Lu Ning knocked on the wooden door. There was no response, and he was about to leave when it finally opened. But he froze at the sight of Rose. Had he gone to the wrong house? He wondered as his eyes caught a glimpse of Lu Lan sitting on her bed. Her sullen look at the floor made Lu Ning realize that any consolation would be water delivered to a burning house.
"Lu Ning?" Rose called out towards him.
"Is my senior martial sis okay?" Lu Ning softly asked.
He was afraid to disrupt the quiet environment that Lu Lan had rooted herself in. Furthermore, any voices of concern would be met with the fierce assurance that she was okay. Perhaps only Rose knew of Lu Lan's true state.
"Not too good. She's devastated by the defeat," Rose replied. "Why don't you come in?"
Lu Ning took another glance towards Lu Lan to see if she had second thoughts about the invitation. Seeing none, he felt some ease as he walked through the doorway and swept his eyes through the room. She had never allowed him to enter her room before.
Lu Ning noticed a vase of flowers on the table. They were neatly arranged, and the colors were carefully picked out. The residence was not provided with furniture or decoration unless requested, so Lu Lan had ordered some to lighten up the empty room. But the flowers were slightly drooped, showing the first signs of wilting.
"Senior sis?" Lu Ning arrived beside Lu Lan. "There's no need to feel this way. I've already asked Master, and he said it's fine to lose as long as the loss becomes the motivation for improvement. There's no shame in losing."
Those words seemed to break Lu Lan's trance as she looked at Lu Ning before shaking her head, "Thank you, but I feel like I could've done... more. I could've won."
"There's no need to take revenge for me," Rose sat beside Lu Lan. "I've already accepted what Ijilner had done to me. There's no need to linger on the past. Next time, let's just drag him into a corner and beat him up for what he's done."
Lu Ning shivered from Rose's grudge-holding, but he nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, we'll strip him and parade him around town! That'll teach him."
Lu Lan chuckled, "He has to be tied to a pole so even the back of the crowd can see."
Old scars melted as the three quickly entered a competition into the vilest things that they would do if they got ahold of Ijilner. Once Lu Ning left Lu Lan's room, his face was hurting from laughter. But he grew confused as he replayed the situation in his head.
'Did senior sis always change her mind this easily? I guess Rose is slowly changing her. Hopefully, one day, she will let go of the Lu clan and enjoy her life.'
***
Ye Tian exited the underworld through one of its many exits. Similarly, this exit also had an old grandpa living in a wooden shack. The old man didn't say anything towards Ye Tian who was dressed suspiciously in a cloak. It was a fairly normal way for people to protect their identities in the underworld.
_Those big bosses must really love old men._
He quickly sprinted through the streets to his destination, an unsuspecting store in the busiest street. As the capital of the Di Yi province, there were many travelers from around the world, thus many stores were open to tourists from night to morning. It was truly one of the rare cities that never sleeps. Most other cities could only capture a fraction of the night glamor through festivals and holidays.
At this point, Ye Tian took off his cloak. Although his mask was conspicuous, the cloak was more so. There was little reason to dress suspiciously during peacetime and wartime.
While winning some odd gazes, Ye Tian scurried along the streets and into the store. Some store attendants were ready to start hollering robbery when they saw a masked man enter in a hurry. But Ye Tian walked up to the most lavishly dressed attendant and slammed a medallion onto the counter, "Are you the manager?"
The man frowned and looked down at the medallion. As if he had a blade on his neck, the manager quickly began to inspect the medallion, "Madam Vivian's personal medallion?! You must be a close friend. Follow me to the back."
Ye Tian nodded before following the man into the backroom.
The two sat down in a lounge room, and the manager asked, "What can I do for you, sir? You seem to be in a rush."
"Do you have a provincial-sized map?"
"Yes? But what for?"
"Bring it to me first."
The manager was disgruntled by Ye Tian's attitude, but he excused himself to grab a map from the storeroom.
Soon, Ye Tian was studying the map on the lounge room's giant table. He looked through the valleys, mountains, and plains that were in between the Rising Phoenix sect and Di Yi city. Ye Tian had studied the map for such a long time that the manager had to interrupt, "Sir? May I know what you need?"
Ye Tian responded by pointing at a certain mountain pass, "Are you able to get men to build things there?"
The manager looked at where Ye Tian was pointing before raising his chest with pride, "Of course! If mister wants to build a villa there then we shall!"
Ye Tian nodded, "Looks like your financial strength is not too bad."
Bolstered by Ye Tian's pride, the manager continued to boast, "Of course! If sir wants to build a castle then we will gladly build it there."
"Good, I want you guys to build a stone fortress there with rank 1 inscriptions. Of course, a fortress must have the latest qi cannons. I will need 4 to be stacked there with a hundred rounds of ammunition. It would also be preferable if you can get around some rank 1 mounts for escape."
The manager's mouth dropped at Ye Tian's demands.
'I was just figuratively speaking...'
"S-Sir... We don't have enough for the mounts... We don't even have enough for the fortress with inscriptions and cannons... Sir... Do you know how much it will take for us to even transport materials and men to build the fortress..."
Ye Tian was surprised. He raised a brow and looked at the manager's red face, "I thought you said you could build a castle."
"N-Not for real..." he whimpered.
The two entered into a discussion of prices, and soon it was settled. The store would deliver supplies that included the necessities of food and water. While there would be no fortress, stone barricades with rank 1 inscriptions would do. The topic that took the most of the discussion was the qi cannons. The store promised to deliver 2 cannons along with dozens of ammunition.
As for who was bearing the cost? Ye Tian felt bad, but he signed Vivian's name onto the deal. However, after thinking of what was to be delivered, Ye Tian felt much better. Besides, the Rising Phoenix sect could be counted as Vivian's background, thus it was only right for Vivian to help her protectors in escaping Di Yi city.
Meanwhile, the manager was on the verge of crying. Vivian owned the entire conglomerate, so her paying was essentially the conglomerate paying itself to buy the supplies. This was at least a year's worth of expenses for a mid-sized conglomerate.
Ye Tian walked out of the store with relief that a backup plan was ready for the grand escape. He couldn't help but wonder why he was always escaping throughout his life. At least, he was getting plenty of experience at running away. Before Ye Tian entered the underworld again, he donned a cloak. It was going to be difficult for him to slip back into the residence.
Ye Tian walked through the underground city that was lit with lights everywhere. It seemed more like a hidden metropolis than an unchartered underworld that was full of chaos. Of course, the shopkeepers sometimes had missing eyes and burnt faces, but they still kept a welcoming smile towards visitors.
With no business being there, Ye Tian quickly walked through the shopping district and to one of the many tunnels that led to the outside. Right before he was about to enter the tunnel, a blue-robed man stepped into Ye Tian's path.
"May I talk with you?"
Ye Tian could spot the pink fan from a mile away, but there was nothing he could do in the face of a dao-domain cultivator. He nodded and followed the blue-robed man.