Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Gu Han…” Jun Moxie’s voice sounded somewhat stagnated, and he only reacted half a second later:.”Miss Qiao, why did you ask this all of a sudden?”
“I hope that I can hear the truth from Lord Jun because I know that there must be something behind this!” Qiao Ying’s voice was low and heavy, but it was clear. “When you went to the Holy Land’s camp back then, your original intention was undoubtedly to recruit me to help with the battle. You should have wanted to make use of my All Seeing Eye ability, and when the enemy’s Supremacy Enduring Heavens appeared, I would be of help to you. Isn’t that so?”
Jun Moxie nodded helplessly. “That is correct.”
“But after that, for the entire battle, I didn’t make a single move at all! It wasn’t that there weren’t any opportunities to make a move. Instead, it was sister Xue Yan who’d been stopping me intentionally! She didn’t let me go up to the frontlines, and my All Seeing Eye… was completely useless in this battle. I, the secret weapon of the Holy Lands, had been unable to do anything at all!”
Qiao Ying continued with narrowed eyes: “My guess is that you’d changed your mind. Therefore, you asked Venerable Mei to stop me from going to the frontlines to deal with the enemy! The reason you’d left me at the back was to protect me and ensure my safety. Right?”
“That is also correct.” Jun Moxie nodded honestly.
“But why did you change your mind? I simply cannot think of anyone, or anything that could change your mind!” Qiao Ying looked at Jun Moxie and continued. “The only explanation I could come up with was that my master. Back then, when my master Gu Han sought you for a private word, he must have said something to you, something that was acknowledged by you, causing you to change your mind!”
Jun Moxie was momentarily stumped. To think that Qiao Ying would actually have managed to think this far! However, this question was really not easy to answer. From the looks of things, it would be wrong no matter what he answered!
Qiao Ying took out the jade pendant and sat it gently on her palm. Stroking it lightly, she shook her head: “So, I wish to know… what did my master say to you? I trust that Master must have made some preparations for my future. I want to know what arrangements he’d made for me? I know that I shouldn’t ask Manor Lord so boldly like this, and I know that it might make things difficult for you. But I really want to know! Master is more than a teacher to me. He’s a person that’s as close as a father to me! Manor Lord, I beg you, please tell me!”
“Cough cough cough… Miss Qiao, are you thirsty? Do you want a cup of water? Men, bring some tea and water over here.” Jun Moxie coughed awkwardly, unable to reply for the moment.
In his heart, he was cursing Gu Han furiously. F*ck, you old bastard, you left behind such a lousy situation; how am I supposed to clear it up?
You could at least have told me the truth about your relationship with Qiao Ying ah! Isn’t this great now… what should I tell her? A person that’s as close as a father? F*ck, that old curmudgeon IS your father!
But judging by how fragile Qiao Ying looked now, if he really told her the truth that Gu Han was really her father, she might just collapse on the spot! But if he didn’t tell her… was she expected to really not recognize her ancestral line for the rest of her life, and continue to pass her days in such a clueless manner?
“If Manor Lord finds it difficult to broach the subject, please don’t worry; I can take the news.” Qiao Ying gripped the jade pendant tightly and brought it to her chest as she looked at Jun Moxie and said with determination.
Jun Moxie looked at Qiao Ying’s frail frame, and he could not help but to shake his head in his heart. Can you really take the news? If you can handle it, that would naturally be great. However, the answer to your question is definitely something that you cannot handle!
A person who’d always thought that she was an orphan, who was adopted and raised like an orphan. Over a thousand years had already passed like that! If someone was to tell her now that she wasn’t actually an orphan, and that she was someone who had a father and mother as well… Especially her father, he’d groomed her and taken care of her, taking on the role of a master who was as close as a real father…
God knew what kind of blow this kind of news would be to her?
Even worse, that father and master had already died gloriously in the War for Seizing the Heavens…
From not having to having, and from having back to not having again…
Not to mention her; Jun Moxie felt that even if it was him experiencing such a thing, he would probably go mad on the spot as well! Even if the Heavens were known to make fun of people, this was simply making fun of people to an extent too extreme…
But with Qiao Ying staring at him so doggedly now, waiting for him to answer her, what should he say…
“Manor Lord Jun, please tell me honestly.” Qiao Ying said in a soft voice. “As a disciple, I have a responsibility to fulfill the final wish of my master! Otherwise, how would I have the face to remain living?”
Qiao Ying turned around and continued in a solemn tone. “So many uncles and elder brothers whom we’d interacted with for years have already departed eternally in that battle! If not for the fact that this matter had been weighing in my heart, I would have probably already chosen to leave with them… Jun Moxie, do you know that the three Holy Lands had nearly 100,000 experts before this?! But in just a blink of an eye, all of them are gone. Can you understand such a feeling?!”
Before Jun Moxie could say anything, she began to laugh in a bitter way. “Even for orphans who’d lost their family, they would at least still have their relatives, an adoptive family, neighbours… No matter what, there should at least be some close friends or relatives, seniors, elders, bosom friends… But for me, I’d lost everything in a single day! Everything!
“What does it mean to have nothing? I, Qiao Ying, right now, truly and absolutely… have nothing!”
Jun Moxie’s shoulders shuddered. Although Qiao Ying’s words were extremely bleak, it was the truth. Right now, the person who was probably the most alone and deprived of kinship was Qiao Ying! There was hardly anyone else who could be more alone and helpless as Qiao Ying right now!
“If Manor Lord still refuses to tell me about my master’s final will…” Qiao Ying’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at him. “… there will really be no more meaning in staying alive…”
“Cough cough, it’s not that I don’t want to say… It’s just that I’m not sure where to start… That topic is really…” Jun Moxie cleared his throat uncomfortably as a decision appeared in his heart. Sigh, if I have to be shameless… I’ll just be shameless this time.
Perhaps after several years or decades, when Qiao Ying’s heart had settled down somewhat, he would tell her the truth. Right now, he could only let time wash away the pain in her heart, to a point where she could accept the reality…
Qiao Ying balled her hands tightly into fists, until her knuckles turned white. She tried her best to control her emotions and quell the anxiety in her heart… However, her voice still trembled as she nodded. “Thank you, Manor Lord Jun. Please tell me now. I promise that I will accept whatever grievous news it is.”
“Grievous news? No no, it’s not any grievous news! Actually it’s like this…” Jun Moxie squeezed out an exceedingly embarrassed expression on his face, and he loosened his collar nervously. “Erm… how should I put this? Cough cough, cough cough cough… On the eve of the final battle, Senior Gu Han had already set his heart on sacrificing himself to guard the honour of the Holy Lands. However, the only thing that he couldn’t put down was you. Hence, he called me over to one side… cough cough cough…”
“What did he say?” Qiao Ying asked anxiously.
“En, back then, Senior Gu told me: Manor Lord Jun, this old man has something that I cannot stop worrying about. So I asked him: What is it?” Jun Moxie shifted his eyes guiltily and continued. “Senior Gu Han shook his head and said: that lass Qiao Ying is too simple and innocent, even though she has a high cultivation. There are completely no schemes in her heart, and she doesn’t know how to protect herself from scheming people. This old man cannot set my heart at ease about her, and she is the only thing that is still giving me pause. And so today, I wish to officially hand that lass over to you brat…”
“AH?!” Qiao Ying widened her eyes with shock.
“… At that time, I told Old Gu to set his mind at ease, that I Jun Moxie, would definitely take care of Miss Qiao and make sure that you won’t have to worry about anything for the rest of your life!” Jun Moyou wiped away the sweat on her forehead and continued: “… But who would have thought that Senior Gu Han would shake his head and tell me: This kind of guarantee has no meaning at all. Brat, if you can promise this old man to take her as your wife after the war, I will really be able to set my mind at ease completely. There aren’t a lot of positive things about you, but this old man knows that you truly treat your wives very well…”
What did extreme shamelessness look like? This was it! Such a level of shamelessness was truly mind numbing!
“AH!” Qiao Ying gasped aloud again. No matter how many different scenarios she’d imagined before, she’d never expected that the ‘last wish’ of her master would actually be this! Her face turned completely red in an instant, and she was practically looking for a hole to bury herself in and never come out again. She hadn’t thought when she’d come with such a heavy heart to question Jun Moxie, that she would receive such a shocking and embarrassing answer from that fellow!
If her master had truly said those things, then it was fully within reason that Jun Moxie had delayed speaking about this matter. Such embarrassing words… Ah, with how urgently she’d come to ask him about it, it was as if she couldn’t wait to marry herself to him…. this… what kind of situation was this?
At this time, that particular shameless fellow had also not expected that the effect of his words would be so good. The situation was so tense just now, but the moment this sentence came out, all the depressing air had been washed away instantly, transformed into coyness and awkwardness…
Jun Moxie sighed in his heart when he saw this. I’m indeed not speaking nonsense ah! Your dad truly left you to me before he died. It’s such a pity that there’s no such thing as a voice recorder in this world. Otherwise, if I presented the recording in a court of law, you would land in my hands…
“You’re spouting nonsense!” Qiao Ying was embarrassed for a long time before she snapped with anger.
“How can that be nonsense? I didn’t want to say it initially; it was you who forced me to tell you!” Jun Moxie raised his hands innocently. “This is the cold hard truth! Back then, your master was filled with guilt when he talked about you. For the sake of the War for Seizing the Heavens, the Holy Lands sealed your youth away for 1,200 years. Senior Gu was truly wracked with guilt about this matter. So at the final moment, he expelled you from the Holy Lands, and gave you to me!”
Young Master Jun’s face had obviously been thickened to a considerable level. He sounded extremely righteous and indignant when talking about her marriage. It was as if he was saying ‘you forced me into this, so why are you turning around to accuse me instead? Didn’t you say that you could accept the answer no matter what it is?!’
