8 To the New World

"Are you really leaving with them?"

Once the decision was made, nothing would hold Qin Yi back. He started packing and was ready to leave.

The spiked club was leaning against the wall as he packed. Seeing him shuffling around the room, Liusu asked the question in an unhurried tone.

Qin Yi said casually, "Isn't that what you wanted? Haven't you been nagging about needing all sorts of materials and furnaces so you could convince me to leave this place?"

"Heh." Liusu smirked. "I wanted to get you out of here so that you could see the big wide world out there, not to get involved in some power struggle. Not to mention that an influential master teacher of the kingdom is involved. With your current capabilities, you wouldn't even see it coming if someone tried to kill you."

"So?" Qin Yi stopped what he was doing and said coldly, "What if Donghuazi sends someone out here to create another demon-transforming miasma? He's done it once and he'll do it again. This is never going to end unless we resolve the problem from its source. I didn't know how to get to the master teacher before, but now that the Li siblings are here, maybe it's my chance to resolve the problem once and for all."

Liusu didn't sound concerned when it said, "You're leaving this place, so why worry about what will become of it? Honestly, you could just have this village destroyed. That way, you wouldn't have to worry about it anymore."

Narrowing his eyes, Qin Yi studied the spiked club and was considering rolling it around in the sewer at the back of the house.

Liusu immediately sensed his evil plan and said hastily, "Fine, fine. I know you're trying to get revenge for the original owner of this body to settle your mind. I agree with you. The enemy has to die or it may hinder your cultivation in the future."

"The enemy? If that's the case, I think he wants to see you killed first." Qin Yi threw a dirty look at Liusu.

Liusu chuckled awkwardly. "He was going to die anyway, so I didn't kill him. Actually, you were the one who sabotaged my plan. Why are you staring at me now?"

You omitted the part where you tried to eat me, Qin Yi thought. He then ignored Liusu and returned to his packing.

He had made quite a lot of miscellaneous medicines since he got here which he was unlikely to remake in the future. They might seem useless now, but he was still going to take them with him. He never knew when they might come in handy…

He then opened a secret compartment by his bed. Inside were some silver taels and a nameless secret martial arts manual with a blue cover. The latter belonged to the original owner of the body, and Qin Yi called it the "nameless manual".

The original owner of the body was in his late teens but he hadn't made many achievements in his martial arts practice, so Qin Yi had assumed that the manual wasn't too advanced. He then discovered that the book was made from a very unique material. No water, fire, or sharp edges could damage the pages, so a book made from such a material couldn't have been a low-end one. Qin Yi had to agree with Liusu that the original owner hadn't comprehended the content correctly or that the manual was too difficult to learn.

Here in this world, practicing martial arts was a very promising way to temper one's body. At Li Qinglin's level, he could probably defeat regular cultivators. Given the right opportunity, he would be able to make further advancement on that path. Since Qin Yi still didn't dare to learn cultivation from Li Qinglin, practicing martial arts seemed to be the ideal way to keep himself safe. With that spiked club, he actually looked more natural as a martial arts practitioner.

Liusu didn't try to talk him out of it or look down on his choice. Instead, it taught him how to make the medicine needed to temper his body as well as techniques to use the spiked club. It might feel the same way as Qin Yi did.

The teenager and the spiked club had been living together for over two months by now, each with their own secrets that they had to keep from the rest of the world. No matter what precautions they had toward each other, they were still each other's closest friend in this world—although "friend" might seem like an odd term to use here.

…

The Li siblings led their horses on their way out of the village. Qin Yi didn't have a horse, so he just walked by himself.

"I'll buy you a horse as soon as we're out of here," Li Qinglin said apologetically. "It was so thoughtless of me to come here without an extra horse."

Qin Yi asked curiously, "The two of you have to be from an influential family, because no commoners would just decide to challenge the master teacher of a kingdom. But why are you all by yourselves? Where are your guards? Isn't your family worried about your safety?"

Li Qinglin smiled. "My family is quite special. We've been taught to go explore the world and endure the hardships ourselves."

Qin Yi glanced at Li Qingjun and asked, "What if my trap injured your 'brother' when 'he' came to make trouble last night?"

Li Qingjun flared up and wanted to retort, but she then realized that if Qin Yi really intended to kill her the night before, she would've died by now. She would've been even more miserable if he had tried to do something else… She swallowed her retort and blushed profusely.

Li Qinglin was surprised when he saw the look on his sister's face. He had assumed that Qin Yi was kicked around by his sister, but by the looks of it, it was the other way around. Qin Yi should still be at the body-tempering stage, and Li Qinglin wondered how he had managed to do that.

Maybe this alchemist really knew what he was doing.

Despite what he thought, Li Qinglin only smiled and said, "Even if that had happened, Qingjun would only have herself to blame. Of course, I would've had to kill Brother Qin to avenge my sister." After a pause, he added, "By the way, Qingjun is a girl, and I don't think I should keep it from Brother Qin anymore. Although you might've guessed it already."

Li Qingjun made a grunt and looked away.

Qin Yi shook his head. "You really have a strange family."

As they spoke, some villagers spotted Qin Yi and greeted him. "Xiao Qin, are you going on a trip? When are you coming back?"

Qin Yi patted his sack on the back of the horse. "I'm going to see the outside world."

As soon as he said those words, the villagers stopped what they were doing and gathered around.

"Are you really leaving?"

"What a shame. I was planning to marry my daughter Taohua to you…"

"What's so good about the outside world…"

"That's great news. Does that mean I don't have to pay you back the four cents I owe you?"

Qin Yi was rendered speechless.

"Out of my way!" An old man squeezed through the crowd and hit the others on their heads with his long-stemmed tobacco pipe. "What the hell are you people talking about?!"

He then glanced at the Li siblings with a suspicious look on his face and asked, "Are you sure? People in big cities are very cunning. Don't let them trick you."

Li Qinglin only smiled and Qin Yi had to say, "Uncle Xu, please don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

The old man took a few drags before heaving a sigh. "Alright, if that's what you want. You're so young but you know so much. It's not like you still have family here… You shouldn't stay here in the village forever. Go see the world."

The others chimed in. "That's right. I've always said Xiao Qin shouldn't waste his time here…"

"Feel free to come back when you're tired. My little Taohua can still wait for you for a few years…"

"I'll look after your courtyard. If anyone tries to take it, I'll break their leg!"

The smile on Li Qinglin's face became more enigmatic. From what he had seen so far, everyone had tried to lead him to Qin Yi as though they wanted an outsider to see how unique Qin Yi was so that they could take him out of this village.

What an interesting place. Qin Yi had drawn immortal-seekers here while the villagers had been drawing people to Qin Yi. They seemed to have their separate agendas.

Was Qin Yi so unpopular in the village that the others tried to chase him away? Li Qinglin didn't think so. There had to be another reason.

Qin Yi was equally bewildered. It was so obvious that he and the original owner of the body didn't have the same personality, but the villagers all acted as if they hadn't noticed any difference. Could they be that naive?

But he didn't think much of it. After cupping his hands at the villagers, he said, "Guys, thank you for looking after me all these years. This village is my home, and I promise you I'll come back and visit you when I have time. If little Taohua is married then, I can always take her daughter…"

The crowd booed. "Go away! You're shameless!"

Uncle Xu spoke up again. "Why bother coming back at all? If everything's good out there, just stay there. But if not, you'll always have a place here."

After that, he turned around and led an old horse toward Qin Yi. "This horse doesn't have many years left, so just take it. I hope I won't see you come back on it. Now, go away."

No matter how old the horse was, Uncle Xu had always treasured it. Qin Yi couldn't imagine that he would give it away just like that.

Taking a deep breath, Qin Yi didn't say another word. He only made a deep bow and jumped onto the horse.

Li Qinglin gave one last meaningful look at the village before climbing onto the horse. Li Qingjun followed suit, and the three horses slowly walked out of the village into the morning sun.

"Brother Li, I forgot to ask you. Where are we going?"

"The capital of Nanli, the city of Li Fire."

Of the three of them, one had the opportunity to become an immortal but had refused, one wouldn't stop trying to look for immortals, and one refused to believe immortals existed. They left the village where immortals might've been spotted before and entered the big outside world together.