Western Wasteland

"I don't know what Ye Ling forgot. Maybe she forgot part of her instincts; maybe she forgot some kind of suggestion or backdoor Dong Huazi had forcibly implanted in her through the Demon Transformation Poisonous Mist. Those are all things that could happen after being enlightened. Besides, there wasn't much in her head to begin with—what important thing could she possibly forget? What are you worried about?"

Qin Yi was laboring away at setting up an array while Liusu leaned against the doorframe, guiding him through the arrangement as it answered his questions.

Yet the way it answered those questions sounded awkward no matter how he heard it.

Qin Yi turned to look at it in surprise. "You seem to have quite an issue with Ye Ling?"

"I have no issue with her." Liusu said stiffly. "She's just been coming here far too often lately, disturbing our quiet cultivation."

"And you call that having no issue..." Qin Yi said helplessly. "I told her to come here. Isn't it so we can learn more about Dong Huazi?"

"Pah." Liusu said disdainfully. "By now, apart from knowing that Dong Huazi is an old man and that his cultivation has definitely not reached Qin Heart, what useful information has that stupid brain of hers provided?"

"That's already very useful. At least now I know Dong Huazi isn't a woman."

"..." Liusu was stunned beyond belief. "You actually considered that?"

Qin Yi answered honestly, "I did. I wondered whether, if it were a great beauty, I'd have to kill a girl to prove my Dao."

Liusu asked curiously, "Kill a woman to prove your Dao? Where did you hear of such a thing?"

"What? Does it not exist?"

"It does exist." Liusu paused, then suddenly sneered. "If you want to take that path, it isn't impossible."

"Why do I get the feeling from your tone that if I took that path, you'd beat me to death first?"

Liusu was quite satisfied. "Sharp enough. Worthy of being my disciple."

Qin Yi nodded. "Sand-sculpture enough. Worthy of being my friend."

"Qin Yi, Qin Yi!" Li Qingjun's voice came from outside. "Where did you go?"

Before Qin Yi could reply, Li Qingjun came charging into the back courtyard.

"Aren't you afraid I've set up another trap? Just barging in like that." Qin Yi said irritably. "Want to be strung up again?"

"It's one thing to have traps in the front courtyard, but if you set a trap on the path from your own room to the back courtyard, wouldn't that be sick?"

"Uh..." Qin Yi thought about it. "Actually, that's a good idea. No one would expect it, right? It might just catch someone."

Li Qingjun was too powerless to mock him. Soon, her gaze was drawn to the Peach Wood Sword before Qin Yi. It was planted in the earth with the soil filled in around it, as though he had planted a sword.

"What are you doing now? Planting one sword to harvest tens of thousands?"

"Correct." Qin Yi smiled. "Come back this day next year to collect ten thousand swords."

"Pah! So mysterious." Li Qingjun did not press the matter. Remembering why she had come, she smiled. "Do you know you've made a fortune?"

"Hm? Since coming to Lihuo City, I haven't done anything yet."

"Your toothpaste, toothbrushes, and scented soap—I had people imitate them. Now all of Lihuo is using them. Father likes them too."

With the Princess running the business, there were probably very few in Lihuo City who would dare imitate it. Once monopolized, this business was terrifyingly lucrative. Qin Yi could practically see a mountain of gold piled before him. No wonder Li Qingjun had seemed happier with each passing day lately; the gloom over her eldest brother's assassination and death was gradually fading.

Qin Yi smiled. "I see. It's good that your father likes them. As for the sales, there's no need to give me a share. Consider it payment for gathering those materials for me."

As he spoke, he turned back to continue working on the sword.

Li Qingjun watched his back, her eyes filled with admiration.

When they had first met, she had thought Qin Yi's calm demeanor at such a young age was an act. Only after getting to know him better did she realize that he was genuinely indifferent. He scarcely cared about wealth or his future. Every day, she only saw him refining pills and medicines, tempering his body; in the past two days, he had also begun making talismans. He never even left the house.

Had it been anyone else who had forged a good relationship with the Crown Prince and Princess, they probably would not have acted as Qin Yi did.

Amid the stifling, tense atmosphere of the capital, Li Qingjun could always find here the feeling closest to what she imagined the "Dao" to be.

That was why Li Qingjun also liked coming here. Aside from wanting to hear Journey to the West, somewhere in her daze, it also somewhat fulfilled her longing to seek immortals.

Qin Yi's attitude toward her was different as well. At the very least, though he had previously claimed to have "important matters" today in order to send people away, he no longer did that with her.

Even Liusu could see that Qin Yi's fondness for this reckless Princess was extraordinary.

"Big Brother's funeral is set for tomorrow. The National Teacher will perform a grand ritual then. They say the soul can enter the Heavenly Court." Li Qingjun sighed softly. "Sometimes... I wish what Dong Huazi said were true."

"Only human." Qin Yi finally finished arranging the sword and left the back courtyard. "Come on, let's go inside for a drink."

Following behind him, Li Qingjun said, "I also think that someone like you is the true National Teacher. Once Dong Huazi is driven away, you should become the National Teacher."

She had said something similar before, but her tone was now completely different.

"Me? I'm not cut out for it." Qin Yi smiled. "Would anyone acknowledge a National Teacher who hides in his room sleeping all day?"

Li Qingjun said, "Whether people acknowledge you or not, you don't need to do anything."

"Hm? Then what is needed?"

"Only... for us to say that you're capable."

Qin Yi's steps paused slightly, and he sighed. "I'm not the true National Teacher. You're the real thigh."

Li Qingjun drew her legs in. "Why do the things you say sometimes suddenly become so inexplicably lewd?"

"This... that isn't lewd."

"It's a body part, and you say it isn't lewd?"

"You think you're some review editor or something..."

The two of them chatted nonsense as they returned to the room. Qin Yi snapped his fingers, and a Wine Gourd came drifting leisurely over.

Only on closer inspection could one see the talisman paper stuck to the bottom of the gourd. It was really nothing more than a very low-level floating function; it did not even require Mana—internal energy was enough to activate it...

But using this to play immortal before ordinary people was simply too useful. Dong Huazi had played this trick with great finesse, and Qin Yi had specifically crammed it after learning about it.

The moment he learned it, he fell in love with it. He increasingly realized that Daoist arts were often not meant for fighting, but could replace manual labor and offer countless conveniences.

It was practically a divine art essential for lazy homebodies and travelers alike. He really wanted to cultivate immortality...

Li Qingjun was not surprised by the floating Wine Gourd either. She casually grabbed it and poured herself some wine, urging, "Journey to the West. Keep going, keep going."

Qin Yi felt that if he really told it like that, Ye Ling would probably cry if she found out, so he changed the subject. "I haven't seen your brother in three days. What has he been doing?"

"Every day, he's been dealing with attacks from the National Teacher's faction at court. They insist on pinning some suspicion on him." Li Qingjun looked displeased and said indignantly, "What's infuriating is that Father actually let them talk him into hesitating."

Qin Yi's eyes widened in astonishment. This was too outrageous, wasn't it? Was this king brain-dead? You only have this one son left, and you're still hesitating? Who exactly do you plan to pass the throne to?

"Still, there are plenty of Court Officials who support my brother. Today, he was officially named Crown Prince."

"Could you not pause so dramatically when you speak?"

"Is there really a difference?" Li Qingjun said softly. "In the end... Father trusts the National Teacher more than he trusts my brother."

Qin Yi fell silent.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard. Someone hurried in and called through the door, "Princess..."

It was the voice of one of Li Qingjun's own attendants. Li Qingjun found it strange. "What is it?"

"We've just received word that Western Wilderness Prince Mang Zhan has led a delegation here to mourn the Crown Prince. They have just arrived outside the western city gate."

Li Qingjun shot to her feet, her eyes blazing with fury. "They still dare to come!"

Before Qin Yi could react, Li Qingjun swept out the door like a gale, snatched the spear from her attendant's hand, and charged out of the Royal Palace.

"Fuck..." Only then did Qin Yi realize how serious this was. This girl wasn't planning to rush over and slaughter the Western Wilderness delegation outright, was she?! He was utterly speechless, but could only grab Liusu and race after her.

How had he ever thought this flat-chested, brainless little brute was pretty and cute? He really must have been blind.

He was not as fast as Li Qingjun. By the time he hurriedly caught up to the western city gate, the first thing he saw was a streak of silver light, like an Azure Hawk striking a palace hall, shooting toward an exceptionally burly, bearded man on horseback at the front of the procession.

Qin Yi could even see Li Qinglin riding alongside the bearded man, the stunned look on his face.

The next instant, a barrage of arrows rained down—and they were fired by the Nanli Army... They had no time to distinguish who the assassin was. They only knew they could not allow an envoy to be assassinated at their own city gate, especially when the assassin was most likely targeting Li Qinglin. How could they allow that?

Nanli's only Princess, at her own city gate, was met with a faceful of arrow rain from her own army... Then Nanli's newly appointed Crown Prince leaped into the air in helpless amusement, shouting for his subordinates to stop while scattering a skyful of spear-light, painstakingly blocking the arrow rain his own men had fired at his sister. Qin Yi truly had no idea how to describe this absurd scene. That little brute surely had not expected this before, had she?

Western Wilderness Crown Prince Mang Zhan was likewise left dumbfounded by the scene for a moment. But he reacted swiftly, snatching up the long spear hanging beside his horse and using it to block Li Qingjun's silver spear.

With a clang, spear and lance collided with a thunderous boom. Having just been shot at by her own side's arrow rain, Li Qingjun's momentum had already faltered. Mang Zhan was clearly no easy opponent either. Li Qingjun gained no advantage from this exchange; instead, she was knocked back.

With nowhere to brace herself in midair, she could only borrow the force of the impact and flip backward. The long lance clung to her like Bone-Adhering Gangrene, stabbing toward Li Qingjun's waist as she hung in the air.

He was an experienced general as well. When someone was tumbling through the air, they could still dodge in other directions, but the waist was the sole point from which they could exert force—and the one place they could not evade from.

At that very moment, Qin Yi's Wolf Tooth Club smashed viciously into the lance.