"Three Seniors, may I ask what advice brings you to the Xiao Clan?" Xiao Zhan immediately stood up from the master seat, lowering his posture completely.
Had he not seen Ge Ye, who spoke so insolently just a moment ago, still unable to crawl back up? With such a precedent before them, naturally no one else would dare to imitate him.
Not just him, but everyone present-including the aggressively imposing Nalan Yanran-lowered their heads at this moment.
"The Clan Head Xiao need not stand on ceremony. It is rather I who have come uninvited and appear somewhat presumptuous, causing much offense, oh." Qin Yun nodded simply toward Xiao Zhan, offering a brief courtesy.
"Not at all, not at all. For the three Lords to grace the Xiao Clan makes the humble estate shine with reflected glory." Xiao Zhan naturally knew the other party was merely being polite, even lowering his already bent waist slightly more.
"We are originally Rogue Cultivators wandering the mainland. It was just that while passing through the sky above this place, we suddenly heard a sentence full of grit and spirit, which is why I stepped in here," Qin Yun explained simply.
Then he cast his gaze upon Xiao Yan, who still looked somewhat at a loss. "This must be the young master of the Xiao Clan, right? Was that sentence just now spoken by you?"
"This gr... Senior, I am Xiao Yan. That sentence just now was merely something that slipped out of my mouth, making you laugh."
Xiao Yan answered respectfully. Although he did not know the purpose of the person before him helping him, he could deduce that, for the time being, the other party was presumably on his side.
"To be able to say such words shows that you are certainly not an ordinary person. I think very highly of you, yo." Qin Yun said a string of pleasantries quite politely, even giving the other party a thumbs-up.
Following Qin Yun's sequence of combo moves, even the person involved, Xiao Yan, was somewhat bewildered. How could this powerhouse seemingly lack the arrogance of those formidable people he had seen in the past?
You must know that take the clan head of the Jia Lie Family for example-a mere Da Dou Shi who, every time he came to inspect his territory, couldn't wait to have people carry him in an eight-bearer sedan chair, terrified that someone wouldn't know his identity.
Hearing the friendliness in the tone of this unfamiliar powerhouse, Xiao Xun'er also furrowed her brows slightly, yet inwardly she let out a sigh of relief.
Judging from the current situation, the other party was not an enemy, and she presumably would not need to have her father come over in person.
Of course, the most important thing was that he stood firmly behind Brother Xiao Yan during his lowest trough. Regardless of whether he harbored alternative motives,
he had already left a place in Brother Xiao Yan's heart. She would wait until she investigated clearly before seeing what to do.
Naturally, Xiao Xun'er's little inner thoughts were also detected by Qin Yun, whose lips twitched involuntarily. As expected, he still hoped to be kept by a wealthy woman.
Yet turning his head to look once more at Feng Qing'er, who wore an arrogant expression, he gently shook his head. Both born to prominent families, how could people possibly be so completely different?
If he had a little girlfriend who supported him as fiercely as Xiao Xun'er did, he probably would have gone to find Gu Yuan the very next day to expose his identity, then laid flat and eaten meals for the rest of the journey.
Where would he need to scheme against this and plot against that just to find himself a barely passable backing?
Still, Qin Yun was not a person who would abandon righteousness for profit. Since he had already bound himself to the Wind and Lightning Pavilion, he would first see if the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan could become his true backing.
After all, having beaten Feng Qing'er wildly while holding her head down for an entire year-to the point where she was almost beaten silly-they could be considered to have beaten out a bit of affection.
Yet Feng Qing'er completely failed to see through Qin Yun's thoughts and intentions, only seeing him gently sigh at her and instinctively shake his head again.
Following that, he looked either intentionally or unintentionally at Xiao Xun'er. What was the meaning of this? Could it be that he was hinting something to her?
In her heart, Feng Qing'er instantly thought of many things, finally guessing a possibility that might be a major hint.
From the demeanor and actions of that little hussy called Xiao Xun'er, one could tell that the other party was legendary as Gu Yuan's biological daughter.
Did Qin Yun's meaning imply that she should wait for his command and then go head-on against this eldest Miss of the Gu Clan?
Please, take a good look at the current situation! Although this young miss is a bit reckless, she is not a fool. If she really angers the other party to the extreme, she wouldn't even have the right to choose how well-done she wants to be roasted by then.
Fortunately, this was merely Feng Qing'er's conjecture. Without Qin Yun's precise directive, she wouldn't be foolish enough to go and fight anyone to the death.
If Qin Yun knew what Feng Qing'er had guessed in her heart just now, he would definitely give her three words: You're awesome.
"This little girl, you should be Nalan Yanran of the Misty Cloud Sect, right? To think back then, my teacher even had a few chance encounters with Yun Potian, the founder of your sect.
Yet who would have thought his descendants would actually commit this sort of deed." Looking at Nalan Yanran, Qin Yun's tone clearly lacked the warmth he had shown toward Xiao Yan.
"Senior, I simply do not wish to marry someone I do not like. Could it be that this is also wrong? If Senior believes it is not wrong, then Yanran has nothing more to say."
Unexpectedly, Nalan Yanran was even more obstinate than Feng Qing'er, actually carrying a sense of moral coercion to her words.
"Interesting, are you forcing me?" Qin Yun stepped forward, and a wave of oppressive might instantly descended upon Nalan Yanran, causing her to drop to one knee on the spot while a trace of fresh blood overflowed from the corner of her mouth.
"Yanran wouldn't dare." Nalan Yanran bit her lip, still stubbornly insisting on calling off this engagement.
"As a neutral party independent of both of your sides, let me speak a word of justice for you.
First, you are not wrong to want to break off the engagement, and I support you. After all, everyone has the right to choose the kind of person they will marry.
Yet where you went wrong is the manner of breaking it off. Coming with such pomp and circumstance, arrogantly declaring that you want to dissolve the engagement-did you ever consider the other party's situation?
If you cannot empathize, then think about whether what I did just now was simply the same as your approach.
According to your logic, could I directly use martial force to coerce your Misty Cloud Sect into acknowledging this marriage?" Qin Yun's words pierced straight to the heart, directly striking the most sensitive part of Nalan Yanran's mind.
"I... I..." At this moment, Nalan Yanran also seemed to realize that something was amiss. Thinking carefully now, when the other party used pressure to oppress her just a moment ago, it seemed just about the same as her own approach toward the Xiao Clan earlier.
Only it was somewhat more violent, but the essence was largely the same. Could it be that she had truly done something wrong?
If it weren't for the fact that she could not wait and anxiously desired to dissolve the engagement, she probably could have dissolved it through formal channels with her teacher's side in a few days.
Although that still would have caused the other party to lose face, it would have been far better than turning things into this state now.
Seeing that Nalan Yanran was somewhat hesitant, Qin Yun also knew she merely cared too much about her engagement and, in her haste, had used the most extreme method.
Since that was the case, he would resolve it using his own method.
"Since it has come to this, I will give you a fair method.
As for the marriage, we will temporarily not dissolve it. Three years from now, the two of you shall engage in a one-on-one duel. On the ring, those with grudges will settle grudges, and those with grievances will air grievances. We shall separate victories and defeats, but not decide life and death.
Regardless of who wins or loses after the duel, the engagement will be completely dissolved. Do you have any objections to this method of handling it?"
A showdown three years hence, with the loser having nothing more to say-in the eyes of both individuals, this indeed proved to be a relatively good resolution.
Before you continue