Chapter 45 continued.....
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From outside the door, another person had walked on in.
This person was very short, very plump. On his body, he wore bright scarlet clothing, and his round face had a red glow that seemed even redder than his clothes. He, too, had clasped his hands behind his back as he leisurely walked in, and his expression was also very relaxed.
This time, no one asked him the reason why he was there and instead, only staring wide-eyed at him. In any case, all the flowers in the courtyard had died of poisoning already. Let’s see what other tricks you want to play.
This red-clothed person also simply seemed not to see them as he slowly ambled around the courtyard once. Then, with a flourish of his sleeve, he turned and left abruptly. Not only did he not say anything, he did not play any tricks either.
But on the ground, there was now a circle of footprints. Each footprint was extremely deep, like it had been carved out with a knife.
Guo DaLu sighed and looked over at Yan Qi. “I would rather let an elephant stomp once on me than have this person step on me with his foot. What about you?” he asked.
Yan Qi replied, “I would not want either.”
Guo DaLu could not help chuckling, “You’re much smarter than me.” He did not laugh for long, though, because someone had shown up outside the door again.
This time, the one who arrived was a white-clothed man. He was dressed entirely in garments as white as snow, and his expression was also cold like ice and snow. The others had slowly walked in; he did not. His body seemed airily light. A breeze had blown by, and then he had already appeared inside their courtyard. At this moment, outside the doorway, an iridescent sword light suddenly shot into the air and flew horizontally across the treetops before disappearing with a flash. At once, the leaves on the trees began drifting down like snowflakes.
The white-clothed man lifted his head to look. Then all of a sudden, with a flutter of his long gown, he made a waving motion towards the sky with his hand. The falling leaves that had filled the sky immediately vanished. Then he, too, disappeared, as if he had suddenly been blown out of there by a gust of wind.
And right at the same time, a low voice was heard from outside the door asking, “Where is Wang Zhangzhu [Manor Master Wang], Wang Dong?”
Standing beneath a white poplar tree two zhang [1 zhang = 3 1/3 metres] was an old man dressed in garments made of a rough, brown cloth and whose head was covered with white hair. In his hand, he held a large red card, and his gleaming eyes were looking right at them.
The six of them stood there in a row in front of the doorway as if they had deliberately paraded out so the person could watch them.
The brown-clothed man’s eyes moved across each one of their faces before he asked in a low tone, “Which one of you is Wang Zhuangzhu?”
Wang Dong: “Me.”
The brown-clothed old man addressed him, “I have right here an invitation card. I specially brought it here to invite Wang Zhuangzhu.”
Wang Dong: “There is someone who wants to treat me to dinner.”
Brown-clothed old man: “Precisely.”
Wang Dong: “When?”
Brown-clothed old man: "Tonight.”
Wang Dong: “Where?”
Brown-clothed old man: “Right at this place.”
Wang Dong: “How very convenient.”
Brown-clothed old man: “Yes, truly very convenient. Wang Zhuangzhu only needs to step out of your door and then you will be there.”
Wang Dong: “Who is the host?”
Brown-clothed old man: “The host will certainly be here to welcome you tonight. Wang Zhuanghu will definitely be able to see him.”
Wang Dong: "If that is the case, then why the need to specially come here and present the invitation card.”
“Customs and manners cannot be neglected,” the brown-clothed old man stated. “An invitation is always necessary. Wang Zhuangzhu, please accept it.” He lifted his hand, and then, the invitation card was gliding slowly towards Wang Dong. It was flying very slowly, very slowly, practically as if there was an invisble pair of hands beneath it holding it up.
Wang Dong gave a little chuckle before responding in an indifferent tone, “So you, sir, specially brought this invitation just so you could allow me to see this one display of qigong [i.e. chi].”
His face grim, the brown-clothed man said coldly, “Wang Zhuangzhu, you laugh at me.”
The look on Wang Dong’s face also became stern. “Just a moment ago, there were several people who displayed some very attractive martial arts also. Do you, sir, know them?”
Brown-clothed old man: “Yes.”
Wang Dong: “Who are they?”
Brown-clothed old man: “Wang Zhuangzhu, why would you need to ask me?”
Wang Dong: “If I don’t ask you, who would I ask?”
With a sudden laugh as well, the brown-clothed old man’s eyes strayed over, perhaps intentionally or perhaps not, to give Lin TaiPing a glance.
Guo DaLu could not help looking over at Lin TaiPing also, and only then did he notice that Lin TaiPing’s complexion was so pale there was no color in his cheeks at all, and his expression was almost the same as the one Wang Dong had had when he saw the kite in the sky.
Could these people be here to find Lin TaiPing?