Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 257 - One Hundred Ninety-Eight: The Meeting Gift_2

Chapter 257: Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Eight: The Meeting Gift_2

Xu Yuan was taken aback, and quickly began to search his mind for any memory of the woman before him.

But he failed.

No matter how hard he searched his memories, he couldn’t find a match for the woman in red.

It should be...

It shouldn’t be the result of past misdeeds.

Such a stunning woman would surely have left an impression.

Seeing Xu Yuan’s anxious expression, the woman in red smiled gently at him, her voice raspy but soft:

"Don’t worry, I mean no harm."

As she spoke,

the woman in red took out three jade boxes from her Sumeru Ring and pushed them towards Xu Yuan with a beaming smile.

Xu Yuan glanced at them but did not touch them.

He should not accept rewards without merit.

An Ji Dan, Jie Xu Dan, Run Luo Dan.

They weren’t as precious as the ones he had initially obtained in the cave, but they were only slightly less valuable.

After a slight hesitation, Xu Yuan tentatively asked:

"Excuse me, but what is this...?"

"A meeting gift,"

said the woman in red, leaning her chin on her hand as she watched Xu Yuan across the table, her gaze warm. "Just accept it."

The confusion in Xu Yuan’s eyes deepened:

"Do you know me?"

The woman in red laughed teasingly:

"Of course I know you. Aren’t you trying to keep your identity a secret? So, I sent that Li Yunqing away."

Xu Yuan frowned internally and pointed to his own face:

"Sister, are you sure you haven’t mistaken me for someone else?"

"Human skin mask. My cultivation technique allows me to see through some things."

As she spoke, the woman in red seemed to prove her point, activating her cultivation technique, and soon a strand of golden light appeared in her pupils.

"...."

Seeing that glimmer of gold, Xu Yuan’s pupils contracted, and he immediately glanced at the woman’s feet.

The lotus cloud boots were on her feet, worn properly.

Or not...

Xu Yuan let out a sigh of relief.

The woman in red, a beauty, showed tolerance towards Xu Yuan’s impertinent behavior and asked with a smile:

"What’s wrong?"

Xu Yuan looked somewhat embarrassed and cleared his throat:

"Sister, the golden hue of your eyes reminded me of a friend."

The woman in red bent her eyes into a smile, nodding her head:

"That’s quite a coincidence, though cultivation techniques that have the effect of golden pupils are quite common."

After she spoke, there was silence.

The vast hall was silent, with only Xu Yuan and the woman in red sitting opposite each other.

The woman in red looked through the window into the sky, lost in thought.

Xu Yuan was hesitant.

He realized the woman seemed to truly have no ill intentions, yet she didn’t appear to be with the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

After about ten breaths of silence, Xu Yuan spoke again, probing:

"Excuse me, sister, what is your purpose in seeking me out?"

The woman in red propped up her chin, lowered her gaze, her slender fingers tapping lightly on the table as she pondered for a few moments, her lips curling into a meaningful smile:

"Probably... to wait for someone. I’ve been watching outside the city for over a month, and that person has yet to come out, so I had to keep an eye on the people that might make him leave."

"...."

At her words, Xu Yuan was startled and asked, "Then why not enter the Capital?"

The woman in red’s gaze became strange for a moment but soon explained with a smile:

"It’s normal that you don’t know. It’s a secret rule set just over a decade ago; cultivators from the Sects above Third Grade have to register with The Imperial Court, and those above Third Grade from the Sects who want to enter the Capital without an official title need to report in advance."

"If I filed the report, the person I am waiting for would not agree, so I cannot enter the Capital."

Understood.

Xu Yuan instantly grasped the meaning of the woman in red and also realized who she might be waiting for.

The woman in red’s beautiful eyes turned back to him:

"Take the gift, it’s my meeting present to you."

"...."

After a moment’s hesitation, Xu Yuan silently took the three Elixir Medicines from the table.

Seeing Xu Yuan’s action, the woman in red smiled slightly and winked at him.

Time passed by second by second in the disheveled Qifeng Pavilion,

and after some time,

the woman in the red robe suddenly looked up,

and then,

a man abruptly appeared in the hall, alighting gracefully, his blue robes spotless....

"...."

The golden edges of the dawn light streamed into the cluttered hall, and time seemed to stand still.

The woman in red looked at the newly appeared man in blue, sitting up a little straighter, her phoenix eyes revealing a hint of mockery:

"I thought you wouldn’t dare to leave the Capital City."

This was said to Xu Changge, but Xu Changge didn’t even glance at her.

She glanced at Xu Yuan and said softly,

"What are you standing there for, go home."

"...."

Xu Yuan didn’t move; he glanced at Xu Changge beside him and then tentatively at the woman in red opposite him. He cleared his throat and spoke up:

"Ahem, I think if there’s any misunderstanding, it’s actually something we can talk about."

You take favors, you do the work.

But after hearing this, the temperature around Xu Changge seemed to drop several degrees.

After a moment,

Xu Changge let out a breath, still not looking at the woman in red:

"What did she give you?"

Xu Yuan’s expression showed no signs of abnormality:

"Xu Changge, what are you talking about, give..."

Bang!

The table in front of them shattered into dust without warning, scattering with the wind.

"...."

Swallowing hard, Xu Yuan glanced at the woman in red across from him.

After a brief moment of consideration, he naturally began to circulate his cultivation technique, preparing to take out the three Elixir Medicines he had swallowed from the Sumeru Ring and return them to the woman in red.

"That’s enough."

At that moment, the woman in red stopped Xu Yuan.

As her words sounded, Xu Yuan felt the Origin Qi circulating inside him freeze, and his action of taking the jade box also halted.

It felt very weird, somewhat similar to Tianyan’s Heavenly Word Mantra.

The woman in red furrowed her brows, enunciating each word:

"The items were meant for Changtian, what does it have to do with you?"

Xu Changge, witnessing this scene, finally slowly turned his gaze:

"Do you think you can give him something I can’t?"

The woman in red returned the challenge:

"Are we talking about the same thing? I’m asking, what does giving Changtian something have to do with you?"

The coldness in Xu Changge’s narrow eyes deepened:

"He’s my younger brother."

"...."

A hint of amusement finally showed in the phoenix eyes of the woman in red:

"All these years and you haven’t changed a bit; your temperament still makes one want to twist off your head."

Upon hearing this, the corners of Xu Changge’s lips curled slightly as he looked at her:

"You may try."

As the words dropped, the wind rose.

During the silent standoff between the two, their robes whipped about in the strange wind.

The riotous Origin Qi spread around Xu Changge and the lady in red.

It seemed as if a fight was about to break out.

Witnessing this scene, Xu Yuan sat upright, caught between the two, motionless.

He estimated that if these two were to fight, they would probably both intentionally avoid him.

In other words, there was a chance he could survive.

Well, probably.

In the killing atmosphere, the woman in red stared at Xu Changge and said deliberately:

"Xu Changge, I need an explanation."

Xu Changge’s voice, unhurried and still gentle, replied:

"Just for such a trivial reason, you ran from the Daying Continent and waited outside the Imperial Capital for a month and a half?"

"It’s enough for me." The woman in red narrowed her phoenix eyes and gripped her Finger-Circling Soft Sword tightly.

In the midst of their conversation, Xu Yuan began to understand some things.

The journey from the Daying Continent to the Imperial Capital took about half a month, and it was approximately two months ago—right around the time Xu Changge had gone to the Marquis of Wucheng’s Mansion to propose.

This woman in red probably didn’t know the inside story, for the marriage arrangement on his body hadn’t been announced to the world yet.

With this thought in mind, Xu Yuan looked towards his elder brother.

Xu Changge still stood without any expression, showing no intention of drawing his sword:

"Put away your sword, I don’t want to make a move against you."

At his words, the woman in red laughed, her eyes unwavering:

"Not making a move, is it out of guilt?"

"It’s because there’s no reason."

Xu Changge’s voice was still calm and deliberate, "If you don’t believe me, you can try entering the Imperial Capital."

With a sweep of his sleeves, Xu Changge cast a cold glance at Xu Yuan, who was enjoying the spectacle, and walked toward the main hall entrance.

This time, Xu Yuan didn’t hesitate; he placed three jade boxes on the ground apologetically, stood up, and quickly followed Xu Changge.

He couldn’t get involved in this matter for the time being. If these two really fought, this mountain might well be sheared off a good portion.

The woman in red’s body trembled, her eyes reddened as she stared intensely at the retreating figure in azure robes.

And just as that figure reached the entrance of the main hall, he paused, his voice echoing faintly:

"Tang Weijun, return to your Tian Master’s Sect. I will give you the reason later."

Having said that, Xu Changge swept up the three jade boxes Xu Yuan had placed among the rubble, handed them to Xu Yuan, and then left by leaping away.....