Taken away by her emotions, Ye Liubo tried to kiss him again, but Li Qingshan blocked her with his hand. He smiled. “It’ll be up to your performance then.”
Xiao An was currently staring at them in great interest. He could not lead children astray after all.
Returning to the surface, the sunlight was blinding.
“Xiao An, how did your forging go?”
“I only forged a single prayer bead.” Xiao An counted the five prayer beads in the centre of her hand.
“That’s fine. Take it slowly.”
Li Qingshan rubbed her long, seaweed-like hair. Xiao An raised her head, and her dark pupils reflected his ordinary appearance.
Li Qingshan rubbed his cheek. Ah, the life of a handsome man is no different from dreaming!
……
“Where have you been during this time? What were you doing?”
On the highest floor in the Hawkwolf Guard of Clear River city, the floor-to-ceiling windows flooded the entire room with sunlight, but Wang Pushi, who sat in the high-back chair, remained as cold-faced and stern as ever. He studied Li Qingshan before him. He was unable to imagine what extraordinary aspect of him could earn him such a special appraisal from Gu Yanying.
Because he was a genius? She had seen even more geniuses like this than stray mutts on the streets. This might have been possible with Xiao An, but not him. Though, he did indeed grow by quite a lot in just two years. Just by standing there, he actually possessed an indescribable sense of level-headedness and calmness.
“Completing missions obviously,” Li Qingshan said it like it was as clear as day.
“And these are all the missions you completed?” Wang Pushi patted the thin stack of mission documents on his desk.
Li Qingshan originally planned on finishing off all the missions he had accepted after dealing with the matters underground, but he had been summoned back in such a hurry, so he had obviously completed very few missions.
“I was collecting material too.” Li Qingshan had a moment of inspiration.
“Collecting material?”
“I’m a novelist after all.” Li Qingshan stared straight ahead sternly.
“Fuck your novels! You’re a Hawkwolf guard!”
“Commander, even you can’t look down on the school of Novels! Heh!” Li Qingshan had remembered the shoddy excuse Liu Chuanfeng had used the first time he met him.
“What’re you laughing about? Right now, I don’t care which school you’re from. Go complete this mission for me.” Wang Pushi took out the documents for a mission from his drawer and tossed it onto the table before Li Qingshan.
“The Green Vine mountain under attack”, “Two sect masters slain” and “Revenge from an underground daemon” leapt out at him immediately, catching Li Qingshan’s attention.
Just as he had expected!
He flipped through it page by page; the document contained an extremely detailed introduction to everything that had to do with the incident. When he reached the last page, it was the painting that Chu Danqing had drawn, and it sucked away all his attention immediately.
“That’s right. The one behind this case is this daemon. It’s a Daemon General, and it should have undergone the heavenly tribulation recently. According to the analysis, it might not have transformed from a regular beast. It’s very likely to be a hybrid offspring of powerful daemons.” Wang Pushi noticed Li Qingshan’s unnatural expression, but he misunderstood Li Qingshan’s thoughts.
Heh, I sure am fucking handsome!
The corner of Li Qingshan’s lips twitched as he held back his smile. He said sternly, “I can’t handle such a powerful daemon with my cultivation. Why do you say it’s a hybrid offspring?”
“Just from some investigations. Little Hua had once seen his true form, and he put it in the records. His true form possesses the horns of an ox and the tail of a tiger, and it’s basically humanoid as well. It’s very likely to be the offspring of an ox and tiger daemon.”
What an exceptional analysis! Li Qingshan clapped inside. Afterwards, he shoved the documents into his hundred treasures pouch. He was investigating his own murderer case. It felt like a detective show. Would the police be revealed as the actual murderer in the end?
“Yes, sir. I’ll go immediately.”
“Hold on!” Wang Pushi leaned back in his chair, but he suddenly remembered what Gu Yanying had asked him for, so he stopped Li Qingshan. “Don’t forget to write a report.”
“A report? Why do I have to write a report?” Li Qingshan looked back in surprise.
“It’s an investigation mission, not a holiday, so of course you have to write a report.”
“Alright, understood.” Li Qingshan had no other choice but to accept that. He could just write something half-assed and pass it off as completed when the time came.
“Include your own thoughts. Make sure it’s no less than ten thousand characters!” Wang Pushi added. Since Gu Yanying had asked for this, it had to be completed with one hundred percent effort even if he had no idea what she was getting at.
It was not like he had to complete the mission anyway.
Bang! Li Qingshan turned around with a flash and slammed the desk. “Commander Wang, you’re not joking with me, are you? What kind of report needs to be so long?!”
“You’re a novelist, aren’t you?”
“Uhh… so what if I am?”
“If you are, then piss off and get writing! I won’t spare you even if you’re off by a single character!” Wang Pushi surged with coldness.
Bang! Li Qingshan slammed into the wall in the corridor, and the door closed in front of him.
Li Qingshan exhaled. Novelists are still people. Are you trying to kill me by getting me to write ten thousand characters?
At this moment, two familiar figures appeared in front of Li Qingshan, staring at him in surprise.
“You’re… Diao Fei, and great hero Yu!” Li Qingshan blinked his eyes and saw them clearly. They were actually two acquaintances he had not seen in quite some time.
“Q- Qingshan, I was ordered to go on the investigation with you.” As the first senior brother of Green Vine mountain, Diao Fei would obviously be involved in this case.
“Really? You’ve already become a Scarlet Wolf guard. Congratulations, congratulations.” Li Qingshan noticed Diao Fei’s uniform.
“I’m the one who should be congratulating you. You’re at the eighth layer. How the hell did you cultivate?” Diao Fei was filled with disbelief. Back then on the ship, Li Qingshan was just at the first layer, an insignificant little Qi Practitioner, yet he had undergone such great changes in just a few years.
“I just cultivated every now and then. Oh right, I’ll leave the report up to you then.” Li Qingshan smiled resplendently and wrapped his hand around Diao Fei’s neck, behaving like they knew each other very well.
“Apologies. I really do want to help you, but commander Wang specially said that only you can write this report. No one else is allowed to lend a hand,” Diao Fei said unnaturally. Although he felt that Li Qingshan was much more mellow compared to the past, his impression of the past was just too deep. He could not afford to be associated with a vicious tiger!
“Fine then!” The corner of Li Qingshan’s lips twitched, and he released Diao Fei. “Great hero Yu, what brought you here too? Oh right, you weren’t injured on Green Vine mountain, right?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. It has been two years, and you’ve already become an adult. I’ve come to seek shelter under… Zijian. You still remember that girl, right?” Yu Shukuang glanced at Diao Fei from the corner of his eyes.
“Of course I do. She’s a genius of our academy. It’s just a pity that you’re too old, so you can’t join the academy. But that’s fine. You can still cultivate in Clear River city. If you need my help, just let me know.”
“Thank you, but I need to return to Green Vine mountain now.” Yu Shukuang beamed. He really had not forgotten about his past acquaintances. However, Yu Shukuang then became helpless.
“It’ll be dangerous!”
“The sect master has already sent out an order, summoning all of us disciples back. If we don’t go back, we’ll be labeled as deserters!”
“You mean the Green Vine Elder has returned to Green Vine mountain?” Li Qingshan’s eyes flickered slightly as he asked slowly.
“Yeah,” Yu Shukuang lowered his head and let out a sigh.
Diao Fei suddenly shuddered. In that instant, he felt like he was beneath the claws of a tiger, making him shiver.
However, the feeling only lasted for an instant. He returned to his senses and heard Li Qingshan laugh. “Looks like I have plenty to write for my report.”
Was it a false impression?
“Let’s go!” Li Qingshan yawned and stretched. This old man really isn’t taking me seriously!
But that works too!
In the hall below, Xiao An sat on the resting bench provided and waited for Li Qingshan while leaning against her hands and swinging her feet around. Suddenly, her ear twitched, and she heard a voice. She found it to be slightly familiar before immediately recalling the person’s name and appearance.
“Zijian, it’s best if you stay here. Green Vine mountain is just too dangerous. The daemon might end up returning. You haven’t seen them before, so you don’t know the terrors of daemons.” Yu Lian did his best to convince her.
“How wouldn’t I know about the terrors of daemons? It’s actually because it’s dangerous that I have to go with you and take a look. I’ve already made up my mind. You can’t change it.” Yu Zijian frowned slightly as she stood firm.
It had been two years. She also wanted to go back and take a look.
Unable to stop her, all Yu Lian could do was let out a sigh. His gaze drifted through the hall aimlessly, brushing past a tiny figure quickly.
Hmm?
Yu Lian pulled his gaze back, landing on Xiao An’s face in the end. He did not possess the same, powerful memory as Xiao An, but Xiao An had given him an impression deep enough for him to remember her. He could not help but walk over. “You’re… that…”
“First senior sister, you’re here too! Senior brother, you know each other?” Although she never had any contact with Xiao An, she was not entirely unfamiliar with her. As the greatest genius of the academy, Xiao An’s name had rung constantly through Yu Zijian’s ears. She was the primary disciple of the school of Buddhism, so she obviously deserved to be referred to as first senior sister.
“First senior sister? The tenth layer!?” Yu Lian was stunned at first before becoming stunned again. The aura she gave off had clearly reached the peak of Qi Practitioners, the tenth layer. If it were not for how special she was, he probably would have suspected he had mistaken her for someone else.
Yu Lian crouched down. “Do you still remember me? I’m Yu Lian! Where’s Niu Juxia? He’s not with you?”
“I do know him. You delivered food.”
“You can speak now! That’s fantastic! Ouch, what are you doing, Zijian?”
Yu Lian was overcome with excitement, but he felt his wrist tighten. Turning around, he saw that Yu Zijian’s expression had changed. She became extremely serious.
“Senior brother, you said Niu Juxia?”
“She’s that child who accompanied Niu Juxia that I told you about. She was very pretty, but unable to speak. She can speak now though. Oh right, why are you here? Have you really reached the tenth layer?”
Yu Zijian let go of Yu Lian’s hand. Her head immediately sunk into a mess as various thoughts flashed past. There seemed to be something extremely important drifting around, but it was just outside of her grasp.
“Xiao An, time to go!”
At this moment, the three of them climbed down the stairs. Li Qingshan called for Xiao An from afar, and she leapt off the bench, running over and grabbing Li Qingshan’s hand.
Li Qingshan glanced at Yu Zijian before waving his hand and summoning a cloud. After becoming a Daemon General and reaching the third layer of the spirit turtle, he could use techniques of the water element as easily as blinking. The cloud he had summoned was both large and perfect, such that he even needed to hold himself back a little.
Yu Shukuang spotted Yu Zijian standing still right there. He thought Yu Lian had already managed to convince her otherwise, so he signaled to Yu Lian. Yu Lian was at quite a loss, but he did not have the time to think too deeply about it.
They boarded the cloud and were just about to take off.
A flash filled her head, connecting all the dots. Yu Zijian suddenly turned around and yelled loudly at Li Qingshan’s back,
“Niu Juxia!”
