He'd rather run than be turned into a cannon fodder for the broken engagement.

The address made Xiao Hong and the others pause, looking at them with slight surprise. They seemed to finally understand something.

Fu Xun looked at Leng Huan with a deep gaze, "I heard that the sect has a distinguished guest visiting. It turns out that there is a senior sister on the Weapon Refining Peak surnamed Leng, who is the eldest daughter of the Leng family in Beijun. Do you know her?"

Upon hearing this, Leng Huan froze. She looked at Fu Xun suspiciously, scrutinizing his expression, as if he was merely asking out of curiosity.

After a moment of silence, she slowly released the warm, soft body she was holding, straightened her robes, sat up straight, and gently shook her head: "I don't know, I haven't heard of it. Did the sect have any distinguished guests? I accepted the mission and left, I didn't notice."

Fu Xun put down his wine cup, smiled slightly, and said, "They've arrived. When I came out, I heard that our distinguished guest went to the mountain gate to visit the elders. I suppose we'll find out who that senior sister is when we get back?" He paused for a moment, a hint of meaning in his voice, before finishing the sentence.

Leng Huan was no longer in the mood to care whether Fu Xun was philandering. It wouldn't take long to complete the mission in Dongdu, and she would be going back soon.

Do not……

I'm not going back. I'll go have some fun for a while and avoid the limelight.

"Oh, maybe. So, junior brother, where are you going? I'm going to Dongdu..." Leng Huan brought his wine glass to his lips to hide his expression, a displeased smirk playing on his lips.

Junior brother? Fu Xun smiled. "I'm going to Zhongjing for a mission, but I can go to Dongdu with you first."

-

Seeing that he wouldn't be able to have any fun tonight, Leng Huan lost interest and simply took out a few gold ingots and gave one to each of Xiao Hong and the new courtesans. "We'll be leaving now. You can rest tonight. I've booked this private room. Just stay here and don't go out to greet guests."

Xiao Hong led the way in seeing Leng Huan and his companion off. They went straight down to the third floor after leaving the room, and the two remained silent for a moment.

Leng Huan suddenly stopped and looked at Fu Xun: "Do you look down on them?"

Fu Xun simply uttered two words: "No!" and continued walking downstairs.

Leng Huan stared at his back for a few moments, then asked suspiciously, "Do you perhaps have some hidden ailment?"

"..." Fu Xun stumbled, her face darkening, and she was about to retort righteously. Standing on the second floor, she suddenly heard a shout from ahead: "Young Miss, hurry up and come back to the manor with us!"

Then a woman's voice rang out, "Get out! I'll know when it's time to go back!"

"Young Miss, you have to get up early tomorrow to leave for your wedding..." The voice was low and soft, but Leng Huan, with his sharp hearing and keen eyesight, naturally heard it clearly.

"Getting married?" Thinking of that familiar scolding voice just now, Leng Huan raised his thick eyebrows.

"Since that's the case, Miss, please don't blame us for offending you. We are here on the orders of the patriarch to bring you back to the manor!" As soon as he finished speaking, Leng Huan scanned the area with his divine sense and found that there were four guards at the Foundation Establishment stage.

---"Bang!"

Enraged, Qi Ruxing threw down her wine jug and kicked away one of the Foundation Establishment stage guards who had surrounded her. "Don't touch me! I'll go home by myself!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Leng Huan tiptoed over the crowd and saw Qi Ruxing, her hair disheveled and her blue dress slightly messy, walking out of the room. She was flanked by guards who cleared the way for her. The onlookers realized that they were not ordinary people, so they made way for her.

Qi Ruxing looked up and saw a person standing at the end of the empty corridor. The thought of 'this person is not afraid' flashed through her mind. Then, she looked more and more closely and the person looked more and more familiar!

She cried out in disbelief, "Leng Huan?!"

"Miss Qi, how have you been?"

-

The chilly wind sobered her up. She sent her guards away to keep them at a distance so as not to disturb her reunion with her old acquaintances. Qi Ruxing led Leng Huan and the other man down the brightly lit street.

"So, you two just happened to be passing by and decided to attend my wedding banquet as well?"

Upon hearing this, Leng Huan scratched his forehead, looked at the aloof Miss Qi, and nodded: "Pretty much. I originally wanted to go to Dongdu, but after hearing from Liu's people about your happy event, I decided to stay for a few days."

Upon hearing her say the good news, Qi Ruxing's expression immediately fell. She abruptly grabbed Leng Huan and hurried a few steps, leaving Fu Xun behind. "If I could, I wouldn't want this good news. I have no choice in the matter."

Not knowing why Qi Ruxing wanted to whisper to him, Leng Huan paused before asking, "You don't like that person? Why? Is it because of their bad character, or because they're ugly?"

Qi Ruxing was the only aloof and unattainable young lady Leng Huan had ever met, a typical rich and beautiful woman. Could it be that her standards were too high, like, "I'm a Golden Core cultivator, so you have to be too"?

Just as her mind was wandering through all sorts of imaginary scenarios, she heard Qi Ruxing's cool and aloof voice softly ring out: "...It's not that, it's just that I want to cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness. The interests of powerful families are intertwined, and worldly affairs are all too entangled; I'm very troubled."

"Three years ago, I planned to elope to the Huanyue Immortal Sect in the south to become an apprentice. As you know, I was imprisoned in Dongjun City ever since. Now I'm twenty years old and I've only barely managed to establish my foundation... Ah, I haven't even congratulated you two on successfully becoming apprentices yet. Your cultivation progress is just too fast..."

Qi Ruxing was genuinely envious.

Leng Huan coughed and asked, "So, you're getting married tomorrow, what are you planning to do?"

What to do? Qi Ruxing looked at Leng Huan, then at Fu Xun, and suddenly her eyes lit up.

"Fellow Daoist Leng, why don't you stay another day? I... I want to go on a training expedition with you after the wedding tomorrow or the day after! I'll use the marriage as a condition; my mother has promised that I can go to the Huanyue Immortal Sect after the wedding banquet!"

Ah this?

Seeing the light shining in her eyes, Leng Huan hesitated for a moment, "No, you...you're going to abandon your new husband?"

"Not really, he's sickly anyway, he definitely can't walk, I can't take him with me even if I wanted to."

Leng Huan: "..." So he's a sickly person. No wonder she doesn't agree to the marriage.

"Moreover, the Dongchen Immortal Alliance Conference will be held at Huanyue Immortal Sect next month, and I would like to go and take a look."

The Immortal Alliance Conference? Leng Huan had just emerged from seclusion and hadn't heard of this yet, while Fu Xun, who was far behind, paused in his tracks.

"What is the Immortal Alliance Conference for?"

"The Immortal Alliance Conference is held roughly once every ten years. This round happens to be hosted by the Huanyue Immortal Sect. It invites all the immortal sects in the world to participate in discussions and competitions. All cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage can participate in the arena. Each time there is an Immortal Alliance Ranking, and those who make the list are the rising stars of the immortal sects."

"So that's how it is," Leng Huan murmured. "I'm kind of tempted to broaden my horizons."

Fu Xun followed up: "It's fine if you want to go. I'm sure your master also hopes that you can go out and gain experience." Unlike Leng Huan, he didn't just run off in a panic and forget to even say goodbye to his master.

Zhang Zhaoying also told him to head south and broaden his horizons.

Qi Ruxing clapped his hands happily: "That's settled then. You two wait for me to come along, so we can look after each other!"

Leng Huan and Fu Xun exchanged glances and agreed.

-

The group parted ways at the gate of the Qi family's residence. As curfew approached, there were few people left on the streets. Leng Huan followed Fu Xun back to the inn he had mentioned, bathed in moonlight.

Two streets away from the Qi family, Leng Huan was completely lazy yesterday. He asked around and found that an inn was full, so he went to Zuihuanlou to fool around.

She pushed the door open and went in. "Only one room?"

Fu Xun nodded honestly: "There is only one room."

"Oh, sleep together?"

"You sleep, I'll meditate."

They shared a room back then because they were short of money, but now they have plenty of money. However, upon hearing him say that, Leng Huan glanced at him and said, "Alright, this bed is big enough. Whether you sleep in it or not is up to you. But haven't you washed up yet? Go and get some water to wash up."

Because he was looking for someone, and then discovered that she had gone to a brothel, there were too many things to do that night. Fu Xun hadn't even thought about this incident. He raised his hand and waved it. There was a faint smell of wine, the warm fragrance of perfume from the brothel, and the dust of travel. His expression changed slightly.

Although Leng Huan had suffered hardships in Linjiazhuang, she became very clean and even a bit of a germaphobe after she had the means. For some reason, Fu Xun obediently went to find a waiter to bring her hot water.

……