A Present for a Friend

Leng Jin Yu nodded. "Did you come to talk to Longjun?"

"I came to find that Bai Mu who saved you from the secret realm."

Leng Jin Yu raised his brows. How come Xin Lan was also looking for Bai Mu? "He is in the restaurant down the road. Longjun is also there but he should leave soon."

"Meaning I should hurry up because you're worried I would do something unforgivable?"

Leng Jin Yu looked up at the sky. Ah, the resentment from his previous life … it seemed it hadn't carried on only on his side. He turned back to Xin Lan and forced himself to smile. "Not that. But Bai Mu is being pursued by the Chun Feng Sect. He is very careful."

"I freed him together with Qiu Ling so that shouldn't be a problem."

"Ah. Right." Leng Jin Yu rubbed his forehead. "I'm sorry. It's been a while and that was the first time we saw each other so … I didn't think of it."

"Hmph." Xin Lan wanted to pass by him but finally stopped. What was he getting angry for? It wouldn't change anything. In the worst case, he might alienate his Master. That couldn't happen!

Xin Lan cleared his throat and turned back to him. "It's alright. I … just found a clue and think he might be connected."

"Ah. I see. Then … I hope you're right with that." He parted his lips, considering whether or not he should tell Xin Lan what had happened before. He didn't like him but in the end, they both wanted Jinde to be safe and happy.

Leng Jin Yu cleared his throat. "Actually, Qiu Ling's plan has to do with Bai Mu. We came here to ask him."

"Mn."

"So … whether or not you succeed with that clue, Jinde has a good chance to escape his situation. It would still be very nice of you to continue to help Longjun."

"I promised so I will do it."

"That's good."

"You … You have to take good care of him."

Mn? Leng Jin Yu inclined his head. Obviously, this had nothing to do with Bai Mu anymore. "I … will do that. He is the most important person in my life after all. But … you're also important to him. So don't be reckless. He would be sad if anything happened to you."

Xin Lan didn't respond. He just turned away and toward the entrance of the restaurant.

Leng Jin Yu sighed, shook his head and left the capital to return to Jinde's side. This guy … His past self might have been unjustly jealous considering that Jinde had only ever had eyes for him but at least he had been right that Xin Lan obviously felt more for Jinde than he was able to return. Well, that was long past. He didn't have to care about that anymore.

He hurried back to the Yun Zou Sect but before he could land he noticed a person in a white robe standing not far from the house. Leng Jin Yu furrowed his brows and turned around, landing a few feet away from him. "Grandmaster Zhangsun."

Zhangsun Xun Yi looked at the person that greeted him with a complicated expression. In the end, he clasped his hands and bowed his head.

Leng Jin Yu was taken aback. "This … Grandmaster Zhangsun, what happened?"

"There is something I'd like to know."

"Alright?" That didn't explain why he was behaving so strangely. "Then would you like to come in?" He motioned at the house where Jinde was waiting but Zhangsun Xun Yi shook his head.

"I'm not sure if you would be able to answer honestly in front of somebody else, so let's stay here if it is alright with you."

"I … I would naturally do as the Grandmaster requests. There is no need to be polite." Especially not like this.

Zhangsun Xun Yi turned to look at the house. "A while back I visited together with the Sect Master."

He paused, making Leng Jin Yu nod his head. "I remember.

"That day you offered us teacups that were your private possession because the ones from the sect were with that person. You said they were a present from a friend of yours."

Leng Jin Yu's expression tensed. Ah. It seemed he hadn't been careful enough. Somehow, Zhangsun Xun Yi must have figured him out. For a moment, he considered to play dumb but he let go of that notion just as fast. Zhangsun Xun Yi wasn't an idiot. He had lived a long life and seen a lot. He wouldn't have approached him if he wasn't sure about his guess. It seemed the time to lay everything out in the open had come. "Grandmaster Zhangsun wants to say?"

"I saw those teacups once before. Back then I was still a young cultivator. In fact, I had only attained the second stage and becoming the Yun Zou Sect's Grandmaster one day wasn't even a daring dream. I would never have thought of it. Back then, I had a friend that I used to visit often. Today, he is known as Alliance Head Hua from the Liu He Alliance but back then he was also just a nameless cultivator."

Zhangsun Xun Yi looked up at the sky. "We couldn't even be called prodigies but our Masters doted very much on us so we were lucky to receive a good treatment that someday enabled us to go farther than even those with better talent might have had the chance. But even outside cultivation, our Masters were very amicable.

"I remember one day when Hua Min's Master came back to the sect with a bright smile. He had just come back from his travels and had furthered his cultivation. Surprisingly, it wasn't this breakthrough that had made him that happy. Rather he had found a present for a good friend."

Zhangsun Xun Yi smiled. "We were naive back then and young. We couldn't imagine how a simple present could be worth more to him than a breakthrough. We asked him to show us that present and he did. Needless to say, I was quite surprised to see that the same tea set he showed us back then was in your hands. But then again it's not much of a wonder. That friendship must have run deep, so naturally, you would have held onto that present, Grandmaster Leng."