Chapter 297: Mu Zhan
In another corner of the large hall, Nalan Jie and the guests who were here to celebrate the joyous occasion were conversing with smiles. By chance, his gaze which was drifting around suddenly stopped in the direction where Xiao Yan’s group of three people sat. When he saw the warm, harmoniously laughing manner, his eyebrows frowned slightly. He smiled and dismissed the guests in front of him before taking a few steps back and arriving at Nalan Su’s and Nalan Yanran’s side.
“Yanran, is young friend Yan Xiao and Primer Tengshan very close?” Nalan Jie softly inquired.
Nalan Yanran rotated her bright eyes. She glanced at the corner where Xiao Yan was at. After gently sipping the red wine in her hand, she shook her head and said, “I don’t think that he is close to Primer Tengshan. Instead he should be close to Ya Fei. Have you forgotten? Back then Yan Xiao came because of Ya Fei’s recommendation letter.”
“Uh…” Nalan Jie knit his eyebrows together and softly scolded, “That old fellow Tengshan actually wants to use a beauty to attract him? How shameless…”
“Ah, with Yan Xiao’s potential, there would be no limit to his future. If such a person is pulled away by the Primer clan, it would really cause people to feel a heartache.”
“Haha, they may use a beauty to attract him, but isn’t there also a beauty on our side…” Nalan Su joked.
“Father, what nonsense are you spouting?” Nalan Yanran said angrily as she violently cut at Nalan Su with her eyes.
“Che, this girl? Forget it. When they met during these last few days, that Yan Xiao never showed her any any warm expressions. Ask her to go? Won’t that chase him off at a faster rate?” Nalan Jie pursed his lips together and snorted.
“You… you old fellow acts disrespectful and unbefitting of your age! If you dare to say any more nonsense, don’t blame me for being rude.” Nalan Jie’s words immediately caused Nalan Yanran, who had been maintaining a smile to lift her eyebrows vertically in anger that was caused by her humiliation. She waved her hand, appearing to really want to pluck his long beard.
“*Cough*…” By the side, Nalan Su coughed a couple of times, reminding this pair of grandfather and granddaughter to pay attention to the occasion. He waited for the two of them to quiet down before suddenly speaking, “Although, that girl Ya Fei has become increasingly pretty these few years. Her methods for social interactions are something that some of us in the older generation cannot compare with. On this point, Nalan Yanran is inferior to her.”
“Their clan is built upon commerce. It is natural that they are good at social interactions. How do you expect me to compare with her? Moreover, even if you are willing, Teacher would never agree.” Nalan Yanran swept her eyes toward that corner. When she saw Xiao Yan’s and Ya Fei’s smiling and chatting manner, she felt somewhat helpless. She believed that her appearance and presence would not be any worse than Ya Fei, but Yan Xiao, from the beginning, never showed her a kind expression. Although with her status, she did not need to purposefully try to please Yan Xiao, Nalan Yanran, whose heart was extremely haughty, was unwilling to see that man who was uninterested in her beauty to smile and chat in front of her with another woman. Perhaps this was a sort of emotion in every woman’s hearts, one that compared themselves with others.
“Ah, try your best to think of some way. Don’t allow Yan Xiao to really run to the Primer clan. Just think of all the many benefits that Pill-King Gu He has brought to the Misty Cloud Sect all these years. I believe that with Yan Xiao’s potential, his future achievements would not be any lower than Gu He.” Nalan Jie sighed.
“Okay.” Nalan Su nodded his head.
“Another thing, Yanran, pay a little attention to Liu Ling. He appears to harbor some enmity toward Yan Xiao because of you. This fellow’s talent may be quite good, but his heart is a little too narrow. If he were to use the strength behind him to become enemies with Yan Xiao, I will look down on him.” Nalan Jie glanced at a small circle of people grouped together in the hall. In the middle of the circle was Liu Ling and Little Princess.
“Okay, I will try my best.” Nalan Yanran frowned slightly and nodded. She and Liu Ling had gotten along for quite a few years. She naturally knew his character. This person’s desire to possess was far too strong.
“That’s right. Why have the members of the Mu clan not come? I remember having invited them.” Nalan Jie’s gaze swept once around the hall and asked with a frown.
The Mu clan. One of the three large clans in the Jia Ma Empire. Most of the members in the clan were people crazy over battles and they had quite a lot of power within the Jia Ma Empire’s military.
“Today, I heard that Mu Zhan from the Mu clan had returned from the north-western border.” Nalan Yanran suddenly said.
“Mu Zhan? That person who beats people up and kills people whenever he wants? The one who had also beat up those children of influential clans within the capital until they were docile. The one who has appeared to have become the leader of the crown prince’s clique?” Hearing the news, Nalan Jie was at a loss as he spoke.
“Ah, it’s that unreasonable fellow that causes many people headache…”
“Uh… I remember… that fellow appeared to have a very great interest in the Primer clan’s Ya Fei? Back then when he left the Jia Ma Sacred City, he had yelled some bold and derogatory words, telling everyone that he would kill whoever dared to touch Ya Fei.” Recalling the great uproar the issue caused back then, Nalan Su felt neither able to laugh nor cry.
“Ah, I wonder how much the unreasonable fellow has changed after experiencing two years at the empire’s border? He should have ceased being as unreasonable and barbaric as he was two years ago, right?” Nalan Yanran said with a smile.
“Uh… I sense that something will happen tonight.” Nalan Jie touched his white beard as his gaze looked at the spot where Ya Fei’s three people group was at. He shook his head and said.
Nalan Yanran narrowed her pretty eyes and softly laughed, “Evidently… it would be like this.”
“I hope that if any trouble arises, it will not escalate into a big mess. Yan Xiao isn’t like the aristocratic young master that Mu Zhan had crippled in the past. Although I haven’t been in contact with him for very long, I think that when the little fellow becomes crazy, he should be very terrifying.” Nalan Jie voiced his thoughts, “And to be able to teach such a disciple, Yan Xiao’s teacher should not be someone ordinary person. In front of a high tier alchemist that may be comparable to Gu He, the Mu clan would not dare to be too arrogant.”
“Yes.” Nalan Yanran nodded her head while sharing the same thought. After being in the Misty Cloud Sect for so many years, she was extremely clear just what kind of ability an alchemist similar to Gu He’s tier had.
“Ke ke, I will get someone to pay attention to that.” Nalan Su smiled. After which, he clinked his wine cup with a guest that had come forward before drowning its contents as he began to chat with a smile.
……
“Big brother Liu Ling, is that the fellow who defeated you? He appears very ordinary.” In a circle within the hall, a young man wearing magnificent clothes glanced at the spot where Xiao Yan was at and said as he smacked his lips with disdain.
“Haha, There’s no choice since I am not as skilled as him.” Liu Ling lifted his wine cup and said with a smile.
“Hei, it may be that fellow used some methods that we don’t know to cheat. Big brother Liu Ling is Grandmaster Gu He’s disciple. How can he lose to this nameless fellow?” Another young man sided with Liu Ling and laughed.
Liu Ling smiled, but did not speak. He did not open his mouth to absolve Xiao Yan.
“It seems that fellow has quite good luck with women. He is actually able to be so close with the Primer clan’s Yan Fei xiao-jie.” A man who had once wanted to become close to Ya Fei could not help but say with an acidic mouth when he saw the smiling and chatting manner of the two of them.
The Little Princess took shallow sips of the red wine. Her delicate finger gently tapped on the surface of the glass cup, emitting a clear sound. She lazily glanced at Xiao Yan and laughed softly, “Tonight, there may be something interesting happening…”
“What do you mean?” Hearing this, Liu Ling was at a loss.
“Just wait and see…” Little Princess smiled mysteriously. She gulped down the red wine in her cup in one go.
……
As time in the gathering slowly flew by, a large blood red horse suddenly rushed past from the other end of the brightly lit street outside the Nalan clan’s main entrance in a rude and arrogant manner. The passersby on the two sides along the way hurriedly dodged in panic.
The charging blood red, large horse suddenly came to a stop as it was about to reach the Nalan clan’s main entrance. A green colored human figure leapt down from the back of the horse. He lifted his head and eyed the main door. Under the illumination from the light, a young face was revealed. Dancing between his eyes was a fierceness and brutalness like that of a tiger.
This young man that was around twenty five or twenty six years old did not look at the guards by the side of the main entrance. He randomly threw out a plate and strided into the Nalan clan.
……
In the extremely lively large hall, the green clothed young man walked in from the opened front door. His arms held his neck as he smacked his lips and eyed the people inside. His mouth muttered something. Those who were near him were able to hear him say, “A group of idiots…”
At the moment when the young man walked into the hall, there were a few gazes which secretly brightened…
The young man’s gaze swept across the hall, seemingly searching for something. A moment later, his sight solidified and the corner of his mouth cracked. Killing intent was instantly abundant on his face.
……
On the quiet seats, Xiao Yan and Ya Fei were smiling and chatting. A moment later, Xiao Yan lifted a wine cup from the table and sipped it. As he did so, his smiling face suddenly stiffened and his quiet eyes suddenly narrowed.
Without any warning, a green colored Dou Qi suddenly surged out from within Xiao Yan’s body. The wine cup in his hand cracked and burst apart with a bang. His body was forcefully twisted and his palm rotated slightly. It was then tightly clenched into a fist that carried a sharp explosive sound as it violently smashed at the force that had appeared behind him.
“Bang!”
With a muffled sound, the powerful energy force from Xiao Yan’s fist violently shot out in all directions. The surrounding tables and chairs cracked apart with a terrifying sound under this destructive wind.
The ferocious force that was emitted from his fist caused Xiao Yan to take quite a few steps forward in order to completely be rid of it. His smiling face gradually became dark. Xiao Yan lifted his head and eyed the young man who was shaking his hand and viciously staring at him with a face that was filled with fierceness and brutality. A dark and cold killing intent swarmed out of Xiao Yan’s dark, black eyes.