I Bought It, Picking Up the Future Heavenly Emperor

Qixia Town was located on the outskirts of the Qin Clan's territory, an unremarkable little town.

The buildings in the town were mostly made of green bricks and black tiles. The streets were sparsely populated, with the occasional cry of a peddler drifting through, making the place seem ordinary and tranquil.

Qin Wangchuan stood upon an Immortal Boat, already catching sight of the town's silhouette from afar.

He didn't actually need to come here himself; he could have simply sent someone to bring Ye Jianwei back.

But on the other hand, he was curious about the identity of that mysterious person.

"Your Highness, we snuck out without saying a word. Will there be...?" a guard behind him asked after a moment of hesitation.

"A word?" Qin Wangchuan shook his head. "Didn't we already say it?"

The group of guards exchanged glances, not understanding what he meant.

"If the Elders didn't allow it, how could we possibly be standing here?"

In an instant, everyone realized.

That was true.

Given the Qin Clan's methods, if they were truly forbidden from leaving, they would have been stopped long ago.

One had to know that other Young Masters were not allowed to leave the Qin Clan before the age of ten; this was just how much the Old Ancestor doted on Qin Wangchuan.

He wouldn't think to restrict him; he would only think to assign more guards.

Qin Wangchuan was dressed in a black brocade robe, with the jade pendant unique to the direct line of the Qin Clan hanging from his waist. The Chaos Immortal Light that usually swirled around him had been deliberately restrained, yet his eyes, deep as a sea of stars, still exuded an otherworldly aura.

Behind him, twenty Qin Clan guards stood in solemn silence. Each one was a top-tier expert, their auras restrained like an abyss.

With people like these.

Not to mention a border town, they could walk sideways even among the upper-class families.

"Young Master, we have arrived," one guard stepped forward and said respectfully.

Qin Wangchuan nodded slightly. He stood amidst the clouds, looking down at the town beneath his feet.

A composure that did not match his youthful face appeared on his features.

"Where is she?"

Long before he arrived, the experts of the Qin Clan had already secretly sealed off the entire town.

It was only because Qin Wangchuan feared disrupting the future that he had not allowed them to act rashly.

"She is right below."

The Flying Ship circled in the air, while the remaining guards transformed into streams of light and vanished into the void.

Qin Wangchuan kept only two people to accompany him closely, leading them as he stepped into Qixia Town.

On the street, passersby turned to look one after another.

A five-year-old child walking down the street was already eye-catching enough, let alone one dressed in luxurious attire with an extraordinary aura.

Added to that, the two guards behind him wore cold and stern expressions, their momentum as vast as a rainbow; they were clearly not servants from an ordinary household.

"Whose little young master is this? He's so handsome. Is he from out of town?"

"Shh, don't be nosy. Look at that clothing; I'm afraid he's a scion of a noble family..."

Although Upper Thousand Provinces was known as the Upper Realm, and the Ten Directions Immortal Court was a dream beyond the reach of countless cultivators, there were still people with low cultivation levels here.

They were the natives of this world.

Even though their innate talent was better than many people in Upper Thousand Provinces, they couldn't make any waves because the cultivation resources were firmly held in the hands of the Ten Great Imperial Clans.

At the crossroads in the town.

A few mud-stained copper coins were scattered on the damp bluestone slabs. Ye Jianwei sat kneeling on the edge of a straw mat, her fingertips fumbling for a Spirit Stone that a kind-hearted person had just dropped.

She could not see, but she could hear.

Her ears were filled with the whispers of passersby, carrying mockery, pity, and even a hint of contemptuous teasing.

"This blind girl is still selling herself to bury her mother? Who would want her?"

"I heard her mother used to be the top courtesan at Zuixian Pavilion. It's a pity she went mad later. It's better that she died; it saves her from being a burden."

"She's got a nice frame. If it weren't for the Ye Clan Young Master having already spoken up, buying her back to warm the bed wouldn't be bad."

"Exactly. The Ye Clan Young Master already said it: whoever dares to collect the corpse for this madwoman, he'll deal with them."

The discussion burrowed into her ears like venomous snakes.

Ye Jianwei pressed her pale lips tightly together and fumbled to tuck in the edge of the straw mat—her greyish-blue knuckles poked out from the gaps, with dried rouge congealed in her nail beds, like an unfinished last testament.

This was the final red makeup she had applied for her mother.

From the moment her mother breathed her last, Ye Jianwei knew that from this day forward, there was no one left in this world she could trust.

Even now, she still remembered everything that happened when her mother was dying.

A pair of cold, large hands gripped her shoulders tightly, and no matter how hard she struggled, she could not break free. A mournful cry, choked with sobs, rang in her ears: "Jianwei... you won't be able to survive on your own. Rather than suffering in this world, it would be better to come with me."

Everything that happened on that rainy night felt like a nightmare, one she had woken up from countless times.

She had wanted to leave with her mother, but in the end, she couldn't bear to let her mother's body be exposed in the street.

"Mother... just a little longer..." Ye Jianwei whispered, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible. "I'll come to see you soon..."

The whispering came to an abrupt halt.

"Quick! Up ahead!"

"Damn it, that little bastard actually dared to collect the corpse for that madwoman?"

"Big Brother let her off the hook last time, but this time, I'm going to cripple her!"

The iron hooves of the Crimson Flame Steeds shattered the bluestone slabs, sending sparks flying everywhere.

Vendors on both sides of the street scrambled to pack up their stalls, and pedestrians scattered like a receding tide. Several children were knocked to the ground, yet no one dared to make a sound—the Ye Clan Third Young Master had always been this overbearing whenever he traveled.

The Ye Clan!

Ye Jianwei shuddered, hearing the familiar thunderous approach of hooves.

Her thin, small body instinctively threw itself over the straw mat, her hands clawing frantically, trying to roll her mother up and take her away.

But she was too small—so small that she couldn't even tug at the hem of her mother's clothes.

In just a moment, the sparks spewed by the Crimson Flame Steeds had already reached her.

Dozens of Ye Clan cultivators dismounted aggressively. At their lead was a man in brocade robes with a sinister face and a sword at his waist that glinted with a biting cold light.

The man was Ye Li, the Third Young Master of the Ye Clan.

Though his name contained the word "courtesy," he spent his days helping his eldest brother with all manner of bullying and depravity.

Ye Li's gaze locked onto Ye Jianwei like a viper, and he suddenly let out a harsh, cold laugh: "I said no one was allowed to collect her corpse. It seems you don't hold my Ye Clan in any regard at all!"

As he spoke, his eyes shifted to the wooden sign beside her that read "Selling Myself to Bury My Mother."

Ye Li sneered as he raised his foot to crush the sign, then used his riding crop to roughly lift Ye Jianwei's chin: "Oh, oh, oh, trying to sell yourself to bury your mother, are you? With that shriveled body of yours, no one would want you even if you paid them to take you..."

Before his voice had even faded, a cold, clear child's voice suddenly pierced through the clamor:

"I'll buy her."

Ye Jianwei's hollow eyes contracted sharply.

She didn't know if it was her imagination, but the moment she heard those words—

The surrounding bustling market suddenly fell into an eerie silence. Even the wind seemed to freeze.

It was as if...

A beam of light had suddenly shone down.