48: Chapter 48 Two Problems, Inside the Hall of Gathering Righteousness

The reason Meng Li knew the real Mr. Red Leaf had arrived upon hearing the horn was that he had watched the show; combining that with the current situation made it easy to draw a conclusion.

Xiao Yuer, on the other hand, relied on his own judgment.

His main purpose for coming to Mount Huang was to find out about his life origins through Mr. Red Leaf.

Seeing the main person appear, he didn't care about Meng Li and the others, heading straight through the restaurant to the next street.

Seeing this, E Tongtian quickly followed him.

Meng Li wanted to bid him farewell, so after tidying up a bit, he stood up and led Tie Xinlan and the other two women to follow.

As the four of them approached, they heard Xiao Yuer evaluating Mr. Red Leaf as a prime example of extreme treachery and evil.

Meng Li's eyelids lowered slightly.

It had to be said, Xiao Yuer had a real knack for reading people. Or rather, he was very smart; this intelligence came from his own talent, as well as the teachings of the Five Great Villains and the blessing of the Troublemaker Master's Legacy. Yet it was precisely because he was too smart that he was somewhat lawless—one could say he was used to being unscrupulous and didn't know the meaning of awe.

This led him to develop two flaws: a loose tongue and itchy hands!

When Xiao Yuer spoke, he was often like a machine gun; once he started, he wouldn't stop.

He was fine with people he had a good relationship with, at most teasing and joking with them.

If they really sat down to chat, the other person would find it quite interesting.

Meng Li had felt that way just now.

But for those he didn't get along with, Xiao Yuer was basically relentless when he had the upper hand, insisting on piercing the other party through with verbal daggers before stopping. This easily drew hatred—and a lot of it—making people want to crush him to death on the spot.

Furthermore, once he got smug, he had no filter on his mouth.

His itchy hands were similar; he loved playing pranks and always liked to touch new and strange things he encountered.

In the original show, these two flaws caused him to pay an unbearably painful price.

After eloping with Mu Rong Xian, he got carried away and had a loose tongue, spreading the news everywhere with E Tongtian. Setting aside that eloping wasn't something worth publicizing, in the original show, their actions resulted in Mu Rong Xian's Extreme Yin Fate being exposed by a twist of fate, which drew Liu Xi's attention.

Ultimately, Mu Rong Xian died after Liu Xi drained all her power.

In the Late Stage, when he went with Su Ying to find the Midnight Demon Orchid, his itchy hands acted up, and he just had to reach out and touch it.

To stop him, Su Ying was bitten by the Midnight Demon Orchid. Beyond any medical cure, she turned into a pool of blood in agony.

If Xiao Yuer had known any sense of awe and exercised some restraint, these two tragedies could have been avoided.

However, they could be avoided now.

After all, Liu Xi had already been taken out by Meng Li, so Mu Rong Xian naturally wouldn't be targeted. Jiang Yuyan's fate had also changed; she wouldn't become the Yan Emperor, so Su Ying wouldn't need to look for the Midnight Demon Orchid to deal with her.

It was even uncertain whether these two would ever meet Xiao Yuer.

Because the reason Xiao Yuer met both of them was related to Tie Xinlan.

Su Ying developed feelings for Xiao Yuer because she saw him risk his life to save Tie Xinlan and felt he was a man of sentiment and righteousness.

Mu Rong Xian and Xiao Yuer fell in love during the period when he snuck into the Murong Family to steal the Fire Lingzhi to save Tie Xinlan.

Thinking about it this way, Meng Li suddenly felt that Tie Xinlan in the original show was a bit like a plot device.

Subconsciously, he glanced at his lovely wife beside him with a strange look in his eyes.

Tie Xinlan noticed his gaze but couldn't read its meaning, asking in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

At this moment, Xiao Yuer finished speaking with E Tongtian and walked over.

Meng Li took the opportunity to cup his hands and bid farewell: "Brother Fish, we have matters to attend to, so we'll head out first. Until we meet again."

Xiao Yuer also had things to do, so he returned the gesture: "Until we meet again."

...

After leaving the restaurant, Meng Li returned to the Inn where they were staying with Tie Xinlan and the others.

Meng Li looked at Tie Xinlan and said, "Tomorrow is the official start of the Heroes Convention. The organizers should be meeting on the mountain now. Let's go hand over the Alliance Leader Token first, then we can come back and explore."

"Alright," Tie Xinlan readily agreed.

Jiang Yuyan and Xiao Xiao had no objections either.

They had enjoyed themselves on the way here, and now it was time to do some proper business. Anyway, it was just a matter of making one trip.

Tie Xinlan said, "We'll go change back into women's clothing."

Meng Li nodded slightly.

Tie Xinlan was Tie Ruyun's daughter. Although she was only here to hand over a token, she also represented Tie Ruyun. Going in men's clothing would inevitably look out of place and invite gossip.

Soon, the three of them changed back into their original women's clothing and went up Mount Huang with Meng Li.

...

Meanwhile, inside the Gathering Hall on Mount Huang.

Jiang Biehe and the Sect Heads of the Eight Great Schools were gathered together.

As the organizer, Jiang Biehe sat in the main seat at the top and stood up to start the conversation: "Sect Heads, for everyone to be able to gather here today, you have truly given Biehe Face!"

As he spoke, he raised his hands and cupped them in gratitude toward the eight Sect Heads below: "I am infinitely grateful!"

The people below quickly cupped their hands in return, smiling and playing along.

Once the laughter subsided, the Sect Head of Mount Emei, Abbess Rusu, who sat in the first seat on the left, began to flatter Jiang Biehe: "Great Hero Jiang is known as 'unmatched in benevolence and righteousness,' a great hero and a great man recognized by the Jianghu..."

Jiang Biehe waved his hand with a beaming smile, but a thought flashed through his mind.

His organization of this Heroes Convention was naturally not a whim, but the result of his previous discussion with Tan Tian.

Tan Tian had sought him out for two things that time. The first was for the Liu Ren Divine Dice.

Jiang Biehe had found the Liu Ren Divine Dice back when Liu Xi was still alive. However, he viewed it as his greatest hope for a comeback. To that end, he hadn't hesitated to slaughter the entire Tu Family and frame the Murong Family; only a Tu Jiaojiao, who had been trapped on Demon Island years ago and couldn't get out, was spared.

Facing the even more terrifying Liu Xi, Jiang Biehe hadn't handed over the Liu Ren Divine Dice, let alone to the slightly weaker Tan Tian.

And Tan Tian hadn't held much hope at the time either.

So, that matter was glossed over like a routine formality.

The second thing Tan Tian mentioned concerned the entire Martial Forest, which was to reconvene the Heroes Convention and elect a new Wulin Alliance Leader.

Tan Tian had been promoted by the Emperor after Liu Xi's death to temporarily take charge of the Eastern Depot. He could only become the official director if he found the killer of Liu Xi.

To get the promotion, he ultimately used the method suggested by Little Red Leaf, finding a suitable person to take the blame.

Because as Old Red Leaf had said, he had no choice.

Things went very smoothly; after all, the Eastern Depot did this kind of thing often and was very skilled at it.

Initially, Tan Tian was afraid that the mysterious person with unfathomable Martial Arts—namely Meng Li—would come out to disrupt things, and he worried for quite a while. But that mysterious person seemed to have vanished into thin air afterward, showing no reaction until the matter was settled.

Only then did he put his heart back in his chest.

Meng Li naturally knew about this. After all, he was the person involved; even though he knew the Eastern Depot couldn't find him, he inevitably paid a bit of attention.

Seeing that the arrest warrant was withdrawn not long after, although Meng Li didn't know the specifics, he could guess the gist and then ignored it. He had taken out Liu Xi just to eliminate a threat and live a peaceful life, not to truly provoke the imperial court. Now that someone was helping to settle the matter, he naturally wouldn't go looking for trouble by exposing it.

Thus, Tan Tian successfully received his promotion and officially replaced Liu Xi as the new director of the Eastern Depot.

As the saying goes, a new official lights three fires. Reconvening the Heroes Convention and electing a new Wulin Alliance Leader was the first fire Tan Tian intended to light...