Vol.3-Chapter 48 – Strangeness

The tea stall wasn’t far from the Wind Mountain Villa. After a day of walking, they arrived below a green mountain, and the Wind Mountain Villa was on top of this mountain.

This was the border of the Huang Province and the Yan Province, so it was surrounded by mountains. Without Peng Bo leading the way, even if Zhao Jiuge knew about the Wind Mountain Villa, he wouldn't have been able to find his way here.

Yesterday, they had walked through the official road all day and saw many cultivators walk toward the Wind Mountain Villa. Even though it was only one day from the birthday celebration, many people were still flocking over. It seemed like many people valued the chance to enter the rank-5 spirit vein.

After a day of getting along, Zhao Jiuge had a general understanding of Peng Bo. Aside from liking to have fun, Peng Bo was not a bad person and had no ill intent. However, he loved to talk, and Zhao Jiuge wanted to sew his mouth shut.

Because of the rolling mountains nearby, the area was surrounded by cold fog at night. It made one feel like they were going up into the sky. The higher you went, the stronger this feeling became.

Pei Su Su looked around and muttered, “This Wind Mountain Villa knows how to pick its location. Even without a formation, this place is filled with spiritual energy.”

However, San Wu’s brows were tightly furrowed like he was thinking about something. The higher up they went, the darker the sky became, and an unknown chill swept by.

Peng Bo didn’t care about this much at all. His face was filled with curiosity, and it was his first time coming to the Wind Mountain Villa. When the Wind Mountain Villa was still a small force, this place was not yet built. Later, when the Villa Master Han’s strength suddenly increased, he moved the Wind Mountain Villa here. After the news of the birthday celebration came out, it was rumored that the rank-5 spirit vein should be under the mountains nearby.

Soon, everyone arrived at a platform on the mountainside. There was a crowd of people standing here and watching, but none of them had reached the Spirit Core Realm.

When they got close, they saw a strange stone. This stone had an irregular shape and was mud-yellow with four words carved on it.

Zhao Jiuge only glanced at it before heading up and didn’t pay attention to anyone else coming up. All those people with strength must have already arrived. Those that were rushing here now were probably just here for the festivities.

The mountain was not tall or steep, and a road leading up had been built. Zhao Jiuge noticed that a few of the mountains’ sides were connected.

The sky had darkened, so one could see the light from the buildings on the mountain. This allowed one to see the general outline of the buildings.

While Pei Su Su was complaining about how it was so slow and how they should have flown up, they finally arrived.

When they climbed up the final hill, what they saw was no longer a steep mountain, but a large, flat area. The first thing they saw was a row of red lanterns.

There were two stone pillars dozens of meters away from them that were about four to five meters tall. The two pillars stood on the sides of the path leading up, and there was a banner hanging between them.

The pillars were made of crystal-clear marble and had words carved on them in gold.

On the left was “Welcome friends from far and wide” and on the right was “Good fortunes and karma.” The banner between them read “Wind Mountain Villa.”

It was Villa Master Han’s birthday, so even the Wind Mountain Villa in the back was extremely lively. There was already a large number of people moving at just the entrance, and just looking at them from a distance made them feel the festivities.

There were seven eight people standing below the pillars waiting for guests. From their clothes, they seemed to be people from the Wind Mountain Villa here to greet guests.

After seeing those two phrases, both Zhao Jiuge and San Wu’s expressions brightened. On the way here, San Wu had a gloomy expression, but now it became a lot better. For some unknown reason, San Wu’s brows were furrowed during the entire trip up the mountain. However, at this moment, the worry disappeared from his face, and Zhao Jiuge felt relieved for some reason.

On the way here, Peng Bo had told them the purpose of the Wind Mountain Villa. It was obvious that the stronger you were, the more attention the Wind Mountain Villa would give you. At this moment, Zhao Jiuge released a faint hint of his aura.

The two people leading the group of seven or eight not far away noticed this and their eyes lit up. They quickly came over to greet Zhao Jiuge’s group.

The people who came were wearing dark-blue sword robes with patterns imprinted on them. The first two looked similar and both were at the mid stage of the Spirit Core Realm. The rest weren’t weak either—all at the Foundation Realm. Just this party showed that the Wind Mountain Villa couldn’t be underestimated.

When the group from the Wind Mountain Villa got close, the two people in the lead walked ahead of the group.

The one on the left seems a bit older, around 30 years old. He had a beard, and he was observing Zhao Jiuge’s group with a friendly smile.

On the right was someone slightly younger, only around 27 or 28 years old. He was similar to the person on the left but lacked the calm temperament. He also had an eagle-hook nose, which just looked awkward to people.

“Hahaha, let me introduce myself. I’m the Mountain Wind Villa’s Villa Master’s eldest son, Han Shaolong, and this is my second brother, Han Tianhu. From the looks of it, you’re not local to our Yan Zhi Region?”

When they arrived before Zhao Jiuge’s group, Han Shaolong, the one one the left, spoke up. His voice was rough but gave people a good impression.

“We are just rogue cultivators who passed by. We just happened to learn about the Villa Master’s birthday and wanted to come join the lively celebration.”

Zhao Jiuge smiled and kept a low profile. He didn’t want to reveal anything.

Han Tianhu only smiled and didn’t speak at all. After Zhao Jiuge finished speaking, he glanced at Peng Bo before his gaze went back to Zhao Jiuge. “You are being too modest. With your Spirit Core Realm cultivation, you are a peak existence in this area, and not to mention you’re still so young. I haven’t asked what your name is yet.”

Peng Bo’s servants were in the back while he shamelessly followed Zhao Jiuge’s group. On the other side of Zhao Jiuge were naturally Su Su and San Wu. A total of four people—a beautiful woman, a bald monk, and Han Tianhu naturally knew the Peng family’s young master, who was at the late stage of the Foundation Realm. He was only shocked for a moment. Clearly, he didn’t care much about Peng Bo.

There was some anger in Peng Bo’s eyes. Although the Peng family was not as strong as the Wind Mountain Villa, they shouldn’t be underestimated. As the eldest son of the Peng family, being ignored like this made him angry, and his chest heaved up and down.

When Zhao Jiuge saw everyone's expressions, he found it strange. While he had some strength, he was only at the Spirit Core Realm. He didn’t deserve this kind of treatment, to have the two sons of the Villa Master come greet him while ignoring Peng Bo. Both were big forces in the area, so even if they didn’t want to have a close relationship, they wouldn’t offend them like this.

“Zhao Jiuge. These two are my friends.”

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Although he found it strange, he still answered out of politeness. However, the smile on his face had faded, and perhaps because Han Tiahu gave him a bad impression, his attitude changed as well.

“How about this? I’ll have people lead young hero Zhao and young master Peng to rest. Tomorrow will be my father’s birthday. Any guest who comes to bless my father’s birthday is welcome, no matter who you are.”

Han Shaolong’s eyes lit up when he noticed the problem with his second brother’s words. He immediately smiled and smoothed out the situation. He didn’t pay any attention to San Wu or Su Su; he assumed they were just Zhao Jiuge’s friend and woman.

Hearing this, Peng Bo’s expression became a bit better, and he didn’t dare to make the situation worse. After all, his family was weaker and he himself lacked strength. If it was his father who came, their attitudes wouldn’t be like this.

Zhao Jiuge found the Han brothers a bit strange, but he didn’t think too much about it and nodded.

Han Shaoglong turned toward a short young man behind him and ordered, “Zhang Da, quickly take these guests to Jia Courtyard and serve them well. Don’t delay our guests, and if there is anything wrong, just directly report to Han Zhibao.”

Then Han Shaolong smiled and clasped his hands. He apologetically said, “Then, I’ll let you all rest now. If you need anything, just tell the servants. Tomorrow morning someone will come to inform you when the birthday celebration is about to begin.”

“Okay, then I’ll trouble you.” Zhao Jiuge nodded and then followed the short young man named Zhang Da into the Wind Mountain Villa.

From the beginning to end, the two young masters of the Wind Mountain Villa didn’t say a direct word to Peng Bo. Zhao Jiuge found it strange, then he realized that perhaps the Wind Mountain Villa was strong enough that they didn’t care about a young master who was only at the Foundation Realm. From the interaction, he could tell that they seemed more interested in forming relationships with strong cultivators.