Chapter 187: Testing the Edge of Danger
Qiao Wan had been in her cave for three whole days, diligently studying the pile of martial arts techniques on her table. But Elder Martial Brother still hadn't come to take her outside.
A few more days of waiting wouldn't be a problem, but the Red Fire Golden Fetus was still atop the white tower. What if someone else snatched it away before her?!
The thought made Qiao Wan quietly scratch the wall.
"Xiao Song, Xiao Song, let's make a deal. Can you let me out? I can give you enough spirit stones!"
The voice of a young disciple outside the door was crisp and clear. "Elder martial sister, forget about it. If I let you out, Elder Martial Brother will definitely get mad at me. Do you really want to involve me?"
Hearing this, Qiao Wan, who was silently scratching the wall inside, immediately gave up.
Not causing trouble for others had always been her guiding principle.
So she could only return and continue meditating.
But she had been disabled for so many years, and finally broke through the Golden Core with great difficulty. She really wanted to go out and show off.
Although Xiao Song ran into a wall there, he didn't expect that after midnight, there were some sneaky and rustling sounds outside the cave.
A familiar folding fan gently pushed aside the prohibition at the entrance of the cave, reaching in. Along with the fan came a familiar face.
With starry eyes and arched eyebrows, Jun Caiwei wore a big smiling face, looking friendly. He smiled and said, "Oh, Brother Niu, long time no see."
Behind him, there was also a fair and timid young boy who stammered, "L-l-little... sister."
Following them was a displeased young master from the Xiao family.
Since they came secretly, this conversation took place in complete silence.
As soon as they entered, Jun Caiwei looked back at the fallen Xiao Song, made a hand gesture, and gave him a signal, asking, "Are you coming out?"
Gan Nan said, "Sister Wan'er, I heard that you are being held captive by Taoist Friend Lu. We have come to rescue you."
Qiao Wan asked, "What about Xiao Song?"
Xiao Boyang replied, "He fainted, but he's fine. His cultivation is weak. Your Elder Martial Brother is sensible, so it's not surprising he got away."
The young master of the Xiao family impatiently said, "We saved you once, and now we have to save you again. Stop talking nonsense. Are you coming or not?"
Qiao Wan answered, "Let's go!"
Without hesitation, she put down the book in her hand and quietly followed Jun Caiwei and the others, sneaking out through the cave.
Just as they stepped outside, Qiao Wan nearly burst into tears.
Finally, they were out! But before she could finish her sigh of relief, the young master of the Xiao family threw a porcelain bottle at her.
Qiao Wan was puzzled, "What is this?"
Xiao Boyang smirked, "It's a must-have for night excursions in Kunshan. It's a transformation pill made by the medical disciples of Xixia Peak. It can conceal your presence and is specifically used to deal with the night patrol disciples."
It was Gan Nan's doing something like "sneaking around", he looked around nervously and asked, "So where are we going now?"
Jun Caiwei patted Gan Nan's shoulder and suddenly took out a bottle of wine from his pocket. He laughed and said, "Of course, we're going to the rooftop to have a drink!"
"To celebrate Brother Niu's successful achievement of creating Dan!"
Qiao Wan was surprised and her nose tingled. She felt a bit touched.
Yes, she had finally achieved the golden pill!
She clenched her teeth fiercely.
After spending such a long time, she had finally become an amazing golden pill cultivator!
This was the first time someone had been willing to celebrate her pill creation with her.
With this in mind, Qiao Wan sincerely bowed and stuttered a few words, "T-thank you, so... so much!"
She truly meant her thanks.
"Oh, why are you thanking us now? This is the time to drink," Jun Caiwei chuckled, shaking the wine bottle. "I heard that Xixia Peak in Kunshan has a beautiful view. Shall we go?"
The girl usually has no expression on her face, but now her eyes are slightly red, which makes Xiao Boyang feel a little uneasy.
After fighting with Qiao Wan for so many years, he didn't just easily become friends with her... He just wanted to have a drink, not specifically celebrate that Qiao Wan finally achieved some insignificant accomplishment!
"Stop talking nonsense and quickly take the transformation pill!"
It is necessary to choose the best place to drink.
Among the entire Kunshan, Xixia Peak is the highest mountain, overlooking the entire landscape of Kunshan. It is named Xixia because every morning, a red sun rises from the horizon, first tinted with a light red blush.
After bypassing the patrolling disciples, they huffed and puffed their way up to the top of Xixia Peak and all sat down.
Jun Caiwei brought this wine himself, it is a special product of the thirteen southern provinces, aged for a hundred years. Just one sip and you get drunk.
On the mountain top, the four of them were a bit dizzy from drinking.
"Wow! The moon is so big!"
"Looks like an egg yolk!"
The four people couldn't drink enough from one pot, and it quickly ran out.
Picking up the jug and pouring it out, Jun Caiwei sighed with regret, as if he thought of something. He called over the three somewhat tipsy people nearby.
Lowering his voice, he spoke in a secretive manner.
"Look, everyone, my jug is already empty."
Xiao Boyang , the young master of the Xiao family who is known for solving problems with spirit stones due to his wealth and lack of intelligence, clearly wasn't satisfied with his drinks. He frowned and said, "How about I buy some more?"
Gan Nan , also known for being rich but not having a strong tolerance for alcohol, had only taken a few sips and his face had turned as red as a tomato. He drunkenly slapped a spirit stone on the table and said, "I...I still have some spirit stones here, I'll use mine!"
Jun Caiwei shook his head. "It's not fun if we just buy more."
Qiao Wan suddenly had a brilliant idea.
Not fun to buy more...
"Are you suggesting..." Qiao Wan was a bit confused. "Steal?!"
"Hush!" The man was startled and quickly grabbed Qiao Wan's head, saying, "Is this called stealing? It's borrowing."
"I heard that the best wine in all of Kunshan is the private collection of Hall Master Ma at Wenshi Hall."
Gan Nan was taken aback, "Brother Jun, stealing... stealing things is not good."
The man shamelessly winked, "Shanshan, you don't understand. We borrowed the wine from Hall Master Ma, drank it, and then poured some water under the tree at the entrance of Wenshi Hall. That's called borrowing."
Jun Caiwei lured them, saying, "Hall Master Ma's private collection is said to be rich and fragrant, the best wine in all of Kunshan. How about it, do you want to try it? Are you up for it?"
"Brother Niu, listen to me. People, you know, have their rebellious moments. It's not a big problem to borrow some barrels of wine from Wenshi Hall today and pay for it later."
As the saying goes, "Alcohol gives courage to the timid."
Qiao Wan cautiously sneaked past the vigilant disciples on patrol, making her way to Ma Huaizhen's house in Wenshi Hall. She wanted to join him in drinking, indulging in the thrilling edge of danger.
Drinking alone wasn't enough, they needed to do something bigger! Qiao Wan was getting drunk, and her blood started to boil with excitement.
She wanted to fight! She wanted to tempt the edge of danger!
Xiao Boyang was heavily intoxicated, his mind cloudy, but he was also feeling a bit intrigued.
"Don't worry," Jun Caiwei patted the porcelain bottle in his arms. "We have this."
A transformation pill.
With this thing, they didn't have to worry about being caught by the patrolling disciples and being pressed down on the ground.
Jun Caiwei asked, "Are you up for it?"
Qiao Wan pondered silently for a moment, then confidently exclaimed, "Let's do it!"
Challenging the enraged disciples was practically a customary activity for disciples of Kunshan. If you hadn't been hammered by the disciples, you couldn't be considered a true disciple of Kunshan. Some even compete to see who can successfully escape from the watchful eyes of the disciples the most times, bragging about their daring escapes.
Before, she was considered an experienced person, evading the pursuit of the night disciples was always a piece of cake for her. What's more, she even managed to sneak out with Gan Nan from beneath the watchful eyes of Yuan Liu while still in the Foundation Building stage of cultivation.
Although she had never sneaked into Ma Huaizhen's house to steal alcohol before, she thought proudly as a Golden Core cultivator, Qiao Wan wasn't scared anymore!
Ma Huaizhen had two hiding spots in total, one on Qinghuan Peak and the other in Wenshi Hall for easy duty shifts.
Inside Ma Huaizhen's house, Qiao Wan confidently claimed that she was familiar with both spots, while Xiao Boyang clenched his teeth and said, "Let's do it!"
He had been cowardly for decades, so what if he stole some alcohol?!
Boys, your names should be 24K pure idiots.
Silently drinking the last drop of alcohol, Jun Caiwei held the jug and glanced at the Xixia Peak and Kunshan mountain below with a flicker in his eyes.
In the late night in Kunshan, most disciples chose to meditate and practice in their caves. A few bat spirits and wolf spirits from the west secretly roamed around, testing their luck under the watchful eyes of the night patrol guards.
Meanwhile, in front of the mountain gate, a wheelchair slowly entered Kunshan.
"I'm back," Ma Huaizhen lazily leaned on his wheelchair. The dark reflections in his eyes mirrored the silhouette of Kunshan's dark and dim mountain peaks.
As the head of Wenshi Hall, he figured since he was back so late, he might as well take a stroll and see which unlucky brats were still awake, wandering around at night.
But before that, there was something else to take care of. Ma Huaizhen gestured to Yuan Liu behind him.
"First, push me back to my room at Wenshi Hall."
The night was long, and many things could happen in the endless night.
For example, some disciples sneaking around for secret rendezvous.
Or weary travelers finally arriving at their destination, covered in dust.
"So, this is Kunshan?"
Following closely behind was a Chongde Ancient Garden disciple with a tired expression.
Qi Feidao energetically tucked his hands and looked up at the entrance of Kunshan.
"Well, let's go inside first and then we'll see."
Fang Lingqing looked tired and said, "At this time, the disciple who welcomes guests must be fast asleep."
Qi Feidao rubbed his chin and said, "It seems like the night watch disciple of Kunshan is still around. Let's go to Wenshi Hall first. We just arrived on their territory, so we should greet them."
For example, it's enough to give people time to sense that something is wrong.
The man with a sickly face, wrapped in thick fur, woke up the little disciple who had been laid down on the bed and was sound asleep with a deep gaze.
The disciple held his head and slowly woke up, looking confused. "Elder Martial Brother?!"
Looking left and right, he asked anxiously, "Where is Martial Sister Qiao Wan?"
Lu Pihan turned around.
Xiao Song felt a pang of fear in his heart and quickly followed. "Elder Martial Brother, where are you going?"
"To Wenshi Hall," Lu Pihan said with a cold voice, "to inform the night watch disciple."
