Yin Tiang and Chen Yu focused on their own respective talents as well in addition to cultivating - Yin Tiang on alchemy, and Chen Yu on using and developing his bloodline attribute technique.
A few weeks later, and very little progress made on Tang Ze's part in either cultivation or in solving Xian Yue's issue, he awoke to see Chen Yu perusing a letter, looking worried.
"Everything alright?"
"Not really," Chen Yu said, sighing as he folded up the letter. "Is Zhang Long still out?'
Zhang Long had gone back to his village for the past few days because they were finalizing his and Jin Zhen's engagement, for which he was given a temporary reprieve from sect duties.
However, this meant that for the time being, the squad was leaderless.
"Yeah, he's still gone," Tang Ze said. "What's bothering you?"
"I got a letter from my family," Chen Yu replied. "They want me to meet this girl some distance away."
"Meet up with a girl? Like an arranged marriage?" It was a bit odd for Tang Ze to think about, but then again, the others were older than him by several years.
Tang Ze was about to turn twenty back on Earth, and if time worked the same in this place as it did there, he would've crossed that age a few months back. This world didn't have the exact same calendar as Earth though, so it was a bit hard for him to pinpoint an exact birthday and when that would fall, but that time had most definitely passed at some point.
As for the others - Zhang Long was twenty-five; while Chen Yu and Yin Tiang were twenty-six. It made sense, especially in a world like this, that they would be moving forward in their lives.
"Yeah," Chen Yu said. "I don't know why, but they've started to become obsessed with the issue. Maybe I'm just getting older - and they're seeing that all my other brothers are all married."
"If you get married," Yin Tiang chimed in from the background. "can I use your room to keep some of my stuff once you're gone?"
Chen Yu glared at him, to which Yin Tiang simply waved his hand and said, "Don't worry - I jest. Of course, if you happen to leave they'll just find someone else to shack up with us."
"So, what are you thinking?" Tang Ze asked.
"I don't think there's any harm in going down to see her," Chen Yu said. "But, usually I'd have someone tagging along with me- like one of my brothers or family members."
"And they can't come?"
"It says here in this letter that they can't spare anyone right now, and they asked me to take someone from the sect with me," Chen Yu said. "I would've taken Zhang Long but it doesn't look like he'll be back in time..."
"Not to worry," Yin Tiang said, clasping a hand to his chest. "I will accompany you. And don't worry, if you don't like the girl, just give me the signal, and I'll make sure to tell them all I know about you. They'll be sure to give you a 'no' then."
Chen Yu turned to Tang Ze and asked, "Mind coming with me for a day?"
"Uh, sure," Tang Ze said. "We can even tele-"
Chen Yu shook his head. "Let's try not to go around dressed up like wizards, or we really will be kicked out before even reaching the front door."
"Are you sure?" Tang Ze asked. "You guys have a really negative preconception about wizards, haven't you considered well, that maybe... they might not be all bad?" Tang Ze really felt that they were being unreasonable when it came to magic. He had once teleported into the nearby marketplace only for the other cultivators to ridicule him - 'Look at that mage, he's so poor he can't even afford a proper flying sword or flying carpet!' they had mocked. Someone even added: 'He's so poor he can't even afford a real beard!'
"I'll see it when I believe it," Chen Yu said. "So the answer's still 'no' on that front."
"True, true," Yin Tiang said, nodding along. "But think about it - with Tang Ze's luck with woman, aren't you worried that they might consider you a catch when comparing yourself with him? What if the girl really falls for you and you wanted to say 'no?'"
Both Tang Ze and Chen Yu glared at Yin Tiang as the latter chuckled.
However, Yin Tiang could not resist. He loved needling Chen Yu, and now he could poke fun at both him and Tang Ze simultaneously within the same joke. It was like hunting two birds with a single arrow. When Heaven had granted him such an opportunity, how could he resist?
"What are you thinking by the way? I mean, if you'll say 'yes' or not?" Tang Ze asked Chen Yu.
Chen Yu shrugged. "I don't really want to get married right now - but I can't just say no to this request from my family unfortunately. I have to at least go see her - I do owe them that much. I don't think that they're too crazy about the idea either - they're likely just doing this to see what options I have." He didn't seem to be taking the whole thing very seriously, so neither did Tang Ze for the moment. Anyway, he doubted that even if they agreed to things, that things would move at anything faster than a snail's pace.
As an example, Jin Zhen and Zhang Long already were childhood sweethearts, and yet even with that fact and the families already being agreeable from beforehand it seemed to be taking forever for their engagement and marriage to be finalized. There was still a long list of ceremonies that the two had to go through.
"Got it," Tang Ze said.
Yin Tiang walked over to Chen Yu and then clasped him on the shoulder. "I want you to remember one thing if all else fails - just be yourself. I'm sure you'll be rejected immediately afterwards."
"Alright, Tang Ze, let's go," Chen Yu said, turning to him after dismissing Yin Tiang as a hopeless cause. "We just need to wake up early in the morning and-"
"-on second thought, you're on your own Chen Yu, I think that would be for the best," Tang Ze said. "You should go in to meet this girl alone - to show her and her family you're not afraid of anything and to really demonstrate your alpha male status-"
Tang Ze and Chen Yu arrived at the mentioned place. Tang Ze complained about having to wake up so early nearly half of the journey there, but get there in time they did; and that too without Tang Ze having to dress up as anything weird (not for lack of trying mind you, but Chen Yu dissuaded him from trying anything).
They both chose to come in their sect uniforms, simply because showcasing their sect affiliation was another way of showing their status.
It was a manor in the opposite direction of Zhang Long's village, so they couldn't plan to meet up with him as he returned. As it was, the place looked relatively affluent, though that was to be expected of any family trying to marry in with Chen Yu's.
These people were farmers, though this was only in name - they owned vast quantities of farmland, and loaned that out to people who did the actual farming while they collected the crops and paid those people a fixed salary for their work. Since they owned land within the territory controlled by the Rising Phoenix sect, it stood to reason that they had good relations with them as well. That was part of the reason that the two had chosen to come in their sect uniforms, though they had made sure that they were neatly pressed and clean.
In the Raswatian Empire, next to one's familial affiliation, one's sect came in at a close second.
"Remember," Chen Yu said. "Please don't do anything that would embarrass me, Brother Tang Ze." Tang Ze's eyes dropped - why was it 'Brother' in this situation?
"When have I ever embarrassed you?"
"Let's not open that can of worms, else we'll be here till tomorrow evening," Chen Yu said. "And let's go meet them."
The two of them were led inside the manor by a group of servants.
It was immediately clear to Tang Ze that the family had pulled out all of the stops to impress them. The garden's hedges looked like they had been freshly trimmed, and there was a koi pond in the middle with a stone by it that was said to be excellent for meditating beside. There were also several famous plants whose names neither of them could remember though had Yin Tiang been here he likely could've been able to tell them what they were at a glance. They were then led into the main sitting area where food was laid out for them, before the girl's parents arrived.
The two of them seemed to be pleasant enough, and there was some general back-and-forth though nothing of real substance was said until Chen Yu gently tapped Tang Ze on the knee.
That was the signal that Tang Ze had been hoping for!
He didn't really understand this whole arranged marriage setup, though per Chen Yu, his role was that of a sort of 'wingman' or to say things that would be considered untoward for Chen Yu to say himself.
"Ah, all of this talk is good and nice," Tang Ze said. "But, where is the potential bride-to-be in question?"
Tang Ze found it odd that the girl wasn't even involved in anything till now, but that was apparently just how it went. After saying so, the mother brought someone down the stairs, who was wearing a thin veil.
"It's alright, you can show your face dear," the girl's mother said as she lifted her veil ever so slightly. The girl was blushing deeply, and as Tang Ze turned around he could see that Chen Yu was also fidgeting somewhat oddly.
However, Tang Ze was taken aback by something.
It was odd... but he was sure that he had seen this girl somewhere before.
But where? He had only come to this world a few months back, so it was weird that she seemed familiar to him though not to someone like Chen Yu.
It was customary to give the prospective bridge and groom some time to talk alone, though this turned out to only be a period of five minutes before everyone came back in.
The two sides then made some promises to keep in touch, and Tang Ze and Chen Yu declined to stay for dinner.
It would've been nice actually, Tang Ze felt, to stay overnight to see how the family actually was, though Chen Yu whispered to him that this wasn't a 'real' offer and the two made their way back to the sect.
The sun was close to setting by the time they got back, and overall, Tang Ze had found the entire process to be quite boring.
"Are all meetings like this?" Tang Ze asked.
"Most of them are," Chen Yu said. "I used to go with some of my brothers along with my parents when they met prospective brides."
"Isn't it... kinda odd that the two of you only met for five minutes?"
"Not really. The first time my grandmother saw my grandfather was on their wedding day - not everyone marries like this, but it's is the usual norm with uh, I guess you would say 'people like us?' I mean, on the other hand, Zhang Long and Jin Zhen have known each other forever, but they're more of an exception aren't they? Still, even their whole show is taking time while their parents go through the formalities." Chen Yu said. He then frowned. "But you say that you've seen her before?"
"Yeah," Tang Ze said. "I just can't remember where." He strained his memory, and the more he did so, the more he was convinced that he was not mistaken and that he, as a matter of fact, did know the girl from somewhere.
But the question still remained - from where?
"If you happen to remember, let me know," Chen Yu said.
"And so how do things proceed from here?"
"Well, my parents would then go over things in more detail, there would probably be a couple more meetings, then we'd announce an engagement formally to all our relatives, then the engagement and all the meetings and logistics that involve, and then the actual marriage - if it gets to that point," Chen Yu said.
"I see," Tang Ze said.