Dispute

Dawn was just breaking.

Few people walked the market at the foot of the mountain, and the creak of cartwheels echoed over the bluestone road.

Candlelight flickered to life one shop at a time on both sides of the street.

Steamer baskets were stacked high at the bun shop, and clouds of white steam slipped through the gaps in the bamboo strips, carrying the aromas of dough and meat straight into people's noses.

An old man selling sugar figures set up his stall. Syrup simmered in a copper pot, its sweet scent wafting through the entire street.

Several children gathered around, watching the copper ladle in the old man's hand with eager eyes.

Ling Shuanghua held two sugar figures in each hand and gave one each to Feng Zhuo and Cang Wuya. "Junior Brother, there's still plenty of time before the auction. You and Junior Brother Cang look around first. Eldest Senior Brother and I have something to do!"

The foot of Heavenly Pillar Mountain was Supreme One Divine Sect territory, and few people dared to cause trouble there.

Besides the cultivators who set up stalls, quite a few mortals sold food there as well.

Feng Zhuo took the phoenix sugar painting Ling Shuanghua offered him and licked it curiously.

It wasn't very sweet. It was tasty.

Cang Wuya was more direct. As soon as the sugar figure was in his hand, he began crunching away at it, nodding to assure Ling Shuanghua that she could rest easy and that he would take good care of their junior brother.

After Ye Wuhen and Ling Shuanghua left, Feng Zhuo asked, "Senior Brother, where are we going next?"

Cang Wuya asked briefly, "Hungry?"

Compared with the readily familiar Ye Wuhen and Ling Shuanghua, Cang Wuya did seem rather difficult to approach.

But with Ling Shuanghua smoothing things over between them, and with their bond as fellow disciples, after a month together the two of them were no longer at a loss for things to say.

Feng Zhuo shook his head. "I took a Grain Avoidance Pill just before we came."

Cang Wuya nodded in understanding. He wasn't hungry either, so they saved themselves the time of looking for food.

"You went into seclusion not long after joining the sect, Junior Brother. You probably haven't been to the foot of the mountain before, have you? I'll show you around."

Feng Zhuo readily agreed.

To his surprise, the seemingly aloof Cang Wuya was remarkably attentive.

Cang Wuya knew every mortal vendor they met along the way. He not only greeted each one, but also introduced Feng Zhuo to them.

Recalling how familiar Ling Shuanghua had been with the sugar figure maker when they first arrived, Feng Zhuo couldn't help wondering: Is getting on good terms with the vendors at the foot of the mountain a Carefree Peak tradition?

Just then, a sudden clamor arose up ahead.

Feng Zhuo rubbed his cheeks, which had grown a little stiff from smiling, and suggested, "Senior Brother, it sounds lively up ahead. Shall we go take a look?"

Cang Wuya nodded mildly. "Whatever you like."

As though set free, Feng Zhuo immediately broke into a brilliant smile. "Then let's hurry, Senior Brother! If we're late, we'll miss the show!"

With that, he took his senior brother's hand of his own accord.

Cang Wuya paused slightly, feeling the warmth where their hands met, so unlike the hilt of a sword.

And the softness, which could be broken with just a little force.

It was a feeling entirely different from holding a sword, but not a bad one either.

Feng Zhuo pulled his senior brother along by the hand and charged ahead.

Why was he in such a hurry? Naturally, it was because he had recognized one of the voices arguing ahead as Su Ruanruan's.

Feng Zhuo had been worrying about not being able to find her, only for her to deliver herself right to his door.

"Excuse me, coming through!"

Feng Zhuo apologized as he squeezed into the crowd.

Only after making sure they could see what was happening did Cang Wuya silently put away the magic sword he had drawn half an inch from its sheath in his other hand.

At the center of the crowd was indeed Su Ruanruan.

Feng Zhuo secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Sure enough, he could never mistake that voice, which filled him with disgust the moment he heard it.

Two groups faced off in the center of the crowd, and to his surprise, everyone involved was an acquaintance of Feng Zhuo's.

Of the two standing on the left, the one dressed in white was Yun Li. She had a single ice Spirit Root and had entered Sect Master Lingxiaozi's tutelage.

The female cultivator in flowing yellow robes was Liu Yiyi. She had dual earth and wood Spirit Roots and was a personal disciple of Formation Peak's Dao Lord Xuanji.

On the right was Su Ruanruan, accompanied by two senior brothers from Pill Peak.

The one dressed in red and green, looking for all the world like a gaudy butterfly, was Pill Peak's second senior brother, Hua Zhaoye.

The other, who wore sect disciple robes in proper order, was Bai Wuxia. He had entered a master's tutelage in the same batch as Feng Zhuo and was someone Chixiao had taken away at the master selection ceremony before he had shown himself much.

With the personal disciples of various main peaks causing trouble at the foot of the Supreme One Divine Sect's mountain, few people dared to take them away.

Su Ruanruan spoke in her usual manner. "Senior Sister Yun, if you like this stone, you need only tell me. Why damage the bond between fellow disciples?"

"It's just that, though this stone is unremarkable, I saw it first..."

"You're talking nonsense!"

Liu Yiyi's cheeks were crimson with anger. "Senior Sister Yun Li clearly found it first! You snatched it away from her for no reason! How can you talk about letting her have it?!"

The onlookers had thought they were fighting over some rare treasure. Once they saw that it was merely a dull gray, oval stone, more than half of them dispersed.

Feng Zhuo's gaze, however, remained fixed on the stone in Su Ruanruan's hand. Its shape was just like a Demon Beast egg.

Could this... be the white tiger Su Ruanruan contracted in my previous life?

He had heard that some Demon Beasts disguised their eggs as other inconspicuous things to protect their young.

The white tiger was a divine beast, so perhaps it had just such a habit!

"If Senior Sister says so, then so be it."

Su Ruanruan's face instantly turned deathly pale, and her body swayed slightly, as though she had reluctantly agreed out of consideration for their bond as fellow disciples, or perhaps because she had been forced to yield under pressure.

Seeing this, Hua Zhaoye immediately stepped forward. "Don't be afraid, Junior Sister! I'll back you up! Even if she's the sect master's personal disciple, she has no right to bully people!"

Bai Wuxia hurriedly chimed in. "Exactly!"

Yet he thought to himself that it was only a little stone. Why did Yun Li have to be so overbearing and insist on making their junior sister lose face in public?

"Don't be afraid, Junior Sister! Second Senior Brother and I are both here!"

Su Ruanruan had heard that there was an auction at the foot of the mountain today and had specifically invited her two senior brothers to attend with her.

A little while ago, Second Senior Brother Hua Zhaoye had left briefly, and she had suddenly sensed something in the market drawing her toward it.

Following that feeling, she came to a stall just in time to see Yun Li reaching for the stone.

Su Ruanruan quickly stepped forward and snatched it away right in front of Yun Li, certain that it was the thing drawing her in.

Now that it was in her hands, Su Ruanruan naturally couldn't possibly give it up.

And so the two of them started quarreling.

Bai Wuxia had accompanied Su Ruanruan the entire time and seen everything that happened. Even though he knew Su Ruanruan was in the wrong, he still supported her.

Hearing this, Su Ruanruan knew Bai Wuxia was on her side. With her second senior brother, who didn't know the truth, backing her as well, she felt even more confident.

"Thank you, Senior Brothers."

Su Ruanruan gave a graceful bow, her bearing poised. "But as Master's disciple, I must put harmony within our sect first and place Crimson Firmament Peak's interests above all else."

"If Senior Sister Yun truly likes it, it's just an ordinary stone. Naturally, it's not something I can't afford to give her."

"Ha!"

A Rogue Cultivator among the onlookers waved his fan and sneered, "A dignified personal disciple of Heaven-Soaring Peak, fighting over a mere stone. Has she gone mad from poverty?"

His companion hurriedly tugged at him. "Watch your words! This is Supreme One Divine Sect territory!"

The Rogue Cultivator's expression changed. He couldn't save face, but he was also afraid of losing his life for nothing, so he said resentfully, "Hmph! If I can't afford to offend them, I can at least avoid them!"

With that, he hurried away.

Yun Li's face turned livid when she heard this.

If she really accepted the stone, Heaven-Soaring Peak's reputation... She gritted her teeth and grabbed Liu Yiyi. "Let's go!"

She would remember this debt!

"Wait!"