[Mo Dao Zu Shi Fanfiction] I Raise A Ying in Yiling

Chapter 207 Development 3

In the spring of the following year, the festive atmosphere still lingered among the blooming flowers. Having just spent a pleasant and relaxing New Year with Wei Chaoyan at the Wei residence in Yiling Town, he suddenly received a strange invitation from the Cloud Recesses.

The document, personally written by Qingheng-jun, the current patriarch of the Gusu Lan Clan, specifies that Wei Ying, Qi Ye, and Qingyan must attend a banquet at Cloud Recesses in ten days.

Strangely, the Lan Clan patriarch, a family known for its strict etiquette and rules, wrote an invitation that was extremely unusual and impolite. He failed to clearly state the purpose of the banquet, only mentioning the time, place, and attendees in a few words, without saying anything else.

Even more bizarrely, the invitation listed the attendees as Wei Ying (Wei Wuxian), Wei Han (Wei Qiye), Wei Hui (Wei Qingyan), and Wei Han (Wei Wuxian), all fifteen or sixteen-year-old rogue cultivators, instead of Wei Ying (Wei Qiye), a five or six-year-old orphan from Zezang, who was observing mourning at home, or Wei Qiye and Wei Qingyan, ordinary mortal children!

It was obvious that Qingheng-jun was directly demanding that Wei Ying and the others use the Face-Changing Pearl throughout the banquet, so that they could appear as inexperienced rogue cultivators who had been away for a year and would be seen by the direct descendants of the various immortal sects.

"⊙?⊙! What is Papa Smurf doing?"

"(???.???)? I don't know!"

"..."

"..."

A group of bored netizens who were chatting and idling in the live stream immediately noticed the understated, elegant, and exquisite invitation card that Wei Chaoyan was holding. They quickly read through the entire invitation card before Wei Chaoyan could.

Then, without waiting for Wei Chaoyan to finish watching, he eagerly climbed into the live stream and started talking passionately. However, after filling the screen with several messages, he ended up with a bunch of worthless nonsense.

Wei Chaoyan, who was full of doubts after reading the invitation and trying to find some answers in the live broadcast, was so speechless that she could have picked up the invitation and made a big bowl of ramen!

Wei Chaoyan, speechless for a moment after her sincere feelings were misplaced, finally found her voice and turned to call out to the other room, "Aying, Qiye, come out and see what's strange about the invitation sent by Qingheng-jun?"

Qi Ye responded and strode out of the house, taking the exquisite invitation card that Wei Chaoyan was holding. "Sister, let me take a look first!"

"Huh?" Wei Chaoyan let go of his hand and peered curiously through the doorway where no one had appeared since Qi Ye came out. Her brows were full of confusion. "Where's A-Ying? Isn't he usually the first one to arrive whenever there's a letter or message from Yun Shen?!"

"Why are you the only one out today?!"

Upon hearing this, Qi Ye didn't even look up as she carefully read the invitation, replying slowly, "Second Brother's research is currently facing a bottleneck. He's completely focused on his current research and most likely hasn't noticed you calling, Sister."

“Oh, right!” Wei Chaoyan blinked understandingly, then tilted her head and asked again, “What new thing is A-Ying researching? He seems to have been stuck on a bottleneck every now and then since before the New Year. It sounds quite difficult, that even the genius inventor A-Ying has been stuck for so long without being able to solve it!”

Qi Ye was deep in thought, staring at the invitation in his hand, seemingly oblivious to Wei Chaoyan's barrage of questions. It wasn't until Wei Chaoyan patted his shoulder after he had been rambling on for a while that he snapped out of his reverie.

Wei Chaoyan frowned in displeasure: "What's wrong? Qi Ye, didn't you hear what your elder sister said? Could it be that there's really something wrong with this invitation...?"

As she spoke, Wei Chaoyan's suspicious gaze immediately fell on the invitation card that Qi Ye was currently holding, on the few lines of handsome, upright, elegant, and graceful characters with natural and smooth strokes that also possessed a strong and unyielding spirit.

A few glints of wisdom flashed in Qi Ye's obsidian-like eyes. She shook her head elegantly and spoke calmly and slowly, "It's nothing. This is just Qingheng-jun taking care of us as an elder!"

Wei Chaoyan smiled: "?"

Seeing the obvious confusion on Wei Chaoyan's face, Qi Ye raised his eyes and smiled faintly. His full, fair fingertips elegantly tapped the smooth paper of the invitation in his palm, and a gentle, warm smile curved his lips. "After a year of hard work, our identities as independent cultivators have become somewhat well-known in the Yiling area. Some well-informed families in the immortal sects have also noticed us to some extent."

"However, the time is still too short. We are still too young to be recognized by the outside world. Although we have a reputation, we are not highly regarded by many famous figures in the immortal sects."

"Qingheng-jun personally wrote an invitation for us to a banquet at Cloud Recesses, which is to elevate our status by leveraging his reputation. It is also a way of implying to other aristocratic families that the three of us newly emerged rogue cultivators have a close relationship with the Lan Clan of Gusu, and are not just isolated rogue cultivators with no powerful backers."

"Oh..." Qi Ye explained it so clearly that Wei Chaoyan suddenly realized that Qingheng Jun's move was to put a safety net for A Ying and the others, so as not to attract the attention of petty and narrow-minded noble families and be unknowingly subjected to some disgusting schemes.

Although Wei Ying and his companions were able to ensure that they wouldn't be outmaneuvered, it was like a rotten toad on a shoe—it didn't bite, but it was disgusting!

“That’s not all!” Qi Ye shook his slender index finger, which gleamed like jade in the sunlight, and gazed at Wei Chaoyan with a smile in his eyes.

"Uh..." Wei Chaoyan subconsciously opened her mouth, biting her nails and frowning, guessing uncertainly, "Is it... well, how was it again! Oh ⊙?⊙! That's right! It's about openly and honestly discrediting your identities as rogue cultivators, especially A-Ying's identity!"

"In this way, even if A-Ying uses his true life and his original appearance, those who are familiar with Uncle Wei and Aunt Cangse will only think that the world is full of wonders! The rogue cultivator Wei Ying, Wei Wuxian, just happens to share the same name and surname as the rumored orphan of Zezang who has disappeared without a trace, and it is only by sheer coincidence that his appearance is somewhat similar to that of the two Zezang people!"

"But this young man who has recently become famous could not possibly be the orphan himself! First of all, the ages don't match up. One is a handsome young man in his prime at fifteen or sixteen, while the other is just a child of five or six!"

"Secondly, the former has two brothers who are very close and equally outstanding, while the latter is only an only child!"

"Finally, the former is a rising star in the cultivation world with a great reputation, impressive cultivation, knowledge, and manners, while the latter is just an orphan whose parents have both perished and who is still wandering the streets in an unknown corner, without even having begun cultivation. Apart from the coincidence of their names and appearances, what other connection could there be between the two?"

"Is this what you often call the sophisticated use of 'the darkest place under the lamp'?"

Wei Chaoyan asked somewhat excitedly.