Asked About The World Of Mortals

Chapter 12: Responsibility

Last night, Li Qinglin stayed on Xianji Mountain all night without sleeping. In order to ensure his energy for the journey, he didn't waste much time chatting. Before long, he sat on the railing of the pavilion, leaning against the pillar, holding his spear and falling asleep.

Li Qingjun didn't sleep. She stared at Qin Yi intently.

Qin Yi had also stayed up all night last night and was feeling tired at this moment. He found Li Qingjun's behavior quite inexplicable and asked, "Why are you staring at me instead of going to sleep?"

Li Qingjun replied, "If I also fall asleep, what if you have ill intentions towards us?"

"You're crazy," Qin Yi couldn't be bothered to pay attention to her and also sat on the railing, leaning against the pillar, lost in thought.

Qin Yi was somewhat surprised by the ease with which the Li siblings dealt with these monsters and demons using their martial arts. He always felt that low-level cultivators using low-level spells to deal with the previous winged tiger and the current spider demon might not be as effective as the Li siblings.

He himself enjoyed the feeling of striking with a staff...

Unfortunately, Martial Dao seemed to have its limitations and couldn't deal with some strange spells. Otherwise, Li Qinglin wouldn't have needed to come and ask for his help, and Li Qingjun wouldn't always fall into low-level traps and toxins... In other words, relying solely on Martial Dao was indeed not enough.

But it seemed that this girl was too reckless and lacked experience... As he thought about it, Qin Yi couldn't help but glance at Li Qingjun again.

Li Qingjun sat on the stone table, supporting her chin with one hand, still looking at Qin Yi.

Qin Yi helplessly asked, "Why have you been staring at me all this time?"

"I see that you are cold and cautious, valuing your life. You haven't made a move even when there was a tiger on the mountain. Moreover, we have a connection. What if you had ill intentions towards me?" Li Qingjun replied.

"Because we are partners now. If something happens in front of me, wouldn't it be strange if I didn't take action?" Qin Yi said.

Li Qingjun's mouth curved into a smile, but it wasn't a happy smile; rather, it was somewhat mocking.

Qin Yi glanced at her sideways and coldly said, "I know you have a high status, and I'm just trying to climb up."

"I didn't mean it that way," Li Qingjun smiled and said, "It's just that I haven't heard that kind of address in a long time, so it feels... hmm, a bit fresh."

Seeing that her attitude wasn't what he had imagined, Qin Yi's tone improved a bit as he sighed, "What exactly is your identity? I thought you were from a general's family, but now it doesn't seem like it."

Since they were planning to deal with Donghua Zi together, there was no need to hide this. Li Qingjun casually replied, "My brother is a prince, the second prince of Nanli."

"My brother is a prince..." Qin Yi was stunned for a while, and his expression gradually became awkward.

Li Qinglin was a prince, then what was Li Qingjun? In other words, he had actually hung the princess of his own country outside the door...

Fortunately, he didn't make any inappropriate moves at that time, otherwise he would have had no place to reason. What a bizarre country this was, where the prince and princess traveled alone to deep mountains and forests without even a bodyguard, and enthusiastically dealt with demons and monsters themselves. The prince even said that if the princess ended up in his hands, it was because he wasn't skilled enough. And the princess was always thinking of becoming a fairy?

Qin Yi felt that this kingdom was insane.

"What's wrong?" Li Qingjun said with a hint of sarcasm, "Are you scared?"

Qin Yi honestly replied, "A little."

"Are you afraid that I will seek revenge on you because of my status?" Li Qingjun lazily said, "Don't worry, those people in the martial world are no match for me."

It seems that I'm not just no match for her in terms of martial arts... But thinking of this, Qin Yi felt that the Li siblings were not easy. With their status, they could actually endure the humiliation of the martial world... Maybe it was as Li Qinglin said, no matter what your status is, killing someone will always be troublesome?

Of course, he wouldn't say it out loud like that. He just said, "As a villager, seeking a Taoist master in the royal family, I feel like I have gotten involved in the most troublesome thing in the world, so I'm afraid."

Li Qingjun quickly understood what he was referring to and couldn't help but laugh, "You, a rural villager, why do you have such an attitude towards the royal family? It's simply unbelievable. Don't worry, my brother approached you for reasons unrelated to the royal succession. You can think of it as a battle between good and evil."

Good and evil my foot. Even if it's not a succession struggle, it must be a struggle for power in the court! Qin Yi didn't laugh at her naivety and instead asked her, "You're a princess, not a knight. When you saw those disgusting monsters, I clearly saw that you were very afraid, but you were the first one to step forward with a spear. What were you thinking?"

Li Qingjun calmly replied, "This Taoist temple is within the territory of Nanli, and the Taoists inside are my subjects, as are those martial artists. Protecting one's own territory and ensuring the safety of the people is our responsibility, not that of knights."

Qin Yi's eyes flickered as he turned to look at Li Qingjun's expression.

Her gaze was very serious, still so heroic.

"Do you want to drink?" Qin Yi took out a gourd. "This gourd is newly filled, I haven't drunk from it."

He threw the gourd over, and Li Qingjun caught it effortlessly. Qin Yi took out his own gourd that he had been drinking from during the day and raised it from a distance. "Cheers to what you just said."

Li Qingjun smiled, opened the stopper, tilted her head back, and took a big gulp, looking quite elegant.

Qin Yi also took a big gulp. Outside the pavilion, it was raining heavily. He looked at the rain curtain outside the eaves and suddenly felt that this trip to the Fire City might be very interesting.

Liu Su teased, "Boring sense of duty, even the princess can't do it."

Qin Yi's expression remained unchanged as he quietly farted towards the wolf tooth club.

...

The next morning, the night rain cleared.

Li Qingjun woke up from the table and saw that her brother was already talking to Qin Yi outside the pavilion. She blushed for a moment, thinking about how she was guarding against Qin Yi, but didn't know when she fell asleep. Judging from the situation, it was possible that Qin Yi had stayed up all night to protect them.

Images of being held by Qin Yi's waist twice last night involuntarily flashed through her mind.

Feeling uncomfortable all over, she couldn't say anything except stare at him. What else could she do?

Walking out of the pavilion, she heard her brother ask Qin Yi, "Qin Xiong, didn't sleep last night?"

"I'm used to staying up all night to tend to the furnace fire when refining medicine," Qin Yi replied.

Li Qinglin nodded without asking further, just staring at the Taoist temple absentmindedly. He sighed softly, "Burn it."

Qin Yi responded with a sound of agreement. Of course, it was better to burn down the Taoist temple. Seeing Li Qinglin take out a match, Qin Yi suddenly said, "Wait."

Li Qinglin looked at Qin Yi strangely as he went to his horse and took out a bag, from which he pulled out a bottle and sprinkled it around the Taoist temple.

Li Qingjun walked out of the pavilion and asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, this is fireproofing powder. I usually sprinkle some at home to prevent accidents when refining pills," Qin Yi looked up and smiled. "If we're going to burn down the Taoist temple, we should be careful not to set the mountain on fire."

Li Qingjun muttered, "It's not easy to set the Taoist temple on fire after the rain, and you're afraid of setting the mountain on fire."

Then she saw Qin Yi take out another bottle and sprinkle a little on the window sill of the Taoist temple.

"What's that?"

"Instant drying powder."

"...There are so many strange things."

"That's right, otherwise why did you invite us?" Qin Yi replied.

The conversation quieted down at this point. The three of them looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter at the same time.

The fire in the Taoist temple blazed up, and the fire was strangely contained within the circle where Qin Yi had sprinkled the powder. Li Qingjun watched for a while and clicked her tongue. This was something that Martial Dao couldn't achieve. If Martial Dao wanted to control such a large fire, they would have to dig trenches around the Taoist temple in a brute force manner, which would be time-consuming and laborious.

"Hey," Li Qingjun suddenly asked Qin Yi, "When we reach the town later, I want to freshen up. Do you still have that toothbrush of yours?"

"I do," Qin Yi smiled. "Do you think I can make a living selling toothbrushes in the Fire City?"

Li Qinglin chuckled and said, "Although I don't know what you mean by toothbrushes, it would be a pity if Qin Xiong's ambition is only to be a merchant."

Qin Yi smiled and remained silent.

The three of them led their horses and walked down the mountain at a leisurely pace. When they reached halfway, Li Qinglin stopped and looked back at the blazing fire on the mountain, sighing softly.

Qin Yi asked, "What's wrong?"

"Instances of monsters openly devouring humans used to be rare, but there have been quite a few in the past few months. This is definitely related to the Demonic Miasma... No matter what he's planning... if this person isn't eliminated, he will bring disaster to the country and the building will collapse."

(End of this chapter)