Birthday Banquet (1)
Time passed and the days went by one at a time. Qu Xin Rui’s birthday was quickly approaching and the batch of people who were to be sent back out of the city would be bidding their families goodbye on the day after the birthday banquet. Torn away from their home soil, and placed back into captivity in that stifling prison.
It was already evening on that day. After Xiong Ba and Qing Yu finished dealing with the clan’s tasks, they immediately went towards Jun Xie’s room. This day, they would be going to the Heavenly Cloud Chambers together, to offer their congratulations to that person for her birthday.
Although it was to be congratulatory, but there wasn’t the slightest tinge of voluntary willingness on Xiong Ba’s face. The congratulatory gift from him was even prepared by Qing Yu. Jun Wu Xie packed up her things and then took out a bottle of elixirs from her Cosmos Sack to hold in her hand.
When Xiong Ba saw the bottle in Jun Xie’s hand, he asked curiously:
What is that?
Congratulatory gift.
Jun Wu Xie replied.
Xiong Ba’s eyes widened.
You have even prepared a congratulatory gift for that old hag?
Jun Wu Xie’s gaze fell calmly onto the two brocade boxes Qing Yu was carrying.
Xiong Ba’s face turned red and he coughed awkwardly.
That was prepared by Qing Yu. I am not going to give anything to that old hag. Not a single copper coin.
Qing Yu looked at Xiong Ba with a bitter laugh. He had not prepared anything, but wouldn’t that mean Qing Yu had to do it for him?
Young Master Jun, please do not mind him. Our Clan Chief has always been like this. Making him attend the banquet is no different from pushing him up onto the executioner’s block. For that person’s birthday banquet every year, I have always had to prepare two congratulatory gifts. As Young Master Jun is not from our Thousand Beast City, it will be alright even if you do not bring any gift.
This will have to do then.
Jun Wu Xie did not really care for one bottle of elixirs. In her free time in the Thousand Beast City, she had spent it either receiving news from Ye Sha to understand the situation around her, or used it to cultivate elixirs. Just this one bottle of elixirs, was not that hard for her to part with.
Seeing that Jun Xie was insistent, Qing Yu did not say anything more. But Xiong Ba’s face was however still extremely grumpy, just like Qing Yu had said, like he was being sent to the executioner’s.
The three of them left the Fiery Blaze Clan Hall, and made their way towards the Heavenly Cloud Chambers.
Although it was already evening, the inside of the Thousand Beast City was brightly illuminated by lanterns, and outside every single house, lanterns were hung up, a flush of red lining the streets, which threw a bright red shade of blood, over the entire city against the approaching darkness.
On her birthday every year, within the entire Thousand Beast City, every house has to hang up red lanterns, to make it appear as if the entire city’s people were celebrating the occasion.
Qing Yu explained to Jun Xie, as they walked through the street, filled with red lanterns.
It’s all just pure tyranny. If she were to die, every single person within the Thousand Beast City would then voluntarily hang up red lanterns everywhere, in jubilant celebration!
Xiong Ba grumbled with disdain.
Qing Yu stared at his own clan’s Chief and said in a low voice:
No matter how displeased Chief Xiong might be, it is fine if you grumble about it within the Clan Hall. But if anyone out here were to hear it, nothing good will come out of it.
Xiong Ba’s mouth twitched. Although he was filled with resentment, he did not say anything more.
Jun Wu Xie looked at all the red lanterns and only found them too dazzling to the eye. She did not bring Lord Meh Meh and the Sacrificial Blood Rabbit with her but had locked them up separately in two rooms within the yard. As the little black cat would be coming with her, she had done that to prevent the two dumb beasts from tearing down the entire place while she was gone.
The three people’s steps were unhurried, but they still reached the Heavenly Cloud Chambers very quickly.
The seven storeys high Heavenly Cloud Chambers was heavily adorned with banners and lanterns, but the main doors remained tightly shut. Outside those doors, was a group of people already gathered and standing together in wait, who had come to offer their birthday congratulations.
