Chapter 584: “Regret”?

How could Zhang Xiaohua possibly bother changing clothes? He only smiled and said, “Forget it, Senior Brother Bai. I’m only meeting a former senior brother of our sect. Why make such a big fuss over it?”

Bai Huan argued, “But this is Senior Brother Lu Lihong! He’s different from other people. Besides, Boss Chen specifically instructed us to do this.”

“Forget it, then. I’d better head back to the mountaintop.” Zhang Xiaohua pretended he was about to leave.

Bai Huan immediately grabbed his clothes and said anxiously, “How can that be allowed?”

A disciple beside them saw that Zhang Xiaohua absolutely refused to change into new clothes and came up with an idea. “How about this, Junior Brother Bai? Just say that we couldn’t find any clothes that fit Junior Brother Ren.”

“That works too?” Bai Huan was somewhat dumbfounded.

Zhang Xiaohua repeatedly nodded. “That works, absolutely.”

“Fine then.” Bai Huan helplessly led Zhang Xiaohua into the courtyard.

At the banquet, Yang Yao was listening intently to what the two Arhats, Erdu and Mu, were saying. From time to time, he narrowed his eyes and nodded repeatedly, and when the conversation became particularly lively, he could not help but clap his hands again and again. At that very moment, he looked up and saw Bai Huan bringing Zhang Xiaohua inside. His eyes immediately lit up, and the smile on his face deepened as he stared at Zhang Xiaohua slowly approaching.

Zhang Xiaohua had been looking toward the banquet the entire time. Seeing Yang Yao looking at him, he also smiled and nodded in Yang Yao’s direction. Although he was following behind Bai Huan, his pace quickened by several degrees.

Upon entering the hall, Bai Huan headed toward Chen Fengxiao. At this moment, Chen Fengxiao was holding a wine cup, and Wu Zhouxu was accompanying him as they both lowered their heads and spoke with Lu Lihong. Bai Huan said softly, “Boss Chen, Boss Chen, I’ve brought Ren Xiaoyao here.”

“Hmm? Why did it take so long? Where did he go?” Chen Fengxiao frowned and asked displeasedly.

However, before Bai Huan could explain, Chen Fengxiao called out loudly to Zhang Xiaohua behind him, “Little brother, come over here quickly. I’ll introduce you to—”

Before he could finish speaking, his expression changed slightly. Zhang Xiaohua had entered the hall and merely nodded faintly toward Chen Fengxiao in greeting. Then he turned and walked straight toward Yang Yao. When he reached him, he bowed deeply and saluted. “Martial Uncle Yang, it has been a long time since we last met. Have you been well?”

Zhang Xiaohua’s actions caught all the disciples in the hall completely by surprise. Needless to say, Chen Fengxiao was astonished—even Yang Yao had not expected this at all. He hurriedly stood up and helped Zhang Xiaohua to his feet. “Nephew Ren, you’re too courteous. We’ve only been apart for a little over ten days. Everything has been quite well.”

Then he took Zhang Xiaohua by the hand and brought him to the main table, introducing him, “Come, let this old man introduce you. This is the distinguished guest of our Tuodan Hall and also your senior from Spring Rebirth Valley. He is now the famous outer disciple of Wuming Hall, Senior Brother Lu Lihong.”

Lu Lihong had been speaking with Chen Fengxiao earlier and had not paid much attention to anything else. It was only when Zhang Xiaohua entered the hall and Chen Fengxiao introduced him that he finally saw Zhang Xiaohua’s face clearly. For an instant, his expression changed slightly, but it immediately returned to normal. Zhang Xiaohua’s decision to first pay his respects to Yang Yao also surprised him, and a look of interest appeared in his eyes. At this moment, upon hearing Yang Yao’s introduction, he quickly stood up, and a look of astonishment once again appeared on his flushed face.

“Oh my, so this is the medicine boy who entered the Incense-Spreading Sect this year. Haha, I’ve long heard of your name, but only today do I finally get to meet you. Hearing of you a hundred times truly is not as good as seeing you once. Your reputation is well deserved.”

As he spoke, he warmly took Zhang Xiaohua’s hand, as though they had never met before.

Zhang Xiaohua withdrew his hand and once again cupped his fists in salute. “So you are Senior Brother Lu. I have long heard your great name as if it were thunder in my ears. Seeing you today, I admire you even more. You truly live up to your name—extraordinary indeed.”

At the side, Chen Fengxiao had already secretly given Zhang Xiaohua a thumbs-up in his heart because of his earlier actions.

Now this is a true man who doesn’t forget his roots!

Then he patted Zhang Xiaohua on the shoulder and said, “This is also the most talented medicine boy in martial arts that Tianmu Peak has produced in recent years. Although he’s still young, he already vaguely possesses some of the bearing that Junior Brother Lu had back then.”

Looking at Zhang Xiaohua, Lu Lihong said with a smile, “Naturally. Junior Brother Ren is Valley Master Nie’s future son-in-law from Spring Rebirth Valley. How could his martial skills possibly be poor?”

As soon as these words were spoken, Chen Fengxiao and the others frowned slightly, and even the other disciples in the hall revealed astonished expressions. The way they looked at Zhang Xiaohua had already changed.

Everyone naturally knew of Zhang Xiaohua’s background in Spring Rebirth Valley, but the matter of him being Spring Rebirth Valley’s future son-in-law had been kept somewhat hidden and was not suitable for many people to know. Of course, they all knew that he was different from ordinary medicine boys, but they also understood what they should know and what they should not know, so no one had ever asked about it.

Yet now that Lu Lihong had spoken of it openly, he had directly torn away that thin layer of paper. How could it not make everyone look at Zhang Xiaohua in a new light?

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Lihong’s face filled with regret. His expression changed faster than flipping through a book. He slapped his own mouth and said, “Aiya, Junior Brother Ren, look at me. Wine has made me lose my manners. Please forgive me, please forgive me.”

In truth, Zhang Xiaohua did not care about such things at all. He quickly smiled and said, “Senior Brother Lu truly is a remarkable person with eyes and ears everywhere. Even this little bit of my privacy is known by a senior brother who is so far away in Wuming Hall. I am truly full of admiration.”

Zhang Xiaohua might not care, but Yang Yao certainly did. After all, he had personally brought Zhang Xiaohua from Spring Rebirth Valley. Thus, he casually glanced at Chen Fengxiao and Wu Zhouxu. The two understood immediately and both smiled. “Although Junior Brother Lu is now an outer disciple of Wuming Hall, he used to call us brothers back when he was in Tuodan Hall. Since we’re brothers, then whatever is said behind closed doors naturally remains among us brothers. As for Junior Brother Lu’s drunken words just now, only us brothers know of them. If anyone else were to find out, then…”

Before he could finish speaking, everyone already understood his meaning and naturally could not let him continue. Zou Shuming and the others all raised their cups and said, “Boss Chen and Brother Wu, rest assured. Even if the walls have ears, us brothers would cut those ears off. Come, let’s drain this cup.”

Lu Lihong also picked up his wine cup. “Come, Junior Brother Ren, let this senior brother offer you an apology.”

“Well…” Zhang Xiaohua hesitated. Seeing this, Chen Fengxiao hurriedly explained from the side, “Junior Brother Lu, please don’t take offense. Junior Brother Ren is still young and cannot drink alcohol. How about he uses tea in place of wine?”

Lu Lihong laughed and said, “Junior Brother Ren is standing in front of me and is even taller than I am—how can he still be young? Come, he must drink. Only then can he be considered a real man, only then can he be a true son-in-law!”

These words were somewhat crude, but they perfectly suited the others’ tastes, and Zou Shuming and the rest burst into laughter.

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaohua smiled and said, “Since Senior Brother Lu insists that I drink a cup, I cannot slight your kindness. However, this is my first time drinking wine. How about just this one cup?”

Lu Lihong laughed. “Good, good. As long as Junior Brother Ren gives me this face, that’s enough.”

Zhang Xiaohua picked up a wine cup from the table and raised it before his chest in salute. Then he tilted back his head and drank it down.

“Excellent,” said Lu Lihong, and he too emptied his cup in one gulp. The others followed suit.

Although the wine brewed by Tuodan Hall was not as good as the Hundred Flowers Brew of Spring Rebirth Valley, it could still be considered a fine local wine. In Zhang Xiaohua’s mouth, it tasted much better than the wine from the Xinrong Sect he had drunk previously. However, he drank only that one cup and no more. Since he had already said beforehand that he would only drink one cup, and Lu Lihong had agreed, after several failed attempts to persuade him to drink more, everyone stopped pressing him and returned to their seats.

Chen Fengxiao had originally wanted Zhang Xiaohua to sit beside him so that he could become closer to Lu Lihong, but Zhang Xiaohua claimed that he had some private matters to discuss with Yang Yao and instead sat beside him at the secondary seat. Seeing that Lu Lihong had only picked up his chopsticks and was eating, Chen Fengxiao did not insist and continued accompanying Lu Lihong with Wu Zhouxu, drinking and chatting.

After Zhang Xiaohua sat down, Yang Yao looked delighted and said in a low voice, “Nephew Ren, back then, when I sent you to this place, I worried about you for many days afterward. Later, when I met the Hall Master, I even specifically reported the matter to him and wanted to transfer you back to Baiyue Peak. It’s just that there were some inconveniences involved, so it was never properly arranged.”

“Yet now it seems that Nephew Ren is like a fish in water here, living freely and at ease. This old man is greatly comforted and much more at ease. A few days ago, I was still worried that you had been slighted and that I had failed Brother Nie’s trust.”

Ugh… Zhang Xiaohua inwardly grumbled, It seems I’ve been branded as someone from Spring Rebirth Valley. I probably won’t be able to shake off this title of ‘future son-in-law.’

However, Yang Yao’s words were extremely sincere and were clearly from the bottom of his heart. Zhang Xiaohua picked up his teacup and said, “This nephew cannot drink wine, so I shall use tea in its place to thank Martial Uncle for your concern.”

“Good, good.” Yang Yao smiled, raised his cup, and drained it in one gulp. Then he looked at Zhang Xiaohua even more reassuringly and said, “I just heard from Nephew Er that as soon as you arrived at Tianmu Peak, you displayed your might and won three consecutive wagers. In the end, you even defeated Nephew Zou in Qinggong. I never imagined that Nephew Ren’s martial arts would be so formidable—it has far exceeded this old man’s expectations.”

How could Zhang Xiaohua possibly admit to that? He merely smiled and said, “Martial Uncle thinks too highly of this nephew. It was all due to Boss Chen’s excellent arrangements. I was merely extremely lucky to achieve such results. Besides, it was my first time at Tianmu Peak, and the senior brothers here were unfamiliar with me, so they were careless for a moment. If we compete again in the future, this nephew won’t have such good fortune and will only be able to bow his head and admit defeat.”

“Hehe, Nephew is still young and has plenty of room for improvement in the future. There’s no need to fuss over temporary victories and defeats,” Yang Yao comforted him. Then he asked, “By the way, I heard that you exchanged all of your medicinal pills for herbs. Why is that?”

Hearing this, Zhang Xiaohua let out a long sigh. “Alas, Martial Uncle, please don’t bring that matter up. The moment it’s mentioned, this nephew is filled with regret. You also know that I come from a minor sect of the jianghu. Where would I have seen much of the world? I only knew that aged medicinal herbs were precious, and no matter how many medicinal pills I had, I couldn’t use them all myself, so I thought it better to exchange them for herbs. But only after making the exchange did I learn that within our Tuodan Hall, these herbs are as common as weeds. This nephew still has a great many herbs piled up in a small courtyard!”

After hearing Zhang Xiaohua’s “confession”, Yang Yao laughed. “The medicine boys who have just arrived at the Incense-Spreading Sect are all like this. The moment they see a medicinal herb, they treasure it like a priceless object. In truth, they simply do not know that such herbs can be found everywhere. You have only just arrived; you’ll gradually come to understand in the future. However, exchanging medicinal pills for herbs—you truly suffered a tremendous loss.”

At this point, Lu Lihong, who was beside them, spoke up. “Junior Brother Ren, I misspoke while drunk just now and deeply regret it. Do you think you could give me an opportunity and let me handle your herbs? Consider it my way of expressing my apology.”