Though Wei Ping had not rested all night, he still appeared punctually at Song Courtyard the next morning, carrying small steamed soup dumplings and goji berry osmanthus congee.
The tall, strapping young men gathered around the table, making Song Qianji suddenly aware of how cramped the table and space felt.
It was time to prepare a large round table, preferably with a rotating top.
Meng Heze sighed with exaggerated seriousness: "I'll eat less today. Last night, Senior Brother Song personally cooked me a midnight snack, and I ate too much."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ji Chen, Wei Ping, and Lin Feiyuan all set down their chopsticks to stare at him with varied expressions.
Ji Chen asked curiously: "Brother Song knows how to cook? I actually didn't know that."
Song Qianji nodded: "I know a little."
"Knowing a little means it's not good," Lin Feiyuan scoffed lightly.
"When our senior brother says 'a little,' it actually means he's proficient," Meng Heze said with a laugh. "Having traveled far and wide, I've never tasted spring onion noodles as special as last night's."
Reflecting on the hardships and trials along the journey that hadn't broken him, he had just left the Immortal Official Manor last night when he leaned against the wall vomiting—vomiting until his back couldn't straighten and he nearly emptied his bile.
Wei Ping smiled as usual, as if considering Meng Heze childish and not worth arguing with.
Song Qianji wondered to himself: Could it be that I have more talent for cooking than for farming?
"Next time I'll cook more so everyone can eat together."
"Great! I want two bowls!" Ji Chen said happily.
Song Qianji: "You can eat an entire pot."
Meng Heze pressed his lips together tightly, his shoulders trembling slightly as he looked at Ji Chen, seemingly holding back laughter.
On the clear winter morning, five or six sparrows perched on the tips of plum branches, fluffing their fuzzy heads and shrewdly turning their small round eyes.
The atmosphere at the table was harmonious too, with everyone exchanging greetings, and Song Qianji felt genuinely pleased.
He had originally thought that having Meng, Wei, and Lin all together might lead to chaos and unrest, but it seemed he had worried unnecessarily.
Meng Heze appeared to miss Wei Ping greatly, draping an arm over his shoulder while speaking quietly:
"I've brought back a new group of disciples. Come with me later to take a look."
Wei Ping also served him food.
Lin Feiyuan drank his congee while pondering something, quiet as a pigeon.
Ji Chen chatted with everyone around him, unable to stay idle.
After the meal, Meng Heze spoke up: "Senior Brother Song, about last night's matter..."
He gestured with his eyes for Lin Feiyuan to excuse himself, but the latter seemed not to understand, sitting more steadily than even Ji Chen.
Song Qianji said: "It's fine, go ahead."
In the Cultivation World, the bigger the matter, the faster it spreads. Probably within half a day, the scandal of Huawel Sect's outer sect disciples collectively defecting would spread throughout the four continents.
"This matter is a long story, starting from the engagement between Sect Leader Xu Yun's daughter Chen Hongzhu and the Wei Family's Young Master Wei Zhanyang..."
Clatter. Wei Ping, who had been clearing the bowls, trembled slightly, causing the celadon porcelain to emit a sharp, clear sound.
"I've heard about this!" Ji Chen exclaimed with the excitement of someone anticipating drama. "That Wei Zhanyang who wrote poetry on the cliff wall during the Calligraphy and Painting Examination at the Grand Audience Assembly—do you remember him, Brother Song? That was the day we first met, when I painted eggs and you painted potatoes!"
Knowing how talkative Ji Chen could be, Meng Heze helplessly interrupted: "Chen Hongzhu's dowry is a Heaven-Grade Spirit Stone Vein."
"Wow!" Ji Chen gasped with exaggerated enthusiasm.
Lin Feiyuan rolled his eyes lightly, thinking he had known about this ages ago.
Originally, there was a share of one million spirit stones from that mine meant for me—enough to buy an excellent blade.
But now that the mission had failed, I only had the prepaid five hundred thousand in my pocket.Meng Heze said, "There are differences even among Heaven-grade mines. The Huawel Sect couldn't bear to abandon the rich mines they'd already opened, so they explored everywhere and found an Earth-grade mine with a hidden mechanism. It's said that if they dig another thousand zhang deeper, they'll reach the spirit stone bedrock, just enough to qualify as Heaven-grade."
Lin Feiyuan thought to himself, the richer they are, the stingier they become.
"To meet the auspicious date for the engagement ceremony, the Deacon Hall divided the outer sect disciples into teams of about twenty people each, ordering them to intensify mining operations day and night. For every additional hour worked, they'd get ten extra spirit stones. The team that dug the fastest and deepest mining tunnel would have all its members promoted to the Inner Sect. Normally, there's only one Inner Sect spot per year, but this time there were over twenty. Who wouldn't fight tooth and nail for that?"
Ji Chen said, "Even though cultivators' physiques far surpass ordinary people's, those are just Qi Refining Stage junior disciples. This is too harsh. Fortunately, they can set up protective formations and bring defensive magical artifacts."
Song Qianji, having been an outer sect disciple in his previous life and mined to save money, said, "With such rushed day and night work, there's simply no time to set up formations in the mining tunnels."
Meng Heze's expression turned grave: "When the mine collapsed, one team of disciples was buried 2,300 zhang underground. All twenty-three of them perished."
The smile vanished from Ji Chen's face.
Those disciples, fourteen or fifteen years old, dreaming of entering the Inner Sect and climbing the immortal ladder, were forever buried in the bottomless spirit stone mine.
"The Deacon Hall ordered work to continue. With the engagement's auspicious date approaching, they feared disrupting the happy occasion, so they kept the deaths secret. The bodies were wrapped in bamboo mats and buried on the mining field's hillside. Afraid the souls would bear resentment, they specially set up a formation to suppress them..."
"This is outrageous!" Ji Chen slammed the table.
"When outer sect disciples discovered this, chaos erupted, leading to the later incident of storming the mountain gate at night and the collective defection. Last time I went to deliver grain to Huawel Sect, I saw them at the entrance of Song Courtyard and told them, 'If it becomes unbearable, come find me in Thousand Canals.' When I witness injustice, I cannot stand by idly!"
"We broke through the encirclement, fled separately, regrouped outside Huawel City, boarded the Seven Wonders treasure ship, and only then shook off the pursuing elders, rushing all the way back to Thousand Canals..."
Before leaving, Meng Heze had substantial resources. Song Qianji not only gave him money and talismans but also let him take the treasure ship for emergencies.
Lin Feiyuan didn't believe it: "Huawel Sect's mountain gate isn't something a group of outer sect disciples can just storm. The moment the riot started, they were probably captured before even leaving the dormitories. Do you think a major sect's formations are for show? That the Enforcement Hall elders are useless?"
Meng Heze said, "Someone within Huawel Sect helped, contacted me proactively, which allowed them to regroup with me."
Ji Chen asked, "Who was it?"
Meng Heze glanced at Song Qianji, his expression extremely complicated: "Miss Chen."
"Her again!" Ji Chen exclaimed. "Miss Chen is about to get engaged, yet she still hasn't forgotten Brother Song! Will this marriage actually happen?"
The looks Lin Feiyuan and Wei Ping gave Song Qianji also changed.
"Truly living up to your widespread reputation as a romantic," Lin Feiyuan said strangely. "Your influence is impressive."
Receiving help from a noble-born, beautiful female cultivator willing to lower herself would indeed make most men feel proud.
"I have no such influence," Song Qianji explained seriously. "She did this because she wanted to, following her own wishes. It has nothing to do with me."
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