Seeking the Dao in the Seemingly Mundane Mortal World - Chapter 32
Chapter 32: A Heaven-Made Match
Translator: Henyee Translations
Editor: Henyee Translations
They drank three rounds.
And Qin Yi felt more conflicted towards Li Qinglin.
More so than ever.
Before, Qin Yi had been on guard because if the man could murder his brother in cold blood, he could easily kill Qin Yi off after using him. It was for that reason that Qin Yi had been having scruples about Li Qinglin and couldn’t consider the man as a close friend.
But if Li Qinglin meant what he said, Qin Yi might actually admire him for it.
The fact that he was impressed by a man who had murdered his own brother baffled Qin Yi, and he began to wonder if there was something wrong with himself. He felt even more conflicted when he imagined how Li Qingjun would feel when she learned the truth.
Slowly sipping his wine, Li Qinglin said unhurriedly, “I know you’ve kept your guard up around me since you met Night Wing, and I also know what’s on your mind. You’re probably worried that I’ll kill you to tie up my loose ends, and maybe I’ll be so cold-blooded that I would even harm Qingjun… But Brother Qin, I promise you that you’re overthinking it. If I need to tie up loose ends, you won’t be the first one I kill. Night Wing is. With her out of the picture, no one would believe you even if you wanted to expose me. Moreover, even if people did believe you, it wouldn’t change anything. How would you take me down when Donghuazi couldn’t do it by slandering me repeatedly in court?”
Qin Yi said, “When someone is powerful enough, he doesn’t have to be concerned with so many things. Sometimes, he might kill a random teenager in the mountains without hesitation just because he ran into them when they were engaging in some seedy business.”
“Really?” Li Qinglin looked surprised. “Was that where your resentment towards Donghuazi came from? Did his men kill your friend?”
“You could say that.”
“Pfft… Hahaha…”Li Qinglin spat out the wine in his mouth and laughed. “That’s what one gets for not thinking things through. He doesn’t even know how he’s made an enemy. I’m amazed. How funny.”
He laughed for a while before saying, “And that’s a perfect example of what I just said. Who knows how well you’re connected? I, for one, wouldn’t act so recklessly.”
Qin Yi couldn’t help laughing.
“Brother Qin, I’ve had this long conversation with you because I don’t think we should be suspicious of each other as working partners, as that would only ruin our plan. Since we have the same goal, I do hope we can be sincere to each other. So…” Li Qinglin’s gaze was very intense when he said, “Can we be honest with each other now?”
Qin Yi raised his cup and said, “Where did that come from? Aren’t we friends already?”
Li Qinglin clinked his cup with Qin Yi’s and smiled. “You’re right. We’re already friends.”
They drained their cups and Li Qinglin exhaled, looking much more relaxed. “From my years of observation, Donghuazi is a lot like the three ‘immortals’ of Chechi. I’m sure he’s never learned anything in the orthodox way, and he’s pretty much a self-taught Taoist practitioner. That problematic pill, for instance, meant one of two things. Either he was harming my father on purpose or he didn’t know the proper method himself and made it incorrectly. There have been quite a few similar incidents, so I tend to believe he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
Qin Yi nodded. “He also struck me as a rather unprofessional cultivator during our confrontation today. To me, he’s more like a politician than a cultivator. Even amateur Taoist practitioners can do a better job at explaining a divination than he did. He didn’t seem to know much about it. Otherwise, he would’ve had the confidence to debate with me instead of turning to sophistry like a politician.”
Li Qinglin chuckled. “Brother Qin, I’ve always felt that you learned your theories in the proper way ever since I met you, which makes you superior to Donghuazi. If we can make my father trust you, Donghuazi will lose all credit.”
That was why Li Qinglin had attached so much importance to Qin Yi. Sighing inwardly at the realization, Qin Yi was even more fond of the man because Li Qinglin could’ve chosen another route to get rid of Donghuazi which would take him much less effort.
And that was to usurp the throne.
Li Qinglin was in charge of all the troops and he had the ability to do the thing that quite a few crown princes had done before—force his father to abdicate and pursue his life as a cultivator. Once Li Qinglin became the king, kicking out the master teacher would be a piece of cake.
But he didn’t choose that path. Instead, he went to look for an alchemist to compete against Donghuazi for his father’s trust.
Qin Yi heaved a sigh and said, “I’ll try my best when I go to see your father tomorrow morning.”
After a pause, Li Qingjun said, “I fear that Mang Zhan’s visit had something to do with Donghuazi. Actually, I now suspect that Donghuazi was a mole sent by Xihuang from the beginning. Therefore, Brother Qin, no matter what your feelings for Qingjun are, please make my father think you’re a couple and don’t give in.”
“My feelings?” Embarrassed, Qin Yi wanted to hide it by sipping his wine. However, when he saw the look in Li Qinglin’s eyes, he gritted his teeth and said, “Don’t worry about it. That Mang Zhan will never stand a chance.”
Li Qinglin clapped and laughed wholeheartedly. “We’re such a heaven-matched pair.”
…
Qin Yi was still wide awake when he went back to his own courtyard, so he sat down by the window and watched the moon.
So many things happened today. He met Donghuazi for the first time, his relationship with Li Qingjun had changed, and he had set things straight with Li Qinglin. Everything was still flitting through his mind, and when he closed his eyes, he could see all their faces.
“Clubbie, what do you think?” he suddenly asked.
Liusu said casually, “Li Qinglin is an interesting man, and it’s hard to find an intriguing soul like that in either the immortal or the mortal world. Too bad he doesn’t agree with our methodology.”
“Anything else?”
“Li Qingjun is really cute.”
“…”
“As for the rest of the brutes…” Liusu snickered. “Mang Zhan is just a warrior but not as good as Li Qinglin, and I could see through Donghuazi at first glance. He’s a mere Level 7 cultivator of the Fledgling Stage and as useless as an ant. It would be an utter humiliation for me to consider those two people as equal opponents. If you had cultivated with me, you would have a million ways to make their lives miserable.”
Level 7 of the Fledgling Stage.
After a crash course in cultivation theories, Qin Yi had remembered the names of the stages. The cultivation process was divided into five stages and seven levels, and the first stage was known as the Fledgling Stage, where all old diseases would disappear, the body felt light, one was free from anxiety, and one’s mood would no longer be disturbed.
I’ll just call it the Qi-Refining Stage like I used to… Qin Yi thought. He was used to his own terms and Liusu never insisted on some fixed names. To it, names had no meanings, and one could call the stages however one liked.
A Level 7 cultivator of the Qi-Refining Stage would be considered an immortal in ordinary people’s eyes. However, to Liusu, Donghuazi was nothing but a beginner who had just entered the cultivation world, not to mention that he hadn’t learned things properly. Without his spells that baffled ordinary people, the old man would probably be on the losing side in a battle when facing an experienced martial arts practitioner like Li Qinglin.
Actually, if Night Wing could resist Donghuazi’s control, he probably wouldn’t even be her match.
If Donghuazi was to lose his position, he might not even be able to get away.
“Don’t underestimate Donghuazi,” Qin Yi said cautiously. “Minghe is on his side. God knows what their relationship is.”
“Well… Minghe certainly is a problem,” Liusu said. “If she really is on Donghuazi’s side, you and Li Qinglin can forget about your plan. A heaven-matched pair? More like a pair of fugitives.”
Qin Yi ignored its sarcasm and asked, “What did that manifestation of her divination mean? Can you tell me more about it?”
“No.”
“What?”
Liusu sighed. “Do you really take me for an omnipotent being? I’ve never learned divination myself, and everything I’ve taught you on that subject was just common knowledge. Real divination involves so much profound knowledge that one can’t just explain it simply. Even Minghe, who came up with that manifestation, might not be able to understand it herself.”
“She can’t even understand her own divination?”
“That’s completely normal; otherwise, why do you think I refused to learn it back in the day?” Liusu said contemptuously. “Ignorant people always think they can see through fate, but fate is too random to predict. In the end, they’ll only confuse themselves and others, and they’ll make fools out of themselves. I would suggest you forget about that divination. It’ll only muddle your head.”
“One minute it’s profound knowledge and the next minute it’s a joke… You’re only saying that because you couldn’t learn it…” Qin Yi expressed his frustration in his head. However, this little incident made him feel closer to Liusu.
As it turned out, there were even things it didn’t know.
