It was already midnight by the time Chu Li reached the Public House.
He first returned to the East Garden. The boat reached shore, and he hit the ancient jade xylophone. The sound reverberated throughout the island in an instant.
After a moment, Lee Yue, in his pajamas, rushed out with his messy hair. His eyes had not even opened entirely as he saw Chu Li. Lee Yue impolitely stared at Chu Li as he shook his head.
"And here I was wondering who it was!"
Chu Li smiled, "Brother Lee, it's been such a long time!"
"Ha...brother, you're finally back!" Lee Yue sighed.
Chu Li arched his eyebrows.
Lee Yue talked while they were on their way back, "If you took any longer, it would've been really bad!"
"What's going on?" Chu Li activated the Omniscient Mirror and scanned the East Garden. Nothing was out of the ordinary; the plants were still fine, and all of them were vigorous and growing well.
Lee Yue sighed, "Something happened to the Moonlight Orchid that had been sent to the West Garden!"
The two of them went to the courtyard and sat beside the stone table.
Chu Li lit up the lanterns, so much so that it made the courtyard look as if it was still morning.
Lee Yue scoffed, "After you left, something happened to the Moonlight Orchid in the West Garden, so I went to have a look. It indeed looked like it was actually wilting. It was like it was almost going to die at any moment! Gu Litong is trying to save it, but hasn't come up with anything yet."
"It's been a month, they still haven't wilted?"
"Gu Litong dragged out its lifespan till' now? He's not as useless as I thought he was."
"I'll check on it tomorrow."
"What do you mean tomorrow? Go now!"
"Now?" Chu Li shook his head, "Half a day doesn't make a difference."
Lee Yue widened his eyes.
"Brother, if the Moonlight Orchid really died, Master Siao will be furious! I heard that he really likes the flower!"
Chu Li smiled, "Third Lady is indeed powerful, but she still needs to listen to Master Siao. If she ever provoked Master Siao, it'll end in a total disaster!"
Lee Yue let out a little smile.
"What did Gu Litong say?"
"He—?" Lee Yue twitched his mouth, "He said that the pot may have come directly from the Moonlight Island, since it only had a lifespan of a month!"
Chu Li squinted his eyes and scoffed. What a vicious thought!
Lee Yue slammed his hands on the table, "What does he mean by that!? Is he saying that all the Moonlight Orchids we grew were taken from Moonlight Island? How dare he!"
"Is there any news from Master Siao?"
"Master Siao didn't say a thing, but Gu Litong said you wanted to hide from your mistake so you ran away!" Lee Yue said through his clenched teeth.
Chu Li scoffed, "Gu Litong…'
"He believes he could do anything he wanted just because he has a good father!" Lee Yue spat, "They're better off not letting me see him, or else I'd really teach him something new!"
Gu Litong had always relied on his High Official father. He dared to speak in an unrestrained manner and purposely offended a lot of people. No one could do anything to him due to the restrictions of the Public House, and he had been arrogant up until this point.
Chu Li shook his hand, "Seems like we're going to need to solve this properly."
"I'm afraid that Gu Litong will kill the Moonlight Orchid once he receives news of your return. If that happens then we really don't have evidence to prove otherwise!" Lee Yue sighed as he stared helplessly at him, "We need to be careful of their trap."
Chu Li smiled, "It's quite late now, you should return to sleep."
"Just remember to be careful!" Lee Yue yawned. He covered his mouth and went back to his room.
Chu Li returned to the west room. There was nothing to worry about; everything they cooked up would probably just be some insidious trick. He even had the protection of the Third Lady. There would definitely come a time for him to prove himself. He was not afraid of the trap he was about to walk into.
——
Chu Li took the boat to the Guardian of the Jade Island early in the morning.
Su Ru gently arrived with her apricot gown, along with a pleasant smell.
She smiled like a flower, as looked at Chu Li from top to bottom, "Looking good, aren't you?"
Chu Li greeted her with a closed fist salute.
Su Ru shook her hand and scoffed, "I heard that you lived with some beauty about a month?"
"I assume Aunt Siao Yueling told you this?"
"Of course! "
Su Ru elegantly left, passing through the woods as she entered a small valley full of flowers. There were quite the number of beautiful maids passing by who bowed to her as a greeting.
"I can't disobey the order that Aunt Siao Yueling gave me."
Chu Li said, "Great Aunt said a lot of good things about you."
Su Ru pursed her lips and smiled, "She said you were a clever person. By the way, have you completed the cultivation for levitation?"
Chu Li smiled as he nodded his head.
"You've seriously completed cultivating it already?" Su Ru could not hide her surprise.
She, along with Lady Siao, had also cultivated Narrowed World before, but they were unable to complete it, and still felt unwilling to up until now. They had guessed that Chu Li would not be able to complete it, that he definitely had not completed the cultivation!
Chu Li smiled, "I'm just lucky."
Su Ru's watery eyes looked hesitant. She rolled her eyes and looked away, "Seems like your comprehension is still pretty good! … Have you heard about the West Garden?"
Chu Li nodded.
Su Ru scoffed, "This Gu Litong, he's just…"
Chu Li smiled.
"Chu Li, tell me the truth. Did anything happen to the flower?" Su Ru inquired.
She was not too clear on what happened, but back when Chu Li began breeding the Moonlight Orchid, he had gone to the Floral House to buy one of them and it didn't wilt then. She had suspected that the Moonlight Orchid sent to the West Garden was the one he bought at the Floral House.
Chu Li had the guts. He was the type who dared to do these kinds of things.
"Chief, did you really think that I'm that kind of person? The Moonlight Orchid is fine. And it's even healthier than the other ones. I was even worried that they couldn't breed it so I went out of my way to choose the best one for them!" Chu Li retorted.
"Then why do they have problems over there?"
"The Moonlight Orchid is fragile. Problems are to be expected."
"But your parterre never had any problems before!"
Chu Li smiled, "Brother Lee strictly follows what I tell him to do, but I don't have that guarantee in the West Garden!"
"I suspect that Gu Litong and Zhou Yuting sabotaged it. They must be the ones who messed with the Moonlight Orchid!" Chu Li accused.
"Are you sure?" Su Ru was startled. She furrowed her brows and said, "They'd really dare to do this?"
"Jealousy pushes many people off the edge. They would do things that are beyond our expectations." Chu Li sighed, "With Gu Litong's temper? …There's still the possibility that he's the one who's doing this!"
Su Ru contemplated for a while, then slowly nodded her head.
The entire Public House knew that Gu Litong was petty. That he would do whatever was necessary to get what he wanted, and he had done a lot of bad things before. If he weren't a genius with plants, the judiciary, who was headed by Lady Siao, would have already punished him.
Both of them went to the third floor of the Stargazing Tower.
Siao Qi was practicing her swordplay in her white and clean gown. She looked like a fairy in this world, raised separately from the common folk.
The cold rays reflected off the sword on her hand. It was like a feather, quiet, soft, invisible. Not an inkling of lethality could be felt.
Chu Li had seen her practice her sword before, but the ray that reflected from the sword was fierce and cold. This time it was completely different, the way she wielded her sword had actually warmed up. It had lost any trace of ferocity that was prevalent the last time.
"Lady Siao!" Chu Li saluted, fists closed.
Siao Qi tossed her sword to Su Ru, who caught and sheathed it into the scabbard on the wall.
"When did you get back?" Siao Qi sat daintily on the embroidery with her back pencil straight. Her jade-like finger pointing at the embroidery opposite of her.
Chu Li took his seat where he was directed, "Midnight yesterday."
Siao Qi's bright eyes almost pierced him with their gaze, "Were you doing fine over there?"
Chu Li told her everything that had happened prior.
"Faction Leader?" Siao Qi took the white jade teacup from Su Ru and slowly took a sip, "I thought you'd bring her along with you so you could protect her."
Chu Li took a teacup and proclaimed his thanks, "It was different this time. Lady Chen Siyu is stronger and she even wanted to take over the Startling Cloud Faction's legacy."
"The Startling Cloud Faction…" Siao Qi furrowed her brows and shook her head, "She's a weak woman. That was dangerous."
Chu Li put down his teacup, "I've already removed anyone who posed a threat before I left.I'll go back often to check on her."
"It's not a good thing for the faction if you let the people know your identity." Siao Qi put forth.
"I used a fake name." Chu Li replied.
"You need to be more careful." Lady Siao muttered as she held onto her teacup.
"Seems like I need to give you an official fake identity." Chu Li looked at her, shocked.
Siao Qi stared at Su Ru who stood beside her. "Young Su Ru, I'll pass this job to you."
"Yes, Lady." Su Ru nodded her head and stared at Chu Li.
Siao Qi looked over at Chu Li, "Don't underestimate the people in the martial arts world. They have concealed talents and there are a lot of geniuses out there. The Startling Cloud Faction will discover your identity and won't let you go, and I'm not even mentioning those of the Equal of Heaven Faction!"
Chu Li slowly nodded his head and told her the arrangement he had prepared.
Siao Qi shook her head, "You'll be discovered far too easily. Just let Su Ru do the arrangements."
"I'll find someone that looks like you to stay in your residence." Su Ru said.
"I don't think finding one would be that easy, would it?" Chu Li's hand moved to touch his own face.
Su Ru rolled her eyes in reply, "Don't worry, I'll somehow find someone that looks like you. It just needs to be half alike and it'll work."
Chu Li smiled, "I shall leave it to you, Chief."
Su Ru scoffed, "She's great aunt's friend, of course I need to be cautious. If we let her stay in trouble, we'd have wronged her! I'm not doing this because of you."
Chu Li smiled and nodded.
Siao Qi stared fiercely at Su Ru, who bit her tongue and kept quiet.
"Have you completed cultivating Narrowed World?"
"Yes." Chu Li replied.
Siao Qi looked at him, "You've actually completed cultivation?"
Chu Li disappeared, then reappeared at the window, and then back to his seat. The cup he held still held the same amount of liquid as before. He was still, and it looked like he never even made a move. What happened before was like an illusion.
"Narrowed World…" Siao Qi sighed softly.
Su Ru scoffed, "Enough now. It's no use showing off. Narrowed World consumes a lot of inner energy. You're going to need to bring along more bottles of the Pill of Energy!"
Chu Li smiled at her response.
"The Narrowed World isn't only about martial arts, but also body movement technique, especially the mystery of the heart technique. If one completes their cultivation of this, their martial arts skill will definitely improve dramatically." Siao Qi finished.
Chu Li nodded his head.
After learning Narrowed World, his body movement technique was like that of a demon, normal fighters would not even have had the chance to defend against it. His martial arts had indeed improved by leaps and bounds.
"Lady Siao, we need to quickly settle the issue with the West Garden." Su Ru reminded Siao Qi.
"Let Chu Li inspect it. He suspects that someone is sabotaging the flower."
"Very well. You go with him." Siao Qi instructed.
Su Ru replied coldly, "Understood."
They bid farewell and left. Chu Li supposedly wanted to return to his courtyard to check whether his plants were growing well or not, and in the meantime check on how the Grass of Raven had grown, but Su Ru laughed at him and insisted that he wanted to go back to meet his beautiful Scribe.
Chu Li gave in, and decided followed her to the West Garden.
It was already midnight by the time Chu Li reached the Public House.
He first returned to the East Garden. The boat reached shore, and he hit the ancient jade xylophone. The sound reverberated throughout the island in an instant.
After a moment, Lee Yue, in his pajamas, rushed out with his messy hair. His eyes had not even opened entirely as he saw Chu Li. Lee Yue impolitely stared at Chu Li as he shook his head.
"And here I was wondering who it was!"
Chu Li smiled, "Brother Lee, it's been such a long time!"
"Ha...brother, you're finally back!" Lee Yue sighed.
Chu Li arched his eyebrows.
Lee Yue talked while they were on their way back, "If you took any longer, it would've been really bad!"
"What's going on?" Chu Li activated the Omniscient Mirror and scanned the East Garden. Nothing was out of the ordinary; the plants were still fine, and all of them were vigorous and growing well.
Lee Yue sighed, "Something happened to the Moonlight Orchid that had been sent to the West Garden!"
The two of them went to the courtyard and sat beside the stone table.
Chu Li lit up the lanterns, so much so that it made the courtyard look as if it was still morning.
Lee Yue scoffed, "After you left, something happened to the Moonlight Orchid in the West Garden, so I went to have a look. It indeed looked like it was actually wilting. It was like it was almost going to die at any moment! Gu Litong is trying to save it, but hasn't come up with anything yet."
"It's been a month, they still haven't wilted?"
"Gu Litong dragged out its lifespan till' now? He's not as useless as I thought he was."
"I'll check on it tomorrow."
"What do you mean tomorrow? Go now!"
"Now?" Chu Li shook his head, "Half a day doesn't make a difference."
Lee Yue widened his eyes.
"Brother, if the Moonlight Orchid really died, Master Siao will be furious! I heard that he really likes the flower!"
Chu Li smiled, "Third Lady is indeed powerful, but she still needs to listen to Master Siao. If she ever provoked Master Siao, it'll end in a total disaster!"
Lee Yue let out a little smile.
"What did Gu Litong say?"
"He—?" Lee Yue twitched his mouth, "He said that the pot may have come directly from the Moonlight Island, since it only had a lifespan of a month!"
Chu Li squinted his eyes and scoffed. What a vicious thought!
Lee Yue slammed his hands on the table, "What does he mean by that!? Is he saying that all the Moonlight Orchids we grew were taken from Moonlight Island? How dare he!"
"Is there any news from Master Siao?"
"Master Siao didn't say a thing, but Gu Litong said you wanted to hide from your mistake so you ran away!" Lee Yue said through his clenched teeth.
Chu Li scoffed, "Gu Litong…'
"He believes he could do anything he wanted just because he has a good father!" Lee Yue spat, "They're better off not letting me see him, or else I'd really teach him something new!"
Gu Litong had always relied on his High Official father. He dared to speak in an unrestrained manner and purposely offended a lot of people. No one could do anything to him due to the restrictions of the Public House, and he had been arrogant up until this point.
Chu Li shook his hand, "Seems like we're going to need to solve this properly."
"I'm afraid that Gu Litong will kill the Moonlight Orchid once he receives news of your return. If that happens then we really don't have evidence to prove otherwise!" Lee Yue sighed as he stared helplessly at him, "We need to be careful of their trap."
Chu Li smiled, "It's quite late now, you should return to sleep."
"Just remember to be careful!" Lee Yue yawned. He covered his mouth and went back to his room.
Chu Li returned to the west room. There was nothing to worry about; everything they cooked up would probably just be some insidious trick. He even had the protection of the Third Lady. There would definitely come a time for him to prove himself. He was not afraid of the trap he was about to walk into.
——
Chu Li took the boat to the Guardian of the Jade Island early in the morning.
Su Ru gently arrived with her apricot gown, along with a pleasant smell.
She smiled like a flower, as looked at Chu Li from top to bottom, "Looking good, aren't you?"
Chu Li greeted her with a closed fist salute.
Su Ru shook her hand and scoffed, "I heard that you lived with some beauty about a month?"
"I assume Aunt Siao Yueling told you this?"
"Of course! "
Su Ru elegantly left, passing through the woods as she entered a small valley full of flowers. There were quite the number of beautiful maids passing by who bowed to her as a greeting.
"I can't disobey the order that Aunt Siao Yueling gave me."
Chu Li said, "Great Aunt said a lot of good things about you."
Su Ru pursed her lips and smiled, "She said you were a clever person. By the way, have you completed the cultivation for levitation?"
Chu Li smiled as he nodded his head.
"You've seriously completed cultivating it already?" Su Ru could not hide her surprise.
She, along with Lady Siao, had also cultivated Narrowed World before, but they were unable to complete it, and still felt unwilling to up until now. They had guessed that Chu Li would not be able to complete it, that he definitely had not completed the cultivation!
Chu Li smiled, "I'm just lucky."
Su Ru's watery eyes looked hesitant. She rolled her eyes and looked away, "Seems like your comprehension is still pretty good! … Have you heard about the West Garden?"
Chu Li nodded.
Su Ru scoffed, "This Gu Litong, he's just…"
Chu Li smiled.
"Chu Li, tell me the truth. Did anything happen to the flower?" Su Ru inquired.
She was not too clear on what happened, but back when Chu Li began breeding the Moonlight Orchid, he had gone to the Floral House to buy one of them and it didn't wilt then. She had suspected that the Moonlight Orchid sent to the West Garden was the one he bought at the Floral House.
Chu Li had the guts. He was the type who dared to do these kinds of things.
"Chief, did you really think that I'm that kind of person? The Moonlight Orchid is fine. And it's even healthier than the other ones. I was even worried that they couldn't breed it so I went out of my way to choose the best one for them!" Chu Li retorted.
"Then why do they have problems over there?"
"The Moonlight Orchid is fragile. Problems are to be expected."
"But your parterre never had any problems before!"
Chu Li smiled, "Brother Lee strictly follows what I tell him to do, but I don't have that guarantee in the West Garden!"
"I suspect that Gu Litong and Zhou Yuting sabotaged it. They must be the ones who messed with the Moonlight Orchid!" Chu Li accused.
"Are you sure?" Su Ru was startled. She furrowed her brows and said, "They'd really dare to do this?"
"Jealousy pushes many people off the edge. They would do things that are beyond our expectations." Chu Li sighed, "With Gu Litong's temper? …There's still the possibility that he's the one who's doing this!"
Su Ru contemplated for a while, then slowly nodded her head.
The entire Public House knew that Gu Litong was petty. That he would do whatever was necessary to get what he wanted, and he had done a lot of bad things before. If he weren't a genius with plants, the judiciary, who was headed by Lady Siao, would have already punished him.
Both of them went to the third floor of the Stargazing Tower.
Siao Qi was practicing her swordplay in her white and clean gown. She looked like a fairy in this world, raised separately from the common folk.
The cold rays reflected off the sword on her hand. It was like a feather, quiet, soft, invisible. Not an inkling of lethality could be felt.
Chu Li had seen her practice her sword before, but the ray that reflected from the sword was fierce and cold. This time it was completely different, the way she wielded her sword had actually warmed up. It had lost any trace of ferocity that was prevalent the last time.
"Lady Siao!" Chu Li saluted, fists closed.
Siao Qi tossed her sword to Su Ru, who caught and sheathed it into the scabbard on the wall.
"When did you get back?" Siao Qi sat daintily on the embroidery with her back pencil straight. Her jade-like finger pointing at the embroidery opposite of her.
Chu Li took his seat where he was directed, "Midnight yesterday."
Siao Qi's bright eyes almost pierced him with their gaze, "Were you doing fine over there?"
Chu Li told her everything that had happened prior.
"Faction Leader?" Siao Qi took the white jade teacup from Su Ru and slowly took a sip, "I thought you'd bring her along with you so you could protect her."
Chu Li took a teacup and proclaimed his thanks, "It was different this time. Lady Chen Siyu is stronger and she even wanted to take over the Startling Cloud Faction's legacy."
"The Startling Cloud Faction…" Siao Qi furrowed her brows and shook her head, "She's a weak woman. That was dangerous."
Chu Li put down his teacup, "I've already removed anyone who posed a threat before I left.I'll go back often to check on her."
"It's not a good thing for the faction if you let the people know your identity." Siao Qi put forth.
"I used a fake name." Chu Li replied.
"You need to be more careful." Lady Siao muttered as she held onto her teacup.
"Seems like I need to give you an official fake identity." Chu Li looked at her, shocked.
Siao Qi stared at Su Ru who stood beside her. "Young Su Ru, I'll pass this job to you."
"Yes, Lady." Su Ru nodded her head and stared at Chu Li.
Siao Qi looked over at Chu Li, "Don't underestimate the people in the martial arts world. They have concealed talents and there are a lot of geniuses out there. The Startling Cloud Faction will discover your identity and won't let you go, and I'm not even mentioning those of the Equal of Heaven Faction!"
Chu Li slowly nodded his head and told her the arrangement he had prepared.
Siao Qi shook her head, "You'll be discovered far too easily. Just let Su Ru do the arrangements."
"I'll find someone that looks like you to stay in your residence." Su Ru said.
"I don't think finding one would be that easy, would it?" Chu Li's hand moved to touch his own face.
Su Ru rolled her eyes in reply, "Don't worry, I'll somehow find someone that looks like you. It just needs to be half alike and it'll work."
Chu Li smiled, "I shall leave it to you, Chief."
Su Ru scoffed, "She's great aunt's friend, of course I need to be cautious. If we let her stay in trouble, we'd have wronged her! I'm not doing this because of you."
Chu Li smiled and nodded.
Siao Qi stared fiercely at Su Ru, who bit her tongue and kept quiet.
"Have you completed cultivating Narrowed World?"
"Yes." Chu Li replied.
Siao Qi looked at him, "You've actually completed cultivation?"
Chu Li disappeared, then reappeared at the window, and then back to his seat. The cup he held still held the same amount of liquid as before. He was still, and it looked like he never even made a move. What happened before was like an illusion.
"Narrowed World…" Siao Qi sighed softly.
Su Ru scoffed, "Enough now. It's no use showing off. Narrowed World consumes a lot of inner energy. You're going to need to bring along more bottles of the Pill of Energy!"
Chu Li smiled at her response.
"The Narrowed World isn't only about martial arts, but also body movement technique, especially the mystery of the heart technique. If one completes their cultivation of this, their martial arts skill will definitely improve dramatically." Siao Qi finished.
Chu Li nodded his head.
After learning Narrowed World, his body movement technique was like that of a demon, normal fighters would not even have had the chance to defend against it. His martial arts had indeed improved by leaps and bounds.
"Lady Siao, we need to quickly settle the issue with the West Garden." Su Ru reminded Siao Qi.
"Let Chu Li inspect it. He suspects that someone is sabotaging the flower."
"Very well. You go with him." Siao Qi instructed.
Su Ru replied coldly, "Understood."
They bid farewell and left. Chu Li supposedly wanted to return to his courtyard to check whether his plants were growing well or not, and in the meantime check on how the Grass of Raven had grown, but Su Ru laughed at him and insisted that he wanted to go back to meet his beautiful Scribe.
Chu Li gave in, and decided followed her to the West Garden.
