Previously, Yan Shouyi believed his life had been thrilling and full of righteous vengeance. Now, hearing about the deeds of his grandfather and father in their youth from an "enemy," Yan Shouyi realized he was actually quite a straightforward person.
As for his personality, he was sure he'd inherited it from his mother, whom he had never met.
Yan Nanfei raised his wine cup, toasting everyone in turn. His face reddened slightly as he drank, and with a hiccup, he asked Yan Shouyi, "Daoist Wu Nian, what grievances do you have with your Shengxian Guan and the Yan family? Could you tell us?"
"Ah... this..."
Yan Shouyi stammered, almost forgetting how to fabricate a story.
Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, Long Feicheng came to the rescue, saying, "Ah, speaking of the grudges between our Shengxian Guan and their Yan family, it would take three days and three nights to tell it all!"
Hearing Long Feicheng's deep tone, Yan Nanfei and Ling Xiaoxiao became interested and eagerly pressed, "Could you tell us a few of them?"
"We are all friends here, so there's no harm in speaking," Long Feicheng waved his hand and lowered his voice, saying, "Our grievances began with Yan Chou's father, Yan Baixiang. Back then, our Shengxian Guan kept a divine beast that resembled a green ox. It was older than my master's master's master's master, and whenever we saw it, we had to bow respectfully and call it Grand Uncle. Who would have thought that Yan Baixiang would one day break into our Shengxian Guan and slaughter our Grand Uncle? When we found our Grand Uncle, he had already been braised!"
"Hiss..."
Yan Nanfei and the other two couldn't help but gasp.
Good heavens, Shengxian Guan was more hidden than they thought, actually keeping a divine beast within their sect!
And Yan Baixiang was truly hateful to have braised a divine beast. Wasn't he afraid of retribution?!
Chang Shan immediately recited a few Buddhist prayers.
Yan Shouyi, hidden behind his mask, felt his face twitch.
But he could no longer stop Long Feicheng from boasting; otherwise, how could he maintain the lie?
Long Feicheng continued, "Then there's our enemy, Yan Chou! This fellow is powerful and ruthless. Our Patriarch, seeking revenge for Grand Uncle, tracked Yan Chou down, claiming he wanted the son to pay for the father's debt. However, Yan Chou's strength had long surpassed the mortal realm. He managed to severely wound our Patriarch, crippling his cultivation, forcing him to retire from the martial world, live in anonymity, and even forbid us from acknowledging his existence in Shengxian Guan to protect our sect's reputation. It's a pity that only we know the depth of our Patriarch's intentions!"
"How strong is Yan Chou?" Yan Nanfei swallowed and asked.
"To put it this way, his cultivation might have surpassed Dao Ancestor Zhang Daoling!"
"That's too exaggerated, isn't it..." Yan Shouyi couldn't help but retort.
"Even if not, it's not far off!" Long Feicheng slammed the table.
Yan Nanfei and the other two were already having second thoughts.
If Yan Chou was truly that strong, why were they even in Rongcheng?
Were they looking to die??
No wonder Yan Chou, despite having so many enemies, was still alive and well!
Yan Nanfei said hatefully, "No wonder my brother passed this task to me; he wanted me to die!"
Ling Xiaoxiao whimpered, "Does Master not like me anymore? To make me undertake such a difficult mission... I want to go home, woo woo woo!"
Chang Shan, looking resolute as if ready to face death, silently spun his prayer beads.
Seeing their reactions, Yan Shouyi was dumbfounded.
Little Long dared to say that, and they actually dared to believe it?
What truly naive innocents they were!
Lin Zhitong also cast a sympathetic glance at the trio: It was already a miracle that the three of you managed to reach Rongcheng alive...
Only Long Feicheng was beaming with self-satisfaction, thinking his ability to fabricate stories was so great that it was a waste not to write novels.
Holding onto a sliver of hope, Yan Nanfei asked, "What about Yan Shouyi's strength, and what grudges do you have with him?"
Unexpectedly, Long Feicheng quickly covered Yan Nanfei's mouth and whispered, "Be careful of eavesdropping... Outside, don't casually mention his name, because he is everywhere..."
"Ahem, that's an exaggeration," Yan Shouyi coughed twice, reminding Long Feicheng that even when fabricating, there should be limits.
If he continued to embellish like this, Yan Shouyi might as well have ascended to immortality.
Yan Nanfei and the others weren't fools; if the story was too outlandish, they would surely become suspicious.
Long Feicheng also coughed a few times, readjusted his thoughts, and said,
"Yan Shouyi grew up training outside with his grandfather. Over the years, he's built up quite a network among the common folk. With the slightest stir, his friends would pass the news to him. Therefore, we cannot easily utter his name."
Yan Nanfei nodded silently and lowered his voice to ask, "What grudges do you have with him?"
"Yan Shouyi himself doesn't have much of a grievance with us, but we heard that in Rongcheng, he abducted the direct disciple of the former sect leader of the Lushan Sect."
Yan Nanfei gritted his teeth, "The Yan family truly cannot change their wicked ways!"
Lin Zhitong was stunned and almost flew into a rage.
Ling Xiaoxiao also said, "They are truly shameless. Why do they only prey on good girls!"
Long Feicheng was internally suffering from suppressed laughter.
Yan Shouyi's face was filled with helplessness, but it was all hidden by his mask, so no one could see his expression.
Long Feicheng continued, "He also has a formidable warrior from the common folk by his side. In truth, Yan Shouyi himself is not that fearsome; it's the mighty warrior beside him who is truly formidable. When our master captured Yan Shouyi earlier, it was this brother of his who snatched him away."
"Oh? What is the background of his brother?"
"His brother... he bears some resemblance to me," Long Feicheng said.
"Enough, enough, let's not discuss these matters anymore!"
Yan Shouyi, to prevent a slip-up, could only interrupt Long Feicheng. If he let him continue fabricating, Yan Shouyi would no longer be the protagonist.
Long Feicheng licked his lips, still wanting to say more. He had actually intended to elaborate on the glorious deeds of this "mighty warrior," thinking he might win over Ling Xiaoxiao's heart.
"Having said so much, the bottom line is, the Yan family is not to be trifled with," Yan Shouyi said. "Are you sure you still want to cause trouble for Yan Shouyi?"
Yan Nanfei and the other two were silent for a while. Unexpectedly, the first to speak was Chang Shan.
Chang Shan shook his head and said, "I have no grudges with Yan Shouyi and did not wish to be involved, but the master's orders are hard to defy."
Ling Xiaoxiao pouted and said, "I actually heard that Yan Baixiang and Sect Leader Wen lived happily ever after. I don't think Mount Emei needs to cause them trouble anymore... However, master's orders are hard to defy!"
Finally, Yan Nanfei spoke, offering no explanation, but simply adding, "Master's orders are hard to defy."
Yan Shouyi realized that the so-called grudges were all generational. The three of them held no genuine resentment towards the Yan family.
However, their masters' orders were difficult to disregard, and they couldn't return empty-handed; it would be an unacceptable failure.
Having understood the thoughts of the three, Yan Shouyi felt much more at ease.
Since no one harbored deep hatred, perhaps they could indeed become friends in the future!
To this day, Yan Shouyi still felt quite favorably towards them, and having an extra friend was always better than having an enemy.
Next, they chatted more, deepening their mutual understanding.
They were also very curious about the other two who had yet to appear.
After eating and drinking their fill, Yan Shouyi saw them upstairs to rest and arranged to meet again early the next morning to pick up the other two.
Thus, they parted ways. Yan Shouyi, after bidding farewell to Yan Nanfei and the others, did not immediately return to the villa by West Lake. Instead, he had Lin Zhitong drive him to the Bai family manor on Feifeng Mountain to take a look.
He wasn't here to witness the current pitiable state of the Bai family, but to visit someone—Old Man Zou, whom he had left there previously.