Chapter 8

After dealing with Li Qing, Dong Xia gripped the token and ran into the White Tower, wanting to quickly check if Yin Qiu Shui was safe and sound.

She nodded a greeting to the two dumbfounded guard disciples, completely disregarding what these two might have just seen.

—What’s the big deal about kissing Li Qing anyway?

When Dong Xia quickly returned to the room, Yin Qiu Shui leaped off the bed like a little calf and rushed into her arms, crying so anxiously she could barely speak clearly: “Sister Dong Xia, where did you go? I thought you had abandoned me too!”

“Sister went to do a good deed,” Dong Xia bent down to pick up the little girl, soothingly kissing her cheek, “The bad people who wanted to kidnap you today have already been caught.”

Li Qing had just arrived at the door, witnessing the little girl’s cheeks turn red from Dong Xia’s kisses.

Yin Qiu Shui’s gaze shifted shyly, then she saw Li Qing standing at the door and immediately hugged Dong Xia’s neck alertly: “Why is he here?”

“He helped catch the bad guys,” Dong Xia introduced kindly, “He even saved me just now.”

As she spoke, she freed a hand to remove the metal piece from her neck, looking at it puzzledly.

She clearly hadn’t been touched by anyone earlier, so how did it suddenly fail and allow people to discover her?

“Immortal Master Li Qing.” Yin Qiu Shui said with a serious little face, “Sister Dong Xia, I know who he is.”

Dong Xia tilted her head to glance at Li Qing, and after a moment’s thought, she understood.

Yin Qiu Shui clearly came from some good family, so it wasn’t strange for her to have connections with Li Qing.

“I’ve met her family a few times,” Li Qing confirmed Dong Xia’s guess. He glanced at Yin Qiu Shui and said, “I’ve sent a message for her family to come pick her up.”

“No!” Yin Qiu Shui immediately shouted, “They won’t come either!” She glared angrily at Li Qing, then reached out to hug Dong Xia’s legs, clinging to Dong Xia as if she had been wronged.

Dong Xia suddenly felt a bit strange.

This stance was somewhat similar to how she usually relied on Li Qing as her support.

Thinking of this, Dong Xia couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“Sister Dong Xia…” Yin Qiu Shui said hesitantly, “They don’t like me anymore, they won’t come to pick me up.”

“Nonsense,” Li Qing coldly exposed Yin Qiu Shui’s identity from the side, “You are the only daughter of the Yin family.”

“But I was born with mixed spiritual roots. Even if I cultivate for a lifetime, at most I can only use pills to pile up my cultivation to the Golden Core stage!” Yin Qiu Shui bit her lip, stamping her foot as she spoke, “What’s so great about the Golden Core stage? Even the cleaning servants in my family have Golden Core cultivation!”

Dong Xia: “…” As a mortal, she felt offended.

“I don’t want to go home!” Yin Qiu Shui loudly declared, “From now on, I’ll follow Sister Dong Xia and be her little sister!”

Dong Xia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She was about to bend down to reason properly with the little girl when she heard Li Qing coldly cut off this delusion from the side.

“Not allowed,” he said unequivocally.

Yin Qiu Shui’s lips quivered, and she burst into loud tears.

Dong Xia was getting a headache. She turned back to glare at Li Qing, half angry and half amused, gesturing for him to close the door.

Li Qing looked at the door, stepped into the room first, then quietly closed the door.

Not only that, but he also casually set up a sound-isolating formation.

Dong Xia squatted down to hold Yin Qiu Shui’s hands: “Are you afraid of them coming, or not coming?”

“I…” Yin Qiu Shui sniffled tearfully, saying pitifully, “I’m afraid of both.”

“If they come, you’re afraid of disappointing them; if they don’t come, you feel like you’ve indeed been abandoned by them, is that right?” Dong Xia asked gently.

Yin Qiu Shui gradually calmed down under Dong Xia’s gentle tone, nodded, then with red eyes, coyly burrowed into her fragrant embrace, arms around her neck.

This position just happened to make Yin Qiu Shui and Li Qing face each other. She widened her eyes, defiantly meeting Li Qing’s gaze, hugging even tighter.

“But perhaps they’re so worried about you right now that they’ve been searching for you all over the world for a long, long time,” Dong Xia said, standing up with the little girl in her arms. She turned halfway to look at Li Qing, giving him a suggestive glance.

Li Qing paused: “…Over half of the Yin family’s forces have come down the mountain, and a request to find her has been sent to Wen Tian Gate.”

“You don’t necessarily have to go with them. When they come, I’ll watch out for you. If you still don’t want to go back…” Dong Xia thought for a moment, “We’ll think of something else.”

Yin Qiu Shui asked in a tiny voice: “Can I stay with Sister Dong Xia?”

Dong Xia chuckled, carrying her towards the water basin at the other end of the room: “It’s not impossible.”

Not impossible, but indeed not very likely.

Yin Qiu Shui finally quieted down, obediently tilting her little face up to let Dong Xia wipe away the tear stains, then returned to the bed.

Before drifting off to sleep, Yin Qiu Shui, holding Dong Xia’s finger, fought to stay awake and asked: “How did the moon shadow I gave Sister Dong Xia break?”

“I don’t know,” Dong Xia sighed, saying with difficulty, “It seems to be a precious thing. I’ll find a way to compensate you.”

She had originally only intended to borrow this item to go out and investigate, and still wanted to return it in the end. Who knew it would get damaged, making the situation somewhat tricky.

“It was a gift I gave to sister, you don’t need to return it,” Yin Qiu Shui shook her head, her big eyes getting smaller and smaller, her voice gradually lowering, “But my grandfather said that the moon shadow can’t be broken unless one is at the Divided Spirit stage, how did it…”

Her mumbling became more and more indistinct, and she fell asleep halfway through her sentence. Dong Xia amusedly tucked the blanket in and stood up, turning her head to find that Li Qing was still standing in the room.

Dong Xia made a gesture for silence, gently pulling Li Qing towards the door.

Even after they went out, Li Qing didn’t speak.

“What are you thinking about?” Dong Xia asked casually.

“When the Yin family comes, we must find a way to take her away,” Li Qing said without hesitation.

Dong Xia: “…” He’s really competing with a five-year-old child now.

“I’ll have her grandfather come personally,” Li Qing thought for a moment and added.

“Her grandfather is?”

“The head of the Yin family who raised her.”

Dong Xia tilted her head and thought for a while, not opposing: “As long as we can persuade her, resolve her inner conflict, and make her willing to go home, that’s fine.”

“You’re not keeping her by your side?”

Dong Xia rationally shook her head: “I’m currently homeless myself, and I have revenge to take care of. I can’t keep her with me all the time. If there’s just a misunderstanding between her and her family, that would be for the best.”

Li Qing coughed lightly, then said: “You’re not homeless… When we return to Wen Tian Gate, you can live there.”

Hearing this, Dong Xia turned her head in surprise to look at Li Qing.

Still the immortal supreme of the celestial realm, untainted by mortal dust, but in his downcast gaze as he looked at her, there was an undeniable hint of shyness.

Even so, neither of them looked away.

Dong Xia gazed at Li Qing for a long moment, then smiled gently: “Then if I regain my memories and still have no home, I’ll come to you for shelter.”

After saying this, she covered her mouth and yawned.

From waking up after drinking until this dawn, she really hadn’t rested, and she was extremely tired. She had only held on until now to ask one last thing.

“Those kidnappers…”

“Someone is dealing with it,” Li Qing covered Dong Xia’s eyes with his palm, blocking out the light in front of her, “By the time you wake up, there will be results.”

Dong Xia was enveloped by drowsiness and yawned again for the second time: “Then I’ll go back to sleep. I should be able to avoid waking Qiu Shui if I move quietly.”

“Children are light sleepers,” Li Qing said, “Go to my room, I don’t need the bed.”

Dong Xia mustered two parts of rational consciousness: “Don’t you have that kind of… that kind of sound-isolating technique?”

“I’m not good at it,” the supreme of the celestial realm said shamelessly.

Dong Xia could only say “Oh”: “Then I’ll be a cuckoo in your nest for one night…”

She followed behind Li Qing with drifting steps, and halfway there, she was picked up and carried horizontally.

Because she was really terribly sleepy, as soon as Dong Xia touched the bed, she curled up into a ball and burrowed into the blanket. She didn’t even have time to change her clothes, just mumbled an unclear goodnight to Li Qing, and then sank into sweet darkness.

The next day, Dong Xia was woken up by Li Qing.

“The Yin family has arrived,” he said casually, “I’ve had them wait on the first floor.”

Dong Xia rubbed her eyes: “Waiting for what?”

“For you.”

“…Me?” Dong Xia suddenly became half awake.

“Yin Qiu Shui insists that you be present,” Li Qing paused, then added matter-of-factly, “Besides, in this matter, you are the main person in charge.”

Dong Xia blinked, quickly got up from the bed, and hurriedly washed up.

Li Qing, however, waited calmly on the side, unhurried, as if it was quite ordinary for others to wait for him to receive them.

While changing clothes behind the screen, Dong Xia suddenly had a whimsical thought and asked: “How many Immortal Masters are there in the celestial realm?”

“…Only me.”

Dong Xia immediately poked her head out from behind the screen: “Then is there anything above Immortal Master? Immortal God? Divine Immortal? God King?”

“There might be something above Immortal Master, but no one has glimpsed the heavenly secrets yet.”

Dong Xia was stunned: “Then aren’t you the most powerful person in the celestial realm?”

Li Qing lowered his eyes, not looking at the small half of her snow-white shoulder that was exposed: “It’s just an empty title.”

“You should be proud when it’s time to be proud, why are you being modest?” Dong Xia retreated back behind the screen, rustling as she changed clothes while saying, “No wonder they were so surprised to see me with you.”

Dong Xia was completely unaware of her natural ability to praise someone to the skies with her words. After casually complimenting Li Qing and not hearing his response, she quietly peeked out from behind the screen again.

Li Qing was very gentlemanly, standing with his back to the screen.

Dong Xia stuck out her tongue, not wasting any more time, and quickly removed her undergarments as well.

Just before putting on new clothes, she caught sight of the red flower with yellow stamens on her waist again.

After looking down at it for a while, Dong Xia naturally pulled up her clothes to cover it, deftly put on her dress, casually tied up her hair, and came out from behind the screen saying: “Let’s go.”

—She should have told Li Qing, but for some reason, Dong Xia was very resistant to this idea. Just thinking about it made her feel cold all over.

Therefore, even though Li Qing was just a few steps away, even though this might be an important clue, Dong Xia kept it from Li Qing.

…

The atmosphere on the first floor of the White Tower was quite tense.

Disciples of the Yin family, wearing similar clothes, stood in two rows. An old man with graying eyebrows and hair sat in the center, looking displeased, imposing without anger.

When Dong Xia came downstairs, she glanced around and felt that all the White Tower disciples seemed to be uncomfortable, pressured by the atmosphere.

As a mortal, she benefited from being near Li Qing, feeling no “pressure” at all as long as she was by his side.

“Sister Dong Xia!” Yin Qiu Shui happily jumped up and whirled into Dong Xia’s arms like a gust of wind. “You’re here! I waited for you for so long before the Immortal Master would go wake you up.”

The gazes of everyone in the hall immediately fell on Dong Xia.

“Immortal Master.” The old man stood up and bowed to Li Qing, while Li Qing merely nodded slightly to him.

Dong Xia smiled as she stroked the back of Yin Qiu Shui’s head: “I overslept a bit. Are these your family members?”

At the mention of family, Yin Qiu Shui blinked anxiously and responded with a low “Yes.”

“Then why don’t you introduce them to sister, okay?” Dong Xia coaxed her gently.

Yin Qiu Shui obediently nodded: “Okay.” She turned back and pointed at the old man, “That’s my grandfather.” Her finger moved to the side: “That’s my second uncle.”

With another gesture, she said without much patience: “That’s not someone from my family, his name is Yin Chang Tian.”

Dong Xia followed Yin Qiu Shui’s perfunctory introductions, looking at each person in turn. First, she smiled and greeted the old man, then made eye contact with the “second uncle” who had the appearance of a young man with peach blossom eyes.

Just as she was pondering how this second uncle’s gaze towards her seemed a bit strange, her attention was drawn away by Yin Qiu Shui’s attitude towards Yin Chang Tian.

Yin Chang Tian was a young boy, looking only two or three years older than Yin Qiu Shui, with a pair of narrow, captivating eyes. He was stubbornly pursing his lips as he stared at Yin Qiu Shui.

Qiu Shui and Chang Tian, just hearing their names, one could tell they were a pair.

“Adopted son,” Li Qing explained from the side, as if seeing through Dong Xia’s confusion.

Dong Xia immediately understood.

Yin Qiu Shui couldn’t cultivate, so her family had adopted Yin Chang Tian—even though Dong Xia didn’t understand cultivation, she could tell at a glance that this boy was no ordinary person.

“Is it him?” She bent down and asked Yin Qiu Shui in a low voice.

“Mm, it’s him,” Yin Qiu Shui broke her staring contest with Yin Chang Tian, squeezed closer to Dong Xia’s side, and loudly shouted, “Anyway, it’s either him or me!”

Dong Xia instinctively glanced in Yin Chang Tian’s direction and saw that the young boy’s gaze was still firmly fixed on Yin Qiu Shui, with an almost imperceptible hint of hurt in his expression. She immediately understood the situation.

“Nonsense!” The Yin family head roared in anger.

Dong Xia was also startled by this thunderous shout, instinctively reaching out to shield the little girl behind her legs.

Who knew that Yin Qiu Shui wasn’t scared at all, and could even cling to Dong Xia’s leg and retort to her own grandfather: “Aren’t you looking for him because I can’t cultivate? His talent is so good, in the future you’ll treat him as your own grandson, nephew, son, how could you still remember a poor little thing like me!”

Dong Xia almost couldn’t suppress her smile, turning her face towards Li Qing’s shoulder to hide it for a moment.

When she regained control of her inappropriate smile and turned back, she found Yin Qiu Shui’s second uncle staring at her in a daze, his gaze repeatedly scanning her eyebrows and eyes, as if some heavenly treasure had grown there.

Dong Xia couldn’t help but tilt her head questioningly at him.

The young man looked at her, then at Li Qing, and curled his lips into an intriguing, meaningful smile.