Book 1 Chapter 58: Long tao duo [long tao = walk-on part]
“But a few days ago, my father received information that… Zhang Yang had unexpectedly been killed the day before!”
At this point, Liu Meng’s voice became a bit louder, carrying some amazement and seemingly a trace of… happiness as well?
“I always knew that he was a good-for-nothing, even worse than that second young master Long yesterday. He usually did all kinds of bad things relying on the influence of his family, but no one ever dared to provoke him. What is laughable is he was still unexpectedly killed by someone…
“I feel nothing towards his death. If anything, there’s a tinge of happiness. I’m happy that I finally don’t need to worry about that so-called engagement.
“But who would have thought my father would unexpectedly tell me to go to Luoshi City to take part in the Zhang family’s funeral arrangements as his bride-to-be!? I was unwilling to do this so in the end I got into an argument with my father. In anger, I went out of my home with Xiao Ning and wanted to stroll about outside for a few days to relieve boredom before returning home…
“Later I went to this place then yesterday that incident happened and I ran into you, Yunfei…
“Since waking up in that clinic yesterday and seeing you, I have felt that… you’re different from the other people.” At this point, Liu Meng paused for a moment, her voice also containing a trace of amusement, “You’re a soul cultivator, who’s extremely exalted and powerful in the eyes of commoners, but you don’t have an air of arrogance about you at all. Besides, you helped me without wanting anything in return.
“Plus, the look in your eyes, though it was a bit, a bit…” At this point, Liu Meng’s face slightly reddened. Seeming not to know what words she should use to describe it, she skipped over this directly and continued: “I could tell that there was no bad intentions in it, unlike Zhang Yang’s. When he looked at me, though he thought he had concealed it very well, I could still see that his eyes were full of a desire for possession…
“Therefore, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to make friends with you and invited you to a tea house under the pretense of thanking you then asked you to go for a stroll on this Mt. Qingquan with me.
“Yunfei, we are now already friends… aren’t we?”
Bai Yunfei had been sitting there listening to her earnestly all the time, trying to digest the story about Liu Meng told by herself. However, there was a strange feeling spreading in his heart. His eyes slightly glittered, looking thoughtful.
When he heard Liu Meng’s question, he suddenly woke up. After a moment of stupefaction, he unexpectedly said with some nervousness: “Oh, of course… We’re already friends.”
“He he, that’s really good. I finally have a friend. Unlike those who want to approach me with hidden agendas, you’re a friend I myself have found!” Liu Meng brushed her sadness aside. With a smile on the corners of her mouth and her hands placed on the ground behind her back, she raised her body slightly, gazing at a flock of birds flying across the sky. She appeared to be especially happy.
Bai Yunfei felt that his heart seemed to be beating somewhat faster, but he did not know what to say. Nervous inside, he subconsciously pulled the grass in front of him out using his hands.
Temporarily, both of them fell silent again with neither wanting to be the first to talk.
“You two, you two have really gone too, too far!!”
An out-of-breath, furious shout broke the silence, waking both of them up with a start. At the same time, they turned around to look in its direction. It turned out the servant girl Xiao Ning had finally climbed up the peak of the mountain and was clenching her teeth looking at the two people who were sitting leisurely together.
It took Liu Meng a good while to calm an ‘extremely angry’ Xiao Ning down. One could tell that they really had a sisterly relationship and definitely not one between a master and a servant — no master would try to make their servant girl less angry like this, and no servant girl would dare to ‘get angry’ at her master either.
At lunchtime, Liu Meng took out from her interspatial ring a hamper with quite a few layers. The hamper was made of special materials. After it was opened, the food inside was still warm. This embarrassed Bai Yunfei a bit. There were also lunch materials in his interspatial ring, but they were two uncooked chickens. He originally had intended to roast and eat them — in comparison, he felt that his original plan was too primitive so he did not dare to take them out.
After having lunch, the three of them slowly strolled about on this mountain, taking pleasure in catching birdies, chasing rabbits, gathering wild flowers… On the grassy path, the lovely laughter of the two girls rang out from time to time.
…………
At dusk, three silhouettes gradually appeared on the main road running through the east city gate. They were none other than Bai Yunfei and the two girls.
There were expressions of partially unfulfilled desire on the faces of them all. Bai Yunfei was walking on the left, Liu Meng in the middle and Xiao Ning on the right, who was chirping something in an obviously very excited manner.
“You’re really awesome, mister Yunfei! That blue birdie had already flown into the air but you unexpectedly were still able to catch it!” As Xiao Ning recalled how Bai Yunfei had ‘flown’ up a large tree with several dashes then jumped off into the air and easily caught hold of an already flying birdie in his hand, her face was still full of excitement. However, she then asked with some regret, “But why did you let it go in the end? Young lady liked it so much…”
“Ha ha, that bird naturally belongs in the sky. Flying freely is the life it should have. I caught it just to amuse myself for a while. How could I lock it in a cage from then on, taking away its freedom?” Bai Yunfei said softly with a smile.
“Don’t other people keep birds in cages? Alas, forget it, you caught that bird anyway, so you should decide what to do with it… But it was really a pity that rabbit with white stripes ran away. I’ve never seen such a cute little rabbit. It’d be great if I could raise it… No, even if we had caught it, in the end you would still have let it go, humph!”
“Oh, you mean that rabbit? It was a pity it ran away, but if we had caught it, I wouldn’t have let it go…” Bai Yunfei said very seriously.
“Oh? Could it be you wanted to keep it as a pet?”
“No, I would have eaten it…”
“Ah! You’re so mean!”
“Er, let me ask you, Xiao Ning. Among the foods we had for lunch today, there seemed to be one made of rabbit meat, right?”
“This…”
“Ha ha, alright, Xiao Ning, quit rambling. You’ve been talking all the way back here. Aren’t you tired?” Seeing Xiao Ning wrinkle her eyebrows in a lovely manner, Liu Meng could not help saying laughingly.
While talking and laughing with each other, the three of them entered the city gate very quickly, walking on that spacious street. However, soon after they went into the city, their way was blocked by a group of men.
“Brother, it’s him! He looked down on our Long family!” A voice full of hatred rang out. Two men then walked out from that group, talking to each other. One of them was none other than the second young master of the Long family long tao… no, Long Tao, who yesterday had attempted to target Liu Meng and had eventually been scared away by Bai Yunfei. [long tao = walk-on part/utility man]
Bai Yunfei told the girls to move backwards a bit. He himself took a step forwards. Seeing the two men in front of him, he said frowningly: “Young master long tao, why haven’t you gone get your takeaway?”
“What?” Long Tao was stupefied. Not only did he not understand the meaning of these words suddenly uttered by Bai Yunfei, but the other people at the scene did not either. However, they could all see clearly that Bai Yunfei was looking down on second young master Long in front of him…
“Humph! Such an arrogant brat! Looks like you really have no respect for my Long family!”
Before Long Tao could say anything, that tall and large man with a full beard beside him was the first to respond.
Bai Yunfei took a look at him then at Long Tao. Feeling that they were somewhat similar in appearance, he asked doubtfully: “Could it be you’re his father? Are you Long Gang or something?”
“I… I am his brother!” The bearded large man roared, his face reddening.
“Oh? You’re his brother?” Bai Yunfei compared the two of them a bit again then clicked his tongue a couple of times, asking: “You’re his brother, then you’re the first young master Long right? What’s your name?”
First young master Long gave a cold snort and said with a totally arrogant expression: “Correct! I’m the first young master of the Long family… Long Tao!” [this Tao is different from the Tao in second young master Long’s name]
The corners of Bai Yunfei’s mouth twitched. A breath almost got stuck in his throat. After staring at them for a long time, he finally could not help bursting out a laugh.
“After so much talking, turns out you’re a long tao as well! Really, no wonder you’re brothers! You’re a long tao duo! Ha ha…”
Under the curious observation of a group of men, Bai Yunfei laughed out loud so exaggeratedly. In his mind, he felt that these two brothers’ names were really so funny. Of course, as the only person who knew the meaning of the words ‘long tao’, only he understood this, although he himself had no idea how he knew it either.
“Humph! Insane and crazy language! It’s baffling! All of you go up for me! Break his legs first then bring him back and torture him!” Long Tao [the big brother] shouted furiously to the twenty something subordinates around. He was infuriated so much by Bai Yunfei’s inexplicable mockery that his beard trembled into disorder.
Bai Yunfei stopped laughing and cast a look at the men who were gradually surrounding him, but there was no sign of panic in his eyes. He gave the two girls behind him a hint with his eyes and they cooperated by retreating again. There was not a trace of panic in their eyes either. They knew that these people would not be able to do anything to a soul cultivator like Bai Yunfei.
The fight was finished very quickly. Almost every one of the twenty something men who charged up could only come face to face with Bai Yunfei for a moment before curling up on the ground hugging his stomach and foaming at the mouth…
When Long Tao [the big brother] saw Bai Yunfei standing in the middle of the pile of men looking at himself with an expression suggesting that he had not had enough of it, his expression became extremely unsightly. He said with hatred: “Humph! A soul cultivator! So what? I’ll personally deal with you!”
His entire body’s muscles bulging out, he charged at Bai Yunfei with a ferocious expression. Seeing this, Bai Yunfei curled his mouth slightly — now, a late Soul Personage was already no longer a threat to him.
Just then he had not unleashed his soulforce so the enemy did not know how powerful he was. Now that the enemy was already charging up, Bai Yunfei did not feel like dragging out the fight either. He channeled his soulforce, his eyes flashing with a tinge of shrewdness. With a shake of his body, he dashed up to the enemy’s face in just an instant. Under the astounded look in the opponent’s eyes, he struck a blow with his right fist. This fierce punch smashed into the opponent’s stomach, sending him flying. At the same time, he once again shouted a line that nobody at the scene understood.
“Your part is already over. Get your takeaway and leave!!”