Tang Manqing followed Fei Kui to the VIP lounge where Gu Qingfeng was. She had intended to see for herself what was happening, but to her surprise, Fei Kui merely arrived at the lounge's entrance. He did not knock, nor did he enter. He simply stood obediently to the side.
"Boss Fei, what are you doing standing here? Why aren't you knocking?" Wei Lao also found this strange and asked in puzzlement.
"The Young Master... Young Master is resting. No one is to disturb him." It was clear that Fei Kui was very agitated and excited, and he desperately wanted to see Gu Qingfeng. Yet, despite this, he restrained his inner excitement and stood respectfully by the door.
This action of his truly left Tang Manqing and Wei Lao dumbfounded. They felt Fei Kui was being far too deferential towards Gu Qingfeng. Even if he had once been Gu Qingfeng's charioteer, was there any need to be this subservient? After all, he was now a prominent, well-known boss in Yanluo Kingdom. Why, upon seeing Gu Qingfeng, did he act like a servant before his master, not even daring to knock?
It wasn't until Lin Xiang'er finished her performance and enthusiastic applause erupted in the main hall that Fei Kui finally gently knocked on the lounge door.
The door opened. It was one of the alluring maidservants.
Fei Kui was a regular here and a famous boss in Yanluo Kingdom. The maidservant naturally recognized him and was about to greet him when she suddenly spotted Wei Lao behind him. Realizing something must be going on, she wisely refrained from speaking and quietly slipped away.
"Young Master?" Fei Kui called out cautiously, his voice choked, as if afraid of disturbing Gu Qingfeng.
"Who is it?" Hearing the voice, Gu Qingfeng, who had been reclining in his chair, swiveled it around to face the door. His closed eyes opened slightly, a lazy gaze falling upon Fei Kui. At first glance, his brow furrowed slightly, as if this round, short, fat fellow seemed somewhat familiar. Upon closer inspection, his eyes snapped fully open. He sat up, crossing his legs, and asked doubtfully, "Fei Kui?"
Thump!
Hearing Gu Qingfeng call his name, Fei Kui immediately knelt on the spot. The excitement and agitation he had been suppressing could no longer be contained and erupted completely. "Young Master! It really is you! This lowly one... this lowly one thought I was seeing things... Young Master! This lowly one... this lowly one, Fei Kui, pays his respects to the Young Master!"
Fei Kui wept. Perhaps from overwhelming excitement, or perhaps from overwhelming joy—tears of happiness. He cried out while kowtowing.
This scene, witnessed by Tang Manqing, Shui'er, and Wei Lao, left them utterly unable to believe their eyes. Fei Kui's earlier reluctance to disturb Gu Qingfeng was already hard for them to believe. Now, witnessing him kneel and kowtow firsthand, the three of them were utterly astounded. They simply could not understand why Fei Kui would show such reverence towards Gu Qingfeng.
Could it be solely because Gu Qingfeng was the so-called heir of the monarch? Even if that were true, Fei Kui shouldn't need to be this deferential towards him.
In truth, they did not know that the reason for Fei Kui's profound respect was not because Gu Qingfeng was the so-called monarch's heir. It was because Gu Qingfeng had shown him great kindness—an immense favor.
Back in the Great Northwest, before Gu Qingfeng was annihilated beneath the Tai Xuan Monument, he had once performed an enlightenment baptism for Fei Kui. Fei Kui's current cultivation achievements were entirely due to that single baptism, which caused his cultivation and strength to advance by leaps and bounds, eventually allowing him to ascend to become an Earth Immortal.
Fei Kui had once been merely an outer gate deacon of the Yunxia Sect in the Great Northwest. With no notable background or exceptional talent, he had only managed to secure that position thanks to Old Master Huode's backing. He had never held any hope for his own cultivation and had always assumed he would muddle through life in a daze.
But after Gu Qingfeng performed the enlightenment baptism for him, his life changed completely. Every bone, sinew, membrane, and meridian in his body underwent miraculous transformations—his foundation, his dantian, his physical body, all of it. He knew that his present accomplishments were all because of Gu Qingfeng. In his heart, he had long regarded Gu Qingfeng as his second father.
"Get up and speak," Gu Qingfeng said, pouring himself a cup of wine and taking a light sip. "How did you end up here, kid? If my memory serves me right, didn't I tell you to stay and cultivate back at the Yunxia Sect?"
Gu Qingfeng was not what one would call a good man, let alone a benevolent one. Back then, the reason he had performed the enlightenment baptism for Fei Kui was simply because he had seen how diligently the fellow had worked as his charioteer in the Four Directions Great Domain, without a single complaint. So, when he was leaving the Four Directions Great Domain, he had casually given him a hand.
"It was the Old Master who sent this lowly one here," Fei Kui said, standing up and wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes. He hurried over to pick up the wine jug and pour more wine for Gu Qingfeng.
"Old Master? You mean that old codger Huode?"
"Yes. After the Heavenly Mandate descended nine years ago, the Old Master found this lowly one a position here in Yanluo Kingdom. I've been in Yanluo all these years."
Back then, after the Heavenly Mandate descended, Huode had asked Fei Kui about his future plans. Fei Kui didn't really know what he wanted to do. He thought for a long time but couldn't decide. Attaining the Dao and becoming an immortal? Fei Kui wasn't particularly interested in that. Compared to attaining the Dao, wealth and luxury appealed to him more. So, Huode wrote a letter and told Fei Kui to take it to Yanluo Kingdom to find Old Master Black Buddha. Huode said that if he wanted wealth and luxury, seeking out Old Master Black Buddha would be the right move.
Thus, Fei Kui took Huode's letter to Yanluo Kingdom and found Old Master Black Buddha.
Before leaving, Fei Kui had asked Huode whether the Young Master was truly dead or not.
At the time, Huode had said something Fei Kui remembered vividly to this day. Huode said, "If that kid Gu doesn't want to die, no one can kill him. Not even the Heavens, not even the Heavenly King himself."
Fei Kui believed Huode and trusted his words implicitly.
Moreover, Huode had once said something else that Fei Kui dared not forget even more.
Huode had once asked him, "Do you want to live a life that stands tall between heaven and earth, a life that shakes the world?"
Fei Kui said he did.
Huode said, "If you do, then if you ever see that kid Gu again in the future, follow him. As long as you're by his side, even if you're just a lowly charioteer, you'll be a charioteer that even the Heavenly King himself wouldn't dare breathe loudly in front of!"
Fei Kui had kept these words firmly in his heart.
For this reason, he hadn't been idle over the years. He had inquired everywhere for news of Gu Qingfeng. Yet, after several years, there was no trace, just as Immortal Suhua had said—utterly annihilated.
However, Fei Kui deeply believed Huode's words. He was also convinced that the Young Master would be as Huode had said: as long as the Young Master did not wish to die, no one in all the world could kill him.
What Fei Kui had never expected in a million years was that today, in a place like Linglong Mountain Villa, he would actually see the Young Master again!