Chapter 279 - The Leader of the Millennium Pavilion (1/2)

Chapter 279: The Leader of the Millennium Pavilion

Clan Leader? Ling Zhang was amazed. This young man was the leader of the Millennium Pavilion?

This came as much less of a surprise to Yuwen Tong than it did to Ling Zhang, for the former had some time ago antic.i.p.ated it.

“I chanced upon them outside, so I took them in,” said the young man – no, the leader of the Millennium Pavilion – in a natural tone of voice.

Ling Zhang had always believed the leader of the Millennium Pavilion was a geriatric older than his grandfather. It’d never crossed his mind that the clan leader was actually a young man appearing to be about his age.

“Grandfather, is this really… your leader?”

Fully aware of why Ling Zhang was so surprised, Ji Yin replied, “The Clan Leader’s prowess as an internal energy cultivator is matchless, which is why he looks young. Actually he’s a few years older than him.”

Ji Yin was referring to Yuwen Tong, who was twenty-six or twenty-seven. Being a few years older than Yuwen Tong meant that the clan leader was about thirty, but he seemed to be twenty…

The clan leader tossed a bland glance at Ji Yin. “What do you mean, I look young? I am young, okay? And by the way, you’ve already come back, why are you still wearing that old face of yours, Prime Elder?”

Ji Yin ripped off his mask, revealing a young face. People who didn’t know him would believe him to be thirty or so. If it weren’t for the faint crow’s feet, he would’ve looked even younger. Ling Zhang, though having seen his grandfather’s true face once, was still shocked by this sight. Given that even his grandfather could slow aging to this extent, the youthfulness of the leader of the Millennium Pavilion was quite understandable.

Ji Yin had come in to seek an audience with the clan leader, but unexpectedly, the clan leader had been absent all morning. What with his superb kung fu, n.o.body had known where he’d gone. Ji Yin, after waiting for a whole morning, had run out of patience and planned to directly bring his grandson and Yuwen Tong inside. He hadn’t expected that he’d run into them at this lake.

“Clan Leader, I wonder if I could arrange for my grandson to meet his father first,” said Ji Yin.

Ling Zhang, who had got used to Ji Yin’s senile face on their way to this place, was rather unaccustomed to Ji Yin’s true, young face and kept feeling a little weird, but before long, Ji Yin’s words diverted his attention away and he looked at the clan leader.

The main reason why he’d come here was to take his father back home. Of course, there was also another very important reason – to pet.i.tion the leader of the Millennium Pavilion to agree to use the rare crude drug to treat his father’s mental disorder.

“Clan Leader, we came here to–”

Maybe because the clan leader had been acting like an unb.u.t.toned and uninhibited youngster instead of a commanding and dignified leader from the very beginning, and had never abused his consummate kung fu to impose his will on anybody, Ling Zhang’s tension had been alleviated considerably without him noticing, which was why he involuntarily started to make a request.

But the clan leader raised his hand and interrupted Ling Zhang, “I know why you came here, and we’ll talk about that later. Right now I have to send Cong back home first. You may go with the Prime Elder to see your father first. And, my name is Ji Yanlai. You two are not members of the Millennium Pavilion, so there’s no need for you to address me as ‘Clan Leader’.”

Ji Yanlai was looking at Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong with a placid face, but Ling Zhang discerned that the calm expression in his eyes brooked no argument.

“I see. We’ll be waiting for your message, Brother Ji,” said Yuwen Tong.

Ji Yanlai briefly bobbed his head and then walked hand in hand with Cong onto the bridge leading to the island at the center of the lake. Color the bird, standing on his shoulder, raised its head and let out a long squeak and with that, twittering of all descriptions came in succession from the island and the surroundings of the lake which had originally been in a hush, birds of a variety of colors flying up. In just a few moments, the sky above the lake was swarming with all kinds of birds which were circling around, making a spectacular sight.

His hand held by Ji Yanlai, Cong looked back at Ling Zhang and waved him goodbye with his other plump hand.

Ling Zhang raised his hand and lightly waved back.

Ji Yin waited until Ji Yanlai and Cong reached the island to say, “Now that the Clan Leader said he’d talk with you later, it means he’s willing to hear you out. Don’t worry. There is a chance.”

Ling Zhang collected his thoughts and nodded. “Thank you, Grandfather.”

“You don’t ever have to say thank you to your grandfather, silly boy. Your father lives in a separate house on this side. There are a physician and a servant tending him. Come with me.”

Ji Yin took them back to that orchard, crossed it to the other side and arrived at the gateway of a quiet courtyard house, which seemed more or less like a country cottage. People could easily tell that a lot of efforts had been put into the layout of it. The fence around the front yard was entwined with morning glory which were in blossom. A scholar-like, middle-aged man with a mustache, clothed in light blue robes, was laying medicinal herbs on the ground in the yard to dry them in the sun. He scrutinized and sniffed at every one of the herbs with a conscientious bearing, the bitter smell of the herbs wafting over the fence.

As the three of them arrived, the middle-aged scholar-like man heard the movement and looked in their direction. His eyes first fell on Ji Yin, then moved to Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong and eventually lingered on Ling Zhang for a brief moment before he made a slight bow to Ji Yin and said, “Prime Elder.”

Ji Yin led Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong into the front yard and introduced them to each other. “This is Mr. Mu, a famous physician in our clan. He’s the one who’s been treating your father all along. It’s because of his efforts that your father’s condition has been kept under control for all these years. Xiao Mu, this is my grandson. His name’s Ling Zhang. He’s just reached adulthood and managed to get to the second layer of the mental cultivation method of internal energy after cultivating it for less than half a year. A quite talented boy, right?”

There was ill-concealed pride in Ji Yin’s tone when he introduced Ling Zhang.