Soaring the Heavens

His next destination was Mount Shaotai, but before that, Miao Yi decided to take a detour and pay Changfeng City—his birthplace, as well as the home he grew up in—a visit.

Changfeng City was situated within South Edict Manor’s domain, so it wasn’t too much of a detour for Miao Yi and his party. Back when Miao Yi had assumed his duties at South Edict Manor, he didn’t really feel much about it. However, as he would be leaving to a place far away from his hometown this time, Miao Yi couldn’t help feeling a sense of melancholy, and thus decided to pay this city a visit. It was unlikely for him to come back without any reason, so this could very well be the last time he would visit Changfeng City!

Miao Yi had the troops looking after the mounts in the forest outside the city. There was no need to bring such a large force inside. Miao Yi, Zhao Fei, and Sikong Wuwei casually went in alongside their handmaidens.

The city was just as he remembered. Perhaps the thing that changed the least in this place would be the slightly weathered city walls. As for what changed the most, it would definitely be the new generation replacing the old one. Miao Yi didn’t see a single familiar face anywhere in the street. Besides which, there was also the buildings that were constantly being erected or renewed, regardless of rain or shine.

The people residing in this world lived their lives one day at a time, never craving for too much change. And as for the cultivators who controlled this vast land, they too had no desire for these people to change; they only needed their faith and belief.

Miao Yi stood at the edge of the street, gazing towards the silk shop on the other side—his home from a bygone age. There wasn’t the slightest sense of familiarity in it anymore. Compared to when he first visited several decades ago, it seemed that business had been good for the silk shop these past few years. It was even bigger than before and had taken in several of the neighboring lots now.

Zhao Fei and the others didn’t know why Miao Yi was looking at the silk shop in a daze, so he asked, "Brother Miao, have you been here before?"

Miao Yi snapped out of it and briefly glanced at Qian’Er and Xue’Er, pointing to the silk shop as he smiled and told them, "If I remember correctly, there used to be an old house right above that front gate. That was the place I grew up in."

Everyone couldn’t help musing at his words. They finally understood why Miao Yi decided to come here.

All the passersby circled around the group as they walked along the street, casting curious gazes at Miao Yi and the others as they did so. The men in the group had a lordly presence, while the women were as beautiful as fairies. The passersby found it a little difficult to get too close to them.

Suddenly, Miao Yi reached out and stopped a young man on the street, cupping his fists and asking, "Excuse me, Brother, but do you know where City Lord Huang’s family lives?"

"City Lord Huang? What City Lord Huang?" The young man was a little confused. He added, "I’ve never heard of any City Lord Huang in this city before. Mister, could you be mistaken?"

Miao Yi was surprised, but he soon revealed a smile, cupping his fists again in response and said, "Sorry to bother you!"

Sometime after, Miao Yi asked a much older person the same question. The old man replied with a couple "Oh"s at first, then proceeded to laugh as he shook his head and said, "Oh, the Huang family! They’ve already fallen on hard times a long time ago!" The old man didn’t disappoint Miao Yi at all and even offered to lead him personally to the Huang family.

The group made their way down several streets, eventually coming to a stop in front of a butcher’s shop.

There, they saw a middle-aged man covered in grease. As he watched the middle-aged man bark out orders, Miao Yi couldn’t help giggling as he realized that the man was actually the child that he saw back when he snuck into the City Lord’s manor all those years ago. To think that after marrying a much younger woman, Head Guard Huang’s child would actually be in the same line of work as him from back then. What goes around truly does comes back around indeed.

An old lady came out from behind the butcher’s stall, carrying a basket of vegetables. Although her attire was plain, her expression seemed vibrant enough for her age. Her posture still looked rather robust as well.

The old guide immediately walked over and grabbed the old lady’s hand, pointing to Miao Yi and the others as he said, "Old Sister, you have a guest."

After being zealously pulled over by the old man, the old lady turned to look at Miao Yi curiously. She was a little hesitant to speak as she didn’t recognize him at all, and had no idea where he’d come from. It had been far too long since she had guests with such an exalted presence.

"This is Head Guard Huang’s wife, the daughter of Old Li who ran the tofu shop," the old man explained to Miao Yi. His voice was a little loud, possibly a result of his failing ears.

Miao Yi was a little surprised. He never thought that the daughter of Old Li from the tofu shop would still be alive, and from the looks of it, she seemed rather healthy for someone her age. For a mortal, she had lived for quite a long time already. Miao Yi just couldn’t recognize her at first because she was so old.

Miao Yi casually took out a gold crystal and stuffed it in the old man’s palms, then sent him off. After which, he placed another gold crystal in the old lady’s vegetable basket. He didn’t say a single word, and simply turned and led the rest of the group away.

The old lady was completely stunned, and a little frightened even. Why did this stranger give her so much money for no reason? She took small, but hurried steps and stopped in front of Miao Yi, stammering as she asked, "Esteemed One, for what reason are you giving this old one so much money? This is simply too much for me to bear. Are you a relative of the Huang family or..."

There was no way she wouldn’t recognize this person if he was a relative of her Li family. He was most likely a relative of the Huang family whom she had never met before.

Miao Yi pondered for a bit, then asked, "Do you really wish to know who I am?"

The old lady asked cautiously, "Is it something you can’t say?"

Miao Yi hesitated for a while, but soon smiled and asked, "Sister Li, do you still remember the young butcher from the butcher shop opposite your tofu shop—Miao Yi?"

The old lady was instantly thunderstruck, and she widened her eyes at Miao Yi. After Head Guard Huang died, his daughter had told her that the young butcher boy all those years ago had become an immortal. This was a very distant memory for the old lady, but it immediately resurfaced in her mind this very moment. Disbelievingly, she stuttered, "C-could you be..."

Miao Yi smiled and nodded. "Yes, I’m that Miao Yi!" He then cupped his fists and said, "Sister Li, take care!"

After which, he turned around and led the rest of his group away.

The old lady didn’t know that Miao Yi was the one who killed Head Guard Huang. She only stared dazedly at his youthful figure, as well as the beautiful women accompanying him by his side. She couldn’t help thinking back to the time that same young man was kicked out of her house when he came asking for her hand in marriage. But that was a very long time ago, and the old lady was left speechless for quite some time.

"Mother! Who was that?" After he was done dealing with a customer, the old lady’s son quickly came over and asked his mother, hurriedly hiding away the money in the vegetable basket. It was dangerous to be holding onto so much money so openly in the middle of the street.

The old lady awkwardly turned around, reaching out her hands to help fix her son’s clothes. She had already experienced much of life’s ups and downs in her age and was no stranger to the vicissitudes of fate. With a calm smile, she said, "I don’t remember. He should be an old acquaintance to the Huang family and decided to lend us a helping hand after seeing our situation. Hold on to that money. It’s getting late. I’m going to go buy some groceries and get started on dinner..."

As he left the city, Miao Yi’s mood was bright and cheery. He never thought he would still be able to meet an old acquaintance. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that he had managed to fulfill a long-time wish.

Miao Yi and the others proceeded into the forest and mounted their steeds. Miao Yi cast a distant gaze towards Changfeng City, then resolutely turned his head, bringing the rest of the party to ride towards their next destination.

Mount Shaotai! This was not Miao Yi’s first visit to the place. Back when he was fighting Xiong Xiao, he had assaulted this area in full force, driving Xiong Xiao to abandon his handmaidens to save himself!

Mount Shaotai had already been informed by South Edict Manor that Miao Yi would be arriving, and they had scouts keeping a lookout right from the start. Before Miao Yi and the others had even reached the mountain gates, Qin Weiwei— garbed in her usual, white dress—was already standing by with the rest of her men. And as always, her expression was as staunch as ever.

This time, Miao Yi only brought a few of his subordinates along. It wasn’t something that would take long after all. There was no need to have Zhao Fei and the others go back and forth as well. At the same time, Miao Yi didn’t want to pressure Qin Weiwei by having so many Manor Heads dropping in.

As he approached the mountain gates and got off his mount, Qin Weiwei immediately stepped forward and bowed, "I respectfully greet Manor Head Miao!"

"At ease!" Miao Yi raised his arm and gestured for Qin Weiwei to rise. His gaze swept past Qin Weiwei to Hong Mian and Lu Liu standing behind her, then to Chen Fei, who he had not seen for quite a while. He nodded and tossed a smile towards the latter.

After several decades of cultivation, Chen Fei was now at the White Lotus Sixth Grade and a Cave Master under Qin Weiwei’s care. Facing Miao Yi’s friendly gesture, Chen Fei acknowledged him with a somewhat restrained smile. After all, there was a huge difference in status between the two of them now. It wouldn’t be appropriate of him to address Miao Yi as his brother anymore. The reason Miao Yi came here this time was precisely because of Chen Fei, and the person himself knew about it as well. This was also why he was so urgently called over to Mount Shaotai from his own territory.

Qin Weiwei couldn’t act too friendly with Miao Yi in front of outsiders. She turned her body to the side and extended an arm, inviting Miao Yi politely, "Manor Head Miao, please come inside!"

Miao Yi respectfully rejected her, saying, "I won’t be staying long. I still have a few friends waiting for me outside. I came here for Chen Fei."

Even though he would be leaving South Edict Manor to take up his new post in Raincloud Manor, Miao Yi didn’t bring a single South Edict Manor subordinate along with him. He only asked for Yan Xiu and Chen Fei. Naturally, Yang Qing wouldn’t deny him such a small request. He wouldn’t hold onto these two men just to spite Miao Yi!

"Chen Fei! Will you come with me?" Miao Yi grabbed Chen Fei’s arm and asked.

Chen Fei laughed bitterly as he thought, ’Your relationship with the three major sects has already worsened to such a terrifying extent. And now that you’re doing something like this in public, everyone will know that I’m close to you. It looks like I can’t stay even if I wanted to.’ He cupped his fists and replied, "This subordinate is willing to serve the Manor Head!"

Meanwhile, Qin Weiwei’s eyes brightened as she asked, "I see that the ones waiting outside are your friends. Then does Manor Head Miao think my status is too lowly to be your friend, that you won’t even spare the time to have a cup of tea with me?"

Since she put it that way, what else could Miao Yi say? He had no choice but to trouble her for a little while longer.

Once they were inside the living room, Qin Weiwei cast Hong Mian and Lu Liu a glance, to which they acknowledged secretly. The two girls then invited Miao Yi’s subordinates to rest in a different area.

Now, Hong Mian and Lu Liu could no longer address Miao Yi as Lord Miao anymore. Simply because his status had become higher than Qin Weiwei’s. Thus, they could only address him as Manor Head.

Qin Weiwei personally prepared the tea, then sat down beside Miao Yi, smiling as she asked, "I see that Manor Head Miao remembers to take care of Chen Fei, but not me. Even coming in for a short while seemed to be a difficult request to ask of you. It looks like I really am too lowly for you."

Miao Yi raised his cup and smiled bitterly. "There are no outsiders here. You can spare me the sarcasm. The way you’re calling out ’Manor Head, Manor Head’ just sounds way too prickly. I owe Chen Fei a debt of gratitude, so it’s only right that I take care of him. You, on the other hand, have Manor Head Yang looking after you. You don’t need me."

"That’s not necessarily true. I actually wish to break free from my father’s shadow and learn to get by on my own. I’m sure everyone knows it as well. No matter what is it I do in South Edict Manor, everyone simply obeys because of my father. I’m nothing more than a decoration! If you really think of me as a friend, why don’t you ask to take me under your wing too?" Qin Weiwei asked in a ’somewhat’ playful manner.

Miao Yi shook his head and remarked, "Do you think Manor Head Yang will be able to rest easy letting you come along with me? Ever since that time I brought up marrying you, he’s been on full alert against me. It looks as though he’s scared I’ll eat you up or something. So, even if I’m willing to take you with me, Manor Head Yang will surely oppose it!"

Qin Weiwei fell silent. She obviously knew that it wouldn’t be possible, but still... She then forced a smile and asked, "Do you really think of me as a friend? You’re not just saying that because of my father?"

Miao Yi was puzzled, and replied, "Why wouldn’t I? If I didn’t think of you as a friend, why would I entrust my friend to you?"

Qin Weiwei stared into his eyes and asked, "If I can get my father’s permission one day, and he’s willing to let me go, will you take me in?"

Miao Yi teased, "If he’s willing to let you go, then I’d be more than happy to take you in."

Qin Weiwei then brought up a palm to Miao Yi’s face. Miao Yi was a little confused at first, but he soon caught on. It was this thing again. As he saw the expectant gaze in Qin Weiwei’s eyes, he raised his own palm helplessly and—’Pa!’—clapped hands with her!