Volume 2 Chapter 57 / Chapter 144: Senior Brother, Just Cry!
The jade token fell into her palm, its surface chill seeping into her senses.
Li Qianjin’s body stiffened in an instant, her white teeth lightly biting her lip.
Since the person in front of her had returned this jade token to her, it meant that the sealing formation placed by her father had disappeared.
What did this imply was self-evident.
The crimson snow had ceased, the demonic cultivator was dead, and now, she had no one else to rely on.
From the moment she was born, she had never ever once seen the light, her world was filled with darkness.
However, she had never found this darkness frightening.
There would always be a pair of big hands supporting her from behind, and there would always be a voice encouraging her in her ears.
But now…
The darkness that should have been long familiar was gradually becoming unfamiliar.
For the first time, she felt the endless darkness in her eyes was so terrifying.
Li Qianjin had thought before that after this matter settled, there would be many things waiting for her to do — the Chi Dragon Mansion needed someone to take charge, the injured cultivators needed burial, the damaged city needed repairs, and the survivors were waiting for her to give an account…
But now, she felt none of these things mattered.
She didn’t want to do anything now, she just wanted to stay here.
Whether it was the Chi Dragon Mansion or the future, it had nothing to do with her.
But just as she was about to choose to give up on herself, a gentle voice from a young man once again ignited a spark in the endless darkness in her eyes.
“Also, Mansion Lord Li, please accept my condolences.”
“…”
Li Qianjin slowly raised her head, facing Ye Anping, involuntarily tightening the jade token in her hand.
This jade token was the token of the Chi Dragon Mansion’s Mansion Lord. Many years ago, Li Feng had given it to her. At that time, she only thought it was an ordinary identity token, but now, after hearing the young man in front of her call her by that title, she understood how heavy this jade token was.
So heavy that even her hands were struggling to hold it up.
The maid named “Ling’er” on the side, upon hearing Ye Anping’s words, also showed a look of disbelief for a moment.
“Senior, you said to accept condolences… who is receiving condolences…”
Ye Anping looked at her, without explaining, then saw Li Qianjin slowly standing up from the ground.
She put away the jade token into her storage bag and asked:
“Senior Ye, can you take me there? I want to send my father off on his final journey.”
Ye Anping hesitated for a moment, feeling that Li Qianjin might not be able to withstand this pressure too well and it would be better for her to rest and calm down for a day or two. He confirmed again:
“Now?”
“Yes, please.”
Ye Anping sighed lightly, then gently held her right hand and turned to look at Xiao Yunluo, saying, “Senior Sister Xiao, please take care of my junior sister here. I’ll accompany Mansion Lord Li to go out.”
Xiao Yunluo, who was helping Feng Yudie bandage her injuries, turned her head and saw Li Qianjin’s furrowed brows, couldn’t help but feel a bit sympathetic.
“Yes, be careful, there might still be lingering blood spirits outside.”
“Yes.”
Watching the two of them leave the hall with the maid, Xiao Yunluo pondered for a moment, then simply threw the bandage in her hand to Feng Yudie and stood up, ready to secretly follow.
“Huh?” Feng Yudie looked bewildered, “Senior Sister Xiao, what about me—”
“Do it yourself, I have something to do.”
“. . . . . “
“Take care of Lengxue. You’ve all consumed high-grade Returning Origin Pills. After some rest, you should gradually recover your strength.”
With that, Xiao Yunluo got up and followed Ye Anping out. However, as she passed by the doorway, she glanced at Zhuang Hu leaning against it and felt a strange sense of familiarity upon seeing his eyes.
“Have I met you somewhere before?”
Zhuang Hu, meeting Xiao Yunluo’s gaze, immediately looked away.
In his storage bag, there was a nested set of bags, and within the innermost bag, there was another bag, totaling seven layers, containing the Millennium-Old Mystic Stone Sword worth a million spirit stones that he had stolen from Xiao Yunluo back then.
If he were recognized…
Zhuang Hu quickly lowered his voice and answered in a coarse tone, “It’s truly my greatest honor to be able to catch the eye of Young Mistress Xiao is truly an honor for me. However, I am just a wandering cultivator and have never been to the Profound Star Sect. How could I have met you?”
“Ah.”
Xiao Yunluo hesitated, nodding slightly. She felt that this person looked very much like the Seven Killers Sect cultivator who had robbed her sword on the back mountain of the Profound Star Sect. But since this person was brought by Ye Anping, she dismissed the thought and took out a bottle of pills from her storage bag to give to him.
“Rest well, take the pills yourself. I won’t ask you for money.”
“Thank you, Young Mistress Xiao.”
Zhuang Hu nodded and watched Xiao Yunluo run out. Then, he took the pills she handed over, opened the bottle with difficulty, and his eyes widened instantly.
A bottle full of High-Grade Returning Origin Pills!?
The money that he would get after selling a single High-Grade Returning Origin Pill alone is enough for him to buy 40 mountains! And that girl actually gave him a whole bottle of it without missing a beat!
As expected of the Young Mistress of the Profound Star Sect, the wealth that she got from her mother is probably more than what a High Grade Sect would have.
He quickly stuffed the bottle back into his storage bag and put it away, planning to exchange it for spirit stones later and use them to buy cultivation pills for Ating. Moreover, when he went to the Hundred Lotus Sect later, he also needed to prepare some gifts for paying respects to the mountain…
In the corridors of the inner courtyard, dimly lit and quiet, Ye Anping supported Li Qianjin as they walked towards the direction of the garden. In no time, they passed through the half-moon gate at the entrance of the garden and arrived under the pavilion where Li Feng had been before.
Ling’er, the maid who followed them, upon seeing Li Feng sitting at the stone table, seemingly to play Go but making no movement, couldn’t help but bite her lip and choke back a sob.
“Mansion Lord–”
Upon hearing this, Li Qianjin also stopped in her tracks and interjected, “Ling’er, you go outside the garden for now.”
“Young Mistress… But…”
“Step back.”
“Okay…”
After the maid left, Li Qianjin also removed her hand from Ye Anping’s arm and walked towards the pavilion. She touched the edge of the stone table and reached out to the cold face of Li Feng.
There was silence for a long time.
Ye Anping also walked up, and glanced at the Go Board. He noticed that there were several more Go pieces on it than when they arrived, indicating that Sima Xuanji had probably already talked with Li Feng.
In this game, if the white piece made one more move, it would win, but it stopped at the last step.
An unfinished game meant a draw.
Ye Anping looked at Li Feng’s hands but didn’t see the trace of the Heaven Splitter Sword. He momentarily wondered if Sima Xuanji had taken it back as a memento, but he doubted she would do such a thing.
After hesitating for a moment, he picked up a white piece and placed it on the last position on the board.
Clack—
The piece fell, and a spiritual light emerged.
A three-foot-three-inch white spiritual sword appeared on the Go Board.
Ye Anping reached out, picked it up, and examined it.
This sword was indeed a high-quality weapon that Li Feng would drop in the game. It was sufficient for players to use until they reach the middle stage of the Nascent Soul realm. He could keep this sword for himself now and give it to his junior sister later.
But…
There were more suitable options for his junior sister.
Ye Anping pondered for a moment, then looked at Li Qianjin beside him. After a moment of hesitation, he directly stepped forward, grabbed her shoulder, turned her to face him, and pulled her into his arms.
?!
Li Qianjin was startled, but after feeling the hand gently stroking the back of her head, her stiff body gradually relaxed.
“Your dad just died, don’t hold back, just cry if you want to.”
Li Qianjin’s small hand grasped Ye Anping’s clothes, and she bit her lip lightly.
“No need…”
Ye Anping pressed her face against his chest with a bit of force, frowning and scolding, “Just cry!!”
“Sob—”
“Mm…” Ye Anping’s slightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed, gently stroking her back, “It’s okay to cry, it’s just the two of us in here, no one will know that you’ve cried.”
“Waaah—”