"A favor?
When was that?"
"Some years ago."
Qing Xi did not ask further. She knew her master often traveled and helped many people; every year, there were those who came personally to express their gratitude.
"My master will rush back in the next couple of days to preside over the Flower Festival. You'll be able to see her then."
"After the current Wuse Flower Festival, will petals still fall?"
"Yes."
Qing Xi nodded. "Our Wuse Mountain scatters Wuse Flower petals every year. It was so in the past, it is now, and it will not change in the future."
"Is it still your master who scatters the Wuse Flower petals now?"
When Gu Qingfeng had asked earlier whether the Wuse Flower Festival scattered petals, Qing Xi had already felt some confusion. Anyone in the Great Northwest knew that Wuse Mountain scattered petals every year. This person looked young, at most in his early twenties, yet he spoke as if he had been in seclusion for many years.
"My master no longer holds that duty," Qing Xi said plainly. "Now, I am responsible for it every year."
"Oh?"
Gu Qingfeng was surprised. "Is that so...
Not bad, not bad."
The gardens at the foot of Wuse Mountain had many guest rooms for people to rest. Usually, there weren't many people, but with the Wuse Flowers about to bloom, the place was quite lively. Gu Qingfeng looked around and saw at least several hundred people gathered there, seemingly chatting and laughing.
When these people saw Qing Xi arrive, they swarmed over in a rush.
"This humble disciple Wang Tao, an inner disciple of the Hunyuan Sect, greets Young Lady Qingxi."
"Young Lady Qingxi, long time no see! We meet again. I've missed you greatly since we last parted!"
"During last year's Wuse Flower Festival, I was fortunate enough to hear Young Lady Qingxi personally play 'Gazing at the River Moon' on the guqin. It truly left me in awe and admiration!"
"Young Lady Qingxi, I've heard you have a particular fondness for the tunes of the Monarch. Though I am untalented, I wish to offer you a performance of the Monarch's famous piece 'Phoenix Seeks Phoenix' during the Flower Festival. I hope you can offer some guidance."
Good heavens, in the blink of an eye, over a hundred people surrounded Qing Xi, forming three layers deep, completely blocking her in.
Seeing this, Gu Qingfeng quickly extricated himself and left. When he first saw so many people, he thought they had all come to collect Wuse Flower petals. Now it seemed these brats were, nine times out of ten, here for the beauty. This made him sigh with emotion, lamenting the revival of all things in the Present-Ancient Era, and also reflecting that the Present-Ancient was indeed a good era.
There were many guest rooms in the gardens, but even more people.
Almost every room was either full or already occupied. Gu Qingfeng randomly found a guest room and shared it with two others.
Through casual conversation, he learned that both of them were actually disciples of the Yaoyue Palace.
Their cultivation was quite ordinary, just like his, at the Golden Core realm. One was a not-so-old fatty who called himself Li Dapang, and the other was an old man whose full name was unknown; Li Dapang called him Old Man Liu.
"Hey, haven't asked your name yet. What's yours?" Li Dapang asked curiously, grinning.
"Me?
My surname is Gu, given name Qingfeng!"
"Gu Qingfeng?"
Li Dapang scratched his head. "Why does that name sound so familiar... Wait...
Isn't Gu Qingfeng the name of Young Lord Chiyan?"
Li Dapang widened his eyes, staring at Gu Qingfeng in shock. "You... you couldn't be that Gu Qingfeng, Young Lord Chiyan, the Dao-companion of our Yaoyue Palace's Heir Apparent Disciple Han Dong, could you?"
Hearing this, Old Man Liu was also startled, looking at him with a tense expression. "That Young Lord Chiyan from the legends who died and came back to life?"
Gu Qingfeng drank his wine, smiling without speaking.
"Impossible!
Why would Young Lord Chiyan come to a place like this? Even if he did, he'd come with our Yaoyue Palace's Heir Apparent Disciple Han Dong. Young Lord Chiyan is such a noble figure; how could he possibly squeeze into a guest room with the likes of us?"
Li Dapang laughed and asked, "Brother, are you pulling our leg?
Or is it just the same name?"
Gu Qingfeng couldn't be bothered to explain. "Alright, consider it the same name."
"I knew it must be like that!" Li Dapang cursed under his breath. "You really scared me half to death just now."
"What's there to be afraid of!"
"What's there to be afraid of? Good heavens! Brother, haven't you heard? A few days ago, that Young Lord Chiyan kicked our Yaoyue Palace's direct disciple Bi Lan half to death! A fake Young Lord Chiyan isn't scary, but the real one is terrifying! Three years ago in the Four Directions Great Region, Young Lord Chiyan was incredibly fierce. I heard he possessed some kind of indestructible absolute power, killing Daozun as easily as slaughtering pigs, even making those reincarnated great experts flee in panic."
Li Dapang gulped, looked around cautiously, and whispered, "I heard when Young Lord Chiyan gets angry, the wind and clouds change color, nature trembles, heaven and earth crack. When he kills, he doesn't recognize even his own kin, and even...
even hits himself...
Isn't that terrifying..."
"What kind of nonsense is that..." Gu Qingfeng shook his head with a bitter smile, not wanting to dwell on the topic. He asked, "Are you here to participate in the Wuse Flower Festival?"
"Obviously, why else would we be here?"
Li Dapang pulled out a roasted delicacy from his storage bag and took a big bite. "Brother, we're fated to meet. When it's time to fight for the Wuse Flower petals, let's watch out for each other."
"Are there many people competing for the Wuse Flower petals now?"
"So many there's hardly any room to stand! Don't be fooled by the few hundred people now; that's because the Wuse Flowers haven't bloomed yet. In a few days, after the Wuse Flower Festival, it'll be a sea of people. Too many monks, too little meat! It's hard to snatch any!"
This surprised Gu Qingfeng. In the Ancient Era, everyone fought for Wuse Flower petals because resources were scarce and spiritual energy was thin. In the Present-Ancient Era, with spiritual energy so abundant and resources plentiful, logically, there shouldn't be a need to fight bloody battles over a single Wuse Flower petal.
"Brother, you must be new here. Although the Present-Ancient has abundant spiritual energy and rich resources, Wuse Flower petals containing Wuyun Aura are only found at Wuse Mountain, and they bloom just once a year. As the saying goes, rarity increases value. With market demand, more and more people compete for them. The price of Wuse Flower petals rises with the tide, jumping up a notch every year!"
"So that's how it is."
Gu Qingfeng had forgotten that Wuse Flower petals were premium materials for refining pills. Combined with being exclusive to Wuse Mountain, their price likely only rose, never fell.
"Don't listen to his nonsense. This fatty Li isn't just here to compete for Wuse Flower petals."
Old Man Liu seemed somewhat proper. He sat cross-legged on the bed and said, "This fatty is more here to admire the young ladies."
"What do you mean 'admire the young ladies,' Old Man Liu? I'm here for the Wuse Flower Festival to exchange knowledge on music, chess, calligraphy, and painting with everyone!"
"Pah! You have no shame! Which of those do you understand? A few years ago, to catch Young Lady Qingxi's attention, you specially bought a guqin, boasting you'd study music. A year later, not only did you fail to learn the simplest tune, you almost got your fingers cut off by the strings..."