"Are you really going to go out with them?"
Once the decision to leave is made, there's no need to hesitate. You can just pack up and go.
In the room, Qin Yi was busy gathering his things. A wolf-toothed club leaned against the wall while Liu Su watched him scurry around and asked slowly.
Qin Yi casually replied, "Isn't this what you wanted? You've been saying this medicine isn't enough, that furnace isn't good enough, trying to convince me to go out."
"Heh." Liu Su sneered, "I want you to go for broader horizons and resources, not to get involved in fights, especially not with someone as powerful as the national master. With your current skills, you wouldn't even know how you'd die."
"So?" Qin Yi stopped packing and said coldly, "What if Dong Huazi sends someone again to bury the so-called demon-vanquishing poison? If there's been one time, there could be another. If we don't eliminate the source, how can we find peace? I used to have no way to get close to the national master, but now I can use the Li siblings' influence. This might just be the best way to solve things once and for all."
Liu Su shrugged, "You've already left, so why care about this place? Honestly, it might be better to just destroy this village. Then you wouldn't have any ties left."
Qin Yi squinted at the wolf-toothed club, thinking about rolling it in the stinky ditch behind the house.
Liu Su immediately sensed his bad intentions and hurriedly said, "Alright, alright. Even if it's just to avenge the original owner of this body, you still need to deal with your enemies. Otherwise, cultivating might lead to inner demons."
"Enemies? I think he might want to kill you even more." Qin Yi shot a glare at Liu Su.
Liu Su chuckled awkwardly, "He was already supposed to die back then, so it wasn't really my fault. But you messed up my plans, so why are you glaring at me?"
Qin Yi couldn't be bothered to respond and turned back to packing.
He had a lot of random herbs he had been refining for experience these past few days. He probably wouldn't need them anymore, but they all had to be taken along. You never know when they might come in handy.
He turned and opened a hidden compartment at the head of the bed, where some silver coins and a blue-covered secret manual lay quietly. The manual had no name and belonged to the original owner of this body. Qin Yi called it the "Unnamed Manual."
At first, Qin Yi thought the original owner had been cultivating for years without any significant results, so it must be a low-level manual. But he found that the material of the book was quite special, like the kind of thing described in many martial arts novels that can't be harmed by water or fire, or cut by blades. Such material shouldn't record a low-level technique; it could only mean that the original owner either didn't practice it correctly or that the foundation of the technique was difficult.
Martial arts have potential in this world too. Looking at Li Qinglin, it seemed that even ordinary cultivators might not be able to match him, and with opportunities, there could be other paths for development. Since Qin Yi didn't dare to learn cultivation from Liu Su for now, practicing martial arts was the best way to protect himself. After all, holding the wolf-toothed club gave him a bit of a heroic feeling.
Liu Su didn't try to discourage him from practicing martial arts, instead teaching him how to prepare the herbs needed for body training and how to use the club. Perhaps they shared the same thought.
For over two months, the two had been in the same room, each keeping their secrets from outsiders. No matter what reservations or wariness they had towards each other, they could be considered the closest people in this world, even if that closeness was a bit unusual.
...
When they left, the Li siblings were leading their horses, while Qin Yi walked beside them without a horse.
"After we leave, I'll buy a horse for Brother Qin as soon as possible," Li Qinglin said apologetically. "I didn't think things through before coming."
Qin Yi asked curiously, "You seem to be from a wealthy family, able to go against the national master without being ordinary people. Why are you two leaving without even a guard? Aren't you afraid of trouble?"
Li Qinglin smiled, "My family is a bit different. We encourage our children to experience the world and face challenges."
Qin Yi glanced at Li Qingjun, "What if your younger sibling had caused me trouble last night and ended up in my trap?"
Li Qingjun got angry and wanted to argue, but then remembered that if Qin Yi had really wanted to kill someone, she might have actually died. If she had tried to do something else, it might have been even worse... So she couldn't find the words, her pretty face turning red.
Li Qinglin looked at his sister's expression with some surprise. He had assumed Qin Yi had been taught a lesson by her, but now it seemed that she had been the one at a disadvantage last night. How had Qin Yi managed to do that, looking like he was only practicing body training?
Maybe there really was some skill in being a sorcerer.
With that thought in mind, Li Qinglin just smiled, "Even if Qingjun was harmed by Brother Qin last night, she can only blame herself for not being skilled enough. Of course, I will kill Brother Qin to avenge my sister." He paused and added, "By the way, Qingjun is a girl, so there’s no need to hide it from Brother Qin now... Maybe Brother Qin already figured it out."
Li Qingjun huffed and turned her head away.
Qin Yi shook his head, "Your family is... quite strange."
As they spoke, a villager saw Qin Yi leaving and called out, "Little Qin, are you going out to play? When will you be back?"
Qin Yi pointed to the bag on the horse's back, "I plan to go out and explore."
As soon as he said this, a group of villagers dropped what they were doing and surrounded him.
"Are you really leaving the village?"
"What a pity! I was planning to betroth my little Taohua to you..."
"What's so good outside..."
"Leaving the village is good, leaving the village is good. Does that mean I don't have to pay you back the four wen for the medicine?"
Qin Yi broke into a cold sweat.
"Everyone, step aside! Step aside!" An old man squeezed through the crowd, tapping his pipe around, "What nonsense are you all talking about?"
As he spoke, his old eyes scanned the Li siblings, showing a look of distrust. "Have you thought this through? City folks can be really bad. Don't let them sell you and then count the money."
Li Qinglin smiled and didn't argue. Qin Yi could only say, "Uncle Xu, don't worry. I know what I'm doing."
The old man took a few puffs from his pipe and sighed, "As long as you've thought it through. You're so young and knowledgeable, and there's no one at home to take care of... well, there's no one at home needing your care, so staying in the mountains all day isn't worth it. You should have gone out a long time ago."
Then everyone started chattering. "Exactly! I've said for a long time that Little Qin shouldn't be cooped up in the valley..."
"If you get tired of the outside, you can come back anytime. My little Taohua will wait for you for a few years..."
"We'll keep your yard for you. Who dares to take it? We'll break their legs!"
Li Qinglin's smile became somewhat meaningful. As they traveled, almost everyone seemed to want to draw attention to Qin Yi, clearly trying to make outsiders notice his uniqueness and encourage him to leave the mountain.
This place was interesting. Qin Yi was being intentionally led to seek out immortals, while the villagers were intentionally drawing outsiders' attention to him. Their perspectives were different, but they each had their own plans.
Was it because Qin Yi wasn't well-liked in the village that people wanted him to leave? Li Qinglin didn't think so; there might be another reason.
Qin Yi also found it strange. The original owner of this body clearly had a different style, but the villagers seemed to see no difference at all. Were they just too simple-minded?
He didn't think too much about it and bowed deeply, "Thank you all for taking care of me over the years. Xianji Village is my home. If I have time, I will come back to visit everyone. If little Taohua gets married, please keep little Taohua for me..."
The crowd erupted in anger, "Get lost! Don't you have any shame?"
Amid the uproar, the old man named Xu said, "Why come back? If you do well, don't come back. If you don't do well, you can always find a meal here."
After saying that, he turned around and brought over an old horse, "This horse doesn't have much time left either. Ride it out, and I hope you won't come back to ride it again. Go, go, go!"
Even if it didn't have much time left, it was still a horse. Usually, Uncle Xu treated it like a treasure, but now he was just giving it away.
Qin Yi took a deep breath, said nothing more, bowed deeply, and mounted the horse.
Li Qinglin took one last meaningful look at the small village and got on his horse with his sister. The three horses headed out of the village, facing the rising sun.
"I haven't asked, Brother Li, where are we headed?"
"To the capital of the Southern Li Kingdom, to Lihuo City."
One person who had a chance at immortality but rejected it, one person who longed to seek immortality, and one person who didn't believe in immortals at all, set off together from the village that was rumored to have immortals, stepping into the mortal world.
(End of Chapter)