Chapter 3532 — All Tied, Then

"Get some proper rest. We've got a long road ahead tomorrow, so I'll be going now," Wei Zhao said.

"Ah... you're leaving already?" Xue Li was taken aback. "Aren't you going to... do something?"

"Do what?" Wei Zhao asked.

"The books say that on one's wedding night, isn't there always... something to be done?" Xue Li said, a little shyly.

"Let's wait until we're back from Cloud Terrace Island," Wei Zhao said after a moment's hesitation. Truth be told, when he thought of being with someone, the first candidates who came to mind were Yu Ning, Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Tang Zhi.

After all, those were the people Wei Zhao had known first—whereas with Xue Li, there was no emotional foundation at all! True, feelings could be cultivated, but had there been any cultivation yet?

Besides, if his first time were to be with someone other than those four, Wei Zhao himself was not sure he could accept it. And even stepping back from that, it ought to be Yang Qiqi or Wang Xinyan.

"Mm..." Xue Li actually breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, she too was a little afraid. The books did say that once two people were wed they would lie together and do that sort of thing, and the ancient sects made no fuss over elaborate wedding customs—people of the jianghu kept everything simple.

Wei Zhao dressed and stepped out of Xue Li's room. He drew a deep breath, glanced at the room next door—the one that had once been Xue Li's and now belonged to Tang Zhi—and could not help but sigh. He had no heart for any more visits.

Back in his own room, Wei Zhao lay awake for a long while, recalling all that had happened over the past year or more, and a thousand feelings surged through him, until dawn broke...

"Sister Xue, why do you keep looking at Wei Zhao?" Tang Zhi asked Xue Li, puzzled.

Wei Zhao was driving one of the Xuandan Sect's minibuses, provided by Tianchan, big enough for all of them to sit. Tang Zhi sat beside Xue Li, and she had noticed that Xue Li kept involuntarily lifting her head for a glance at Wei Zhao driving up front.

"Ah..." Xue Li had not expected her unconscious little habit to be caught by Tang Zhi beside her. Her face flushed crimson with embarrassment. She was not much good at lying, and now that she had been asked, she did not want to lie to Tang Zhi either. "Yesterday... Wei Zhao came to my room looking for me..."

"What?" Tang Zhi started. She assumed Wei Zhao and Xue Li had gotten into some sort of conflict, and asked quickly, "Sister Xue, then you and Wei Zhao... the two of you..."

"We... slept together..." Xue Li said, somewhat sheepishly, watching Tang Zhi's jaw drop.

"What? Sister Xue... what are you saying?" Tang Zhi did not quite follow.

"I'm sorry—it was my fault too. After my bath I was drowsy and fell asleep without clothes on. How was I to know Wei Zhao used to be a highwayman? He opened the door, climbed straight into bed, and thought I was you... Actually, it wasn't really his fault..." Xue Li said, rather helplessly.

"Pfft..." Tang Zhi finally understood what had happened. What a mess—a farce and a half. Yet she did not blame Xue Li or Wei Zhao. Wei Zhao's going to the room yesterday showed that he had been thinking of her, Tang Zhi; that he had run into Xue Li was nothing but a comedy of errors.

And Xue Li had switched rooms earlier precisely to guard against Wei Zhao, never guessing that he would not play by the rules—unlock the door, walk right in, and climb straight into bed. It really was...

So it was not Xue Li's fault. As for the relationship between Wei Zhao and Xue Li, Tang Zhi did not care to probe. By now it seemed the women around Wei Zhao were already many, and she could not stop it if she tried. Lately, apart from cultivation, the ancient texts she had been reading in the ancient sect had filled her head with the thinking of women of old, and so she was no longer quite so resistant to Wei Zhao's taking a wife and concubines.

Besides, Xue Li was one of the two friends she chatted with most. Xue Li had been wary of Wei Zhao before, but that had been for Snow Valley's sake; now that Xue Li and Wei Zhao shared this bond, Tang Zhi felt instead that there would be no more obstacles between herself and Wei Zhao.

"Yunyun, you... why don't you scold me? The truth is... it wasn't that I had no choice. It's that I think Wei Zhao is actually quite wonderful—there's an indescribable pull to him..." Xue Li said.

"Forget it. In Snow Valley you and I were like sisters; it's nothing. You and I are no longer women of the mundane world, and my thinking has changed a great deal too. So long as everyone gets along, that's enough," Tang Zhi said with a shake of her head.

Back in the mundane world she had still been competitive, wanting to be Wei Zhao's chief wife and the like, but now, on reflection, that was only a title. Perhaps it was also the Ruthless Art that had changed her temperament.

Xue Li had not expected Tang Zhi to let the matter slide so easily, and was thoroughly astonished! But seeing Tang Zhi's sincere expression, with no trace of pretense, Xue Li finally relaxed.

In her view, the greatest obstacle to being with Wei Zhao was Tang Zhi. If Tang Zhi had no objection, then there was no problem at all. What others thought, Xue Li did not care.

With that weight lifted from her mind, Xue Li became cheerful and chatted with Tang Zhi the whole way, until Tang Zhi discovered what a talker Xue Li really was...

"Oh oh oh oh oh, Sister Yaoyao, see, I told you! That Xue Li from Snow Valley is no good—a smoldering fox spirit, seducing Arrow-Brand Bro! The older she gets, the more shameless she becomes! An old cow grazing on tender grass!" Shen Yushu said to Gu Mengyao.

"All right, Xiaoshu. Yunyun hasn't said anything, so don't you go bristling either," Gu Mengyao said, patting Shen Yushu's little hand. "Besides, Xue Li still looks very young, about our age. Heaven-rank experts don't bother about age anymore—the years of cultivation ahead are unimaginably long, and some people forget how old they are themselves."

"Fine, Sister Yaoyao, but you're the chief wife! You should exercise your authority as chief wife!" Shen Yushu urged.

"Yunyun has sacrificed more than I have," Gu Mengyao said.

"Then just tie them all!" Shen Yushu had no wish for Gu Mengyao to play second fiddle to anyone—nor Tang Zhi either, though her bond with Tang Zhi, close as it was, was not as close as with Gu Mengyao.

"Heh heh, all right then," Gu Mengyao said, thinking it a rather good idea that would hurt no one's feelings.

"But what if someone else competes too?" Shen Yushu asked, a little worried.

"Then we'll tie them all as well," Gu Mengyao said with a laugh.RS