Book 8 Chapter 10

B8C10: Xiao Lu

Pure Forest Garden is one of the forbidden places in the Qin dynasty’s Imperial Palace because Qin De and Fengyuzi usually stay here.

Not long ago, Qin De, Qin Yu, Qin Zheng, Qin Feng and Fengyuzi parted on the city gate tower. Qin Yu returned to Prince Yu’s Mansion, Qin Feng returned to Prince Rui’s Mansion while Qin De, Fengyuzi and Qin Zheng went back to the Imperial Palace together.

Outside the gate of Pure Forest Garden,

“Father, I’m leaving now.” Qin Zheng bows and says very respectfully. However, when he is about to go back to his dwelling place, a gust of wind blasts at him. Shocked, Qin Zheng shouts without delay: “Who?”

2 people then appear. It turns out they are Qin Yu and Miss Li’er.

Fengyuzi and Qin De are not surprised at all. Because Qin Yu is not suppressing his aura, their holy senses have already discovered that he was coming. But Qin Zheng has not even reached the Xiantian level so naturally he could not tell who the arriver was.

“Father, good news, there’s very good news.” Holding Li’er’s hand in his hand, Qin Yu says to Qin De excitedly.

Qin De looks at Qin Yu and Li’er carefully. Seeing Qin Yu still pulling Li’er’s hand, he suspects they were even flying hand in hand. Then when he sees Li’er’s slightly blushing face, he naturally draws a conclusion and says laughingly: “Good news? Yu’er, can you let me make a guess?”

“You already know?” Qin Yu is astonished.

Qin De says smilingly: “It is related to this young lady?”

Qin Yu nods. There is even more amazement in his eyes now. Only after Li’er told him did he know that she can regenerate severed arms, so how was his father able to know about this?

Qin De feels even surer. He looks at Li’er carefully. Only when he gives her a careful look can he feel her air of elegance. That air of elegance and simplicity is very soothing, just like the fresh and clean air of the early morning.

“Not bad, not bad …”

Qin De looks at Li’er carefully as if looking at his daughter-in-law while praising her.

Qin Yu is not a fool. Seeing his father behaving this way, with a little consideration, he totally understands what his father is thinking. He cannot help forcing a smile: “Father, this is Li’er. I already told you about her when we were drinking wine on the city gate tower just now. I’ve taken her here because she can heal your severed arm.”

“Oh, Miss Li’er. What? You can heal severed arms?” Qin De frowns.

Li’er says with an indifferent smile: “Uncle Qin, it’s pretty difficult to regenerate this severed arm of yours, but my innate magic power can still do it with some certainty. Uncle Feng’s severed arm can also be healed back to normal similarly.”

Qin De and Fengyuzi exchange a look. Their eyes are filled with astonishment and disbelief.

“Miss Li’er, my school can be considered a Xiuzhen school but I’ve never heard that severed arms can be regrown. This is really hard to believe. Could you tell me about your method of treatment?” Even Fengyuzi cannot believe this.

But Qin Yu has seen Li’er give treatment and her skill was really marvelous.

“This is a magic power that I’m born with. Can you let me use it on you a bit, Uncle Qin, Uncle Feng?” Li’er says smilingly.

Qin Yu also says: “Don’t worry, father, Uncle Feng. Li’er is exceptionally good at healing. I’ve seen her treat other people’s injuries several times and the results were very good. It’ll only take you a while.”

Qin De and Fengyuzi ponder for a short time then begin to take off their coats.

Li’er says with a smile: “Uncle Qin, Uncle Feng, you don’t have to take off your coats. You only need to stand still at this place so that I can use my power on you.”

“Oh, then we’ll have to trouble you, Miss Li’er.” Qin De is even more amazed. He and Fengyuzi then just stand still on their current places.

Li’er slightly closes her eyes. Various green light beams start to move around her body. Enfolded in them, she looks like a goddess of life. The green light beams then begin to expand towards Qin De and Fengyuzi.

“Xiao Yu, are you sure of success?” Standing on one side, Qin Zheng also watches this scene with some expectation.

Qin Yu nods his head: “Don’t worry.”

When various green beams of light have covered the severed areas of Qin De and Fengyuzi’s arms, their empty sleeves start to be propped up gradually. It seems the cut-off arms are beginning to lengthen towards the cuffs inside. It is just that the lengthening speed is fairly slow.

One minute, 2 minutes …

One hour, 2 hours …

As time goes by, the propped-up parts of the originally empty sleeves become increasingly longer. Qin Yu’s holy sense notices clearly that as the green light fuses with the severed areas of the arms, the arms are gradually regrown. Their flesh and bones keep regenerating.

After 6 hours,

6 entire hours has passed and Qin Yu and Qin Zheng have also been fixing their eyes on the treatment for 6 hours. Feeling that their arms are regenerating nonstop, Qin De and Fengyuzi are both uncontrollably excited and happy. But because Li’er is healing them at the moment, they do not dare to say anything for fear of distracting her.

Beads of sweat are oozing out on her forehead. Sweat has also appeared on the tip of her nose …

Li’er has been keeping her eyes closed all along. And Qin Yu has been observing the progress carefully using his holy sense. Now Qin De’s and Fengyuzi’s fingers have been formed completely. The treatment has successfully accomplished its goal. Li’er eventually opens her eyes, gently exhales a breath and wipes the sweat off her face.

“Uncle Qin, Uncle Feng, how are you feeling?” She asks smilingly.

Qin De and Fengyuzi swing their arms a couple of times and even perform hand signs using both arms. After a while, they are both pleasantly surprised.

“Miss Li’er, I’m really so grateful to you. I feel as if my arm has never been cut off. It’s exactly the same as it was in the past.” Qin De is very excited. It is the same with Fengyuzi. Now that his severed arm has been regenerated, he feels more excited than ever.

Qin Zheng is delighted. He says with loud laughter: “This is great news! This is great news! We must arrange a big celebration for it. People! Quickly go invite Prince Rui’s family to the palace. Also, take the empress, the ladies, the princes and princesses to Hundred Official Pavilion.”

……

In Hundred Official Pavilion,

Supreme Emperor Qin De takes the master seat. Qin Zheng and Fengyuzi take the seats on either side of him. Qin Yu and Qin Feng take the seats right next to them. Everybody sits down along the 2 sides of the long table. This banquet is even much more sumptuous than the previous one. Dishes are brought out one after another unceasingly.

“365 delicacies in the world have been gathered. Let’s enjoy them to our heart’s content, everybody.” Qin Zheng says laughingly.

In this banquet, Li’er is forced to drink quite a lot of wine. After knowing that Qin De’s and Fengyuzi’s severed arms have been regenerated, Qin Feng is delighted and keeps thanking her. This time, the leading character of the banquet is none other than Li’er. Everyone enjoys the festivities as much as they like.

Only when the night falls is the banquet finished.

……

In Prince Yu’s Mansion,

“Stop arguing with each other. The leaders of the 2nd, 5th and 6th companies will become the 3 honorary retainers of the Qin clan.” Qin Yu gives his judgement directly. Of the 3 he has chosen, 2 are late Yuanying-stage experts and the other is a middle Yuanying-stage expert who can match a late Yuanying-stage expert in power.

The other 7 company leaders present cannot help feeling somewhat disappointed.

Soon after coming back from the Imperial Palace, Qin Yu gathered the 4 guardians and 10 company leaders. The weakest among these 10 company leaders is already at the middle Yuanying stage. To help the Qin clan’s members, Qin Yu pondered and decided to choose 3 experts to become honorary protective retainers of the Qin clan.

He had already learned about the order of the Chaotic Astral Ocean so he knew that he had better ask 3 powerful Xiuyaoists to protect the Qin clan and that it would be useless to use more Xiuyaoists than this. Therefore he decided to first select 3 from these 10 company leaders.

The ones chosen by Qin Yu can all ask him to forge a high-grade holy weapon for them each. And they can pick any type of holy weapon they like.

High-grade holy weapons are still attractive to Yuanying-stage experts and Qin Yu has said they only have to serve as honorary retainers for 100 years before getting replaced with another batch. To Xiuyaoists, 100 years is not a long time at all.

“Yes, tower master.”

The 3 chosen experts cannot help getting delighted. Is it not just 100 years? They will only need to practice quietly during this period. As for the task of protecting the Qin clan’s members, given the Qin clan’s power, who would dare to provoke it? Therefore, this is a very easy job for them.

After 100 easy years, they can even obtain a high-grade holy weapon each. Who would not want such a good errand?

“Guardian Yan Rui, immediately dispatch an army of 8000 guards to the Wilderness to search for a black jade case. Remember one thing. The search area is within 100,000 li across the border of the Wilderness. You must not go deeper than that.” Qin Yu orders solemnly.

Yan Rui is a female, but she is the leader of the Stellar Tower’s 8 guardians and is extremely capable and experienced.

“Tower master, if the location of that black jade case is deeper, shall we go for it?” She asks.

“No.” A faint cunning smile appears on the corners of Qin Yu’s mouth. “If you can get that black jade case, that’ll be a good thing, but if I you can’t, there won’t be a problem. Remember, safety first. Right … I already told the manager of the mansion to go buy some cases made of inky jade. You take and immediately bury them deep in the ground of the Wilderness.”

Qin Yu laughs in his mind: “The 9th jade sword, perhaps no leaders will tell the searching Xiuzhenists about this secret. They will only know that they’ll have to find a black jade case, but they won’t know what kind of jade case it is. And these mortal-made inky jade cases can also be considered black jade cases.”

“Yes!”

There is also a tinge of excitement on Yan Rui’s face. She certainly understands Qin Yu’s meaning. Since she does not have to go deeper than 100,000 li into the Wilderness, the mission of searching in the Wilderness is not very dangerous, so naturally she is happy and relaxed.

……

Qin Yu is lying on a white cloud among the other clouds in the sky, holding a flagon of wine in his hand taking one sip after another. Li’er is sitting with legs crossed on the cloud beside him. A zither has been placed on her legs. She is enjoying playing the zither with eyes closed.

Drinking wine while listening to the music makes Qin Yu feel happy as if he is an immortal.

As the white cloud floats, the zither music comes down from the 9th level of the sky as if it is the sounds of nature.

When the zither music stops, Qin Yu puts the flagon away in an instant and sits up. He says smilingly to Li’er: “Li’er, this time I have to trouble you again, but Xiao Lu is just like my younger sister. I can’t bear seeing her live the rest of her life with a severed arm like that. I …”

“All right, don’t be so sad.” Li’er says with a smile. “How long do we still need to reach Su Yan City?”

“We’ll be there soon.” Qin Yu immediately accelerates the cloud.

……

At a gate of Su Yan City,

Qin Yu is wearing a blue robe outside, which is something he rarely does. This blue robe is extremely valuable and was personally given to Qin Yu by Qin Zheng. Li’er is also dressed entirely in blue and has a silk belt tied around her slender waist.

The 2 of them enter the city.

With a sweep of his holy sense, Qin Yu finds out Tie Shan’s and Xiao Lu’s locations, but what his holy sense has discovered stupefies him. Afterwards, he laughs out loud.

“Why are you laughing, Qin Yu?” Li’er asks doubtfully.

Qin Yu says mysteriously: “Follow me.” He quickens his pace in an instant. With just 2 or 3 steps, he travels 100 m, but the ordinary people around him simply do not notice anything unusual. This is because he is too fast.

Li’er is still waking slowly. With 2 steps that make her look as if she is floating, she easily follows Qin Yu. It seems her steps can greatly shorten space.

……

In Tang Mansion in Su Yan City,

“Darling.”

A white-clad handsome young man is kneeling in the main hall. This young man has red lips and white teeth and is so handsome that he can make women mad about him and men envious of him. This man is none other than the so-called no. 1 calligrapher of the Qin dynasty Tang Yuan, who can casually draw paintings worth thousands of gold sycees.

“You let father-in-law down, didn’t you? Kneel before his altar for 2 entire hours.”

Tang Yuan’s wife, Xiao Lu, says strictly.

Now Xiao Lu is already more than 20 years old and is in the prime of her youth. There is an air of delicacy about her but there is also an amount of heroism on her forehead. Delicacy and heroism are conflicting qualities but they coexist in harmony in Xiao Lu.

In the past, this air of delicacy and heroism attracted Tang Yuan. To court Xiao Lu, he was beaten by Tie Shan 3 times and suffered countless hardships. In the end he was able to win the belle’s heart. However, Xiao Lu adores another brother the most -- Qin Yu. After Qin Yu left the Qian Long continent and that battle on the river Wu received widespread attention, she started to put a lot of effort into training, aiming to follow Qin Yu’s example. She reached the Xiantian level 5 years later and now she is already at the middle Xiantian level.

As a gentle, weak scholar who is married to a Xiantian-level heroine, Tang Yuan naturally … has suffered.

“Xiao Lu, you’re too merciful to Qinglan. Yesterday this disobedient son even went to a brothel with some scoundrels to drink wine. He must kneel at least 6 hours.” A 50 to 60 year old luxurious-looking married woman stares angrily at Tang Yuan.

“Mother …” Tang Yuan secretly takes a look at his mother but does not see a glimmer of hope.

“Darling…” He then looks at Xiao Lu.

Seeing the pitiful look in his eyes, she cannot help softening a little.

“Tang Qinglan!” A loud shout comes in from outside. A man dressed in military uniform rushes in. There are even 2 guards behind him.

“Ah, brother-in-law.” As soon as Tang Yan sees Tie Shan, he acts like a mouse seeing a cat. He is so frightened that he immediately gets up and runs to Xiao Lu’s back, saying hurriedly: “Save me, darling. Save me, darling. Brother-in-law will kill me.”

Tie Shan’s face is full of anger: “Tang Qinglan, you even dared to go into a brothel again. You let my sister down, didn’t you? This time I won’t let you go before giving you 20 military lashes.”

Lady Tang, who had harsh words for Tang Yuan just moments ago, also says hurriedly: “Commander Tie, you can’t use your whip. I’ll make him kneel for 6 hours, no, 10 hours. But if you give him 20 military lashes, he will be bedridden for a half month.”

“Lying on bed is also good. He’ll become better-behaved.” Tie Shan is boiling with anger.

The Tang clan is influential and is a large clan in Su Yan City, but Tie Shan is the commander of the city’s army and a sworn brother of the reigning emperor’s younger brother, the Qin clan’s 3rd Prince, who took part in that legendary battle on the river Wu.

Therefore, even though the Tang clan is powerful, it will not dare to offend Tie Shan.

“Big brother, kneeling 2 hours is enough for him. He won’t dare to make the same mistake.” Xiao Lu hastily gets in front of Tang Yuan. She does not like her husband to be hit with a military whip.

“Step aside, Xiao Lu.”

“No.” Xiao Lu keeps blocking her big brother’s way.

Tie Shan is furious, but he cannot use force because, firstly, he hates to hurt his sister, and secondly, he … is no match for Xiao Lu. Although he has been training assiduously, he is not highly gifted like her at all. There is nothing he can do about this.

“Darling, you’re the best.” Tang Yuan says while hiding behind Xiao Lu.

“Oh, is a play going on here?” A jocular voice rises.

Everybody is startled and looks outside the hall. They see Qin Yu coming in, with Li’er going behind him.

“Xiao Yu.” Tie Shan opens his eyes so wide that they look like small copper bells.

“Brother Yu.” Xiao Lu’s face is also full of disbelief.

End of b8c10.

Previous Chapter Next Chapter