Chapter 453: Escaping the Wedding

Chapter 453: Chapter 453: Escaping the Wedding

On the fourteenth of the seventh month, Bai Mo spoke with Li Wuji, asking him to watch over the Black Prison.

Bai Mo picked up the slumbering Ah Er, and they left the sect together.

The Flying Ship transformed into a streak of green light and shot forth. It flew with perfect stability, and when navigating treacherous mountain passes, it drifted like a weightless leaf, hugging the cliff walls as it went.

Ah Er groggily opened his eyes, filled with envy.

As a Spirit Beast, he was still in his youth—a fact made obvious by his manifestation as a young boy.

Aside from an excellent physique, his Divine Soul and Spiritual Qi accumulation were far from exceptional.

Therefore, he couldn’t yet pilot his own Flying Ship to travel around with his friends.

The scenery of the inner sect flashed past. A day later, Bai Mo arrived in the territory of the outer sect.

A little over ten li from the outer sect’s Broken Blade Peak, Bai Mo’s gaze shifted, and he guided the Flying Ship to descend.

Below, a group of disciples from Broken Blade Peak were walking out, weapons slung over their shoulders, chatting and laughing.

Suddenly, their expressions hardened, and they instinctively looked up. Only when they saw Bai Mo’s Flying Ship descending did they relax.

"It’s someone from the inner sect."

When Bai Mo landed, a few of them thought he looked familiar.

"He looks like a disciple from our Broken Blade Peak. I’ve seen Brother Wei with him."

"What do you mean, ’him’? This is Brother Bai!"

With that, a disciple stepped out from the group.

Bai Mo remembered him. He was a disciple with the surname Gou who had joined the sect after him. Wei Xianxing had once brought him to Bai Mo to have pills refined.

’He’s a very driven person.’

"Brother Bai, why have you come back!?"

Junior Brother Gou walked over with a wide grin.

It was plain to see this fellow had changed significantly from the fair-skinned, delicate youth he once was.

His exposed skin was now bronze, and his body was covered in fine, faint scars.

Bai Mo was a bit surprised to see them looking like they were heading out for a fight.

"Today is Brother Wei Xianxing’s wedding. Aren’t you all going?"

’Considering Wei Xianxing’s character and how well-liked he is, this shouldn’t be the case.’

Bai Mo’s words left the disciples before him even more stunned.

"Brother Wei is getting married? When did this happen?"

"No one on the mountain said anything..."

Bai Mo raised an eyebrow.

"So no one on the mountain really knows?"

Gou and the others shook their heads.

"Just this morning, all the senior disciples in charge left to handle their usual duties..."

The whole thing was strange. Bai Mo watched Gou and the others depart, their faces full of doubt, before looking down at Ah Er by his feet.

The badger was hugging his leg, head nodding as he slept soundly.

Bai Mo shook his leg, and Ah Er woke up.

He had been working and learning to pilot the Flying Ship nonstop recently, and had finally exhausted himself. He was incredibly drowsy.

"Do you remember the person who gave you the invitation the other day?"

Ah Er thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Was there anything unusual about them? Is it possible they were just messing with you?"

But Ah Er hadn’t sensed anything strange. He just shook his head, indicating that he didn’t think he’d been tricked.

So Bai Mo led him back onto the Flying Ship, and they set off once more.

’The banquet Wei Xianxing was hosting was less than a hundred li from the sect gates. Even if something was wrong, how bad could it be?’

’Who would dare cause trouble right at the sect’s doorstep?’

In less than half a day, the Flying Ship had arrived at its destination just outside the sect.

Ah Er lay at Bai Mo’s feet, dead to the world and snoring nonstop.

In the distance, Bai Mo spotted a town. One of its tall buildings was draped in red and adorned with flowers, looking thoroughly festive.

"We’re here."

Bai Mo steered the Flying Ship closer.

’The building looks festive enough, but there don’t seem to be many guests...’

WHOOSH!

Just as he was about to nudge Ah Er awake, a sudden, fierce gust of wind rushed toward them.

Bai Mo’s expression remained unchanged. With a single thought, a large cauldron materialized behind him.

CLANG!!

The newcomer landed on the ship with a THUD. Unable to stop his forward momentum in time, he slammed face-first into the cauldron, producing a resounding clang.

The impact jolted Ah Er awake. He shot to his feet, eyes wide as he scanned his surroundings.

"Junior Brother Bai, it’s me!"

Wei Xianxing didn’t even have time to rub his nose before he called out.

Recognizing the newcomer, Bai Mo withdrew the Fire Essence he had been about to use.

"Brother Wei?"

Wei Xianxing was still dressed in bright red, festive wedding robes.

His tall, broad frame filled out the robes, making him look every bit the part of a dependable husband.

Wei Xianxing had no time to explain. He just said urgently,

"Turn around! Let’s get out of here, fast!"

Bai Mo immediately did as he was told.

Only when the sect gates were back in sight did the tension on Wei Xianxing’s face finally ease.

"Brother Wei, what...?"

Bai Mo asked, confused. He had even prepared a wedding gift.

Wei Xianxing scanned the rivers and towns below. He let out a sigh of relief, then lamented,

"If I’d known it would come to this, I should have just listened to Yuan Chu and set that girl up with him instead..."

Bai Mo was surprised.

"Brother Wei, you still haven’t dealt with all those women?"

"There’s one left. Her standards are rather high, so finding a husband for her was never going to be easy. Now that the Divine Kingdom has collapsed, she’s desperate to get out, so she targeted me..."

Wei Xianxing was thoroughly frustrated. Before taking on this assignment, he never imagined he’d end up in a situation like this. When he asked his sect-mates, none of them had any experience with it either.

"The main problem is that this one, the one I got stuck with, seems to have deep ties to a certain Divine Being from the Divine Kingdom. That’s how she has so many tricks up her sleeve."

Bai Mo sighed.

"No wonder. It wasn’t until I left the sect that I realized you hadn’t invited many people. Even our brothers in the outer sect had no idea."

There was a reason for that.

According to Wei Xianxing, the woman herself had drawn up the guest list.

The only people she knew to invite were the ones he had interacted with after taking the assignment.

And since Wei Xianxing had been busy for so long—and the outer sect disciples didn’t meet her criteria because they hadn’t reached Foundation Establishment—he hadn’t been back to the outer sect at all.

"The one who delivered the invitation..."

Wei Xianxing snorted coldly.

"He was just gloating. He got a similar assignment from the Divine Kingdom, but for less of a reward than me."

"Since he’s under that woman’s thumb, he was naturally happy to do her dirty work."

He took out a storage pouch embroidered with gold. It was covered in black runes that coiled around it like chains.

"Junior Brother, that treasure you had just now... it seemed to have a powerful fire aura, didn’t it? Bring it out, quick. See if you can burn off this restriction for me."

Wei Xianxing urged.

If the items on his person hadn’t been sealed, he wouldn’t have had to wait until that woman was touching up her makeup to make his escape.

Fortunately, this Junior Brother Bai was someone he was close to, and he’d arrived just in time to pick him up.

But Bai Mo didn’t respond immediately.

"My Fire Essence was condensed from the Suanni Ancestor’s own fire aura. If I use it to burn the seal, how could any of your belongings possibly survive?"

He inwardly shook his head.

’This isn’t going to be an easy mess for Brother Wei to clean up.’

’From the looks of it, the bride is far more powerful than him.’

’Agreeing to the marriage would save him half a lifetime of struggle, which would be great.’

’But if he refused, there will probably be endless consequences to deal with.’

’The woman tracking him down was one thing. But now that they’ve hosted a grand banquet, what would happen to their reputations after he’d run out on the wedding is another matter entirely.’

Wei Xianxing frowned, sensing how troublesome this was.

"I’ll have to trouble you, Junior Brother. Take me to Divine Dao Mountain. I need to ask Yuan Chu for advice on this. He’s the real expert in these matters..."

As the two were talking, Ah Er suddenly sensed something was wrong.

He stood on his tiptoes and peered over the edge of the ship.

The first thing he saw was the corner of a sky-blue robe fluttering wildly in the wind, and a few pale fingers gripping the underside of the vessel.

It looked as if someone was clinging to the bottom of the ship, eavesdropping on their conversation.

A jolt went through Ah Er, and he was finally wide awake.

He shot out a paw and instinctively jabbed at Bai Mo’s calf.