With his worries set aside, his heart knot released, Yu Er’s smile grew ever more pure—he could finally play happily, for real.
Yu Er held a skewer of candied hawthorn in his mouth, darting through alleyways and avenues of Qingzhou City, now pausing to check out lanterns, now watching street performers, or else staring wide-eyed at a handful of spirit beast cats and dogs—eyes never blinking once.
Mo Hua followed at Yu Er’s side, his face filled with quiet content. Yet Yu Er’s words still lingered in his mind.
"Three ’Yu Ers’—one in the mountain, one in the water, and one is himself, watching him in silence..."
Mo Hua couldn’t help but remember that nightmare Yu Er had spoken of, long ago:
"There were so many mountains in my dream, so many demon monsters, all covered in blood..."
"Rabbits and crying, mountains and rivers and one person..."
"A lot of people are going to die, the blood will run into the river, bones will be stacked to build tall towers, human flesh will forge cities, everything joined together..."
"Because of Yu Er, everyone will die..."
His entry into Qian Learning State Boundary, his chance to join the Taixu Gate, all traced back to "Yu Er."
Mr. Tu wanted to capture Yu Er; demon monsters from the Great Wilderness invaded Yu Er’s nightmares; above the very authority of the Great Wilderness Evil God, Yu Er’s mark stood out, clear as day...
This all pointed to one thing: Yu Er and the Great Wilderness Evil God were undeniably connected somehow.
"The rabbit is crying..."
Mo Hua pondered for a long time. He turned to study innocent Yu Er and suddenly started—"Could this child be talking about...a crafty rabbit has three burrows..."
A crafty rabbit, three burrows: a mountain, a river, a person?
And then...
"Many people die, blood flows into the river, bones make towers, flesh builds cities..."
That line couldn’t help but make Mo Hua recall the Blood Swamp of Yanluo Mountain: there, around the Demon Sect, countless White Bone Evil Formations drained the living of their flesh and blood, transforming it into deadly evilness that seeped into the earth veins.
Everything he’d witnessed seemed to secretly echo Yu Er’s nightmares.
Mo Hua’s pupils shrank ever so slightly.
He felt as if he was on the verge of grasping something...
...
After wandering the city, night fell; lanterns hung high, fireworks splattered the sky.
Mo Hua took Yu Er by the hand and, under the burst of colors, returned to the Gu Family residence.
An hour later, the Gu Family’s annual banquet began as well.
This year’s spectacle was bigger than the last; guests came in greater numbers, the grand hall brimming with more life and noise than ever before.
All the guests’ seats were arranged on descending tiers from the dais, in order of relationship, cultivation, and status.
Mo Hua sat on the high dais, his seat only one lower than the Family Head’s.
Somehow, he’d gone from the "regular guest" of the Gu Family’s annual banquet to an outright "honored guest."
That came both thanks to Elder Master Xun’s influence, and to the fact that, in Qian Learning State Boundary, he now held the identity of "Formation Leader"—ranking above thousands of Sects. S̈
Wenren Wan and Yu Er sat elsewhere; their places weren’t low, but unlike previous years, they weren’t at his table.
Mo Hua felt slightly puzzled. .
Until the banquet began—when strange-faced family Elders or Cultivators of various Sects took turns approaching him with wine cups to offer toasts—did Mo Hua finally realize why.
This meal, it seemed, was for "socializing"; he couldn’t just eat and drink as he pleased, like usual.
He couldn’t just eat his fill and ignore everyone else.
Since people kept coming over to toast him, Yu Er and Wenren Wan couldn’t very well sit with him this time.
Mo Hua let out a soft sigh.
Sure enough—just as the saying goes, "fame invites trouble."
Who would’ve thought his own name would one day become a burden?
Of course, such good fortune would be something anyone else would kill for. Mo Hua couldn’t really complain.
Though a little uncomfortable, he refused no one.
The reason these family members and Sects all swarmed the Gu Family’s banquet, odds were, was to network with the "Formation Leader" of Qian Learning State Boundary.
But the very fact they were invited meant their ties with the Gu Family were solid.
Mo Hua had received plenty of help from the Gu Family; now that he’d made a name for himself, it was only right for him to support the family, and add to their prestige a bit.
At the end of the day, it was just a glass of wine and some pleasantries—no hardship at all. On the contrary, it let him make connections with even more Cultivators.
A "cup of wine" could count as a bond, after all.
Gu Shouyan, seated at the high table, had been a bit worried—afraid Mo Hua would resent the social dealings of such noble families.
He himself didn’t care much for such worldly affairs.
But he was the Family Head; dealings between noble houses were inevitable.
No matter how honest and upright the family, there was no such thing as truly "pure" gentlemen’s friendship—networks and interests always factored in, even just a little.
Luckily, Mo Hua, for one so young, had a broad and generous heart, not making much fuss of it all.
Gu Shouyan was quietly grateful inside.
So, as toasts went round and guests came and went, Mo Hua soon lost track of who he’d toasted and drunk with.
Thankfully, the Gu Family knew his "taste" and served him fruit wine; his cheeks reddened adorably, though he didn’t seem very drunk.
Still, Gu Shouyan feared he really would get drunk, so he stopped more people from coming over to toast him.
Only then did Mo Hua finally get a moment to deal with the delicacies on the table.
After a while, a commotion broke out. Mo Hua looked up to see a group of people escorting a man in a white Taoist Robe, edged with golden and jade Patterns, approaching.
This man was tall and upright, his features commanding and stern; his aura was like a deep pool or a looming peak—profound beyond measure.
This was none other than the Taist Court Inspector from the Xia family in the Feather Transformation Realm—Master Xia—whom Mo Hua had met several times before.
Gu Family Head, Gu Shouyan, stood to greet him.
"Master Xia, forgive us for not coming out to meet you sooner."
Master Xia wasn’t one to stand on ceremony either; his tone was quite amiable: "Business kept me busy, so I arrived late. Don’t hold it against me, Family Head."