Chapter 379 Reunion with Old Friends, Yet All Has Changed
“Honored guest, your tune lingers as though it will not fade for three days. There is a customer who wishes to purchase it—would you be willing to sell?”
In the first-floor hall of the Eight Directions Inn, the fox demon proprietress smiled as she probed Chen Qianqian.
“This tune is not for sale.”
Chen Qianqian refused without hesitation, then added, “But if someone later names the piece correctly, bring me the written name. That will be your reward.”
She smiled faintly. “Very well. But do not be envious.”
She slowly opened the bottle. Inside were over a dozen pills, each of them top-grade.
Hiss—
She gasped. Within were even Gold Fate Pills for breaking through the True Fate realm. This was wealth equal to running her inn for a hundred years.
Quickly, she capped the bottle and hid it away, her heart filled with one thought—fortune!
Though swift, her motion did not escape the sharp eyes of several cultivators.
Time passed, moment by moment.
In her room, Chen Qianqian quietly drank tea.
Guests came and went in the inn below. Some even tried their luck by writing random names for the tune to present to the so-called fairy.
Naturally, none succeeded.
Near sunset, an old woman entered slowly, leaning on a cane and dressed in plain clothes. She walked to the counter. “Shopkeeper, I heard that anyone who can write the name of last night’s tune may meet the young lady.”
The proprietress looked at the unremarkable old woman and felt a flicker of disdain.
But she did not show it. “Old madam, does your family have juniors who entered the immortal sects?”
“No.”
Her voice was hoarse. “My elder sister entered an immortal sect in her youth. We parted a hundred years ago. Last night I heard a familiar melody, so I came to see if it was her.”
The listeners found nothing strange in her words. After all, cultivators and mortals were entirely different.
A youth of seventeen or eighteen could well be an ancient monster who had cultivated for centuries.
“Please, old madam, write the name of the tune.”
The proprietress cared little—she had already received her reward. Whether this woman succeeded or not made no difference.
She handed over paper and brush.
The old woman accepted and wrote four characters: Small Temple Nocturne.
“Just this?”
The proprietress asked doubtfully.
The old woman smiled. “When my sister and I wandered in our youth, we composed it in a small temple. That is how it was named.”
“Please wait a moment. I shall return shortly.”
The proprietress carried the paper upstairs.
“Small Temple Nocturne.”
In her room, Chen Qianqian’s lips curved faintly at the familiar name. “Bring her up.”
“Yes.”
The proprietress never expected that the old woman would actually be the younger sister of the young lady upstairs, nor could she guess what hardships the old woman had endured over the years.
Now that her elder sister had returned, those who had once spoken harshly to her would surely suffer.
Moments later, under the watchful eyes of the cultivators in the inn, the old woman ascended with the proprietress.
The outcome stunned everyone, and the news quickly spread to every major faction within the Hundred Tribes City.
In the city lord’s mansion, the city lord froze upon receiving the message. So it truly was a great cultivator merely seeking kin.
He had been startled for nothing. He immediately ordered the advisor beside him, “Withdraw all spies from around the inn. Do not risk angering her.”
“Yes.”
Almost the same command was issued by all the other factions.
Inside the inn, Chen Qianqian frowned slightly when she first looked at the old woman. But soon her spiritual sense pierced the disguise, revealing the youthful face beneath, faintly similar to the one she remembered.
“Eldest sister!”
The old woman’s voice now rang with joy, utterly different from the rasp she had used before.
“Eighth sister.”
Chen Qianqian stepped forward and embraced her tightly.
Beside them, Bai Qian casually set up a formation, preventing anyone from spying.
“Eighth sister, why are you dressed like this?”
Chen Qianqian asked, puzzled.
Yang Bamei replied slowly, “It is a long story. Right now, our Thousand-Mile Trading Company is being watched by many factions. Second brother and the others cannot leave, so I could only meet you this way.”
“Thousand-Mile Trading Company.”
Chen Qianqian paused at the name, then smiled faintly, murmuring, “Truly, fate works in wondrous ways.”
Yang Bamei looked at her doubtfully. “Could it be that you too came for the treasure of the Thousand-Mile Trading Company?”
“No.”
Chen Qianqian smiled and told her of their encounter with the company’s people outside the city.
“To think eldest sister even saved members of the company,” Yang Bamei muttered.
“Earlier, you said second brother and the others cannot come out to see me. Tell me, what trouble have you run into?”
At the thought of her siblings in danger, Chen Qianqian burned with impatience, eager to teach those petty villains a harsh lesson.
“Eldest sister…”
Yang Bamei hesitated, remembering second brother’s strict warning not to drag her into the matter and even to persuade her to leave the city.
But facing her eldest sister, she felt once more like a child under her protection. Back then, no matter how bitter life was, with eldest sister present, the hardships never seemed unbearable.
Chen Qianqian could see her hesitation. She deliberately hardened her tone. “Eighth sister, do you no longer respect me as your eldest sister? Would you dare keep secrets from me?”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
Yang Bamei bit down and said, “Here is how it happened…”
After parting from eldest sister and fifth brother, they had followed an escort team to settle in the Hundred Tribes City.
At first they dreamed of immortality, but soon they realized cultivation was no easy path. Wealth, land, methods, and companions were all indispensable. Godfather proposed combining escort work with cultivation.
That idea was rejected, and instead they decided to establish a trading company.
After more than ten years of effort, the company gained a small reputation in the city, even forging ties with the city lord’s mansion.
By chance, godfather broke through to the True Fate realm, causing the company to flourish.
Several siblings reached the Dao Foundation realm, becoming regarded as talents in the city.
Godfather invited a few True Fate wandering cultivators to join, making the company even stronger.
All had once dreamed of reunion with eldest sister in glory. But everything changed a month ago.
The company accidentally obtained a sheepskin scroll. On the spot, it drained a True Fate cultivator to a husk, and even godfather was left half-dead.
They had tried to conceal the matter, but no wall can block the wind. Soon the entire city learned of it.
The Thousand-Mile Trading Company became a target of all, everyone on edge, desperately searching for a way out.
After hearing Bamei’s account, Chen Qianqian’s lips curved into a cold smile. “Eighth sister, do not worry. With me here, no one will dare harm a single hair on your head.”
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