Leaving the Mountains

"Are you really going out with them?"

Once he had decided to leave, there was no need for any pretentious hesitation. He could simply pack his belongings and go.

In the room, Qin Yi was packing. The Wolf Tooth Club leaned against the wall as Liusu watched him bustle about and asked leisurely.

Qin Yi replied casually, "Isn't this exactly what you wanted? Haven't you kept saying the medicine wasn't enough and the furnace wouldn't do, trying to talk me into going out?"

"Heh." Liusu sneered. "I wanted you to go out for broader horizons and greater resources, not to wade into conflict—especially when it involves the powerful National Teacher. With the little ability you have now, you wouldn't even know how you died."

"So?" Qin Yi stopped packing and said coldly, "What if Dong Huazi sends people again to bury that so-called Demon Transformation Poisonous Mist? If there's a first time, there'll be a second. If the source isn't removed, how can there ever be peace? Before, I had no way to get close to the National Teacher. This time, I can borrow the Li Family Siblings' influence. It might be the best way to settle everything once and for all."

Liusu said indifferently, "You're leaving anyway. Why care about this place? Honestly, it would be better if someone destroyed this village. Then you'd have nothing left to worry about."

Qin Yi narrowed his eyes at the Wolf Tooth Club, considering whether to stuff it into the stinking ditch behind the house and give it a good roll.

Liusu immediately sensed his ill intent and hurriedly said, "Fine, fine. Even if it's for avenging the original owner of this body and clearing your mind, you still need to kill your enemy. Otherwise, if you cultivate immortality, you'll most likely develop a heart demon."

"Enemy? I think he might want to kill you even more." Qin Yi shot it a glare.

Liusu gave two dry laughs. "He was going to die anyway back then. That doesn't count as me killing him. Besides, you ruined my good thing. What right do you have to glare at me?"

And you wanted to eat me, too? Qin Yi could not be bothered with it and turned back to his packing.

There were all sorts of miscellaneous medicines he had refined these days to gain experience. He likely would not refine them again in the future. They looked useless, but he had to bring them along; who knew when they might come in handy...

He turned and opened the hidden compartment beside the bed. Inside lay several taels of silver and a blue-covered secret manual. The manual had no name. It had belonged to the original owner of this body, and Qin Yi called it the Nameless Secret Manual.

Originally, Qin Yi had thought that since the original owner had practiced it until his teens without achieving anything remarkable, it was probably some low-grade manual. But he had discovered that the book's material was exceedingly peculiar, like those martial arts novels described—impervious to water and fire, impossible to cut with a blade. A manual recorded on such material should not contain some low-level art. As Liusu had judged, either the original owner had practiced it incorrectly, or the foundations of this technique were exceptionally difficult.

Martial arts had prospects in this world as well. Judging by Li Qinglin, ordinary immortal cultivators might not necessarily be able to defeat him. And if one encountered an opportunity, there could be other paths of development. Since Qin Yi did not yet dare learn immortal cultivation from Liusu, practicing martial arts was the best means of self-preservation. Besides, carrying a Wolf Tooth Club while training in martial arts somehow made them feel like quite the matching pair...

Liusu did not look down on martial arts from the lofty heights of immortal cultivation and urge him not to practice. Instead, it taught him how to prepare the medicinal ingredients needed to temper his body, as well as club techniques. Perhaps it had the same thoughts.

One man and one club had shared a room for over two months. Neither could let outsiders know their secrets. Whatever reservations and wariness they held toward each other, they could be considered the closest companions either had in this world, though that closeness was somewhat unusual.

When they left, the Li siblings led their horses on foot, while Qin Yi, who had no horse, walked beside them.

"The first thing we'll do after getting out is buy Brother Qin a horse." Li Qinglin sounded somewhat apologetic. "I failed to consider it properly before coming."

Qin Yi asked curiously, "I can tell you must come from a wealthy and powerful family. Anyone who can oppose the National Teacher is no ordinary person. Yet the two of you came out alone without even a guard. Aren't you afraid something might happen?"

Li Qinglin smiled. "My household is somewhat different. We have always encouraged our descendants to gain experience and face the wind and waves."

Qin Yi glanced at Li Qingjun. "What if your younger brother had come looking for trouble with me last night and accidentally gotten himself killed in my trap?"

Li Qingjun flew into a rage and wanted to retort, but then she remembered that if Qin Yi had truly wanted to kill someone yesterday, she probably really would have died. If he had wanted to do anything else, it would likely have been even worse... With a bellyful of words trapped inside, her pretty face flushed crimson.

Li Qinglin found his sister's expression rather surprising. He had naturally assumed Qin Yi had been taught a lesson by his sister, but judging from her appearance now, it was actually she who had suffered last night? Qin Yi appeared to have only reached body tempering. How had he managed it?

Perhaps Fangshi truly had some tricks up their sleeves.

The thought passed through his mind, but Li Qinglin merely smiled. "Even if Qing Jun had been harmed by Brother Qin last night, she could only blame herself for lacking skill. Of course, I would have killed Brother Qin to avenge my sister." After a pause, he added, "Also, Qing Jun is a woman. At this point, there is naturally no need to hide it from Brother Qin... Though perhaps Brother Qin had already seen through it."

Li Qingjun snorted and turned her head away.

Qin Yi shook his head. "Your household really is... strange."

As they spoke, some villagers spotted Qin Yi heading out and called to him. "Little Qin, are you going out to have some fun? When will you be back?"

Qin Yi pointed at the luggage on the horse's back. "I'm planning to go out and make my way in the world."

The moment he said this, a whole group of villagers put down what they were doing and swarmed around him.

"You're really leaving the village?"

"What a pity. I was planning to marry my Little Peach Blossom off to you..."

"What's so good about the outside world..."

"Leaving the village is good, leaving the village is good! Does that mean I don't have to repay the four coins I owe you for medicine?"

Cold sweat streamed down Qin Yi's back.

"Move aside, all of you! Move aside!" An old man squeezed into the crowd, rapping his smoking pipe in a circle. "What kind of bullshit are you all spouting?"

As he spoke, his old eyes swept back and forth over the Li siblings, his face full of distrust. "Have you thought this through? City folk are rotten to the core. Don't get sold off and still help them count the money."

Li Qinglin smiled without arguing. Qin Yi could only say, "Don't worry, Uncle Xu. I know what I'm doing."

The old man took several puffs from his pipe and let out a breath. "As long as you've thought it through. You're so young, and you've got learning. Your family... well, there's no one at home who needs looking after anymore. What kind of damn business is it, cooping yourself up in the mountains all day? You should have gone out and made a name for yourself long ago."

Then voices erupted all around them. "That's right! I've long said Little Qin shouldn't hole up in this mountain ravine..."

"When you get sick of being out there, come back anytime. My Little Peach Blossom can wait for you a few years..."

"We'll keep your courtyard for you. Whoever dares take it over, we'll break his legs!"

Li Qinglin's smile became rather meaningful. From everything he had seen and heard along the way, nearly everyone had deliberately guided clues toward Qin Yi. Clearly, they wanted outsiders to discover that Qin Yi was extraordinary and take him out of the mountains.

This place was interesting. Qin Yi had deliberately drawn outsiders here to seek immortals, while the villagers had deliberately drawn outsiders' attention to Qin Yi. Their ways of thinking differed, yet each had their own calculations.

Could it be that Qin Yi was unpopular in the village, and people wanted to drive him away? Li Qinglin did not think so. There might be another reason.

Qin Yi also found it strange. The original owner of this body and he himself clearly had completely different styles, yet the villagers seemed not to have noticed any difference at all. Were they simply too honest and simple-hearted?

He did not think much more about it. He clasped his hands and bowed to the crowd. "Thank you all for looking after me these many years. Immortal Trace Village is my home. If Qin Yi has the time, I'll come back to visit everyone. Once Little Peach Blossom gets married, save Little Little Peach Blossom for me..."

The crowd exploded in fury. "Get lost! Have you no shame?"

Amid the uproar, the old man surnamed Xu spoke again. "What are you coming back for? If you do well, don't come back. If you don't, there'll always be a bowl of food for you here."

With that, he turned around and led over an old horse from the side. "This horse doesn't have much life left in it either. Take it and ride it out. I hope you don't ride it back. Get lost, get lost, get lost!"

Even if it did not have much life left, it was still a horse. Uncle Xu normally treasured it like anything, yet now he was giving it away just like that.

Qin Yi took a deep breath and said no more. He bowed deeply to the ground, then swung himself onto the horse.

Li Qinglin gave the little village one last meaningful look, then mounted with his sister. The three horses faced the morning sun and slowly left the village.

"I still haven't asked, Brother Li. Where are we headed?"

"The capital of the Nanli Kingdom, Lihuo City."

One who had encountered an Immortal Opportunity yet rejected immortality, one who yearned day and night to seek immortality, and one who did not believe immortals existed at all left the mountain village rumored to have immortals together and stepped into the mortal world.