Rivers of the Night - Chapter 755

Capítulo 755: Good Wine

As far as weddings went, one wouldn’t be surprised to find that the ceremony of the Umbra Clan Patriarch’s precious daughter was second to very few. However, as bright white or red as one might expect a traditional wedding of this mishmash of cultures to be… it was neither.

If one didn’t know better, one might think that this was a funeral rather than a wedding. But the closer even a layman looked, the more entranced you might very well become.

Black, bronze, and dark gold played off of one another. The metals of bronze and dusted brass formed looming pillars and sparkling outlines of ruby jewels, while streamers of silky black and dark gold floated across the air like clouds.

The decorations played off of these colors, making the Umbra Castle less brooding and more ancient and fathomless in its depths. It felt like the sort of wedding designed for noble vampires of a time—at least that was Theron’s first thought when he saw it.

Sometimes his library wouldn’t just have raw scientific information, but also fairy tales and urban legends of the like that fit with a region. Honestly, Theron had mostly ignored these for the longest period of time, not truly seeing the purpose of either.

But when he had this thought all of a sudden, he came to a realization. As much as those words taught him about the physical world, wasn’t the less tangible just as important? How much had his emotions and his mental state dictated his power until now?

One might argue too much.

And in that case, how important was it to understand the culture of a group of people to understand their fundamental underlying strength as well?

The clarity with which Theron saw this now surprised even himself, but maybe it was just the special occasion making him think about such things.

Would he ever have a wedding day someday?

Just a few days ago, he would have outright dismissed the thought. But should he still do that?

And what about Malaya, was that even fair to her? He had dragged her into a marriage for his own benefit, been unable to do anything as she was wiped from existence—once again due to his own actions—and now he was here thinking about potentially marrying someone else.

Guilt.

The feeling wasn’t as all-consuming as it was in the past, but somehow now it was heavier for it. No longer marred by darkness and feelings of self-pity, it was clearer and more prominent now than ever before.

It seemed that if there wasn’t one problem with his psyche, there would always be another. There was no escaping it, not when he had an upbringing and backstory that started the way it did.

Yet, none of this inner turmoil showed on Theron’s face. As he walked with Ayame by his side, countless glances of powerful cultivators landing on him one after another, he seemed unmoved and unbothered by it all.

And for a young man who had just killed a member of the Resistance Army for looking at Ayame too long, he also seemed to have completely lost his backbone. The glances she was receiving now were even more intense than before, and yet Theron didn’t react to these hardly at all either.

“Hello, I’ve been invited to be the entertainment.” Theron smiled and spoke in unison when he got to the doors.

“Please.” The greeter gestured for them to enter.

The flow from the outside to the inside was seamless, the blowing winds carrying the silky strands that hung from above on currents that made the atmosphere feel alive.

However, this time, Theron wasn’t thinking about the beauty. Instead, he was realizing that they didn’t have any assigned seats. What were they supposed to do? Stand?

Theron chuckled. Grabbing Ayame’s hand, he led her forward. Instead of picking a seat by the periphery, Theron walked as though he owned the place, finding one of the main tables at the very helm and taking a seat usually reserved for head hosts or best man and maid of honor.

He seemed completely at ease, and Ayame’s face was as unreadable as it always was. It seemed that after what happened last night, she had decided that there was no need to question Theron anymore. Even if he was being reckless, it was recklessness for a purpose.

In this case, though, she had a feeling that Theron was just being reckless because he could. But at this point, there was already no changing what they had come here to do. So as far as she was concerned, this was recklessness that she could get behind.

Countless parties had been waiting to see how Theron would react to the situation. They had been in line for a while, so everyone knew how things went even if they weren’t well-versed in matters of higher society.

Whenever a party approached the greeter, their entrance would be announced and their tables assigned. But it was clear that the greeter had gotten word about Theron ahead of time. Rather than doing any of that, he simply allowed Theron in.

No announcement. No seating arrangement.

And just when everyone thought that would be the end of it, Theron actually reached forward, picked up a glass in one hand and an unopened bottle of wine in the other.

Chi.

With a flick of his thumb, the head of the wine bottle was shattered clean off, gurgling lines of crimson alcohol pouring down his hands.

Tipping the bottle, Theron filled his glass until it overflowed before taking a nice, long swig.

“Oh, wow,” he said with a gasp, holding up the glass as though he were inspecting it for what made it taste so good. This time, Theron wasn’t faking it—he had never drunk alcohol before, but for the first time, he realized just what it was he was missing out on.

There was a bit of a floral scent to it, hints of cinnamon hitting the back of his throat while apple rested on his tongue. It was warm enough to make his heart feel like it was on fire, and yet smooth enough that there wasn’t any chalkiness or anything of the sort.

BOOM.

Theron’s dantian shifted and he directly entered the Quasi Cloud Realm, a surge of Mana causing the silky decorations hanging from above to dance about even more wildly than ever before.

Countless pupils constricted. How could this be the breakthrough in a quasi realm—least of all Quasi Cloud?

It felt like they were in the presence of a King.

“Well, I meant to give out a toast, but it seems I got a bit over-eager. You all continue, I’ll be more patient.”

Theron leaned back in his chair, sipping at the wine. It made him feel good in ways he couldn’t quite understand. His cheeks flushed and he sighed.

There had been a lot of things that Theron had done to become the perfect warrior and assassin. However, drinking hadn’t been one of them.

The problem with drinking and drugs—unlike women—was that they scaled too high in the cultivation world. That wasn’t to say that women didn’t get more beautiful as their strength increased, because they did. But there was a difference between that and trying to make a Gold Mancer drink wine brewed for Dome of Heaven experts.

No matter how much priming and conditioning Theron did, there would be no getting around or dealing with that fact. So, it had been a waste of time to even try.

There were only two ways to ensure your alcohol tolerance in earnest. The first was to get really good at faking that you were drinking in the first place, and the second was to grow strong enough that it didn’t matter what you drank—you could expunge it nonetheless.

Theron sighed again. “Good wine,” he muttered before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

Ayame was speechless for a moment. This was all just part of the act, right? But wasn’t it too good?

For a moment, she regretted trusting this guy.

Theron’s eyes suddenly opened and he winked at her, laughing with flushed cheeks.

Ayame found herself holding back hints of embarrassment, and it took everything in her not to give Theron a tight slap.

This wasn’t the time for these antics! He was supposed to be making everyone else feel uncomfortable, not her! Or else how would she even help him properly?

“Lighten up. You really are quite beautiful, you know.”

Are you drunk?

A voice pierced into Theron’s head, shocking him a bit. He didn’t know something like that was possible. Had she just used her Third Eye to directly communicate with his own? Or was it something else more obscure?

His surprise only lasted for a short moment, and his laughter followed up soon after.

He had the body of a Titan Beast—what could a little wine for Dome of Heaven experts do to him?

Theron burped a little as the voice of the greeter echoed once more.

“Please welcome, the family of the groom, the esteemed Chron Clan….”

Sorry fellas, I’ve been either travelling or prepping for travel for what feels like the last 3 days. I’m attending a webnovel event in China this week and am currently in shanghai. Well, quite literally just landed an hour ago. Anyhoo, here are some chapters