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Chapter 415: All The Best To You

"What are you two doing here, drowning your sorrows in wine?" Chu Liang asked as he landed.

He had searched all over Mount Shu for them, sending flying-crane messages that went unanswered—only to discover them hiding away here.

"Haaaaa!" Lin Bei let out a deep, melodramatic sigh.

"What is love in this world..." Shang Ziliang lamented, staring wistfully at the sky.

"Since ancient times, love has been a tale of endless regret..." Lin Bei said with a sigh as he placed his arm around Shang Ziliang\'s shoulder

"What on earth happened?" Chu Liang asked, appearing very speechless.

Shang Ziliang heaved a deep sigh. "I invited Junior Sister Xu Ziqing on a trip, but she said she only sees me as a brother and asked me to stop bothering her."

Chu Liang had nearly forgotten about this. The initial tension between them had stemmed from Shang Ziliang\'s interest in Xu Ziqing... though, to be fair, it had always been a one-sided grudge.

He hadn\'t expected Shang Ziliang to still harbor those feelings.

In fact, Shang Ziliang had given up at one point. But after spending time with Chu Liang, getting his life back on track, and seeing his wealth and cultivation level soar, he felt like he had become a different person.

Since he was no longer the same person as before, he decided to try his luck with Xu Ziqing once more.

Unfortunately, he was met with the same, unflinching rejection.

Chu Liang struggled to find words of comfort, and after a moment of thought, he finally said, "Well, if you think about it, being seen as a brother by her might actually be a compliment, considering who her actual brother is..."

Shang Ziliang looked as if he was about to burst into tears.

Chu Liang then shifted his attention to Lin Bei. "And what about you? Why are you joining him in this?"

Lin Bei, his face etched with sorrow, replied, "I went to South Melody Conservatory to find Sister Suqiu, and she told me I\'m a good person..."

Chu Liang\'s brow furrowed in confusion until he finally remembered who Sister Suqiu was.

During the Mount Shu Summit, the South Melody Conservatory sent a young girl named He Suqiu as the envoy. When the disciples of the immortal sects got into a fight, she was playing the "Morale-Boosting Melody: The Rise of the Azure Waves" to boost morale... If not for her, the brawl would not have been so disastrous.

Back then, Lin Bei had used his status as a disciple of the Foreign Affairs Hall to get close to her, and it turns out they had kept in touch all this time.

But it was honestly naive of him to even attempt to woo a disciple of the South Melody Conservatory...

He Suqin was aiming to become famous across the world one day.

After a pause, Chu Liang offered some consolation, saying, "At least it\'s a form of acknowledgment."

Lin Bei and Shang Ziliang each took another gulp of wine and sighed in unison. "Haaaaaa!"

Chu Liang patiently comforted them for a while longer until they started to feel a bit better. Shang Ziliang then looked up and asked, "Big Bro, did you need something from us?"

"There is something," Chu Liang replied. "I have to leave again, but the construction at Red Cotton Peak is critical right now. I need someone to keep an eye on things for me. You two are the ones I trust, so you\'ll need to pull yourselves together."

Besides these two, the only others in the group were Lackey A and Lackey B. Unfortunately, Lackey A was away on a mission and hadn\'t been on Mount Shu recently.

As for Lackey B...

Wherever he was supposed to be watching, he would end up at a place to eat, so he wasn\'t really trustworthy.

"What are you going to do?" Lin Bei asked curiously.

"Oh," Chu Liang said casually, "Senior Sister Jiang invited me to go on a mission with her."

"Senior Sister Jiang invited you?"

"Just the two of you?"

"This..."

Although the rumors had spread everywhere, those close to Chu Liang knew that he and Senior Sister Jiang hadn\'t really established any substantial relationship. When they heard that Senior Sister Jiang had taken the initiative to invite Chu Liang on a mission alone, both of their expressions stiffened.

Shang Ziliang and Lin Bei\'s jaws visibly tightened, and one could almost see their molars grinding under the pressure.

"That\'s great... All the best to you..." they said through gritted teeth, their eyes filled with tears.

Their own failures were hard enough to bear, but seeing a good brother succeed was even more painful.

As they spoke, the two began wailing in each other\'s arms again.

"Brother Ziliang, I want to cry!"

"Brother Lin, me too!"

"Waaah—"

"..." Chu Liang looked at the two and realized they were beyond help, so he began brainstorming for other reliable allies.

If these guys outside Silver Sword Peak were no good, then perhaps someone from the Silver Sword Peak... But he couldn\'t ask his esteemed teacher or Xiaoyu\'er, as supervising the construction required someone with a bit more brain power.

Maybe I should send the Golden-Furred Hou? Chu Liang wondered.

...

Jiangnan, Wu\'an City.

The cities of the Eastern Regions were generally prosperous, and Wu\'an City was no exception. The streets bustled with activity, and the crowds were vibrant and lively.

Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai walked side by side through the city, drawing many glances from passersby due to their striking appearance.

However, compared to their previous trip to Shaonan Town, both of them seemed a bit reserved. This was their first time going out alone together, and they realized that having a few quiet companions along could actually be quite helpful—it kept the atmosphere from becoming too awkward.

Jiang Yuebai appeared preoccupied and lost in thought throughout their walk. Chu Liang didn\'t want to push for a lively conversation, so they ended up reaching their destination in near silence.

In Wu\'an City, there was a painter named Tang Song. He wasn\'t very famous but was quite wealthy. He had tried to practice cultivation but only reached the second realm before hitting a dead end, which made him give up. His teacher had been a disciple of Mount Shu, so he always felt a connection to the Mount Shu Sect.

When something bad happened at home, his first thought was to reach out to the Mount Shu Sect.

"Oh my, are you Jiang Yuebai and Chu Liang, the two prodigies?" Tang Song greeted them personally with his family. Though in his forties, he appeared younger, with a lean, scholarly look. He was very enthusiastic. "To think that my humble home could host Mount Shu Sect\'s head disciple and Young Hero Chu, who slayed the Taowu. This is truly an indescribable honor."

Chu Liang simply smiled in response. With the head disciple present, it wasn\'t his place to speak first. To be honest, he hadn\'t expected this.

Normally, cases involving evil spirits in a large city like this wouldn\'t be too serious and would typically be handled by disciples at the Spiritual Awareness Realm. If a disciple at the Golden Core Realm was dispatched, it would show that the Mount Shu Sect was taking the situation very seriously.

As a result, Chu Liang was surprised by Senior Sister Jiang\'s sudden invitation to Wu\'an City.

He wondered what she had in mind.

"Official Tang, you’ve always shown great care toward our sect. Given the recent events at your home, we should definitely give it our full attention," Jiang Yuebai replied with a respectful tone.

Families with close ties to Mount Shu often made regular donations.

Of course, this wasn\'t the usual standard for when immortal sects took action. Even if a family was poor, if they were plagued by evil spirits and sought help from Mount Shu, the sect would certainly intervene.

"I consider myself half a disciple of Mount Shu, so it\'s only right that I care for the sect," Tang Song said earnestly.

As they walked to the main hall, he began to explain the unusual case at his home. In short, his son had disappeared.

Official Tang continued explaining, "My son, Tang Yu\'an, has always been kind-hearted and has never made enemies. When he disappeared, I found the door to my painting room wide open and an oil lamp overturned on the floor. But what happened next was even stranger..."

He summoned a servant to bring out a securely locked box, sealed with multiple talismans. It seemed that he only dared to open the box in the presence of Jiang Yuebai and Chu Liang.

With a soft click, he unlocked the box, carefully extracted a scroll, and began to unroll it slowly.

The scroll displayed a traditional ink painting of ladies on an outing. The brushwork was exquisite, the figures appeared almost alive, and a subtle spiritual energy emanated from the scroll. It was clear that the painter was a highly skilled cultivator with great mastery in the cultivation of the Dao.

"This is a painting from the previous dynasty titled Ladies of the Eastern Suburbs that I recently acquired, but..." His eyes shifted as he pointed to a spot on the scroll. "This figure wasn\'t in the original painting. It appeared only after my son went missing..."

The spot he pointed to was beneath a willow tree by the riverbank, where a slender young man was depicted. The figure bore a striking resemblance to Tang Song.

Strangely, while everyone else in the painting wore clothes from the previous dynasty, this young man was dressed in clothes from the current era. Given that the previous dynasty was a few hundred years ago, the contrast was quite striking.

Unlike the other figures who were gazing at the scenery, he was the only one looking directly out of the painting. The detailed brushstrokes revealed that his expression was one of sheer terror.

Tang Song immediately exclaimed, "This is my son, Tang Yu\'an!"