"What did you think?", Wu Long asked as they were traveling away from the Sect.
"That subordinate might be hard to persuade", Zhao Xieren spoke with an introspective expression.
"Mm, I was almost convinced he's using the same trick as our dear Valley Master", Madam Liang chuckled, her look toward Wu Long full of her usual charm and playfulness.
The latter laughed, shaking his head "I highly doubt that. Though can't say he's without similarities"
"Yes", she nodded with a sigh, letting go of an interesting theory "His cultivation seems lacking for that to be the case, unless he's as abnormal as Valley Master"
"Which is entirely possible, but if my intuition is right that is not the case here", Wu Long chuckled.
"Speaking of that trick, with this you used it twice already now", Madam Liang noted with an amused look.
"Heh, are you implying it is too obvious?", Wu Long chuckled, "If I remember correctly you were the one who tried to use it with me when we first met"
"Don't remind me", she chuckled with a slightly embarrassed look to the other side, "That's what actually made me skeptical about that tactic"
"Any tactic can result in a failure, even the most elaborate one. This one is simple and something so used that it deserves to be called an old trick, but old tricks are old tricks because they work", Wu Long shrugged his shoulders.
"Then why doesn't the Valley Master think they used it just now?", Zhao Xieren asked with curiosity.
"This Sect's lifecycle is a bit too long for that trick to work on a larger scale of seniority, and on a lower level of seniority it loses its necessity ", Wu Long spoke in a carefree tone, adding "The fact he is older than that Elder is undeniable though, which in this particular case makes him hard to persuade. After all, sometimes being experienced blinds too"
"Hehe, this old man also was suffering from this problem", Zhao Xieren chuckled, "but Valley Master's abilities and knowledge were able to mitigate that"
"We can't use that this time around, and the less we rely on that from now on the better", Wu Long shook his head with a smile.
Liang Yuhan nodded in agreement, "Valley Master attracted too much eyes to himself on the Three Continents, that much attention makes it hard to move"
"And the further we go, the more we have to be careful of who we trust", Wu Long added.
"Makes me grateful I met Valley Master when you were at the beginning of this new journey", Madam Liang chuckled and not later.
"I'm not saying that no one can gain trust you know", a light smile lifted the corners of his mouth.
"I know", the same subtle expression appeared on her face as well.
Looking at the two companions against the backdrop of the mountainside lit by the setting sun, the sky above already starting to reveal a sea of brilliant stars, a sudden look of realization and amusement appeared in the eyes of Zhao Xieren.
"Khu-khum, ah, I think my business here is done. I'll leave you two to it then", the old man spoke with a child-like amusement and obviousness that put a blush to Madam Liang's cheeks.
"Senior…", she tried to say something but the old man already left, only a light wind rustling the vegetation left to remind of his departure.
"Haha, I wonder where he's going now that he left", Wu Long chuckled.
Madam Liang turned a still somewhat flustered but at the same time surprised look in her eyes. It's not like Wu Long was someone dense to not get the old man's not-so-subtle insinuation.
"We don't have headquarters outside the Mystic Realm yet", Wu Long reminded her and a realization hit her.
First a chuckle escaped her lips, followed by a desperately suppressed, yet uncontrollable laughter as she pictured the old man realizing the fact around this time, standing somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
"Do you think he will return?", Wu Long asked with an amused smile, as she gestured to him to stop making her laugh.
"You're right, after the way he left…", he continued with a 'lamentful' sigh, shaking his head, as she completely lost control of her laughter.
He chuckled with satisfaction, finally giving her some time to calm down.
"Haa~ Valley Master, are you not ashamed to drive a lady to tears?" she asked, wiping away tears of laughter as she finally got a hold of herself..
"Slightly, but a little shame is a small price to pay in this case", he smiled.
"Oh my, Valley Master is so forward", the light rosiness of her cheeks did not go away, slightly intensifying while she was laughing. But her demeanor and mannerisms already regained their usual refined and delicate quality, her gaze turning to the scenery previously noted by the old man.
'Not yet huh', a light smile fleeted through his face as he replied with "of course that is if I had any shame to pay with"
"Ah, I forgot I was speaking to a shameless man", her gaze shifted back to him, and the tone almost imperceptibly became more relaxed.
"Guilty", he chuckled as they continued on their way.
"You have a plan?", Wu Long asked after a bit of travel toward the city. It was one of those rare cities of overlapping interests between the Cultivators and Mortals, called the Silver Wing City.
"I would be lying if I said I didn't, but for now it is far too unrealistic", Liang Yuhan replied with a wry smile.
"Do tell, what's so unrealistic about it?", a flash of amusement in his eyes gave away his distrust of that statement.
A light laugh escaped Madam Liang's lips, "You think it is so easy to enter the information trade in this city?"
"For someone new to it, it might be hard, for you, I doubt it poses that much of a problem. Especially since this place has barely any rivals for you, and will soon be contested for, with undercurrents running all around" he shrugged, as Madam Liang chuckled.
"It's unrealistic because most of my subordinates can't move at the moment", she chuckled.
"Hmm, the acclimation for those who did not advance will take far too long if left naturally", he nodded, causing Madam Liang to raise her eyebrow.
"It seems you do have an artificial method to speed up that process then?"
"I do, but it requires resources we don't have at the moment"
"Quite", he answered with a chuckle, signifying that it wasn't something they could just encounter in any random Spiritual Land.
But his light tone and smile caused her to chuckle with a carefree smile of her own.