Crossing Over: The Strongest Mage

Yang Lue felt a bit nauseous. He simply couldn't drink cup after cup anymore, but he also couldn't stop drinking alone. So, he quickly stopped Yan Huo.

"Brother Yang, I didn't expect wine to taste so good. I think I'll drink more often from now on. I wonder if there's any more?" Yan Huo said, feeling tipsy.

"Hehe! Yes, there is," Yang Lue replied with a bitter smile. "Zhang Cheng, where have you gone? Bring more wine!"

In fact, Zhang Cheng had been standing nearby attending to them. Seeing the situation, he immediately knew his master had gotten himself into trouble. He didn't want to bring more wine, so he hesitated and said, "Master, perhaps you should drink a little less. Too much is harmful to your health."

"Nonsense! If I tell you to bring it, just bring it. Stop talking so much. Go!" Yang Lue snapped.

"Yes, Master." Zhang Cheng sighed helplessly and went to fetch ten more jars of osmanthus wine from the cellar.

By the time Yang Lue reached the tenth jar, he collapsed. Yan Huo, however, finished the remaining five jars by himself. The drunkenness was caused by the alcohol entering the bloodstream, making one's head spin, but with Yan Huo's current cultivation, how could he let the alcohol affect him?

At first, when Yan Huo had drunk, he didn't even know what the drunkenness felt like. After a few jars, he became aware of it, and soon, while using the restroom, he forced the alcohol out of his system using his energy. If Yang Lue had picked a different wine, Yan Huo wouldn't have drunk so much, but the osmanthus wine reminded him of his sister Xiuning's osmanthus cakes, so he drank without control. Yang Lue's wine choice had worked against him in this case.

In the front hall, at the tea table on either side, sat two people. On the left was our Yang Lue, still hungover and with a splitting headache, while the man on the right, a few years older than Yang Lue, was handsome, with refined features and a scholarly air. He too wore a scholar's robe and held a white fan. This was the second young master of the Liu family, Liu De, also known as Yan Huo's second elder brother.

After waving his white fan, Liu De spoke: "Brother Yang! As soon as I arrived in Yan City, I heard that our famous 'Flower Guard Young Master' has been hiding in his private courtyard every day, never leaving the house. Could it be that Brother Yang has turned away from women and prefers power now? I was curious, so I decided to come over and ask for clarification. I hope you won't mind."

"Brother Liu, you're too kind. We're not strangers, and I'm happy to see you as soon as you arrived in Yan City. But perhaps you'll laugh when I tell you... it's quite a long story," Yang Lue said, taking another sip of his hangover tea.

"Oh? Is there something that Brother Yang cannot handle?" Liu De asked, intrigued.

"It's not a matter, it's a person."

"A person? An enemy? A lover?"

"Neither, actually... it's a man."

"Haha! So, as soon as I arrive, Brother Yang is telling me jokes? When did our 'Flower Guard Young Master' stop loving beautiful women and start loving young men?" Liu De laughed.

"You truly know how to joke, Brother Liu. This younger brother of mine is really quite a peculiar person!" Yang Lue replied.

"Oh? Now I'm interested. Tell me about this peculiar person," Liu De said, his curiosity piqued.

Yang Lue then recounted how he had met Yan Huo, how he had gifted him treasures of gold and jade, how Yan Huo had given those gifts away, and how they had even bet on reading books.

"A young man who doesn't care for gold and silver, yet is so wise and learned—such a person is truly rare in this world. I would like to meet him," Liu De sighed, not entirely believing Yang Lue's description. As the saying goes, seeing is believing.

"Haha!" Yang Lue chuckled awkwardly. "This is no problem. Come, someone, please bring Young Master Yan here."

Yang Lue instructed his servant, "Set up the meal in the pavilion in the backyard garden, where we drank last night." At the meal, Liu De felt a bit uncomfortable, while Yan Huo seemed anxious. Yang Lue had sent Zhang Cheng to call for Yan Huo, but Yan Huo replied that he had drunk too much the previous night and had red spots on his face, making it inconvenient for him to show his face. So, Yan Huo wore a mask before joining them.

Despite his reluctance, Yan Huo still wanted to meet Liu De, his second brother, even though he hated Liu Yiqing. However, that didn't concern the rest of the family, so when Zhang Cheng mentioned it, Yan Huo agreed.

"How does my second brother look? Does he look like me?" Yan Huo was nervous as he kept glancing at Liu De from the moment he sat down. Yang Lue, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, didn't speak much, and the three of them simply made small talk.

Halfway through the meal, Yan Huo suddenly asked, "Yang, Liu... I have something unclear, and I would like to ask both of you."

"Go ahead, Yan Huo, ask whatever you like," Yang Lue responded.

Yan Huo pointed towards a large tree outside the courtyard and asked, "Why are there two people hiding in that tree, watching us?"

"What?!" Liu De's expression changed dramatically. He quickly turned to look in the direction Yan Huo pointed to and asked, "Where?!"

The two people in the tree had been quietly observing the three of them, unaware that someone could spot them from such a distance. The distance from the pavilion to the tree was over fifty meters, and they hadn't let any of their presence leak out. So, when Yan Huo pointed them out, they didn't react at first. It wasn't until Liu De glared at them and began flying toward them that they realized they had been discovered.

"Not good! We've been spotted, scatter!" The two figures immediately split, one heading west, the other east, as Liu De pursued the one to the west.

"Liu De, don't chase them too recklessly! Be careful of traps!" Yang Lue shouted. Liu De had already jumped over the courtyard wall and was scanning both directions, finally locking on to one target. He flew west, heading toward the city.

To the west of the courtyard was the direction toward the city center, while to the east, they could cross the city walls and escape into the wilderness. Liu De, when choosing his pursuit direction, had considered his own safety. He wasn't afraid of anything in the city—if the enemy had accomplices within, Liu De's family would have hundreds of people on call in an instant.

"Ugh! Why did Liu De suddenly get so anxious? If anything happens on my watch, how can I explain this to the Liu family?" Yang Lue groaned in frustration.

"Yan Huo, go find Zhang Cheng. I'll help Liu De," he said, quickly activating his lightness skill to follow Liu De.

"But they're both chasing the same person. What about the other one?" Yan Huo wondered. After thinking for a moment, he decided, "Fine, I'll go after the other one. They were only watching us eat—why did Liu De's face turn so dark? Forget it, no need to overthink it. I'll catch him and ask."