Chapter 186: Blush
Xie Qing analyzed Yu Longfeng with a glance. She was slightly surprised at how much stronger he had become in such a short period. It was truly frightening.
“Even in ancient times, you would have been a genius among geniuses,” praised Yu Longfeng with genuine admiration.
“Oh? Well, if you say so, then I believe you even more.”
“What are you implying?”
“Hahaha.”
Yu Longfeng rolled her eyes. It seemed that this boy was just like his Master – rude and uncultivated. However, for some reason, the Empress found it amusing to converse with him.
This made her recall her younger years. Unconsciously, she smiled.
Xie Qing did not see her smile and only noticed that the Empress had fallen silent. The young man also fell silent at one point.
They both observed the banquet. Xie Qing narrowed his eyes when he saw that several rude young men were trying to harass Lu Yin and Li Yuilan.
“What disrespectful children…” he muttered and was about to stand up when the Empress suddenly stopped him.
“Do not interfere. Do you think that Liu Yang’s disciple cannot stand up for herself?” her carefree voice rang out, making Xie Qing freeze in place.
“It seems that you have a good relationship with the master of the Sect of Nine Pills, Your Majesty?”
“Hm…”
The Empress grunted and fell silent for a while. Xie Qing had been watching Lu Yin and lost his speech.
“P-please, spare me!”
“Forgive us!”
“This…”
The young man was sweating. This girl, Lu Yin…
“She… broke his arms?”
“What a horror…”
“And she was smiling gently the whole time…”
Indeed. On the ground lay two extremely persistent guys who had been bothering them. When Lu Yin warned them, they just smiled, but… in the next second, this girl broke their arms.
Xie Qing did not even know what to say. Although he had seen Lu Yin’s cruelty before, it was still a bit horrifying for him to break arms with a gentle smile on his face.
And Li Yuilan… she did not show any reaction at all! She only sighed heavily, as if she had gotten used to it.
The servants quickly ran up and grabbed the two wounded men and took them away. And as for anyone who would scold Lu Yin, there were none.
Firstly, she was the heiress of the Sect of Nine Pills, which was a giant in alchemy.
And secondly… didn’t you see how she casually broke the arms of those two?
“Hahaha…” The Empress suddenly laughed, greatly surprising Xie Qing.
“Did you find something funny, Your Majesty?” raised an eyebrow Xie Qing.
“Huh? Well, how to say it… you asked if I was close to Liu Yang, well…” The Empress giggled, then coughed, coming to her senses. She continued: “I want to say… Lu Yin is very much like her Master. Liu Yang could also break someone’s bones with such a carefree smile.”
“Oh?”
Xie Qing, although he had heard about this from Liu Yang herself, but when others talked about it… it seemed that this company of disciple and Master were crazy.
***
The banquet was already coming to an end. Since Xie Qing had not shown himself for a long time, Li Yuilan sent a message to his token.
“Hm?”
At this time, the young man was talking with the Empress on some topics. She saw that his token was shaking and only snorted.
“Boy, you seem to be very popular. Come on, let’s talk about your plan later.”
“Then I beg your pardon, Your Majesty. I will visit you as soon as possible…”
“No need. I don’t want any extra noise in my garden.”
“Hahaha…”
Xie Qing smiled and said goodbye, heading towards Li Yuilan and Lu Yin. At this time, the Empress propped up her chin with her hand and sighed.
“Annoying boy, but with not bad skills… hm… maybe I should ask my uncle to give his daughter’s hand? Need to tie him to the Dynasty…”
***
“Achoo…”
“Did you catch a cold?”
“Eh, no…”
Xie Qing rubbed his nose. For some reason, he felt a slight chill run down his spine. Looking around, the young man saw countless carriages leaving the capital in the distance.
“It seems that today the guards will have a hard time” commented Lu Yin, whistling in surprise, looking at the crowd.
“Well… not everyone is allowed to stay in the capital. If the Empress indulged everyone, there would be chaos in the capital now. And stop whistling, behave properly” answered Li Yuilan, frowning.
“A… sorry…”
Xie Qing laughed and thought: “It seems that the Heavens have nerfed the disciples of these two old monsters. Now the disciple of Zhang Mei is taking care of the disciple of Liu Yang… heh…”
Of course, he did not say this out loud. He would not want to meet the cold gaze of Liu Yang or Zhang Mei. He feared the first one more.
After all, even his Master could not do anything to her, and he was even more so.
“But… what if I and… no, stop. I’m getting carried away again” Xie Qing pinched himself for his thoughts.
Sighing, Xie Qing helped the girls into the carriage, then clicked his fingers, choosing a direction.
On the way, Li Yuilan’s token flashed. She frowned and poured her Qi into it.
“Yuilan” a cold voice sounded from the token, which then sighed: “I did tell you not to go to the capital… hm? It seems that there are other people around you. Come to the sect tomorrow, we have some work to do.”
“This…”
The girl fell silent and thought for a while, then nodded.
“Alright…”
***
Xie Qing was seeing off Li Yuilan, who looked somewhat upset. He sighed.
“It seems that not all elders have good relations with the Empress” he commented.
“It’s more about not relationships. The Li Yuilan family is quite influential and there is always a lot of attention on her, so the sect master of Zhang is worried about her” spoke Lu Yin with a bitter smile: “You can’t tell, but Mistress Zhang Mei is very caring.”
“Oh? She’s hard to understand. Her facial expressions are as rich as a stone’s…”
“Hahah… I hope you don’t say that in front of her…”
“Well…”
“…”
Lu Yin looked dryly at Xie Qing. If you think about it, this guy was straightforward as a rail and always said what was on his mind. If he says about Zhang Mei’s facial expressions… oh…
“For your own safety, you should keep quiet more. Besides, silent guys look cool.”
“I already look cool.”
“Well, you can’t argue with that…”
“Hehe…”
Lu Yin shook her head.
“Come on, let’s go back, it’s getting cold,” she said, turning on her heels.
“How can a cultivator be cold? You’re changing the subject…”
“Ugh, shut up…”
***
Xie Qing was drinking wine. In front of him sat Lu Yin, who was reading financial reports with a serious expression. She fell silent and sighed after several seconds, looking shocked.
“You’re serious? Your income from pills, although it lags a bit behind mine, is only because you don’t have as many clients. This is amazing.” she admired.
“Well… I had a chance encounter and got the alchemical flame. And it turned out to be effective. And, since we’re on the subject…” Xie Qing put down the wine on the table and became serious: “Golden Dragon Elegance. I know you have it. Name me a price.”
“Hm?”
Lu Yin looked surprised when she heard this name. The girl narrowed her eyes and quietly asked:
“Is this what Mistress Xu Mei told you?”
“Correct. However, that’s not important. I’m interested in your answer.” said Xie Qing, not bothering to explain himself.
Golden Dragon Elegance, is a special technique for cultivating the Golden Dragon Flame. Once in her youth, Liu Yang managed to obtain it, but since there was no user with this type of flame, this thing was simply gathering dust in a secluded place.
Although Xie Qing wanted to get it, he did not resort to the help of Xu Mei. It was too awkward for him to ask for help in such matters, considering that alchemy was mostly just a hobby for him.
So he just decided to try his luck.
Lu Yin looked thoughtful. After a few seconds, she said:
“Can you… show me your flame?”
“Oh? I can. Although you need to take care of protecting the furniture. I don’t control it very well yet.”
“No problem.”
The girl looked nervous. She had probably heard about this flame, so she was nervous because of it. Xie Qing smiled and clenched his right hand into a fist.
And when he unclenched it, a bright golden flame aggressively burst out of his palm, rushing towards the ceiling.
“Th-this…”
Lu Yin was shocked, but she was not an alchemist for nothing. Very quickly, she managed to activate the formation that prevented the flame from damaging the furniture. Xie Qing sighed in relief.
He clenched his hand and the flame went out. Its use consumed a lot of Qi, as he did not possess the necessary control technique. This was also related to the origin of the flame.
Lu Yin looked silent, especially when she remembered how violent the fire was.
“This… Xie Qing. After seeing this, I realized that not giving this technique to you is a waste of ancient heritage. But you need to understand that I can only recommend you to the Master. The rest depends entirely on you.” said Lu Yin in a guilty voice and lowered her head: “Forgive me…”
Xie Qing smiled weakly and leaned forward.
“Eh?”
Lu Yin was puzzled, feeling the young man’s gentle hand patting her head. She blushed.
“X-Xie Qing?”
“Don’t apologize. In fact, I’m already glad that you can recommend me.” he said and laughed cheerfully: “I was thinking that I would have to seduce one of the disciples of the main court to meet with Mistress Liu Yang.”
“Eeeh…”
The girl looked puzzled, looking at Xie Qing’s cheerful smile. However, what the young man did not notice was the slight blush on Lu Yin’s cheeks.
“Fool guy… hmpf”
