The building that Hong Bao had led them to was a small one, clearly only meant for one or two disciples. It spoke leagues about her position in the Ye Zhong Order.

Whether it was Qiu Ling or Jing Yi, they both noticed this but considering how much she had just talked about her Master, neither of them wanted to ask any further questions. At the very least, they should wait with that until they had told Hong Bao about their intentions for this visit.

The four of them stepped into the building and went to a courtyard in the middle of the building. A small pavilion with a carved table and several stools overlooked the area. Hong Bao led the other three over there before skipping back into the house by herself.

When she was gone, Qiu Ling narrowed his eyes and turned to Wu Ya. “So, what exactly are you doing, spending time with that Hong Bao?”

Wu Ya smiled happily now that he was able to converse with his good friend’s son, apparently not noticing that Qiu Ling held some distaste for Hong Bao. “Oh, we met quite coincidentally while I was traveling the mortal realm. Back then, I saw her wield that guandao and my heart couldn’t help but beat faster. To be honest, I was quite surprised when I found out today that the three of you actually knew each other. Well, I guess similar people do attract each other.”

Qiu Ling gave him a long look, wondering what exactly the similarity between him and Hong Bao was. Although then again, maybe he didn’t want to know after all. He gave a faint hum and then looked around the courtyard before turning back to Jing Yi. “Well, we did find her. She’s the last person you wanted to invite, right? So after this …” He didn’t pose the rest of the question but it was pretty clear what he meant.

Jing Yi smiled faintly and then nodded. “Yes, after this, we should go to the capital city of the Long kingdom. Let’s have a look around and then find a place where we can have that gathering. Then after that, we still have to send the address to everyone else. Also, Xiao Dong and I couldn’t find Shao Hai in the Yun Zou Sect so we’ll have to see if he’ll make it back in time. If not …” He shook his head and sighed. “Well, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Qiu Ling gave another hum but he wasn’t too happy seeing Jing Yi like this. He knew how important this last farewell was to him even if it might not be forever. “I’m sure somebody should have known why he wasn’t there.”

Jing Yi nodded. “Well, from what we heard from his Master, Shao Hai should currently be out on a mission. I don’t know any details though and even if I did, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to go over there right now. Even though I would like to see him again, everyone else has their own life here. I can’t just expect them to drop everything at a moment’s notice for somebody who left them behind like that.”

Wu Ya looked from one person to the other, not sure if he got everything they were talking about. But either way, he felt like he had at least gotten the gist of it. “You know, I think that when it concerns friends, it doesn’t matter whether you do something wrong sometimes. The beauty of friendship is that we are able to forgive each other.”

Jing Yi smiled, feeling that he had already heard something very similar from Xiao Dong. It was quite funny actually, considering that he sometimes doubted whether Xiao Dong actually liked him as a person or if he was just doing things because he was Qiu Ling’s lover. Well, he probably shouldn’t be this pessimistic. “I guess you’re not wrong. Although there were a few more things like that, it might just boil down to this in the end. Anyway, that is something we can still see about later on. For now, this is about Hong Bao. And, well, if you’d like to come, you are naturally invited as well.”

Wu Ya raised his brows and then couldn’t help but turn to look at Qiu Ling. He didn’t exactly know what kind of meeting this was about but he felt that it shouldn’t be the wedding that Qiu Ling had talked about before. So this was yet another matter and he felt that he couldn’t ignore Qiu Ling’s thoughts on the matter.

Qiu Ling simply raised his brows at him. “My fiance has already said that you are invited. What are you still looking at me for?”

Even though Qiu Ling’s attitude seemed a bit bad at first glance, Wu Ya was able to hear that he still meant that he wanted him there. So, of course, he wasn’t unhappy. “Well, it’s my honor then!” With that, he turned around to see where Hong Bao was. “Actually, she shouldn’t need this long. Maybe I should go and have a look?”

Qiu Ling gave a hum even though he didn’t seem to be that interested and then waved at him. “Who knows what happened again? That woman, I wouldn’t be surprised no matter what it is.” And, well, even though he felt that Wu Ya had no taste if he actually liked her, he also wouldn’t try to stand between him and his happiness. Everybody needed to know for themselves whether they could live with that kind of person or not.

Wu Ya didn’t think too much about what Qiu Ling had said and simply nodded, getting up again to go and check on Hong Bao. Just when he wanted to leave the courtyard, she appeared in the door though, carrying a tray with a tea set. Well, a tea set and a few plates with pastries. And those seemed to be what Hong Bao was having a hard time with.

Suddenly, the three of them all felt that they had a rough idea of just what she had needed so long for. In a sense, it really couldn’t be called surprising. No, this just seemed like par for the course for Hong Bao.

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