Are you really Xue Qinghe?

# Chapter 9: Your Name Really Is Xue Qinghe?

"You say your name is what?"

Lin Yan crouched at the edge of the cliff, his tail no longer swaying, staring at the white-clad youth before him. His light-golden cat pupils narrowed slightly.

The white-clad youth was caught off guard by his reaction.

"Xue Qinghe."

He paused, then repeated himself.

"What, is there something wrong?"

Wrong.

Of course there was something wrong.

And very wrong at that.

A flurry of thoughts raced through Lin Yan's mind.

The name Xue Qinghe was far too familiar to him.

Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Son of Emperor Xue Ye.

Outwardly gentle, courteous to the worthy, unfathomably deep in scheming—one of the most heavily featured figures in the early part of the original story.

But the problem was, that was only the surface identity.

Dig one layer deeper, and the person sitting inside this shell wasn't Xue Qinghe at all—it was Qian Renxue.

Thinking this, Lin Yan glanced again at the white-clad youth before him.

His face was masculine.

His aura was also well-concealed.

If it were any ordinary soul master, they'd probably take him for the Heaven Dou crown prince.

But Lin Yan was different.

He'd spent so long in Martial Soul City before this. If nothing else, he'd grown very familiar with that sacred yet sharp scent of the Angel Lineage.

Especially that move just now in the Black Marsh.

When that golden feather blade had slashed out, although the soul power aura had flashed and vanished in an instant, that pure sacred attribute was absolutely not something the white swans of the Heavenly Dou Royal Family could possess.

The Heavenly Dou Royal Family's martial soul was inherited from the Swan Lineage.

And the Six-Winged Angel existed only in the Qian Family.

Add to that the familiar scent on the other party—deeply hidden, yet still faintly seeping through...

Lin Yan already had his answer.

He didn't rush to speak, just stared at the other for a few breaths.

The white-clad youth was also looking at him.

The mountain wind blew past, and the cliffside fell into a momentary silence.

After a moment, Lin Yan suddenly spoke.

"There's naturally nothing wrong with the name Xue Qinghe."

"But if I'm not mistaken, someone from the Heavenly Dou Royal Family couldn't use the kind of move you just did."

The white-clad youth's pupils contracted sharply.

His right hand instinctively pressed against the golden feather blade hidden in his sleeve.

The aura that had already relaxed somewhat tightened again.

"What are you trying to say?"

Lin Yan looked at him, his tone carrying no fluctuation.

"The lineage of Emperor Xue Ye mostly inherits the Swan martial soul."

"But what you have is a sacred attribute."

"And a very pure one at that."

"Add that feather blade... across the entire continent, the only ones who could use something like that as a trump card are the Qian Family of Martial Soul Hall. I can't think of a second."

He paused here.

Then naturally added the second half.

"So, are you really Xue Qinghe?"

"Or rather—"

"Should I be calling you Her Highness Qian Renxue?"

The moment his words fell, the white-clad youth's entire body stiffened.

The next moment, he abruptly stepped back half a pace, golden light flashing in his hand as that feather blade fell back into his palm.

The atmosphere shifted instantly.

If the previous exchange had been mere probing, this was now genuine wariness.

Lin Yan could tell that the other party was already prepared to strike again at any moment.

Even if his soul power clearly hadn't recovered much, that didn't stop him from setting up his stance first.

"Who exactly are you?"

The white-clothed youth's voice dropped low, all trace of his earlier gentle tone gone.

"How do you know these things?"

Lin Yan didn't answer immediately.

It wasn't that he was deliberately being cryptic, but rather that a prompt had just popped up in his mind from the system.

[Ding, detected a fate node character.]

[Name: Qian Renxue.]

[Disguised identity: Xue Qinghe.]

[Current status: Vigilant, probing, soul power depleted.]

[Fate tragedy index: High.]

[Current probability of establishing contact: 63%.]

Seeing these lines, Lin Yan's confidence grew even more solid.

He hadn't misjudged.

It was her.

On Qian Renxue's side, seeing this white cat stay silent for so long while its aura grew calmer instead, her heart only sank further.

Few people knew her identity.

Even fewer knew that "Xue Qinghe" was just a shell, with her inside.

And this cat before her not only knew, but could call it out directly.

Most crucially, it seemed very familiar with the Six-Winged Angel and the Qian Family.

That was highly unusual.

"Speak."

Qian Renxue stared at Lin Yan, not lowering the feather blade in her hand.

"If you don't make things clear, I can't just pretend nothing happened."

Lin Yan looked up at her.

Then, very casually, he sat down and lifted a front paw to lick it.

His demeanor couldn't have been more relaxed.

Qian Renxue: "..."

For some reason, seeing this cat still in the mood to lick its paw at a time like this, her tightly wound nerves were inexplicably disrupted.

Lin Yan finally sent a slow telepathic message.

[If you really wanted to fight, you'd have tried back at the edge of the Black Marsh.]

[And if I truly meant you harm, I wouldn't have carried you on my back all night.]

The words were blunt.

And they made sense.

Qian Renxue's hand gripping the feather blade paused slightly.

Lin Yan continued:

[As for how I know.]

[Simple.]

[That move of yours was too conspicuous.]

[The Heavenly Dou Royal Family's Swan Martial Soul doesn't have such overbearing sacred power. Add to that your face—your male disguise is decent, but some details are still too fine.]

[If you were really Xue Qinghe, I wouldn't have thought in this direction.]

Qian Renxue's expression shifted slightly.

She clearly hadn't expected that her disguise would be exposed through these details.

But she quickly realized that what he said might not be entirely true.

At the very least, "seeing through an identity based on just that" still sounded too far-fetched.

Regardless, this cat probably had no ill intentions for now.

She could still judge that much.

Otherwise, there had been plenty of chances along the way for the other party to simply shake her off.

Thinking this, Qian Renxue finally loosened her grip slightly.

That feather blade shrank back down and was withdrawn into her sleeve.

"You know too much."

She looked at Lin Yan, her tone still calm.

"What happened today cannot be spread."

Lin Yan nodded.

"Don't worry, I have no interest in the crown prince's position."

"And no interest in that fake face of yours either."

Qian Renxue was startled at first, then her gaze turned slightly cold.

"You—"

Before she could finish, Lin Yan waved a paw.

"Alright, alright, don't look at me like that."

"I saved you, and you saved me."

"If we're really counting, we're about even halfway at best."

That wasn't false.

In that battle at the Black Marsh, if not for Qian Renxue's final feather blade landing a heavy blow on the Marshwing Blood Leech, relying on Lin Yan's own momentary trap alone, it wouldn't have been so easy to escape afterward.

So Qian Renxue heard this and didn't refute it.

The cliffside fell silent for another two breaths.

One person and one cat stared at each other for a moment, the atmosphere suddenly turning a bit awkward.

In the end, Lin Yan broke the silence first.

"My name is Meow Meow."

"You don't have to keep calling me 'Your Excellency.' Just call me that directly."

Qian Renxue's brow lifted slightly at this.

"Meow Meow?"

She clearly found the name a bit odd.

But thinking that his original form was a cat, it didn't seem too off.

So she just nodded.

"Fine."

"Then you can still call me Qinghe."

Lin Yan glanced at her, understanding in his heart.

This was her reminding him that the matter of identity could only stop here.

So he didn't undercut her, simply agreeing readily.

"Alright, Qinghe it is."

The matter of names was settled.

Qian Renxue finally stopped staring him down, and after a moment of silence, she reached to her waist, pulled out a thin golden feather, and handed it to Lin Yan.

It was only the size of a palm, like a feather piece forged from some metal, its edges extremely thin, with a faint golden light flowing within.

Lin Yan took one look and knew it was no ordinary item.

"What's this for?"

Qian Renxue's tone was steady.

"A gift of thanks."

"You helped me escape. Keeping this on you can somewhat block evil influences and spiritual attacks."

"If you encounter danger, you can also crush it. It holds a trace of my soul power inside."

Lin Yan's eyes lit up slightly.

This thing was good.

Clearly something condensed from the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, it could counter evil and protect the spirit. In Douluo Continent, it would definitely be a rare life-saving item.

But he didn't reach for it immediately.

Not because he didn't want it.

But because he suddenly remembered that line from the template—

Receiving gifts alone wasn't enough.

He needed to push the relationship a step further.

Besides, the system still hadn't triggered a "connection established" prompt.

With that thought, Lin Yan had a clear idea in mind.

He looked up at Qian Renxue and spoke slowly.

"Just one feather?"

Qian Renxue: "..."

She stared at the white cat whose expression clearly said, "Aren't you being a bit stingy?" and suddenly found herself at a loss for words.

This was a protective feather she had condensed from her Six-Winged Angel spirit power.

Not just any ordinary soul master—even some Soul Ancestors and Soul Kings might never get their hands on something like this.

Yet in this cat's mouth, it became "just one feather."

After a moment, she suppressed the odd feeling and spoke.

"What else do you want?"

Lin Yan didn't answer right away. Instead, he reached out a paw, hooked the Golden Feather over, turned it over a couple of times to confirm it was indeed a good item, and then stowed it away into the Calming Bell with satisfaction.

Only then did he continue.

"I'll take the thing."

"But this thanks isn't enough."

Qian Renxue narrowed her eyes slightly.

"You want to back out?"

"Not at all."

Lin Yan flicked his tail, his tone natural.

"It's just that my soul power is pretty much drained right now, and I need a place to rest."

"The Black Marsh area isn't safe. You can't expect the cat that just saved you to go find a cave to sleep in on its own, can you?"

He said it so smoothly that Qian Renxue couldn't find a flaw for a moment.

She had thought the cat would use this chance to make some more troublesome request, but after all that circling, it just wanted a safe place to rest.

Yet that made her feel an indescribable subtlety.

Because the request was too reasonable.

So reasonable that if she refused, it would make her seem heartless.

Lin Yan clearly saw her hesitation and pressed on.

"Besides, you've already been exposed to me today."

"If you're really uneasy, keeping me under your watch is surely safer than letting me run around on my own, isn't it?"

Qian Renxue's heart stirred slightly at those words.

Indeed.

This cat was too special.

Fast, good at hiding, could use telepathy, and even wielded time-related abilities.

Most importantly, it already knew her secret.

If she let it go on its own, she could never be completely at ease.

With that in mind, the scales in her heart gradually tipped.

But her mouth still asked one more question.

"If I take you with me, aren't you afraid I'll turn hostile?"

Lin Yan looked up at her.

"If you really wanted to turn hostile, you'd have done it back then."

"And besides—"

He paused deliberately here.

"I don't think you're that kind of person."

Those words were light.

Yet they made Qian Renxue freeze for a brief moment.

Over the years, she had heard too many people call her clever, praise her methods, say she was decisive, or even call her cold-blooded and ruthless.

But "you're not that kind of person"—those were words she hadn't heard from anyone in a long time.

Let alone from a cat.

Lin Yan, of course, had no idea what was running through her mind.

He simply felt that, at a time like this, saying something nice was very necessary.

Sure enough, after a moment of silence, Qian Renxue still nodded.

"Not far ahead, there's a temporary place where I've been staying."

"If you don't mind, you can go there to recover first."

Lin Yan's heart lit up.

It worked.

But on the surface, he kept his cool, just flicking his tail lightly.

"Then let's go."

"I'd like to see what kind of place the Crown Prince usually stays in when out and about."

Qian Renxue paused mid-step and turned to look at him.

"I told you, outside, just call me Qinghe."

Lin Yan nodded.

"Alright, Qinghe."

"Then you don't have to look at me like I'm a threat either. We're practically comrades who escaped the Black Marsh together now."

Qian Renxue didn't respond to that, simply turning and walking ahead.

Lin Yan watched her back, couldn't help but click his tongue inwardly.

"This personality, she's really a bit like Her Holiness the Pope."

"Both stubborn, both wary, both hard-mouthed."

"No wonder those two ended up making a mess of their mother-daughter relationship later."

As that thought crossed his mind, a prompt finally rang in his system.

[Beep. Connection with fate node character "Qian Renxue" is being established.]

[Current connection level: Preliminary.]

[Recommendation: Continue contact to build trust.]

Lin Yan looked at the prompt, and his mood lifted even more.

Great.

This trip was worth it.

Saved the person.

Got the line in.

Got the gift too.

As long as he kept moving forward from here, Qian Renxue's side would likely slowly open up.

Then the line into Martial Soul Hall wouldn't just be Bibi Dong anymore.

With that thought, Lin Yan quickly caught up.

Qian Renxue walked slowly ahead.

Probably mindful that he had just finished a fight and hadn't recovered his soul power.

The two of them moved one after the other, heading north along the other side of the cliff.

The night had already faded.

A faint whiteness was showing at the edge of the sky.

Wind passed through the mountains, rustling the leaves.

After walking for a while, Lin Yan spoke up again.

"Qinghe."

"Hm?"

"If you ever run into something like this again, you'd better not go charging into the Black Marsh alone."

Qian Renxue's steps faltered slightly.

"You sure have a wide range of concerns."

Lin Yan said matter-of-factly.

"I just think, if you ended up getting yourself killed out here, wouldn't all my effort today have been for nothing?"

Qian Renxue heard that, and the corner of her lips twitched faintly.

The movement was tiny.

Almost imperceptible.

But Lin Yan still caught it.

"Oh."

"So you can smile after all?"

"Looks like this young master isn't stone-faced every second of the day."

He didn't say it out loud, though.

Some things were fine to keep in mind; saying them outright would only spoil the mood.

They walked a bit further, and then Qian Renxue suddenly stopped.

Ahead lay a misty forest.

The fog wasn't thick, but it just barely covered most of the mountain pass.

To an ordinary person looking from outside, it would seem like just a normal stretch of woods.

But the moment Lin Yan got close, his eyes flickered slightly.

"A formation?"

Qian Renxue turned her head to glance at him.

This time, she was genuinely a little surprised.

"You can even tell that?"

Lin Yan licked his paw, trying his best not to look too professional.

"A little."

"Compared to you, I'm definitely far off."

"But this place ahead—its aura is hidden really well. Must be pretty big inside, right?"

Qian Renxue didn't answer right away. Instead, she stepped forward, raised a hand, and lightly tapped the mist.

The next moment, the fog seemed to part as if someone had pulled it open, slowly revealing a path.

Lin Yan's pupils contracted slightly.

Not because the technique was all that profound.

But because what emerged from behind the mist was clearly no ordinary resting spot.

Inside was a secluded courtyard hidden in the mountains.

Small.

But very quiet.

Outside the yard, there was water, trees, and neatly trimmed stone steps. Even the flow of soul power around it was smoother than outside by more than a notch.

Clearly, this place had been maintained for a long time.

"Damn."

"And this is what she calls a temporary stop?"

"That 'temporary' of the Martial Soul Hall's young master sure carries some weight."

Lin Yan sighed inwardly, but on the surface, he just followed her in without changing his expression.

Qian Renxue turned back to look at him.

"What, afraid to enter?"

Lin Yan immediately lifted his paw.

"Are you kidding?"

"I'm a cat. What's there to be afraid of?"

With that, he strode boldly into the courtyard behind the misty forest.

Qian Renxue watched this white cat walk in as if he owned the place. The wariness in her eyes hadn't completely faded, but it was noticeably lighter than at the start.

No matter how she looked at it.

So far, this cat hadn't done a single thing to harm her.

If anything, she was the one who owed more and more.

And Lin Yan clearly had no intention of giving her time to dwell on it. As soon as he entered the yard, he looked left and right, then casually picked a clean spot under the eaves and crouched down.

"Alright."

"Let me catch my breath first."

"I ran so hard this whole way my legs don't even feel like my own anymore."

Qian Renxue looked at him, silent for a long moment, before finally speaking.

"Once I've recovered enough, I'll tell you why I appeared in the Black Marsh."

Lin Yan's ears twitched.

"Deal."

After saying that, he paused, then added another sentence.

"Of course, if you're willing to tell me a little something else on the side, I wouldn't mind that either."

Qian Renxue ignored him, simply turning and walking toward the courtyard.

Lin Yan crouched where he was, watching her retreating figure, his tail lightly tapping the ground.