"Yo."
"What are you so excited about? I’m not going to hurt you," Bai Qiuran said, putting down his teacup with a sigh. "I mean, what kind of relationship do we have? We’ve gone through thick and thin during the righteous and evil wars, and how can that compare to your old witch of a master who wants to drain my life energy? You’re being too tense, and it really saddens me."
"Yo." Bai Qiuran walked into the courtyard and closed the door, completely blocking the view of the female cultivator outside. He then turned to find Su Xiangxue, a stunning beauty, surprised and excited to see her again. "Long time no see, Su Xiangxue. You're really here."
Bai Qiuran put down his teacup and sighed. After a moment of thought, Su Xiangxue poured herself a cup of tea and said softly, "As the ancestral master of the Qingming Sword Sect, don’t tell me that you can’t get any information from the Qingming Sword Sect’s intelligence network?"
"That's right, long time no see," he replied.
"Master."
"Alright then, let’s talk. What’s going on?"
"Our Hehuan Sect is just a small sect with few tricks up our sleeves. We don't have an intelligence network."
"You said something similar when you killed my master." Su Xiangxue's expression fell, and much of her charming aura faded. She sighed and sat still, having no intention of seeing him off.
"Since the Empire is strong through martial force and the Emperor is the first master of the Empire, able to confront foundation-building cultivators head-on even as a qi condensation cultivator, do you think the crown prince could have been silently killed at a performance by mere mortal martial artists?" The current sect leader of Hehuan Sect took several deep breaths and poured tea for herself and Bai Qiuran again.
"No, no, no," Bai Qiuran stood up. "Thank you for the information. I’m taking my disciple out... to have a look."
"Our Hehuan Sect is just a small sect, where do we get any useful information?"
"Hmph." Su Xiangxue’s expression darkened further, her charm dissipating even more.
"Ever since you killed my master, we haven't seen each other much." But after thinking for a moment, Bai Qiuran still did not understand why this little demoness from the Hehuan Sect was upset, so he continued, "So has there been anything fun happening in the cultivation world recently? Any interesting information?"
The current sect leader of Hehuan Sect drew several deep breaths and once again picked up the teapot, pouring tea for both herself and Bai Qiuran.
"Ah." Upon hearing this, Su Xiangxue's guard went up, and she asked, "Bai Qiuran, what exactly are you here for? I warn you, over the years, our Hehuan Sect has never killed anyone for life energy. Don’t do anything reckless!"
“You’re acting strange. Anyone who doesn’t know might think you really cared about respecting your master,” Bai Qiuran thought for a moment.
"Anyway, this matter must be suspicious, right?"
"What does it matter if I’m a qi condensation cultivator?" Bai Qiuran waved his hand. "Staying in your Hehuan Sect makes me think of your old witch of a master; I feel uneasy. I'm leaving. Take care."
Bai Qiuran walked across from Su Xiangxue, draining the cup of tea she had just filled.
Su Xiangxue immediately became unhappy. She tightened her ink-black hair in her fingers and said, "I suspect that the Underworld wants your life. The reason is that the Book of Life and Death has encountered a problem in its system. Otherwise, how could there be someone still lively when their lifespan is supposedly over?"
"I recently took in a new disciple. This time, I brought her out to train a bit." Bai Qiuran paused to consider.
"Uh... I guess she counts as a girl?"
"I was looking all over for her with the members of the Righteous Dao Alliance back then, and it was you who leaked her whereabouts to me," Bai Qiuran rubbed his head, thinking, was there still someone in the lower realm who couldn't be considered tender grass by him?
"Alright, then tell me, what’s going on?"
"Hmph, originally, my master and I just had differing views. I never thought of killing her, but she was too excessive in her demands and even wanted me to be her tool for collecting yang energy. That's why I turned against her."
Su Xiangxue poured herself a cup of tea, drinking slowly while saying, "As the ancestral master of the Qingming Sword Sect, can’t you even use the Qingming Sword Sect’s intelligence network to find out what you need?"
Bai Qiuran scratched his head again, musing over whether there were any tender young grass in the lower realm that he deemed unworthy.
"You shouldn’t mention it; what you have there is not even qi condensation level.”
At that moment, Su Xiangxue felt that her breath control might have surpassed many of those righteous sect giants. She noticed that Bai Qiuran's teacup was empty, took up the teapot, and poured him another cup, then asked, "So why are you here?"
Once more, Bai Qiuran took a seat across from her, finishing off the cup she had just filled. Unfortunately, Bai Qiuran's thick-headedness made it difficult for him to grasp Su Xiangxue's subtle feelings, and he laughed, "Our Qingming Sword Sect might not be as good as your Hehuan Sect’s intelligence network. When it comes to honest men, the best ones are probably the drunk ones or those lost in love. At such times, they generally reveal everything."
Su Xiangxue pondered for a moment, then gradually relaxed her body while asking, "So what exactly do you want to do?"
“Ah, another royal one? These people have a lot of business.” Bai Qiuran could easily think of something irrelevant.
"I said, what do you want from me? Do not harm my sect members!"
"Come on, let’s talk about something serious."
“The crown prince of the Empire also likes this stuff, but three days ago, while watching a popular performance troupe recently, he was killed. The Emperor of the Empire was furious and offered a considerable reward to capture the murderer.”
"Hmph, I just want to chat and reminisce with you."
“Wow, how fun is this?”
Bai Qiuran shook his head, saying, "Don't worry. I am not here to hunt down whores this time."
"Yo," Su Xiangxue suddenly felt a little annoyed.
"Wow, how fun is this?" he repeated.
Thus, the conversation flowed between them, laden with underlying tensions and past grievances, weaving a complex tapestry of their shared history and the unfolding mysteries in the cultivation world around them.