The day after last night's call—
"Long time no see, Long Hua."
Upon arriving at the central plaza of New Moon Village, Long Hua and Tian Cheng immediately sees Nian Yao Yao and Zhui Yun.
Replying back to Nian Yao Yao, Long Hua greets—
"Long time no see, Ah Yao, Ah Yun."
"…"
Being called by this nickname, Nian Yao Yao's immediate response is to frown.
"…"
Similarly, Zhui Yun responded in the same manner. She would much prefer being called an imp rather than "Ah Yun."
Shrugging his shoulders, Long Hua says—
"Right, let's move it."
Having contacted Zhen Qing Huai ahead of time, their meeting place is in the storage pavilion—the one with the blue roof.
Entering the pavilion, and turning to their right, the group sees a small canteen.
There, Zhen Qing Huai is seated at a table—with her cane leaning against the side.
Other than the table that Zhen Qing Huai is seated at, there is another table that is occupied by a man in a white dress shirt.
As soon as they have seated themselves, a worker, who is dressed in white robes, walks over—to place a pot of tea and some cups down.
Pouring himself a cup, Long Hua says—
"Right then, start talking. I'll just be relaxing."
Amidst the sound of Tian Cheng filling a cup for herself, the other three glances at Long Hua with an unpleasant gleam in their eyes.
"I know you said—that I'd be doing the negotiations myself, but aren't you being a bit too… You know, irresponsible…? Ah Long?"
Being called "Ah Long," Long Hua doesn't show any discomfort, and simply sips his tea, prior to replying—
"The number of awkward encounters a person experiences in their life—determines how successful of an individual they can be."
Towards these words, neither Nian Yao Yao nor Zhen Qing Huai had anything to counter with.
As individuals in the business field, they've both had their fair share of awkward encounters—some worse than others.
Clearing her throat, Zhen Qing Huai asks—
"In any case, Nian-laoban, how may I help you today?"
Facing Zhen Qing Huai, Nian Yao Yao replies—
"I'm looking for cauldrons."
"Hm? The sort used for alchemy?"
As Nian Yao Yao nods her head, Zhen Qing Huai turns to Long Hua, who says—
"It doesn't have to be anything high quality, I'm sure even the worse cauldrons will do. She's basically trying to create a drug by adding in practitioner blood with the cheap knockoffs."
"I see. Well then…"
At the clapping of Zhen Qing Huai's hands, a black-robed worker comes over immediately.
Giving the individual a light set of instructions, the former leaves to bring back a wide array of cauldrons—each shaped differently, but are all the same size, being that of a wine pot.
"Hmm."
Staring at one of the cauldrons, Nian Yao Yao narrows her golden eyes, as she picks it up with her hands.
For some reason—
(Why do I feel like…?)
Memories of unknown origin flickers within Nian Yao Yao's head.
Within these memories, she sees a colossal army behind a feminine figure, who is dressed in a golden set of scale-patterned armor.
As more memories flash, Nian Yao Yao also sees this same figure striking out a punch that ends up turning three of their enemies into a haze of blood.
Perhaps the most extraordinary of the feats performed by this figure is the act of them tossing a colossal cauldron forward, and detonating it like a bomb—to wipe out a vast sea of enemies.
"…"
Upon Nian Yao Yao examining the cauldron for a full minute, as if she was in a trance, Zhui Yun can't help but ask—
"Lady Nian, is something the matter?"
"…Ah, sorry."
Setting the cauldron down, Nian Yao Yao blinks her eyes, and asks—
"How much for all of them?"
"I'll gift one of them to you. As for the others…"
Contemplating for a bit—about what items she wished to restock in Leng Bing City, Zhen Qing Huai takes out a piece of parchment, along with a pen, and begins to write out a list.
Receiving the list, Nian Yao Yao nods and stores it away, along with the cauldrons.
"I'll have all the listed items delivered at a later date. Zhui Yun, let's go."
"Hm?"
Blinking her eyes, Zhui Yun feels like there is something off about Nian Yao Yao. However, she couldn't say exactly what the oddity was.
"…"
As Nian Yao Yao leaves with Zhui Yun, Long Hua raises an eye, and mutters—
"And here I thought she'd have plans to tighten her business relationship with you, but…"
Tilting her head, Tian Cheng remarks—
"When she was examining the cauldron, her heart rate, it was noticeable on the higher side—compared to her past records."
"Hmm, seems like the situation is a lot worse than what I had expected."
The one to make this remark is Bai Wen, who is walking over from the other table—with a pot of wine in hand.
Having noticed Bai Wen upon entering the pavilion, Long Hua isn't surprised to see him taking a seat, and asks—
"What do you mean?"
Setting the wine pot onto the table, Bai Wen answers—
"The laws of the Leng Bing Realm are collapsing, and as a result of this, numerous weapon spirits are beginning to recall their life—from when they were practitioners. That Nian beast, she was experiencing that just a moment ago."
Hearing this, Long Hua raises a smile of amusement, and remarks—
"Oh? That's quite convenient for me."
Sipping from a cup, Bai Wen adds—
"The souls of those Nian beasts are quite powerful, so powerful to the point—that the laws of this world have a difficult time washing them. This in turn, gives them an extraordinarily long lifespan, while also allowing them to maintain their bestial traits. Still, I suspect her and her mother to be the final Nian beasts around; those that came with them, they must have been washed clean ages ago. …The fact that they managed to still retain their bestial traits up to this point, their bloodline possessed impressive purity."