Qiu Ling gave a huff and pulled Jing Yi into his arms to demonstrate just how well they were getting along. "I have no idea what that sister of yours heard but Jing Yi and I are very well. The one I fought with was him!" He nonchalantly motioned at Niu Hai, not caring at all that this movement caused the others to once again scrutinize the one who had lost in this match.
Hong Bao also looked over and couldn't help but feel that this guy was a little familiar. "That is …"
Qiu Ling didn't bother about it and just turned around. "I wouldn't know either. Anyway, since you're here, why don't we go and visit your brother-in-law?" After that, he would get the sword, could go to the dragon realm to test it, and then get those people out of the Chun Feng Sect. After that, his beloved should be especially happy and reward him for, right?
To his surprise, Hong Bao wasn't up for that though. "I can't. My Master gave me a very important task to accomplish. Since everything is alright with the two of you, I might as well go and do it right now."
Qiu Ling swiveled back around, staring at her unbelieving. She couldn't be serious, could she? What about meeting the Fate's Scribe and him getting the sword of her sister? He definitely couldn't let that happen!
Qiu Ling let go of Jing Yi and rushed over to Hong Bao's side, grabbing her by the shoulders. Now was the perfect time to bring out his ultimate talent! "Why? It couldn't be that you had some kind of trouble with your brother-in-law, could it? Did he do something? Just tell me about it! I'll help you get everything back in order. You'll be a happy family again in no time."
Behind him, Jing Yi looked at Qiu Ling with a complicated gaze. Somehow, he doubted that Qiu Ling of all people was the one who should be talking about happy families. From everything he knew, his own growing up had been a mess and right now, he was also in a situation with him and Jing He that was hard to navigate, once again resulting in him not having a happy family of his own. He probably shouldn't give any advice on this.
Naturally, Jing Yi didn't say any of that and just ran forward to support Qiu Ling. Anyway, they only needed Hong Bao to come by the Grandmaster's palace for a short moment to figure everything out. "Hong Bao, I don't know what exactly that important task is that your Master gave you but I also think that your brother-in-law might feel slighted if you didn't come by even to say hello after you saw both your sister and us. Why don't you come over and at least greet him? You can still go and do your task right after that. It won't even be half an hour."
Hearing Jing Yi say the same thing as Qiu Ling, Hong Bao indeed started to wonder if maybe she was thinking of this too lightly. "Do you really think he'd take it so hard?"
Hong Ai also went over, patting her sister's back. "It's great that you're doing so much for your Master put Shen An De will definitely hear from his people that you've come by. I also think he might wonder just why you didn't want to see him. And he might not believe me if I tell him that it was because of a task. After all, I'm your sister. He might think that I'm just saying this because I'm on your side. Then maybe we'd actually have an argument. You wouldn't want to let that happen, right?"
Hong Bao hurriedly nodded her head. "Of course not! Alright, then I'll come over for a bit. But just for a bit! After that, I'll have to go and deliver the letter."
Hong Ai almost heaved a sigh of relief. "Of course, of course! You can do that. Just go in and say hello. Oh, right." She turned to Qiu Ling as if she had just remembered. "Somebody came by who said that he wanted to see you. You should also come over to meet that person. Would that be alright with you?"
Qiu Ling nodded and then grabbed Jing Yi by the hand again, pulling him along. "As long as my beloved is with me, I don't mind anything." He gave Jing Yi a bright smile and then, the four of them left the division of blades, going to the Grandmaster's palace.
As for the disciples that had been left back in the division of them witnessing the side … They could only wonder on their own just what had been going on.
The younger ones felt that this fight had been a bit anticlimactic. Even though the winner had been a surprise to them, since it was somebody they hadn't even heard of before, it was still way too short to enjoy it.
The older disciples couldn't help but shake their heads. Even though Niu Hai had managed to last a little longer against this person, the manner in which that guy had fought showed them once again that the disparity between their strength was not just a little. Anyway, that guy had only been paying attention to Niu Hai half the time and had flirted with his lover for the rest of the time. And up until the moment when he sped up later on, he hadn't even bothered to use his full strength. That showed very much just how inferior Niu Hai was to him. This could hardly be called a fight at all. It also made them wonder just where Niu Hai had taken his confidence from to actually challenge this guy to a rematch. Didn't have any self-awareness at all?
Well, these complaints thankfully didn't reach Niu Hai's ears.