Three rounds of drinks had passed.
Qin Yi looked at Li Qinglin with increasingly complicated feelings.
It was more complicated than before. Initially, he had a sense of vigilance because a cold-blooded person who could kill his own brother could easily use him and then silence him. He always felt a thorn in his heart about such a politician and found it hard to get close to Li Qinglin.
But if what Li Qinglin said was sincere, Qin Yi actually felt a bit of admiration.
He admired someone who had killed his own brother... This made Qin Yi doubt whether his values were off. And when he thought about how Li Qingjun would feel upon learning the truth, things became even more complicated.
Li Qinglin slowly sipped his drink and said, "I know that after you met Ye Ling, you’ve been a bit wary of me. I understand what you’re thinking; you might be afraid that I would silence you afterward, or even that I might be a madman who could harm Qingjun... But you’re overthinking it.
If I wanted to silence someone, the first person I would kill is Ye Ling, not you. Without Ye Ling, even if you spread the word, no one would believe you. Besides, even if someone did believe you, it wouldn’t matter.
Even with Dong Huazi attacking me in the court, he got nowhere, let alone you."
Qin Yi replied, "Those in high positions don’t need to think so much before silencing someone. Some people just meet a young man in the mountains while doing secret business and kill him without a second thought."
"Eh?" Li Qinglin looked surprised. "Is this perhaps the source of your resentment towards Dong Huazi? Did his people kill your friend?"
"Something like that."
"Pfft... Hahaha..." Li Qinglin burst out laughing, spitting out a mouthful of wine. "This is the kind of thing that creates unnecessary enemies, and he probably doesn’t even know what he did to deserve it. Interesting, very interesting."
After laughing for a while, he continued, "This is a living example. You, Qin Yi, might not be without support behind you. I wouldn’t want to provoke such bloodshed for no reason."
Qin Yi chuckled silently.
"The reason I’m talking so much with you is that I believe collaborators shouldn’t be suspicious of each other; that only leads to trouble. You and I have the same goal and hope to work together sincerely. So..." Li Qinglin looked at him intently, "Can you open your heart to me now?"
Qin Yi raised his glass in a toast. "What do you mean? Haven’t we been friends for a long time?"
Li Qinglin clinked his glass with a smile. "Indeed, we’ve been friends for a long time."
After they finished their drinks, Li Qinglin sighed, looking much more relaxed. "From what I’ve observed over the years, Dong Huazi is quite similar to the Three Immortals of Che Chi in your story. He definitely doesn’t have any orthodox inheritance; it’s just wild fox Zen. Just like that pill you mentioned, it’s obviously not right. There are only two possibilities: either he intentionally harmed my father, or he just doesn’t understand and made a mistake. There are many signs like this, and I lean towards him not really understanding."
Qin Yi nodded. "When I faced Dong Huazi today, I also felt he doesn’t understand cultivation as much as I thought. He seems more like a politician than a cultivator. Even the fortune-telling skills that street sorcerers should master, he doesn’t seem to grasp well. A truly confident person would argue with me directly instead of using political rhetoric."
Li Qinglin laughed. "Since I met you, I’ve always thought your knowledge clearly has a system and inheritance that surpasses Dong Huazi. As long as you can earn my father’s trust, Dong Huazi will lose his support."
This was why Li Qinglin valued Qin Yi so much. Qin Yi sighed inwardly, feeling more fond of Li Qinglin. Because Li Qinglin had another way to deal with Dong Huazi that didn’t require all this complication.
That way was to simply usurp the throne.
The army was in Li Qinglin's hands; he could easily do what Li Shimin had done and force his father to abdicate and cultivate. Once he sat on the throne, getting rid of a national teacher would be just a matter of speaking.
But he didn’t choose that path; instead, he sought out a sorcerer, planning to compete for his father's trust against Dong Huazi.
Qin Yi sighed. "I’ll try my best to meet your father tomorrow."
Li Qinglin pondered for a moment and suddenly said, "This battle at Mang may have something to do with Dong Huazi. I even suspect that Dong Huazi is the insider sent by the Western Wilderness to cause trouble. So, Qin Yi, no matter what your feelings for Qingjun are, please keep your relationship firm in front of my father and don’t give up."
"My feelings?" Qin Yi felt a bit awkward and wanted to drink to hide it, but looking at Li Qinglin's eyes, he finally gritted his teeth and said, "You don’t need to say anything about this. As for the Mang battle, I want them as far away from me as possible."
Li Qinglin clapped and laughed. "So our cooperation is truly a match made in heaven."
Back in his guest room, Qin Yi couldn’t sleep at all, leaning against the window to look at the moon.
So much had happened today: facing Dong Huazi for the first time, changes in his relationship with Li Qingjun, and having a thorough talk with Li Qinglin. All these thoughts rushed through his mind, and when he closed his eyes, the faces of these people echoed in his mind.
"Bang Bang, what do you think?" he suddenly asked.
Liu Su leisurely replied, "Li Qinglin is very interesting. Such a fascinating soul is rare in both the immortal and mortal realms, but unfortunately, our paths don’t align, so we can’t work together."
"What about others?"
"Li Qingjun is quite cute."
"…"
"As for the other mediocre folks..." Liu Su scoffed. "Mang is just a martial artist, not even as good as Li Qinglin. Dong Huazi’s level of cultivation is easy for me to see through; he’s just at the seventh level of Feng Chu, an ant-like being. Treating these two as major opponents is simply a disgrace to me. If you really want to cultivate with me, there are a thousand ways to ensure they never reincarnate."
The seventh level of Feng Chu.
In the past few days, Qin Yi had been cramming knowledge about cultivation and had come to understand these realms. Cultivating the heart and body is divided into five times and seven conditions. The first condition is the disappearance of chronic illness, a light body and a calm heart, the four great appropriateness, and the six emotions in silence, which is called Feng Chu.
In simpler terms, it’s the Qi training stage... Qin Yi preferred to call it that, as he was used to it. And Liu Su never insisted on any specific names for the realms; to it, how you call them didn’t matter. You could call it whatever you want, even "foolish realm," and it would be fine.
The seventh level of Qi training might seem divine to ordinary people, but to Liu Su, it was merely a true beginner, a rookie just touching the threshold of cultivation, especially since it was an unorthodox path. If you set aside some of the techniques that are hard for ordinary people to understand, in terms of combat power, it might not even be able to beat someone like Li Qinglin, who had rich experience as a congenital martial artist.
Actually, Dong Huazi probably couldn’t even beat Ye Ling... if Ye Ling wasn’t restrained.
So if they could really push Dong Huazi off the stage, he would find it hard to escape.
"Don’t underestimate Dong Huazi too much," Qin Yi said cautiously. "He has Ming He on his side; who knows what their relationship is?"
"Ming He... that is indeed a bit troublesome," Liu Su replied. "If Ming He really stands with Dong Huazi, you and Li Qinglin might as well go to sleep. Don’t talk about a match made in heaven; it would be more like a pair of desperate lovers."
Qin Yi ignored its sarcasm and asked, "What do you think that hexagram really means? Can you explain it in detail?"
"I can’t."
"Ah?"
Liu Su sighed. "Do you really think I know everything? I’ve never studied the way of divination. What I taught you is just common knowledge; the real way of divination is vast and profound. It’s not something that can just be explained. Even if Ming He herself calculated this hexagram, she might not truly understand what she calculated."
"She can’t even understand it herself?"
"Of course not. Otherwise, why didn’t I learn it back then?" Liu Su said disdainfully. "Ignorant people think they understand the way of heaven, but the way of heaven is ever-changing; who can know it all? In the end, they confuse themselves and become a joke. You might as well forget that hexagram to avoid unnecessary troubles."
You say it’s vast and profound, but then call it a joke... I think it’s because you can’t learn it... Qin Yi silently complained but felt a bit closer to Liu Su.
So it turns out there are things it doesn’t know.
(End of Chapter)