Evening of June 10, 2017
When Wang Jiu returned to Shen Garden, he saw his own mount lying on her back, idly flipping through a fashion magazine.
Although the young girl tried her best to put on a helpless look: I'm bedridden without choice and that's why I'm spending my time and energy on fashion magazines, her eyes sparkled, perfectly revealing her true feelings.
Before Wang Jiu could speak, the girl closed the magazine and asked first: "How was it, smooth?"
Wang Jiu replied: "Not bad, I successfully found the place and the burning of paper money and letters went smoothly."
"Alright... well, thank you."
"You're welcome, by the way, I also saw your mother."
The girl's brow furrowed, wasn't this nonsense? Wait a minute, could he mean... Li Qingming's breath tightened involuntarily.
"You, you, you mean, you saw my mother?"
Wang Jiu said: "Yes, a very beautiful lady."
"Mm, she truly is beautiful." Li Qingming reminisced about her mother's appearance, feeling a sense of admiration.
Wang Jiu was also impressed by that kite-like lady, commented: "Even though for her age, her body is a bit petite, and her clothes seem overly luxurious, but she possesses a unique exquisite beauty worthy of praise."
"...Wait, what exactly are you talking about? Petite body, luxurious clothes?!"
Li Qingming's memory of her mother, Shen Yue'e, was of a woman who often had a gentle smile, was elegant and gracious. She was tall and full-figured, her appearance alluring and moving, uninhibited by trivialities in personality. Her clothes were always as neat as new but without any gaudy embellishment, and she didn't wear makeup, being as simple as clear water.
This was starkly different from Wang Jiu's description!
"Wang Jiu, Wang Jiu, draw the appearance of the person you're talking about."
A moment later, the portrait was completed, Li Qingming showed a surprised expression, "Lu Xin?!"
"Yes." Wang Jiu said, "Also, she is a descendant of old acquaintances, but unfortunately, unlike you, she didn't inherit the essence of the ancestral bloodline, Lu Jintong's Yin Yang Pupils in her became merely..."
"How can that woman Lu Xin be considered my mother?!"
Wang Jiu agreed: "Indeed, externally, she looks like she could be your sister."
"I don't want that kind of sister! That vicious, jealous, and stingy woman... what kind of sister would dock her younger sister's monthly stipend?!" Li Qingming furiously ranted for a while, then calmed down, "No way, you actually saw Lu Xin at my mother's grave?! What was she doing there?"
Wang Jiu recalled Lu Xin's words and actions, guessed: "Probably to pay respects or something, although she seemed not to bring paper money."
Li Qingming blurted out: "What's the point of visiting a grave without money?!"
"..."
"Sorry, I got emotional again, I just didn't expect that she would actually go to my mother's grave, when they were alive, those two were quite at odds..."
Wang Jiu reasonably speculated: "That maybe she wanted to go to your mother's grave to mock her?"
"...I don't think so." Li Qingming said softly, "Even though she's annoying, she's not such a despicable person."
After a moment of silence, Li Qingming asked again: "Anything else?"
Wang Jiu said: "Besides, I also met your father."
"Him, hmm, at least he has some conscience, not forgetting my mother's anniversary. But did they say anything when they saw you? Did they discover your true identity?"
"Almost, your father, although his ability is average, his talent is indeed good, when cultivating heart and sword he didn't forget to cultivate the Eye skill, his Eye of Truth is almost perfect... If not for the fact that he didn't seriously suspect me, my current First Rank Illusion Sword Technique wouldn't have fooled him."
Li Qingming whispered: "He's a complete cultivation fanatic, besides cultivation he barely cares about anything else, my mother initially liked his focus... So, did they say anything?"
Wang Jiu recalled: "Not much spoken publicly, mainly your mother kept expressing dissatisfaction with me."
Li Qingming was not surprised: "She never liked me."
Wang Jiu originally wanted to explain, Lu Xin's dissatisfaction was primarily directed at him rather than her, but seeing Li Qingming showed no interest in digging into this issue, he casually skipped over it.
"Later, the two of them used Secret Communication magic to say quite a lot of private things, I only heard fragments, thanks to your mother's Spiritual Sense Cultivation and True Essence Cultivation being severely mismatched, there were many flaws when performing magic."
"Mm, not surprising."
Although Lu Xin belonged to the Seven Great Noble Families' Lu Family, she indeed didn't inherit much exceptional cultivation bloodline, were it not for her wealthy background, being supplied consistently with Miraculous Elixirs, and having Great Cultivators perform Marrow Cleansing and True Essence infusion on her at regular intervals, she would never have reached the Rain Cover Realm. However, Spiritual Sense Cultivation is hard to be handled by others, no matter how many auxiliary Spiritual Medicine she consumed, Lu Xin's spiritual strength was still very weak, showing no signs of forming a Primordial Spirit, completely overstrained when wielding Rain Cover Realm's True Essence, frequently exposing flaws when casting magic.
Though, Rain Cover Realm still qualifies her as a Great Cultivator in the Immortal Cultivation Realm, her Secret Communication magic could be picked up in part by Wang Jiu, this Whiteboard Stupid Sword...
Lu Xin is definitely a disgrace to the Great Cultivators! Li Qingming thought angrily.
"What did they talk about?"
Wang Jiu answered: "Roughly like this, your dad mentioned you've transformed beautifully, your mom said it's because you cultivated other family's techniques, and then they talked about the topic of inheritance."
Li Qingming's face immediately darkened: "What's there to say, they never planned for me to inherit the family business anyway."
Wang Jiu said: "I couldn't hear the details, but it seemed like your mother said something like, 'It's a joke to think that idiot with that kind of aptitude could be an heir!'
"She, she actually has the nerve to talk about aptitude!" Li Qingming's small face flushed with anger, "What did my dad say?"
"I couldn't hear what was said after that."
"... Telling half a story and leaving it hanging, you're really useless!"
Wang Jiu said: "If you don't mind, I can also use my imagination to fill in the gaps for you."
"Forget it, no need for you to fill in. I can guess it myself," Li Qingming said, "Lu Xin has never liked me—for her, I can understand, if I were her, I wouldn't like the daughter of a love rival either. Besides, I'm an illegitimate child, and the position of the Li Family heir has never been related to me. As for Wushuang... he's a good kid, should be able to become a good patriarch. And my father, he's not a bad person, he's just, he doesn't love me, doesn't care about me. But, if not even he loves me, who in the world would?"
As she spoke, Li Qingming couldn't help but cast her gaze towards the long sword hanging in the room.
Wang Jiu followed her gaze outside, where the sunset looked like blood, and the Tree Spirit cast a long shadow in the courtyard.
"What are you looking at?"
"... Nothing."
"Are you grinding your teeth? Frequent grinding can lead to excessive tooth wear, so..."
"Shut up!"
——
The room was quiet for a while, then suddenly Li Qingming sighed.
"Wang Jiu, do you think, can I really be counted as a Li Family member?"
"..."
"Alright, you don't need to keep quiet, please speak."
Wang Jiu then said: "From a genetic inheritance perspective, you indeed inherit the bloodlines of both the Li and Shen Families. From a species perspective, an IQ of 3.3 still falls within the human category..."
"No, I mean, how different am I now from an outsider?" Li Qingming said, "You see, aside from the bloodline, I'm now practicing the Windchasing Sword from the Outer Sect, the Immovable Tyrant Body was taught to me by you, and has nothing to do with the Li Family. My monthly stipend is only 9 liang, which is practically nothing. And this courtyard... now it's also my courtyard, so I feel like I have nothing to do with the Li Family."
Wang Jiu suddenly recalled a question Lu Xin had asked before.
"I understand, you feel like you're ready to leave the family, without any regard for rules."
"How can you say I'm ready to spread my wings?" Li Qingming smiled bitterly, "I only broke the Wind Barrier at 14, although I have bloodline divine techniques, I don't even have a set of compatible swordsmanship, apart from a White Sword, I don't have any magical treasure or spirit talisman..."
"Strictly speaking, you don't have a White Sword, because due to our relationship it should belong to me."
Li Qingming gave Wang Jiu an annoyed glance: "... I just want to say, although my situation is really bad now, even if I stay in the Li Family, it would only add to my troubles, Li Fengyun and Lu Xin act as if they don't consider me a Li Family daughter at all."
Wang Jiu interjected: "Sorry to interrupt, I have a question. In your view, what should they do to consider you a Li Family daughter?"
"..." Li Qingming was also stunned by the question.
Wang Jiu said: "In general family relationships, parents should frequently spoil their offspring, so your ideal relationship with Li Fengyun and Lu Xin might be this way?"
As Wang Jiu talked, he sketched for a moment, and completed a drawing of domestic bliss for a family of three. Li Fengyun and Lu Xin, with kind and benevolent looks, walked side by side, with Li Qingming standing between them, holding their hands, a happy smile radiating on her face.
"Ahhhhh what kind of nonsense is this!" Li Qingming only glanced at it and collapsed into a scream, "Take it away, take it away, it's making me sick!"
"Then what do you want?"
Li Qingming snorted a few times, suddenly having an idea: "Wang Jiu, since you're so good at drawing, can you help me draw a picture like this, with me stepping all over Lu Xin, mercilessly trampling her..."
"Are you sure that's your ideal family relationship?"
"... I guess you're right, how childish I was. Moreover, the way things are now, any relationship feels awkward, heh, my family relations are beyond saving."
Wang Jiu considered: "Not necessarily, what if they gave you a lot of money?"
"... How much money?"
"What do you think?"
Li Qingming grunted: "Given the cold treatment I've received over the years, at least 100,000 spirit stones for starters!"
After a while, Li Qingming sighed: "Forget it, this really isn't about the money. Wang Jiu, if, I mean if, I choose to leave the family and roam the world, would you still be willing to stay by my side?"
Wang Jiu, puzzled: "What a foolish question. When you raise pigs, do you care about its social life in the pen? Of course, I'd be by your side, you're my mount."
"... I, I don't even know if I should thank you."