Chapter 27: An Old Acquaintance!

  The old master and the members of the Lan family walked into the main hall of the mansion and sat down in their respective positions.

  He looked up and glanced at the family head sitting in the main seat. The elder opened his mouth lightly: "Was the meeting of elders advanced? Why didn't anyone inform me?"

  "Elder, we have not convened." One of the seated elders replied, and at the same time gave a wink to the elder.

  "Oh! How did that person get so strong? And wasn't Blue Second Grandpa already locked up by me? Who let him out?" The Great Elder said with a somewhat displeased tone.

  "The second master ran out by himself." Another elder said.

  "It seems that from tomorrow, we'll have to post a few guards at the entrance of the Second Master's residence. The people who are being held captive can actually come and go as they please; if this gets out, what will others think of our Blue family?" The elderly elder nodded cautiously.

  "Dad, did you hear that?! The Great Elder actually wants to lock me up!" Lan Fei immediately shouted loudly, his eyes expectantly looking at his father, hoping he could take charge for him.

  However, the master of the Lan family had no idea when he closed his eyes, and he sat motionless, as if he had fallen asleep. His reaction was really puzzling!

  "Didn't Second Master see that the master of the house was sleeping?" The Great Elder said lightly, his tone calm.

  "I..." Blue Flying's words got stuck in his throat. From the moment he heard that the Great Elder was back, he had a bad premonition in his heart!

  "Second Master, you left your room on your own, is there something important?" The Great Elder asked coolly, his tone as flat as if he was asking someone if they had eaten yet.

  "I... I've come to report on my work, Father." Lan Fei stuttered, his heart actually extremely nervous, and in the presence of the Great Elder, Lan Ning Er was also afraid.

  "You've been locked up for so long, is there any work that requires your report? I didn't know at all, Second Master is actually so dedicated?" The Great Elder said with a hint of sarcasm.

  "Hehe, Great Elder, Second Master and Fifth Miss have come to report to you." A certain elder said with a hint of schadenfreude.

  As soon as the elder finished speaking, Lan Fei and Lan Ning's hearts skipped a beat and cooled down! Although they knew that reporting this matter was impossible to hide from the great elder, however, they didn't expect to be exposed right to their faces!

  "Really? Then tell us, how did our Second Master scold you?" The Great Elder asked calmly and composedly, his facial expression unreadable.

  "Second Master says, you're shielding and colluding with people who oppose the Lan family, ruining their reputation, disregarding the authority of the master, and humiliating him as the son of the master! As for Fifth Miss, he says you never put her in your eyes, always finding fault with her, and even consorting with Cold Ruo Xue and others. Moreover, our Fifth Miss looks down on those Dan masters, thinking their status is too low to be worthy of the Lan family's favor!" A certain elder recounted the words of Lan Fei and Lan Ning Er to the Great Elder without missing a single word.

  The old man listened and only slightly furrowed his brow, then continued: "It seems that in the eyes of both Master Er and his daughter, I am truly guilty of a heinous crime! However, there is another matter I need to report to Master Er. The trouble caused by Fifth Miss has brought huge losses to our Blue House. To appease those Dan masters who want to leave, I have already promised that if they participate in the medicinal material exchange meeting, we will pay them 500,000 purple gold coins per person per day."

  "What? Our Blue family won't pay this money, they can participate or not, humph! Daring to go against our Blue family, you really don't want to live!" Blue Fei shouted angrily.

  "Second Master, are you certain it's alright if they don't participate?" The Great Elder asked with a hint of coldness in his tone, narrowing his eyes.

  "This...this..." Blue Fly stuttered again.

  "Elder, if the Medicine Exchange Meeting doesn't have Dan Master participating, it would be greatly disadvantageous to our Blue House! However, I'd like to know, who will pay for the 500,000 yuan per person per day?" Another elder asked.

  "This mess was caused by Second Master and his daughter, so naturally they should be the ones to pay for it." The elder said with a smile.

  "What's going on?" Blue Fly and Blue Ning Er immediately blew up, how could they have so much money?! One person per day would need 500,000, that's at least over a hundred people!

  "Just because I, the elder, wiped your butts and left those medicinal pellets behind, otherwise our Blue Family's medicine exchange meeting would not have been able to continue." The elder glanced at Blue Flying father and daughter with great displeasure.

  "Those alchemists aren't important figures, what can they do even if they don't attend?" Lan Ning'er said disdainfully. In her heart, the alchemist representatives of each alchemist association weren't very important. After all, the highest level among those people was only a Dan Master, and she didn't think much of them. The higher-level alchemists were all gathered at the Alchemist Association, but it was impossible for high-ranking alchemists to arrive so early. So, the ones who arrived early were just some unimportant alchemists... At least, that's what she thought.

  "Hehe, I wonder what kind of alchemist is an important figure in Miss Wu's eyes?" The Great Elder was really curious, what was Miss Wu's brain made of? Why did she think differently from others? It's worth noting that all the alchemists who received the Blue House invitation and attended the exchange meeting were at least Grandmaster Alchemists, and those Grandmaster Alchemists had great potential, their future prospects were boundless. But, Miss Wu actually looked down on those people!

  "Of course, it's like my future master and the likes of Dan Shizong who are above the level of a dan master. They should be the ones we look up to." Lan Ning'er said with a proud face, her stunning face full of smugness!

  "Does Fifth Miss think that just a few alchemists from the Dan Sect can support our Blue House's material exchange conference?" asked the Great Elder.

  "Of course, with their support, the reputation of our Blue House Medicine Exchange Conference will be even more resounding. Moreover, Du Ming is also coming to participate in this conference, so it doesn't matter if those insignificant alchemists don't attend." Lan Ning'er said confidently, humph! After she becomes Du Ming's apprentice, she must trample all these people under her feet, who let them always oppose her!

  "Miss Wu, can you tell me how many alchemy masters will be attending the gathering? Will they all come? Even if they do, are we going to let them exchange materials among themselves?" The elder glared at Lan Ning'er, thinking to himself that she was an idiot. If it were just a material exchange, there would only be around ten or so people, what significance would this gathering, touted as the largest alchemy gathering in the vast continent of Huanghai, hold?

  "This... even if this time the Dan Master who came to participate in the meeting was a bit less, what's the big deal? Anyway, Du Ming will come, he is more important than any Dan Master. Once I become his disciple, our Blue Family will have a relationship with him, and those Dan Masters will have to come and fawn on us." Lan Ning Er said nonchalantly.

  "Is Miss Wu so certain that Master Du will accept you as his apprentice?" The elder asked incredulously, he really didn't know where Lan Ning's confidence came from, did Master Du ever explicitly say that he would accept Miss Wu as his apprentice?

  "Of course, I am a rare talent in the field of alchemy on the continent of Huatian, which appears only once in a hundred years. If you don't accept me as your apprentice, it will be a great loss for Pavilion Master Du." Lan Ning'er said confidently, her tail almost wagging with pride!

  For Lan Ning's strong confidence, the elder really didn't know what to say. Du Ming said he would only consider it, but she thought it was a done deal and even publicly announced it, making everyone aware of it. Hmph! If Du Ming doesn't accept her as his apprentice in the end, let's see how she'll save face then!

  "Miss Wu, Du Ming is one of the most virtuous and respected individuals on the Continent of Vast Heaven. I don't think it's a loss for him to not take you as his disciple?" The Third Elder spoke in a nonchalant tone, with a hint of mockery in his sharp eyes. Hum! If he didn't consider the face of their Master, he would have said something even more unpleasant.

  "I'm a Dan-making genius and became a Dan-making master before the age of twenty." Lan Ning'er emphasized, this was something she was most proud of.

  "There have been alchemy geniuses like you on the Vast Heaven Continent before, if every single one of them were to be taken in by Du Mingyang, wouldn't most of the alchemists become his disciples?" The Third Elder said with a light smile.

  "How can those people compare with me? I am the fifth miss of the Lan family, the most favored one!" Blue Ning Er couldn't help but shout angrily.

  "Do you think that Duan Mian will accept you as his apprentice just because of your identity?" the Third Elder asked with some ridicule.

  "Then..." Lan Ning'er was about to retort when she was interrupted by a stern and authoritative voice.

  "Alright, let's not argue anymore. Everything will be done as the Great Elder says!" Blue Family's master, Blue Taohai, who had been resting with his eyes closed, spoke up and then directly stood up from his seat, leaving the hall.

  "Someone, take Second Master and Fifth Miss back to their rooms. Without my order, neither of them is allowed to step out of the room half a step. Also, from today on, deduct the monthly allowance of Second Master and Fifth Miss to pay for the compensation of those Dan masters until Second Master and Fifth Miss repay all the purple gold coins owed to the Lan family." The Great Elder ordered.

  "You can't do that, I'm the fifth miss of the Lan family, the most favored one! Grandfather won't allow you to do this!" Lan Ning'er shouted hysterically after hearing the words of the elder.

  "Didn't Miss Wu just hear what the master of the house said?" asked the elder with a frown.

  "I..."

  "Hurry up and take them down." The elder didn't want to give Lan Ning'er any chance to speak, urging directly.

  "Yes!" The guard took orders and half-pushed-half-escorted Blue Fly father and daughter back to the room.

  "Great Elder..."

  "Does Second Elder have anything to say?" The First Elder glanced at the Second Elder and asked in a soft voice.

  "Hmm! Nothing." The Second Elder was about to speak up for Blue Fly's father and daughter, but after the Great Elder gave him a light glance, he didn't dare say another word. In the Elder's Council, the Great Elder's authority was unshakeable.

  "Since everyone has no opinion, let's disperse!" The elder drove people away.

  "Elder, those Dan masters' remuneration should be paid as soon as possible." The Third Elder reminded before leaving the hall.

  "Uh-huh, I'll send someone to deliver it to them soon. We'll use the public funds to cover it first, and then Second Master and his daughter can repay us slowly." The elder nodded and said.

  The other elders, upon hearing the great elder's words, couldn't help but mourn in their hearts for Blue Fly and his daughter for a few minutes. Alas! It was truly pitiful! Due to this matter, the father-daughter duo had lost all of their spending money.

  After all the elders left the hall, the elder came directly to the study of the master Lan Tao, knocked on the door first, and then stepped in.

  "I'm here." Lan Tao said calmly from his seat.

  "I'm here." The elder sat down opposite the host and also replied with just two words.

  "Is he okay?" Lan Tao raised an eyebrow and asked casually.

  "It's perfect." The elder replied with a must-answer tone.

  "For crying out loud, can't you just say a few more words?" Lan Tao said, his anger almost bursting in his heart.

  "You all know, do you still need me to say it?" The elder said in a bad tone. Humph! Obviously thinking of his grandson, yet he's still finding fault with him, the way these two interact is really strange!

  "I just want you to say it, how is it?" Lan Tao shouted somewhat childishly.

  "I won't say it." The old man's stubborn temper also came up.

  "You... Lan Hong! I'm your older brother, do you want to drive me mad?!" Lan Tao bellowed with a burning jealousy, at this moment he looked like a child who couldn't get his candy, where was the dignity of being the master of the Lan family?!

  "What's the big deal?" Elder Lan Hong said nonchalantly, not even bothering to raise an eyebrow. Anyway, he knew that Lan Tao would only shout at him and wouldn't do anything else!

  "Get away from my grandson!" Lantao shouted jealously, that was his precious grandson! But from young to old, as long as he held him, the little brat would cry nonstop, and never gave this grandfather a good face. However, with others, he always smiled nonstop, sigh! Just thinking about it made the sour water in his heart keep overflowing!

  "That's also my grandson! If it weren't for me back then, would you have this grandson?" the elder said, not giving an inch.

  "He..." Lan Tao was somewhat indignant, he knew that the him of years ago was a bit stubborn, but hadn't he compromised in the end? Why were these people still holding grudges?! Especially that stinky little brat! Ugh...

  "Brother, this kind of familial affection, you can't be jealous into existence." said the elder Lan Hong with a tone that added fuel to the fire.

  "Waaa... Give me back my grandson, mom! My son has been bullied!" Lantao saw that the hard approach wasn't working, so he had to switch to a softer one.

  "Big brother, our mother has been gone for many years." The elder's forehead had several black lines, reminding him, alas! Big brother's rascal nature is showing up again, and he really can't do anything about it! However, if Lan Ruoxue were to see this scene, she would definitely say that the blue family's thick-skinned nature is inherited.

  "What's it to you?" Blue Wave bellowed, his eyes brimming with unshed tears.

  "Big brother, it's useless for you to be jealous of me! That little brat doesn't even like coming home now." Lan Hong spread out his hands and shrugged his shoulders, expressing a hint of helplessness.

  "Is the charm of people like Leng Ruo Xue so great?" Lan Tao asked with some jealousy, his good grandson! Wuh...nowadays he's always hanging out with others, and even calls a dog brother, humph! Since he likes dogs so much, then let someone go find him a few more, lest that stinky little brat can't even find the family gate.

  "It should be! That little girl is very interesting, and not afraid of our Blue family at all. I can see that Lie'er is very happy with them, and Ming'er is also with them!" The Great Elder said, in fact, the master of the house had already known about these things, even the movements of Leng Ruo Xue and others were under the control of the master of the house, however, the master did not take any action, and even let people cover up all this, otherwise, Lan Fei would not have been so passive!

  "Is it? It seems I have some time to go see that little girl." Lan Tao thought for a moment and said.

  "You'd better be prepared, that little girl isn't easy to deal with, she's sharp-tongued!" Lan Hong reminded.

  "Then I must go and take a look, and also see that dog that took away my grandson." Lan Tao had already made up his mind.

  After hearing the host's words, Blue Swan's mouth twitched and thought, look at that dog, isn't it your real purpose?

  At this time, Bing Ji, who was resting in the guest house, had no idea that he had already been remembered by a jealous old man.

  Inn.

  Leng Ruo Xue and others were gathered in the room, discussing matters. Bing Qi was sleeping on the bed, Lan Lie was half-lying on the edge of the bed, watching it sleep, and occasionally touching the fluff on Bing Qi's body.

  "Go away! Don't disturb me while I'm sleeping." Ice Ky lay on the bed, closing his eyes and flicking his small ears in annoyance, growling softly.

  "Xiao Bing, you've been sleeping for almost a whole day! How can you still be sleeping?! Don't sleep anymore, get up and play with me for a bit! Let's go play frisbee!" Lan Lie said excitedly. If he wasn't mistaken, it seemed that dogs loved playing catch the most, heh heh!

  "Nima's frisbee!" As soon as he heard "frisbee", Bing Qi got angry, what the heck, it's not a dog, why catch a frisbee?!

  "Don't you like flying discs? Then let's play with a ball of yarn?" Lan Lie asked somewhat out of line, he thought that all felines and canines should enjoy this kind of exercise! Only, Xiao Bing was really too lazy!

  "Get lost with your yarn ball!" Bing Qi was even angrier, damn it! It's not a cat, what's the point of playing with a yarn ball?! Ah! It really wants to bite people!

  "Haha!" Cold-as-snow, who was not far from them, couldn't help but laugh out loud after hearing their conversation.

  "Xiao Xue, quickly get rid of this idiot, I'm about to be driven mad by him." Bing Qi directly jumped into Leng Ruo Xue's arms, saying somewhat helplessly.

  "Wooo... Little Ice, I like you so much, how can you despise me!" Lan Lie complained, his eyes filled with tears of grievance! Why wouldn't Xiao Bing let him hug her? He really wanted to hold her too!

  "I don't like you! Stop bothering me!" Ice Cream's forehead dripped with two drops of cold sweat, somewhat unbearable, and let out a low growl. As a male itself, it really couldn't accept other male animals being so affectionate towards it, except for its owner.

  "Haha! Stop arguing, Lan Lie. It's getting late, shouldn't you head home?" said Leng Ruoxue with a hint of subtlety, essentially telling him to leave.

  "Xiaoxue, you also despise me." Lan Lie said pitifully.

  "Nonsense, don't you dare to like me?!" The demon beside him said coldly, who made Blue Lian's words very displeasing! You also despise me? Xue Er never liked you anyway, okay?!

  "Scram! We need some rest." The demon added.

  "Whoa! It's getting late, let's head back!" Leng Wudi intervened.

  "Alright! Little Bing, I'll come see you again tomorrow!" Lan Lie said with some reluctance, and then left with Leng Wudi and the others.

  After Lan Lie and others left, Leng Ruoxue looked at Leng Qingtian and others, and said: "Grandfather, let's take turns to attend the exchange meeting for this half month!"

  "Good!" Leng Qingtian and others agreed.

  "Everyone should get a good rest, tomorrow I'll go with You Xiao first." Leng Ruo Xue said, she had already divided the crowd into five groups of two people each, taking turns to exchange shifts guarding the stall.

  Everyone nodded and returned to their own rooms.

  The next morning, Leng Ruo Xue and Yao Jie arrived at the exchange venue.

  On the scene, although there were many alchemists, everyone was chatting in groups of three or five. The number of alchemists who actually exchanged was not large, mainly because they had already exchanged most of their medicinal materials...

  Ten days later.

  It's Leng Ruo Xue and Yao Nie's turn again to guard the stall at the medicine exchange meeting.

  Inside the venue.

  "Monster, it seems like there are some new faces today." Cold-as-snow leaned into the monster's arms, casually sweeping her eyes across the scene, and spoke in a light tone.

  "Hmm, I guess it's the people from Dan Shifu Association who have arrived. I heard that every time there is an exchange meeting, they are always the last to arrive." The demon replied, the Dan Shifu of the Dan Shifu Association has a relatively high level and status, so naturally he won't arrive early like other Dan Shifus, therefore, they always arrive late. However, in the past, even if they arrived late, they were still the biggest winners of the exchange meeting, but this time it's hard to say.

  Just as the two were chatting in a low voice, a tall and handsome middle-aged man in his fifties walked towards their stall.

  "Is this the medicine you want to exchange? It looks quite ordinary." The middle-aged man squatted down, saying somewhat critically.

  "Yes, we're poor!" Leng Ruoxue replied indifferently. In fact, she had already replaced most of her medicinal materials, so the ones on display now were just ordinary ones. Moreover, it wasn't just her; in reality, most alchemists were like this, and they were only pretending to be something they're not.

  The middle-aged man twitched at the corner of his mouth and said, "You're still poor! You must be bitterly poor!"

  "By the way, where's your little dog? I heard you have a very fierce little dog?" The middle-aged man asked directly without beating around the bush, and looked around, but couldn't find even a single dog hair.

  "Sleep!" Leng Ruo Xue raised an eyebrow, speaking softly, but her heart had become vigilant. This man didn't seem to be here to exchange medicine at all, and what's more, he was inquiring about Bing Ji's business?

  "Let me see that little dog! I'm very curious." The middle-aged man gritted his teeth.

  "Sorry, Bing Qi doesn't see outsiders." Leng Ruo Xue refused without hesitation. This man was really too strange, did he have a grudge against Bing Qi? Why did he grit his teeth whenever Bing Qi was mentioned?

  "I don't care, I must see him." The middle-aged man said somewhat unreasonably.

  "No way." Leng Ruo Xue was amused by him, this is interesting, who does he think he is!

  "If you don't let me see that little dog, I'll stay here and won't leave," said the middle-aged man with a somewhat spoiled tone.

  "Suit yourself, you little monster! Let's go!" said Leng Ruo Xue with a hint of amusement. What kind of extreme weirdos could she possibly run into?!

  "Good." The demon replied, and the two of them stood up, simply packed their things, and left the exchange meeting site.

  The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, and then followed up!

  As they walked down the main street of Blue Cloud City, Yao Jiao turned around and glanced at the middle-aged man who had been following them all along. He furrowed his brow slightly, looking somewhat displeased, and said: "Xue Er, that guy is still following us!"

  "It doesn't matter, we're almost at the inn anyway." Leng Ruoxue said nonchalantly, although she didn't know what that man's purpose was in wanting to see Bing Ji, but her intuition told her that he probably didn't have any great malicious intentions.

  Leng Ruo Xue and Yao Jiao had just walked to the entrance of the inn when they found that it was surrounded by a crowd of people, who were all discussing something in hushed tones.

  "What's going on?" The demon and Leng Ruo Xue exchanged a glance, both looking puzzled.

  "It's really hard to tell! This man looks quite honest, how could he be capable of killing someone?!"

  "Don't judge a person by appearance!"

  "Yes, yes! As a poison master, I've killed people with my skills, that's really fatal!"

  Hearing the whispers of the crowd, Leng Ruo Xue and Yao Jie pushed through the throng and walked directly into the inn.

  At this time, in the lobby of the hotel, Zheng En was facing off against a man who looked to be around thirty years old, with a greasy face and a powdered complexion.

  All that could be seen was the man's proud face, looking at Zheng En with a slightly provocative gaze, while Zheng En remained silent. However, his bright red face and trembling body revealed his anger at this moment...

  "Zheng En, I didn't think you were still alive! I thought you would have killed yourself in frustration by now!" The man said with a hint of schadenfreude, his slightly effeminate face full of smugness.

  "Sun Wei, you haven't died yet, how can I bear to die?!" Zheng En said with a suppressed hatred. He knew that he still didn't have the ability to deal with Sun Wei now, and besides, he couldn't cause trouble for Miss either! So, facing Sun Wei's humiliation, he chose to endure, after all, Miss had said that a gentleman takes revenge, ten years is not too late, having waited so many years already, what's a few more days?!

  "Haha, do you think you can be my opponent? Fifteen years ago you lost to me, and now you're even more unlikely to win against me!" Sun Wei said confidently. With his current identity and status, if he wanted to get rid of Zheng En, it would be as easy as turning over his hand. However, he wouldn't let Zheng En die easily, because Zheng En was once the person he envied the most! Moreover, the thrill of cat-and-mouse game was the best, so he wanted to slowly toy with Zheng En until he died, that's the only way it would be enjoyable!

  "Is it?" At this time, Leng Ruo Xue's voice faintly echoed in the great hall.

  "Who are you?" Sun Wei looked at Leng Ruo Xue with some displeasure, thinking to himself, where did this ugly freak come from? It's best if he doesn't interfere with his business, otherwise, he will definitely make this ugly freak regret it!

  Digression

  Thank you jenhui for sending me flowers.

  Thank you dear 1219735148, floating fine sand, ink cold 123, xq20040215 for the votes.