Chapter 362: Wedding Scene
Only the elites of the ancient martial arts world were aware of the relationship between Gu Xiqiao and the Tang family. Its regular citizens were blissfully unaware that the only reason why the Tang family was so close to Tang Qingqiu was largely due to his connection with Gu Xiqiao.
This was also why the man in black did not even have Gu Xiqiao in the back of his mind when he first saw Yin Jinian. After all, he was just a regular human, someone who wasn’t even comparable to Gu Xiqiao.
However, this all changed when they saw her speaking to Yin Jinian, who stood next to her, with a gentle expression on her face. Still, they could sense the pants-wetting aura that she was emanating. The atmospheric pressure hit an all-time-low the moment she appeared before their eyes.
The man in black felt a chill crawl up his spine. The people behind him were quick to react. Bowing their heads in unison, they greeted their idol, “Miss Gu.”
Gu Xiqiao shot them a glance with a raised brow. Yin Jinian hastily tried to ease the tension in the air the moment he saw that look on her face.
“Qiao Qiao, it’s nothing. They’re just joking. I’m alright, see?”
It seems like Yin Jinian was saying the truth; they were just toying with him. She knew this based on how little force the man had used when flinging Yin Jinian to one side. And so, she nodded in response to her father’s statement. They waited for Tang Yanling to catch up with them before walking in through the front door together.
The people standing outside of the compound remained there. It was only after the main door clicked shut that they snapped out of their daydream. One of them, a young man, took in a deep breath before wiping the cold sweat off his brow. He turned towards the man in black excitedly. “That’s Miss Gu! I’ve seen countless photos and videos of her on the online forum. That’s her alright!”
Hearing him say pushed the man in black to the brink of tears.
Another one of the group patted him on the shoulder but with a facial expression that reflected his schadenfreude. “I feel bad for you, for pushing Miss Gu’s dad around.”
Inside, Gu Xiqiao and her parents each held an ignited incense stick as they paid their respects to their ancestors alongside Tang Wenbo.
“This is the key to the Tang family’s treasure trove,” said Tang Wenbo with a smile after they were done paying their respects. He then handed the key over to Tang Yanling. “You go and bring out all of the most precious items we have in there. Although we’ll be rushing a bit if we are to make it in three days, not a single mistake can be made.”
Tang Yanling calmly accepted the key before bringing Gu Xiqiao to the room where she once stayed back when she was still living with the Tang family.
Tang Wenbo produced a bottle gourd, filled with wine from his pocket before marching over to Baili Qu’s place with a beaming smile on his face. “It’s been such a long time since the ancient martial arts world was so lively.”
Both Yin Shaoyuan and Tang Qinghong were already waiting for them at Tang Yanling’s place. They froze up after they saw Gu Xiqiao when the door was pushed open.
Gu Xiqiao on the other hand ignored them. She located an empty seat and plopped down on it before pulling out her phone on which she played games.
Yin Jinian and Tang Yanling weren’t interested in whatever these youngsters were playing. They were instead, much more interested in planning the upcoming wedding ceremony. With a wave of his hand, Yin Jinian said, “Let’s invite all our relatives back in N City.”
“I don’t think we’ll have enough space if we do that,” responded Yin Shaoyuan when he heard his father speak. “And it won’t be just limited to the people we know in N City. There’ll be the Jiang family relatives, the Baili family, the Tang family, those from the ancient martial arts world, from America and Japan...”
Tang Yanling raised her palm to stop Yin Shaoyuan from continuing. “Wait a second. It’s all fine if they’re from the ancient martial arts world but why are people from America and Japan also attending?”
Gu Xiqiao bowed her head sheepishly upon hearing Tang Yanling’s question.
Yin Shaoyuan sighed when he saw her reaction. “Mom, don’t you know that Qiao Qiao has stayed abroad in both countries? She had helped them a great deal in fact. And you’re trying to deny them from attending such a ceremony?”
Tang Yanling and Yin Jinian suddenly felt conflicted. Just what sort of a daughter had they actually adopted?
“I bet Shuxuan has already made a plan for this. It’s futile for you to worry about this at this point.” Yin Jinian’s response was surprisingly calm. “At the heart of it, it all boils down to not having enough manpower. With so many attendees, I fear that there would be chaos.”
“You need not worry about that, for with Qiao Qiao here, things will fall into place automatically.” Yin Shaoyuan was even less worried about this issue. Who would dare mess with Gu Xiqiao on the day of her wedding?
What he said made sense to Tang Yanling. She pulled Yin Jinian into the house where she announced the start of their planning phase. Yin Jinian however, remained puzzled throughout the explanation process, his mind registering zero percent of what his wife said the entire session.
Yin Jinian sighed. “I almost got scared to death just now.”
“What’s the matter?” Tang Yanling looked up at him, assuming that he still had not gotten used to the ancient martial arts world. “Don’t you already know about our existence way back? Why the shock?”
“No, you don’t understand. When I left with you guys, that cousin of yours who had never seen eye-to-eye with me, bowed at me. He bent over and bowed at me, can you imagine that?” This sight made Yin Jinian shiver. He stood up and started pacing around. “What do you think he’s trying to do?”
The ‘cousin’ he was referring to was none other than the man in black from before. It wasn’t just him that acted so weirdly. Even the people who trailed behind him started treating Yin Jinian with respect and a sort of kindness he had never seen before!
Yin Jinian knew from firsthand experience how arrogant the people here were. Who would’ve thought that there would come a day when they bowed at him with so much respect.
This was alarming! In a bad way of course.
“What do you mean by that?” Tang Yanling chuckled. “You think that they’d do that to you for no rhyme or reason? They’re just doing this out of respect for Qiao Qiao.”
Qiao Qiao, that child of his was that influential here?!
Tang Yanling whipped out her phone and logged onto the ancient martial arts forum. “Ancient martial arts world? Jinian, I guess you don’t know how high our girl has climbed in the ancient martial arts world.”
She tapped on a random thread and then passed the phone over to Yin Jinian. “The people of the ancient martial arts world as you know, look down and discriminate heavily against regular people. Qiao Qiao on the other hand is the perfect candidate to teach these arrogant fools a lesson or two on humility.”
Tang Yanling sounded a bit regretful when she spoke. “I should’ve stayed in the ancient martial arts world during that time. Oh, how I wish to see the look of agony on their faces. It must’ve been quite fun.”
The more Yin Jinian scrolled through the thread, the more elated he became.
Three major offensives, training the people of the ancient martial arts world through a single campaign... Although Yin Jinian was far from being a member of their world, he was shocked nonetheless. These were all Gu Xiqiao’s doing? That skinny, frail young girl that he met, in the beginning, was responsible for these achievements?
At the end of the thread, there was a single statement—[Miss Gu has shifted the balance of powers in the ancient martial arts world, and by extension, the supernatural world as a whole. She has also altered the course of history for humanity. I have no fear when I think about the future. With her among us, what lies ahead can only be paradise and nothing else.]
“The faith of the ancient martial arts world as a collective, a person whom the young looked up to...” Yin Jinian murmured to himself. “Our little Qiao Qiao...”
Yin Jinian finally understood why Yin Shaoyuan was so calm when speaking about the upcoming ceremony. Finally, he was able to focus his mind on planning the marriage ceremony with Tang Yanling.
Although the ceremony was supposed to happen three days later, news of it had already been spread around by the Jiang family on that very evening.
The news of their wedding like a tidal wave, swept through the supernatural world, so much so that it had even reached the secular world. Netizens then started plastering the internet with requests for the ceremony to be live-streamed with 4K quality!
Gi Xiqiao’s follower count on Weibo had once again expanded by millions. In fact, the number of fans she had accrued on the internet had already surpassed that of Li Yu.
Of course, it wasn’t her follower count that was the most surprising. Instead, what was the most jaw-dropping thing was the identities of her followers.
If one cared enough to look through her followers, they would be shocked to find that a great deal of them were people who wielded great power—the president of the United States kind of power. The elites that followed her were from both within China and abroad.
This wedding ceremony of hers was going to involve countless powerful men, meaning a live-stream was probably already out of the question. Still, that did not stop the regular netizens from wishing her all the best with her marriage. That was especially so for the leader of Gu Xiqiao’s fanclub. Whatever Gu Xiqiao requested, they would make it happen. Although inviting their entire fanclub wasn’t very appropriate, it was still surprising that Gu Xiqiao invited the club leader to her wedding.
The club leader was at first in a state of disbelief when she first received the gold-embossed invitation slip. After that, she tucked it away in a secure place before heading downstairs where she jogged around a track for ten laps. Just when the people who knew her were about to call the psychiatric ward, she stopped and looked down at the invitation slip. She wasn’t dreaming alright!
That night, she uploaded a post on Weibo, which stirred up an intense discussion.
(verified) BeautyGu Fanclub: [Image] “That’s right, I am here to absorb all of your hatred :)”
“Aaaaaaahhhhhhh! It’s an invitation slip! Hurry up and tell me if this is real or if it’s forged!”
“My hatred for you is over 100 million! I must stay calm! I! Must! Stay! Calm!”
“OP, I am a hacker. I have already done some hackery and I now possess your IP address. I’m heading over to check on you soon. Sit tight and wait for me OP ;)”
“God I’m so pissed. But I must keep smiling! 😊”
“I’m probably the only one who would ask this but, is the gold on the invitation thing real?”
“Boss, please live-stream the entire event, I beg of you QAQ”
“...”
The leader of the fan club watched as the replies on her thread grew up to the tens of thousands. Finally, she was able to calm herself down physically but her heart was still pumping. She stood there for a while before returning to her room to pick out her favorite dress. After that, she began preparing for the most glamorous makeup session she has ever done to date.”
Three days later, she arrived at the venue of the wedding.
It was at the largest manor in the capital. As soon as she arrived, she saw two rows of soldiers that stretched as far as the eye could see, each holding onto a long spear. She did not doubt that the spears were real and could kill!
There was a total distance of two kilometers between the gate and the actual main entrance. There would be a soldier standing guard on either side for every meter, just like the electric poles that lined the streets.
The club leader, who was sitting in the backseat, started to feel a little anxious. She then asked the person who brought her in if she could snap a photo or two. To her surprise, the young man smiled back at her. “Miss Gu has already permitted you to take pictures of everything from here on out. Live-streaming the event to the rest of her fans now rests on your shoulders. Though, try your best not to include the ranks of these soldiers in your video.”
“Thank you!” The club leader was overjoyed. When she remembered that this was a direct order from Gu Xiqiao, she was moved. “I will fulfill my duty to the bitter end!”
“No need to be that tense,” replied Mu Zong as he patted her shoulder. He then led her into the great hall. “You’ll be sitting at table 3 later on, together with us folks from Nine Heavens.”
The club leader nodded excitedly. She then went out the door where she snapped a photo of the never-ending row of soldiers before returning to her seat where she appraised the arriving attendees. It seemed like the ceremony was about to start at any moment and most of the attendees for tonight had already arrived. Up until this point, the club leader was shocked to discover the identities of a great deal of the attendees.
Most of the people whom she shared the table with, she wasn’t familiar with. However, she recognized Ning Qing’s face immediately. Apart from that, she also discovered that she was sitting with a person who frequently appeared on national television!
And then, to her surprise, she discovered that the table next to theirs was occupied entirely by high-ranking political figures of their country.
“So you’re the leader of that fanclub Boss Gu talked about?” Yu Ning put down the tablet he was fiddling with and started talking to the girl who kept staring at the tables around them. Her persistent staring was making the rest of the attendees visibly uncomfortable. “Hey, sit tight and relax. They won’t eat you or anything.”
“A-Are you...that hacker god from Nine Heavens?” she asked when she saw how insanely fast Yu Ning’s fingers were moving on the keyboard.
Yu Ning remained silent. He picked up his tablet and resumed playing his game. This was a mobile game that measured one’s finger dexterity created by Gu Xiqiao. He had not cleared it yet.
The club leader started surveying their surroundings when she realized that Yu Ning was not planning to reply to her question. She looked at table 4, which was directly opposite her table. They mostly wore military uniforms. Even though she wasn’t particularly well-versed in military titles, she shuddered at the sight of the badges on their chests. She had no idea about the military hierarchy but she definitely could make out that the more badges one had, the more important one was. No doubt, these were all top-tier generals of their nation’s military.
If table 4 was already occupied by such important individuals, then who were these people who sat at tables 3 and 2? Too bad she couldn’t even recognize one of them.
The club leader then remembered what Mu Zong had told her. She hurriedly picked up her phone and snapped a few photos, which she added into a collage.
There were a handful of people who wanted to stop her when they saw her taking photos indiscriminately but were held back at the last second. “Hey, what are you doing? That person’s Miss Gu’s guest. Table 3’s filled with people from Nine Heavens. Each one of them has connections to the Peacekeepers. Are you seeking an early death?”
“The Peacekeepers?” Hearing this made the man’s face turn pale. Immediately, he abandoned his plan to stop the club leader from taking photos.
The club leader, of course, was completely oblivious to this exchange. She started making the necessary edits before uploading the photos onto Weibo.
(Verified) MissGu’s Fanclub: “I don’t think I need to say much. Feast with your eyes. [Image]
“This is terrifying 👋”
“Club leader, is your heart still beating? 😊”
There were still some people who had no idea who these people were. “What’s so weird about these pictures?”
“The leader of the national broadcast channel can be seen in the first picture. I believe I don’t need to say much since he appears on the TV screen quite often. 😊” freewebn(o)vel
“And the third picture. Although I don’t know who the rest are, I do recognize the man in the first seat. He’s our supreme commander! Don’t ask how I know him, I just feel like dying right now!”
“Does anyone know who the people are on tables 4,5,6,7,8,9?!”
“I’m sorry, I was too shocked that I just shattered my phone. I am now typing on my mother’s phone. Let me explain the fifth picture. The blonde man in the black tuxedo sitting in the middle of the table is none other than the commander-in-chief of the United States of America. [link] Your welcome!”
“I guess all of you recognize who the POTUS is. BUT, here’s the key part! Have you guys noticed that he’s sitting at the final table!? I assume that you all know how important the table arrangements are right? The rest is up to your creative imagination!”
“The seventh picture! Did you see that!? It’s just like the POTUS! The leader of Japan is seated at the furthest end of the table!”
“There’s also this [screenshot] dude. I don’t know if y’all are aware of the world’s wealthiest man but if you don’t recognize him, I suggest you look him up on the internet.”
“The most important thing is that they’re all sitting together, hah!
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