Yuan sighed. Reading those emails had only made his mind heavier.
So, he decided to visit the Wu Family's main residence, where their Guest Elder had called him for a discussion.
'What does that old man want to talk about?'
'Could it be about Huo Yan?'
It could be.
But as far as Yuan could think, the Guest Elder barely paid any attention to Wu Qiong's antics. Buying just a slave should not be the reason.
'Did his spies report my change? The rumors?'
This was a more solid assumption.
Though the Guest Elder was always either cultivating or recovering, he still knew what was occurring in the outside world.
In fact, his spies, or the Wu Family's spies, were said to be some of the best at gathering information.
'But they don't even come close to Hei Yin.'
Like, how did she find out about the Chi Siyan incident?
Even Wu Qiong's memories were in a forgotten state, and probably every other person related to the incident. And considering the Chi Family was at the center of the incident, matters like disruptions of memories could not be ruled out.
Moreover, Hei Yin was not even his shadow at that point. Well, if she was, Wu Qiong might not have forgotten in the first place.
Yuan's thoughts paused as the Wu Family's main residence came into view.
Soon, the carriage stopped at the entrance, and a servant escorted Yuan to the Guest Elder's cultivation room.
On the way, Yuan tried his best not to appreciate the grandiosity of the residence.
"Guest Elder is waiting for you inside."
The servant bowed and returned to whatever he was doing.
Yuan looked at the massive door, questioning whether he could even open it.
Suddenly, air started surging toward the door, fighting against it, and forcefully, it opened by itself.
'That's… cool.'
Yuan walked inside the room, and it was completely dark.
But Yuan could make out a few lines inscribed at various places in the room.
"This one greets the Guest Elder."
Yuan cupped his hands, bowed, and greeted respectfully.
"Hmm," the Guest Elder hummed in acknowledgment.
The Guest Elder was like a mountain in front of Yuan, even while in a meditative stance. Even if three Yuans were stacked on top of each other, it would not reach the Guest Elder's level.
While Yuan was discerning the Guest Elder, the Guest Elder was doing the same to him, just not as subtly as Yuan.
And unlike Yuan, the Guest Elder was a cultivator. He noticed even the smallest changes in Yuan.
Like how, in their previous meetings, Wu Qiong carried a hint of arrogance but was also afraid and scared to the point where his body would faintly shudder.
But in this meeting, Yuan remained calm and composed, and thanks to the rumors about him and Huo Yan, the Guest Elder took the change as granted.
And also because the change had yet to be anything drastic.
Seeing the silence, Yuan took a peek at the Guest Elder using the [Eye of Omen], and he saw… nothing, just like with Hei Yin.
'Well, that's that.'
"This one asks why the Guest Elder has summoned him?"
As far as he knew, the Guest Elder should not have anything that Yuan could do.
The Guest Elder's eyes fell upon Yuan, and in a monotonous tone, he answered.
"You are getting engaged, Young Wu."
He dropped the bomb.
'Why?'
Yuan could not help but ask himself. Everything else was still manageable, or even completely ignorable, but engagement?
Engagement was blatantly increasing the difficulty of his life.
Especially when he had the idea of with whom it could be.
Yuan took a deep breath.
"May this one ask the Guest Elder with whom this one is getting engaged?"
He added.
"And why?"
Since it was completely dark, Yuan could barely make out the Guest Elder, let alone see his facial expression. But he seemed to ponder for a second before answering.
"It's the young lady of the Lan Family, Lan Yue."
"Lan Family is getting restless, with Lan Yue having the Pill Refining Physique. It is their chance to reclaim being the top family of the city."
"However, they still need Lan Yue to become a cultivator, and without the formation of our family, her chance is very low."
"Your engagement with Lan Yue is us, the Wu Family, taking advantage of their restlessness."
"Haha."
At the end, the Guest Elder could not help but chuckle while remembering the desperate pleas of those elders.
They were practically begging, ready to go to the heavens for the Wu Family to agree.
And within the many deals, they had silently slipped the engagement between Lan Yue and Wu Qiong, though there were many conditions regarding it.
Like how the engagement would be nullified if Yuan failed to become a cultivator.
With just the first agreement, most of the Lan Family's elders agreed, since the chances of Wu Qiong becoming a cultivator were zero in their eyes.
Heck, even his own family did not believe he would become a cultivator.
But Yuan's next words surprised the Guest Elder.
"This one requests the Guest Elder to nullify the agreement."
"This one has already found his loved one and would like to remain loyal."
Yuan immediately used [Eye of Omen], and with no change, he was relieved that he did not offend the Guest Elder.
But that did not mean that the Guest Elder could not act.
"Hmph! Did you forget the many times you requested me to engage you and Lan Yue? You were not much better than the current Lan Family's elders."
"And now that the opportunity presents itself, you deny?"
Yuan sighed.
The back-and-forth between the Guest Elder and him went on for a few more exchanges.
If not for [Eye of Omen] showing that the Guest Elder did not harbor anything against him, Yuan would have given up after their first exchange.
Sadly, before the Guest Elder could be convinced, Yuan saw annoyance, so he quickly shut his mouth and ran.
"Young Master Wu."
Yuan turned around toward the source of the sound, only to see a young woman with white hair and blue eyes, covered in a serene aura, standing beneath the shade of a tree.
Yuan's eyes widened in surprise.
"Young Lady Lan?"
Not wanting to have an awkward conversation, Yuan walked toward her.
But surprising him even more was the emotion he saw—not just disgust, but also caution and hatred.
'What the hell happened?!'