Having enjoyed a very pleasant weekend in the modern world and made another quick trip to the ancient one, where he took Liu Qingyan out for lunch, Lu Zheng originally planned to pick Lin Wan up after work for dinner. Only to cross over and learn she had already left on a business trip.
Well, the wolf-meat hotpot he had prepared would have to wait until next time.
For the following days, Lu Zheng slipped back into a leisurely routine of doing nothing but resting and cultivating.
That huge wolf leg, apart from the dozens of jin he sliced off to bring back to the modern freezer, was air-dried in the ancient world into cured meat. He cut a piece for every meal to improve the food, and the flavour was truly excellent.
Time flew by, and soon it was April, the season for spring outings and flower viewing.
In such spring-like weather, what else was there to do? Naturally, Lu Zheng threw himself diligently into hard labour.
Admiring flowers by day, and admiring flowers by night as well.
…
On this rest day, Du Yueyao had returned to Yizhou Prefecture to visit her parents, so Lu Zheng brought the whole household to Peach Blossom Flat for an outing.
While Lu Zheng was strolling among the peach blossoms, flanked by two stunning beauties and followed by two little maids, two beams of light suddenly descended from the sky.
When the light faded, two figures appeared.
One wore a neat, close-fitting red dress. She was petite and exquisitely dainty, yet extraordinarily curvaceous, her body radiating sharp sword intent.
The other was clad in a jade-white battle skirt with double-embroidered water patterns and light blue fish-scale armour. Tall and straight, she looked heroic and valiant.
“Yan Hongxia?”
“Sister Hongxia?”
The first was, of course, Yan Hongxia.
She had only been mentioned a few days earlier while telling the story of *A Chinese Ghost Story*, yet here she was already, and even more astonishingly, she had flown here!
Lu Zheng’s pupils contracted. Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying were both startled.
“Sister Shen! Qingyan! Little Qingquan! And Brother Lu!” Yan Hongxia beamed, clearly overjoyed to see familiar friends again.
“I’m back!”
“It’s good you’re back.” Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying hurried forward to take her hands, looking relieved rather than asking about her cultivation.
“When Lu-lang returned the year before last, he said he’d met you on your way to deliver a letter to the Eastern Sea and that you’d be back in a few months to meet us. We waited and waited for a whole year without seeing you. We were worried sick,” Liu Qingyan said, eyes full of concern.
Shen Ying was all smiles. “You’re not in a rush to leave this time, right? Stay a good while. Lu-lang hunted a thousand-year-old great demon a few days ago. The wolf-meat hotpot is delicious.”
Yan Hongxia gave an embarrassed laugh and nodded repeatedly. “Something unexpected happened. I accidentally ended up staying in the Eastern Sea for over two years. It wasn’t intentional, but I did gain some fortunate opportunities.”
“Oh yes, let me introduce you. This is…”
Yan Hongxia turned to present the woman who had arrived with her, only to see the two of them staring at each other wide-eyed.
“Ao Qian!?”
“Sister Ao Qi!?”
“Why are you here!?” Ao Qi’s tone was shock mixed with suspicion.
“Why are you here!?” Ao Qian’s tone was shock mixed with panic.
Ao Qian: “…”
Ao Qi: “…”
Yan Hongxia blinked, utterly confused. “You two know each other?”
Ao Qi stared at Ao Qian for another moment before turning to the group, cupping her hands in greeting. “Ao Qi of the Azure Dragon clan greets the various daoist friends.”
A member of one of the four great dragon clans, the Azure Dragons!
From the way she and Ao Qian interacted, she was surely another dragon princess.
“Lu Zheng of White Cloud Temple greets daoist friend!”
Liu Qingyan and Shen Ying also stepped forward to exchange courtesies. Then Shen Ying said, “It’s nearly noon. Why don’t we return to Peach Blossom Manor for lunch and talk while we eat?”
Yan Hongxia nodded eagerly. “Of course!”
…
Peach Blossom Manor.
After sending Xiao Cui to prepare the meal, Shen Ying invited Yan Hongxia and Ao Qi into the front hall. Once Tao Zhen had served tea, they began catching up.
Thus Lu Zheng and the others learned about Yan Hongxia’s rather dull two-year adventure.
Yes, dull. Extremely dull.
Just before the New Year the year before last, while travelling and upholding justice, Yan Hongxia had rescued a young lady. The lady, hearing that Yan Hongxia was heading east, asked her to deliver a letter.
Yan Hongxia agreed and set off eastward. Along the way she met Lu Zheng and they dealt with the haunted manor and the treasure mirror incident.
After parting with Lu Zheng, she hurried non-stop to the lady’s hometown on Wanghai Island and delivered the letter to her family.
Having come all the way to the easternmost Wanghai Island, she thought it would be a waste not to go out to sea, so she hired a boat and sailed off.
Then she encountered thick fog, lost her way, and accidentally stumbled into a trap set by a black flood dragon for Ao Qi. The dragon had laid down a Dragon-Imprisoning Formation, sealed Ao Qi’s draconic power, and planned to kill her to refine her dragon blood and purify its own bloodline.
Yan Hongxia smashed the formation, freed Ao Qi, and together the woman and the dragon killed the black flood dragon, stripped its tendons, and flayed its skin.
Afterwards, Ao Qi brought Yan Hongxia back to the Azure Dragon clan.
Ao Qi was a dragon princess. Although her father was not the clan leader, he was a respected elder who doted on his late-born daughter. To express his gratitude to Yan Hongxia, he gave her an extremely valuable gift.
A sword pellet from an ancient sword immortal!
For the next year and eleven months, Yan Hongxia spent all her time in seclusion.
She fused the ancient sword immortal’s pellet with her own and tempered her body with the overflowing sword qi, raising her cultivation.
Two years later, she had completely merged the two sword pellets. When she emerged, she discovered she now possessed nearly eight hundred years of cultivation.
An overnight fortune!
For a while after that, accompanied by Ao Qi, she toured the Eastern Sea, then prepared to return to the mainland.
During this time she and Ao Qi had formed a deep friendship. Ao Qi had never ventured far onto the continent before and grew curious from Yan Hongxia’s stories. With her father’s permission, she came back with her.
“So that’s what happened…”
Lu Zheng then recounted how he had rescued little loli Ao Qian the previous year.
Thus Ao Qian’s identity as the Jade Dragon clan’s little princess was revealed.
Liu Qingquan: (⊙o⊙)
Peach Blossom Heavenly Lady: (?˙o˙)?
…
“So the demonic dragon has already been dealt with by Clan Leader Ao Jin?” Ao Qi asked.
“That is correct,” Lu Zheng replied.
“Then why haven’t you gone home?” Ao Qi looked at Ao Qian, then at Lu Zheng.
Ao Qian put her hands on her hips and argued forcefully, “Who knows if the demonic dragon was really killed? What if some are still hiding? I think I need to stay out here a few more years, just until it’s definitely safe.”
Ao Qi blinked and raised an eyebrow. “Have you said any of this to your father?”
Ao Qian shrank back. Of course she hadn’t.
Then she trotted over to Ao Qi, grabbed her arm with a pitiful expression, and swung it back and forth. “Sister Ao Qi, please please please don’t tell my dad I’m here, I beg you!”
