What Xiao Er said piqued the interest of everyone in the courtyard. One by one, they turned to look at Bai Yunfei strangely.
For a few scant seconds, Xiao Rang and Xiao Xin looked surprised. At last, they had found the reason for Bai Yunfei’s strange request! It was a little strange, but it made sense too…
In their minds, the two thought, “Ah, the youth of today…”
Even Xiao Binzi and the other crafters seemed to smile knowingly at Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun after they got over their shock.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! How good is your memory!” Bai Yunfei roared to himself. The fact that Xiao Er was looking at him with eyes of worship was more than enough for Bai Yunfei’s lips to twitch.
He hadn’t thought that Xiao Er would recognize the Yun’s Soul Ring out of the several thousand accessories that had passed through his hands the past few days. Bai Yunfei himself couldn’t even remember any of the +11 accessories, so he was confident that no one would be able to tell where she got that ring from.
But!
Somehow!
Xiao Er had managed to tell!
Coincidence. That’s all it was. The Yun’s Soul Ring was the prized treasure from the most expensive jewelry store in Curopia City, the ‘Jade Pavilion.’ To talk a bit about the ring’s background, it was a ring that was rarely seen by other people. It was only because Xiao Er had offered a hefty sum of money that he was able to buy the ring from the shopkeeper, with a little coercion of course, but it was a purchase nonetheless.
Even more coincidental was the fact that it was Xiao Er himself who had made the purchase. That was why the ring had stuck in his mind.
Tang Xinyun herself was shocked by what she was hearing. Under the watchful eyes of everyone else, her face started to grow extremely red before she ducked her head down and stuffed her left hand back into her robes. Though she was unable to meet anyone’s eyes, Tang Xinyun’s had gained a suspicious light in.
“Wow… lord Bai is such a romantic!!” Xiao Yingxue sighed, her hands clutched at her chest. “If the man I favored did that for me, I’d be the happiest girl alive!!”
How frightful to see such a reaction from the third sister of the Xiao… should what she say be spread through Curopia City, the city would suffer yet another ‘buyout’ of accessories. She was, after all, a beautiful woman with plenty of suitors—many of them being wealthy young heirs themselves.
“Uh… I…” Under the ‘admiring’ eyes of everyone else, Bai Yunfei felt his back start to grow slick with sweat, “I… I actually… I was…”
Seeing how Bai Yunfei was so ‘embarrassed,’ Xiao Er couldn’t help but smile. Giving him a knowing nod, he said, “No need to explain, brother Bai. I understand now…”
“I” Bai Yunfei felt faint. “Why didn’t I realize how much of a blabbermouth you were!? In a single line, you’ve got me into a heap of trouble!”
“Hehe, lord Bai is a considerate person. That’s how young people should be.”
“How noisy…” Xiao Binzi seemed to be looking on in rebuke, but there was a hint of a smile on his lips.
“Hehe, what youngsters do today is truly quite unconventional. How fortunate that Yunfei is a patient one…” Cang Yu smiled as well. From how she was looking at Bai Yunfei, her opinion of him was surely improving.
From the side, Jiang Nan and Song Lin were both staring at Bai Yunfei with a mixture of shock and admiration. Silently, the two of them gave him a thumbs up from the side.
“…..” Bai Yunfei remained silent. There was nothing more that needed to be said, so he didn’t bother to say anything.
He was at a loss for words, really. “Ugh, it’ll be hard to explain things to Xinyun now…”
The look on Xiao Er’s face indicated that he had thought about something, but when he saw the glaring look being directed at him by Bai Yunfei, Xiao Er felt a chill run up his spine as if some sort of danger was about to approach. Wisely deciding to shut up, Xiao Er gave Bai Yunfei an embarrassed smile.
Everyone continued to talk with one another after the previous interlude was over, and after that, Xiao Binzi and the others finally decided to bid farewell and leave.
Tang Xinyun went with Cang Yu on her flying sword, Bai Yunfei went with Xiao Binzi on his flying sword, and Jiang Nan brought Song Lin with him on his flying sword as they traveled through the sky.
There was no need for the group to return to the Crafting School quickly. Jiang Nan’s traveling speed wasn’t even fast enough to keep up with Xiao Binzi’s anyways, so they took a break twice along the way. On the afternoon of the third day, the group finally arrived back within the territory of the school.
Both Zi Jin and Kou Changkong were surprised to hear the report following their return. Neither of the two had expected such a series of developments to occur—two of the more prominent disciples had been injured and their potential had been damaged. When Zi Jin looked at both Bai Yunfei and Tang Xinyun’s conditions, he was as stumped as Xiao Binzi. While they were injured, no outsider could help them. If they wanted to fully heal, they would have to depend on themselves.
The two of them were prepared for such an answer, but Bai Yunfei still couldn’t help but feel disappointed to hear confirmation from Zi Jin. Tang Xinyun herself didn’t look as if she had expected anything else. In fact, she looked more like she was trying to console Bai Yunfei, but her attempts only made Bai Yunfei feel even more guilty.
Huangfu Rui had been the most furious; she had been the first to want to go over to the Beast Taming School to eradicate them all. When Cang Yu had been injured, her jade slip clearly reflected her state it for Huangfu Rui to see. If not for her quick turn around and Zi Jin’s interference, Huangfu Rui would’ve run off to where Bai Yunfei and the others were. After hearing their story, Huangfu Rui was angry beyond belief.
A conflict between two schools wasn’t a simple matter. It would involve far too many parties if one did break out. Thus, Zi Jin held Huangfu Rui back, saying that they needed time to judge the Beast Taming School’s reaction first. Though the Beast Taming School had destroyed any proof of their involvement, both parties were well aware of the truth. If they wanted to have an underground fight with one another or even a full-out war, the Beast Taming School would’ve indicated it already.
As for the information regarding the Soul Refining School, Zi Jin had warned everyone to not let anyone else know. Bai Yunfei was even told to leave this matter to the elders and to not mind it anymore. Zi Jin told Bai Yunfei that it was more important to work on recovering his essence fireseed.
There was also another problem regarding Jiang Nan’s meeting with Bai Yunfei back in the Northern Plains Province. By accident, Jiang Nan had said that back in Stonegroove City, he had thought that Bai Yunfei had been one of their own since he had a soulbound armament, the Fire-tipped Spear. Jiang Nan decided to help Bai Yunfei out because of that assumption.
This in turn led to Zi Jin and the others being quite suspicious, but Bai Yunfei had prepared an ‘excuse’ a long time ago. He managed to bluff his way out.
If Zi Jin and the others were to learn about this before Bai Yunfei was accepted as a disciple, they would’ve been extremely suspicious, but after half a year with Bai Yunfei, they were all acutely aware of his ‘talent,’ ‘strange situation,’ and ‘background.’ For those reasons, none of the elders found it overly suspicious, though they were all still surprised nonetheless.
Nightfall.
In the Northern Point of the Crafting School was a single courtyard with beams of multi-colored light flowing out of it. Like a spectrum of dazzling colors, the night sky felt like a dreamland to anyone that saw it.
The reason for this spectacular sight was because of the crystal ‘lighthouse.’
It was the special lantern Bai Yunfei had won back in Redfire City, the ‘Prisma Lantern.’ Since Huangfu Rui had taken such a liking to it, Bai Yunfei had it transported to her own personal courtyard—with Sima Dong’s permission, of course.
Affixed to the lighthouse was the Prisma Lantern. At its core was a single crystal. With its spectacular and well-made design, the lantern was capable of bending and refracting light in any way it saw fit.
Seated on top of the lighthouse, Huangfu Rui could be seen resting her chin on her hands. She was staring up at the sky. Xiao Rourou was on top of Xiao Bai as the bird flew around the sky. Though she was humming to herself a song only children knew, she could be seen sometimes turning her head to look back at the two figures sitting side by side.
The gentle breeze that usually came with night was soft but strong enough to blow several strands of hair from Tang Xinyun’s face. Brushing some of the dancing strands behind her ears, she turned to look up at the starry canopus as if wondering about something.
By her side, Bai Yunfei was hesitating.
Finally drumming up some courage, Bai Yunfei managed to say, “Xinyun, I have something I need to tell you…”