Chapter 5763: Old Scores
At that moment, the setting sun cast its last rays on the gates of Xijiu City. Under the tall city walls, two newly renovated city gates stood majestically against the twilight.
Qiao Mu and her group arrived by carriage. As they approached the city gates, they heard a sudden clamor of gongs and drums. The citizens lining the streets held two long welcome banners, shouting continuously, "Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Divine State Emperor and Empress!"
Qiao Mu, for a moment, thought she had misheard. She looked at Mo Lian sitting beside her with a bewildered expression, eyeing him. Mo Lian said, somewhat exasperated, "It's not me! I've been with you these past few days. How could I have contacted the people of Xijiu City?"
Qiao Mu thought he had a point. It must be that little girl, Qiao Lin, doing a good deed. If Qiao Lin knew her sister suspected her, she would surely cry foul. She only told City Lord Gu that her sister and her group would arrive in a few days. Her original intention was for City Lord Gu to prepare to get closer to her sister, as City Lord Gu was indeed a good person. She even specifically told City Lord Gu to just give a small welcome. Little did she know that City Lord Gu would orchestrate such a grand display.
Qiao Mu quickly lowered the carriage curtain, holding a hand in front of her face, pretending not to see the banner-wielding folks outside.
The carriage reached the gates of Xijiu City for routine inspection. A soldier standing outside the carriage announced loudly, "Entering the city requires a mystic force test. For long-term residents, an internal scan and a portion of resources must be surrendered."
Qiao Mu's memory suddenly stretched far back, as if returning to that evening when she dragged her entire family, old and young, to the gates of Xijiu City. At that time, too, it was like this: a mystic force test and resource payment were required to enter the city. However, back then, there were many refugees, and long queues formed at the city gates, unlike now, where order had largely been restored, and few refugees were arriving.
Duan Yue couldn't help but laugh. "Qiao Qiao, you even swindled me out of five hundred mystic coins here, remember?"
Qiao Mu gave him an expressionless glance.
Mo Lian immediately perked up his ears, looked at Duan Yue, and moved closer to his wife. "What happened? Tell me."
"Why don't you mention that you were also mingling with a bunch of idiots from the Dawn Sect back then?" Qiao Mu snorted, then turned to complain to her husband, "Their Dawn Sect people even bullied me back then!"
"There was a guy named Jia Mingren who even made my dad crawl under his legs."
Duan Yue twitched his lips. "Didn't you knock him out later? I even compensated you five hundred mystic coins." The most shameful part was that the fees to redeem Shang Kun and Jia Mingren were never returned to him by the two later on! They were truly a pair of paupers.
Mo Lian immediately understood, turning to glare at Duan Yue. "I remember now! Your Dawn Sect actually bullied my Qiao Qiao! Didn't you also say something about 'five hundred mystic coins and a kiss' then? Wanting to redeem your Dawn Sect people?"
Duan Yue: ...
Qiao Mu: ...
Feng Chen burst out laughing. Was there really such an interesting story?
Duan Yue said, annoyed, "She was only seven or eight at the time. What's wrong with a kiss? A kiss isn't out of line. Stingy!"
Mo Lian lunged, wanting to hit him, but Qiao Mu quickly stopped him with a blocking hand.
Qiao Mu abruptly lifted the carriage curtain and shouted to the soldiers outside, "Hey, hey! Test, test!"
Ugh, these two are so annoying. They can get along so well they'd share a pair of pants when facing outsiders, but normally, they're always bickering like cats and dogs. So irritating.
How could Mo Lian know the details of this incident in Xijiu City? It must be that bastard Ao Ye who sent him the message! Qiao Mu could only think of this. So, she shouted outside, "Ao Ye, Ao Ye!"
There was no response from Ao Ye. Just as His Majesty betrayed himself, that fellow had already run far away and climbed up a tree.
"Pfft." An Wushuang couldn't help but want to laugh. "Alright, alright, alright. I just saw him run far away. Let's enter the city first."
Grand Welcome
"Welcome, welcome..." The cheering from the sidelines abruptly ceased. Everyone stared at these handsome men and beautiful women as if they were celestial beings descending from the heavens, their gazes somewhat blank.
Then, a leading elder sister quickly rushed out of the crowd and scurried to Qiao Mu and the others. She knelt down with a "thud" and exclaimed, "You all must be guests from Divine State!!"
Their appearance, demeanor, and looks made it obvious without needing to guess. After all, in their small city, they had never seen such a handsome group of people.
An Wushuang twitched her lips and quickly reached out to help the woman up. "Hey, please get up first. Speak while standing."
The elder sister repeatedly shook her head, then gestured with both hands, as if giving a command. The people lining the roads suddenly seemed to snap to attention, and the sound of gongs and drums rose to the sky, as they shouted, "Welcome, welcome, welcome!"
Qiao Mu: ...
She really didn't want to deal with these idiots...
"Quickly report to the City Lord! The guests from Divine State have arrived!" At the elder sister's shout, several soldiers immediately reacted, quickly mounted their horses, and galloped off to find the City Lord.
The city guards standing nearby, seeing such a grand display, couldn't help but stammer, "Do we, do we still need to test?"
"Test my ass!" The elder sister went up and slapped the憨货 (simpleton) on the back of the head. "Quickly welcome the guests inside!"
At this moment, Qiao Mu was in a state of disarray. The Seven Flowers in the Star Domain were chattering loudly, "Qiao Qiao, we want to come out now!"
"It looks so lively here!"
"So much fun, I want to go out and see!"
Elder Qiao Qiao's head ached from the noise. With a wave of her hand, she released them all. The elder sister, who had just been warmly greeting them, was immediately startled. In the blink of an eye, the original group suddenly had seven or eight more people, which truly left them dumbfounded.
The crowd on both sides erupted in a collective "Whoa!"
"Immortals, they are immortals!"
Gu Qingfeng and Mr. Zhang hurriedly rode up on horseback. At a glance, they saw Mo Lian and Qiao Mu standing at the front of the crowd, and their eyes immediately widened. The two quickly jumped off their horses and rushed over, so excited that they almost got their titles wrong. They prostrated themselves on the ground, nearly shouting, "This subordinate greets His Royal Highness the Crown Prince," before quickly correcting themselves, "This subordinate greets Your Majesty, and Her Imperial Majesty."
Qiao Mu looked at the two in front of her, feeling a surge of emotion. She had a very good impression of both City Lord Gu and Mr. Zhang. When her family, old and young, lived in Xijiu City, City Lord Gu and Mr. Zhang had taken great care of them. The Qiao residence in Lihua Alley was actually a transformed villa from the City Lord's manor, secluded and quiet, where no one usually dared to disturb them.
"City Lord Gu, Mr. Zhang, it's been a long time."
Gu Qingfeng and Zhang Yan excitedly stepped forward to greet them, their eyes almost red. They still clearly remembered the scene that evening when Miss Qiao's family came to Xijiu City. Since Miss Qiao went to the Divine Water Sect, it had been almost thirteen years since they last met.