"Oh, thanks. I always feel uncomfortable without wine nearby," as soon as the gourd landed in his hand, Zuixian lost focus and took a mouthful of wine. But right afterward, his confusion returned, heightened by the calm with which Qiu Meng faced the Divine Tailor. Dressed in a deep-blue ancient magistrate robe embroidered with lustrous white peacock feathers, just by standing there, the Divine Tailor projected a calming and irresistible aura that could easily sway the thoughts and deeds of the weak-willed.
"I don't recall being of the same sect as any 'Divine Tailor,' so unless my aunt took in male disciples that I don't know about, I'm not your senior brother Â�— and certainly not your eldest senior brother. I don't know how much information you've collected on us, but please don't joke with my defunct sect." Weak-willed, Zuixian was not, and as another mouthful of wine glided down his throat, his gaze hardened.
Qiu Meng stayed silent, studying the Divine Tailor's demeanor with unnerving focus. Tailor-Xinzi waved his hand, and following a polite bow, the two noble spirit ladies vanished from the scene.
"Back when the White Immortal Sect had just destroyed the Soaring Crane Mountain, you said that if I one day let go or got abandoned by the Clear Heart Monastery, you'd offer me a cup of your Roaming Fairy Wine. I'm still waiting for that cup," Tailor-Xinzi said, and turned heels — revealing a masterfully carved face and lilac eyes concealed by a bright phoenix mask.
Colorful flames lit up the mask, adding to the tailor's mystique.
"Mhm...technically, the White Immortal Sect didn't destroy the Soaring Crane Mountain. The little monk did...oh shit." By the time Zuixian's brain reached the only natural conclusion, the Divine Tailor slid his mask up, revealing a pair of eyes strikingly similar to the White Immortal Sect's prodigious monk.
Zuixian lost his breath, and as confusion once again took hold of the Wine Eccentric, Xinzi readjusted his mask.
"Like most reasonable people, I always suspected that you concealed a terrifying background. But I never expected you...to belong to the Spiritual Aristocracy."
"I don't. The Spiritual Aristocracy doesn't have the qualifications to be associated with my real background."
"And you also became arrogant. On top of turning into a money-grubbing, decadence-inducing monster. I can't say that your evolution deserves a celebration." Zuixian and Xinzi went back and forth. But as the Wine Eccentric peered into his fellow disciple's eyes, he failed to recognize the monk.
In the past, Xinzi had no shortage of confidence, but no arrogance. There was a key difference between the two, a difference that made Zuixian instinctively raise his guard.
"Is a lion calling an ant an ant a show of arrogance? I don't think so. It's not arrogance if it's a fact. And another fact, eldest senior brother, is that in my hometown, this honest mistake would have gotten you killed," Xinzi said and tilted his head to the left.
"Fortunately, we're not in my hometown. I'm glad that you weren't present during the Bloodstone Patriarch's invasion. After all, you're A'Ling's cousin. I'm sure she will be glad to know that you're fine as well," Xinzi said, the words making Zuixian's limbs tremble, and his eyes stretch alongside his surging emotions.
"Ling'er survived?"
"Of course. Dong Ling, Chun Xu, Zi Yao, Guang Fanghu, Lord Hanxing, and a whole bunch of people have survived. The casualties are nowhere near as severe as you imagined, and very soon, we will be rebuilding the White Immortal Sect. I'd ask you to be a part of our efforts, but you now see me as a 'money-grubbing, decadence-inducing monster.' What an unfortunate opinion," Xinzi shook his head, faking sorrow at Zuixian's words.Â
"Are you not? It's not an opinion if it's a fact." The Wine Eccentric took a deep breath — steadying his emotions before confronting Xinzi, the Divine Tailor, for all his misdeeds.
"A fact? Eldest senior brother. You have to revisit your definitions. A fact is something that was proved to be true. 'Truth,' not interpretation based on bias." Amused by Zuixian's stance, Xinzi chortled.
"As the Divine Tailor, you created an industry that caters to the wealthiest of the Eastern Continent, providing them with unprecedented and matchless goods that combined value with luxury. Resilience aside, the fabrics you weave, the clothes and apparels you produce all possess a variety of abilities and applications. In a measly three months, you've accumulated more wealth than the ancient Eastern factions — and that wealth keeps expanding. You exploited the Warlord Seal system to become the Sheriff of Xihai's most decadent distract, then appointed your subordinates to all positions across the prefecture. Here, your power and influence are without equal. All these are facts. But what did you do with that power?" As his words reached this point, Zuixian's gaze darkened.
"Yinhui, the District of Obscene Splendor, was always a den of gamblers, whores and whoremongers. But following your arrival, it turned into madness that makes even the Anyue capital look like a holy temple. The people here only think about one thing: pleasure. 'What kind of pleasure, how much pleasure can my money afford me?' Man or woman, this is all they can think of. The providers prey on this thirst for pleasure, competing with one another to create increasingly more deranged sources of pleasure for their customers to drown in.
All this...is your doing!" Zuixian set his gourd to the side, accusing Xinzi with his burning eyes.
"Wrong. It is the times, not me, that drove these people to indulge in decadence. I might be the Sheriff, but I didn't alter the laws of this district. The only reason why I took office was to facilitate my Silkshifter God's Abode's business and create more ventures to generate wealth. My ventures are all pretty tame. Nothing that coerces lives, denies freedom or puts innocents in harm's way. So why are you tossing all the blame on my head?" Xinzi seriously asked, but before Zuixian could answer, the tailor carried on.
"For the majority of the Eastern Continent, these are dark and catastrophic times. In times like these, men will naturally seek relief, ways to erase their fears and forget the chaos that now plagues the land. Why is it so surprising then, that the most depraved district of the most depraved prefecture is sinking further into indulgence? Zuixian, you're acting like a naive baby boy, not a decades-old cultivator. Or maybe, the thought that your mother might be following the trend and degrading herself further, is what truly bothers you." Xinzi's words struck Zuixian hard, reminding him of facts that he'd rather not consider.
But still not giving the Wine Eccentric an opportunity to form a rebuttal, Xinzi pressed on.
"It's funny that a drifting alcoholic with no merit to speak of dares to question my actions. Zuixian, what have you done for the world? No, let's be fair. What have you done...for the Dongli state? Nothing. The answer is nothing. Let's not even mention the cultivators. When the mortal beasts ascended into mysterious beasts, pigs, cows, sheep, lambs, and all manners of cattle animals became monsters. What do you think happened to the farmers, then?
They got mauled to death. That's what happened. For some reason, this wasn't always systematic. Some mysterious beasts decided to spare their herdsmen, butchers and fishermen. Most didn't, meaning that following the start of the Rampaging Beast Hordes, 90% of all mortal states' meat and milk producers pretty much died.
Insects became mysterious beasts as well, pillaging the crops and lives of the farmers that previously attempted to exterminate them. Let's not even mention transportation animals. Food, Zuixian, the mortal world has no food! Famine everywhere! What have you done to fix that? Nothing, because you have nothing, are nothing, yet dare to question the one that gets shit done. How dare you? I'm honestly puzzled. Where does this audacity come from?" Confused, Xinzi bolted at Zuixian and stared deep into his lavender eyes — as if trying to find the answer to an inexplicable puzzle.
Pressured by the incisive words, Zuixian backpedaled, breaking into a cold sweat.
"Billions of lives, mortals or cultivators, rely on the success of my industries. On my capitalization of the cultivation world's chaos — my money — is the savior of myriad lives. So Zuixian, I ask again. How dare you question me? If you can't give me a satisfying answer, I might just kill you now."
