Xu Yi had always loved banquets like this, filled with human warmth. No one talked about cultivation or officialdom. They recited poems and sang of moonlit breezes, or traded stories about the bustling streets. When the mood struck, someone would recite a verse or play a tune on the xiao.
Most of those seated here came from Huaixi Prefecture's prominent families and had a natural refinement about them. The atmosphere was delightful.
"Boss, give us a verse. You've spent these past years far away in Jiannan, making friends with the powerful and seeing all sorts of novelties. Tell us a thing or two about it."
Qiu Dao Ming teased him.
When they had first met, Xu Yi had introduced himself, saying only that he had left officialdom and was serving as a guest advisor at a trade association.
No one had thought it strange. They all knew Xu Yi's temperament; it would have been stranger if he had stayed in officialdom for long.
Xu Yi was just considering what to say when a tremendous crash rang out from the direction of the main gate.
Everyone rushed outside, only to see that the gate and the entire stretch of courtyard wall attached to it had collapsed. Dust billowed, blotting out the sky.
In an instant, someone used an exquisite telekinetic art to sweep away all the rubble and dust.
A large force now stood before them on the open ground.
At their head sat a square-faced elder in purple robes and a golden crown, riding in a golden carriage. His stern gaze was fixed on Father Qu. The two men looked strikingly alike.
More than twenty people stood behind him, all imposing and plainly not guards.
Only one young man in white robes rode alongside the elder, mounted on a splendid