After Transmigrating as an Immortal Master, I Hold a Group Meeting - Chapter 82

Ning Mingmei said, “This is a private family matter for the Lian family. I probably don’t need to go.”

As he spoke, he turned to slip away.

Qi Miancheng said, “Junior Brother and I are as close as brothers, just like family. Don’t refuse.”

Ning Mingmei: …Completely unmoved.

Qi Miancheng glanced at him and sighed. “The Lian family is probably summoning me for two reasons. One, my mother’s belongings and two, they want to discuss a business deal with the Supreme Clarity Sect.”

A business deal.

Ning Mingmei said, “Senior Brother, no need to be so polite. Since we are fellow disciples, naturally we should advance and retreat together, sharing both fortune and misfortune.”

Qi Miancheng looked at Ning Mingmei again and for once, an odd feeling stirred in his heart.

Ning Mingmei was his cultivation furnace, his junior brother. In the Supreme Clarity Sect, he held such prestige and respect, and everyone revered him. Ning Mingmei should be no different.

Even if he didn’t respect him, he should at least see him as the most valuable connection and the most important person to maintain a relationship with. Only then would he be worthy of Qi Miancheng.

And yet, Ning Mingmei had done none of that.

No one knew that while the esteemed Sect Master Qi enjoyed his reputation, he was also highly competitive and prideful.

And now, he actually had to rely on a ‘business deal’ just to get Ning Mingmei to follow him.

Even though he had successfully grasped Ning Mingmei’s weakness, Qi Miancheng still wasn’t happy about it.

Fortunately, the road to Dezheng Hall was short.

Inside, shadows flickered. Every person present was a senior elder of the Lian family. The Lian family’s patriarch invited the two to take seats of honor.

After three rounds of tea, an elderly clan elder finally spoke up. “In the blink of an eye, my elder brother has been gone for over four hundred years and Sister Tingyu has been gone for decades now,” the elder said. “When she was alive, she harbored resentment against us and refused to return no matter what. When she passed away unexpectedly, we were deeply grieved.”

Qi Miancheng said, “That is unnecessary. My mother was in poor health throughout her life.”

The elder sighed. “Alas, among our generation of siblings, I am the only one left. Looking back, we fought over so many meaningless disputes. Now that everything has turned to dust… I am old. These past years, I often dream of our youth, of Sister Tingyu and me studying together in our family’s school…”

He rambled on sentimentally, recalling his youthful memories with great emotion. A few younger family members were moved to tears.

Ning Mingmei, holding his teacup, glanced at Qi Miancheng.

Surprisingly, Qi Miancheng also seemed rather somber, his fingers tapping the rim of his cup one after another. “Yes, truly nostalgic.”

The Lian family’s patriarch said, “Miancheng, I’ll be straightforward. We invited you here not only for Third Aunt’s belongings and Zhao’er but also for one more matter. After all, Third Aunt was a descendant of the Lian family. She wandered outside for many years and…”

His face was full of sorrow but Qi Miancheng consoled him, “It was also the fault of the Lian family?”

That statement immediately put the patriarch in an awkward position. He hesitated for a moment before continuing, “Therefore, we wish to establish a memorial tablet for Third Aunt in the Lian family’s ancestral hall.”

The conditions the Lian family offered were truly generous; an honored placement of the memorial tablet, daily offerings, and revisions to the family genealogy. It was the epitome of posthumous glory. But to Ning Mingmei, it was so dull he could only yawn.

What a load of nonsense, long-winded and tedious. He would have much rather stayed in his room reading old texts.

Qi Miancheng said, “The patriarch is indeed gracious but I have a question. Between my mother’s memorial tablet and her elder brother’s, which one will be placed in front and which behind? Which one will be higher and which lower?”

The moment those words left his mouth, the entire Dezheng Hall fell into a heavy silence.

Ning Mingmei was still mid-yawn, completely unaware of the underlying tension.

The Lian family’s patriarch hesitated and stammered, “Wh-who… why bring this up all of a sudden?”

However, Qi Miancheng simply smiled, calm, steady, unshaken. “I’m talking about Lian Zhufeng, the elder brother my mother personally killed.”

His words landed like a thunderclap. Even Ning Mingmei’s yawn was cut short.

…Wasn’t Qi Miancheng supposed to be the picture of a ‘righteous gentleman’? Why did he suddenly drop such an explosive statement?

After that, no one could continue the discussion. Qi Miancheng agreed to visit Lian Zhao, the so-called genius of the current Lian family generation, the next day. But the family’s elders stammered and made excuses, claiming Lian Zhao wasn’t ready.

The meeting ended in an awkward deadlock. Still seated, Ning Mingmei rubbed his eyes. He wasn’t sure why but he always got drowsy after traveling in a bumpy carriage.

Especially after sitting through what felt like a boring corporate meeting that had nothing to do with him.

A coat was draped over his shoulders. He looked up to see Qi Miancheng.

“The wind outside is strong, so it’s quite cold,” Qi Miancheng said. “Are you sleepy, Junior Brother? Let’s go back and rest.”

Ning Mingmei: …

The Lian family’s members around them were all watching, so he flashed Qi Miancheng a fake, polite smile. “After you, Senior Brother.”

***

Ning Mingmei said, “Now I get it. They called me here because they knew that with me around, you’d be too concerned about appearances to air your family’s dirty laundry in front of me, so you’d have no choice but to agree.”

Once Lian Tingyu’s memorial tablet was placed in the Lian family’s ancestral hall, the connection between Qi Miancheng and the Lian family would be solidified. The Lian family could then use the so-called favor to their advantage in the future.

“I figured they wanted to talk business with me,” Qi Miancheng said. “But I didn’t expect it to be such a profitable deal. Decades ago, when my mother was on her deathbed, they wanted to see her one last time. And even now, after all these years, they still haven’t given up.”

He spoke calmly, as if discussing someone else’s affairs. Under the overcast sky, Ning Mingmei looked at his profile and realized that it might be one of the rare moments when the hypocrite showed his true face.

Ning Mingmei asked, “So they never got to see her? Your father refused?”

“No. My father agreed. I was the one who altered the letter he sent them, making them believe he had refused,” Qi Miancheng said it lightly, as if it was a trivial matter.

Ning Mingmei: …

There was no smell of alcohol in the air. Why was Qi Miancheng suddenly acting like a madman, revealing all his secrets?

“I see.” Ning Mingmei yawned again, still wrapped in Qi Miancheng’s coat, lazily walking beside him. “Your father did it to maintain harmony between the Qi and Lian families?”

Qi Miancheng looked at him, thinking how detached Ning Mingmei was from anything that had nothing to do with him.

It reminded him a lot of himself.

“No,” Qi Miancheng said. “My father agreed because he loved my mother. He wanted her to have everything she could in life. He also believed she needed to reconcile with the Lian family. Only then could she be happy.”

Ning Mingmei: …?

“My father was a good man,” Qi Miancheng continued. “He loved my mother dearly. Because of her cultivation, her face was ruined and that’s how she looked when they first met. She refused to restore her appearance and my father never cared about that. But in the end, the only thing they could ever talk about was love. Beyond that, they never truly understood each other.”

Ning Mingmei asked, “Why did your mother kill her elder brother?”

Qi Miancheng looked toward the pavilions and towers of the Lian family’s residence. The night was deep and his expression was as emotionless as a wooden deity’s statue.

“It’s a long story. The Lian family’s cultivation method is… quite unique.” Qi Miancheng said, “Junior Brother, do you want to sneak into the Lian family’s residence with me tonight?”

Ning Mingmei: ?

“Senior Brother, aren’t you an honored guest here?” Ning Mingmei said. “If you want to go somewhere, why not just ask the patriarch? Why sneak around?”

Qi Miancheng replied, “I don’t know. I just enjoy the thrill of drinking free tea.”

…What kind of logic was that?

Qi Miancheng said, “What I mean is, while sneaking into the Lian family’s residence tonight, we can also take the chance to drink the free tea in the patriarch’s room. Of course, the tea they serve us as guests is likely their finest selection. So, the stolen tea may not actually taste better. But as the saying goes, ‘Stolen pleasures are the sweetest.’”

Qi Miancheng was spouting nonsense again.

Perhaps Ning Mingmei’s speechlessness was too obvious because Qi Miancheng added, “Junior Brother, I’m sorry. You’ve seen my weak side again. I was born with a special physique, which sometimes compels me to act in ways that defy common sense. Are you afraid of me?”

…

What kind of physique? A poorly trained artificial intelligence? Would Cyber Qi Miancheng be able to pass a Turing test?

Even the system couldn’t hold back. [Is this really your Sect Master Senior Brother? Why does he seem so dumb?]

Unfortunately, even the system couldn’t directly access the original text of the world without requesting higher-level permissions.

Ning Mingmei said, [I don’t know. But one thing I do know is that Qi Miancheng is definitely not dumb.]

He had to be doing it on purpose.

It was a game to him.

But what kind of game? A gamble? A test of courage?

The system: [Huh???]

It was starting to doubt whether it or Ning Mingmei was the one malfunctioning. How else could Ning Mingmei possibly decipher Qi Miancheng’s erratic train of thought and his nine-truths-one-lie, or nine-lies-one-truth, way of speaking?

Ning Mingmei clicked his tongue.

He didn’t say whether he minded or not, nor did he say which version of Qi Miancheng was more irritating, the ‘hypocrite’ from before or the one now spouting nonsense.

But an invitation to battle had already been thrown in his face.

The system tried to persuade him, [Forget it. I doubt you’ll entertain him. Let’s go back and study instead. I wonder if Lian Chengyue has woken up yet.]

But Ning Mingmei didn’t move.

The system observed for a while and then suddenly had a chilling realization.

Ning Mingmei… seemed to be considering taking the challenge?

That didn’t make sense.

Why would Ning Mingmei play along?

But the system failed to understand something fundamental. When someone like Ning Mingmei encountered a cryptic trickster who seemed to be baiting him on purpose, not striking back wasn’t even an option.

It was like a cat lounging on a balcony, only to hear someone weirdly meowing at it while dancing around like some fire-worshipping cannibal.

What cat could resist the urge to smack them?

Ning Mingmei crossed his arms and gave the cryptic speaker a glance. In the end, he decided to beat Qi Miancheng at his own game. “Senior Brother Qi, the Lian family’s residence is huge. Do you even know your way around? You’ll probably get lost before you even find the free tea.”

Now that he mentioned it, the residence was absurdly large.

The Lian family was only a second-rate cultivation clan now, yet their residence was even bigger than the grand mansions of the four legendary heroes who once dominated the mortal realm. The level of luxury in their decor was staggering.

Was the gap between cultivators and mortals really that vast?

Qi Miancheng said, “There’s a reason the Lian family’s residence is so large. A thousand years ago, they were one of the key forces in overthrowing an infamous cult. But nothing lasts forever. After a millennium, their influence has waned.”

Ning Mingmei asked, “What cult?”

Qi Miancheng replied, “Kindle Fire Island.”

Wait.

Kindle Fire Island??

Wasn’t that the place founded by the woman who transmigrated there even earlier than he did?

Qi Miancheng noticed his slight change in expression. “Are you interested?”

Ning Mingmei kept his posture relaxed. “Yeah.”

“But that was a thousand years ago. I don’t know much about it,” Qi Miancheng said. “I once asked Master but he only said it was ancient history.”

Kindle Fire Island, the transmigrated woman, the lotus lantern, the demon concubine, the Lian family’s cultivation techniques, Qi Miancheng’s physique, the reason Spirit Master Inaction brought Ning Mingmei back…

They were all connected.

And Ning Mingmei strongly suspected that the origins of his own body were tied to that demon concubine as well.

He looked up at the sparse stars in the night sky. “Alright. Let’s go sneak in.”

Rules? So what?

Let’s gamble on this.

Under the moonlight, Qi Miancheng, dressed in white robes, smiled at Ning Mingmei.

Ning Mingmei asked, “Where do we start, Senior Brother?”

Qi Miancheng replied, “First, I’ll take you to the Lian family’s graveyard.”