Lie had possessed a severe and stern countenance. His features were exceedingly handsome, but the cold aura around him made people afraid to approach, so that they overlooked his looks. In this life he still kept others at a distance. But as Xu Ziqing looked deliberately and closely, he found this face handsome too, though its sharpness was a little less severe than Yun Lie’s former features.
Viewed from farther away, however, Xu Ziqing could almost believe his senior brother himself was seated there, and past memories rose in his heart.
Lost in thought for a moment, he did not notice Yun Zhenhai leading him forward, straight toward Yun Tiangang.
Xu Ziqing followed him. Before long, they drew closer and closer to the seat.
Suddenly Yun Tiangang raised his head, and their eyes met.
Xu Ziqing’s heart tightened.
Had his senior brother’s primordial spirit… recovered yet?
When he looked closely into those eyes, he seemed to see a familiar gleam, yet there was something subtly different about it.
He felt a trace of disappointment.
That tiny difference was enough to tell him that his senior brother’s primordial spirit had not fully awakened.
Yun Tiangang gazed at Xu Ziqing for a while before inclining his head slightly. “It has been a long time.”
Xu Ziqing steadied his emotions and smiled gently. “Tiangang, it has indeed been a long time.”
Yun Zhenhai said, “Tiangang, you haven’t seen Pharmacist Xu for years. Why don’t you invite him to sit beside you?”
His beloved eldest son had perhaps endured too much pain over the years. He was extremely cold toward others and disliked people coming near him. Whenever he had no choice but to attend an event, he sat alone rather than share a seat. But his father knew that Pharmacist Xu was different.
Sure enough, Yun Tiangang nodded slightly. “Please.”
Xu Ziqing was not surprised. He had once been inseparable from his senior brother. Even after Yun Lie’s primordial spirit entered a new birth, it was only natural that they remain close.
He stepped forward and sat beside Yun Tiangang.
Yun Zhenhai soon took his leave to entertain the other guests.
Yun Tiangang sat with his back perfectly straight. He picked up the teapot on the table, poured a cup, and pushed it toward Xu Ziqing.
Xu Ziqing’s expression softened. He lifted the cup and took a sip.
This tea was naturally not as full of vitality as spiritual tea, but it was an offering from his senior brother, and that gave it a flavor all its own.
Some of the other guests knew Yun Tiangang’s temperament and were particularly astonished by this scene.
Those who had seen Yun Tiangang wound several people with such cold efficiency were even more surprised. Now the young man seemed less aloof than before. Who, then, was this green-robed stranger?
Their questions remained unanswered. After exchanging a few comments, the guests had no choice but to put their curiosity aside for the moment.
Seeing that not all the guests had arrived and that the auspicious hour was still some time away, Xu Ziqing said, “Tiangang, let me check your pulse.”
Yun Tiangang offered his hand without objection.
Xu Ziqing calmed himself, extracted a thread of wood qi from his body, and sent it into Yun Tiangang.
Now that he had achieved Golden Core, his control over wood qi had grown far more precise. The moment the strand entered, it transformed into a fine net, spreading over all the meridians throughout Yun Tiangang’s body and examining each one.
Afterward, Xu Ziqing understood.
Before he had left years earlier, he had treated Yun Tiangang daily for over a year without interruption.
At that time, the boy’s meridians had not recovered completely, but the wood qi had already worked considerable changes. Some portions that had not yet been absorbed had remained hidden within the meridians, continuing to stimulate them.
Later, Xu Ziqing had begun guiding Yun Tiangang in sword practice. With only a little prompting, the artistic conceptions of his former sword Dao had been awakened one by one. Without further instruction, the boy had naturally begun using all the meridians in his body, stirring the remaining wood qi and rapidly repairing himself.
Even after Xu Ziqing left to form his Core and no longer transferred wood qi, the residual energy had helped his meridians stabilize.
They were still thin and weak, however, and could not channel internal force. Nevertheless, Yun Tiangang’s exquisite swordsmanship was more than sufficient to serve him well.
Xu Ziqing extended his spiritual sense into Yun Tiangang’s Purple Palace to examine his senior brother’s primordial spirit.
What he saw filled him with joy.
Through so many years of gradual repair, Yun Tiangang’s body had grown stronger. The longer he practiced the sword Dao, the more his primordial spirit was stimulated and the faster it recovered.
By now it had completely healed!
The great stone that had weighed upon Xu Ziqing’s heart for so many years could at last be set down.
Now he needed only remain beside his senior brother. In the future, once the right opportunity appeared, Yun Lie’s primordial spirit would awaken!
Joy filled his heart. Even the slight constraint that had lingered in his state of mind began to relax.
His appearance seemed all the gentler and more refined for it.
Gradually, the remaining guests arrived.
The auspicious hour was approaching.