Chapter 290 – The Battle Unfinished, an Old Friend Visits Cloudpeak Province - Part 3

The door swung open, revealing two girls.

At the front, blocking the threshold stood a broad‑shouldered, bear‑like teenage girl. Behind her peeked another girl in a silk brocade, likely the mouthy one from earlier.

The brocaded girl was early seventh rank, impressive for her age. The she-bear was late seventh rank and built like a mountain.

“You’re my master’s friend?” the burly girl asked, puzzled.

“Something like that,” Li Yuan said.

“Friend, huh!” the pretty one sniffed, edging forward.

Li Yuan chuckled. “Well, definitely not her boyfriend. Your master spends her days buried in puppets. Would she even look at a man?”

The jab was deliberate. If Tang Nian secretly liked someone, these two would leap to her defense and give the game away. However, the attempt at probing his goddaughter’s love life proved fruitless.

“True enough,” The brocaded girl merely said. Then, her tone turned curious. “Does Master really not care for men?”

The bear‑girl rumbled, “Seems you really are her friend.”

“Sure am.” Li Yuan laughed.

Just then Wang Heran hurried over; the moment he saw Li Yuan he almost dropped to his knees. Li Yuan caught his hand first, clapped his shoulder, and said, “Long time no see, my brother.”

Wang Heran trembled, eyes pleading

Master, please. Keep it low‑key

.

Li Yuan smiled, almost as if saying,

Relax, just play along.

The bear‑girl stepped aside. “If you’re Master’s friend, please come in.”

“Where is your master?” Li Yuan asked.

“Out on business,” the bear‑girl replied.

Wang Heran sighed. “Tang Ling! He’s your master’s dear friend. There’s no need to hide things. Fine, I’ll explain. Uhh... Since Mast—Mister Li is curious, Sect Mistress Tang went out to teach her big puppet.”

“Teach a puppet?” Li Yuan raised a brow.

“Yes,” Wang Heran nodded. “Her studies run deep, and she seems to have tapped an even older secret art from her family—”

“Mister Wang! Why are you spilling everything?” the brocaded girl gasped.

“Because this really is your master’s good friend,” Wang Heran growled.

At once a whole flock of girls started chirping inside the room, sounding like a nest of spring sparrows crowding around.

“Is he her boyfriend?”

“Or a secret crush?”

Wang Heran went pale. “No, no! Don’t say that! If your master hears, she’ll skin you all!”

Of course, the more he panicked, the more the girls giggled, fearless as kittens that had never been swatted.

The burly girl, Tang Ling, stepped aside and made an inviting gesture. “You’ve come far; warm yourself with a jar of wine. If you’re Master’s friend, you must enjoy a drink.”

A drink, huh?

Li Yuan mused, stepping inside.

The hut looked like a poor farmer’s house. There was a mud stove by the window, a big pot bubbling with fragrant eighth rank demonic beast meat. By the door rested a pitchfork, straw rain‑cape, bamboo hat, wood axe, and other tools used by mountain folk. Under the window sat a low wine table, the floor still wet from a dropped lattice‑carved cup and spilled red frozen grape liquor. Finally, against the wall was a straw mattress with a cotton quilt.

All of this was a facade.

Every girl here wore silks heavy with pearls and gems, worth a fortune. One neat‑faced girl even poked her head from beneath the stove, perfume wafting out—an obvious trap‑door to an underground complex.

“Tang Ling, hurry up! Come down and drink!” someone called from the stove’s depths.

Tang Ling shut the door and led Li Yuan toward the hearth.

Wang Heran stayed behind, rubbing his hands. “Mas—Mister Li, I’m on guard duty. The cellar is full of young ladies. Best I keep out so nothing goes wrong.”

Hands on hips, the brocaded girl declared, “Since you’re my master’s friend, I’m Tang Pang. I’m on guard too. I’ll drink with you later!”

More drinking?

Li Yuan thought. He halted, then said with a smile, “Actually, I’d better stay up here with Mister Wang. If I march into your master’s inner quarters, that wouldn’t be proper. I’ll wait here for her.”

Tang Ling hesitated, then nodded. “As you wish. Forgive our poor hospitality.”

She ducked into the stove and soon reemerged with two clay jars. With a flick of her thumb she popped the seal on one. “Guess the wine?”

Li Yuan drew a long breath, nostalgia softening his face. “Snowbrew.”

Tang Ling grunted approval, set the jars at his feet, and disappeared below.

Li Yuan pulled up a stool at the window. Wang Heran scurried about for cups, scrubbed them spotless, and offered them with both hands.

Tang Pang propped her chin on her palm, already a little flushed. “You must be a real big shot. Mister Wang looks terrified of you. He always says he’s pretty high up in the jianghu.”

Li Yuan laughed. “You’re pretty slim for someone called

Pang

.”

Tang Pang froze. “It’s not the

Pang

(胖) for

fat

. It’s the

Pang

(雱) for the sound of pounding rain—the rain (雨) over the

square

(方). It means a downpour, thank you very much. Hmph!”

Li Yuan pushed the oiled‑paper window open a crack. “Like the snow falling now?”

“Even heavier!” she declared with pride. “Impressive, right?”

“Very.”

Cheered, she clinked cups with him. “What’s your name?”

“Me? Surname Li. Given name... Well, it’s not important.”

She rattled on, and Li Yuan listened, matching her cup for cup. Dusk crept in. He finally frowned. “Does your master often stay out this late?”

“This late? She’s stayed out later!” Tang Pang chirped.

Li Yuan nodded, then cocked his head. Beneath wind and snow he picked out footsteps—light to the ear, but crystal‑clear to him. After all, he’d trained his senses to the utmost as a weaponsmith. He could catch falling petals in a roaring waterfall, or pick out thunder in a silent room.

He stood. “I’ll stretch my legs. Answer nature’s call.”

“Oho, that little and you need to use the toilet?” Tang Pang teased, cheeks flushed. She glanced at Wang Heran, still trembling. “Mister Wang, you’re

really

scared of him. Is he that fierce in the jianghu? I can’t really see it at all.”

“Scared? No way. Mister Wang just had a little too much to drink, that’s all,” Li Yuan chuckled. He then headed out the door, vanished into the whitening dusk within a dozen steps.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

A while later.

Li Yuan reached a boulder, swept off the snow, and sat. Not far away a red silhouette and three black shadows hurried through the storm.

The woman in red was Tang Nian.

Her face was unchanged, yet her eyes carried tipsy allure; maidenly innocence had given way to an enchantress’ recklessness, like a flamboyant villainess from the television dramas in Li Yuan’s past life.

Of the three masked figures behind her, Li Yuan recognized the one on the left—Tang Qiu. The other two were sixth rank puppets Tang Nian had made later.

“I see you’ve been working hard, Nian Nian,” Li Yuan greeted, warmth in his smile.

“Godfather!” Tang Nian’s head jerked up; she dropped to one knee before he could stop her.

Li Yuan drifted down, lifting her by the arm. “What’s this for?”

“Ranks must be observed,” she said quickly. “Children bow to their parents, so it should be.

“I’ve founded a Tang Sect here, taking in daughters of many clans who admire me. Through those girls I quietly steer their clans; through the sect’s public face I control several other local sects.

“Second godmother’s Windfall Group has also swallowed the old Flying Nimbus Group and even kept its name to stay hidden. Half of Cloudpeak Province’s jianghu, and nearly all its trade, now sit in our hands.

“So great a power must have rules...and paying my filial respects to you is one of them.”

Li Yuan smiled. “You’ve grown up.”

“In front of you, I’m always your goddaughter.”

“Walk with me. We’ll trade news,” he said, “and then take me to your godmother. By the way, who else knows about her?”

“Only you, Sheng'er, and Second Mother,” Tang Nian replied.

“Good. Let’s talk on the way.”

They strolled through the whirling snow, recounting the past few years.

Cloudpeak Province was poor, so Tang Nian’s rise was smooth. The best meat fields here were only eighth rank, and ghost domains were also equally sparse. As a result, the ice coffin ghost domain had cost her a fortune to locate.

Farming here was also miserable, with just six plantable months a year, and wild beasts ruined half the fields. So most food came from hunting or trade.

Ordinary folk were few; anyone living well here belonged to a sect or clan, and commoners clung to them like vassals.

It resembled a feudal structure not unlike the noble fiefdoms Li Yuan dimly remembered from his own world.

By accepting the clans’ daughters as disciples, Tang Nian bound the clan close; through the sect’s outer shell, she squeezed the smaller sects.