Meeting the Mysterious Person

The rain stains on the bluestone path had yet to dry, reflecting the hem of the youth's black brocade robe.

Qin Wangchuan lowered his eyes to look at the blind girl who would one day become the Zither Heavenly Emperor. At this moment, however, she was like a drenched fledgling, trembling even as she accepted a gift.

He suddenly smiled.

With such character, it was no wonder she could become a Heavenly Emperor in the future.

"My name is Qin Wangchuan." He bent down to pick up the bags of Spirit Crystals that had been pushed back, and together with a warm jade pendant, he forcefully pressed them into her palm. "Come with me."

"From now on, your life belongs to me, and you shall live only for me."

The jade pendant felt warm to the touch. The front was engraved with the character "Qin," and the back with the character "Nine."

Ye Jianwei traced the patterns, feeling dazed as the warmth from the jade spread from her fingertips to her heart, melting the ice left behind by that rainy night.

"Qin... Wangchuan?" she murmured, repeating the name as if to carve these three words into her very bones and blood.

Qin Wangchuan did not respond to Ye Jianwei's soft whisper. He turned his head to the guards beside him and said indifferently, "Clean up the bodies and prepare a coffin."

"Also, once we return, each of you may choose one item from my Treasure Pavilion."

As soon as he finished speaking, the eyes of the two guards erupted with wild joy.

"Thank you, Young Master!"

The guards hidden in the shadows gritted their teeth, their eyes flashing with envious resentment.

Spirit Crystals were merely a cultivation resource, distributed by the family every month.

But the items in the Young Master's Treasure Pavilion were all one-of-a-kind treasures!

Anything he had no use for, even if tossed out casually, could stir up a storm of blood and carnage.

Even now, a sliver of rosy light leaked from the slightly open gap of the Spirit Crystal bag, causing the surrounding cultivators to collectively hold their breath.

Their eyes revealed obvious shock and greed. If the scene that had just unfolded hadn't been so terrifying, they likely would have swarmed them already.

Ye Jianwei was still kneeling on the ground, stunned, her eye sockets burning.

Her mother would not have to be left exposed in the wilderness; this was better than anything else.

Qin Wangchuan stood still for a moment, his gaze sweeping across his surroundings.

According to the trajectory in the simulation, that mysterious person who bestows the Nine Heavens Zither Emperor Sutra should be arriving soon.

Helping Ye Jianwei to her feet, Qin Wangchuan said:

"Wait a little longer."

"Next, I am waiting for one person, to annihilate one clan."

Hesitating for a moment, Ye Jianwei suddenly gripped the corner of her clothes, her voice trembling:

"Young Master... we should leave first. You killed people from the Ye Clan; they will be here very soon..."

Her fingertips gently rubbed the character "Nine" on the Jade Pendant, her voice growing lower: "My mother offended them before and was struck to death. They even forbade anyone from collecting her body or intervening, otherwise..."

Ye Jianwei could not see, and she knew even less what kind of purgatory lay before her.

If she had known, she likely would not have said such things.

Qin Wangchuan nodded, sighing, "A small clan is quite arrogant."

"No! It's not a small clan, the Ye Clan... is very powerful."

Ye Jianwei's shoulders shrank back involuntarily, as if recalling something terrifying: "So many people died, so we should also..."

The two guards standing nearby nearly laughed out loud upon hearing this.

A clan from a border town, even if ten, a hundred, or ten thousand of them came, they could be suppressed with a mere wave of the hand.

Not to mention that this was still within the territory of the Qin Clan.

"Rest assured, it will be fine."

Qin Wangchuan interrupted her and suddenly looked toward the end of the long street—

Mist swirled over the bluestone slabs as a man in a coir raincape walked over with steady steps.

He was a man of about thirty, with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes. Behind his back was a fortune teller's banner, and hanging at his waist was a bamboo tube, inside which copper coins rattled.

"Little girl..." He walked up to Ye Jianwei and lifted his bamboo hat, just about to speak, when his pupils suddenly constricted—in the divination, where there should have been only one person, there was now a five-year-old child!

The child was dressed in black, watching him with a profound gaze that did not match his age.

The man in the coir raincape's long fingers instinctively formed a seal, but this calculation failed to reveal anything at all.

The heavenly secrets were chaotic; there was no destiny to be found.

It was as if what sat there was not a living person, but a sharp sword that had severed the river of fate!

"Strange..." A look of shock appeared on his bronze-colored face. Having traveled the Three Thousand Provinces for thousands of years, he had never encountered a destiny that was completely impossible to calculate.

"Forget it."

"Two little ones, I have a cultivation technique here. Considering that you two share a connection with me, who wants it?"

The fortune teller's gaze wandered between the two. He was only responsible for giving the technique away; as for who received it, it did not matter.

He felt certain in his heart: It will definitely be the boy who wants it.

The boy looked more mature, and the blind girl could not see; naturally, she would not know the value of this item.

But the next second, he guessed wrong.

"Give it to her," Qin Wangchuan said indifferently.

"Oh?" The Fortune Teller became interested, raising the jade slip in his hand. "Do you know what this cultivation technique in my hand is?"

"I do not."

"Then why don't you want it?"

"It is more suitable for her."

"What if I told you this is a supreme treasure capable of changing one's destiny?"

"Then give it to her all the same."

Then give it to her all the same.

Those four short words were like a fire, burning Ye Jianwei's chest until it felt hot.

She came from humble beginnings. It was precisely because of her low status that she had seen so much darkness; a technique that this man treated with such solemnity must be a rare treasure.

Yet, he hadn't shown even a hint of hesitation, just like that, nonchalantly yielding it to her.

—Why?

Was it because she was too weak? Or because he felt pity for her? Or perhaps... he actually didn't care about this so-called "supreme treasure" at all?

But regardless of the reason, it shouldn't be like this.

She had seen too many people fight until they were covered in blood over a few Spirit Stones or a bit of food, even going so far as to harm their own kin or turn brothers into enemies.

But now...

Ye Jianwei gripped the jade slip the Fortune Teller had handed her, her knuckles turning white. Her heart felt as if it were being tightly squeezed by something, leaving it aching and swollen.

—So, there really is someone who would treat her this way.

Not out of charity, not out of pity, but... truly willing to give good things to her.

She suddenly felt her eyes grow hot and quickly lowered her head, afraid he would see her lose her composure.

In reality, however, Qin Wangchuan's purpose in saying these things was very simple.

She was already his person, so what difference did it make who he gave it to?

The Fortune Teller was unaware of this. He let out a soft chuckle and stepped forward, intending to take a closer look at this unusual youth.

But how could the two guards allow him to get any closer?

The Fortune Teller twirled his fingertips, his gaze shifting slightly. Although he could not divine Qin Wangchuan's fate, the origins of the two guards emerged clearly within the hexagrams flowing between his fingers.

He raised an eyebrow, whispering with a cryptic smile:

"So, it's the Qin Clan."

His tone was indifferent, yet it carried a hint of profound meaning.

"I still owe your Old Ancestor a favor. Tell you what—I have a Six-Character Sword Formula here. I'll gift it to you."

"Young man, learn the sword."

The Fortune Teller seemed to see something through Qin Wangchuan. He began to chant aloud, his free-spirited and unconstrained voice echoing throughout the entire intersection.

"The swordsman—"

"A single blade spans the heavens, chilling the stars; a lonely edge once illuminated the sorrows of the ages. Let the prodigies of the world vie for glory, I stand unmoved—above the clouds!"