Zhou Donghuang felt indifferent and impassive at Meng Yuping’s passionate disposition.
After traveling across the infinite universe for thousands of years in his past life, he had met too many scheming people with ulterior motives, and many were just like Meng Yuping.
Why exactly was Meng Yuping so persistent on keeping Luo Qinghan by her side?
Why was Meng Yuping so courteous and gracious towards Luo Wuchen and Li Yu?
As for the answers to these questions, Zhou Donghuang was aware of it all.
“In that case, I’ll take my leave first, Sir Luo and Madam Li Yu.”
Before leaving, Meng Yuping first bid farewell to Luo Wuchen and Li Yu. She then bid farewell to Zhou Donghuang and He Jin, who were standing at the side, before leaving for the nearest galaxy teleporter available.
As she intended to directly teleport herself back to where the Jihan Sect was located, she did not travel with Zhou Donghuang and He Jin.
“Sir Luo, Madam Li Yu, I will take my leave as well.”
After Meng Yuping had left, Zhou Donghuang suitably bid farewell to the two Luo family members as well before leaving with He Jin under the watchful gaze of the former duo.
Seeing Zhou Donghuang’s back slowly disappear, Luo Wuchen sighed. “I prefer it when he calls me ‘father-in-law.’”
“Hmph! I wish you had taught Luo Qinghan better. He’s such a good candidate for her to marry, and yet she is resisting him so much! In the future, if he is to marry some other lady, she will definitely regret it upon seeing such a sight!” Li Yu scoffed aloud and glared sternly at Luo Wuchen.
Luo Wuchen was rather speechless at this.
Luo Qinghan had actually grown up alongside her grandmother, who was Luo Wuchen’s mother-in-law. As a result, she was more likely to have followed the teachings of Li Yu.
How could Li Yu blame Luo Qinghan’s character on him now?
Of course, Luo Wuchen could only complain to himself in his heart as he did not dare to utter these words.
In any case, even without comparing status in the family, he was also no match for Li Yu in terms of ability.
Although he had already entered the ultimate Dharma stage, his mother-in-law, Li Yu, had already entered the Primordial Soul stage some time ago and had become the first Primordial Soul adept on the Tianxian planet in the last thousand years.
Of course, only Luo Wuchen was aware of this at the moment.
“Valley Head.”
After leaving the Luo family home for the nearest galaxy teleporter and going on their way, Zhou Donghuang could not help but speak up. “Valley Head, tell me… How do you know when you like a woman, and how do you know you’ve fallen in love with a woman?”
To him, since He Jin had such a close daughter, He Mengxi, even though his wife had already passed away, he would definitely have good advice to share on this topic.
On the other hand, Zhou Donghuang had no experience at all and was extremely confused.
“You would like to know how to differentiate between liking and being in love with a woman?”
After hearing Zhou Donghuang’s words, He Jin’s eyes became tiny slits as he smiled. “Liking a woman and being in love with a woman are two completely different concepts… There are many different levels of liking a woman. You could purely like her innocently. You could also have the intention of making her yours or even have the desire to convert this like into love.
“As for love… this concept is rather hard to express in words.
“When two people are in love, it could be said that they are ready to live the rest of their lives together,” He Jin said.
“In that case, how about you and third senior sister’s mother?”
“Mengxi’s mother…”
In an instant, He Jin’s eyes widened, and a wistful look appeared in his eyes. “Her mother was rather average in terms of skills. In terms of how we met, it was a complete coincidence.
“When Mengxi was ten, that year, our family was hunted down by enemies, and we only had a slim chance of survival… At that point, we were a family of three, but with my abilities, I was only able to leave with Mengxi. Of course, I did not leave her behind willingly, but at a critical point, she chose to sacrifice herself!”
As he spoke to this point, He Jin’s eyes flashed with unmistakable sadness and pain. “I can still visualize that scene clearly in my head to this day… If not for the fact that I wanted to take revenge on her behalf in the future, I would have chosen to die with her!”
“Valley Head…”
At this point, Zhou Donghuang suddenly remembered that in his past life, his third senior sister, He Mengxi, had also mentioned her biological mother to her. This included the fact that her biological mother had sacrificed herself to save her and her father.
It was just that Zhou Donghuang had forgotten about this as it had been a distant memory.
If not, he would not have brought up the topic of love to He Jin as he knew it would definitely pain him.
“It’s fine.”
Before Zhou Donghuang could offer an apology, He Jin had already cut him short. “Even if you do not bring up this matter, I think about it every now and then when I am dreaming as well… Although this happened more than 20 years ago, every time I think about it, it takes me back to when it happened.
“Do you think my relationship with Mengxi’s mother was one of love?” He Jin glanced at Zhou Donghuang and asked.
“Of course.”
Zhou Donghuang nodded his head. Although he was still clueless towards the topic of romantic relationships, the fact that He Jin’s wife had actually chosen to sacrifice her own life and the fact that He Jin often felt pained when he thought about his wife were all definitely stellar examples of love.
“Zhou Donghuang, are you asking me these questions because of Luo Qinghan?” He Jin asked.
Zhou Donghuang froze. Had he been that obvious?
Nevertheless, he nodded his head. If this were any typical youth being asked such a question, he would definitely have been red-faced and longing to escape the topic. However, although Zhou Donghuang was only in his twenties, his memories stretched back to thousands of years ago, and so he was less embarrassed when discussing topics like this.
“As for the situation between you and Luo Qinghan, I am not familiar enough with it to say anything.”
“However, I could ask you a few questions for me to familiarize myself with your relationship before giving you my opinion,” He Jin said.
Zhou Donghuang’s eyes flashed. “Go ahead.”
“If… If you happen to come across Luo Qinghan carrying out acts of intimacy such as kissing with other men, would you be unhappy or even angered by that scene?” He Jin asked.
Just as he Jin had spoken, an image appeared in Zhou Donghuang’s head of Luo Qinghan being intimate with other men. She was laughing happily as well. Momentarily, he felt extremely angry, and his facial expression changed as well.
This reaction was completely involuntary.
Once he had regained his composure, his facial expression then returned back to its original look.
At the same time, this reaction was observed by He Jin, who sighed to himself in his head.
“I guess Mengxi has no chance with Zhou Donghuang,” he thought.
Although Zhou Donghuang viewed He Mengxi as a senior sister and He Mengxi had viewed Zhou Donghuang as a junior brother without any other feelings… As Mengxi’s father, He Jin had always hoped to find a chance for them to venture into a romantic relationship.
He could tell that Zhou Donghuang was like a dragon; he was bound to reach for the skies one day, and if his daughter could be by his side, she would be successful in the future as well.
Of course, although this was ideal, he had never intended to force any romantic relations on them.
Even without discussing other factors, with Zhou Donghuang’s personality alone, even though his daughter was just temporarily his senior and he would definitely achieve much in the future, he would definitely not mistreat his daughter.
Previously, before the Alliance Hunt had started, Zhou Donghuang had spoken up and mentioned that Luo Qinghan belonged to him. At that point, He Jin had already begun to give up on his plans to matchmake Zhou Donghuang and his daughter… Now, he was ready to completely give up this thought.
“Seeing your reaction to my words, I’m assuming you pictured such a scene in your head,” He Jin said as he wanted to be sure.
Zhou Donghuang nodded his head.
He Jin nodded as well. “From your reaction and expression, I could tell that you like her to the point where you would like her to be exclusively yours and that you would not like other men to be involved with her.
“Either way… it means that you care for her.
“Now, let me ask you a second question.
“If she is in danger, the type of danger that is life-threatening… and your involvement means that you will die as well, would you choose to do nothing or reach out a helping hand to save her?” He Jin asked yet again.
Zhou Donghuang imagined such a scenario in his head yet again.
Rational thought told him that under such a situation, remaining a bystander and protecting oneself as well as choosing to take revenge later would be the right choice. However, once he thought about it harder, he knew that he would not mind risking his own life even if he would likely die as there was the chance that he could save Luo Qinghan.
Under such a situation, he could not bear to do nothing.
Even if he had thousands of years of experience telling him to decide rationally, he could not bear to ignore his feelings.
“I would take action.”
When Zhou Donghuang replied He Jin again, his tone was slightly raspy.
He Jin nodded his head once again. “Your answer to this question is enough to show that you truly care for her to the point where you are willing to risk your own life if it means having the chance to save hers.
“Treasure her and your relationship well,” He Jin replied with a warning tone before saying, “For the second question, if it stood alone, I think if it were not Luo Qinghan but He Mengxi, your answer would still be the same… However, when I put your answer for the second question alongside that of the first question, this represents a different reality.
“In any case, if you saw He Mengxi being intimate with other men, you would probably be indifferent about it.
“I don’t know what exactly happened between you and Luo Qinghan. However, with the current situation, it is very obvious that you care about her. Even if you are not conscious of it, she definitely has a special place in your heart that cannot be replaced so easily.
“Treasure her well, and do not miss this opportunity.”
As He Jin spoke, Zhou Donghuang had remained silent. However, he had already made a decision in his head. “Perhaps, I was really wrong before… Although she had distanced herself from me, what I should do is not to accommodate this but to find a way to break the ice and approach her again.
“I can only hope that she does not meet with any trouble after leaving the Jihan Sect.”
…
After returning to the Autumn Valley of the Lightning Sword Sect where he resided, Zhou Donghuang had been preparing to return to training but was called out by He Jin once again.
“Zhou Donghuang, after we left, the seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty, Qi Feng, had arrived and was waiting for you… I just heard this piece of news from one of the elders, and the Sect Leader wanted this elder to inform me of this matter once we had returned. I’m to bring you to visit him,” He Jin explained.
“Another representative of the Qi Dynasty?”
Zhou Donghuang frowned. “Previously, wasn’t there someone, the 14th prince, who came over? Now that I have already consumed the Sky Sun fruit, I definitely will not join the Qi Dynasty. Why didn’t the Sect Leader directly reject him on my behalf?”
He Jin smiled bitterly. “Zhou Donghuang, come along with me… The seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty who is here now has a completely different status in the royal lineage of the Qi Dynasty as compared to the 14th prince of the Qi Dynasty, even though they are biological brothers.”
“If Emperor Qi were to choose… even if he had to give up 10 out of his 14 princes, he would definitely hold on to the seventh prince!”
