It was a beautiful evening with a brilliant show of warm hued clouds. And it would not be wrong to say that this was also the time when every disciple and elder at snowy-light peak was doing self-cultivation and meditation in their own chambers or quarters.
But this evening, at the gate of Jianyu Sect stood two figures talking to each other as though they had nothing to do with this routine, one in a snowy light robe and another in a navy blue one.
" Here.....this gift is from Li Jie. He said it was one of his most treasured books. I just flipped it a bit to take a look and yep.....as he said, this one is quite an impressive one."
Li Qing said as he handed a small book with a seemingly very old cover to Prince Rong. The prince was finally leaving for the capital. His elder brother Junjie had already taken a leave since morning. And now it's time for this prince as well.
In truth, Wang Li Jie and Huang Guiren also wished to see him off but the rules were the rules. Only one disciple was allowed to see a guest off and this prince was no exception. One might think how come immortal Wang let a prince leave just like this. He should even personally see such a son of heaven off. But here the point one missed was that Ming Rong came here not as a prince but as a relative of his little Qing.
It had been almost every year this prince came visiting to emerald mountain since this special disciple, Li Qing, joined Jianyu Sect. At first, other elders and disciples were startled when they heard news of a powerful prince like him personally coming to enjoy the lantern festival here.
Granted, there were many princes and princesses here in this sect. But it was not such big figures like him. In this kingdom, there were many princes and princesses who were the offsprings of emperor Ming. But only five princes and two princesses had such high and formidable authority because of their unique spiritual roots which citizens called as the gifts of heaven.
And for those seven geniuses, they got such personal training from the kingdom's greatest generals and masters. That's not to say masters of this Jianyu Sect were not good enough. Skills and experiences of masters in this sect were indeed impressive too that, half the time, some were summoned to the imperial palace to serve as great masters of these sons and daughters of the heaven.
Immortal Wang was also one of them who got summoned. But that elder declined the offer humbly, saying he was not that exceptional in cultivation or martial skills like other personal masters of those princes and princesses.
So when Ming Rong who was one of those five sons of the heaven came taking a visit to their sect out of the blue, everybody got anxious and frightened. Only after this prince had explained about it carefully that he was coming here only to check in on his best buddy, not as a prince or with some other ulterior motives, everyone was relaxed.
Now it had almost became a habit for this prince to come to their sect around the time of lantern festival. Therefore, nobody thought of this as some big deal anymore and the immortal himself also treated him as other guests of his disciples. The clever elder didn't bother to play by the rules by doing things like escorting the prince or seeing him off personally so as not to make the prince uncomfortable with the presence of an elder like him.
"And this one...it's from Guiren. Wait a minute. What is this booklet about?"
The curious Li Qing was about to flick through the book when it was suddenly snatched away from his hand by prince Rong. Tapping his buddy's forehead with his finger, the prince said in a joking manner, struggling to hide his nervous inner self.
"Little Qing is just so inquisitive. How can you casually take a look at the gifts given to this prince?"
Rubbing his forehead, Li Qing averted his eyes, seemingly feeling a bit embarrassed by his buddy's comment. It was just that as to the usual tradition, that buddy Huang Guiren should have been giving local fruits of emerald jade mountain as gifts. But now, what's with this sudden change of this legendary tradition?
How come it was a booklet and also.....how come this prince was making puzzles about it, not willing to tell him what it was. Yeah....now that he gave it a serious thought, shouldn't that damn prince be the one who was feeling guilty? Only by now, Li Qing realized he had just fallen into a trap set by this prince.
"It's not that I'm being inquisitive. Just what is wrong with you? Why can't you just let me take a brief look at that? What are the two of you guys scheming? "
Placing both of the books into his space ring, prince Rong replied in a whisper.
"It's about things related to adult stuff? Now do you still wish see it?"
Red shade crept up Li Qing's cheeks before the furious youth sent daggers at the prince in anger mingled with some embarrassment.
"You two... how shameless! "
Holding his stomach, the shameless prince laughed out loud which earned another glare from Li Qing. In fact, it was indeed about adult stuff but not as dirty as one might think. That booklet was about legendary ways of how to grasp the heart of your crush. Last night, that buddy Guiren mentioned about this book to him once.
Huang Guiren said there was a book he got from a friend who was a pro in this field of romance. Ming Rong didn't think that buddy would be really handing this precious booklet to him. But it didn't mean he didn't want it. It's just..... how come that buddy could casually let his little Qing bring it to him? What if his little Qing find out and thought he was a weirdo?
But it wouldn't make much difference by now because he knew his little Qing might have been taking him for a pervert already because of the words he'd just said. Well..... he deserved it though. Who told him to find such extreme joy in teasing this buddy and go this far?
"Ahh.... right! What about you? What are you giving me as a gift?"
Feeling annoyed at the cheeky prince, Li Qing answered with that unfeeling facade.
"I'm giving you nothing.... it's a punishment 'cause you hurt me last night. "
Prince Rong who had been getting his hopes up all the while when reality hit him hard "WTF!"