Chapter 178

Yun s.h.i.+mo’s Queries

“Alright, you people wait in the dining room. The food’s nearly ready.” Yun s.h.i.+mo smiled, wanting to caress Tianci’s small head. But his hands were dirty, so he squatted down and touched the boy’s face with his forehead instead.

Of course, Tianci agreed jovially. The company left the kitchen but sounds of their laughter continued to ring out unabated.

“I didn’t expect Brother Yun to cook for you two. Hmmm, it seems like… Qiyue, you are so blessed!” Ji Jing smiled.

Hua Qiyue gave a quiet smile. No one knew what she was feeling inside.

From an outsider’s point of view, she was very blessed. Yet she recalled that the fellow did not reject the Princess’s proposal in Righteous Hall. The Emperor, however, knew how to act and decided not to sanction their marriage.

Hua Qiyue was wondering if Yun s.h.i.+mo would reject the Emperor if the latter had really approved their marriage.

Tianci was overjoyed. At this moment, Huangfu Xuan gave a light cough and took out a small box, placing it before Tianci.

Tianci immediately turned his head back and looked at the silent Huangfu Xuan.

The boy still did not quite like Huangfu Xuan. Although he could not recall the time when he had to come to Prince Nan’s mansion with Hua Qiyue and seek treatment, Huangfu Xuan had always struck him as a sinister person.

“Open it and take a look.” Huangfu Xuan gave another one of his “couldn’t care less” expression.

Tianci lifted his eyebrows and opened the box curiously. Inside was just a small twig—a twig made out of jade. In other words, an ornament, but its entire body glistened with a faint, warm l.u.s.ter.

“This is the Telepathy Jade. If you wish to know how your closest kin is doing, it will start to s.h.i.+ne. If the person’s alive, the glow will be very bright. Otherwise… there won’t be light.”

Huangfu Shenglin said quietly.

Hua Qiyue was quite stunned. This jade twig was similar to the Man-Hunting Insect, although they had different uses.

“Thank Brother Huangfu at once.”

Hua Qiyue was patting Tianci’s shoulder. The little fellow blinked his eyes. Although he did not quite like Huangfu Xuan, he really liked the jade twig.

“Thank you, Brother Huangfu!”

Huangfu Xuan smiled slightly. His heart heaved a sigh of relief.

The company sat down to chat. When they started talking about the Gnawing Devils Sect, Hua Qiyue and the rest thought that the Sect Leader of that Sect, the Venerated Supreme Devil, was extremely powerful. Right now, he was in a retreat, cultivating.

Ten years ago, the Venerated Supreme Devil was already at the Great Completeness of the Moon Eclipse Realm. Ten years had pa.s.sed. He might be at the Great Completeness of the Round Sun. He would have mastered his lethal skills to greater proficiency, certainly to the Great Completeness as well.

Therefore, even though Hua Qiyue had the Drunken Flower Fan as a divine weapon, together with a hare, they might not be able to defeat him.

Right now, they had to find a way to deal with the Venerated Supreme Devil.

“That man has such cruel ambitions. He wants to a.s.semble all talented Qi Artists to be his Soul Puppets. Then, he will be invincible and human beings will become his playthings. If we don’t subdue him, it will prove catastrophic for all humanity.” Ji Feng said in a low voice. Deep worry clouded his brows.

Hua Qiyue frowned. Ji Feng was right. A Qi Artist a realm higher would be far superior to his lower counterpart.

Even if Yun s.h.i.+mo and she joined hands with the rest, they might not be able to defeat the Venerated Supreme Devil.

“We have to quickly find a solution!” Even Ji Jing was knitting her brows in worry. She was such a cheerful girl, yet even she was starting to fret because of this matter.

“How many disciples does Ji’s Manor have?”

Hua Qiyue found herself asking.

“Our Ji family… usually do not take in disciples. Because we are not an ambitious clan. Only now do we understand that not to grow is a foolish, conservative act… ” Ji Feng said, frowning.

“In Ji’s Manor, there are only 50 disciples,” Ji Jing answered.

50 disciples—for a family of medicine saints, that was very few.

If they knew how to grow, most of these families would take in several thousand disciples.

“Maybe we can do this. The top 200 compet.i.tors in the last arena compet.i.tion can enroll for the Ji family.” Hua Qiyue pondered for a while and came up with this solution.

“It’s not possible now. Rumors of the Gnawing Devils Sect have spread. Who will dare to join the Ji family?” It was the first time Huangfu Xuan had spoken. He cast a surrept.i.tious glance at Hua Qiyue.

He found her handsome brows slightly knitted. She was clearly very troubled.

“We shall follow what Qiyue says. We will enroll as many disciples as possible.” Ji Feng answered. Ji Jing too nodded, agreeing with Hua Qiyue’s suggestion.

Soon, Yun s.h.i.+mo carried in two freshly steamed chickens which smelt great.

He was extremely upset. The two steamed chickens were really for Hua Qiyue and Tianci to fill their bellies. But Ji Feng and the rest had to come. His efforts had gone down the drain!

The company began to grab the food. They were not in the least reserved, especially Huangfu Xuan. He even managed to grab an entire chicken.

Humph, ingratiating himself with his beloved woman by cooking. He must be dreaming!

The hare was not to be outdone. No one showed any reserve in face of the great food. After a little more than an hour, they finally ate their fill with some other dishes.

At the end of the day, Yun s.h.i.+mo said to Tianci quickly, “Tianci, go and play with Uncle Feng outside. Dad has something to discuss with your mother.”

Huangfu Xuan rolled his eyes at him. The word “Dad” sounded so grating to his ears.

Although Ji Feng was feeling terribly unwilling inside, he had to take Tianci out to play. Ji Jing doted on Tianci too. When the others had left, Hua Qiyue wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief. “So, what’s up?”

She was staring into a pair of profound eyes, resembling the deep sea. Reflected in their irises was her radiant beauty. Hua Qiyue was so indifferent that her voice sounded very cold too.

Yun s.h.i.+mo sighed quietly. He knew that she was still angry but gave no more explanations. “Qiyue, I’ve said that there is a reason for everything I do. I have my reasons for not rejecting the Princess… I want to know if your Master’s Tianpi?”

Hua Qiyue stopped for a while and stared at the hare munching on the chicken thigh by their side. “You were the one who’d told him that?”

The hare gave a snort. “Hmmm… that fellow’s my enemy. Hua Qiyue, when you see him, you must definitely whack him.”

Hua Qiyue did not know whether to laugh or cry.

In fact, Tianpi did not really tell her the hare’s ident.i.ty. He merely mentioned a few vague things.

Inferred from the hare’s words, the two of them must have a poor relations.h.i.+p.

“Is it really him? Hua Qiyue, do you know his true ident.i.ty?”

Yun s.h.i.+mo was feeling rather anxious. When he saw Hua Qiyue’s completely indifferent expression, he felt that she did not know the truth.

“No.” Hua Qiyue looked at Yun s.h.i.+mo, frowning. In his eyes was a tinge of anxiety. She instantly realized how serious the matter was.

“He was conceived from the essences of the heaven and the earth. Then, he became an extremely dangerous devil. Qiyue, you’d better leave him!”

Yun s.h.i.+mo said coldly. His eyes had betrayed his heart. They were full of worry.

Hua Qiyue started. She looked at the hare munching. “Sir, did you tell him this?”

The hare a.s.sented. “Yes, of course. What good does it do me to lie? Humph, so that guy’s still alive. Where has he hidden himself? Hua Qiyue, bring him out and let me battle him!”

The hare paused what it was doing and started to grit its teeth. He seemed to be regarding Tianpi as the world’s paramount devil.

It was the first time Hua Qiyue had heard about Tianpi’s ident.i.ty from the others. She remembered the man with his diabolical smile. Sure… he did look like a devil.

“But… why did he impart to me Qi Art? And unblock my meridians for me? Sir, I am not an ungrateful person. But I really don’t understand why he should do all these for me!”

“Where is he now?”

The hare fixed its serious eyes at Hua Qiyue. “I would really like to meet him again.”

Hua Qiyue paused for a moment and became silent. She did not know how to answer. Tianpi was in the green jade gourd. He must have been trapped there by someone!

He could only get out after a certain period. She did not know if she would get him into trouble revealing the truth about the green jade gourd to the hare.

Was the little hare trustworthy? Hua Qiyue did not know. Her experiences in her past life made her quite suspicious of people.

The little hare saw Hua Qiyue keep quiet and started to sound a little displeased. “Qiyue, let me remind you, the Heaven and Earth Devil isn’t an easy person to deal with. Of course, he has his objective for teaching you Qi Art. You mustn’t be duped by him. He killed so many people 10,000 years ago!”

Yun s.h.i.+mo’s face also started to look ghastly. “Qiyue, where exactly is he now?”

“I don’t know. He comes and goes like a spirit. I don’t know where he has gone. I haven’t seen him for over a month.” Hua Qiyue was frowning. She did not know what she would do.

She must first ask Tianpi.

Clear disappointment appeared in the hare’s eyes. “Oh, is that so?… When he returns, you must definitely let us know.”

Hua Qiyue nodded, a.s.senting.

If she had disagreed, it would lead to even worse “pestering.” Yun s.h.i.+mo would not be put at ease.

A dangerous light shone out from Yun s.h.i.+mo’s dark eyes. “Qiyue, are you telling the truth? Is his whereabouts really uncertain?”

“Yun s.h.i.+mo, when you doubt others, first look at what you have done yourself,” Hua Qiyue said quietly.

“Is that Tianpi Xuanji?” The hare too had heard some rumours about Hua Qiyue. Xuanji was an extremely important person in those tales.

That monk was young but remarkably prescient in his predictions. He was utterly mysterious.

No one knew his origins.

“No, they are two different persons.” It was a long time since Hua Qiyue thought about Xuanji. So much had happened during this period and yet Xuanji had not made an appearance. No one knew where he had gone.

“Monk Xuanji was just cooperating with me so that I could adopt Tianci.” Hua Qiyue knew that any scheme before the hare would collapse. She decided to tell the whole truth instead.

“Why must you adopt Tianci?” The hare stared at Hua Qiyue curiously.

Hua Qiyue gave a faint smile. “When I was four, I saw Rong Qiyue and felt that she had treated me very well. I did not expect her to be poisoned after her marriage. Tianci was also abused by the Princess. So, I thought about adopting him.”

Yun s.h.i.+mo pursed his lips, a helpless smile lingering at their corner. “You were just pretending, weren’t you? Your meridians were once blocked. I heard that they had ruptured!”

“That’s true. Someone dragged me into a lake and ruptured my meridians. But my memory is too vague. I just couldn’t remember who that person was. So, I could only pretend to be weak and foolish to avoid death. After all, no one will kill a person who cannot threaten him,” Hua Qiyue said quietly.

That memory of hers was very vague.

Primarily because the owner of this body was so terrified of that memory. So, every time Hua Qiyue tried to recall it, her head would hurt terribly. Even till today, she still did not know who the person who had ruptured her meridians was.