Chapter: 1132 (1/2)

AST 1132 – The Body May Be Dead, The Body May Live, Leaving, Going Forth

Qing Shui left first. He needed to have a talk with Qingqing to further understand the situation. The news he had received today was too abrupt. However, it was overall still some good news.

Qingqing and Duamu Lingshuang were watching a few children playing. The slightly older ones didn’t need to be watched over as they were all sensible enough. However, they still had to keep a close eye on those around Qing Yu and Qing Yun’s age. After all, they still weren’t that sensible and didn’t know of dangers.

He went up to them and greeted them with a smile. He then turned to Qingqing. “Big Sister, can you let Lingshuang watch over them for a moment first? I have something to discuss with you.”

After Qingqing informed Duanmu Lingshuang, she followed Qing Shui to a room.

“What is it?” Qingqing was clueless as to what Qing Shui wanted to ask her. Qing Shui’s expression seemed to be very relaxed earlier but now he seemed to be a little worked up and slightly more agitated.

Qing Shui only looked at Qingqing after they had taken a seat in the room. “I would like to know about Father. You mentioned that his grave was empty. Are you sure about that?” Qing Shui asked.

Qingqing was taken aback. Her countenance also greatly changed as she stared at Qing Shui. “It was never my intention to say this. It was a slip of the tongue that day. Mother must have thought of investigating this now that she sees that Qing Clan has gotten a little stronger.”

“Big Sister, just tell me all you know. I also wish that he’s still alive, even if it’s for the sake of Mother only.” Qing Shui looked at Qingqing.

“Do you still resent him?” Qingqing gave Qing Shui a worried look. She seemed to be a little afraid to find out if Qing Shui still resented him. Qing Shui reckoned that this reason must be the reason that she didn’t tell him about it. Otherwise, she would’ve told him this since long ago.

“I don’t. It must’ve been very difficult for him too.” Qing Shui answered with a smile.

A small smile appeared on Qingqing’s face too when she saw Qing Shui’s smile. “Back then, I was still very little. When I went to offer incense on the third day, I heard some grave robbers saying that the coffin was empty. That was just two days after the burial.”

“So Big Sister, are you sure if that grave is really empty?” Qing Shui was very concerned with this question.

“It was empty. I snuck in through the hole that the grave robbers left behind. I have now realized another possibility.” Qingqing told Qing Shui.

“And what would that be?”

“Father’s body was stolen by someone. There was a line of words left at the bottom of the coffin on the inside. I only thought of the possibility that Daddy may not be dead after I grew up.” Qingqing said while trying to recall her memories.

“What words?” Qing Shui couldn’t help but ask.

“The body may be dead, the body may live. Life leads to death yet death leads to life. Ambitions beyond the green clouds. Dragon soaring in the four seas. The four seas are blessed with peace and fortune is bestowed by the Dragon and Phoenix.” Qingqing slowly uttered every word on the bottom of the coffin from her memories.

Qing Shui was stunned. He didn’t even know if all these words were linked to each other. But he was able to vaguely make some sense of them. ‘The body may be dead, the body may live. Life leads to death yet death leads to life.’ This probably implied that he was still alive, but he was no longer the same person he was in the past. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have mentioned something like this.

“Could it be that someone knew him and rescued him, even though he had most likely lost his memories? There are many bizarre medicines in the Main Continent, such as those that can make someone amnesiac either temporarily or permanently.”

Qing Shui stood there, deep in his thoughts. The first part implied that he was still alive, but he no longer knew who he was. Otherwise, he should have returned to Yan Clan after all these years. Or could it be that he didn’t have the freedom to act out of his own volition?

“What does the next part mean?” Qing Shui pondered while thinking of the next part. He couldn’t hold himself back from asking Qingqing when he saw that she also had a frown on her face. “Big Sister, have you figured out the meaning behind these words?”

“The first part should be implying that Father isn’t dead yet. Otherwise, his body wouldn’t have been stolen. I have no idea what to say about the next part. It was also because of the first part that my tongue slipped, accidentally telling Mother that his grave was empty and that it was possible that Daddy wasn’t dead.” Qingqing’s graceful eyebrows were knitted together while she explained, as if she was in deep thought.

“I interpreted the first part in the same way that you did. But I wonder, why did someone steal Father away? Is there some sort of secret in there?” Qing Shui wondered, thinking just as hard as Qingqing.

Qing Shui knew that two heads were better than one. However, it was still better to keep knowledge of this matter to a minimal number of people. The most important thing right now was to make some sense out of these few phrases. Perhaps they would be able to pinpoint his whereabouts from this.

“Ambitions beyond the green clouds… If these ‘green clouds’ is a reference to the Greencloud Continent…!”

This idea suddenly popped up in Qing Shui’s mind. The Main Continent was too vast. Finding someone among the Five Continents was already a task that was easier said than done, let alone in the other Four Continents as well.

However, he couldn’t be bothered to think about all this now. He was thinking that if the ‘ambitions beyond the green clouds’ were indeed referring to the Greencloud Continent, then this covered not only one continent but even maybe the Five Continents……

“Dragon soaring the four seas, Dragon soaring the Four Continents… Could it be that this dragon refers to him?” Qing Shui recalled that his father’s strength was quite decent among the Yan Clan, although it was still not enough to be considered a prodigy at all……

Qing Shui couldn’t afford to worry over if he was correct or not. He had to arrange his thoughts first. ‘The four seas are blessed with peace’ was pretty self explanatory. For ‘fortune is bestowed by the Dragon and Phoenix’, he came up with a few interpretations. Two of the other continents among the other Four Continents were named after the Dragon and Phoenix – the Soaring Dragon Continent and the Dancing Phoenix Continent*.

Furthermore, ‘fortune is bestowed by the Dragon and Phoenix’ could be linked with ‘the four seas are blessed with peace’. This was used to describe a scene so Qing Shui didn’t think too hard about it. However, if ‘fortune is bestowed by the Dragon and Phoenix’ was referring to a man and woman, did that mean that the other Four Continents have to be as peaceful as suggested by the line, ‘the four seas are blessed with peace’……?*