No one knew how long or how wide the Great Rift Valley was. It was covered by a heavy fog throughout the year. Birds couldn’t fly across, and falling stones wouldn’t make a sound.
The valley ran across the southernmost tips of Nanli and Xihuang, which was also the southernmost end of the entire continent.
No one knew who gave the valley its name, because to ordinary people, it was the end of the world.
Qin Yi asked Liusu, “Clubbie, have you been there before?”
“I have no idea what this place is nor have I heard about it before. Do you realize how long I have been in the mountains? Things have changed so much after tens of thousands of years, and things can’t stay the same as I remember them. I’ve only been to the places you’ve been to.”
“Hm…” Qin Yi had only been to three places in this world: Immortal Deeds Mountain, the country town nearby, and Li Fire city. As for the shire they passed on their way to the capital city, he couldn’t even remember its name.
The two rednecks looked at each other, and Qin Yi went straight to Night Wing’s room. Night Wing was lying on her stomach on the bed with a blanket wrapped around her while cultivating when he pushed the door open. She blinked when she saw who it was.
It’s the middle of the night. What’s he doing here? she wondered.
Qin Yi grinned and picked her up. “Uncle is going to show you some goldfish.”
Night Wing rolled her eyes at him. “Everyone has seen goldfish before. What’s there to see?”
“Fine.” Qin Yi sighed. “We’re going to the Great Right V…”
Night Wing turned to run, but Qin Yi picked her up by the back of her collar. She kicked her legs in midair, and when she realized she wasn’t going anywhere, she lowered her head like a dried fish.
Qin Yi was bewildered. “Have you been there before? Why are you so afraid?”
“I grew up over the valley, but I’ve never gone down to the bottom.” Night Wing sniffled. “But the idea alone frightens me…”
Qin Yi said, “Has it ever occurred to you that because no one here knows how you should proceed as a demon cultivator, you might be stuck at this current level for the rest of your life? But a place like that might have what you need the most, such as a manual or… your kin?”
Night Wing was bewildered for a moment, and her eyes slowly lit up.
It really was possible.
The teenage girl summoned up her courage, rested her hands on her waist, and said, “I’m going with you!”
Pleased, Qin Yi stuck a talisman on her back. Night Wing’s wounds had healed, and right now, she was the strongest soldier in Nanli, second only to Minghe. He wouldn’t be able to do anything if he couldn’t get her to join him…
“W- What’s that?” Night Wing tried to touch the talisman on her back, but her hands couldn’t reach it.
Qin Yi casually put one on himself as well. “It’s a light foot talisman.”
Nanli might be a small kingdom, but it would still take more than a couple of days for a galloping horse to go from Li Fire in the northeast to the rift at the southmost point. Qin Yi didn’t expect that his light foot talisman would be used to hasten on this journey rather than running away from a dangerous situation.
Once they set out, Qin Yi finally understood what it felt like to be “as light-footed as a swallow”. Each step took him dozens of meters forward and gravity seemed to have stopped working on him. He ran as fast as a motor car.
Taoist skills in this world were so much fun.
Qin Yi not only wanted to learn them now, but he was greatly intrigued. Be it the talisman, medicine, formation, or inner elixir, everything was so addictive.
He was only worried that he wouldn’t have enough energy to learn them all.
Come to think of it, he was already very impressive. He had only just started learning, but he had already dabbled in a wide range of subjects and could make grade-eight talismans…
He was still indulging in his self-delusions when he heard Night Wing’s voice. “Your talisman is so lame. I can fly much faster.”
Qin Yi stumbled and almost fell.
Night Wing spread out her wings and was immediately out of sight.
“Damn it…” Qin Yi ran as fast as he could and felt like crying.
Qin Yi ran all the way throughout the night. When the sun rose, Li Qingjun, who hadn’t had any sleep at all, walked out of the room with puffy eyes.
She was surprised as soon as she came out of the crown prince’s residence.
Because Li Qinglin was walking slowly toward her, accompanied by a few guards.
His gait was stronger today, and he didn’t hobble as much as before. Qin Yi’s medicine had taken effect and stabilized his inner energy.
“Why are you here?” Li Qingjun was bewildered. “Shouldn’t you be at court?”
“I’m taking a break today.” Li Qinglin smiled. “Walking around can help my circulation.”
Li Qingjun nodded. As a fellow martial arts practitioner, she knew that was the case.
The look on Li Qinglin’s face was a little strange when he asked, “Why did you come out from there? Have you and Qin Yi…”
“No…” Li Qingjun said. “Are you here to see him? He said you shouldn’t take too many of the pills he gave you. It won’t do you any good.”
Li Qinglin fell silent and only spoke again a while later. “It’s nothing. I just wanted to talk to him. You know how it is. Of all the officials out there, there aren’t a lot of people I can really be honest with.”
Li Qingjun looked at him and sighed inwardly.
She knew how conflicted her brother had been feeling, and he wasn’t really here to pour his heart to Qin Yi. He had come here involuntarily because Qin Yi made him feel that he was closer to cultivation and longevity. But when they actually met, Li Qinglin never mentioned cultivation and would stop himself before he could say the word.
She had seen it quite a few times.
But she didn’t find her brother ridiculous because she could imagine what it was like in his shoes and understand him.
She heard that Li Qinglin had become more irritable these days and would scold the eunuchs and maids all the time. Although she didn’t like it, she could understand his anxiety. She only hoped that he could escape this mentality soon.
“You don’t have to come here to see Qin Yi anymore,” she finally said. “He…”
Li Qinglin paled. “He left? You can’t make him stay, can you?”
Li Qingjun was upset by his reaction. “Is that how you see Qin Yi?”
The look on Li Qinglin’s face changed, and he softened his tone. “Qin Yi isn’t a secular man, and essentially, he’s not much different from Minghe. Maybe he can be a very loyal friend, but he won’t identify himself as a man of Nanli nor does he care much about the kingdom. To Nanli, he has always been an onlooker. I’ve been wondering for a while if he’d leave or not.”
“So that was why you made him the master teacher and rewarded him generously… And my marriage—was that to keep him here, too?”
Li Qinglin sighed. “I know he doesn’t care about those things, but what else could I do?”
“So what if you could keep him here?” Li Qingjun sighed. “Can he make medicine to stop you from getting old or… give you immortality?”
Li Qinglin’s pupils contracted.
“He’s left, but he went to find a cure for your curse. He’s heading for the Great Rift Valley, and the chance of his survival is very slim,” Li Qingjun said indifferently. “It’s true; he doesn’t care about Nanli that much, similar to how Minghe has been passively observing the change in Nanli. But he has human feelings, and he can’t stand by and watch us suffer.”
The look on Li Qinglin’s face changed again, and he smiled. “Qin Yi is a true friend.”
“I don’t know if the two of you can call each other friends,” Li Qingjun said slowly. “But he really is my husband.”
Li Qinglin looked at her for a while and suddenly smiled. “You’ve grown up.”
He then turned around and walked away.
Li Qingjun watched as he walked away and gripped her sleeve, where she had put a manual Qin Yi left to her.
She recalled what Qin Yi told her before he left. “I have no idea if and when I’ll come back, so don’t put all your hopes on me. If Brother Qinglin still wants to start cultivating… Give him this. It’s better than having him picking up Donghuazi’s rubbish manuals.”
She sighed and walked back home, feeling exhausted.
Minghe watched her from behind.
Li Qingjun didn’t like Minghe.
Although she had said she wouldn’t object to Qin Yi and Minghe together, it wasn’t their partnership that she disagreed with. She just found Minghe’s eyes unnerving.
She always seemed to watch Nanli, Li Qingjun, Li Qinglin, and Qin Yi from high up on the clouds with her emotionless eyes. She watched all their happiness and sorrow as if she was reading one book after another. In the end, they would all become part of her understanding of the world.
Li Qingjun sometimes got a malicious idea and wanted to see what Minghe would be like when she became entangled with the mortal world.
The sun rose and the moon set. Two days had passed since they set out.
Qin Yi finally arrived at the Great Rift Valley.
All he could see was endless fog. The opposite bank and the bottom all seemed to be a universe away.
Taking a deep breath, Qin Yi crouched down by the edge of the cliff and wanted to find their position on the map.
Liusu suddenly said, “So, this is the Great Rift Valley you’ve been talking about.”
“Huh?” Qin Yi asked in his mind. “Have you been here before?”
“Of course I have.” Liusu sounded a little weird. “Because… I’m the one who created this valley…”
Qin Yi stumbled and almost fell down the cliff.