Bai Mu gazed at one of the windows on the lower floor of the teahouse and sighed. Why did it have to be closed? Wasn't he even allowed to take a single look at her? Did fate really have to be so cruel?
Just when he wanted to turn around, a gust of wind pushed the window open. He blinked. Wasn't this a little too coincidental?
The person next to him also blinked. "Aren't you a demon? Why don't you open the window yourself if you want to see her?"
Bai Mu turned to the side and came face to face with a person he had seen once before. Until the person had vanished just as fast again. "What are you doing here?"
"Hehe." Qiu Ling grinned and pointed at the teahouse. "That's my mother-in-law's teahouse there."
"Oh." But how did this concern him?
"My mother-in-law and your fiancee are really close."
Bai Mu raised his brows. "So …"
"I could help you!"
"With what?"
"Winning her back, obviously."
Bai Mu turned back to the teahouse. Nie Huang was preparing a new cup of tea, each of her movements looking well-practiced. He sighed. "If this was just about winning her back, then I don't think I couldn't do it alone."
Qiu Ling frowned. "Then why are you out here? If this was my beloved, I would already be in there, sharing my feelings with him."
Bai Mu didn't answer. "Why are you here? Certainly not to give me relationship advice?"
"No, although I wouldn't mind giving you some if you want it. You know my beloved and I are very happy."
"Your beloved … You mean the person who told you your relationship was over and that they were sorry after you freed them from my mother's array?"
Qiu Ling coughed. "Uh … We made up after that. It was all a misunderstanding."
"I see."
"It really was a misunderstanding!"
Bai Mu glanced at Qiu Ling who stared back indignantly. "Actually, you don't have to defend your—"
"I'm not defending myself! He really loves me very much. He wouldn't want to be separated from me."
"Mn." Bai Mu nodded. "Then —"
"So you have to help me!"
Bai Mu's lips twitched. Somehow he felt that this situation was rather similar to their last meeting. "You saved me from the Chun Feng Sect's dungeon. I'm thankful for that. But I already freed your beloved, didn't I? What else could there be?"
"Well …" Qiu Ling sighed. "You see there are a lot of bad people around. First, someone got my beloved trapped in that secret realm. Now, someone dared to kidnap him! And that guy didn't even pay attention, so he was now kidnapped from the guy who kidnapped him first!"
"Oh."
"Yes, and that's why I need your help."
"I don't think I'm obligated to help you."
"Ah, don't be like this. I'm still your cousin-in-law! We're family. Family should help each other out."
Bai Mu frowned. This guy had claimed the same thing back then too. He didn't understand though. "How am I your cousin-in-law?"
"Well, your father is my beloved's maternal uncle. I mean alright, we're not yet married but we'll be soon. In fact, he already promised before that we'll marry. It's just that he was kidnapped before we could so —"
"Wait. My father …" Bai Mu turned back to Qiu Ling. "What do you know about my father?"
"Eh? He's my beloved's maternal uncle? Didn't I already say so?"
Bai Mu furrowed his brows. This guy! Could he say something else? "My father has been dead since before I was born. I don't know anything about his family. So why should I believe you that he is related to you?"
"Eh? Dead? Isn't your father the God of War, Qiang Yan? I saw him just …" He pondered. "Yesterday? The day before that? Something like that."
Bai Mu sighed and turned back to the teahouse. Well, he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. His father had never returned. There was no way he was still alive somewhere. Otherwise, he should have come to look for him and his mother much sooner.
Leng Jin Yu who stood to the side and waited also sighed. "Longjun, even if the God of War is his father, that should have been while he was on a trial. He would have been called something else."
Qiu Ling perked up. Right! Why hadn't he thought of this? Mn, it seemed he had made the right call when he asked his old man to come with him. "Something else … Wasn't it …" He furrowed his brows. Heavens! It had been so long since then. Eh, but it seemed his human surname had somehow sounded like his mother-in-law's name? "Fen … Feng … Feng Jia … Jia …"
Bai Mu tensed. It couldn't be that this guy was indeed saying the truth? He carefully looked up and examined Qiu Ling's face. It seemed like he was indeed trying to recall. And, well, he knew from his mother that there were indeed immortals in this world. Maybe … something like his father being a god and then turning into a mortal could be true.
Qiu Ling finally gave up. "Anyway, he was called something like this but, in fact, he's my uncle-in-law or at least he'll be that soon. So don't you think you should help me?"
Bai Mu sobered up. Right. This guy wanted something from him. Maybe … maybe he had somehow heard his father's name. After all, he had been one of the highest-ranking members of the Hei Dian Sect. It was possible. And now, he wanted to use this knowledge to get his help.
Seeing Bai Mu's expression shift, Leng Jin Yu gave another sigh and stepped forward, cupping his fists. "Greetings to Senior Bai Mu. My name is Leng Jin Yu and I was originally part of the Jian Yi Sect. I know this is all very sudden and you might have misgivings about what Longjun said but it's the truth. Naturally, we don't expect you to believe it just like that and we don't expect you to give your help without receiving something in return. Maybe you could agree to sit down with us and let us tell you what it is we require your help with? You can see if it is something you would consider doing and then you can carefully think over what kind of compensation you'd like. Would that be acceptable?"