"Brother Qin, your tone..." Li Qinglin finally spoke up. "If I say that answer, you'll refuse, right?"
Qin Yi replied firmly, "Yes."
"Why? Are you afraid that Qing Jun will find out... that you poisoned her father?"
Li Qinglin said this very calmly, but Ye Ling shrank back a bit, hugging her shoulders, her face showing fear.
He really said it. He really wants to kill his father.
If it were just about brothers harming each other, there are plenty of examples in ordinary families, and it's not uncommon among animals either, so Ye Ling could understand that. But a son killing his father? That’s shocking. Yet Li Qinglin spoke so calmly about it.
Ye Ling thought that even monsters wouldn't act like this... Why does Ming He have such a strong opinion against monsters?
Then she heard Qin Yi answer, "There are two reasons. If Qing Jun finds out I poisoned her father, life will be unbearable afterward."
"She won't find out."
"But I can't be at ease."
"Heh..." Li Qinglin laughed, then asked, "Is that just one reason? Hmm, the second one is that you're afraid I'll treat you as a pawn?"
"The second reason is..." Qin Yi paused for a moment, then slowly said, "I don’t want my friend to do such a thing. It would make it impossible for me to face him sitting on the throne, and I could never confirm if what he said that night while drinking was true or not."
Li Qinglin was taken aback, looking at Qin Yi without speaking.
But Qin Yi didn’t look back at him. Instead, he turned to Ye Ling and checked her pulse.
"..." Then he realized her pulse was cold, completely different from a human's. With his limited medical skills, even Hua Tuo wouldn’t be able to check a pulse like this...
Just as he was about to ask Ye Ling how she felt, Li Qinglin spoke from behind, "The Western Wilderness and Dong Hua Zi must have plans against Nan Li, but Dong Hua Zi has more power in Nan Li than you think. I can’t investigate it at all. The quickest and most accurate way to break the deadlock is to ascend to the throne. This step has become inevitable now; showing mercy in times like this will only lead to trouble."
Qin Yi didn’t respond.
Li Qinglin continued, "Poisoning is the best method. Not only would my claim to the throne be legally sound, but I could also pin everything on Dong Hua Zi's medicine, making the next steps easier. Of course, there is a second option: I could mobilize the army, control the royal guards, and directly force my father to abdicate and focus on cultivation... but that would undermine the legal claim, destabilize the situation, and give Dong Hua Zi and the Western Wilderness a big opportunity."
Qin Yi finally turned back around. "In this matter, using someone else's poison is the same. You don’t need to involve me. I can just leave with Qing Jun, and it won’t bother you."
Li Qinglin replied, "Others can't make him take the medicine without testing it first."
"I see." Qin Yi sighed. "Perhaps when you learned the details from me, you had this idea?"
Li Qinglin admitted, "That's right. Without that detail, I might not have thought of this step."
"Maybe that’s my biggest purpose for coming to Li Huo City?" Qin Yi laughed at himself. "If that’s the case, I really didn’t need to come."
Li Qinglin felt there was more to this and frowned, asking, "What do you mean, Brother Qin?"
"I mean, your father doesn’t have much time left. He’s beyond help, so you don’t need to kill him. Dong Hua Zi probably already knows how long your father has left, which is why he suddenly came to propose an alliance. What you should do is prepare for everything in the next few days. Otherwise, if something happens to you, Qing Jun will truly become the only heir." Qin Yi said calmly, "I don’t want her to be trapped in a golden hall; that’s not the life Li Qingjun wants."
Li Qinglin's pupils shrank. "Your father doesn’t have much time left? Why didn’t you say so earlier?"
Qin Yi smiled. "Brother Li, you’ve always been considering me. Today, I guess I considered you for a moment too."
Li Qinglin took a deep breath and cupped his fists in salute. "No matter how Brother Qin sees me... this news is very important. I thank you, foolish brother."
After saying that, he turned and left quickly.
Liu Su's voice echoed in Qin Yi's mind: "Are you sure the king doesn’t have much time left?"
"Yes," Qin Yi replied. "I wasn’t very confident in my judgment at first, but when I combined it with what Li Qinglin said about the sudden proposal, it all made sense. Dong Hua Zi clearly knows the king is dying; he wouldn’t be willing to let Li Qinglin ascend. If Li Qinglin wants to get rid of him, Dong Hua Zi wants to get rid of Li Qinglin too. If Li Qinglin is killed, the only heir left for Nan Li would be Qing Jun. The sudden proposal was just to set the stage for picking the fruit."
"How many days do you think the king has left?"
"His body reeks, and the signs of decline are apparent. I estimate he has about five to seven days left. If I’m wrong, it’s because my master didn’t teach me well."
"Tsk tsk..." Liu Su clicked her tongue a few times and didn’t say anything more.
"Qin, Qin Yi." Ye Ling's voice broke through, sounding nervous. "Who are you talking to?"
"Huh?" Qin Yi finally realized there was a little one sitting next to him. He had been so lost in thought that he completely forgot about her.
"Um... I was just talking to myself to sort out my thoughts. You wouldn't understand, silly snake."
"Oh..." Ye Ling said weakly, "He... isn’t going to kill his father anymore?"
"Now he should hope his father lives a few more days because Dong Hua Zi's preparations will definitely be more thorough. Instead, he needs time."
Ye Ling sighed like an adult.
"Why are you acting like an adult? I was fooled by you when we first met; I must have been blind." Qin Yi teased, pulling her cheek, and Ye Ling stood up straight, puffing out her cheeks and glaring at him.
"Quickly tell me how you're feeling now. Not only has your monster energy weakened, but according to Ming He, it seems like the nature of your monster energy has changed too. Your wings have shrunk as well. Do you feel any discomfort anywhere?"
"It’s just that the sudden surge of monster fire earlier burned painfully, and it still hurts now. I can’t muster any strength... but I can’t say exactly what’s wrong... I don’t know about the wings either..."
What a silly snake... Qin Yi joked, "How about I check your body?"
Ye Ling scratched her head. "Sure."
"Ahem..." Qin Yi couldn’t help but cough.
Then Liu Su said, "The wings shrinking is a sign of her breakthrough. When those wings become invisible on normal days and can stretch and shrink freely when needed, then her transformation will be complete. As for the weakening of her monster energy, that’s due to serious injury, and the change in nature..."
She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "It's because the heart fire has left the body, taking away some of the wildness. But it shouldn’t be this drastic... I suspect it might also be related to that day when she 'forgot something.'"
Qin Yi almost spat blood. That day, you said she didn’t have anything important to forget, but now her monster energy's nature has changed. Isn’t that important?
"The Teng Snake brings fear and nightmares, is cunning, and can instill terror or confusion in others. If she continues to be influenced by Li Qinglin like that, she might really evolve in that direction. Are you really willing to let that happen?"
Qin Yi was taken aback and didn’t say much. He just took out two pills and placed them in Ye Ling's palm. "I haven’t refined any pills for your kind of injury. These two will have to do for now. I’ll try to refine something more suitable for you in the next couple of days. You’re seriously injured, so rest up. I’ll come see you again another day."
Ye Ling tugged at his sleeve, showing a bit of attachment.
Qin Yi patted her head and said softly, "In the near future, focus on strengthening your self-protection abilities, for both you and me."
Ye Ling nodded, understanding.
After leaving Ye Ling's small courtyard, Qin Yi looked up and realized it was already late.
"No wonder you didn’t like Ye Ling before; you thought there was something wrong with the Teng Snake's nature..." He slowly walked back to his guest courtyard, asking Liu Su, "Why didn’t you tell me directly?"
Liu Su replied coldly, "I wanted you to learn a lesson. The Teng Snake has the ability to confuse. Seeing how you were so fond of her after just one meeting, heh. But now I don’t even know if she’s genuinely foolish or just pretending."
Qin Yi was stunned for a moment and quietly said, "Thank you."
Liu Su didn’t respond. The two walked in silence for a while until Liu Su suddenly said, "Stop staring at the ground. Are you looking for treasures? Look at your room, Ming He."
Qin Yi looked up and saw the quiet courtyard at dusk, with Ming He standing in the middle, looking down at the half-finished talisman Qin Yi had drawn on the table. The glow of the setting sun made it look a bit hazy, like a beautiful jade sculpture added to the room.
(End of Chapter)