Chapter 541: Flowers in the Eyes, Stars in the Heart (part 2)
The first thing Master Seventh did was take Xu Qing to offer formal greetings to Sir Bloodsmelter. Sir Bloodsmelter smiled from ear to ear; clearly, this was one of the highlights of his life. After that, Master Seventh exchanged greetings with the others present.
Xu Qing couldn’t just leave. He was no longer a mere dao child. Everyone knew that he was the future governor, so he would stick close to Master Seventh and start getting acquainted with the types of situations he would deal with in the future throughout Sea-Sealing County.
The formalities lasted for about two hours. After that, the president respectfully saw them off, whereupon Master Seventh and Xu Qing went with Sir Bloodsmelter back to the Seven Blood Eyes headquarters. The one thousand swordsages also joined them; they would stay in Seven Blood Eyes for the time being.
Qingqin, meanwhile, remained hidden in the clouds, where he gazed in the direction of South Phoenix, thinking, I wonder if I should pay a visit to Eldest Brother?
Plumdark watched them go. She knew that they had many matters to attend to having just returned, and that it wouldn't be appropriate to intrude. But she felt happy. As she turned to head back to the Dark Serenity Sect, she glanced at the president and saw his complex facial expression. Laughing softly, she flew off. Though she hadn’t said a word, her soft laughter left no doubt as to her attitude.
The president stood there silently, that laughter ringing in his ears. It created a powerful pressure that made his mixed emotions surge even more powerfully. Eventually, he closed his eyes for a time. When he opened them, his gaze was once again soft and gentle. He would maintain that visage. From the very beginning, he had never shown any outright hostility toward Xu Qing or Seven Blood Eyes. Staying calm and gentle was his baseline behavior. It was also just his personality. Many people had ugliness inside them, but they kept it hidden. The only question was whether the world would give them the chance to reveal it. Some people would keep it inside for years. Some people would keep it inside for a lifetime, even until they died. The only question was how long the president of the Eight Sect Coalition could keep it inside.
In Seven Blood Eyes, Xu Qing was serving tea to Sir Bloodsmelter.
Sir Bloodsmelter still hadn’t recovered completely from the injuries he’d sustained in the war. He was obviously in a wonderful mood, though he occasionally coughed. That said, the excitement of this day was something he hadn’t experienced for a very long time.
“That’s more than enough!” Sir Bloodsmelter said, taking the cup of tea. He drank the entire cup without spilling a drop. Eyes shining with admiration and praise he continued, “Little Seventh, you need to take care of this apprentice of yours. Without him, you’d never be the lieutenant governor. In fact, you’re simply borrowing glory from him!”
Master Seventh stood there looking extremely proud.
“And that’s why I still think you should expel all of your other apprentices. All you need is Fourth Sib and Second Sib. They’re more than enough. Big Sib and Third Sib are both useless and annoying to the core.”
Xu Qing didn’t respond to Sir Bloodsmelter’s words. He’d heard this kind of talk before.
“What you say makes sense, Patriarch,” Master Seventh said, nodding. “I’ll definitely put some thought into your advice. By the way, sir, have you put any thought into that matter I mentioned earlier?”
“I’m not going. But I fully endorse your idea of moving Seven Blood Eyes to the county capital.” Sir Bloodsmelter put down his tea cup and looked at Master Seventh with gratitude in his eyes. “It wasn’t an easy thing to bring Seven Blood Eyes this far. But over the years, I’ve seen both castles built and mountains crumble. We need to prepare for future storms and be vigilant in peacetime.
“The continent of South Phoenix is our first foundation. We can rest at ease with your lovely little apprentice there to watch out for things. Emperor-Receiving Prefecture is Seven Blood Eyes’ second foundation. We can’t just leave it undefended.
“The two of you can establish our third foundation in the county capital. That way, if things ever go wrong, we can fall back to Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, and if necessary, to South Phoenix. That’s the only way to ensure that our work with Seven Blood Eyes will stand the test of time.”
Given Sir Bloodsmelter’s years and experience, he was always concerned with how to provide a solid foundation to deal with problems. Master Seventh agreed with him in some ways, but disagreed in others. Seeing that the two of them were going to discuss the matter at length, Xu Qing bid farewell.
As he walked the familiar paths in the sect, he ran into fellow disciples he knew. All of them were very excited to see him, and would clasp hands and bow, even if they were a great distance away. At a certain point Xu Qing looked over his shoulder and saw the Mute about 300 meters behind him. As usual, the Mute was there keeping an eye on him, standing guard. Xu Qing nodded at him.
Then he went to Master Sixth’s grave. When he stood in front of the gravestone, he could almost hear Master Sixth’s voice. He took out a flagon of alcohol and poured it over the grave.
“Master Sixth, Night Dove is dead,” Xu Qing whispered. “Sadly, his head was ripped to shreds, so I couldn’t bring it back with me. I think that’s fine, though. I’ll make sure to take good care of the crown prince’s head. I’ll bring it to you in one piece.”
He sat in front of Master Sixth’s grave for a long time. Eventually, the little white snake in his sleeve slithered out, crawled up to his neck, and nuzzled his cheek.
When dusk approached, he stood and left. While walking down the stairs, he saw someone familiar. It was a young woman in her twenties. She wore a yellow daoist robe, and was extremely pretty. The aroma of medicinal pills surrounded her, except, she seemed lonely, as though she had too much on her mind. When she caught sight of Xu Qing, she suddenly looked ill at ease.
“Xu... er, Elder Brother Xu Qing.”
Smiling, Xu Qing said, “Junior Sister Gu, long time no see.”
This young woman was Gu Muqing. She seemed a bit stunned, and couldn’t think of what to say to Xu Qing.
Xu Qing was a bit surprised to see her acting so awkwardly. A moment passed, and he left. When he was gone, she bowed her head and berated herself for not saying all the things she’d wanted to say for so long.
***
Ling’er stuck her head out of Xu Qing’s sleeve and looked curiously back at Gu Muqing. “Big Bro Xu Qing, that girl seemed really nervous. Like she wanted to tell you something. What’s her deal? Should we go back and ask what she wanted to say?”
Xu Qing shook his head. “I doubt it’s anything serious. I’ll ask Master about it later.”
Ling’er nodded. “Okay. If she’s in trouble, Big Bro Xu Qing, maybe you and I could help her.”
This wasn’t Xu Qing’s first time coming to realize how willing Ling’er was to help others. Smiling in agreement, he continued on his way and eventually left the sect.
***
After Xu Qing was gone, a sigh could be heard near Gu Muqing. It was Gu Muqing’s Master, who was almost like a mother to her. Stepping over, she wrapped her arms around Gu Muqing.
“Master,” Gu Muqing said, her eyes welling with tears.
There was little Gu Muqing’s Master could do but comfort her. “You foolish girl. You still have a chance! Keep trying!”
Gu Muqing nodded, and her eyes shone with determination. [1]
***
After Xu Qing was out of the sect, he took out his transmission jade slip and sent a message to Zhang San. [2]
Zhang San had been waiting for the message to come in, and he replied instantly. “Hahaha! Xu Qing! I’m in our harbor!”
Smiling, Xu Qing put the jade slip away and raced over to their harbor. It didn’t take him long to find Zhang San.
Zhang San already had three life flames. In the two years since Xu Qing had last seen him, he’d put on some weight. Clearly, things had been going well for him. He even had a few girls from the Second Peak with him. It was hard to say how he did it, but all the girls with him seemed to get along. He seemed very excited to see Xu Qing. Rushing forward, he embraced him and laughed heartily.
Zhang San was very pleased. In fact, he was so pleased that it wasn’t possible to describe with words. Nowadays, he found himself smiling even when he was in the middle of meditation. As it turned out, his investment from years ago had paid off many times over. Who could ever have guessed that a puny constable from the Violent Crimes Division in South Phoenix would eventually end up as the future governor of all of Sea-Sealing County? Going forward, Zhang San would have quick access to the highest authorities in the county.
Xu Qing could sense Zhang San’s excitement, and it made him smile. It felt wonderful to be back in Seven Blood Eyes seeing all his old friends. All the weariness and exhaustion that had been building up in the county capital was melting away.
Taking out his dharmaship, he handed it to Zhang San. “Elder Brother Zhang, is there any chance you could upgrade my dharmaship?”
After experiencing his first heavenfate tribulation, Xu Qing’s cultivation base had reached the Nascent Soul level, and the dharmaship hadn’t been a good fit anymore. He needed something faster and stronger. He needed what was called a spirit cruiser.
Boat. Skiff. Ship. Cruiser.
Those were the four main categories of dharmaboats in Seven Blood Eyes. After the cruisers were the dreadnaughts the likes of Master Seventh’s. Of course, Master Seventh’s dreadnaught was on a much higher level than the ordinary variety. [3]
Thumping his chest, Zhang San said, “No problem at all! My cultivation base is a bit low, but we’ve got plenty of money on hand. I’ll just ask some Sixth Peak elders to come over. I’ll tell them what to do, and they’ll handle the particulars. I’ll definitely make you a spirit cruiser like no other! In fact, this dharmaship of yours is basically useless. Instead of upgrading it, I’ll just make you something brand new.”
Seeing that Zhang San wasn’t taking the dharmaship, Xu Qing put it away and clasped hands in thanks.
“By the way, Xu Qing, all of your share of our harbor profits are with Ding Xue. She’s keeping them safe for you. That girl just doesn’t trust me! Every time she comes to collect your share, she counts everything, one spirit coin at a time. And if even one spirit coin is missing, she gives me the hardest time!”
Zhang San and Xu Qing chatted for a while until it got late. Finally, Xu Qing bid farewell.
Zhang San was determined to make the perfect spirit cruiser, so instead of going to sleep, he started working.
***
Xu Qing strolled through the Port District. It was night, and the moon’s reflection danced in the rippling water. The sound of the waves took him back to his old life in Seven Blood Eyes. Eventually, he reached his old berth, where he set down his dharmaship and boarded it. The rocking sensation of the boat made him feel incredibly at peace.
Sticking her head out of Xu Qing’s sleeve, Ling’er said, “Big Bro Xu Qing, I get the feeling you’re preparing to go somewhere. Are you planning to go to the Imperial University in the imperial capital?”
Xu Qing shook his head. Based on what his Master had told him, going to the Imperial University wouldn’t help much considering the level of his cultivation base.
“I’m wondering how Eldest Brother’s research into the Moonrite Region is going,” Xu Qing whispered.
“Moonrite Region? Well, Big Bro Xu Qing, wherever you end up going, I’ll come along. Once I can take human form, I’m going to be really impressive!”
Xu Qing smiled. He was used to being alone most of the time, but having Ling’er along was nice. He was about to say something in response to her when his divine sense detected someone approaching. He looked up.
After about ten breaths of time, he heard Ding Xue’s lovely voice. “What are you up to, Big Bro Xu Qing?” [4]
1. Gu Muqing was introduced by name in chapter 94. We last saw her in chapter 383, when we were told she’d been assigned back to South Phoenix. So... will she appear again in the story, or is this goodbye forever...? ?
2. Zhang San!!! We last saw him in the same chapter Gu Muqing was mentioned in, 383. ?
3. The dharmaboat categories were first explained in chapter 53. ?
4. Ding Xue was also mentioned in 383. Her last on screen appearance was in 381. ?
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