Zarthos
patreon
031 - An Explosion Shaking the Earth
🕑 Added 2024-07-14 00:17:30 +0000 UTCQin Yun was slightly dumbfounded when he noticed the man kowtowing on the floor, then thought nothing of it as he saw the woman's foot on the man's head, pressing him down. He slowly entered, ensuring none of the other residents were near enough to hear their conversation. To be sure, he activated a small formation he had set up beforehand for such an eventuality.
While Qin Yun couldn’t use Qi to set up formations as any array masters would, specific nodes in the array could be replaced by artifacts possessing suitable characteristics. While doing so would make the formation less flexible than having him in control, it was enough for his needs.
“Long time no see,” Qin Yun said as he looked at Lian Huiling. “How’ve you been?”
Despite Qin Yun’s inviting tone, the woman only frowned, refusing to look at him.
"You know exactly how I've been," she replied, slightly frustrated. "Could you not make my life so difficult?"
Qin Yun ignored her outburst, opting to respond with only a slight smile before sitting next to his wife.
“I wasn’t the one who insisted on giving me that thing,” Qin Yun shrugged, which brought only more displeasure to Lian Huiling. She couldn’t rebuke him as it was exactly as he said.
Years ago, she had become aware of many of Qin Yun's talents. To bind him to her, she offered this black token. While Qin Yun knew the value of this token, he didn't hold much interest in it. It wasn't until much convincing on her part that he reluctantly accepted it.
“By the way, I see that you are trying to resolve our little misunderstanding,” Qin Yun added as he pointed at the man with his forehead glued to the floor.
“Who’s fault is that?” she replied, with a slight hint of anger in her voice.
“His?” Qin Yun said, obviously trying to feign ignorance.
“Enough of that,” she said, waving her sleeve, trying to change the subject.
Any more, and she would really lose her temper. While she knew that this man's existence had been a boon to her clan, it had also brought many inconveniences, which she had been forced to deal with. If not for that man's habit of playing possum, he might have become something even greater. She felt like it was such a waste, and it led to some resentment.
"I see you've given Chun Xue to your wife," she added in a tone colder than she had ever demonstrated prior. On the floor, Lian Ling could feel the room's temperature drop a few degrees.
“Why? Are you jealous?” Qin Yun replied calmly, looking into her cold eyes. "I gave you a chance, and you rejected it. I thought we were already past this. Didn't you only want a professional relationship? Or is it about something else, and you are taking your frustrations on me?"
Qin Yun had hit the nail on the head, which brought Lian Huiling great shame. Her lover's betrayal was still fresh in her mind, and this man's words only made her more agitated. While Qin Yun had once insinuated that they should start a relationship, Lian Huiling knew that what he meant was only a physical one as she felt he was much too detached from the world to truly feel love.
At the time, she rationalized that they were in two different places in their lives, as she was much older than he was. In response, Qin Yun had said that age meant nothing to cultivators, yet Lian Huiling couldn't bring herself to do it. While she felt attracted to Qin Yun in more ways than one, she knew he couldn't give her what she wanted, and fortunately, she met Hou Ping shortly after.
But now, after Hou Ping's betrayal, this sudden reminder only brought her more pain. She rose from her seat in a fury and pounced on Qin Yun, hand stretching out. A layer of condensed purple Qi enveloped her hand as she sought to strike Qin Yun.
Seeing this, Yun Jingfei sought to draw her blade, yet Qin Yun held her hand tightly as if telling her everything would be fine. The palm struck Qin Yun’s chest, yet nothing came of it. Lian Huiling felt as if an egg had hit a brick wall. If anything, she felt her hand throb slightly as the impact reverberated in her bones.
As if nothing was wrong, Qin Yun slowly rose and embraced the agitated woman in his arms, ensuring she could feel his warmth. While Qin Yun couldn't empathize with her pain, her suffering was apparent on her face. He knew this woman was much too prideful to simply break down and cry. She resembled his wife too much in this aspect.
While Yun Jingfei was surprised by her husband's actions, she didn't try to stop him, as she could see the agony Lian Huiling felt through her mask of anger. Yun Jingfei simply waited calmly for the situation to resolve itself. She wouldn't involve herself in this as it had nothing to do with her.
While some may think she was cold, she simply chose her battles. This woman was only a stranger to her, and she could feel the slight resentment that woman had against her. It wasn’t until she heard Qin Yun’s statement that things started to make sense. She would have to do something about her husband’s flirty ways. She wouldn’t suffer this unfair treatment ever again.
Qin Yun could feel his wife's growing indifference yet chose to dismiss it. It wasn't as if he could simply erase his past if he willed it. Besides, he was unashamed of it. What happened before they married was irrelevant to their current relationship. At least, he hoped so, and he hoped she, too, would see it this way.
As stated earlier, breaking down and crying simply wasn't in Lian Huiling's nature. Still, she was surprised by Qin Yun's sudden, caring actions. She wondered if marriage could change a man so much and never expected that man to be capable of such emotions.
While she had seen that he could treat women gently, it was just a means to an end. She never felt that he was genuine in his actions.
Qin Yun had known she felt this way for a while, which was one reason they only interacted professionally. He had always been genuine, but he knew he wouldn't be seen that way, and he accepted it. Still, he knew she wouldn't be able to see it that way, so he let it go.
After a few moments in his arms, she couldn't control her anger. Her heart was a mess, and she lashed out at him. She cursed Qin Yun with all the grievances she had repressed. While Qin Yun was mostly undeserving of them, he still accepted to take the blame. After all, he was used to being the villain.
Through her anger and frustrations, Lian Huiling still spun a coherent tale of what occurred in the last few days. While Yun Jingfei was surprised by the scale of what had happened, Qin Yun felt things started to make sense—the dried-up corpses, for one. Still, Qin Yun found some things that didn't add up.
The corpses were much too spread out over the city and much too numerous to be the work of a single person. In his opinion, this was the work of something like a cult. Besides, the two crystals that Lian Huiling mentioned caught his attention.
If Hou Ping wanted to absorb another man's cultivation, why not do it directly? While this might simply result from this arcane cultivation technique, Qin Yun doubted it. Something as sophisticated wouldn't introduce such inefficiencies into it, like transforming energy into crystal, without being deliberate about it.
No, to him, those crystals were simply a way to store this energy for use at a later date. If his speculations checked out, Hou Ping should only be one of many worker bees harvesting honey for the hive to store. As to who the monarch was, Qin Yun had no idea, nor did he care. This mostly had nothing to do with him or his plans.
So what if many unrelated to him were to succumb to this plague. He was no hero and had no intentions of ever being one. He only felt slightly curious about the identity of this mastermind, yet this wasn't enough to involve himself.
Yun Jingfei was of the same mind. This was for the City Lord to ponder and deal with. What did they have to gain by uncovering this mystery? Probably just more trouble as Yun Jingfei was such that there was much more hidden underneath.
Still, Qin Yun shared his speculations with Lian Huiling and she nodded slightly as her clan had reached the same conclusion. Qin Yun didn't claim to be some master detective, as the evidence was there for all to see, and one only had to use his brain to reach this verdict.
Lian Ling was slightly stunned that his sister had been so forthcoming with this couple. Usually, she wouldn't be the one to volunteer such information unless she stood to gain from it. He couldn't help but ask her who this man was for her to give him such preferential treatment. Still, the answer stunned him.
"He is the creator of that sword," she said calmly, almost dismissively, as she pointed at Chun Xue on Yun Jingfei's lap.
To Lian Ling, however, this was a massive shock. He knew full well how vital the creator of that sword was. Even his father had gone to recruit that man only to be told he wished to remain anonymous. To this day, only his father and sister knew his identity. While Lian Ling found it hard to believe, he had no choice once his sister confirmed it.
“So you forge artifacts too?" Yun Jingfei asked quite dismissively. She wasn't surprised by this news as she knew her husband had too many talents. At this point, she wouldn't be surprised if he was the reincarnation of an immortal. Yet, she couldn't understand why he insisted on hiding it all.
Unfortunately, Yun Jingfei, despite the horror she had witnessed, was still much too naive. While Qin Yun may seem invincible, this was only compared to those of his age group. Any elders of any clan could overpower him easily. Without any backing of his own, revealing his talents would only make him seem like a fat goose to be harvested.
Qin Yun knew he couldn't count on the Qin Clan to protect him, as he knew his father had other plans in mind. Besides, Ma Mingzhu, his stepmother, would never let it reach that point. She would probably take even harsher measures than she already did.
He could probably convince some elders to side with him, but he would have to abandon the path he was now on and take the same path as everybody else to prove his worth. This, however, was unacceptable to him, as this path was what was most important to him—yes, even more than his wife. If he was forced to choose, his answer was already set in stone.
After all, to his clan, birthing an immortal was paramount. It was everything the clan strove for. Anything to regain their lost glory. Artifact forging, as good as Qin Yun was, was only an auxiliary path, something to complement a cultivation base. No matter how talented he was, no one would take him seriously. No one except the Lian Clan, who did business for a living.
Artifacts were highly marketable, which made him a hot commodity. At the time, Lian Huiling stopped at nothing to recruit him. Of course, this was all part of Qin Yun’s plan. He needed capital to help in his research. This deal was profitable for both of them.
Still, as Lian Ling was still shaken by this revelation, a massive explosion shook most of the city. Clouds of blackened smoke rose like plumes in the sky, obscuring the sun. They all turned to the sound's origin, only to see the Qin Clan's compound in that direction. Yun Jingfei turned to her husband, only to see him look at that plume of smoke with a satisfied grin.
Comments
lenkite
> What happened before they married was irrelevant to their current relationship. Yeah, but he is embracing her NOW, not before their "current relationship". And he never explained this to his wife. A simple hand on the shoulder is good enough.
Zarthos
Well, it was hinted at in chapter 27. I just added more details now.
Deamonicbob
Wait Hou Ping was her lover? That wasn't made clear before and seems unnecessary.
