Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 514 - Wedding Banquet

Chen Ruoyan and Liu Wuxie were young and knew little about romance. Hence, they couldn’t help but feel awkward after what had happened last night.

After taking a deep breath, Chen Ruoyan finally raised her head.

"Big Brother Liu, have you heard from Big Sister Jian yet?" she asked. It had been almost an entire day since they had last heard from her.

Liu Wuxie frowned. He took out a Communication Talisman and crushed it to transmit a message. However, even after five minutes, he still failed to get any response.

Chen Ruoyan suddenly had an ominous feeling. "Could she be in danger?"

Liu Wuxie frowned even deeper. It made no sense for Jian Xing'er not to respond unless she no longer had the Communication Talisman.

Just to be safe, Liu Wuxie decided to investigate.

"Let's pay the Jian Clan a visit."

If anything bad happened to Jian Xing'er, he wouldn’t even think twice about erasing the entire Jian Clan from the world.

The two quickly left the inn and inquired about directions to the Jian Clan. After following it, they stopped again to ask a middle-aged man for more information.

"Are you two attending the Jian Clan's wedding banquet too?" the middle-aged man asked in return, seemingly mistaking them as guests of a wedding banquet.

Liu Wuxie’s brows furrowed. "Wedding banquet?"

"Isn't the Jian Clan on the verge of decline? Why would they have a wedding banquet now?" Chen Ruoyan prodded.

They had learned from Jian Xing'er that the Jian Clan was struggling financially. Hence, they couldn’t help but feel that something was off with the information they had just gotten.

"You don't know? The Jian Clan is marrying off their daughter today!" the middle-aged man exclaimed. He seemed surprised that Liu Wuxie and Chen Ruoyan didn't know about such a big event when word about it had been spreading since last night.

Although the Jian Clan wasn't prominent in the city, they couldn't be underestimated.

"Marrying their daughter?" Chen Ruoyan exchanged a look with Liu Wuxie. A foreboding feeling clawed into their hearts.

Jian Xing'er had mentioned that she was the only daughter of the Jian Clan.

"Thank you!"

The two swiftly vanished. They headed straight for the Jian Clan to prevent Jian Xing'er from falling into a hellhole. Upon reaching it, they quickly noticed the red lanterns decorating the Jian Clan’s entrance for the celebration and the large number of guests entering its premises one after another.

Even the Azure Mountain City's merchants and shop owners came to offer their congratulations and gifts.

"Congratulations, Patriarch Jian!"

Standing at the entrance with a red flower on his chest, Jian Botong greeted everyone who came to attend. "Thank you! Thank you!"

After exchanging pleasantries, the guests followed the path into the Jian Clan's main hall. As they walked, some of the merchants began having a discussion among themselves.

"The Jian Clan is lucky to have such a beautiful daughter to offer in a marriage alliance with the Teng Clan. They'll be thriving again in just a few days."

"I heard that the Jian Clan owes the Teng Clan a huge debt. They're not marrying their daughter off; they're selling her!"

Many people looked down on the Jian Clan. However, they maintained smiles because the Jian Clan had now secured the Teng Clan as a powerful backer.

Jian Botong could naturally hear the gossip, but he pretended not to hear them. The main hall was bustling, and he was already too busy entertaining their guests.

"Patriarch, the groom's party is almost here." A disciple donned in the Jian Clan's uniform hurried over from the street to inform that the Jian Clan would soon be here.

"Prepare the fireworks!" he ordered.

Soon, fireworks were set off from both sides of the entrance to welcome the groom's party.

Accompanied by hundreds of people, drums, and gongs, Teng Zijun rode a majestic horse in his grand march toward the Jian Clang. The closer they got, the more fireworks were set off from all over the city.

Teng Zijun dismounted his horse and walked toward the Jian Clan. He then bowed deeply to Jian Botong.

"Greetings, Father-in-Law!"

"There's no need for such formalities, Son-in-Law. Please, come in!" Jian Botong swiftly replied. He wanted to marry his daughter off to Teng Zijun as soon as possible while issues still hadn’t arisen.

As the group entered the main hall, more fireworks were set off. Everyone in the hall stood up and cupped their fists together to congratulate Teng Zijun, who returned the greetings with equal courtesy.

Once everyone had arrived, Jian Botong sat on the main seat with a middle-aged woman beside him, likely the stepmother whom Jian Xing'er had mentioned. A decent-looking young man, perhaps only around seventeen or eighteen years old, was right beside them, nervously looking around.

"Finally, the auspicious time has arrived! Welcome the bride!"

Gongs and drums rang as several women led the bride down the aisle.

When they reached the center, the bride and groom stood together to begin the wedding rites. Once they had paid their respect to the heavens and earth, they would be considered a married couple.

"Bow to the heavens and earth!" the host yelled.

The bride and groom turned to the entrance of the main hall and kowtowed.

"Now, bow to your parents!"

The two stood up and turned back around.

At that moment, the bride hesitated. Once she kowtowed, she would no longer be able to turn back.

Teng Zijun was the first to kowtow. The final bow between husband and wife was just a formality. The ceremony would be completed once the couple had paid their respects to their parents.

When the bride remained unmoving, two women stepped forward and whispered something to the bride's ears, prompting her to kneel.

"Hold on!"

A cold voice echoed from outside the main hall. Liu Wuxie and Chen Ruoyan had arrived just moments before Jian Xing'er could become Teng Zijun's wife.

Everyone turned toward the two only to be shocked by Chen Ruoyan. They couldn’t believe such a beauty could exist in this world.

Jian Xing'er was already beautiful, but Chen Ruoyan had surpassed her in temperament. Even Teng Zijun’s expression flashed a hint of greed when he saw Chen Ruoyan.

"Liu Wuxie? What are you doing here?!" Jian Botong roared. Having met Liu Wuxie once, he recognized him immediately.

Teng Zijun also recognized him. However, he mainly focused on Chen Ruoyan.

Enraged, Liu Wuxie slowly walked into the main hall. "You know exactly why I’m here."

The bride trembled, but the veil she wore hid her facial expression.

No one dared to stop Liu Wuxie and let him enter the main hall.

Chen Ruoyan grabbed Jian Xing'er's hand. "Don't worry, Big Sister Jian. We're here to save you!"

Jian Xing'er stiffened at the touch. Tears streamed down her cheeks and dropped on her shoes.

Jian Botong slammed his hand on the armrest and shot up on his feet in anger. "Liu Wuxie, you’re trespassing into the Jian Clan’s premises! Who do you think you are to disrupt this wedding banquet? You're welcome to attend the wedding, but if you’re here to cause trouble, know that the Jian Clan doesn't fear you!"

With the Teng Clan supporting him, Jian Botong felt that he had nothing to fear. It did not matter that Liu Wuxie was a disciple of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. They were at the Azure Mountain City! Not even the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion's sect master could interfere with this wedding banquet!

"You’d be long dead if only you weren’t her father. You imprisoned your daughter, and now you’re forcing her to marry someone she doesn't love! You do not deserve her!" Liu Wuxie growled, showing not even an ounce of respect for Jian Botong.

He had been suppressing his anger and murderous intent since yesterday. The only way he could vent now was by spilling blood. However, they were faced with Jian Xing'er's clan. He had to endure it even if he had ten thousand reasons to kill.

Teng Zijun released his Heavenly Dipper Realm aura in an attempt to crush Liu Wuxie. "You're too arrogant, Liu Wuxie. What makes you think you can do whatever you want just because you're a disciple of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion? This is my wedding! If you don’t leave now, don’t blame me for being impolite!"

He had always wanted to kill Liu Wuxie, but he had not expected him to walk right into his hands today.

"Get lost!" With a wave of his hand, Liu Wuxie created a gust of wind, blasting Teng Zijun into a pillar in the hall.

As everyone in the hall was thrown around and backed into a corner, several experts from Teng Zijun’s party charged toward Liu Wuxie. One of them had reached the Heavenly Phase Realm, while two were at the pinnacle of the Heavenly Dipper Realm.

"You are courting death, you brat! How dare you harm our young master!"

Waves of terrifying energy swept out, blasting the tables to the side. Since Chen Ruoyan's cultivation was only in the Heavenly Dipper Realm, she had no choice but to step back.

"Die!" Liu Wuxie roared as his murderous intent surged. He knew he couldn't intimidate these people unless he took a few lives today.

He tapped the three men with his finger, freezing them into ice sculptures. Not even a cultivator in the Heavenly Phase Realm could withstand one of his attacks.

Shocked by his strength, the crowd erupted into an uproar. Meanwhile, Jian Botong turned pale with fright and fell into the chair.

Trembling in fear, the youth beside Jian Botong and the middle-aged woman threw himself into his mother's arms. "Mother, I'm scared!"

The middle-aged woman beside Jian Botong stood up and started cursing Jian Xing'er.

"I already said she's bad luck! Today should have been a festive occasion for the Jian Clan, but she brought nothing but trouble instead!"

At that moment, Chen Ruoyan slapped the middle-aged woman so hard that it echoed and left a handprint on her cheek.

Liu Wuxie wouldn't hit women, but the same could not be said for Chen Ruoyan.

"Y-You dared hit me?!" the middle-aged woman stammered in shock.

"You deserve to die for abusing Big Sister Jian."

Chen Ruoyan knew what the Jian Clan had put Jian Xing'er through. This was the vicious woman who nearly killed Jian Xing'er when she was young and only gave her rotten leftovers to eat. She was also the one who forced Jian Xing'er to leave the Azure Mountain City.

With the Teng Clan's people subdued, Jian Botong no longer dared to make a scene. After all, if not even a cultivator in the Heavenly Phase Realm could stop Liu Wuxie, then no one could.

Although he was the Jian Clan’s strongest, his cultivation was only in the upper levels of the Heavenly Dipper Realm.

Liu Wuxie walked over to Jian Xing'er. She no longer needed to stay in the Jian Clan.

"Come with me," he softly said.

However, at that moment, Jian Botong laughed, catching everyone by surprise.

"Did you think I forced her, Liu Wuxie? She agreed to the wedding on her own accord!" he exclaimed, confusing everyone.