This time, the little girl wasn’t that unguarded anymore. No longer lying on Luo Jianqing’s legs and chatting casually with him, she hid behind her mother, watching Luo Jianqing and Xuan Lingzi secretly. The image of the two elegant cultivators were reflected in her limpid eyes. Most of the time, it was Luo Jianqing whom she spent more time observing.
Finally, Mrs. Lin broke the silence. She sighed, “In fact, I had it in my mind that you might be cultivators. However, Mr. Wang didn’t sense any cultivation base on you, so I thought that I might be wrong, who knows, maybe you guys are simply practitioners of martial arts. Today you’ve saved our lives. You have my deepest gratitude.”
Luo Jianqing replied, “It’s nothing worth mentioning.”
Madame Lin raised her head and said sincerely, “It is something big to me. You’ve saved Rongrong’s life, and, to me, there’s no such thing in this world that could be as significant as that.” Mrs. Lin paused a bit and finally told them the story. “I am from the Zhao Family. Zhao Yue is my name. Ten years ago, I lived in the Sha Du City – the capital of the kingdom. If you are citizens of Wu Sha Kingdom, you’ve probably heard of my name. ‘San Shui Hong Yue’ – that ‘Yue’ is referring to me.”
Turning the clock back to ten years ago, “San Shui Hong Yue” was a famous title well-known by the citizens of Wu Sha Kingdom.
“San” (TN: literally means “three” or “the third” in Chinese) was referring to the Third Prince, Wu Ao, who achieved Foundation Establishment Period after twenty-two years of cultivation.
“Shui” was referring to the son of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Qiu Shuifu, who achieved fully-developed ninth-level Qi Condensation Period after twenty-one years of cultivation.
“Hong” was referring to the Princess of Zhen Nan Territory, Xiao Hong, who achieved the ninth-level Qi Condensation Period after twenty years of cultivation.
Following them was “Yue”, Lady Zhao Yue – the granddaughter of the State Minister Zhao. The girl reached eighth-level Qi Condensation Period at the age of seventeen, and had a great potential to establish the Foundation before twenty-two!
“Back then, my father arranged a marriage for me: to marry that Qiu Shuifu. Though we’ve known each other since we were little, I never really liked him. He is an arrogant guy who often bosses others around and bullies the weak. His talents and handsome look are totally wasted, for he doesn’t own a matching personality. That’s why I escaped from my family before the wedding day. Then, I met my husband.”
In a small kingdom like Wu Sha, commoners who wanted to become a cultivator would go out and seek opportunities by attending the entrance examination set by cultivation sects. However, rarely descendants of the noble families would leave their hometown. They had got abundant cultivation resources provided by their families, so there was no need to make any effort.
Though accomplishment like “achieving Foundation Establishment at the age of twenty-two” could be considered as a shame on Tai Hua Mountain – given that even Li Xiuchen got it at the age of twenty – for citizens of Wu Sha Kingdom, only one of the most talented people could make it.
Mrs. Lin went on, “My husband was a foreigner. His hometown was far away – Qi Kingdom of the Chong State. He arrived at Wu Sha Kingdom as a refugee. That night, we met each other, and we fell in love with each other at the first sight. However, my family never agreed with my decision. They forbade me to marry a nobody.”
Hearing this, Luo Jianqing asked, “Mrs. Lin, you told me before that your husband reached early-stage Foundation Establishment Period when he was twenty-five. By Wu Sha Kingdom’s standard, he was absolutely a talented guy in terms of cultivating. Your family didn’t take that into consideration?”
Mrs. Lin smiled wryly, “No, talent means nothing to them since he had no powerful family behind him. My family always weigh power heavier than anything else.”
Luo Jianqing listened to the rest of her story in patience.
In a calm tone, Mrs. Lin told them how she was so determined to elope with the love of her life when she was eighteen years old. After they had done that, she was disowned by her family. To repay the efforts and resources her family had put into her all these years, she fused all of her cultivation base into a Spiritual Bead, giving up her identity of a cultivator.
After she sent the Spiritual Bead back, her family finally stopped the efforts of catching them back. Her grandfather, who once loved her the most, crossed her name from the Family Pedigree and disowned her forever.
Since then, the couple settled at Ying Feng City, and they got a daughter a few years later. They named the baby “Rongrong” and thought they could finally live happily forever. Nonetheless, all the wonderful plans for their future collapsed when her husband’s enemy found them.
One year ago, her husband was murdered, so Mrs. Lin had to move away with her daughter. Mr. Wang was her husband’s butler who once reached fully-developed late-stage Foundation Establishment Period, and after beingbadly wounded, his cultivation base was dropped to middle-stage.
This time, Zhao Family heard about Zhao Yue’s difficulties. Though still mad about her, the Head of the Zhao Family still saw Zhao Yue as his precious granddaughter. He sent messages to Zhao Yue, asking her to come back to her family and leave the past in the past.
Zhao Yue smiled, “My grandpa is always like this, strict man he seemed to be, but quite tender hearted. I made such a huge scandal, brought my family to the eye of gossiping hurricane and disgraced them so much. Now, he still opens his arms to me.”
Luo Jianqing asked, “Well, then why didn’t he send any people to escort you back? Surely he knows that once you come back, some of your siblings’ family status will be threatened. He should be wise enough to notice it.”
Zhao Yue suddenly went quiet.
Luo Jianqing didn’t want to depress her, so he added, “Maybe he was too busy.”
Smiling wryly, Zhao Yue nodded, “That’s true. It won’t necessarily be a good thing for me to go back. Sha Du City is actually another dangerous place for me to step in. I was going to invite you to stay at my family for somedays for a rest. Now, it doesn’t seem like a good idea any more. It might expose you to danger. How about this? We travel together till we reach the countryside near the city tomorrow. It would be better if you guys are not seen entering the city with me.”
Hearing her plans, Luo Jianqing smiled, “You wanted to invite us to visit your family as guests?”
Zhao Yue wasn’t expecting him to ask this, so she replied without thinking too much, “Mr. Luo, my status in the family is now very weak, easily being attacked. If you really come to my family, I won’t be able to guarantee your safety. There are six Gold Core Period masters in my family, and lots of late-stage Foundation Establishment Period cultivators, you might be…”
Although Zhao Yue had a feeling that Luo Jianqing and his travel company were powerful cultivators and were certainly not common Foundation Establishment Cultivators, still, she doubted that they could outmuscle the Gold Core cultivators and her grandfather – State Minister Zhao, a Nascent Soul Period cultivator.
Luo Jianqing comforted her, “We don’t know anybody in the Sha Du City. If you do invite us, we certainly won’t turn down your generosity. Besides, we haven’t repaid your kindness to take us along with you all the way from Ying Feng City to this place.”
Zhao Yue was shocked to hear this, “But you just saved our lives…”
“Mrs. Lin, you also saved my life by breaking that jade stone.”
Stunned, Zhao Yue stared at this ethereal cultivator dressed in bice for a long time. At last, she smiled and nodded with gratitude, “Well, then, I invite you to visit State Minister Zhao’s Mansion as my guests. I will be your guide and give you a tour of Sha Du City.”
The next day, along with a warm breeze, a common carriage drove into the Sha Du City.
Horse hooves tapping the ground in rhythm, they headed to the royal city and stopped at the gate of a grand mansion. Dressed in luxuriant garments, many had already gathered at the gate. Everyone seemed excited about Zhao Yue’s arriving, sincerely expressing their welcome.
Slightly nervous, Zhao Yue clenched her fingers.
Xuan Lingzi sent words to Luo Jianqing by using Spiritual Power. “Why do you want to stay here for somedays?”
Opening his eyes, Luo Jianqing chuckled and turned around to look at his Master. Eyes curved into pleasant crescent shapes, he answered, “To fully experience the life of commoners, that’s what you said. Then why don’t we take a good look of a mortal Kingdom? Master, aren’t you curious about what it has in store for us?”
Mouth curling up, Xuan Lingzi took Luo Jianqing’s hand when Zhao Yue and Rongrong weren’t paying attention to them, then he lowered his voice, “Alright, whatever you want. I’ll always stay by your side.”