A hush fell over the room. The soldiers’ lips quivered as they stared at Li Qinglin, and none of them knew what to say. Li Qinglin kept his back to the crowd as well without turning his head for once. His muscles had shrivelled and his shoulders bent. Qin Yi knew that if he did turn his head, they would see a face covered with wrinkles. The handsome and dashing Li Qinglin was gone.
Taking a deep breath, Qin Yi suddenly asked, “Minghe, my friend, have you enjoyed the show?”
There was a moment of silent before a fragrant scent filled their nostrils, and Minghe suddenly appeared.
“Demons were rampaging in the crown prince’s residence. Why didn’t you do anything?”
“Since I didn’t kill Night Wing, I shouldn’t kill demons on the other side either. An onlooker shouldn’t take sides,” Minghe said casually as she stared blankly at Li Qinglin’s white hair.
Qin Yi asked, “Did you enjoy the show?”
Minghe fell silent. No onlookers could’ve expected such an outcome, Minghe and Liusu included.
A moment ago, she found the strifes of Nanli so uneventful. No matter what background the story was set in, it was essentially a fight for power. Liusu had also found it boring and assumed it wouldn’t “add new memories to my long life”.
But this ending was so unexpected that even transcendent cultivators like them were moved. Liusu hadn’t spoken yet, and no one could tell what it was thinking about.
Minghe felt just as conflicted.
Qin Yi bowed all the way down until his hands touched the ground. “Please help Brother Li. I promise I’ll repay you for it.”
“There’s nothing I can do.” Minghe sighed. “I’m only more advanced than you in my cultivation level, but not my knowledge in all subjects.”
Qin Yi wouldn’t give up. “Does your sect have special techniques that can rejuvenate people?”
“If a skill can rejuvenate people, it can achieve immortality. Why are we walking on the difficult path towards the Great Tao if such a skill already exists? He might be saved if he can ingest the real nine-transformation golden elixir or obtain some very rare treasure in Nature, but that’s beyond my knowledge.”
Qin Yi fell silent. How was he supposed to find those things?
Minghe then said, “The most I can do is create an illusion that the crown prince still looks the same to other people of Nanli. As for what happens after that…”
“That’ll be enough,” Li Qinglin said suddenly. “Priestess, please do that.”
His voice was as husky as that of an 80 year old.
A lot of the soldiers burst into tears.
With a wave of Minghe’s fair hand, a faint smoke drifted over Li Qinglin, and the others saw that his back was straight again and his hair was black.
Slowly turning around, he said calmly, “Let’s leave this place first. We still have a lot of things to wrap up.”
He marched off after those words, his gait as steadfast as ever. The soldiers were much relieved and didn’t feel as if the world was going to end anymore. They followed Li Qinglin out in single file. Even at an old age, Li Qinglin was still Li Qinglin.
Qin Yi was the only one who watched Donghuazi’s dead body in silence because the spear was still in it.
What would make a warrior forget about his own weapon?
He knew that Li Qinglin definitely wasn’t as calm as he appeared to be.
Pulling out the spear, he turned to Minghe and said, “Do you still want to live in my shabby courtyard?”
Minghe asked, “Are you still counting on me to think of a solution?”
“Yes, let’s think it over. Maybe there is a way. After all, he’s not naturally old but has only been cursed. What if we can break the spell?”
Minghe suddenly asked, “Why do you care so much? Don’t you want to know what he’ll choose?”
Qin Yi said, “I know immortality exists, but as a prince, I prefer his principle of choosing to help the kingdom over prolonging his life. Even if Li Qinglin would’ve turned into a foolish ruler when he actually turned old, that wouldn’t have happened for decades. When you put someone in such an impossible situation and interrogate them, the answer is meaningless. It was created by Donghuazi’s twisted wishes. At least for me, I don’t care what choice he’ll make. I only hope he doesn’t have to face it.”
Minghe studied him for a while and shook her head. “My friend, you still don’t think like a cultivator.”
Qin Yi wasn’t in the mood to argue with her right now nor could he look at the situation as an outsider. He turned around with Li Qinglin’s spear and said, “I told you already. At least for now, I can’t make a clean break from this mortal world.”
…
He walked out of the underground palace to find Li Qinglin still standing there. Most of the troops were gone and so was Xie Yuan, the old general.
Seeing that Qin Yi had come out with the spear, Li Qinglin smiled bitterly and took the weapon. “Thank you, Brother Qin.”
Qin Yi asked, “Don’t you have things to wrap up?”
“I’ve had the royal palace sealed off. Since I’ve deployed troops into the city and ignored the royal decree, a smooth transaction was out of the question. In the end, I’m still going to be the subject of gossip.” After a pause, Li Qinglin lowered his voice. “To tell you the truth, I’m not in the mood to work on the details right now.”
Qin Yi wanted to say something, but Li Qinglin waved at him. “I know you’re a noble man. There are things I can’t reveal to my soldiers and can’t even tell Qingjun… But I can tell you.”
Hearing that, Qin Yi swallowed his words of comfort and said, “Sure. I’m all ears.”
“I’ve known all along that Donghuazi has been trying to kill me.” Li Qinglin looked into the distance and said slowly, “I used to think that if I was killed by his plot or if this operation failed, Nanli would become Qingjun’s responsibility. That was why I would never let her marry Mang Zhan or let anything happen to her.”
Qin Yi nodded. “I know you mean that. I could tell from that jade pendant.”
“But, Brother Qin…” Li Qinglin still kept his gaze in the distance, as if he didn’t dare to meet Qin Yi’s eyes. He then said quietly, “Now that I know I’m not going to live for very long and may not have enough energy, I… I don’t want to give the throne to Qingjun anymore. When that spot was within my reach, I realized I couldn’t give it up. I’m confused. What’s my ambition? Have I even fooled myself? When I thought I was trying to help Nanli, was I really only trying to help myself get the throne? Was that it?”
Qin Yi didn’t laugh but said sincerely, “It’s normal for you to think that way… and I’ve never judged my friends by the standards of saints. If you claimed to be doing everything for Nanli without any selfish thoughts, that would sound hypocritical.”
Li Qinglin seemed much relieved and finally gave him a smile. “Brother Qin, you’re a real friend.”
Qin Yi said, “Actually, Qingjun isn’t suitable for that job. If you really let her take the throne, she would probably make a bigger mess than a second Donghuazi.”
Li Qinglin laughed wholeheartedly. “That’s very possible.”
After some hesitation, Qin Yi finally said, “After all, you’re an Innate Stage warrior, and you’re much stronger than ordinary people. Even in this state, you should still have quite a few years ahead of you. So please hang on while I try to think of a way to…”
There was a strange look in Li Qinglin’s eyes as he slowly said, “I thought you were going to say that you would teach me how to cultivate.”
Qin Yi’s stomach lurched.
Li Qinglin then changed the subject. “Forget about it. I’m sure that’s what Donghuazi wants to see. Indulge myself in cultivation and let my kingdom down? I’m not going to give him what he wants.” After a pause, he added, “I feel much better after talking to you. Brother Qin, you’ve had a long day as well. Please go back, get some rest, and keep Qingjun company.”
He then marched off.
Qin Yi didn’t know what to say as he watched him leave.
Liusu said, “The fear of facing death is unimaginable. One might think one can smile it off, but when it really comes down to it, one will still waver.”
“Considering what has happened to him, feeling uncertain is natural. That’s what makes him human. At least he didn’t switch to the evil side right away.” Qin Yi sighed. “If I were him, I don’t think I could’ve stayed so calm.”
Liusu asked, “If Li Qinglin still asks you to teach him to cultivate, are you going to do it?”
“Are you okay with me giving away your teachings?”
“Those are only basic techniques. I couldn’t care less.”
Qin Yi pursed his lips. He had avoided Li Qinglin’s explicit hint not just because he needed to ask Liusu first, but he was hesitant himself.
Li Qinglin’s understanding of “indulging oneself in cultivation and abandoning the kingdom” wasn’t accurate. If that was the case, one could rule a kingdom and cultivate at the same time if they had enough self-control.
It didn’t work like that. The real reason was that the idea of discarding all desires and worries and abandoning all obsessions was the polar opposite to what one needed as a king. The two sides were incompatible. One had to give up the throne if one wanted to cultivate. As long as they were still a ruler, the conclusion remained that no king could achieve immortality.
More likely, they would probably do terribly on both ends. Not only would they not find immortality, but at the same time, they would ignore their state affairs as well. Countless rulers had proved that point.
Li Qinglin had admitted that he couldn’t give away the throne anymore. Teaching him how to cultivate would only bring him onto his father’s path and turn him into the person he hated the most.
Qin Yi could understand him, but he really hated to see that day come.