"Please don't make things difficult for me, Miss Ye. I'm only following orders." Si Ming's face was plastered with smiles as he spoke in a bureaucratic tone. "If you enter the city without registering and Lord City Master finds out and holds me responsible, I won't be able to bear the consequences."
"Fine—very fine!" Ye Qinghan had reached the end of her patience, her fury so great it manifested as a laugh. "Sky Crane City—I'll remember this. I won't be entering this city. Senior Brother, let's go!"
Hearing her words, Si Ming showed not the slightest hint of alarm. Instead, his smile grew even broader and more cheerful.
Ye Qinghan had already turned around, looking as though she truly intended to leave.
But Du Xian grabbed her arm and slowly shook his head, signaling her to stay calm.
Though Luo Jin's concubine-taking ceremony was merely a ritual, guests had come from all directions, involving nearly every power within a hundred thousand li. The stakes were enormous. If the Thousand Leaf Sect truly departed like this, it could ignite conflicts and hand Sky Crane City and the Thousand Leaf Sect a pretext and excuse to fall out. Had that not been the case, Ye Hen would never have instructed Du Xian and the others before their departure to endure humiliation with composure.
Du Xian, after all, was the more composed and level-headed one. Seeing how happily Si Ming was smiling, he knew something was amiss. Perhaps Si Ming wanted the Thousand Leaf Sect to turn back, completely severing relations between Sky Crane City and the Thousand Leaf Sect.
Realizing this, Du Xian had no intention of playing into his hands. After restraining Ye Qinghan, his lips moved slightly as he transmitted a few words to her.
Ye Qinghan's chest heaved with rage, her teeth clenched. After hearing his words, she remained silent for a long while before nodding reluctantly.
Du Xian smiled faintly and clasped his fists. "Elder Si Ming, we only need to register, is that correct?"
Si Ming frowned. "That's right!"
"Simple enough!" Du Xian nodded, walked straight to the side, and wrote his name and sect affiliation in the crimson registration book.
With him leading the way, the other Thousand Leaf Sect disciples, though seething inside, all stepped forward one by one.
Then came a scene that infuriated the Thousand Leaf Sect disciples even further. The names and affiliations written in the registration book were all from obscure families and minor sect forces—no power of any real standing would ever be required to do this. The Thousand Leaf Sect was the very first.
In other words, Si Ming had forcibly dragged the Thousand Leaf Sect down to the level of those insignificant families and minor powers.
Despite their fury, the members of the Thousand Leaf Sect continued to endure.
Before long, several people had finished registering.
When it was Yang Kai's turn, Ye Qinghan's beautiful eyes flickered with concern as she glanced at him. She watched Yang Kai approach the desk and pick up the brush to write his name.
She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She had genuinely feared that Yang Kai would refuse to cooperate and storm off.
"Hold it!" Si Ming suddenly called out. His burning gaze fixed on Yang Kai, studying him up and down. "You look unfamiliar, friend. Are you with the Thousand Leaf Sect too?"
Yang Kai grinned. "That's right."
Si Ming snorted coldly. "You'd better think carefully before answering that. Sky Crane City is on high alert. If you're trying to slip in under the Thousand Leaf Sect's name, I'm going to have to have a thorough chat with you."
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Elder Si Ming, how can you be so certain I'm not with the Thousand Leaf Sect? Surely you don't know every single member."
Si Ming said, "I wouldn't dare claim to know everyone, but I've seen most of them. Especially those at your level of cultivation."
Yang Kai looked puzzled. "Elder Si Ming, that's rather confusing. If you know most people at my level, then how did you not recognize Brother Du Xian earlier? He's our sect's eldest disciple! There's no reason you wouldn't recognize him!"
Du Xian let out a cold laugh from the side. "I'm rather curious about that as well. Although Elder Si Ming and I have never spoken, we've met at least twice before. Why did Elder Si Ming pretend not to recognize me just now?"
Si Ming coughed awkwardly and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "I simply didn't get a good look before."
"It seems Elder Si Ming has developed an eye disease. You really ought to get that treated! Otherwise, your days may be numbered!" Du Xian's words were laced with barbs and heavy with mockery.
Si Ming's expression shifted. "But your clothing doesn't bear the Thousand Leaf Sect disciple emblem. How do you explain that?"
"The City Master is taking a concubine. I changed into new clothes to show my respect—I simply haven't had the chance to embroider the emblem on yet." Yang Kai grinned, spinning the lie with ease.
"That explanation... I'm afraid it won't satisfy anyone!" Si Ming sneered.
"Si Ming, what exactly do you want?" Seeing Si Ming zero in on Yang Kai, Ye Qinghan grew anxious. Yang Kai was someone she had personally invited to repair the cross-realm spatial formation! It concerned the rise of the Thousand Leaf Sect—how could she not take it seriously? Moreover, Yang Kai himself was extraordinarily powerful. If they managed to anger him, the city gates would surely run red with blood. The moment she sensed things going wrong, she stepped forward, glaring at Si Ming with fierce intensity. "Time and again you've made things difficult for us. Do you really think the Thousand Leaf Sect is easy to bully? We came here to congratulate Luo Jin, yet you've blocked us here and caused trouble at every turn. If we leave now, no one will say the Thousand Leaf Sect was in the wrong—they'll say Sky Crane City insulted its guests!"
Si Ming frowned, unable to understand why Ye Qinghan was so enraged. Earlier, when he had made things difficult for Du Xian and the others, she hadn't shown this kind of impatience. Now she was directly invoking both her own and the City Master's titles without a shred of respect—clearly, she had no patience left.
At this thought, Si Ming smiled sheepishly. "Please calm yourself, Miss Ye. I'm simply being careful, that's all. I merely wanted to have a few words with this friend."
"Either let us through, or we leave. I'll give you three breaths—choose!" Ye Qinghan's face was ashen as she stared coldly at Si Ming.