Li Qingshan looked back. “What’s wrong?”
Xiao An turned around and looked towards the door that was still open. She said, “If you marry her, can we still be together like before?”
Li Qingshan was surprised. He smiled. “If you don’t like it, then forget about it.” Although he was extremely reluctant to accept this, it was easier for him to end this relationship before he had developed any proper feelings. It would be troublesome once he caught feelings. This was for her sake too!
“Just marry her!” Xiao An released his sleeve and suppressed the strange feeling in her heart. This was what he had always wanted, and this should have been the best choice for him too. He would be able to study under great general Han as well. Sigh, how could she become the thing that held him back?
“Do you mean it?”
“I do!”
“It’ll be too late if you start regretting it in the future.” Even if he ignored the consequences of just discarding her after using her, shilly-shallying around had never suited him in the first place.
“I won’t regret it.”
As she watched Li Qingshan vanish through the door, Han Qiongzhi finally could no longer hold her feelings back anymore. She cried as she lied on the table. Li Qingshan, you bastard! Han Qiongzhi, you’re so useless! It’s just a man!
Suddenly, she felt something on her head. She lifted up her head and met Li Qingshan’s eyes.
Even with Li Qingshan’s heart of steel, his feelings still could not help but grow tender. To think that this reckless, arrogant woman would also have a soft side like this, and it was all for him too. If he let her slip by, it would become something he would lament about his entire life. He extended his hand, wanting to wipe away her tears.
“What brought you back?” Han Qiongzhi pushed Li Qingshan’s hand away and wiped away her tears frantically.
“Sorry…”
As soon as Li Qingshan uttered that one word, Han Qiongzhi grabbed him by the wrist as if she was afraid that he would vanish all of a sudden again. “You!” Then she let him go again. She felt like she was pitifully vulnerable whenever they spent time together.
However, it also made her seem extremely worth protecting. Li Qingshan held her hand and promised softly, “Don’t worry, I won’t be leaving.”
“Who wants you anyway!” Han Qiongzhi tried to shake him off, but she failed. “You should go. Stop bothering me now.”
“Can you wait until I come back?”
“Why would I want to wait for you?”
“The bright and beautiful days of spring have the perfect weather for boating,” Li Qingshan smiled. He tossed aside the final layer of worries in his heart. He was in an excellent mood too, so he immediately took the initiative. Since he wanted to take her as his companion, they had to spend some proper time together!
Han Qiongzhi’s mind was thrown into utter chaos by him. She faltered constantly, unable to talk properly for a moment.
“Alright, I’ll just treat it as you’ve agreed to it.” Li Qingshan decided for her. Looking at her rosy lips, he wanted to kiss her goodbye, but he was afraid of scaring her, so he rubbed her head instead. He turned around and left.
“You- come back sooner.” Han Qiongzhi could not help but stand up.
Li Qingshan glanced back. He could still see the tear streaks on her face; her short hair was rather messy, but she was unable to hide the delight on her beautiful face. Although she was shy, she still stared right at him; there was undisguisable sincerity.
For a moment, she seemed absolutely adorable. Li Qingshan almost changed his mind and declared that they would go boating right now.
“Alright, Qiongzhi.” Li Qingshan smiled and closed the door.
Han Qiongzhi sat there in a daze for quite a while. She bit her lip, but she was unable to hold back her smile. She could not help but stand up and pace around. She stood by the window and stretched. It really was a bright and beautiful day of spring. She could not help but begin to look forward to it.
Knock, knock, knock. There were a few knocks on the door, and Han Qiongzhi wiped her face in a hurry, removing the tear streaks and recovering her frosty demeanour.
An envoy in black walked in, trembling. “Ma’am Han, I want to go on leave. My mother…”
“Alright, permitted.”
Fifteen minutes later, news that ma’am Han’s crankiness had finally passed over spread through the entire building. This sir Li sure had a wondrous effect on her. There really was a weakness for everything. The envoy responsible for the missions log was deemed to have rendered a meritorious service too.
……
In the sky, above the clouds, Xiao An looked at the smiling Li Qingshan and pouted. Hmph, does he really have to be so happy?
Li Qingshan seemed to read her mind. He pinched her cheeks. “You’ll understand once you grow older.”
Xiao An asked rather curiously and eagerly, “When I’m older, will you marry me too?”
Li Qingshan said, “Forget about it. I don’t want to be hunted down by those monks of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga. That’s a place on par with the Sword Collection palace.” Just the thought of the fate awaiting him if he married their genius female disciple terrified him.
“I refuse to accept this!”
“It doesn’t matter even if you refuse to accept this. Just stick with your job of very impressive future prospects of being a nun!” Li Qingshan sniggered.
Under Xiao An’s attack of “If you don’t agree, I’ll cry.” all Li Qingshan could do was give in. “Alright, alright. I’ll marry you, I’ll marry you!”
Xiao An immediately cheered up, but she then became troubled again. “But what if they really come looking for trouble?”
Li Qingshan saw how she was contemplating this question seriously, so he showed her his sturdy arm and smiled. “Then I’ll smash all of their bald heads to pieces!”
“Then I’ll help you.” Xiao An found this to be quite a good idea. She had yet to even formally join the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga, yet she had already begun to think about how she would abandon them in betrayal and turn against them.
A small city appeared within the fertile land beneath them. Li Qingshan took out a map and checked the location. They had already arrived at their first stop.
It was noon, but it was still rather chilly. The streets were mostly empty, with a few people here and there. Only a group of children laughed and played around energetically, but they ended up disturbing a few people’s naps, earning a scolding and being shooed to one side.
“Where be the damned bandits of the Green Wolf gang!”
Suddenly, an explosive yell woke up everyone from their dreams. They all emerged from their homes to see just what was going on. Just who was looking to die, coming and making trouble for the Green Wolf gang?
The leader of the Green Wolf gang was currently eating with a few friends who were also outlaws. He had already become rather tipsy. When he heard that, he shuddered and fell into a rage. “Someone’s come to make trouble. Brothers, let’s check him out and finish him off.”
Thirty or forty good men of the Green Wolf gang emerged and stood battle-ready at the entrance. The leader of the Green Wolf gang sat in an armed chair at the very centre.
Many people stuck their heads out from the sides of the streets. The children had even widened their eyes. They saw a figure that was not particularly tall cross through the dust, making his way over slowly on the perfectly straight streets.
The leader of the Green Wolf gang squinted his eyes and made out the person. It was a child around eleven or twelve years old. He wore a wide-brimmed straw hat in his hand and wore a shabby cotton garment covered in patches. He held a brush in one hand.
“So it’s a kid!”
“Has he lost his mind?”
However, the children just stared straight at him. Some of them pulled out a picture book from their clothes in a hurry. They looked at it carefully before looking up at the person again. They repeated this several times as their mouths gradually hung agape.
The leader of the Green Wolf gang’s furrowed eyebrows eased up. He had been expecting someone impressive, yet it was just a crazy kid. However, he did take special note of the yell from earlier.
“Who are you supposed to be, wanting to start something with our Green Wolf gang?”
The child declared clearly, “Green Wolf gang, you’ve been a scourge to the common people. You deserve a fate worse than death. Today, I will carry out justice and eliminate you for the common good!”
Everyone from the Green Wolf gang laughed aloud. The other outlaws said, “What are we blabbering with him for? Recently, what I’ve eaten has been so dull that my tongue’s almost dropped off! Let’s dig out his heart! It’ll go well with my alcohol!” As he said that, he even licked his bright red lips. Due to his tastes for human hearts, especially the hearts of children, the people of the jianghu called him the “Heart-feasting Ghost”. He was also an infamous first-rate master.
The leader of the Green Wolf gang waved his hand. “Get him!” Two people immediately approached him.
The child pulled off a painting scroll from his back. With a tremble, he unfurled it. It was a painting of a vicious tiger descending from the mountains!
With a roar, a huge tiger lunged out and pushed down the two people with its front claws. It ripped open their bellies with its razor-sharp claws before lunging towards the leader of the Green Wolf gang.
This huge tiger was ten times as vicious as regular tigers. When it lunged into the group of people, it was no different from lunging into a flock of sheep. A massacre unfolded.
The faces of every single person who saw this froze in fear. Only the eyes of children erupted with surprise.
“It’s him, it’s him! It’s him!”
……
The “Heart-feasting Ghost” broke out into a cold sweat the moment he saw the huge tiger lunge out of the painting. This had clearly surpassed what regular people could achieve. He must be a legendary cultivator. No matter how powerful people of the jianghu were, it was impossible for them to rival cultivators.
He used his movement technique and fled over the buildings swiftly. However, when he had just leapt over two roofs, he felt his heart become empty, as if something was missing. Looking down, a bloody hole had already appeared on his chest before he knew it. His heart had already vanished.
He turned his head swiftly and saw that his heart was in the hands of a man, dripping with blood. He had eaten quite a few hearts throughout his life, but this was the first time he had seen his own heart. Indescribable agony and despair filled his mind.
“It’s been quite a while since I’ve done jobs like this. Though, it seems like I still haven’t lost my edge.” Li Qingshan casually tossed the heart to Xiao An. She unleashed the Blood Flames of Corpse Incineration and turned that person into flames, bones and all.
At this moment, the battle between the huge tiger and the Green Wolf gang had ended too. The huge tiger from the painting was not particularly powerful, only at the level of third or fourth layer Qi Practitioners, but it was too easy for it when it came to dealing with a group of people from the jianghu.
This painting was obviously one that Chu Danqing had given him. Although the character he conjured already possessed similar abilities to this, he still used true qi to unleash these paintings in order to save his power of belief for the upcoming battle.
Li Qingshan fished out another painting from his hundred treasures pouch and tossed it into the air. It unfurled, but it was empty.
The empty painting flew around in the air and sucked away all the corpses before returning to Li Qingshan’s hands. Now, a few dozen corpses appeared in the painting.
The painting was equivalent to a hundred treasures pouch for the school of Painting. Not only could it store inanimate objects, but it could even seal living creatures in there. It was extremely interesting. He was saving up these corpses as food for Xiao An. He carried out both the killing and the disposal, offering a one package service.
The child with the straw hat rode the tiger and bounded away. Everyone emerged from their homes and saw how not even a trace of the Green Wolf gang who had once run amok here remained. If it were not for the bloody marks on the ground, they basically would have thought it was all a dream.
The children’s faces all reddened from excitement as they ran through the streets, cheering.
The adults were still clueless as to why they were so happy until someone suddenly recalled. “Hmm? Isn’t that child a character from the picture book that our little baby girl gets us to read to her?”
“Don’t tell me that the picture book is real?”
PS: New rope skipping record: 70.
