Chapter 700: The Fleeing Hui
Reaching the patriarch's mountain, they could hear the women laughing loudly before they had entered and Hui Yue felt a headache coming.
The only thing he was happy about was that this magnificent wedding was funded by someone else. The patriarch was not stingy when it came to his wedding. He saw it as an opportunity to make everyone understand how grand and rich the Celestial Sword Sect was.
He also saw it as a way to make Hui Yue owe him a favor. Hui Yue was a special person; he was someone who was able to connect the Celestial Sword Sect with Diyu. He had become an Immortal of Creation while still apart of the younger generation, and he was ranked as the strongest of any cultivator in the Celestial Sword Sect’s younger generation. He was a once in a generation talent in regards to formations, and he was also the legacy apprentice of the Alchemist God.
No matter which way one looked at Hui Yue, he was outstanding. He had displayed abilities that far exceeded others his age and the patriarch placed all hopes for the future generations of the Celestial Sword Sect on this young man's shoulders.
This was why he wanted to have Hui Yue owe him a favor, and even if he did not feel that he owed this favor, his wives would definitely put in a good word for the patriarch if he ever needed anything.
As Hui Yue shuddered in fear, thinking about what exactly was going on inside the mountain, Zhong Fai similarly looked pretty worried. He wanted to greet his old friend Sha Yun, but he was not sure that he would be comfortable if he was dragged into everything dealing with this wedding.
Turning to Hui Yue, Zhong Fai almost seemed to be pleading with his eyes as he cleared his throat, "Shall we come back later?" he asked, and Hui Yue, who understood his worry and also had his own fears, quickly nodded his head, "Yes... Let’s definitely come back later!"
Just as the two men were about to flee, they heard a voice from inside the mountain and both of them slumped in despair.
"Yue, I noticed you. Why don't you come in?" The voice that called out belonged to Huli. Only she had such keen senses to sense him whenever he came close, and she clearly knew he was about to flee.
Having called out, Hui Yue knew he had no other option than to enter the mountain. "Sorry," he whispered to Zhong Fai, who was filled with confusion as for why he apologized, but he just nodded his head. Even if he had to be in the awkward position of spending time with the wives who were preparing for the wedding, Zhong Fai did not actually mind. Hui Yue had offered him so many things, and a place to rest, the least he could do was entertain his wives.
The two men entered the mountain and together they saw three women and a middle-aged man sitting together around a table, looking at small decorations.
It was clear that they were going through all the decorations for the wedding.
"Zhong Fai!" The first one to notice that Hui Yue was not alone was Sha Yun, and when she lifted her head, she instantly recognized the ice-serpent that had once kept her as a guest in his ice mansion back in the Divine Beast World.
"We met each other outside the sect just before. Zhong Fai will be staying with us for some time, and I figured he would like to say hi before I got him settled into a valley."
"We won’t stay for long. We don’t want to interrupt everyone as it seems you are at an important phase of planning the wedding," Hui Yue was quick to find an excuse for why he had to leave.
It was not that he did not want to be part of the preparations, but for him, it was like a form of torture. It would take hours to decide on just a color, and they would look over all the colors and then talk about which ones were best before deciding. That is if they could come to an agreement on it. They would have to determine which decorations they could use and where they would want the decorations to be placed.
Hui Yue, who was able to persevere through many years of a repetitive lifestyle to cultivate diligently found that even he had things that he could not handle.
Amongst these were preparing for a wedding. Huli, Sha Yun, and Wang Ju Long were aware of Hui Yue's apprehension for planning such things, and although they did not force him to participate in the wedding plans, they still from time to time forced him to sit down and listen to what they had decided on.
Today he had managed to evade it. Zhong Fai was a good reason to let him go, and they did not have the heart to force him to stay when he was so eager to run away.
Zhong Fai was perplexed. He could sense that something was happening that he was not part of, but he said nothing. He imagined that Hui Yue had a good reason to want to leave so soon, so he just went with the flow.
Hui Yue and Zhong Fai quickly said their goodbyes, and together they went towards the valley that had been reserved for Zhong Fai. The valley was of a better quality than what Hui Yue had expected, and he was positively surprised when he saw it.
Maids were waiting with a bath full of warm water ready, and many delicacies had been placed on the table for him to enjoy.
Seeing that Zhong Fai had a welcoming party, Hui Yue felt relieved. "Enjoy your stay here. You can move around as you please, and if you have any questions, you can always find me. But spend some time relaxing. Rest up and get back in shape!"
Zhong Fai felt good when he saw the massive bath waiting for him, and he also felt welcomed when he saw the delicacies that had been placed on the table. Although Gods did not need to eat, they could enjoy such things, and it would help soothe their minds.
It was clear that the Celestial Sword Sect was doing everything in their power to make him feel welcome.
"Oh right," Zhong Fai looked at Hui Yue as he was about to leave, "I met Li Xiaopeng," he said casually, and Hui Yue who vaguely recalled the name from somewhere frowned.
It suddenly dawned upon him that Li Xiaopeng was Li Meilin's brother. The Saint from the Siban Empire who had suddenly vanished. Even when Hui Yue used the Divine Beast World to search it was as if he had vanished into thin air.
"You met Li Xiaopeng?" Hui Yue asked, and Zhong Fai nodded his head. "He is also a previous Saint from the Divine Beast World," Zhong Fai introduced him as he thought Hui Yue might not know him.
"I only spoke with him for a short while, but it seems that he was hunting An He. Apparently, something happened to his sister, and he blames An He for it."
"I thought you might be interested in knowing considering your own enmity with An He. He could prove to be a comrade later on."
Hui Yue nodded his head. Zhong Fai was the bringer of lots of news. Although he had lived a terribly hard life after becoming a God, he had been blessed with luck and had met many people who could prove to be more beneficial to him later on.
Hui Yue was surprised to hear that Li Xiaopeng had managed to become a God. He had not relied on the Formation of Life, and it was clear that he had transcended mortality on his own.
"It must be because he wishes to get revenge for his sister," Hui Yue concluded. "He was a strong Saint, but he was aware that being a Saint was not enough to defeat An He. He shed his mortal body and became an Immortal when he realized that he needed to avenge his sister."
Zhong Fai nodded his head. "He said something similar. I was shocked when I heard that he had managed to become a God on his own. At first, I asked if he had been in contact with you, but he just looked at me as if I were an idiot so I could guess that you had no hand in his transcendence."
Hui Yue nodded his head, but he paid no extra attention to the words Zhong Fai said. Li Xiaopeng was someone whom he had interacted with briefly, and it was true they shared their enmity against An He, but they did not have any deeper relations.
Even now that he had become a God it was not even near the same level as the friendship he felt with Zhong Fai.
Zhong Fai and Hui Yue had met many times before. They had met as friends, as enemies, and as comrades. Their relationship had been rather confusing, but now Hui Yue considered Zhong Fai, his friend.
Zhong Fai said no more, and instead, he went into the house where he went for the bath straight away. He wanted to relax and unwind. He wanted to soothe his body which was exhausted. He wanted to let his tired muscles relax.
While Zhong Fai was busy enjoying himself, Hui Yue left to hide at the Formation Master's palace. Here he could relax and be at ease while cultivating.
Time passed, and day after day more and more delegations arrived. More and more presents made their way to the sect, and everyone was stunned to see that even random rogue cultivators or members of smaller sects sent presents.
Out of the people who delivered the presents, Hui Yue had heard of about one percent of them; the rest were people he had never heard of before.
Hui Yue gave up on cultivating until after the wedding because he was constantly being dragged from one end of the sect to the other every minute.
He had to welcome guests, and everyone was eager to speak with him. Many of the people who had joined earlier were eager to chat with Hui Yue and every time they saw him they would stop him to chat with him, trying to get closer to him.
Hui Yue was friendly towards everyone. He knew they were there for him and his wedding, and thus he would not be able to just brush them off.
While Hui Yue dealt with the thousands of thousands of guests Sha Yun, Huli, and Wang Ju Long were getting the final things ready for the wedding. The day drew near and soon the final delegation, the one from Diyu, made it to the Celestial Sword Sect.
Yanluo and Chujiang were personally leading the delegation, and both of their faces were smiling brightly as they saw Hui Yue.
"We came late," Yanluo apologized as he realized that they were the last group to appear, but he did not seem very sorry, and Hui Yue did not care. As long as they made it, then he was happy.
"Let me take you to your valley," he offered, and both Yanluo and Chujiang nodded their heads. Behind them were a thousand people. Some were sent by the other Judges of Hell while others were guards or important demons.
All of them were filled with reverence when they saw Hui Yue, and some even bowed slightly when his eyes landed on them.
Without further ado, Hui Yue led them to the most prominent of all the valleys, a valley which was bigger than the others and located much closer to where the ceremony was to be held. It had been reserved for Diyu's delegation from the very start.