Chapter 239: A Stroll
“Yeah, you didn’t hear wrong. He became a disciple of the previous headmaster Zi Jin just recently, making him the fourth martial uncle.” Fei Nian shook his head. It seemed like he still hadn’t quite wrapped his head around the fact that Bai Yunfei’s spot in the hierarchy was now higher than his.
Bai Yunfei nodded his head to Sima Dong. “It’s only just a position. In private, I am still just someone of the same generation as you, brother Sima. I thank you for your assistance earlier.”
Paired with how modest Bai Yunfei looked, Sima Dong was still not quite fully back to awareness yet.
A new disciple of the previous headmaster of the Crafting School! There had been no warnings about this; rather, an abrupt statement straight from the source!
If it were one of the five elemental schools or the Wind Lightning School, the fact that the previous headmaster had taken in a disciple would have spread like wildfire throughout the continent. There would be a massive ceremony for the sake of announcing it to the world, but the Crafting School hadn’t. Aside from a single assembly of the student body, there had been no other announcements from the school. How casual was the school?
Sima Dong was probably the first ‘outsider’ to know of the fact, so it was no wonder why he was surprised.
He knew that Fei Nian wasn’t the type to joke around about stuff like this, so this meant that the previous headmaster, Zi Jin, had really taken in a new disciple!
Realizing that he had lost his composure, Sima Dong quickly tried to calm the emotions on his face. Waving his hand, he said, “There’s no need for thanks. I was only passing by, lord B—ah… er…”
He had no idea what he should be calling Bai Yunfei by. Thus, he was completely mortified at the moment.
When Bai Yunfei saw this, he smiled, “Brother Sima, there’s no need for such politeness. I’ve said it before, we’re both from the same generation. Calling me any other way would only be awkward.”
“Haha, alright then! Then, don’t mind me if I call you brother Bai.” Sima Dong bounced back with a happy laugh. “Are your friends here all new members of the Crafting School? If you’re here to sightsee, then please allow me to play the part of host and take you on a tour around the city. I guarantee that you’ll be fully satisfied!”
He could see the hesitation in everyone’s eyes even as he finished speaking. It occurred to him that these people would naturally be skeptical about having someone plan their entire trip for them out of the blue.
Hastily, he said, “My sister and I were on our way to the western part of the city for one of their theaters. Recently, the people have been talking about an extraordinarily good show being shown there… haha, I am in truth quite an enthusiast for shows. Would you all be interested in going together?”
“Oh? Is there? In that case, we can’t miss an opportunity like that, let’s go!” Fei Nian was the first to respond without any hesitation.
Surprised, Bai Yunfei cast a glance over to Fei Nian only to see that Fei Nian was currently looking at the young woman next to Sima Dong. From there, Bai Yunfei could guess the reason why Fei Nian came with them to Redfire City since he was usually so hard to ‘cooperate’ with. And what a reason it was…
Ye Zhiqiu and the others came to the same conclusion as well and gave Fei Nian a knowing look. Apologetically, Fei Nian said, “Well that is… I actually like this stuff too…”
Bai Yunfei nodded, “Sure, I believe you.”
Mo Xiaoxuan nodded as well, “I do too.”
“Same here.” Zhong Xuhao interjected.
“I believe!” Huangfu Rui’s hand shot into the air.
“…..”
There was a final conclusion from everyone. Fei Nian, Mo Xiaoxuan, and Xi Yan would go with the two Sima siblings to the show, Si Kongxian and Zhang Sanxian had some sort of ‘agreement’ with Zhong Xuhao and Liu Mang to go somewhere else to play, Ye Zhiqiu wanted to see the city for himself, Tang Xinyun would take Huangfu Rui to go buy several things, and Bai Yunfei would go see the city himself since he had no interest in the show.
“Young master… what should we do with these people?”
Just as everyone was preparing to leave, the attendants behind Sima Dong called out to him for instructions.
Sima Dong cast a glance at the groveling bullies in front of him, “Escort them to the authorities and have them deal with them!”
“Yes!!” The guard spoke before turning to lead the others away.
Hearing that Sima Dong planned for them to be sent to the authorities, the bullies immediately knew that their future would definitely be bleak and tragic. As soon as they heard what he said, the blood in their faces drained away. They didn’t even have time to beg for their lives as despair flooded their eyes.
Noticing their expression, Bai Yunfei had a small frown on his face, “Brother Sima, since they’ve already been punished, why not let them go? There’s no need to have the authorities deal with them.”
“Oh?” Sima Dong uttered in surprise. He looked to Bai Yunfei for a second before smiling, “How generous brother Bai is! Very well then. You lot, hurry up and scram!”
Grateful, the bullies all gave Bai Yunfei a look before scrambling away from this place.
Now that the problem with the bullies had been dealt with, the group decided to meet back up with each other by supper time at the most prominent restaurant in the city, the Red Aroma. Their supper and lodgings for the night would be prepared by Sima Dong’s men, leaving Bai Yunfei and the group worry-free for their plans for the night.
……
Wandering around the busy streets with no concise aims, Bai Yunfei looked around with an increasingly comfortable expression.
He first visited several accessory stores and bought their wares to upgrade later, but not once did he visit a weapon store. After joining the Crafting School, what use was there to buy weapons?
Bai Yunfei strolled around the city without anything out of the ordinary happening, and somehow, time managed to go on by just as quickly.
That night outside the Red Aroma, Tang Xinyun, Ye Zhiqiu, Si Kongxian and several others walked on over to the restaurant. They had met one another on the way, so they decided to make their way to the restaurant together.
Right beside Tang Xinyun was a tall young woman in a red robe. The two of them were talking to one another while sometimes one of the two would say something to Ye Zhiqiu.
This woman was Tang Xinyun’s senior, Ling Yiyi, the fourth senior of the Northern Point.
By the time they made it to the restaurant, Sima Dong, Fei Nian, and their group could be seen inside; they had been the first to make it in.
Smiling, Sima Dong welcomed the second group, “Brother Ye, miss Tang, you’re right on time. I’ve just paid the Red Aroma and had them start cooking. After walking for so long, I’m sure you’re all tired by now? Come in and have a drink!”
Tang Xinyun nodded her head, “Yes, thank you for your troubles, lord Sima.”
“Haha, it was nothing! Nothing at all! Ah? This young miss is…?”
“This is my senior, Ling Yiyi. We met while walking around the city. I hope lord Sima doesn’t mind if she comes with us?”
“Of course not! I can’t welcome her fast enough, even!” Sima Dong warmly laughed as he welcomed Ling Yiyi, but then he realized something, “Where’s brother Bai? Wasn’t he with you?”
Mo Xiaoxuan shook his head, “No idea. We didn’t meet brother Bai once.”
The entire group was here already barring Bai Yunfei.
“I’m here!”
Suddenly, a voice called out from above before a single figure came leaping down from the roofs. As the figure landed on the ground, everyone saw that it was Bai Yunfei.
His sudden drop from the sky had startled countless commoners, causing them to start or cry out in shock. Even Ye Zhiqiu and the others were startled. Confused, Sima Dong asked, “Brother Bai, what were you…”
Bai Yunfei gave two embarrassed coughs, “I was a little farther away. I was afraid I’d be late, so I took a shortcut…”
“Oh…” Though still mystified, Sima Dong didn’t press the question. “Well since brother Bai is here, let’s all go in.”
“Yes, let’s. My stomach has been hungry for some time.” Bai Yunfei nodded his head as he turned to look to everyone else.
When he saw Ling Yiyi, his eyes widened a bit, “Sister Ling, what brings you here?”
Bai Yunfei was rather familiar with plenty of students in the Crafting School by now, especially the disciples since they had met with one another multiple times. Bai Yunfei was also pretty easy to talk to and didn’t have the ‘aura’ of a martial uncle, so many disciples got along with him.
Smiling, Ling Yiyi greeted Bai Yunfei, “I was buying a few things when I met sister Tang. When I heard everyone else was here, I decided to come with.”
“Ah, so I see…” Bai Yunfei glanced at Ye Zhiqiu. It had been in passing, but Bai Yunfei had heard that Ye Zhiqiu and Ling Yiyi got along quite well….
Stepping into the interior of the restaurant, everyone was led to the most luxurious and largest room. When Bai Yunfei and his group entered the city, they had numbered eleven people, but with the inclusion of Ling Yiyi, Sima Dong, and his sister Sima Yue, there were now fourteen people gathered around the table.
No sooner did they sit down than platters of exotic delicacies came streaming to the table. The meals at the Crafting School were by no means poor fare, but they would never be able to compare to the food here. Combined with their walk this morning and then the strolling they did in the afternoon, they were all starving. With much gusto, everyone began to talk with one another while helping themselves to the food.
“Ah, I remembered tonight there will be a very interesting carnival for the Lantern Festival. Would you all be interested in seeing it?” Sima Dong proposed.
“The lantern carnival? I’ve heard of that before.” Zhang Sanxian replied. “I saw plenty of people setting things up on my way back; it looked pretty fun, shall we go?”
“We may as well go! It’ll be plenty of fun with everyone there!” Fei Nian nodded, but his eyes continued to look at Sima Yue. What he was trying to get at was clear to see for everyone else.
Huangfu Rui was excited as well, “I want to go! I want to go! I want to see the lanterns!”
There wasn’t anyone that objected to this proposal, but they all looked to Bai Yunfei for confirmation.
He was surprised to see that everyone would look to him for confirmation, but Bai Yunfei smiled. “I don’t have any complaints. Why don’t we go when it’s dark out?”