"Yi Nuan! What do you think you're doing with this man?!"
One of the two people who came wore a similar robe to the woman who sat next to me, and the other was the woman who had been missing for almost the entirety of the party, my good wife.
"Well I'm socializing of course! It's not everyday you get to meet such a good looking mortal man! His looks even rival that many so-called immortals! You take one look at him and tell me otherwise! Do you think I would miss such an opportunity to meet someone like this?" She placed a hand on my shoulder as the other was pointed toward my face.
"Get your hands off of him!" My wife's stern and slightly chilly voice resounded just as Yi Nuan finished her sentence.
"Oh? It's okay, we're friends. Who are you Sister?"
"Yi Nuan! Don't address her like that! She's someone at the mythical 10th realm of cultivation!"
"W-what? Are you going senile old man? There's no way she could be someone of the 10th realm! T-that's just crazy, what kind of caliber does such a person have to be for the 10th realm. You saw the host of the party! He was only the 5th realm peak, how could it be possible for him to host a 10th realm cultivator?"
"Yi Nuan, just try and decipher her realm. You should quickly understand that she's above me, but you won't be able to pinpoint how high."
There was silence for a moment as Yi Nuan's eyes widened and her mouth became increasingly agape.
"...H-how? How can someone like you be at a party like this…? You should be on par with the leaders of those top sects.
A-ah! F-forgive me for my r-rudeness! I-I was ignorant of your power, please let me go!"
Within a second Yi Nuan got on her knees and started kowtowing for forgiveness.
I looked at the situation before a thought entered my mind.
'They now know about Ying'er, when they inevitably share the news and it disseminates, won't it all eventually come back around to me? I already know a few of those leaders as I had some small friendships with them back when I was simply a wanderer, but as for those who didn't wouldn't this mean that I was now back in the spotlight?
We were basically the outcast top sect, but simply knowing that my wife alone had the power equal to one of them would probably worry them. They might think I was just as strong if not strong and cause trouble for us, or maybe they would even think of me as a weak man who relies on their strong wife. Either way it would be bad for me.
I suppose that's only if they find out about our relationship, but I don't think she would try to hide the fact that we're married. In fact I think she might even proudly show it off if she got the chance.
Before they leave I should find a way to shut them up, two elder level characters disappearing would wreak havoc for my brother so I should talk to them about it, if need be I could use force to make them say an oath.
Is it so bad to be known once again though? Yeah, probably, I've already gotten used to the life I have now. Complacency may be the death of dreams, but I feel those dreams I had before have already been fulfilled. Perhaps a new set of dreams, another goal.'
"Darling, why are you holding Jinzi like that?" She ignored the woman on the ground and looked at Jinzi who I was still hugging.
"It was her first time drinking and she drank a bit too much. This hug is just a precaution."
"Drinking? D-drinking?! Wait, did you also drink something this woman gave you?"
"Um, yes?"
Then she changed to speak with me on a more private level.
{Why would you do that? What if she has bad intentions?! Honestly, I'm kind of surprised at times how you even managed to make it out alive up till now. With the amount of trust you put into people it's a miracle.}
{I mean there shouldn't be any reason for her to try and harm me, right? I'd only just met the woman. Besides, I'm a body cultivator too, remember? She's only in the 6th realm so if she had mixed in any poison of her level I should be able to tell and wouldn't be affected at all. Why else do you think I let Jinzi take a drink too? The liquid was simply a wine and there was nothing more to it. It wasn't like I would put her in danger, if there was even a drop of poison it would probably kill her from even inhaling it.}
While we were having a little conversation it seemed that the awkward moment was a bit too much for them as Yi Nuan spoke up.
"Um, madame, do you know this mortal?"
"Why yes, of course I know him, after all he's my husband."
Hearing that the expression of shock appeared across both of their faces, but the woman I had been sitting next to the entire time looked even worse. While old man simply looked a little surprised, she seemed to blank out like all she heard was white noise after Ying'er "Shocking" revelation.
The old man quickly recovered and asked a question.
"Madame, if I may ask, why did you choose to wed with a mortal? Their time is quite limited, so would doing this simply be a heartache in the near future?"
"Mortal? Tsk, he's a cultivator too, you simply can't tell."
"Ah? Oh the Madame must have given him some sort of device to hide his cultivation. That must be it, it couldn't be that there could be 2 people who are just as powerful as each other together, right?"
'Well, he's right about one thing. We're not as powerful as each other, I'm just a little stronger.'
At that moment it seemed that Yi Nuan finally exited her trance as she looked at me and then back to Ying'er.
"Y-you two are married?"
The first words out of her mouth were back onto the topic of our relationship. Ying'er looked at her for a second before a smug smile was slowly drawn.
"Why? What's wrong? Is there something unbelievable about it? I can prove to you our relationship right now!" Ying'er bent over and quickly gave me a little peck on the lips.
"A-anyone can just do that! It doesn't prove anything!"
This conversation has devolved so quickly, I took a peek at the old man and he just looked over at the situation with confusion.
"Oh? Is that so? Can you do what I did just now without any shame?"
"Of course I could!"
Yi Nuan looked over at me with a bit of hesitance looming within her eyes as she began to stand up. After a moment that hesitance disappeared and what replaced it was a bit pf determination and a blush.
"Do it. I DARE you! We'll see what happens to you afterward." Her voice chilled the area around us, but none of any of the other guests had even realized. No one here was yelling to attract attention and as such, except for a few who lingered their gaze on us for a few seconds, no one else paid much attention to us.
The temperature lowered a few degrees which halted the advance of Yi Nuan. She was about to reach over to me when she suddenly halted. As if a moment of clarity had just reached her she retracted her hand.
"I-I apologize for what I was just about to do to you. I know it's wrong and I don't know what came over me." She bowed at me before doing the same to Ying'er.
'Perhaps I shouldn't have just sat here, but it's all over now.'
Just as things were settling down the unreactive Jinzi finally had a few movements. I had only noticed when I felt the soft sensation touch my cheek. When I turned to see it Jinzi moved her head forward and her lips connected with mine.
"Ha…ha..haah, Big Brother~ Hehe~"
"Jinzi? Are you back?"
The way I was hugging her didn't restrain the movement of her arms. I had loosened the hug a lot from when I first started. The whole reason I did so in the first place was so she wouldn't run away into the crowd and cause trouble.
Her arms wrapped around the back of my neck as she pulled her face toward me.
"Big Brother~ Give me more kissies! Hehe~ I'm readiee for muhore!!"
I saw in the corner of my eye that Yi Nuan had an agape mouth.
"Wait, hey! She's kissing your husband! Aren't you going to do anything about this?!"
"It's fine, she's okay."
"What! Is she his friend? That's not fair! I want to kiss him too! Why can't I?!"
"Are you seriously wondering why you, a stranger, can't kiss my husband? She on the other hand has a… special position."
She kissed me a few more times on the face before changing her target. She slipped her dainty hands into my shirt as she slowly spoke out her sentence.
"Hehe~ Big Brother~ Do you remember why I picked this dress? Hehe~ Why don't we give it a try right now?"
When she finished she tried to get out of my hug and probably knee in front of me, but of course I wasn't going to let that happen. She was drunk and there were way too many people around without there being any cover for us to hide behind..
"Eh!? B-Big Brother, I'm stuck! I can't move! Help me!" While she tried struggling I wouldn't let her do that here so I wouldn't relent.
*Sigh*
I looked at Ying'er to see if she had any response for this situation. The old man had turned around and started walking away. Yi Nuan stood near me as she looked down at her feet with a massive blush.
"This'll be a good lesson for her. Once she becomes sober she'll remember all the embarrassing things she tried to do to you. It would be a good way to tease her, no?"