Huang Huai was just about to speak when sudden cheers erupted ahead. Hundreds of voices shouted in unison, and he saw a carriage slowly rolling down the main street ahead. A figure, not particularly tall, sat upright upon the carriage. The youth was small, with regular facial features that still retained a hint of childishness. He wore his hair in a topknot and donned a robe embroidered with mountain-and-river patterns, signifying his status as a disciple of the Great River Sect.
Surrounded by the Peng household servants, Peng Sanlang, Peng Yu, wore a stiff face as he tried hard to maintain his composure. Yet Huang Huai, along with everyone else, could clearly see the irrepressible joy and pride radiating from Peng Yu.
Having survived a brush with death to stand out among so many and secure admission into the Great River Sect, taking flight with a single bound from this point onward—faced with a destiny-altering encounter of this magnitude, let alone an immature youth like him, even if anyone else present were in his shoes, they probably wouldn't have fared much better than Peng Yu.
A vanguard of Peng family servants cleared the path ahead, every single one of them walking with chests puffed out and faces brimming with pride, putting on an airs-and-graces show that would make anyone ignorant of the truth assume they were the ones who had joined the Great River Sect.
The leading elder was none other than Peng Zhan, the steward of the Peng estate. At this moment, Peng Zhan's face was wreathed in smiles as he shouted loudly and resoundingly to the surroundings, "My young master has caught the eye of a High God from the Great River Sect and has auspiciously been accepted into the sect. This is a monumental joyous occasion for our Peng household! Today, our family head is in high spirits, scattering silver and copper coins so that the common folk may share in the joy."
Even as he spoke, behind the carriage came Peng family servants carrying several large bamboo baskets brimming with copper coins, and those servants walked while throwing the copper coins toward the surroundings with the utmost vigor.
In the wake of the carriage, a dense throng of commoners followed closely behind with joyful expressions, scrambling to seize the copper coins scattered by the Peng family.
The Peng family procession drew closer and closer, and the emotions of the crowd surrounding Huang Huai rose palpably. One pair of eyes after another locked onto the baskets brimming with copper coins, and it was evident that these people had already readied themselves to fight for the money.
Yet upon seeing this, Huang Huai's expression shifted slightly. Not only did he fail to follow the crowd forward, but he even seized the moment before the surging throng rushed forward en masse, squeezing and shoving his way against the human current to flee the crowd.
Panting, Huang Huai hid away in a deserted corner on the flank, feeling the aches throbbing across his limbs. He raised his head to look once more at the sea of black heads densely packed together in a chaotic scramble for the copper coins tossed by the Peng family, and a sense of lingering fear welled up in his heart.
Fortunately, his reaction had been fast enough. Had he delayed even a bit in that posture, there was a good chance he would have been swept up by the crowd and dragged into the money-grabbing army.
Just by looking at how even sturdy, robust men were being squeezed into grimacing grimaces by the human current and dealing out heavy punches to those around them, he knew that with his physique, if he had truly plunged into the mob, he might well have been crushed and trampled to death alive.
Huang Huai gasped for breath with a look of lingering dread, when suddenly a childish voice rang in his ear, "Hey, why aren't you going with everyone else to grab the money?"
Huang Huai's heart tightened. Clearly no one had been standing here just a moment ago, nor had he noticed anyone approaching. Following the voice, he looked over and saw that, sure enough, a person had silently appeared right beside him.
Strictly speaking, it should be a youth, appearing to be around eleven or twelve years old. He wore a light blue tunic, fastened at the waist with a jade belt, and wore a solid gold longevity lock around his neck. His complexion was as fair and flawless as jade, and his deep, profound eyes gazed at him with a hint of curiosity.
At a glance, this youth was clearly not from an ordinary family. Huang Huai raised his head, and a casual sweep of his surroundings revealed an antique yet luxurious carriage parked by the roadside ahead. Judging by its spot at the curb, it was undoubtedly, just like him, evading the chaotic mob.
A few servants stood guard by the carriage, and from a distance, the lowered fabric curtain was lifted slightly, revealing a pair of watery eyes gazing in his direction.
To be precise, the master of those eyes—of whom only half a delicate face was visible behind the screen of the carriage curtain—was not looking at him, but rather at the youth by his side.
The owner of those eyes seemed to sense Huang Huai's gaze and locked eyes with him. Huang Huai only felt that the other's gaze was as cold and clear as water, devoid of the slightest emotion.
The youth standing beside Huang Huai received no reply from him. Following Huang Huai's line of sight, his eyeballs instantly rolled, and he turned to Huang Huai, saying, "That's my older sister. Isn't she pretty...?"
Huang Huai withdrew his gaze. After all, with only eyes and less than half a face visible, as to whether the owner of those eyes was actually pretty or not, he truly couldn't tell.
Yet the very next moment, the youth let out a cry of pain. Rubbing his forehead with one hand while making a wry, aggrieved face toward the carriage, he shouted, "Sis, you hit my head with a pearl again!"
A cold voice drifted over, "Roll back into the carriage if you act up again!"
"Why so fierce? This won't do, that won't do, you just know how to boss me around..."
Huang Huai watched as the youth gripped a single pearl in one hand and rubbed his reddened forehead with the other, turning slightly to present his back to the carriage while muttering softly under his breath.
Seeing this posture, Huang Huai could more or less discern the general dispositions of this pair of siblings: the younger brother was mostly high-spirited and untamed, while the elder sister possessed a cold and detached temperament. Naturally, what shocked him far more was the secret astonishment in his heart; the distance between the two parties was at least fifteen or twenty zhang, yet at such a distance, the other's voice rang out as if right beside his ear, and she had casually hurled a pearl to strike the youth's forehead. The other party was plainly a cultivator possessed of extraordinary and mighty powers.
Weren't they saying that stepping onto the path of cultivation was harder than ascending to the heavens? Yet no sooner had he stepped out for a little while than he ran into Peng Yu, who had just been accepted into the Great River Sect, alongside this undeniably extraordinary pair of siblings.
In this brief span of time, the Peng family procession had arrived close by. Huang Huai watched the clamorous mob and instinctively stepped back a pace, reaching out to tug at the youth's tunic as he said, "Little brother, hurry and take cover, watch out for getting swept up by the crowd."
Although the youth was mischievous in nature, he was not a malicious sort. Hearing this, he also stepped back a pace, looked at Huang Huai, and spoke up once more, "These people are all grabbing money, why aren't you grabbing any?"
The cacophony of noise drowned out everything else, but the youth's voice was loud enough for Huang Huai to hear clearly. Surveying the youth's inquisitive expression, Huang Huai said in a loud voice, "Why should I go grab for it?"
The youth blinked, gazed at the steadily receding human current, and instinctively asked, "But everyone else is grabbing it?"
Huang Huai smiled and said, "Since everyone else is grabbing it, then why aren't you going to grab it?"
The youth was momentarily stunned by Huang Huai's question, but then he snapped back to his senses, clapped his hands, and shouted, "Right, right! I didn't go grab it either!"
With that, the youth's eyes shone brightly as he looked at Huang Huai, casually shoving the pearl in his hand directly into Huang Huai's grasp. "You're an interesting fellow, this pearl is for you!"
When the youth's hand brushed against Huang Huai's, it seemed to encounter something. His eyeballs rolled once, shifting toward Huang Huai's wrist, and a trace of surprise inevitably surfaced within his lowered gaze.
Yet all of this vanished in a split second, and the strange look in the youth's eyes instantly returned to normal.
As he turned to leave, the youth paused in his steps and called out to Huang Huai, "My name is Ji Yang. What's your name? If there's time, I'll look you up to play!"
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