No matter how steady Qin Ming was, he was still a young man. He did not hide his emotions, and with a single question of "Why?", he expressed his frustration.
Meng Xinghai chuckled and said, "Only by holding the 'rules' can one speak reason, right?"
At this moment, Qin Ming held the jade-like iron knife, not that he couldn't control himself, but he intentionally wanted to show some youthful spirit in front of an elder.
"I protected him from disaster, yet in the end, he is dissatisfied. Where can I seek reason?" Qin Ming said, these experiences indeed made one easily irritable.
"It seems that although you have lived in the Cui family for over ten years, you have never considered yourself a member of a noble family," Meng Xinghai remarked.
Qin Ming was taken aback, then understood his meaning.
"Is it because the Cui family's heir is so noble and unattainable?" he asked calmly.
"Exactly. For you, seeing it from his perspective and understanding his mindset might make you even angrier," Meng Xinghai smiled.
Qin Ming felt it was better to ignore Cui Chonghe and not ponder why he was angry.
Because, in Cui Chonghe's eyes, his status was low enough to be disregarded, yet he was walking alongside his fiancée, which was a serious overstep.
Meng Xinghai said, "You think you helped him avoid disaster, but from the perspective of a thousand-year-old noble family heir, he wouldn't care about your feelings."
Qin Ming self-deprecatingly said, "It seems I am just an ordinary person. After living in the Cui family for so many years, I have not cultivated that kind of nobility, nor have I immediately adopted that mindset."
But the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. The so-called maturity and steadiness were of no use now; he was struggling to suppress the anger within.
Clearly, in Cui Chonghe's eyes, he was merely a servant meant to take the fall, a pawn raised by the Cui family, easily expendable. How could he walk alongside the daughter of the Wang family?
Qin Ming recalled his experiences in the Cui family, where the hierarchy was indeed strict. Did he help someone avoid disaster only to "offend" them in the end?
"To be fair, Cui Chonghe does have near-immortal talent. That old senior, who hasn't taken a disciple in over a hundred years, made an exception for him and took him in when he was only three or four years old," Meng Xinghai said.
In fact, he was also trying to remind Qin Ming not to be too impulsive, as the circumstances and differences between them were vast.
Qin Ming nodded, then suddenly realized that Cui Chonghe's senior brothers and sisters were all over a hundred years old? If they were still alive, that would be quite terrifying.
At this moment, he strongly desired to grow stronger, wanting to venture into the deep mountains and vast waters to seek spiritual materials.
Moreover, he longed for another spring thunder.
Although there was a saying that it was safest to enter the Thunderfire Refining Hall only when the spring thunder first stirred, and that the spiritual materials produced were the richest, he still wanted to try at other times.
"The Li family, Wang family, and Cui family are like three immovable mountains, while I am just an ordinary young man who does not wish to get involved," Qin Ming sighed.
From Meng Xinghai, he learned that the Wang family was extremely furious when they realized they had been deceived, and the Cui family originally intended to quickly deal with the fake Cui Chonghe to quell the uproar.
"Cui Lao Qi is a person who values emotions. He said he treats you like a nephew and cannot kill you, almost causing a rift with some members of the Cui family."
It was precisely because Cui Hao intervened, and this matter had slightly escalated, leaking some information, that the Cui family found it difficult to act harshly, fearing they would be labeled as ungrateful.
"It turns out that I had unknowingly wandered near the gates of hell multiple times." The thousand-year-old noble family was far too vast for Qin Ming; he even thought about fleeing to another place.
Meng Xinghai seemed to see through his thoughts and said, "You should stay in Chixia City for now. After the arrival of early spring, those ancient traditions and some special academies will begin selecting disciples. You can study them carefully; some organizations are quite exclusionary towards noble families."
He himself was a member of a noble family, so he couldn't say much on this topic.
Qin Ming was distracted; the Night Mist world was vast and boundless, yet fraught with danger. Where was it suitable for him?
Meng Xinghai said, "Don't worry, the token I gave you is quite useful. In Chixia City, you don't need to worry about safety for the time being."
Qin Ming examined it closely; it was a black jade token, one side had the character for Meng, and the other had the character for patrol.
"Thank you, Uncle Meng!" He immediately stood up to express his gratitude.
This was a token brought out from the Meng family, which was extraordinary. The character for patrol was a temporary permission granted to him by Meng Xinghai, allowing him to patrol the city and the mountains.
Holding this token meant he was temporarily under protection.
Meng Xinghai said, "I've told you so much and shared a lot of information, initially because Qingyue asked me to look after you. Some people do not care who Cui Chonghe is; they only know that an old friend once used this name. At the same time, I must remind you that many people care deeply about Cui Chonghe's identity, so be extremely cautious when encountering old acquaintances in the future."
Qin Ming nodded seriously and said, "If Qingyue encounters trouble in the future, even if it's thousands of miles away, I will rush to support her as soon as I hear the news!"
Without Li Qingyue, Meng Xinghai would not know who Qin Ming was. Even if he had heard of him, there would be no reason to care for him so much.
In the past, when Qin Ming lived in Qinghe City as Cui Chonghe, he had many friends, but now there should be very few who could still be called close friends.
Meng Xinghai said, "Qingyue said that the closer true friends are to you, the more trouble they may bring you."
"I understand!" Qin Ming nodded. The Cui family once wanted him to completely disappear to quell the Wang family's anger. If he re-entered that circle and interacted with familiar people, something would surely go wrong.
A sense of frustration welled up in Qin Ming's chest, but the situation was stronger than the individual. Others had already drawn a line for him, forbidding him from stepping into certain areas and prohibiting contact with people from that level.
"With my talent, I should be able to rise quickly. When my strength is sufficient, I will go to the Cui family to retrieve the silk book. Once I re-enter that circle, Cui Chonghe, Li Qingxu, and even some members of the Wang family may target me. The road ahead is full of challenges, and I must grow quickly."
These were the thoughts in Qin Ming's heart. The road ahead was not smooth, even rugged, but it also ignited his fighting spirit, with firelight dancing in his eyes.
If he didn't have confidence in himself, he might as well return to Black and White Mountain and voluntarily hide in that remote place!
"Actually, the reason I can tell you all this is not solely because of Qingyue; I also have some expectations for you. Last time, I noticed you entered the Thunderfire Refining Hall," Meng Xinghai pointed out directly.
His honesty startled Qin Ming. Was this matter not kept secret at all?
Meng Xinghai smiled and said, "Don't worry, in the entire Chixia City, I am the only one who noticed something was off with you and lived to leave that place."
"That's good!" Qin Ming breathed a sigh of relief.
"Besides you, that Qian Cheng is also alive, but he mysteriously disappeared the next day."
Qin Ming knew who he was talking about, that dull boy who was not actually foolish.
"I'm not joking with you. Recently, study those ancient traditions and special high academies carefully. In some places, even noble families cannot extend their reach too far."
As Qin Ming stood up to take his leave, Meng Xinghai mentioned this again.
"Thank you, Uncle Meng!"
Qin Ming left the city lord's mansion and returned to the inn, playing with the black jade token. He was somewhat lost in thought. If he entered the mountains, he would also be part of the patrol team, and his rank would be relatively high.
He felt a sense of emotion because the first time he killed someone was against Fu Entao, Feng Yian, and other members of the patrol team.
Not far away, in a restaurant, a few people in a private room closed the windows. Not long ago, they had seen Qin Ming enter the inn.
"How dare he meddle in our Xinyi Hall's affairs? It seems he has some connections in the city lord's mansion. Let's not touch him."
"Not only should we not act rashly, but look here, someone has given us a scroll, asking us to keep a close watch on him. This young man might have a significant background."
"When encountering someone we cannot see through, it's best to get less involved. We can keep an eye on him, but if the client asks us to take action, we must politely refuse."
"Currently, the other party does not seem to have any intention of making us act, and it looks like they are a visitor from afar."
...
In the next two days, Qin Ming and Wu Zheng researched the organizations and traditions that had selected disciples in Chixia City over the years.
He suspected that Meng Xinghai was referring to those special high academies because they required a unified examination open to everyone, even noble family heirs could not enter directly.
Unless one truly had special talents and impressive achievements that could overshadow others, everyone had to undergo the same tests and trials.
Then, Qin Ming began to carefully study the map of the mountain range outside Chixia City, wanting to seek spiritual materials. He was stimulated by the three great families: the Cui family, Wang family, and Li family, and he was eager to rise immediately.
The next day, he went to a well-known weapon shop and bought a black gold hammer. It was still a long-handled one, but it was much heavier than the one he had used before.
"Brother Qin, it seems you really spent fifteen pieces of daylight gold at my place without gaining any understanding of spear and arrow techniques. Are you going to switch to the hammer?" Wu Zheng said regretfully. There was no one to spar with, and he was not as conservative as Old Wu; he wanted Qin Ming to teach him.
Qin Ming smiled and said, "I actually have a bit of understanding of spear techniques. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me directly. I'm practicing the hammer now to deal with tough and thick-skinned beasts. Regular weapons are too light and gentle; they can't harm such massive creatures."
He was preparing to enter the mountains. With his current strength nearing five thousand pounds, he could face off against those who had just awakened six or seven times without much pressure.
If anyone dared to intercept him again, he would definitely make them understand what it meant to have a hammer strike down, blooming like a thousand peach blossoms!
...
Three days later, Xu Cheng arrived, pale and surprisingly injured.
"Xu Ge, what happened to you?"
Qin Ming and Wu Zheng asked with concern, what had happened?
Xu Cheng sighed, "Sigh, I went to help a friend with Zhou Lin in the mountains, and we were ambushed. I suddenly feel that being a spiritual hunter is even harder than being a traveling merchant."
"As long as you came back alive and are not seriously hurt, that's good. By the way, how is Sister Fenfang?" Qin Ming asked.
"Who is Sister Fenfang?" Xu Cheng asked suspiciously.
"That... Zhou Lin."
Xu Cheng laughed and said, "Haha, she's fine, she dodged faster than I did."
"Were you intercepted again?" Qin Ming asked.
Xu Cheng sighed, "Not yet. We had just entered the habitat of the spiritual creatures and hadn't found their nest when we were ambushed."
"Should we go take a look?" Qin Ming felt tempted.
Xu Cheng originally wanted to say something, but suddenly realized that the other party was already stronger than him! He was a master who had awakened five times, but he could only lift over three thousand pounds, far inferior to the current Qin Ming.
"Alright, let's go again!"
Soon, Sister Fenfang, Zhou Lin, also received the news and followed Xu Cheng and Qin Ming back into the mountains.