Heading Out 4

The elegant Lin Liushui, who looked no less attractive in his outdoor clothes and sitting at the campfire, chuckled at his burly friend's unhappy tone of voice. "Oh? Don't tell me that you have not given the question a bit of thought, over the last few days? This concerns your marriage, after all, and you did run away from the girl for almost two years."

"Run away from her? Who said that I ran away from her? I was only out to try to figure out some problems that I had with my alchemy, alright? And I had certainly told her what I had intended to do!"

Qin Feng almost snorted as soon as he heard that. That was a rather bold statement to make, for someone who had not even passed his initial examinations, to become a low ranked Alchemist.

Fortunately, while Du Yan was not any exceptional talent, he had not made any terrible mistakes. Otherwise, as the person who had been 'taste-testing' his potions previously, Qin Feng would have found himself in a rather 'interesting' situation!

In any case, this situation was not about that. Instead, it had everything to do with the fact that Du Yan had not informed anyone else of that decision of his. Nor had he left any sort of notification with regards to his intentions. To the girl, and not that concerning his ambitions towards alchemy!

Something that Lin Liushui was quick to point out to him too. "If you had left a letter, or some sort of love token with her, you would not be in such a mess now," he said with a rather exaggerated sigh. "If she had something like that with her, all of this nonsense could have been avoided in the first place. Now she has two out of the Three Great Sects making trouble at her doorstep. So all we can do is hurry over and help her resolve it."

"Three Great Sects?"

Lin Liushui sighed again, and tapped himself on the chest before Du Yan could say a word. As though he was telling the latter to leave it to him. Not that the tallest man of the group looked particularly intent on taking over. Du Yan's face had already taken on a dark cast, and he gave off the distinct impression that he was brooding where he sat.

"You had already heard about the Snow Swallow Palace, so there is no point in telling you more about that place. They seem intent on showing up in the Capital for some strange reason. Although Yuan Qianyi, Du Yan's original bride-to-be, does not appear to be in their contingent."

Qin Feng nodded, acknowledging that bit of information. He could remember all that easily, since Du Yan had already spoken about it, some time ago. "And which is the second of the Three Great Sects that is making an appearance? I trust that it is as powerful as the Snow Swallow Palace?"

"They would like to think so. But honestly? The Black Eagle Mountain is barely an extended family rather than a true Martial Sect. The only thing that it has to its name is a rather secure Mountain Stronghold and a very influential link with the Shu Kingdom Royal Family. One of their daughters married into the same as a Royal Court Concubine. That's about as high as she can get, without making Queen."

"The Black Eagle Mountain?"

Du Yan made a growling noise in his throat as soon as Lin Liushui mentioned the Sect, and he could not help but interject the moment that Qin Feng asked the question:

"That's a Silver Ranked Sect that is active in the East. But it has a branch there in the Capital and likes to throw its weight around thereabouts. The Branch Head there has some ties with the Royal Family, particularly the Fifteenth Prince. Who is the son of that same Royal Court Concubine. So you can guess what sort of people are in that faction."

From his choice of words used to describe the Black Eagle Branch Sect, it seemed pretty clear that Du Yan had a grudge against the same. Which was enough to make Qin Feng raise his eyebrows at the man, hinting that he would appreciate more information regarding the same. But Du Yan had fallen into a morose silence, and did not appear to have noticed Qin Feng's signal.

Which was why Lin Liushui took over the telling with a chuckle. Although he did have a touch of melancholy in his voice as he did so:

"The Black Eagle Mountain is only Silver Ranked, so they are not particularly influential. Not when they are compared to the Snow Swallow Palace, which is Gold Ranked. That is about as powerful as you can get, here in the Shu Kingdom."

Qin Feng frowned again. But that was enough of the hint that Lin Liushui did not need a reminder to tell him that Qin Feng knew nothing about the ranks of the Martial Sects either.

"There are three ranks which are used to differentiate the Martial Organizations that are so rampant in the Empire and the Six Kingdoms. Most of the common Schools and minor Sects are Bronze Ranked, while the slightly more influential ones - those who have some measure of influence within the Kingdoms where they are found?

"Well, those are usually awarded the Silver Rank, according to the Purple Jade Almanac, which deals in such matters. It is what most martial practitioners refer to, if they wish to learn more about the jianghu, as well as the gossip within the Martial World."

Qin Feng nodded. "So the highest rank listed within this Purple Jade Almanac is Gold? And the Snow Swallow Palace is of that rank? Doesn't that mean that Du Yan will have a bit of a fight on his hands?"

He turned to Du Yan as he said the last, but the brawny fellow merely snorted at his words. And pointed a finger at Lin Liushui.

"Well, they are less likely to cause trouble for the Yuan Family, since Yuan Qianyi, my original betrothed, belongs to that same Snow Swallow Palace. The Heavenly Eagle Mountain, on the other hand, is more likely to try to squeeze some benefits out of the Yuan Family, since the latter is backing another of the Royal Court Concubines. No doubt they are attempting to weaken the same at Court.

"It's all politics, as Lin Liushui will tell you."

Lin Liushui's face fell the moment that he heard that. Which was certainly not a surprise to Du Yan. It was a measure of just how annoyed he was feeling, from all that teasing that Lin Liushui had thrown at him earlier, that he would retaliate by pushing the responsibility for explaining back into his lap.

"You make it sound as if I am the only one qualified to talk about that! I'll have you know that Brother Sanlang is more knowledgeable about that subject than I am. Perhaps we can push the job of educating young Qin Feng to him instead, hmmm?"

"Educating Qin Feng? What about?"

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