Asked About The World Of Mortals

Chapter 18: Ming He

When they arrived at Li Huo City, the city gate was heavily guarded. Upon seeing Li Qinglin leading the team back, the city guards all kneeled and saluted, their expressions extremely serious.

The once bustling and lively Li Huo City was now extremely subdued. White flags were seen everywhere, and military troops were checking the passersby. Pedestrians hurriedly passed by, afraid to speak loudly.

The death of a prince in a country was a very serious political event, enough to make the entire capital city tremble in fear.

Qin Yi suddenly felt relieved that Li Qinglin was not in the capital at the time of the incident. Moreover, the princess could testify that they had no remote control in the mountain valley. Otherwise, he would be the prime suspect now, which is not the case at the moment.

No one would be so reckless as to plot against their brother and then run into the mountains for several days without even inquiring about the aftermath or covering up the clues. No one would do something so suicidal, let alone someone as meticulous as Li Qinglin. So at this moment, Li Qinglin had no suspicion and naturally became the crown prince.

The first thing the Li siblings did when they entered the city was not to arrange Qin Yi's accommodation, but to go straight to the palace. Li Qinglin only gave Qin Yi a waist token and apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, Brother Qin, but my siblings and I must enter the palace immediately and cannot delay. Please take this waist token to my residence, where you will be treated as an honored guest. I apologize for the inconvenience."

Qin Yi was understanding and took the waist token with a smile, saying, "It's alright, you go ahead and take care of your matters."

Seeing the Li siblings heading towards the palace with solemn expressions, Qin Yi sighed and went out to stroll around, holding the waist token.

Although he understood their current situation, Qin Yi didn't want to go to their residence with the waist token like this. It felt awkward. It would be better to wait for Li Qinglin to return home before visiting. For now, he might as well wander around, not only to appreciate the scenery of the capital city but also to take a look at what the National Teacher's Changsheng Temple looked like.

The Changsheng Temple was easy to find. Just ask a passerby, and they could point it out to you with awe and admiration. In fact, the Changsheng Temple was not far from the palace, located at the fork in the road where Qin Yi and the Li siblings separated. To the left was the palace, and to the right was the temple. Looking up, one could see the high platform of the temple, with incense smoke lingering.

That was the Immortal Ascension Platform, originally built on a higher hill, with nine levels, making it the tallest building in Li Huo City.

Even taller than the palace.

What surprised Qin Yi was that the National Teacher had a good reputation among the people.

"Oh, the National Teacher, he's a True Immortal. Last month, my wife was afflicted by an evil spirit, but she was cured with a talisman from the Changsheng Temple..."

"The Changsheng Temple's divination is the most accurate. When I was about to go out for business, I went there for a divination. The Daoist at the Changsheng Temple told me to come back three days later. Guess what? On the third day, my wife accidentally knocked over a candlestick, almost causing a fire. Luckily, I was at home and extinguished it immediately. Isn't that like a living immortal?"

"It is said that last month, the Western Wilderness Barbarians invaded, and it was the National Teacher who cast a spell on stage, causing them to have diarrhea and vomiting for several days before General Xie won the battle."

Qin Yi shook his head and walked slowly. It was one thing to attribute credit for resisting enemy countries to such things, but it was absurd for the military to be furious. It was no wonder that Li Qinglin, who coordinated the troops, had such a strong aversion to the National Teacher.

Standing in front of Changsheng Temple, Qin Yi looked up. The front steps of the hall alone had ninety-nine layers, and there was a constant stream of people on the steps, devoutly kowtowing. The solemn atmosphere caused by the death of the Crown Prince in the city seemed to have no effect on this place.

The martial law patrol soldiers would not come here, and occasionally when a team passed by, they would bow devoutly and leave.

"This country seems to be more concerned with ghosts and gods than with the people." Qin Yi whispered, "I understand more and more why Li Qinglin wants to deal with the National Teacher."

Liu Su said, "Changsheng does exist, but Li Qinglin is limited by his knowledge and is biased."

Qin Yi made a sound of agreement. If he followed his inherent view of Chinese history, the National Teacher was undoubtedly a fraud, and Li Qinglin's actions were undoubtedly those of a loyal and patriotic person. But in this world, because the method of immortality really existed, it became a matter of opposing positions, rather than simply right or wrong. Of course, for Qin Yi, regardless of his inherent historical view or personal likes and dislikes, his position naturally stood with Li Qinglin.

Just as he was about to climb the steps to take a look at the main hall, after only a few steps, Qin Yi suddenly slowed down.

A Taoist nun slowly walked out of the Taoist temple and walked towards Qin Yi.

Qin Yi could swear that he had never seen such a beautiful Taoist nun before, not even in anime or game CG!

She stood quietly in the middle of the steps, her exquisite face was unparalleled in beauty, her expression calm and serene, her clear eyes like water. Although she was standing in a bustling place, Qin Yi felt as if everything around him had become distant, and only she stood alone in the world.

In fact, except for Qin Yi, almost no one was looking at her, as if she wasn't there at all.

She was not wearing the ordinary blue robe of an ordinary disciple seen on TV, but a robe embroidered with the Eight Trigrams, with alternating plain fabric and sky blue hexagram patterns. The breeze lifted the hem of her robe, revealing the white inner pants underneath, connected to her Taoist boots. This set of clothing should belong to the attire of a middle to high-ranking Taoist, but with her flawless figure and temperament, it suddenly took on a sense of a fashion show. Her hair was neatly tied up in a Taoist bun, with a Taoist scarf draped over it, and her sleeves flowed like clouds, adding a touch of ethereal beauty.

She held a long sword in her hand, not a whisk. In this holy and ethereal temperament, there was a hint of heroism.

Qin Yi suddenly felt that the term "fairy" should be used to describe such a person.

Liu Su's cold voice penetrated his soul, "What? Seeing a beauty that can topple cities, you forgot about the corpses and worms, didn't you?"

Qin Yi's heart trembled, and he no longer stared at her, quickening his pace.

The Daoist nun stood directly in front of him, as if she had something to say to him.

Qin Yi looked around and then looked directly at the Daoist nun's gaze, confirming that she really wanted to find him.

This Daoist nun clearly looked ethereal and otherworldly, and they were completely unfamiliar with each other. Why would she suddenly come looking for him? A sense of alarm rose in Qin Yi's heart, and the image of the split-skinned corpse and the crawling maggots kept replaying in his mind. He took another step back, intending to brush past her.

The Daoist nun raised her hand to stop him. "Please wait, young master."

This damn woman was really persistent, huh? No one would believe you even if you said you weren't up to something! Qin Yi's hair stood on end, and he instinctively took half a step back, extending his palm to push away the hand blocking his path. He said solemnly, "Madam, please behave yourself."

Liu Su sighed softly, silently counting in her heart: one time.

The Daoist nun furrowed her brow, perhaps never having expected to be spoken to like this in her life. But the only thing that furrowed her brow was getting straight to the point. "The iron handle exposed on the young master's backpack, is it the young master's weapon?"

Qin Yi's remark, which would have been considered an insult to others, seemed to have no effect on her. She continued to speak as if she had a high level of cultivation.

But her words made Qin Yi's heart tighten even more, and his sense of vigilance increased tenfold.

You want to trick me, fine, but to ask about the staff right off the bat? Could it be that you can sense the spiritual energy in the wolf-toothed staff? No matter how despicable Liu Su was, he would never allow anyone to use it for exorcism. He had to find a way to fool her...

The Daoist nun couldn't understand why Qin Yi had such a strange sense of vigilance, so she continued, "I can faintly sense a demonic aura on this object. It seems that the young master used it to deal with a demon not long ago. Was it... a spider?"

Qin Yi finally let out a sigh of relief, cold sweat covering his forehead.

It's good that Liu Su noticed.

But this Daoist nun really had some insight. She could even tell that he had killed a spider demon a few days ago. Unlike Liu Su, who couldn't sense the Monster Qi even when the corpse maggots were right in front of her.

Qin Yi relaxed a bit and finally answered, "Indeed, I encountered a spider demon that was harming people and dealt with it together with my friends."

The Daoist nun nodded, her voice still cold. "Since the young master is dealing with demons, why are you associating with the Prince of the Azure Unicorn?"

"Huh?" Qin Yi furrowed his brow. "What do you mean? We dealt with the spider demon together, Li Qinglin and his sister."

The Daoist nun looked earnestly into Qin Yi's eyes, as if trying to determine his sincerity.

Suddenly, Qin Yi felt a sense of discomfort from her gaze.

He didn't know how to describe this gaze, which seemed to be questioning even though she was just asking a normal question...

It wasn't cold or arrogant; it was calm. But this calmness wasn't like a refreshing spring, but rather like the Milky Way in the night sky. It was beautiful, but high and distant, something you could only look up to.

It was probably similar to how he looked at ants? When you see them, you see them, without any thoughts about the ants. At most, you might see a certain ant carrying something and admire its diligence, and then pass by without a second thought.

Maybe with a twisted sense of amusement, you might even step on it.

It felt something like that. Right, this feeling was actually quite familiar, just like someone...

Liu Su?

Liu Su's wickedness probably stemmed from this distance. It had said that there was no need to take the rules and regulations of the mortal world seriously, not because it was inherently evil, but because it felt like it was looking down on all living beings from a different dimension.

What people called cultivation was simply distance.

Qin Yi decided to ask back, "Is the madam a disciple of the National Teacher?"

If she was someone from the National Teacher's side, then it would be normal for her to have biases against Li Qinglin. In the eyes of the entire Changsheng Sect, Li Qinglin couldn't possibly be a good person.

The Daoist nun shook her head. "I am Ming He, just a wandering Daoist, residing here, not a disciple of the Eastern Flower Sect. Young master, please don't address me as 'madam' anymore. Just call me Daoist Ming He."

Ming He seemed distant and unapproachable, and Qin Yi immediately thought of a poem:

"Close enough to see, but too far to touch."

(End of this chapter)