Volume One, Chapter Ninety-Six: The Finest Vessel in the World

A man was waiting outside when Qin Yu was led out.

He leaned casually against the corner. At the sound, he lifted his head slowly. The light behind him spilled over the back of his head, making even the ends of his hair seem to glow.

He said nothing. From behind him, he produced a black baseball cap and handed it to her.

Qin Yu guessed a little of what he meant and obediently put it on.

The moment she left the police station, she sensed several pairs of eyes watching from the shadows.

Lu Jinyuan moved closer and placed his body in front of her, shielding her.

He was tall, and because the two stood so near, when Qin Yu looked up she could only see the back of his head, and that faint layer of black baleful energy.

Her brows drew together slightly. She felt something eerie.

She quietly formed a seal, wanting to investigate.

Yet...

Nothing happened?

Qin Yu was startled and formed another.

And then...

The result was exactly the same.

After her spiritual energy entered Lu Jinyuan's body, there was not the slightest reaction. She even saw him reach back in puzzlement to scratch his own back.

Qin Yu: ...

Just as they got into the car, Qin Yu felt a shadowy figure strike toward her and instinctively raised her hand to block it.

Crack.

Ah!

One sound after another.

The first was crisp and sharp; the second, familiar.

"Lu Hualing?"

Lu Hualing clutched his aching face, looking aggrieved. "Master, that welcome gift hurt way too much!"

Qin Yu: ...

In the front seat, Lu Jinyuan held a loose fist against his lips, his eyes curved with amusement.

"Master, were you all right in there? Did anyone bully you? If they did, just say the word. I'll tell my little uncle, and he'll help deal with them!"

Qin Yu and Lu Jinyuan fell silent at the same time.

Only after a beat did Lu Hualing realize, "No need for me to tell him. My little uncle is right here."

"Lu Hualing." Qin Yu called him.

Lu Hualing's eyes lit up. He looked like a little dog wagging its tail. "I'm here, I'm here!"

"Shut up. I want some peace and quiet!"

Lu Hualing gave an "oh."

Only then did the car finally fall quiet.

Having solved one headache, Qin Yu refused to give up and tried to draw forth her spiritual power again.

Hiss.

The spiritual energy touched Lu Jinyuan and let out a very faint, extinguished sound.

Then she heard someone heartlessly mumble nearby, "Eh? Which one of you farted?"

The space in the car was so small that nearly everyone heard him.

Lu Jinyuan's face turned dark and gloomy.

Qin Yu covered her forehead, secretly glanced at the fool, and closed her eyes.

The driver took the car straight to Lu Jinyuan's residence—the estate atop Jingfang Mountain.

When Qin Yu was taken away by the police, it had been afternoon. By the time they came out, night had already fallen.

Because they were in the mountains and closer to the sky, the whole night seemed as pure and clear as if washed in water. The dense stars twinkled overhead like a cluster of tiny, adorable eyes...

In midsummer, cicadas sang tirelessly, pouring out the grief of summer in full.

All over Jingfang Mountain lay uncultivated land, where native trees had grown for hundreds of years. The spiritual energy was so abundant it made one's bones itch.

From the bottom of her heart, Qin Yu sighed, "It's so beautiful here."

Lu Hualing, as though finally bursting after holding in a flood of words, took a breath and said, "Of course it is! This whole mountain was passed down from our Lu family ancestors! The plants and animals here are all original residents. On top of that, specialists come regularly to maintain the vegetation! It's all to preserve the mountain's natural state!"

Qin Yu nodded in admiration. "Old Master Lu is truly remarkable."

Lu Hualing looked proud, as though she had complimented him instead. "My grandfather is an environmental guardian!"

He was still going on when the car stopped.

"Lu Hualing, Grandfather is waiting for you upstairs."

The moment they got out, Lu Jinyuan announced it coldly.

Lu Hualing's face changed like a circus clown's, transforming in an instant.

"Little uncle, isn't that a bit unethical?"

His legs moved involuntarily toward the outside.

But his body crashed into a wall of iron and steel the next second.

Rubbing his aching shoulder, he pleaded pitifully, "Can't you save me some face in front of the master?"

Then he watched as the iron-and-steel man lifted him up as easily as picking up a chick and tossed him over a shoulder.

Lu Hualing's face darkened like the bottom of a pot. With one hand propping up his chin, he forced out a grin at Qin Yu and said in the most cheerful tone, "Master, don't take offense. The servants in my house usually welcome me like this."

At the same time, he lowered his voice and growled at the iron-and-steel man, "Ah Hao, your bonus this month is gone!"

Ah Hao glanced at him without care. "Whatever. It's not like I get paid by you anyway."

With the attention-seeker gone, only Qin Yu and Lu Jinyuan remained in the night.

The pale moonlight dripped onto Qin Yu's shoulder, and Lu Jinyuan looked at it with a trace of surprise.

"The people from Clear Wind Temple are searching everywhere for you. It's comparatively safe here. You can continue your livestream if you want," Lu Jinyuan said.

Standing beside him, Qin Yu asked directly what had puzzled her. "Why has the baleful energy inside your body increased so much?"

The suppressing talismans might only treat the symptoms and not the root cause, but they should not have allowed the baleful energy to grow this wildly.

Lu Jinyuan gave a bleak smile. "My life was stolen to begin with. I've already lived ten extra years. I'm satisfied."

Qin Yu disliked such defeatist words. Her beautiful brows knitted tightly, and a sharp instinct sensed something wrong. "Lu Jinyuan, are you hiding something from me?"

She looked into his eyes, trying to find even the slightest trace of deceit, but they were as deep as a pool and impossible to read.

Lu Jinyuan seemed to have heard some joke. With a light laugh, he curved his lips, and even the mountains and rivers behind him seemed to lose their color.

"For someone already dying, what would I have worth hiding?"

Qin Yu did not know what to say. She only felt that the Lu Jinyuan before her was somehow different now.

She focused and looked at him for a long moment before saying firmly, "I trust my own judgment. Your fate is not to end here."

After a pause, she glanced again at the black baleful energy clinging to his hair.

Lu Jinyuan seemed faintly moved, but only for an instant. Then he shook his head with a self-mocking smile. "Thank you for comforting me."

On Lu Jinyuan's face lay an unshakable despair.

The cruelest thing in the world is not the absence of hope, but despair after seeing hope.

Qin Yu did not want him to experience that cruelty again, so she changed the subject. "Give me your hand."

Even if she could not solve the problem at its root, she could at least help him dispel some of it.

Lu Jinyuan thought of how Qin Yu had drawn the suppressing talisman for him the first time, and it had been the same scene then.

Qin Yu's small, pale palm faced upward, while Lu Jinyuan's long, well-defined hand faced down.

Qin Yu corrected him and turned his hand over.

Yet the instant she touched Lu Jinyuan, a wisp of baleful energy slipped along their contact and darted straight into Qin Yu's body.

Her expression changed drastically. She sat down at once and formed a seal to seal several major acupoints.

Qin Yu had a special constitution. Lin Changxiu had once said that her body was an extraordinary vessel, capable of containing all things.

But there was one forbidden rule: it must not hold two incompatible forces at the same time.

Spiritual energy and baleful energy were naturally opposed.

If it was not dealt with in time, that baleful energy would corrode her body like poison.

With her eyes closed, bead-sized drops of sweat emerged from Qin Yu's forehead and slid down little by little. Some fell onto her clothes, and some into the grass.

Lu Jinyuan stood anxiously by her side, driving away the mindless mosquitoes of the summer night.

At that moment, on the second floor.

Old Master Lu stood with his back to Lu Hualing, yet by chance he noticed the scene below.

"Grandfather, with Master Dianqiu protecting me, nothing will happen to me, really! Please just agree to let me follow Master Dianqiu and broaden my horizons!"

Lu Hualing did not hear Old Master Lu speak and thought to himself: Could Grandfather have been persuaded?

Seizing the opportunity, he pressed on. "Grandfather, didn't you used to like Master Dianqiu a lot too? You even asked me to help introduce my little uncle to her."

"Master Dianqiu?"

Old Master Lu's keen gaze locked tightly onto the girl meditating below as he carefully weighed that name.

Fearing he might not remember, Lu Hualing hurriedly added, "Yes, yes, yes, the one you once asked online to divine a fortune for my little uncle! Not only is she incredibly accurate, she's also amazing at catching ghosts! I even have videos of her catching ghosts on my phone!"

Old Master Lu drew his gaze back from below. His distant eyes fell on Lu Hualing. "Is she really as impressive as you say?"

"Of course, of course. Don't believe me? Take a look!"

Lu Hualing opened a chat group.

It had been created by Qin Yu's fans, who would occasionally post highly thrilling edited videos of Qin Yu catching ghosts.

Lu Hualing tapped one open at random.

Watching Qin Yu's techniques, Old Master Lu's bright eyes flashed with surprise.

"Do you know where she learned her craft?"

Hearing the subtle shift in his tone, Lu Hualing felt as though there was room to maneuver and immediately nodded. "The Spirit Mountain Sect."

Old Master Lu frowned. This was far from the answer he had imagined.

"How come I've never heard of this sect?"

Lu Hualing scratched his head. "Master Dianqiu said she and her master lived at Spirit Mountain Temple on Spirit Mountain, and that she was a disciple of the Spirit Mountain Sect."

Old Master Lu's vision went dark. No matter how he heard it, his grandson sounded like he was twisting his tongue.

Dizzy, he waved a hand. "Enough, enough. Go on down first."

"And the matter of me following Master Dianqiu?"

"We'll discuss it later."

Seeing that Old Master Lu was not flatly refusing, Lu Hualing knew when to stop. He blew kiss after kiss toward him, his words coated with honey. "Grandfather, I love you the most!"

Old Master Lu could not help laughing. "That brat!"

After the door closed, the smile on Old Master Lu's face vanished.

He looked down below and found it more and more familiar.

With a cold snort, he thought: So this is the Spirit Mountain Sect? What a joke.

This is clearly the one that vanished a hundred years ago.

Hiding for so long—so you've finally decided to show yourselves, have you?

Old Master Lu watched quietly.

Suddenly, a streak of white light burst from Qin Yu's chest.

Old Master Lu's mouth opened slightly in shock.

That, that was!!!

The Great Sword of Long Yi!

—

Qin Yu spat out a mouthful of black blood, and the Great Sword of Long Yi hanging above her sensed it. In the blink of an eye, it shot forward like a bolt of lightning.

Something in the black blood seemed to struggle twice, then vanished before both their eyes.

Qin Yu could not help letting out a soft sigh.

What a fine sword!

"Are you feeling better?"

Lu Jinyuan's voice came from afar.

She looked up. He was standing three meters away from her.

"Why are you standing so far away from me?"

"I didn't know this baleful energy could transfer." There was a faint note of apology in Lu Jinyuan's voice.

Qin Yu waved a hand, speaking lightly. "I didn't expect it either."

Ordinary baleful energy, upon sensing the pure spiritual power in her body, would be fleeing in a panic. Why would it instead rush toward her?

Unless...

They came from the same source.

They were drawn to each other.

She pulled the Great Sword of Long Yi from the ground and gave it a shake in front of Lu Jinyuan. "With the Great Sword of Long Yi in hand, your baleful energy won't dare come near me."

At that, Lu Jinyuan took two steps forward, but in the end still lacked the courage to come closer.

"It's already very late. I'll have a servant lead you to your room."

With that, he turned and left in the opposite direction.

Soon after, a servant came to guide Qin Yu.

Once inside her room, Qin Yu turned on her phone, and a deluge of messages, missed calls, and private messages from Bean Sprout flooded in.

The missed calls were from Su Jin.

The unread texts were from Qi Huairou.

Her finger paused over the latest unread message. After thinking for a moment, she tapped it open.

"Yu Yu, it was all Mom's fault. Mom knows she was wrong. Mom does not ask for your forgiveness, only that you take good care of yourself."

Something in Qin Yu's chest went numb.

Just as she was about to close the chat, another text barged in.

"Qin Yu, you were the one who chose to leave. Since you've left, don't come back! Your father and mother have already had their hearts broken by you! Even if you spare a thought for the fact that they gave birth to you, don't come back and disturb their lives!"

Qin Yu curved her lips.

She closed the chat window.

If Su Nianxin would put this little scheme of hers to proper use, she might become a decent person.

Qin Yu opened her Bean Sprout private messages. Most of them were insults, of course, though some were concerned about her.

Finding it troublesome to send reassurance one by one, Qin Yu simply posted a new update.

Dianqiu: Safe and sound. No need to worry.

Dianqiu: Image

The attached image was a peace talisman Qin Yu had drawn.

As soon as the post went up, her messages lit up.

Ye Puming: Master, has Clear Wind Temple continued to make things difficult for you?

Dianqiu: Not yet.

Dianqiu: Can you tell me what you know about Clear Wind Temple?

Qin Yu disliked beating around the bush and asked directly.

There was a long pause on the other end, perhaps as he considered whether to speak, or perhaps how to phrase it.

Ye Puming: I've been cultivating at Clear Wind Temple for three years, but I'm still only an outer disciple. I probably don't know much.

Dianqiu: Just tell me whatever you do know.

Ye Puming: Clear Wind Temple recruits disciples at the foot of the mountain every year. But their requirements are very strange. They don't look at talent or ability, only one thing: the person must have neither parents nor attachments.

Qin Yu frowned. For someone like that, even if they died suddenly, no one would know.

Ye Puming: Back then I was utterly fascinated by Clear Wind Temple, so I paid money to buy the identity of a little beggar and got in.

Ye Puming: But after I got in, I realized it was nothing like I imagined. Every day, our main tasks were just boiling water, chopping wood, and chanting scriptures...

Ye Puming: About three months later, the place where we chanted scriptures changed, from a small Zen courtyard to a resplendent inner hall.

Qin Yu frowned and thought of that golden statue of the Primordial Lord of Heaven.