Chapter 342 – Date (2/2)
“Huh?”
“There’s no need to say anything more. I understand. Sorry, but I can’t reciprocate your feelings. Maybe in another lif-”
Ru Xin interrupted him with a roar, “Acting all sentimental! You’d better stop where you should!”
Li Qingshan laughed aloud. Ru Xin was all stern in the beginning before beginning to laugh as well. Perhaps she did have other men who she could talk and joke around with, but he was the only one who treated her so nonchalantly without any ulterior motives. Just like the joke earlier, she could only say something like that to him. Intentionally or otherwise, was she trying to probe him out too?
The conclusion she reached was that he truly was stubborn. Once he had decided on something, he would do everything he could to achieve it. On the contrary, once he deemed something to be off-limits, he would cut himself off from it without the slightest hesitation. He was truly a person who could pick things up or drop them at a whim. When a man like that fell in love, his feelings would blaze like fire, but when he grew cold, he would be quite terrifying. This was his charm!
“You really are very special.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s refine pills, refine pills!”
Around dusk, Li Qingshan sensed something and pushed open the door to the alchemy room. He saw Han Qiongzhi pacing around on the shore nearby. “Qiongzhi, what brought you here?”
“Nothing. I’ve just come to see you,” Han Qiongzhi said in a hurry, but she became rather helpless before Li Qingshan’s smile that seemed to see through her.
Ru Xin walked out and smiled. “We’ll stop here for today!” She did not act up anymore, which brought Li Qingshan a breath of relief.
They returned to Cloudwisp island together and discovered that many places had been cleared out, with various crops planted in their place.
Liu Chuanfeng rushed out from inside. “Qingshan, how are you?” He had heard that Li Qingshan would be returning, so he purposefully waited here. However, he leapt in fright the moment he saw Han Qiongzhi. “H- Han Qiongzhi!”
Li Qingshan asked, “What’s wrong?”
As it turned out, Liu Chuanfeng had not just been looked down on by men for writing smut in the past. As a woman, Han Qiongzhi’s impression of the matter was self-explanatory. She had once cursed him publicly in the Parlour of Clouds and Rain, and ever since then, Liu Chuanfeng would avoid her whenever he saw her. But now, it was unavoidable.
“School leader Liu, long time no see.” Han Qiongzhi bowed casually. She still had to show some respect for Li Qingshan’s sake.
“Yeah, yeah!” Liu Chuanfeng studied them up and down before quickly pulling Li Qingshan to one side. “The two of you?” He clenched his fists and wiggled his thumbs, hinting at their relationship.
Li Qingshan nodded. “Yep!”
Liu Chuanfeng patted Li Qingshan’s shoulder in great admiration. Originally, he had thought it was all a rumor, but he never expected it to be true. Whether it was her appearance, figure, cultivation, or background, she was perfect, but her personality was a little too over-the-top. Whenever she lost her temper, she would always act fearlessly and recklessly. It was not something regular people could put up with.
There had been quite a few people who had once thought it would not be an issue as long as they could establish ties with the Han family, but they all ended up suffering disastrous defeat, humiliating themselves. There had even been rumors on the streets that she preferred women (actually, they came from Liu Chuanfeng after he had been cursed in public). Never did he think she would actually fall in love with Li Qingshan.
Li Qingshan asked, “What brought you back here?”
Liu Chuanfeng said, “I’m worried for you. In another two or three months, you’ll have to fight Chu Danqing. To think you’re still in the mood to go out and complete missions. How’s your collection of power of belief going?”
“It’s going alright.” Li Qingshan glanced at the Divine Talisman of Great Creation again. In just a single day, it had grown by almost ten percent.
This was the benefit of divine talismans. He could sit at home, doing nothing, and it would still grow constantly. This was the effects of exponential growth, allowing it to grow by compounding upon itself. The seeds he had planted had already begun to sprout.
Of course, there was definitely a limit to this growth. It was restricted to the region of the Clear River prefecture, but the benefits would linger for a very long time. At the very least, they would not be going anywhere within the next century.
“Are you absolutely confident you’ll win?”
“I can’t say that I’m absolutely confident, but I never fight a battle unprepared.”
“I don’t have to worry if that’s how you’re putting it. We can’t let other people take Cloudwisp island. Oh right, did you tell that agriculture disciple Li Long to use our land?”
Li Qingshan replied, “Yeah I did. It’s fine, right? Don’t worry, you have a share in this too!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. If you can win your battle, it’s fine even if you cut down all the bamboo on the island!” Liu Chuanfeng had considered this idea in the past too, but back then, just who wanted to have anything to do with the school of Novels? There had been a few agriculture disciples who were interested too, but when they returned, earth elder Huang replied to their request indifferently, “You’d better tend to your own plot of land properly first!”
Ever since then, no more agriculture disciples were bold enough to mention this. Only a new disciple like Li Long would be unaware of this incident. Perhaps it was because of the reformed reputation of the school of Novels, or perhaps Li Long’s hard work had earned earth elder Huang’s recognition, so the elder deemed him to have already tended to his plot of land properly. Regardless, he did not encounter any obstructions at all. He asked for help from a few seniors and juniors he was familiar with, and they began planting very soon.
“Is there anything else?” Li Qingshan asked impatiently. Just what was a lovers’ world supposed to be when there was an obscene, middle-aged man in the mix?
Liu Chuanfeng glanced at Han Qiongzhi again and muttered, “You got a woman, so you’ve forgotten about your master now.”
After Liu Chuanfeng left, Han Qiongzhi asked, “You haven’t copied him, right?”
Li Qingshan asked, “Copied what?”
“I heard he uses his power of belief to conjure women from his novels before going at it with them. What a deviant,” Han Qiongzhi said in disgust.
“Of course not. The level of my Divine Talisman of Great Creation is far too low. The characters I conjure aren’t realistic. There’s nothing interesting about something like that either. I’ll think about it after I reach Foundation Establishment,” Li Qingshan said in contemplation, leading to a displeased gaze from Han Qiongzhi. He smiled. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”
Though, if they really were like real people, wouldn’t that mean he could make many of his wild wishes from his past life come true? It would be a portable harem. A temptation like that really would be difficult to resist. Surely that was not betrayal, right? Men would always have some little secrets of their own!
Han Qiongzhi said, “I’m not joking with you. If I find out you have, I’ll cut..”
“Stop!” Li Qingshan glanced at the depths of the bamboo forest. “What’re you standing there for? Why don’t you come over?”
Only now did Han Qiongzhi discover that Xiao An was standing silently in the forest nearby. Under the moonlight, she seemed perfect, but her expressionless face seemed slightly terrifying.
Xiao An walked over and asked curiously, “Cut what?”
Li Qingshan said, “Cut watermelon.”
Han Qiongzhi knew that this child was extremely important to Li Qingshan, and her talent and strength was not something she could ignore. She greeted her as amicably as she could.
Xiao An glanced at Li Qingshan. Under his suggestion, she called her big sister Han.
Their world of two became a world of three. Li Qingshan was not really affected by this. Out of the two of them, one was family, while the other would become his family. There was nothing wrong with having them familiarise with each other.
Han Qiongzhi, however, felt very uncomfortable. This child was just too strange. She had tried to get close to her, but the child’s gaze towards her remained cold, like a delicate doll. Only when she spoke to Li Qingshan did she suddenly seem to spring alive with a hint of liveliness. She found it strange that Li Qingshan did not find this weird at all.
As the sky gradually darkened, all Han Qiongzhi could do was bid farewell. She did not find tonight to be as great as she had imagined it to be in the afternoon.
Passing over the small, serene path through the bamboo forest, Li Qingshan accompanied her to the shore. He said, “Xiao An just isn’t particularly friendly with people she’s unfamiliar with. Please forgive her.”
Han Qiongzhi said in dejection, “I don’t care about what she thinks, but I just feel like I’m the outsider when you’re with her.” Every time they exchanged glances, it seemed to be hiding a message that was indecipherable to outsiders, as if they could read each other’s minds.
Li Qingshan smiled. “It’s not like we were like that from the first time we met. We went through many, many things together.” He embraced her gently, patting her back as if he was trying to comfort her. “We’ll start right now. In the future, we’ll be like that too.”
Han Qiongzhi agreed to that. She smiled. “It’s good that she’s here. You can’t just take advantage of me so easily anymore.”
“How can you call that taking advantage of when it’s with my own woman?” Just like what Ru Xin thought, he was indeed stubborn from a certain perspective. If he wanted to give up on them, he would let them go willingly, but if he wanted to possess them, he would grasp them firmly in his hand.
Han Qiongzhi could sense his resolve from his words, and her heart eased up as a result. She bit her lip and placed her hands on her chest. “I will do my best.”
With her hands behind her back, she walked backwards. Stepping onto the surface of the lake, she produced a series of ripples under her feet. She said gently, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She turned around gracefully and walked off into the distance. Her steps were as spry as a child’s.
As he watched her travel away, Li Qingshan said quietly, “I will do the same.” He truly wished there would be a day when he could tell her all his secrets.
Returning to the bamboo building, Li Qingshan said, “What do you think of her?”
Xiao An said, “She’s worth two hundred people.”
Li Qingshan smacked her head and joked in a furious manner, “Is doubling the number supposed to be a sign of respect? It’s too late if you want to regret it now.”
Xiao An rubbed her head and pouted. “I regret nothing!” How could that woman keep up with his steps and accompany him to beyond the Nine Heavens?
Spring rain fell endlessly. Within the Main Martial Arts stadium of the school of the Military.
Having been invited over once again, Li Qingshan said to the military disciples who stood in formation nearby, “This time, there’s no chance for you to win.”
Han Qiongzhi stood out behind him as she cheered him on. She waved her fist. “Qingshan, beat them up!”
The military disciples were absolutely devastated by this. They felt like their most important position had already collapsed before the battle had even begun. As the school with the strictest supervision, such that they did not even permit their disciples to leave the island without good reason, the school of Military never had any female cultivators who were bored enough to come and watch the military disciples abuse themselves.
Only Han Qiongzhi would visit here frequently, appreciating their hard work and being able to get along with them. She was the standard dream lover to the military disciples.
Now, their dream had shattered, and their love rival was standing right before them. With a furious roar, they poured their strength together in unison.