Backlash Part 1

Chapter 197: The Problem With Banquets

This was not Luo Qingyang's first banquet. She was one of, if not the, most skilled cultivators in her sect. Which, in her tiny sect, was enough to secure her a position behind her sect leader in the banquet hall. In another sect her skills would not be enough to compensate for her parentage. She was the daughter of a servant. For some sects that meant she could never earn a place at one of these banquets.

Privately, Luo Qingyang did not especially like these banquets. The food was good, unless GusuLan was hosting. There was often good music or skilled dancers to perform for entertainment, unless GusuLan was hosting. Frustratingly, she had to be cautious about not going anywhere without other disciples.

Jin Guangshan was disgusting. One of Luo Qingyang's shijie had warned her before her first banquet that Jin Guangshan was known to like young women, and he did not typically take no for an answer. Rape. Her shijie had to explicitly warn her that one of the sect leaders was a rapist. The only time Luo Qingyang did not have to carefully plan out who would be accompanying her when, during a banquet, was when GusuLan was hosting.

Because of the first two reasons that GusuLan was not a popular banquet host, Jin Guangshan often sent a representative instead of attending himself. The lack of alcohol was probably also a leading factor since no other sect would even consider hosting a banquet without it. So despite GusuLan sect having the most dull banquets, they also were the only ones that she could attend without having to be constantly vigilant.

As Luo Qingyang thought about it she realized that most banquets were rather like being on a battlefield. Except the men present either didn't realize it or didn't acknowledge it. Luo Qingyang could have requested not to attend most of them. It would have been inconvenient for her sect, but her sect leader probably would have respected her reasons.

That would not have worked for the current banquet. This was the victory banquet. Luo Qingyang might have been able to get out of attending every day. It was a week long after all. But, she absolutely needed to attend part of it. She had contributed the most to the sunshot campaign out of any other disciple in her sect. Mostly because she had spent very little of the sunshot campaign with her sect.

Luo Qingyang stared at the dark stone floor. If she looked closely she could see a few slightly darker stains. It wasn't exactly a surprise that there were still bloodstains on the floor. Privately Luo Qingyang felt uncomfortable having a banquet in the hall of Nightless city. It wasn't long ago that they had fought a bloody battle on the steps outside. There were still bloodstains from those they had killed within these walls.

Luo Qingyang understood that there was a lot to do with the war over. Property and wealth needed to be distributed between the victors. Decisions needed to be made about cultivators that had surrendered. Luo Qingyang wouldn't be involved in those discussions. That would be left to the sect leaders. Luo Qingyang knew it would take awhile, and the sect leaders would need to remain until it was all sorted out.

She just didn't think pushing back the victory celebration would be such a bad idea. She didn't especially want to cheer and celebrate while there were still people in the infirmary too injured to participate. Nor did she really want to sit in Wen Rouhan's hall and eat with bloodstains still on the floor. Luo Qingyang hardly felt it was unreasonable to be put off by that.

Luo Qingyang passed the time by watching the various sects enter. She hoped to spot some of her friends, but already knew it was unlikely. Many female cultivators avoided attending banquets due to Jin Guangshan. Luo Qingyang had been one of the few exceptions. She didn't think it was reasonable to not be able to participate in events that other cultivators could participate in. Certainly not because one cultivator was a disgusting pervert who liked to force himself on anyone who struck his fancy.