Chapter 401: New Son-In-Law
After they came to a decision, the elders told the disciples to greet Li Qiye.
The shrimp demon cringed a bit after hearing the orders from the top. This was actually happening, and this person was the legitimate fiance of the princess. He was glad that he did not snub Li Qiye.
“Honoured Guests, please follow me.” The shrimp demon turned very polite without the slightest of delays.
Li Qiye and Lu Baiqiu rode in the shrimp demon’s small boat as they entered the Thousand Carp Lake with the feeling as if they were entering a vast ocean.
Eventually, the shrimp demon took the two of them onto an island atop the lake. It was an island meant for receiving guests, and the person who greeted the two of them could be considered an old acquaintance — Protector Xiao.
“My apologies for not being able to greet you earlier, welcome to our Thousand Carp River, Young n.o.ble Li.” Protector Xiao exchanged greetings with a relatively welcoming smile.
It was not easy for him to put on such a welcoming smile. In fact, Protector Xiao was still very annoyed at Li Qiye because ultimately, Li Qiye was too arrogant, bringing about the protector’s dislike. Not to mention, as Lan Yunzhu’s fiance, not many people in the river sect had an amiable feeling towards him. This was blatantly digging from their house corners, so how could anyone be happy? [1. This is a saying about when someone is ‘stealing’ from you. I see it very often when it is about cuckolding.]
Nevertheless, the sect master, Daoist Bao Gui, ordered for Li Qiye to be treated like an honored guest, so Protector Xiao had to obey his command.
Protector Xiao took the two to the highest location on the island where a special mansion meant for entertaining honored guests was located and settled them in.
“If Young n.o.ble Li needs anything else, you can tell the servants.” Protector Xiao said: “You are an esteemed guest of our Thousand Carp River. Outside of a few special places, you can go around and look where you please.”
Although Protector Xiao didn’t like Li Qiye, he still managed to hide his temper. As a disciple of an emperor’s lineage, he truly did have a certain level of tolerance.
“Then I thank you for your sect’s hospitality.” Li Qiye smiled and asked: “Regarding the matter of marriage, what is your sect’s decision?”
This was the thing Protector Xiao didn’t want to talk about the most. This issue was still being debated amongst the upper echelons. Of course, the majority of elders opposed this marriage while a smaller number adopted a wait-and-see att.i.tude.
The sect master held the same view regarding this marriage, so it was impossible to make a decision immediately.
Of course, Protector Xiao was one of those who opposed this marriage. How could an unknown junior and an outsider like Li Qiye be worthy of their descendant, Lan Yunzhu?
In response to this, Protector Xiao answered with a question: “What is Young n.o.ble Li’s decision about this? If you can end this marriage arrangement, then it is a good thing for both sides.”
“Well.” Li Qiye cheerfully smiled and said: “The decision is not up to me, but up to you guys. To be more exact, it is up to your little girl. If you want me to make a decision, then let her come and see me in person.”
“You—” Protector Xiao was very displeased at this att.i.tude. Very few people dared to act so arrogantly in front of their Thousand Carp River, but this junior didn’t show any restraint time and time again. If it wasn’t for the sect master’s order, he would immediately teach this junior a lesson about the immensity of the heaven and earth.
“Let the girl come and see me, there is no need for a bunch of old men to interfere in the girl’s business. As for how to deal with this matter, it is up to the two of us.” Li Qiye gently spoke then motioned with his sleeve.
Protector Xiao was unhappy and snorted before leaving with a swing of his sleeves. What could he do outside of leaving in exasperation since he didn’t want to violate the sect master’s order?
After he left, Lu Baiqiu couldn’t help but say in a low voice: “Young n.o.ble, this is the Thousand Carp River’s territory. Since you didn’t give them any face like this, what if they change their att.i.tude completely?”
Lu Baiqiu inadvertently also changed the way she addressed Li Qiye at this moment. The Static Stream Royal Lord and Protector Xiao both called Li Qiye “Young n.o.ble,” so Lu Baiqiu also adopted this honorific.
“Change their att.i.tude?” Li Qiye narrowed his eyes and gently smiled: “I’m not afraid that they will become more aggressive; on the contrary, I’m afraid that they won"t. If they do so, then I will have a reason to take away a few items. But if they don"t, then I can’t forcefully take some stuff out of consideration for Immortal Emperor Qian Li’s face.”
Lu Baiqiu was suddenly speechless after hearing such words. She knew that Li Qiye was very overbearing, but she didn’t expect it to reach this level. Out of consideration for Immortal Emperor Qian Li’s face… These words were too nonsensical.
Immortal Emperor Qian Li was, of course, an invincible existence, yet Li Qiye nonchalantly made it sound as if they were acquaintances.
Of course, it was an impossibility in Lu Baiqiu’s opinion. How could someone of Li Qiye’s age be related to Immortal Emperor Qian Li?
“Could it be that Young n.o.ble is not here because of the marriage?” Lu Baiqiu just had to ask to dispel her uncertainty.
“Perhaps.” Li Qiye answered with a smile: “Taking care of this marriage arrangement is only out of convenience since I’m already here. How could the matter of this marriage warrant my personal arrival?”
Lu Baiqiu couldn’t help but wryly smile. With unparalleled talents and kingdom-toppling beauty, Lan Yunzhu was a renowned heaven’s proud daughter in the Distant Cloud. Countless people could not reach for her, including descendants from emperor’s lineages. But now, Li Qiye spoke as if she was the one who wanted him.
Lu Baiqiu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry; she didn’t know whether he was only arrogant or mad. Nevertheless, she felt as if he still had a sliver of rationality, but the crux of the issue was that this matter, to him, was essentially trivial.
“Young n.o.ble, this is the Thousand Carp River… If… if you want to take away a few items, I’m afraid this might be a bit inappropriate.” Lu Baiqiu had to whisper since she was afraid others would hear such words. [2. The word inappropriate here also has the meaning of ill-ventured or not well-prepared. Basically, she is saying doing this might be dangerous, but she is trying to mask it by saying that it is inappropriate as well to not anger Li Qiye.]
Taking items from the river sect’s ancestral ground was a thing that had never happened before. Not to mention, judging by Li Qiye’s tone, the items that he wanted were not ordinary. Having thought of such things, Lu Baiqiu became quite anxious about this foreboding event that could pierce the sky.
“Nothing is inappropriate about this. There are many things that did not initially belong to them.” Li Qiye nonchalantly smiled and said.
To be more exact, there were items in the sect that belonged to Li Qiye. This time, he came by chance to see if the river sect was worthy of having such items; otherwise, he would take away these items from the past, these supreme immortal items…
Lu Baiqiu gently sighed in her heart and didn’t say anything else. She knew very clearly that she didn’t have enough face to convince Li Qiye otherwise. At this moment, she could only hope that Li Qiye would not escalate this matter to an irreconcilable state.
On the second day of their stay at the Thousand Carp Lake, Li Qiye brought Lu Baiqiu out for a stroll. Although some disciples wanted to be their guide, Li Qiye chose to deny this request.
The truth was that the sect’s disciples were not as familiar with this lake as Li Qiye. At the inception of this location, Li Qiye spent a lot of effort so he knew more about the secrets of this lake than the disciples; even the elders of the Thousand Carp River were no exceptions.
The items and secrets hidden in this lake were clearly known by Li Qiye.
The lake had numerous islands. Some were continuous with interlinked sections while others were completely separated by the lake. Nevertheless, many of them were connected via divine bridges that towered over the sky all the way into the clouds. It was indeed a spectacular scene.
Li Qiye became immersed in memories as he took a deep breath while basking in the familiar and misty worldly energy that emanated from the lake. He once left an indelible footprint upon this place, the Thousand Carp Lake.
Once upon a time, it was only a plain lake that did not garner any attention. But later on, he struggled to excavate the secrets of this place and then Immortal Emperor Qian Li created the sect here to start their emperor’s lineage.
Unlike Li Qiye, this was Lu Baiqiu’s first time visiting the Thousand Carp Lake. She was struck with astonishment by many spectacles at the lake. This was indeed a land of immortals, a sacred place worth yearning for, a paradise for cultivators.
The two of them encountered many disciples along the way and were met by a lot of whispers. Fingers were even pointed at them. There were also some disciples who carried a deep sense of hostility towards Li Qiye.
There were no walls in this world that were completely impervious to the wind. The news of Li Qiye being Lan Yunzhu’s fiance had already secretly spread to the rest of the river sect, causing quite a commotion.