Qin Yi didn't feel bored for long. The next morning, Li Qinglin came knocking at his door.
Qin Yi hadn't slept well these past few days, and that night he only managed to sleep a little. While he was still in bed, Li Qinglin stood outside waiting, not wanting to disturb him.
When Qin Yi finally woke up, he didn't even realize Li Qinglin was outside. He took his time washing up and only opened the door after he was tidy. He planned to practice his staff technique but was surprised to see Li Qinglin in the yard, admiring the flowers. Behind him stood a quiet little maid in black, around twelve or thirteen years old.
Qin Yi paused for a moment, and soon he heard the voice of Liu Su in his mind: "He has been standing there for quite a while and even stopped others from calling you."
Why didn't you say anything while I was washing up? Qin Yi wanted to complain but just smiled and greeted Li Qinglin, "How can I let the Crown Prince wait outside?"
Li Qinglin pulled his gaze away from the flower bed and smiled back, "Don't say that; I'm not the Crown Prince yet."
"Close enough..." Qin Yi replied, "If you don't take the position, who will?"
Li Qinglin didn't respond to that. Instead, he looked at the wolf-toothed club in Qin Yi's hand with a strange expression. "Carrying that out so early... are you practicing?"
Qin Yi felt a bit embarrassed and said, "You'll see it often in the future. Want to come in and sit?"
Li Qinglin chuckled and walked in alongside him, with the little maid following closely behind.
Qin Yi didn't pay much attention to the maid. In ancient times, it wasn't unusual to see young maids. But he was genuinely pleased with Li Qinglin's attitude. He could imagine how Zhuge Liang must have felt when he saw Liu Bei outside after a nap in his cottage, feeling grateful and willing to help, regardless of how much of that was for show.
However, unlike Zhuge Liang, who dedicated his life to service, Qin Yi wasn't willing to do the same.
Lost in thought, a sudden flash of light appeared in the corner of the room where he kept his belongings.
Qin Yi snapped back to reality—his peach wood sword!
There was no time to think. The light shot past him like lightning, aiming straight for the maid behind him.
The attack came so suddenly that even Li Qinglin couldn't react in time. He instinctively raised his hand to block, but the sword whizzed by, and the maid quickly transformed into a black blur, retreating to avoid the light. The peach wood sword, relentless, turned around and continued its attack.
The black blur moved swiftly; Qin Yi could only see a shadow darting around. He hadn't noticed the maid's appearance before, but now he could vaguely see that she had opened a pair of black wings, moving like black lightning.
Qin Yi immediately recalled what Li Qinglin had said about the Crown Prince's assassination: "All I saw was a shadow flash by, and then my brother..."
He didn't say more, just turned to look at Li Qinglin.
Strangely, Li Qinglin remained silent, watching the shadow and sword entangled with interest.
"This is a monster," Qin Yi finally spoke up.
"Yes," Li Qinglin replied as if it were obvious, catching Qin Yi off guard.
As they spoke, the light from the peach wood sword grazed the black blur, leaving a small cut and causing a feather to fall to the ground.
The little maid let out a soft "ugh" and collapsed, instinctively covering her head with her wings, closing her eyes as if waiting for death.
A little girl... crouching and protecting herself... For a moment, Qin Yi didn't know what to think. Acting on instinct, he swung the wolf-toothed club and shouted, "Stop!"
Though it seemed unrelated, his action made the sword's light suddenly freeze behind the girl's head, no longer moving.
The light faded, revealing the peach wood sword, which fell to the ground with a thud, bouncing a couple of times. It looked almost like it was asking Qin Yi, "What are you doing?"
Li Qinglin was still laughing, "Qin Yi, your way of stopping the sword is quite unique."
Qin Yi asked seriously, "Is this your person?"
Li Qinglin replied, "Yes."
"And you didn't stop her even when she was about to die?"
"I know you wouldn't hurt her for my sake."
Qin Yi pressed his lips together and sighed. It seemed like that wasn't quite right... If you didn't say anything, and I thought she was an assassin pretending to be a maid, wouldn't it be normal to kill her?
He didn't voice these thoughts, instead turning to the maid. She was indeed just a young girl, her face still quite innocent. Now, she knelt on the ground, pale and frightened, holding her left arm where there was a wound, looking at the peach wood sword as if afraid it would move again.
She had a pair of black wings on her back, resembling a cloak, currently folded against her sides. The black feathers shimmered in the sunlight, sharp at the tips, looking quite impressive.
There were no monstrous features on her face; she was a very pretty girl. If one didn't know she was a monster, they might think she was just wearing a specially made cloak. People in the martial world often wore unusual outfits, so it wasn't too surprising. Qin Yi hadn't noticed anything unusual at first.
According to Liu Su's theory, she was a fully formed monster, similar to Minghe's level of skill, though there was likely a significant gap in their smaller realms. After all, Minghe was almost perfected, while this girl had probably just transformed recently.
Regardless of how long she had been transformed, she was equivalent to a human at the Foundation Establishment stage. Without Minghe's unusual constraints, she could probably run rampant in Nanli. No wonder Li Qinglin felt safe running into the mountains, leaving her alone...
"Li brother..." Qin Yi's gaze lingered on the girl's face for a long time before he carefully asked, "Aren't you going to introduce her?"
Li Qinglin's mind raced, and he suddenly smiled, "It's the first time I've seen Qin brother so focused on a girl. It seems you like this age... How about letting her follow you? After all, you don't have a bodyguard."
Liu Su chimed in, "Qin Yi, I didn't know you were this type of person..."
Qin Yi remained expressionless.
"I wouldn't want to trouble a transformed monster to be a bodyguard," Qin Yi said. "It's only been a short while since the Zhang family incident; have you forgotten?"
Li Qinglin chuckled, "True, she is a monster, and she has reached the transformation stage. Her current appearance is natural, and her age is also genuine, not like Madam Zhang, who wore a disguise."
Qin Yi looked at Li Qinglin, who appeared completely unfazed.
"I remember telling you that often, monsters aren't troublesome. People can be useful, so why can't monsters be?" Li Qinglin said. "Ye Ling has taken a blood oath and is very loyal. I just felt you two might get along... But I still advise you, the lesson from the Zhang family is fresh; even if you like her, it's best not to get involved..."
Qin Yi was at a loss for words, unsure how to respond to such a bizarre statement.
Li Qinglin's nonchalance made it seem like hiding a monster was just a normal thing, not worth mentioning, and could even be given away... Indeed, most people wouldn't casually connect his keeping a monster with the assassination of the Crown Prince; on the surface, they seemed unrelated.
Even if there was a connection, theoretically, it had nothing to do with Qin Yi.
Li Qinglin patted Qin Yi on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Let's go inside and talk. Surely another sword won't pop up?"
Qin Yi shook his head and finally led them both inside. He and Li Qinglin sat across from each other, while the girl known as Ye Ling stood silently behind Li Qinglin, watching Qin Yi with curiosity, as if trying to see if he had any strange expressions.
Qin Yi kept a calm face, though he was anxious inside. Despite her little girl appearance... she was a transformed monster, equivalent to a human at the Foundation Establishment stage! She was a big monster just slightly weaker than Minghe, who Liu Su praised so much! Li Qinglin had such a powerful being hidden at home while going out to search for some fairy!
After a moment, he said, "This... Ye Ling, right? Please, have a seat."
Ye Ling seemed surprised by his invitation. Her eyes moved slightly, but she remained quietly standing there, neither answering nor sitting down.
"Tsk, a silent little girl?" Qin Yi poured some tea from the kettle, ignoring her, and turned to Li Qinglin, "You came to find me early in the morning for something else, right?"
Li Qinglin continued to watch Qin Yi with an amused smile. Qin Yi didn't dwell on the fact that he was keeping a monster, even inviting her to sit down, which seemed very natural to him, making Li Qinglin find it quite interesting.
Maybe they could really communicate more openly?
(End of Chapter)