Everyone watched with their own eyes as the pair of riders passed through the memorial arch and reined in their horses right in front of the crowd. It was a middle aged man and woman.
The man had his messy hair tied up on top of his head, sporting a full beard and thick eyebrows with large eyes. He carried a broadsword on his back and had a bulging bundle hanging from his chest, looking exactly like a wandering rogue of the martial world. The woman, however, had a masculine appearance despite being female. She was dressed sharply, holding a sword in one hand, showing a dashing and heroic posture. She lifted her leg, flipped her skirt, and leapt down from the horse.
The bearded man, burdened with a pile of things, followed and jumped down as well.
Among the “Three Branches of Flowers” who had arrived earlier, the woman with a small white flower pinned at her temple scrutinised the male and female guests thoughtfully, seemingly muttering to herself, “Thieving Mandarin Ducks…”
Wu Heyun, who was nearby, heard this and immediately showed a look of great surprise. He quickly stepped forward, approached the guests, and cupped his hands in greeting, saying, “I am Wu Heyun, the Third Master of the Rift Valley Manor. May I ask if you two are the Zhu couple from the Zhu Family Wine Shop?”
The dashing woman smiled and said, “So it is the Third Master. No wonder my husband and I could not escape your discerning eyes and were recognised at a glance.”
Wu Heyun said, “Madam Zhu flatters me. I wonder what brings the worthy couple to our door, and if there is anything the Rift Valley Manor can do to assist you?”
The woman, known as Madam Zhu, said, “The Rift Valley Manor brews and sells wine, and our wine shop also brews and sells wine. Competitors are not necessarily enemies. The Third Master does not think we have come to crash your business, does he?”
Wu Heyun laughed heartily and said, “How could that be? Although we are in the same trade, we sell different things. We produce fine grape wine and sell worldly goods, whereas you and your husband specialise in brewing spiritual wine. We cannot be enemies.”
Madam Zhu said, “The Third Master speaks reasonably. Our businesses do not conflict, so we have come to discuss a partnership with your manor. I wonder if your manor is interested?”
“A partnership?” Wu Heyun looked somewhat surprised and asked in confusion, “I wonder how you wish to cooperate?”
Madam Zhu said, “Selling only spiritual wine is too monotonous. We wish to introduce your manor’s wine to our shop for sale, hence this special visit to take a look.”
“That is easy to discuss. If you do not mind, please come inside so we can talk in detail.”
Wu Heyun spoke cheerfully and waved his hand, immediately signalling a servant to come forward and lead the couple’s horses.
The couple was easygoing. Madam Zhu swept her eyes over the crowd present, then turned back to look at the single rider approaching slowly on the road. “Third Master, why has the person who herds sheep by Blue Treasure Lake changed his location? Does he usually have dealings with the Rift Valley Manor?”
Wu Heyun again showed a look of surprise, looking at the slow approaching guest. “Is that Ning Chaoyi?”
Madam Zhu observed his reaction. “Since even the Third Master does not know, it seems I have misunderstood.”
Wu Heyun turned to his attendants and said, “Take these honoured guests to the living room to rest first, and do not neglect them.” He then spoke politely to the couple and the “Three Branches of Flowers”, “Honoured guests, please wait a moment. I will wait here for Mr Ning first.”
The woman in black with a white flower at her temple said, “It is fine. I heard this sheep herder rarely leaves the shore of Blue Treasure Lake. Since we have encountered him, there is no harm in waiting.”
The other two women beside her showed no intention of objecting.
Madam Zhu, holding a sword in her hand, crossed her arms over her chest and showed no intention of leaving either.
The attitude of this group of guests left the serving staff in a dilemma, not knowing what to do.
Wu Heyun waved his hand to dismiss them. Since the guests were willing to wait, they would all wait together.
Yu Qing and his two senior brothers looked at each other in bewilderment. They did not recognise, or rather had never heard of, the couple who ran a wine shop or the “Three Branches of Flowers” from the Tower of Full Blossoms. The cultivation world produced talents in large numbers, and countless people came and went. Who could have heard of everyone? Moreover, they were most likely cultivators from the State of Yin.
However, they had heard of the sheep herder by Blue Treasure Lake, the one named Ning Chaoyi.
Every few decades in the cultivation world, there would be a martial arts tournament. Anyone who met the conditions could participate, making it an opportunity for new talents across the world to make their mark. It was held once every twenty years, and twenty years was enough time for a generation to grow up and for new talents to compete for glory once again.
That Ning Chaoyi was the fifth place winner in the previous tournament, and the next tournament was only a year away. In other words, the tournament where Ning Chaoyi made his name was already nearly twenty years ago in the blink of an eye.
Such a martial arts tournament gathered young talents from all over the world to compete. Countless disciples from prestigious families participated, and even newcomers from the Sinan Manor, the Daye Division, and the Thousand Streams Mountain joined every session. To secure fifth place among them was truly an extraordinary achievement.
Just as he was on the verge of achieving fame and success, with countless people offering heavy rewards to recruit him, he seemingly went mad. He found an opportunity to take down his master and exterminated his master’s entire family. Then, he cast all fame and fortune aside, went to the shore of Blue Treasure Lake, and lived a life of herding sheep under the vast sky, rarely interacting with the outside world again.
Rumour had it that he went into a frenzy because he discovered his master had raped and murdered his wife to silence her.
Whether this was true or not remained unknown, but the rumour did indeed spread widely.
This Ning Chaoyi could stand out among the disciples of prestigious families twenty years ago, so his strength twenty years later was even more unimaginable.
Therefore, the three brothers were also very curious and stopped in their tracks to wait, wanting to see the demeanour of Mr Ning.
The sound of horse hooves was slow. By the time the hoofbeats could be heard, the lone rider had already arrived under the memorial arch.
The guest swayed slowly on horseback. His hair was tied in a simple ponytail, and he sported a small moustache. This made Nanzhu and Mu Aotie feel he looked familiar. They could not help but turn back to look at Yu Qing, finding the style on their heads to be somewhat similar.
However, it was obvious that the guest’s look was much more natural and unpretentious. His age was just right, and coupled with the faint smile on his mature face, he looked quite charming from any angle, unlike Yu Qing’s small moustache, which just looked awkward.
However, Yu Qing clearly did not think so. After seeing the other man’s attire, he thought it was quite nice and rather good looking. He could not help but stroke his own small moustache, revealing obvious admiration in his eyes, seemingly affirming his own aesthetic taste.
The newcomer also carried a three stringed lute in his arms, as plain as his clothes. He plucked a casual tune, entertaining himself with a “ding dang dang” sound all the way, looking completely unhurried and at peace with the vast world.
The lute music stopped, and the horse reined in. Wu Heyun stepped forward and cupped his hands, saying, “I am Wu Heyun, the Third Master of the Rift Valley Manor. May I ask if the visitor is Mr Ning from Blue Treasure Lake?”
Ning Chaoyi nodded. “It is me. What are you all…” As he spoke, he also jumped down from his horse.
Wu Heyun looked back at everyone and smiled. “Naturally, we are welcoming Mr Ning.”
Ning Chaoyi looked completely surprised. “You knew I was coming?”
Madam Zhu said, “We saw you on the road. Your appearance matched the rumours, so we ventured a guess that it was you, sir.”
“Oh.” Ning Chaoyi looked as if he had just realised something. He then turned to Wu Heyun and said, “Third Master, I wander alone. I heard the Rift Valley Manor has various fine grape wines. Being gluttonous, I smelled the wine aroma and took a detour here. I wonder if your manor sells wine by the measure? I cannot afford to buy a large amount.”
Wu Heyun smiled. “Mr Ning’s presence brings great honour to the Rift Valley Manor. Guests are always welcome, and naturally, we have fine wine to treat you. When you leave, if you find the taste acceptable, you might as well take some with you. We will not charge you.”
“How can that be? One thing is one thing, and another is another. I will pay exactly what it is worth.”
Ning Chaoyi, holding his lute, shook his head, indicating this was inappropriate.
“Very well, we shall do as you say, sir. Sir, this is not the place for conversation. Please go inside to rest first, and we can talk slowly later.”
Wu Heyun extended a warm invitation.
Ning Chaoyi twitched his nostrils and looked towards the nearly extinguished fire. “This smell… are you burning a dead body?”
“Alas, perhaps everyone has heard about the Rift Valley Manor. Monsters often come to harass us, and one appeared again last night…”
Wu Heyun sighed heavily and recounted the story of the young man being killed by the monster. The reason for the cremation was the same as what he had told Yu Qing and the others. He did not say much more, gave a brief explanation, and once again invited the guests inside to rest.
The group departed. Yu Qing and the others stayed in place to watch them leave. They did not recognise the new guests, so it was one thing that they could not just force their way into the crowd to join the fun. More importantly, they did not want to become familiar faces everywhere, hoping that as few people as possible would remember them on this trip.
“Does the Rift Valley Manor often get so many guests?” Yu Qing muttered to himself.
As for this question, the people present were truly unsure.
Nanzhu said, “They all look like people with a reputation. I will go and inquire.” After saying this, he shamelessly chased after the group.
After looking at the scene where the ashes were being collected, Yu Qing slowly turned his head to look inside the village, watching the children who occasionally ran around and played. Finally, he turned away expressionlessly and left, taking Qiao Qie’er and Mu Aotie back with him.
After the three returned to their respective rooms, Yu Qing stood on the balcony, gazing out at the vast vineyards in a trance like state.
Inside the room, Qiao Qie’er sat quietly on a chair, seeming somewhat distracted, not knowing what she was thinking about.
After being distracted for a long time, a sudden knock on the door brought Yu Qing back to his senses. When he walked back into the room, Qiao Qie’er had already opened the door, and Nanzhu was standing outside.
Nanzhu nodded in greeting, entered the room, and quickly walked up to Yu Qing, nodding as he said, “I have inquired about the backgrounds of those people. They are all rather odd individuals.”
“Odd individuals?” Yu Qing was puzzled, as they clearly looked quite normal. “What do you mean?”
Nanzhu countered, “We have all heard of Ning Chaoyi from Blue Treasure Lake. He gave up wealth and glory, killed his master and exterminated his family, and then ran off to herd sheep by the lake. Is that not strange? The two groups that arrived earlier are even stranger. Those three beautiful women, the so called ‘Three Branches of Flowers’ from the Tower of Full Blossoms, do you know who they are? They are in a grandmother, mother, and daughter relationship.”
Yu Qing was stunned and did not quite understand. “A grandmother, mother, and daughter relationship? What kind of relationship is that?”
Nanzhu rephrased it, “Daughter, mother, grandmother. Do you understand now? The three of them are one family. This is their generational order. You could not tell they are three generations, could you? The one who looks the youngest, the one dressed in the most flashy and revealing clothes, is named Lou Yushu. Could you tell that she is actually the eldest in generation, the grandmother? Do you know how old she is? She seems to be almost a hundred years old.”
“…” Yu Qing was indeed a bit bewildered. Thinking about the image of those three women, he truly found it hard to imagine.
“The one in the middle generation is the woman in black with a small white flower, named Lu Xingyun. Then the one in the light green dress is the youngest in generation, named Shen Qingcheng. Aside from themselves, no one probably knows who the fathers of these two women are. This grandmother, mother, and daughter trio’s way of making a fortune is passed down from generation to generation. The mother truly taught them well, as they all rely on seducing men to get rich.
The couple surnamed Zhu is also quite interesting. The man is named Zhu Kuanzhen, and the woman is named Nie Pinlan, nicknamed the ‘Thieving Mandarin Ducks’.
It is said that they were childhood sweethearts. Later, due to the chaos of the world, they were separated and each started their own family, marrying other people. When they met again later, Nie Pinlan actually killed her own husband, and then killed Zhu Kuanzhen’s wife. After that, they reunited to continue their childhood romance. Only after such an event did people start calling them the ‘Thieving Mandarin Ducks’. The two do indeed brew wine, gathering various spiritual herbs and the like to make a living from brewing spiritual wine.”
After hearing the account, both Yu Qing and Qiao Qie’er were dumbfounded, not expecting such a group of people to suddenly arrive.
After quite a while, Yu Qing finally let out a sigh. “They are indeed a bunch of odd individuals, the kind you do not see among normal people. How did these weirdos gather together, and all for the sake of wine? Could they be part of the same gang?”
Nanzhu chuckled. “They are all such unique individuals. Who could have the immense capability to bring them all together?”