Chapter 91: The Fallen Blossoms Are Intent, but the Flowing Water Is Unfeeling

"Hm?" Seeing the slight awkwardness on Chu Feng’s face, as if he had something to say but was holding back, Lei Yingfeng chuckled and said, "Chu Feng, there’s no need to say anything. I understand what you mean!"

"Oh? Master Lei, you understand what I mean?" Chu Feng was somewhat surprised.

"Of course! As for the Fear Sect, you needn’t worry at all. Since I have promised you Qin’er’s hand in marriage, you are one of the Wind-Thunder Martial Hall’s people now, and half a son of my Lei family. Even if I gave Xiong Zhan ten times the courage, he still wouldn’t dare do a thing to you! As for the engagement date, well, I’ll still need to discuss that with Mu Zhendong of the Tianji Mu family."

Lei Yingfeng was all smiles; in this single day, he had smiled more than in an ordinary year. And by speaking of discussing the engagement date with the Mu family head, he was treating Mu Zhendong as Chu Feng’s nearest elder relative.

Chu Feng could only shake his head with a wry smile. What he had wanted to say was not this at all. He had just been about to explain things clearly to Lei Yingfeng, but seeing him beam so happily, and with so many people present, it truly was not the right time to speak. Very well, he thought. After the banquet ends, I’ll explain everything privately.

"Ha ha, Nephew Chu, what are you all discussing?" At that moment, Han Mo came over with a wine cup in hand and said to Chu Feng, "Nephew, don’t take the matter of the Fear Sect to heart! As for that brat Xiong Wu, he didn’t spoil your good mood, did he?"

"No, what happened just now—thank you, Uncle Han," Chu Feng said with a nod.

"Ha ha, we’re family. Why speak like outsiders?" Han Mo patted Chu Feng on the shoulder, looking at him with great approval. "Oh, right. At the table by the window, the Shi brothers from Fallen Wind Gorge and their group want to toast you separately and have a proper chat. They were worried it might be presumptuous, so they asked me to let you know."

"No problem. I’m quite fond of making friends too!" Chu Feng smiled, picked up his cup, and walked over to the banquet table by the window.

On the third floor of this reception tower, there were simply too many people who wanted to befriend Chu Feng, people like the Shi brothers from Fallen Wind Gorge. After Chu Feng sat down, he traded toasts with them one after another, draining each cup without refusal. He truly made quite a few friends and drank deeply as well.

During the meal, Chu Feng also asked the Mu brothers, Mu Kaishan and Mu Kaihe, about how Little Blade and the others were doing in the Mu family. Those matters were fairly reassuring. Little Blade had been mingling with the Mu family’s male disciples to cultivate martial arts, and had now just stepped into the second level of Body Refinement. Meanwhile, the girls, Xinlian and Xiaoli, were still learning from Mu Qiaoxue, and both of their combat strengths had also entered the second level of Body Refinement.

This grand feast lasted for a full two hours. After the banquet ended, some martial artists left in groups of three or five, while others who had a deep friendship with the Wind-Thunder Martial Hall stayed there for another three to five days.

By then, the third floor had emptied out, leaving only Chu Feng and the upper echelon of the Wind-Thunder Martial Hall.

"Ch-Chu young master, I see you’ve been drinking cup after cup and don’t seem drunk at all. Would you like me to have someone bring you some sobering soup?" Lei Jianqin stood beside Chu Feng and spoke to him softly. Her tone and expression were truly rather like those of a gentle young wife.

"Uh... no need, I’m not drunk." Chu Feng smiled faintly and shook his head.

With Chu Feng’s sixth level of Body Refinement, his body was already formidable and his life force vigorous. He had long since reached the point where a thousand cups would not intoxicate him. As for getting drunk, he could not even if he wanted to.

"Oh, then I’ll pour you a cup of tea! I see you’ve drunk quite a lot of wine but barely had any tea. This is this year’s newly picked Wind-Rain-Thunder Tea. The tea trees were battered by wild winds, lashed by heavy rain, and struck by lightning. Tea brewed from Wind-Rain-Thunder Tea is extremely valuable, and greatly beneficial to us martial artists!" Lei Jianqin said in her soft, delicate voice as she set about serving Chu Feng tea.

Seeing this, several elderly elders and hall masters nearby could not help but smile, while Tang Jiao covered her mouth with both hands, nearly laughing out loud.

"Senior Sister Lei, thank you! I’m not thirsty, so there’s no need to trouble yourself!"

Seeing how gentle and considerate Lei Jianqin was being, Chu Feng felt extremely conflicted. Then he turned to Lei Yingfeng and said, "Master Lei, I’m truly sorry. I had something I wanted to say earlier, but the timing was not right. Now I must make myself clear!"

"Hm? What is it? We’re all family here. What can’t be said?" Lei Yingfeng asked.

Even as Lei Yingfeng spoke, Lei Jianqin did not stop her hands. She still placed a bowl of Wind-Rain-Thunder Tea on the table before Chu Feng.

"This matter..." Chu Feng paused, then, hardening his heart, said, "Master Lei, it’s not that Chu Feng does not know how to appreciate kindness. Miss Lei is a daughter of an esteemed family, a proud heaven-blessed darling among the young heroes of the four great powers, an outstanding woman of the first rank! Chu Feng is without virtue or ability, and by my own reckoning... I am not worthy of Miss Lei! So please, Master Lei, withdraw this order!"

As soon as those words were spoken, Lei Yingfeng was stunned and said, "Chu Feng, what are you saying? In front of these martial friends from every corner of the land, since I, Lei Yingfeng, have said that I will betroth Qin’er to you, then it is as certain as if carved into stone! Never mind whether you are virtuous and capable—even if you were mediocre and unremarkable, so what? Who could possibly object?"

Chu Feng clenched his lips and said, "Master Lei, this matter... in truth, I, Chu Feng, am a man who walks a life on the edge of death in the martial world! I killed the Xiong family’s second son, and I have a deep blood feud with the Fear Sect. If, on the day of the final battle, I die at the hands of the Xiong family, would I not be dragging Miss Lei down with me? Therefore, I ask Master Lei to reconsider this matter at length!"

"Ha ha, Nephew Chu, you are overthinking it!" Han Mo shook his head and said with a smile, "Among the four great powers of the Nine Mountains and Eighteen Veins, the Fear Sect may have a formidable reputation, but that is only because they hide away in remote and dangerous lands. They rarely clash in any major way, and the other three great powers do not actively wage war with them. If it really came to blows, the Fear Sect would be far inferior to our Wind-Thunder Martial Hall. Even if the Xiong family were to gamble their lives, they still would not be able to harm you that day!"

Having said so much in one breath, Han Mo saw that Chu Feng was still frowning, full of worry, and asked again, "Nephew Chu, I know you are a straightforward man. Do you still have some misgivings about this matter?"

To Lei Yingfeng, Han Mo, and many others of the Wind-Thunder Martial Hall, including the martial artists who had just been drinking here, Chu Feng being able to marry Lei Jianqin and win the beauty’s heart was a blessing sought but never easily found. Such a thing could only bring endless benefits; how could there be any downside? How could there be any reason to frown over it?

"Master Lei, Uncle Han, setting everything else aside, I, Chu Feng, am not a man with a pleasant temper. Because my early years in the Fear Sect were so bitter, I became moody and unpredictable, with a changeable personality. I’m afraid a young lady with Miss Lei’s disposition would not be able to endure me," Chu Feng said very seriously.

"Haha! Chu Feng, I see that when you do things, you are decisive and thunderous, never dragging your feet. How is it that you are so indecisive about this matter? You haven’t even spent time with Qin’er yet. How do you know she won’t be able to tolerate you? Besides, even if there is something she cannot tolerate, after a long time together, you’ll slowly get used to one another—even come to like each other’s temperaments!" Lei Yingfeng said with a smile.

Yet Chu Feng still wore a tightly furrowed brow, his expression one of lingering sorrow, as if there were still words he wanted to say but could not.

After a moment of inner struggle, Chu Feng thought to himself that marriage was no trivial matter. He must neither make things difficult for others nor make things difficult for himself. Even if speaking plainly would offend someone, the words that had to be said still had to be said.

"Young Master Chu, y-you... don’t tell me you simply haven’t taken a liking to me at all, and you never intended to accept this engagement, but just didn’t know how to refuse?" At that very moment, just as Chu Feng was about to speak, Lei Jianqin suddenly looked him in the eye and said those words.

As soon as she said this, Lei Yingfeng, Han Mo, and Fan Shang all felt their hearts jolt. Seeing Chu Feng’s utterly conflicted, hesitant expression, could it really be because of this?