Seeking the Dao in the Seemingly Mundane Mortal World - Chapter 12
Chapter 12: Responsibility
Translator: Henyee Translations
Editor: Henyee Translations
Li Qinglin didn’t get any sleep the night before in Immortal Deeds, so in order to preserve his energy for their trip, he didn’t chat for very long. It wasn’t long before he sat down on the pavilion fence, leaned against a pole, and took a nap with his spear between his crossed arms.
Li Qingjun stayed awake and she stared at Qin Yi very intensely.
Qin Yi didn’t sleep the night before either and was getting sleepy. He found Li Qingjun’s attitude rather confusing. “Shouldn’t you be taking a nap? Why are you staring at me?”
Li Qingjun said, “What if you tried to harm us after I fell asleep?”
“You’re nuts.” Qin Yi couldn’t be bothered to retort. He sat down on the fence, leaned on another pole as well, and stared blankly into the air.
He was surprised by how easily the Li siblings handled the demons with their martial arts skills. As opposed to having some low-level cultivators battle the demons with their junior skills, he would rather watch the siblings beat up the tiger and the spider.
He enjoyed smashing around that spiked club as well…
Unfortunately, there were limitations when it came to martial arts, and they were useless in dealing with the odd trick. Otherwise, Li Qinglin wouldn’t have come all the way here to ask for his help, nor would Li Qingjun fall for low-level traps and poisons all the time… Come to think of it, practicing martial arts alone wouldn’t be enough.
However, it could also be because the girl was too reckless and inexperienced… At that thought, he glanced at Li Qingjun again.
Li Qingjun was sitting by the stone table with her chin resting on her hand. She hadn’t looked away from Qin Yi this whole time.
Qin Yi was baffled. “Why do you keep staring at me?”
“You’re such a nonchalant and cautious person. You didn’t take action when we were dealing with that tiger on the mountain. Moreover, we sort of hold a grudge against each other. Why did you save me?”
“Because you’re my companion now. I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing when you were in danger, could I?”
Li Qingjun smiled a little. “Your companion?”
It wasn’t a delightful smile but looked more like a smirk.
Qin Yi gave her a sidelong glance and said coldly, “Fine. I know I was presuming too much. You’re too good for me. Is it that?”
“That’s not what I meant.” Li Qingjun smiled. “It’s just I haven’t heard that term in a while, and it sounds… well, interesting.”
Seeing as her reaction wasn’t what he thought, Qin Yi softened up as well. “Who on earth are you people anyway? I thought you were from a general’s family, but judging from your choice of words, I don’t think that’s the case.”
Since they were going to oppose Donghuazi together, Li Qingjun didn’t think it necessary to keep their identities a secret anymore, so she said casually, “My brother is the second son of the king of Nanli.”
“Your brother is a prince…” What a subtle way to reveal her identity. Qin Yi stood there dazed for a moment, and the look on his face turned awkward.
If Li Qinlin was a prince, what did that make Li Qingjun?
That was to say, he had hung the princess of this kingdom upside down…
Fortunately, he didn’t try anything inappropriate during the incident. Otherwise, he would’ve been chopped into a million pieces by now.
“What kind of crazy country is this? A prince and a princess ran onto a wild mountain without a single guard around, and they enjoy killing demons! And that prince told me that the princess would only have herself to blame if I ended up killing her. And what princess would think about becoming a fairy all the time?” Qin Yi thought.
He decided that this kingdom had gone nuts.
“What?” Li Qingjun teased him. “Are you scared?”
Qin Yi replied honestly, “A little.”
“Are you afraid that I’ll use my position to get back at you?” she asked lazily. “Don’t worry. You heard what those men said about me. I didn’t do anything to them, did I?”
“I think I did more than that,” Qin Yi thought. Come to think of it, Qin Yi was even amazed by the siblings. As privileged as they were, they were able to endure the humiliation of those people. Maybe that was what Li Qinglin meant. No matter how high a person rose, they couldn’t kill other people without consequences.
But of course, Qin Yi wasn’t going to say that aloud. Instead, he said, “You’re royalty, but you’ve come here to look for some alchemist. I feel that I’ve just gotten involved in the biggest conflict in the world. That’s why I’m scared.”
Li Qingjun immediately saw what he meant, and she chuckled. “You’re just a common villager. Where did you get thoughts about fighting for the throne? That’s unbelievable. Don’t worry. That’s not why my brother needs you. You can think of the job as being involved in a war between good and evil.”
“Good and evil my ass. Even if it’s not a fight for the throne, it must be between different forces in court!” Qin Yi thought to himself. But instead of laughing at her naivete, he retorted, “You’re a princess, not some wandering knight. I saw how terrified you were when you saw that repulsive demon, but you charged at it first. What were you thinking?”
Li Qingjun said calmly, “The Taoist priests were in Nanli territory, which made the priests my subjects as well as those travellers. It’s our responsibility to protect the people living on our land, and I’m not giving the job to some wandering knight.”
Qin Yi’s eyes flickered, and he turned to look at Li Qingjun’s face.
She looked very sincere, and there was something very heroic about her.
“Wine?” Qin Yi took out a gourd. “This is a fresh pot. I haven’t touched it.”
He threw it at her, and she caught it. Taking out the gourd he had been drinking from, Qin Yi waved it at her. “That’s for your speech.”
Li Qingjun smiled, opened the gourd, and took a draught of wine in a carefree manner.
Qin Yi took a big sip as well. The patter of raindrops continued outside, and as he watched the rain, he suddenly felt that this trip to Li Fire might turn out to be rather enjoyable.
Liusu expressed its sarcasm in his head. “What a boring sense of calling. She can’t even be a proper princess.”
Qin Yi kept his face expressionless while he farted silently at the spiked club.
…
The rain stopped the following morning, and the sky cleared up.
Li Qingjun woke up from the table to see that her brother was already talking to Qin Yi outside the pavilion, which made her blush a little. She was supposed to watch out for Qin Yi, but she had fallen asleep before she knew it. By the looks of it, Qin Yi had probably been the one who kept watch overnight.
She couldn’t help but recall the two times when Qin Yi held her waist the day before.
The memory made her uneasy, as if she could still feel his warmth on her waist. But he only did that to save her, so Li Qingjun could do nothing but stare at him.
She stepped out of the pavilion to hear her brother asking Qin Yi, “Brother Qin, did you not get any sleep last night?”
“I’m used to staying up late to keep an eye on my stove.”
Li Qinglin nodded and didn’t ask more questions. He only watched the temple for a while before heaving a sigh. “Let’s burn it.”
Qin Yi nodded. It would be better for everyone if the temple was burned to the ground. Seeing Li Qinglin taking out some matches, Qin Yi said, “Wait.”
Li Qinglin watched curiously as Qin Yi went to fetch a bottle from his sack on the horse. He then sprinkled the substance inside around the temple.
Li Qingjun came out of the pavilion and asked in bewilderment. “What’s that for?”
“Well, it can contain the fire. I used to sprinkle it around my house, just in case the stove lit up the rest of my place.” Qin Yi looked up and smiled. “We’re burning the temple, not the entire mountain.”
Li Qingjun mumbled, “With the rain, we may not be able to set the temple on fire, let alone the mountain.”
Qin Yi then took out another bottle and sprinkled something on the window pane.
“What’s that?”
“Quick drying powder.”
“You carry a lot of strange things…”
“Of course. What else did you need me for?”
They all fell silent after that and looked at one another. The next second, they all laughed.
The temple was soon devoured by fire. Strangely enough, the fire was really confined to the circle Qin Yi had drawn with the powder. Li Qingjun clicked her tongue in wonder when she saw this, because one couldn’t achieve such an effect with martial arts skills. If they had to confine a big fire like this, they would have to dig a ditch all around the temple, which was both time and energy consuming.
“Hey,” Li Qingjun said suddenly. “I need to wash up when we get to the next town. Do you still have that toothbrush thing?”
“Sure.” Qin Yi chuckled. “Do you think I can make a living in Li Fire by selling toothbrushes?”
Li Qinglin burst into laughter. “Although I have no idea what a toothbrush is, I do think it’ll be a great waste of your talents if you settle down as a street vendor.”
Qin Yi only smiled and didn’t say anything.
The three of them then slowly led their horses off the mountain. Halfway, Li Qinglin stopped to look back at the fire and sighed.
Qin Yi asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Incidents of demons eating human beings were rare before, but quite a few have happened in recent months. It has to have something to do with that demon-transforming miasma…” Li Qinglin paused, and he whispered when he spoke again. “I don’t know what his scheme is, but if we don’t get rid of him, he will bring doom to this kingdom.”
