Chapter Ninety-Two: Prelude to the Wedding

“Master Jiang, the matter you assigned has already been handled.”

At the hillside villa by Wild Duck Lake, Xiahou Sheng looked at the figure before him and spoke slowly.

Jiang Yu nodded. The pill he had given the old man was called the Essence-Fortifying Pill. In terms of potency and grade, it was several levels above the Spirit-Returning Pill.

Once taken, the old man would be lively and well before the night was over.

“You did well this time. This is your reward.”

As he spoke, Jiang Yu flicked a finger, and a pill appeared out of thin air.

Wang Yuanshan, chairman of Tianwang Pharmaceuticals, hurriedly received it with both hands. He studied it carefully and saw that the pill was the color of amber, clear and translucent as crystal.

“This pill is called Essence-Fortifying Pill. It has the power to cure all common ailments, though of course it cannot treat cancers, rabies, or other certain-death illnesses. Still, if a person has taken even one Essence-Fortifying Pill, they can ward off such terminal diseases for life. As for its other benefits, you may discover them for yourself.”

The herbs used to refine this batch of Essence-Fortifying Pills had only been procured from beyond the province after great effort on Wang Yuanshan’s part. In return, Jiang Yu had refined more than a dozen pills in one furnace and given him one of them.

Wang Yuanshan carefully put it away and bowed in gratitude. “Thank you, Master Jiang.”

Xiahou Sheng looked at Wang Yuanshan with envy. He had personally experienced the benefits of the Spirit-Returning Pill, and now this pale-gold pill was actually of an even higher grade?

Jiang Yu smiled faintly. “No need to thank me. This is what you deserve. I promised you that as long as you help me find all manner of heavenly materials and earthly treasures, I will trade pills and magical artifacts for them. And do not feel that you have been shortchanged. The money you spend helping me gather these things will be repaid many times over.”

Those heavenly materials and earthly treasures were useful only to cultivators, and only people of that kind knew how to use them properly. Otherwise, they were nothing but trash. Azure-Water Golden Flame, for instance, was not merely useless to ordinary people; it could even bring them lethal harm.

After thinking for a long time, Jiang Yu took out four more Essence-Fortifying Pills and handed them to Xiahou Sheng. “Keep one for yourself. Send the other three to Old Yin. Whatever the future may hold, there will always be times when he will be of use.”

Xiahou Sheng was overjoyed, then immediately looked awkward. It seemed the little schemes in his heart had not escaped Jiang Yu’s eyes.

“If there is nothing else, you may leave.”

After only a few more words, Jiang Yu was already showing them the door.

Xiahou Sheng and Wang Yuanshan were just about to turn and leave when Jiang Yu suddenly called out to them. “Oh, and the Essence-Fortifying Pill is far too precious for you. Taking it all at once would be a waste. You can dissolve it in water and dilute its potency that way; then everyone who drinks the water can benefit.”

That’s right. Xiahou Sheng slapped his thigh. He had even been thinking about breaking it in half so he and Xia Ning could each have a piece. Soaking it in water would solve everything.

Each had gained something, and both left the villa in high spirits.

Jiang Yu sat down on the sofa and swallowed the remaining Essence-Fortifying Pills in one gulp. A moment later, he shook his head in disappointment. “The Essence-Fortifying Pill is remarkably effective for ordinary people; it could even be called a divine medicine of the immortals. But for a cultivator like me, its effect is not even the tiniest fraction of what it should be. It is not even as good as candy. At the very least, candy still has a taste.”

With a helpless smile, Jiang Yu sat cross-legged on the sofa. His divine sense spread to cover the entire villa, and then he settled into stillness like an old monk in meditation.

With his divine sense deployed, any slightest disturbance around the villa would be detected by Jiang Yu at once. This greatly ensured that his cultivation would not be disturbed by the outside world.

He remained seated like that for two days.

The next evening, Jiang Yu opened his eyes. From his nostrils came two white ribbons of breath, which curled in the air before being drawn back in.

“It seems tomorrow is Zheng Xuan’s wedding day.”

With a casual wave of his hand, the two villa gates swung open at once, as though an invisible pair of giant hands had pushed them apart.

Then, stepping down from the sofa in a single stride, Jiang Yu’s figure appeared more than ten meters away.

At his present state of perfect Qi Refinement, on the verge of advancing into the Foundation Establishment stage at any moment, Jiang Yu could naturally make use of certain minor tricks of that realm.

At Yuncheng Station, Jiang Yu bought a ticket and slowly boarded the coach bound for Jincheng.

As soon as he got on, he heard a surprised voice.

“Jiang Yu?”

There was a faint note of delight in the tone.

Following the sound, Jiang Yu looked over and saw Sun Wanyue holding a cup of milk tea, staring at him in surprise. Then, as though she had recalled something, her expression dimmed. Beside her sat their homeroom teacher, He Bing, who was holding a newspaper and reading the news.

She looked up, and when she saw Jiang Yu, she froze slightly. “What are you doing here?”

He Bing wore her hair in Korean-style waves and a pair of oversized sunglasses. Her delicate, white cheeks showed below them, along with a slender, rounded chin. She was strikingly beautiful.

Jiang Yu walked over and greeted her with a smile. “Hello, Teacher He.”

Ever since she had seen how Wang Yuanshan and Huang Shiyi treated Jiang Yu, He Bing had somehow found herself a little too uneasy to answer that simple greeting with complete ease. Sun Wanyue adapted far more quickly, however, and hurriedly pointed to the seat beside them, signaling for Jiang Yu to sit next to them.

At this hour, there were not many people on the coach.

Jiang Yu sat down with a smile and said to He Bing, “Teacher He, back when you used to scold me, you never seemed this restrained.”

He Bing sniffed haughtily and instantly returned to her usual stern expression. “Even if you know Wang Yuanshan and Huang Shiyi, in my eyes, you will always be my student.”

As she spoke, she folded up the newspaper. The article on it was the celebrity suppression incident that had caused a sensation throughout China some time ago.

“Jiang Yu, can you finally tell me now why Wang Yuanshan and Huang Shiyi treat you with such respect? Even Old Yin came in person.” This question had lingered in He Bing’s mind ever since she returned home from school. She could not figure out what on earth Jiang Yu possessed that made a tycoon worth billions like Huang Yuanshan show him such extraordinary deference.

Jiang Yu smiled. “Actually, it is not just them who respect me. All the wealthy men in Jiangbei treat me with considerable courtesy. As for the reason, perhaps it is because I have a bigger fist than they do, and they are afraid I might beat them up.”

He Bing rolled her eyes and said irritably, “Keep boasting, why don’t you? Why not say that even the rich men of neighboring Monan Province would be so frightened of you that they’d wet themselves at the sight of you?”

Jiang Yu spread his hands. “If I nodded, you would just say I was bragging.”

The bus started up and pulled out of the station, heading toward Jincheng.

He Bing rested her cheek on one hand and watched Jiang Yu with curiosity, as though trying to see something through him.

Sun Wanyue, meanwhile, tilted her head and looked at the scenery beyond the window. Yet her thoughts had long since flown elsewhere, and from time to time she stole a glance at Jiang Yu.

“Jiang Yu, are you also going to Jincheng for Zheng Xuan’s wedding?”

He Bing asked the question curiously. As for the engagement ceremony, she had been busy with something else and had not gone. As for what had happened that day, she knew nothing at all.

Jiang Yu nodded. “Yes.”

He Bing had already heard about Sun Wanyue’s relationship with Jiang Yu. Seeing that Jiang Yu did not want to say more, she did not press the matter.

As for why the three of them happened to meet on the coach, none of them asked.

Along the way, He Bing took out a bag of snacks and, with milk tea in her left hand and potato chips in her right, ate with great relish.

After a while, Sun Wanyue spoke up. “Jiang Yu, a lot of people will be attending the wedding this time, and quite a few of them are your acquaintances.”

Jiang Yu answered indifferently, “And what of it?”

Sun Wanyue was stunned. Yes, the Jiang Yu of now was no longer the same as before. The events at Tengshan Hot Springs had left a deep impression on her. At present, perhaps only the sort of powerful bosses worth tens of billions could keep him in check.

She could hardly wait to see the scene on the day of Zheng Xuan’s wedding, when Young Master Liu would come to back Jiang Yu up.

She had lost Jiang Yu herself. For some reason, seeing Zheng Xuan lose him as well gave her a strange feeling of satisfaction. Perhaps it was a kind of balance born from not wanting others to have what she could not possess herself.

Before long, the bus arrived at Jincheng Station.

The three of them got off. He Bing then asked, “Jiang Yu, have you booked a hotel? If not, come stay with us. I reserved a large suite.”

Jiang Yu considered it for a moment and nodded.

That night, in the hotel suite, Jiang Yu stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, a cigarette between his fingers. Recently, his smoking habit had grown worse and worse, nearly reaching a pack a day.

Only a cultivator’s body, strong and unlike that of ordinary people, could withstand it. Otherwise, with so much smoking, Jiang Yu’s body would have long since begun to show all the usual symptoms caused by nicotine addiction.

He Bing, paying no mind to her image, rolled back and forth on the sofa. There was not the slightest trace of the stern teacher she usually appeared to be.

“Wow, so soft. A big hotel really is comfortable.”

She laughed merrily.

Sun Wanyue came over holding two cups of water and handed one to Jiang Yu. “What are you planning to do tomorrow? On the day Zheng Xuan gets married, not coming would have been fine. But now that you have come, tomorrow is going to be the most humiliating moment for you.”

“I know your background is not simple, and I know you are acquainted with some important people, but among those attending the wedding tomorrow, there will be people whose status is no less impressive than Young Master Liu’s father. I am only warning you: you may be very good at fighting, but in a setting like that, if you want to do anything, you should leave yourself a way out.”

Behind them, He Bing laughed and said, “Our Jiang Yu says that all the rich men in Jiangbei have to yield to him when they see him. Why should you worry about him?”