Chapter 787
Prevarication
Pan Yun: "...Senior Brother Li, what are you thinking? Senior Brother Zhang and I are close friends. Isn't this the kind of gift that's given to close friends?"
"This is what I can't accept the most!" Li Wenying said, her face contorted. "Am I not his confidante? We two brothers grew up together since childhood, and have been together for over twenty years..."
Pan Yun chuckled: "Then it must be because Senior Brother Li's skin isn't as thick as mine."
Li Wenying instantly calmed down and nodded, saying, "That's true. There aren't many people in this world as thick-skinned as you."
He accepted this explanation, then kicked the box with his foot: "Hurry up and come out, put this box away quickly, fill the hole, and when Lin Jingle comes looking for you, I won't cover for you. If you want to spend the New Year on the Cliff of Contemplation this year, just say so!"
Upon hearing this, Pan Jun didn't even let Xiao Hong out, and immediately closed the box: "Xiao Hong, you can better nourish your soul in your own body. You can stay here in peace, and you don't need to worry about things outside."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Hong closed her eyes with relief.
Pan Yun closed the box and then put it into the spiritual realm.
Wang Cong and the others quickly shoveled soil into the pit and filled it up.
Pan Yun hurriedly dispelled the Yin-Nourishing Array in the courtyard. Just as she was finishing up, a person floated down from the sky and landed steadily on the roof, watching them quietly yet openly.
Everyone froze and looked up.
Pan Yun forced a stiff smile and raised her hand to greet him: "Master Lin, it's been a long time. How have you been?"
Lin Jingyue looked at her expressionlessly and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Pan Yun quickly replied, "I'm digging for wine. I buried a jar of wine under the sycamore tree before. Now that the New Year is coming soon, I want to drink it, so I came to dig for wine."
Li Wenying glanced at her and sighed in admiration. Her wit and shamelessness in lying through her teeth were truly unmatched.
Lin Jingle, however, was not easily fooled. She flew down from the roof and walked to the pit they had only half-filled, coldly asking, "Does the wine have to be buried this deep?"
"That's how you keep the temperature, hehehe..."
Lin Jingle looked at her coldly.
Pan Yun couldn't laugh anymore and quickly shut up.
"There's no smell of alcohol, but there's a corpse smell," Lin Jingle said expressionlessly, glancing at Pan Yun and then at Li Wenying. "Pan Yun, do you dare to raise corpses in the academy?"
Pan Jun quickly shook his head: "No, no, no, Hall Master Lin, you can't misunderstand me. I did bury the wine! Even if you gave me a hundred lives, I wouldn't dare to raise a corpse in the academy."
Lin Jingle looked at Li Wenying and asked coldly, "Is that so?"
Li Wenying touched her nose and said, "Right?"
Pan Yun couldn't help but step on his foot, gritting her teeth as she said, "Don't you dare ask me that!"
Lin Jingle sneered, turned around and said, "You have fifteen minutes to restore everything to its original state, and then get out."
Pan Yun was stunned for a moment, not expecting him to let them go so easily.
Li Wenying gave her a push and urged, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and get to work!"
"Oh, oh." Pan Yun immediately said, "The formation has been removed, so we can use magic."
The group reacted quickly, using both magic and shovels to level the ground.
Pan Jun stomped her feet on it a couple of times to make sure it was firmly planted before she breathed a sigh of relief.
She rummaged around in the spiritual realm and pulled out a fish, handing it to Li Wenying: "Here, a New Year's gift."
Li Wenying accepted it: "It's rare that you would send me a New Year's gift."
“Senior Brother Li, you underestimate me. This is a sea fish, which I caught with great difficulty. I caught it just last night, and it's still fresh.” Li Wenying picked it up and looked at it, then nodded slightly: “Alright, thank you very much, but I don’t have any New Year’s gifts for you.”
"No need to be so polite. Our relationship doesn't require such formalities. But why did Hall Master Lin let us off so easily? Hongyan is right here, and he didn't even give her a second glance."
Li Wenying: "It's probably because I just came from Liu Zhen's place."
Upon hearing Zhang Liuzhen's name, Pan Yun immediately asked, "How is Senior Brother Zhang's health? I'll go see him in a bit and bring him a fish."
"Lin Jingle is telling you to get out of here within fifteen minutes." Li Wenying gestured for her to check the time; she didn't have much time left.
Pan Yun then led everyone out of Fengqi Courtyard, thoughtfully closing the door behind them and saying, "Look, we've rolled out."
Li Wenying exclaimed, "You really are shameless and adept at twisting concepts. I admire you, I admire you."
Pan Yun said, "Since Lin Jingle let me off the hook because of Senior Brother Zhang, he must be happy that I went to see Senior Brother Zhang. I also need to take his pulse and go back to ask my eldest brother about his medicine."
In the past, Li Wenying would have dragged her to Fanxi Courtyard without a second thought, but this time he wasn't in a hurry at all and even had the leisure to chat with her at the entrance of Fengqi Courtyard.
“Master Wang has been sending medicine to Liu Zhen all along, there’s no need for you to relay messages, is there?”
Pan Yun raised an eyebrow, stroked her chin, and asked, "Have my third senior brother and fourth senior sister been here?"
Li Wenying gave her an approving look and walked towards Fanxi Courtyard: "Unfortunately, I just missed you. They left just two days ago."
Pan Yun skipped along behind him, asking, "What are they doing here? Could it be that they've found a way to cure Senior Brother Zhang?"
"Don't ask so many questions, kid."
"It's you adults who are so strange. You always like to keep things to yourself, especially Third Senior Brother and Fourth Senior Sister. When asked about their affairs in Japan, all they say is 'revenge' and 'kill the enemy.' They won't say a word more. It's really something."
The group followed and walked to Fanxi Courtyard.
This was the second time Xue Shao had seen Zhang Liuzhen, and he noticed that Zhang's complexion was much better than before.
Pan Yun also noticed that Zhang Liuzhen had a keen mind and could see the true nature of people. She also noticed that Zhang Liuzhen's aura had become stronger.
Pan Yun became happy and jumped forward: "Senior Brother Zhang, are you all better now?"
Zhang Liuzhen had the young Taoist boy bring out breakfast, invited everyone to sit down, and said with a smile, "My aunt brought me back some medicinal herbs from Japan, which are good for my health and I feel much better than before."
The young Taoist brought over a basket of steamed buns, a large bowl of porridge, two bowls of side dishes, and a bowl of fried noodles.
Pan Yun stared blankly: "Senior Brother Zhang, was this specially prepared for us?"
Zhang Liuzhen nodded: "The senior brother guarding the gate sent someone to report that you have returned to the academy and the main kitchen is not open. I thought you must not have eaten breakfast since you came here so early, so I asked the young Taoist to make some."
"You've come at the perfect time; we just finished cooking. Please sit down and have some," Zhang Liuzhen said, gesturing for Li Wenying to sit down as well. "You haven't had breakfast either, have you?"
"No, I was meditating and cultivating when I heard the screams, so I rushed out to see what was happening."
Pan Yun touched her nose and remained silent.
Zhang Liuzhen smiled and, without asking Pan Yun and the others what they were doing, directly distributed bowls to everyone, telling them to take whatever they wanted to eat.
He handed Xue Shao a bowl and exclaimed, "In just three months, I never expected Young Master Xue's cultivation to have increased so much."
Xue Shao said, "I have benefited greatly from Pan Yun's guidance, but I started cultivating late and am still far behind my peers."
Zhang Liuzhen laughed and said, "That's already very impressive." (End of Chapter)