The Banquet of Madness (1)
The main branch of the Clear Sky Clan that headed the Clear Sky Sect was situated far on top of the mountain range, however, its inhospitable condition that worked to train tough hammer-wielding battle masters did not, obviously, work well to host a banquet. For that very reason, the Clear Sky Clan had commissioned their subordinate clan— the Defense Clan— also known as master construction workers, to fully develop a village for the sole purpose of holding a banquet.
The reputation of the Clear Sky Clan as the strongest clan wasn't underserved and with how the in-laws happened to be the White Tiger Imperial Clan, this banquet of course caused a commotion far greater than Xie Xan's and Hu Lana's wedding. This was a chance for the heavyweights of the continent to meet and for that very reason Dai Laohu had placed a simple condition— No one under rank 50 will be allowed entry with the exceptions added to the direct family and clan members of the two parties.
Bibi Dong, Ja Sun, and Yuehua met these conditions.
"So, Yuehua, what can we expect of a Clear Sky Clan's banquet?" Bibi Dong inquired with an amused smile. The trio sat within a lavish carriage as Bibi Dong had no intentions of downplaying her relationship with Ja Sun, causing her to elegantly lean against him. The trio was well-clothed and Bibi Dong still wore the same hairpin Ja Sun gifted her alongside a violet dress. Even after a rather 'developed' relationship, Ja Sun never relinquished the property he siphoned off from Ah Yin and Bibi Dong.
Seeing the two, and clearly surprised by how Ja Sun currently presented himself with a calm smile, Yuehua had her lips twitching. Of course, she had no possible way of knowing the madness Ja Sun had descended into because of the term mentioned— Bringers of Pain. But everyone had heard how Ja Sun had locked himself in, however, it barely affected the remaining eight since Ja Sun never made the mistake of presenting himself as normal. He wasn't.
"Well, I think Elder Brother Xiao will be there to pick us up and to introduce us but I don't think I will be able to stay with the two of you for long. Ah, I forgot, father actually sent me a message that he wanted me to meet with someone."
"You forgot?" Ja Sun narrowed his eyes as Yuehua kept a calm exterior while Bibi Dong simply chuckled.
"So? Who is this mystery man?" Bibi Dong questioned, more curious about this topic than a banquet where she already knew what she had to do.
Yuehua finally exhaled in exasperation, "It honestly is a mystery to me, too. He never revealed whom he was talking about... I think he is some talented scion? I could be wrong. This is the first time he is acting like this."
"Maybe he finally lost it," Ja Sun muttered.
"Brother Ka-ul!" Yuehua gasped, shooting an annoyed glare at him causing him to innocently shrug, "What? I'm just saying... he's just too quirky..."
"Reminds me of someone," Bibi Dong mumbled with a smile as Ja Sun glanced at her with his eyes blinking, "I wouldn't categorize Yu Xiaogang as quirky but..."
Bibi Dong and Yuehua rolled their eyes. Their trip wasn't short and it took them an hour on the carriage to finally reach the foot of the mountain range with the scouting village now fully turned into a bright tent with the ground paved with marked blocks and numerous stalls filled with many delicacies that caused Ja Sun's eyes to lit up. Even the dishes on the outskirts of the set-up attracted him. As the carriage came to a stop, as Yuehua had predicted, Tang Xiao was already notified of their arrival and had been waiting.
The man was dressed in a luxurious blue sherwani with gold embroidery on its surface. A radiant smile on his face as he hugged Yuehua right after seeing her, "Haha, Hua'er! Can you believe that Hao is finally marrying? Always thought he'd die alone but look at him now!" His loud voice instantly attracted a lot of focus but Xiao could care less! He was simply excited to meet his youngest sibling.
"Hmm, Brother, what about you? I really want to make a toast at your marriage, too!" Yuehua hugged her brother tightly, her words causing Tang Xiao to chuckle, "Soon, soon. Didn't I already state in my letter I'm seeing a Bai clanswoman? I will introduce my current darling to you later!" he grinned, causing Yuehua to smile brightly. In fact, of the three Tang Siblings, Ja Sun now considered Tang Xiao the simplest who wanted to take his time with women before settling, Tang Hao to be the purest as he was more of a battle genius than anything and finally... Yuehua was the freakiest of them all to try and wanna get into her brother's pants. For that, Ja Sun respected Yuehua but the thing was... would Yuehua actually feel great for having Ja Sun's respect on this matter?
Once the two siblings met, Tang Xiao gazed at Bibi Dong and Ja Sun who had their arms interlocked.
"Miss Bibi, it is a pleasant surprise that you could make it. Again, your efforts have allowed quite a number of youngsters of the main branch to safely find a Giant's ring without compromising the population of the Giants. It truly has been a great partnership."
"A partnership I wouldn't want crumbling for any reason," Bibi Dong smiled gently, her bright pink pupils filled with noble dignity.
"And Ka-ul..." Tang Xiao looked towards Ja Sun. To Tang Xiao, Ja Sun was the only one of the wonder team of the spirit hall to have gone through the most changes. First, he was bald, then he lost his arm, and then he replaced the arm with something silver, and now, that particular green tattoo in the shape of a third eye filled Tang Xiao with a sense of unease.
Recollecting his wits, Xiao coughed and added, "I hope you are like me and Hao who can't get drunk easily because we would be revealing something new in this banquet."
"I love getting drunk," Ja Sun shook Xiao's hand and added, "Encourages me to make bad decisions."
His spirit energy suddenly tickled Bibi Dong, making her almost lose her demeanor.
"Come, Father said he wanted to be the first to greet you should you accompany Yuehua."
Tang Xiao turned around while Yuehua looked a bit awkward. Looking around the village-sized tent, seeing how almost everyone walked with a partner in this event, Yuehua wanted Xiao to fill the role temporarily but even with all his sensibility, Tang Xiao would not have expected the issue in the first place.
"Come now, let's not keep your father waiting," Bibi Dong walked up to Yuehua and linked each other's arms, causing Yuehua to look at Dong with a surprised expression.
She then glanced at Ja Sun who stood on the other side of Bibi DOng only to find him equally non-responsive to her troubles as his eyes gazed at various stalls with a clear look of hunger.
A smirk finally formed on Yuehua's lips as she whispered, "Thank you."
"Of course, there is no problem at all," Bibi Dong winked, her words further causing Yuehua to roll her eyes, "Besides, I want to see whom my teammate is expected to meet."
Bibi Dong's worries were also clear in this regard so Yuehua accepted the situation and the trio followed Tang Xiao while whispering amongst themselves how to operate after the general meet and greet. Yuehua, of course, would be busy with her family and that left Ja Sun and Bibi Dong.
"Food."
"Hmm," instead of simply rejecting to accompany Ja Sun because Bibi Dong, of course, wanted others to meet her partner, decided to compromise, "How about both? We can take taste tests while also finding a few elders or scions. I just saw Ning Fengzhi with his fiance by one of the cooking stations."
"Oh, yeah, that's totally fine with me," Ja Sun shrugged causing Bibi Dong to smile and tighten her link with him as they finally reached the center of the tent to find a large stage erected for Tang Hao's and Dai Mu's seat. Only after the first two hours would they be allowed to move from their seat because the guests were still filtering in. Beside them sat Tang Peng, Dai Laohu, and Zhu Yin. Dai Taiyin and Zhu Ning, on the other hand, were not present here.
Similar to Tang Xiao, the royal sibling of Dai Mu was made to attend various guests.
"Father, look who decided to show up!" Tang Xiao announced informally as many gazes landed on the trio. Yuehua unconsciously tightened her hold around Bibi Dong as she gazed at Tang Hao and Dai Mu sitting next to each other. Similar to his brother, Tang Hao wore a jet0black sherwani with golden inscriptions and Tang Peng wore a brown one. On the other hand, Dai Laohu was in a formal silver suit with a black shirt and silver tie clip and Zhu Yin and Dai Mu wore matching green dresses.
Yuehua's reaction caused Bibi Dong to internally judge the situation for a moment but she wasn't allowed to further think as Tang Hao instantly stepped down the stage, snatching Yuehua into a tight hug as his laugh was even louder than Tang Xiao's. He was truly happy, Ja Sun realized and then also understood the reason. Why wouldn't Tang Hao be happy? He just got an official reason to sleep with someone.
Dai Mu meanwhile slowly stepped down, her blonde hair fashioned into curls by the end as her red and blu pupils glanced at Ja Sun with what he realized was a hint of appreciation.
"I truly expected you to dress in some rags, glad I was wrong," Dai Mu remarked as she then formally greeted Bibi Dong and accepted her congratulations. Her relation with Ja Sun did not start well, but he could forgive her. After all, her clan had unknowingly funded his growth and he felt that he had a major hand in the development of her character so after all, had passed, what truly left was a feeling of mutual appreciation.
However, they had tacitly agreed to never admit it.
"Princess Mu, surely you jest. My rags are reserved for the day you challenge me once again."
Saying that, Ja Sun glanced at Dai Laohu and Zhu Yin to measure their reactions but what shocked Ja Sun, Bibi Dong, and Yuehua was that Ja Sun's remark had no apparent reaction on the leader of their respective clans and Dai Mu's smile only grew brighter, "Then I'm glad. I truly find challenges and bets interesting, thanks to you, I may even be hooked."
But as she said this, Dai Mu sent her compressed voice, "This is to return the favor for saving Brother Hao and me back when in the Star Dou Great Forest. Although it's very vague for me, too, I overheard my mom and dad talking last night about you. I couldn't hear it properly... but the way the two of them broke into giggles later scared and scarred me forever... so yeah, we're even."
Although Ja Sun would hardly consider this getting even, however, he truly appreciated the gesture as he merely glanced at her but it was enough for Dai Mu to understand that he had accepted it.
On the other hand, Tang Hao compressed his voice, too, and said something to Yuehua that shocked her completely. She glanced at Ja Sun and Bibi Dong anxiously, her reaction making Tang Xiao chuckle a bit in amusement as he already knew what Tang Hao had done and this in itself was registered by Tang Peng who expected his unruly successor to go against his word and made him unravel his aura which caused all the hushed conversations to go silence as all the gazes now fell on the main stage. The pressure itself stopped Yuehua from speaking.
***
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