The Second Night's Banquet

"Well said!"

A voice of appreciation rang out from afar. Qian Gongyu and Shang Xin Lei turned their heads and saw Jie Zilong and Jie Yuanshao, uncle and niece.

Jie Zilong clapped his hands as he walked up to them, saying in a clear voice, "Military strategy says, 'Lure the enemy, don't be lured by the enemy.' Why should we step into a battlefield meticulously arranged by others? The Qun Family and the Chen Family are not to be trifled with, but are our Jie Family and your Shang Family easy to offend?"

"Uncle Zilong, Qun Yushu is relying on more than just the Qun Family and the Wu Family; he also has the twenty-three Esteemed Classes gathered here." Shang Xin Lei retorted lightly, "While we may not fear the consequences of offending them, what about Little Yu and Jiang Shi..."

Jie Zilong shook his head, "As long as our two families keep them out, even if they have more resentment, they will only think that our two families have formed an alliance to monopolize information about the Wandering Star Forest, and it won't involve the two from the Qian Family."

Qian Gongyu nodded repeatedly, Good, good, she really doesn't want to deal with big shots like Qun Yushu and Chen Lincuan—if there were no conflicts of interest, she would be happy to show her face and leave a good impression on such big shots, but she knew with her toes that they were here for Jiang Shi.

What if they made a request she couldn't accept? Refusing would offend them, but accepting was impossible. Wouldn't that be a dead end?

"Although I would like to say this to show goodwill to you two, I don't think Jiang Shi will appreciate it." Jie Zilong looked at Jiang Shi and smiled, "You are not afraid of offending those people at all."

"She just doesn't know how high the mountains are or how deep the water is." Jie Yuanshao suddenly said, "Ignorance breeds fearlessness, and fearlessness is ignorance."

"I'm not saying how powerful or intimidating the Qun Family and the Chen Family are, but that Jiang Shi, you simply don't know the scenery above The Herald, what the Second Revolution looks like, how majestic the Third Revolution is, and how godlike the Fourth Revolution is... If you have seen the vastness of the world, you will naturally understand awe."

"Awe is not weakness, but to avoid wasting life in meaningless places. When you achieve great accomplishments in the future, the hardships of the past will ultimately be nothing more than a bit of frost."

Although Jie Yuanshao's words were impolite, everyone could hear that she meant well, and Qian Gongyu praised her inwardly. That's right, that's right, as the saying goes, a wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him, and a person who recognizes the times is a great talent. What can't be endured until one has the strength to kill the other's entire family?

"Yuanshao, different paths, different plans. Your view of the world is right for most people, but not for everyone." Unexpectedly, Jie Zilong refuted his niece's words, "There is a kind of person in this world who, if they fail, become a handful of yellow earth, but if they succeed, they are unstoppable. They live on the edge of a knife their entire lives, and are indestructible until the cold steel is blunted."

"You may not agree with this way of life, but... not all fish have to live in the same ocean."

"Our family will hold a banquet here. The two from the Qian Family can come or not. I will not stop other families from contacting you, but you are also welcome to come to the Jie Family when you encounter trouble."

"Don't worry, I'll be watching from the side." Shang Xin Lei said immediately, "I'm very curious about what rewards there are for having high personal scores. Anyone who dares to be unfavorable to you is my enemy."

Qian Gongyu looked left and right, and immediately felt relieved.

Jie Yuanshao and Shang Xin Lei were both her teammates in the Wandering Star Forest. Even to protect their own interests, their two families had to protect Jiang Shi. If they couldn't protect Jiang Shi, they would lose not only benefits but also the face of their families—for them, the latter might be more important.

A thought suddenly occurred to her: Could it be that Jiang Shi had already realized this, so she deliberately said that? This way, they wouldn't owe the Shang Family and Jie Family any favors, and they could still get the protection of these two families...

But seeing Jiang Shi practicing her sword expressionlessly, Qian Gongyu felt that she was overthinking it.

Being watched by so many families and coveted by so many people, why could she still practice her sword so calmly? Not to mention fear, worry, or hesitation, even the slightest emotional fluctuation never appeared on Jiang Shi's face, as if everything in the world was irrelevant to her, and her life consisted only of training, rest, and combat.

A person living on the edge of a knife... Qian Gongyu's eyes were a little confused, and a little envious.

"Young Miss, come for the sixth sparring session when you're rested."

"Ah?"

As the servants lit bonfires and served delicacies, the guests arrived one after another. Every Noble Class disciple who arrived was dressed luxuriously and had a noble temperament, but at this banquet, they were as inconspicuous as the surrounding servants. Everyone's eyes were focused on the few people in the center of the banquet.

So-called flowers are nothing more than insignificant decorations under the stars and bright moon.

Because of Shang Xin Lei, Qian Gongyu thought that Qun Yushu should be the kind of ambitious, outwardly tolerant but inwardly ruthless, eagle-eyed and wolf-like insidious man. Therefore, when she saw a young man at the banquet opening his robe and dancing a tap dance in circles to the beat, she couldn't react. She thought he was a dancer invited by the Jie Family to liven up the atmosphere, until the dancer came over to invite her.

"Miss Qian Family, would you do me the honor of dancing?" He bent down and extended his right hand. Inside his open robe were sculpted pectorals and abdominal muscles. His long hair was tied up sloppily, and both ears were pierced with nine earrings. His clothing style didn't look like someone from Nanliang at all, but more like a northern barbarian—and one who lived on the border.

However, the Purple Ribbon Identity Wristband on his wrist instantly betrayed his identity.

"Qun Yushu." Shang Xin Lei stood in front of Qian Gongyu, sneering, "Why aren't you continuing to be your brother's lackey? What brings you to Wandering Star Forest?"

"Looks like I'll have to close my windows tight tonight, or I'll be targeted by a female thief again." Qun Yushu replied languidly.

"Qun Yushu, I won't stop you from contacting the Qian Family's people, but please talk in public." Jie Yuanshao also came over and said, "But as a scion of a Noble Class, you should lead by example. You can't use your influence to pressure others, and you can't make unreasonable demands."

"What if Miss Qian Gongyu wants to spend a pleasant evening with me and makes excessive demands?"

"I won't!"

"You're not allowed."

"Don't dream."

Qun Yushu seemed to be struck by this, dejectedly saying, "Your rebuttals are too synchronized and decisive... And is there really no possibility? We can be friends first. I think Miss Qian Gongyu has the air of my mother..."

"You can be friends with my niece." Jie Zilong walked over and laughed.

"No, no, Young Miss Jie has too much of my father's air." Qun Yushu shook his head repeatedly, "I can accept multiple mothers, but I'd rather die early than have multiple fathers."

"You're really not afraid of these remarks being spread back to your family..."

"Anyway, I've already run away. My dad can't possibly put down his official duties to come and beat me, can he?" Qun Yushu reached out and put his arm around the shoulder of a middle-aged man with a scar on his face next to him, inviting, "By the way, Senior Zilong, I agreed with Uncle Lincuan to enter Wandering Star Forest together tomorrow, would you like to join us?"

"To be honest, my last experience entering Wandering Star Forest wasn't very good..." Jie Zilong hesitated.

"That's why we should go in together even more. With you two seniors, I'll feel much more at ease." Qun Yushu laughed, "I still remember that time I teamed up with three Young Misses. They were certainly scared and clung to me tightly, but I was also very scared! But I still had to comfort and encourage them, otherwise, if I lost the Qun Family's face, I'd be waiting to be scolded by my uncles... Being a man of the Qun Family is really too difficult."

"Since you're so enthusiastic, then I'll join in too. It's really not right to come here and not enter the Secret Realm."

"Have you finished chatting?"

Chen Lincuan's voice was like his appearance: weathered, hard, scarred, and direct: "At your request, we're here. Where is Jiang Shi?"

The sounds of clinking glasses and conversation quickly dissipated, and the lively banquet seemed to have been put on pause, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Logically speaking, as long as the four team members didn't leak information, the outside world wouldn't know what happened in Wandering Star Forest. Even if they knew, they wouldn't be able to determine who was the leader. Unfortunately, the Personal Score Rankings revealed all their secrets, making it impossible to hide.

Jie Yuanshao, 230 points.

Qian Gongyu, 325 points.

Shang Xin Lei, 389 points.

Jiang Shi... 660 points!

Clearly, Jiang Shi was the weakest and lowest-status person among the four, but her score was far ahead of the others, leaving only one possibility: the source of the score anomaly was Jiang Shi. Jiang Shi had mastered the secrets of Wandering Star Forest, and the others were just riding her coattails to victory!

Although Jiang Shi was just Qian Gongyu's guard, half a day in the afternoon was enough for them to investigate clearly. Jiang Shi was someone Qian Gongyu had casually picked up from the street, not a Qian Family-produced family retainer.

"Jiang Shi is practicing her saber." Jie Zilong said calmly, "She has no interest in banquets."

"How rude, how arrogant!" Someone immediately jumped out and said, "Young Master Qun and Elder Chen have both arrived, how can she, a mere Black Belt, not come out to meet them! She's deliberately disrespecting the face of the Noble Class!"

"Hey, speak properly, don't escalate it to the family." Qun Yushu immediately interrupted him, "There are many people in this world who don't give me face. My dad doesn't give me face, Young Miss Jie and Fourth Shang don't give me face either. Does that mean they hate the Qun Family? They just hate me. It's normal to hate me. I'm not Spirit Jade, how could everyone like me? Besides, my dad never attends banquets either. Does that mean every family in Jiangnan City that sends my dad an invitation has been disrespected by me?"

The youth who was stirring up trouble moved his mouth, unable to speak—Qun Yushu had already brought up his dad, and if he dared to say anything more, it would be equivalent to attacking the powerful Qun Family Head.

"Then please invite her out for a talk," Chen Lincuan said.

"We already invited her," Jie Zilong said with a smile still on his face, "but she refused."

Many of the guests' expressions changed. It was clear they all wanted to speak, but Qun Yushu glanced back, and everyone swallowed their words.

"After all, we're the ones who want to meet her. Since she's unwilling to come over, then we can go over to her," Qun Yushu said easily. "Can you lead the way?"

Such a reasonable request was hard to refuse. As Qun Yushu and Chen Lincuan set off, the guests attending the banquet naturally followed closely behind. Qian Gongyu walked in the front, watching the large group of people following behind, and a strange thought suddenly occurred to her—who would have thought that so many Noble Class disciples would voluntarily visit someone who was just a Black Belt guard with no fame, no family background, and even weak strength?

She had already realized that she had been drawn into a huge vortex. With the slightest carelessness, she and the Qian Family could be torn to pieces. All of this was because she had picked up Jiang Shi halfway.

But Qian Gongyu didn't regret it at all. Instead, she began to look forward to Jiang Shi's next performance. Some people are like this: even if you know that the other person is beautiful and dangerous, you are still captivated by their charm, throwing all consequences to the back of your mind.

Jiang Shi was still practicing her saber next to the carriage. Even with a large group of people approaching, she was not affected in the slightest. Kasaya Slash, upward slash, downward slash, without any order, just constantly training basic moves back and forth. But her appearance was so outstanding, every move was like a dance full of beauty. Even wearing only a black practice suit, it was difficult to hide her graceful figure. Sweat on her forehead flowed down her cheeks to the tip of her nose, glistening like a delicious delicacy, making people want to taste it.

Qun Yushu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly stepped forward and knelt down on one knee.

"Miss Jiang Shi, will you marry me!?"