Madam Ye, You Wouldn't Want To

Gu Qingshan watched the carriage disappear into the distance, then turned to Ye Lingling.

"Come on. I'll take you to your mother."

Ye Lingling looked at him, her emerald-green eyes full of trust.

"Okay."

The inn Ye Lingling had mentioned was the only one in town, so it was easy to find.

But when Gu Qingshan stood at the entrance and swept his perception over the whole inn, his brows knitted slightly.

In a room on the second floor, by the window, he sensed an extremely faint presence.

Its life force was weak, like an oil lamp on the verge of burning out, liable to go dark at any moment.

Gu Qingshan glanced at Chrysanthemum Douluo, who gave a slight nod to show that he had sensed it too.

Gu Qingshan took Ye Lingling's hand and led her up the stairs, with Chrysanthemum Douluo following behind.

At the room's door, Gu Qingshan knocked.

"Who is it?" A woman's voice came from inside, weak but still tinged with its original clarity.

"Mom!" Ye Lingling called out happily.

The door opened.

A woman stood there, looking about thirty. She wore a plain white long dress with a pale green gauzy jacket over it.

She looked seven parts like Ye Lingling, with delicate, gentle features and a warm, tender air about her.

Her complexion was terrible.

Her face was pale, her lips nearly colorless, and dark circles shadowed her eyes. She looked as if she had just recovered from a grave illness—or as if she had been sick for a long time and still hadn't recovered.

But she had a fine figure. Even beneath her loose dress, her curvy frame was apparent, with a soft, slender waist and a generous bosom. Most striking of all were her legs: long and straight, their excellent proportions still visible beneath the dress.

But Gu Qingshan's attention wasn't on her figure. It was on her life force.

He activated his life-force perception.

Madam Ye: Life force 1200.

The side effect of the Nine Heart Begonia was more severe than he had imagined.

"Lingling, where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere! Why did you run off?" Madam Ye hugged her daughter, her voice choked with emotion.

"I didn't run off... I waited for you for so long, but you never came, so I wanted to find you... Then I ran into some bad people, and Brother Qingshan saved me."

Only then did Madam Ye notice the two people standing at the door.

One was a boy, not quite grown, wearing a black robe and chewing on something, his expression casual and at ease.

The other was a middle-aged man, tall and thin, with an effeminate face and heavy makeup. His hands were tucked into his sleeves.

Madam Ye's body stiffened slightly.

She recognized the emblem on the middle-aged man's clothes.

Spirit Hall.

Madam Ye's face turned even paler. She stood up and shielded Ye Lingling behind her, watching Gu Qingshan and Chrysanthemum Douluo warily.

"Thank you both for saving my daughter." Her voice had regained its composure, even carrying a hint of coolness. "May I ask who you are...?"

"We're from Spirit Hall," Gu Qingshan admitted openly. "I'm Gu Qingshan, and this is Elder Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum Douluo."

Madam Ye's pupils contracted slightly.

Chrysanthemum Douluo.

A Titled Douluo.

She had heard of him: an elder of Spirit Hall, a powerhouse at level ninety-five or higher. What was someone like him doing in such a remote little town?

"Lingling," Madam Ye asked, looking down at her daughter, "are you hurt?"

"No." Ye Lingling shook her head. "Brother Qingshan drove the bad people away."

Madam Ye looked at Gu Qingshan, then at Chrysanthemum Douluo. The wariness in her eyes didn't lessen at all.

"Thank you," she said again, but her manner was distinctly distant. "It'll be dark soon. If you don't mind, you can stay in town for the night and continue your journey tomorrow."

It was clearly a dismissal.

Chrysanthemum Douluo raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at Gu Qingshan.

Gu Qingshan stood in the doorway, looking at Madam Ye with a calm expression.

"Madam Ye, Lingling said she wants to attend Martial Soul Academy."

Madam Ye's expression changed at once.

"Lingling is still young. We can talk about that later." Her voice remained calm, but Gu Qingshan noticed her hand tighten slightly around Ye Lingling's.

"Mom, I want to go." Ye Lingling tilted her head up toward her mother, her emerald-green eyes full of hope. "I want to go to school with Brother Qingshan."

Madam Ye lowered her head and looked into her daughter's eyes. Her lips trembled slightly.

She crouched down and cupped her daughter's face in both hands. "Lingling, I've already arranged for you to attend Heaven Dou Royal Academy. The teachers are good there, and so is the environment. I'm sure you'll like it."

Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Gu Qingshan clicked his tongue inwardly.

Then he signaled Elder Chrysanthemum with his eyes.

Chrysanthemum Douluo understood.

An invisible aura surged from him, filling the entire corridor in an instant. The force made the paint on the walls peel slightly, and the windowpanes tremble faintly.

It was the aura of a Titled Douluo.

Madam Ye's expression changed. Was Spirit Hall going to force her?

Chrysanthemum Douluo's aura lasted only a single breath before he withdrew it.

"Madam Ye," Gu Qingshan said, "could we speak somewhere private?"

Madam Ye looked at him and hesitated, but finally nodded.

At the end of the corridor stood a window overlooking the town. The sun had nearly set, and only a streak of orange-red light remained along the horizon.

Madam Ye leaned against the window. She was very tall; even in flat cloth shoes, she stood a full 1.9 meters.

She looked down at the child who barely reached her waist. "What do you want to say?"

Her voice was still cool.

Gu Qingshan looked into her eyes and spoke slowly.

"Madam Ye, you wouldn't want your daughter to find out that you don't have long to live, would you?"

Madam Ye's pupils contracted sharply, and her breathing grew ragged.

Her lips parted, then closed; opened and closed again. After several attempts, she finally managed to force out a single sentence.

"Are you threatening me?"

Her voice trembled, but her gaze was hard.

Gu Qingshan shook his head and pointed to his eyes.

"I can see people's life force. Madam Ye, yours is down to just twelve hundred, about the same as that of a Soul Master at level twelve. But there's no way you're only at level twelve, so there's only one explanation: your life force is steadily draining away."

At his words, Madam Ye turned pale as paper.

She said nothing, but her silence was the clearest answer.

Gu Qingshan continued, "At the rate your life force is draining, you have at most three years left. When that time comes, Lingling will lose her mother."

"Enough." Madam Ye's voice was hoarse, her eyes already red.

"Madam Ye, I'm not trying to hurt you. I just want you to know that the flaw in the Nine Heart Begonia can be fixed."

Madam Ye's eyes flew wide open.

"What did you say?"

"I said the flaw in the Nine Heart Begonia can be fixed."

Gu Qingshan enunciated every word. "I know of an Immortal Herb that can heal the loss of life force suffered by those who inherit the Nine Heart Begonia, and even break the Nine Heart Begonia's 'curse.'"

"You... are you telling the truth?" Madam Ye's voice trembled.

"Of course. You wouldn't want Lingling to die from the Martial Soul 'curse' just like you, would you?"

Madam Ye took a deep breath. "What do you want?"

Gu Qingshan didn't beat around the bush.

"Lingling joins Spirit Hall Academy. I'll make sure she receives the best training, and I'll find a way to fix the flaw in the Nine Heart Begonia."

Madam Ye looked at Gu Qingshan for a long time.

In the eyes of this six-year-old child, she saw something that didn't belong to someone his age.

And she had no other choice.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy might be excellent, but it couldn't fix the flaw in the Nine Heart Begonia.

And she no longer had time to search slowly for an answer.

"Fine. I agree."