The two continued to debate and came up with decisions for multiple matters. They left after everything was concluded and used the most secretive method to return to their location. There was no trace left of their journey since they have erased all clues from the temporal-spatial sphere. No one had a chance to seer or calculate it.
Outside of the duo, no one else was aware that this meeting had decided the fate of many on top of deciding the future direction. Even emperors were included in these secret plans.
Back at Eternal, Jilin Princess did not allow anyone to get close to Li Qiye’s room.
There were other people waiting in the courtyard as well, one man and one woman. Both were quite young; the woman was Wu Fengying who has been waiting for several days now.
“Creak.” The door opened with Li Qiye stepping out.
“Young n.o.ble.” The princess heaved a sigh of relief. Of course, she didn’t think anything would happen to him but anxiety was still there after the several days of silence.
“Are we at the wildland yet?” Li Qiye smiled and stretched as if he had just woken up or got done with a cultivation session. He looked a bit fatigued.
However, his fatigue wasn’t an act. He had crossed through time and s.p.a.ce without leaving any trace behind; this naturally did a number on him.
“Not yet, still a few more days.” The princess hurriedly responded.
Li Qiye gently nodded in response: “Good, let me know if you need me.” With that, he leisurely turned to go back inside the room.
He had already accomplished his goal of meeting that person this time; the Remote Wildland was only out of convenience. That’s why he was in a very relaxed situation.
“Li, no, Young n.o.ble Li.” Suddenly, Wu Fengying called him back.
Li Qiye turned around and looked at Fengying then the man next to her.
She looked different today. Normally, she had an armor and looked just like an indomitable warrior, not letting the opposite s.e.x get the better of her. But now, she wore a pink dress that was fluttering in the air and looked quite beautiful.
By all means, she was originally beautiful. Alas, violence and domineering were also her ever-present company so people forgot about how pretty she was. So now, when she wore a regular dress, using kingdom-toppling wasn’t an exaggeration to describe her. People would definitely fall in love with her at first sight.
Her personality seemed to have changed completely today. Each step was graceful just like her current gentle demeanor.
“Young n.o.ble Li. I was naive and didn’t understand the immensity of heaven and earth. I have offended…” She bowed and apologized.
Li Qiye took a second look at her. This was indeed hard to believe unless one were to see it in person. This woman didn’t resemble the old Wu Fengying at all.
The princess wanted to laugh but had to hold it in so she whispered to Li Qiye: “Citadel Lord Wu has been waiting for you for several days now. She is sincerely apologizing.”
The princess could only put in some good words for Fengying. As for whether their relations.h.i.+p would improve or not, that was outside of her control.
Li Qiye looked at the feminine woman and teased: “Am I seeing things? Is the sun rising from the west now? You’re like an entirely different person.”
“Shut up! Don’t be so outrageous!” Fengying couldn’t restrain herself and revealed her true fierce nature.
“Image, remember, keep your image in mind. You need to be gentle and soft like water.” The man tagging along immediately appeased her.
He was quite young and handsome. However, his gestures and demeanor were a bit sloppy and improper. This was clearly not a gentleman.
“Gentle my a.s.s!” Fengying furiously shouted: “Little Qi, this is your dumb idea’s fault! I’m gonna make mincemeat out of you!”
“Sis, everything is hard in the beginning.” The youth cheerfully persuaded her in a playful manner: “As the saying goes, if you work at it hard enough, you can grind an iron bar into a fine needle. If you want to accomplish your goal, sis, you need to change yourself or there’ll be no chance. Look at the princess, she’s feminine and pretty, definitely adored by men, am I wrong here?”
Who knows if this brat was actually trying to help Wu Fengying or was only here to watch the fun show and cause even more trouble?
In short, his sloppy appearance gave off an undependable feeling.
The princess covered her mouth after hearing the brother-sister duo, not daring to audibly laugh.
After hearing the man, Fengying became less angry but was still annoyed: “Li Qiye, it was my mistake last time. Our feud is over, the water in the well won’t touch the water in the river from now on.”
“Sis, wrong again, what is this about water in the well and river? Doesn’t that mean the two of you will never meet again?” The youth immediately corrected her: “You should be saying, Young n.o.ble Li, a gentleman like you should be more forgiven towards a lady like me…”
“What are you two doing?” Li Qiye was a bit helpless watching these two. He smiled and asked: “Is this a play?”
“A play my a.s.s!” Fengying was flushed red with both anger and embarra.s.sment.
“Okay, okay, sis. Calm down, you’re a lady, a lady, you know?” Her little brother quickly tugged her arm and consoled.
“It’s just your stupid plan! I don’t want to be a lady!” She angrily pulled on her pink outfit.
Li Qiye shook his head and interjected: “If you want to undress, I think it is best to go home then do it. This isn’t the place to strip down.”
She suddenly froze. When she regained her wits, an overwhelming bashfulness struck her. She wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and jump down.
“Li, I’ll strip if I want to, none of your concern!” In the end, her embarra.s.sment turned to anger: “You think you’re so cool because you are strong? Fine, we’ll fight again. I’ll forfeit my life to you if I lose again!”
She ultimately reverted back to her violent self but didn’t lunge at him. Her arrogance was much weaker this time since she was only posturing.
It wasn’t because Li Qiye was stronger or that she had lost before. There was another reason.
Li Qiye chuckled and said: “What am I going to do with your life? I’m not the emissary of death.”
“Hmph! You just might be!” Fengying naturally wouldn’t attack Li Qiye so she snorted, not knowing how to elegantly resolve this situation while still winning some face back.
Li Qiye smiled and said: “Fine, let bygones be bygones, I’m not a petty person. Just don’t cause trouble later.”
If he wanted to deal with her, she wouldn’t be alive right now. He didn’t care for such a trivial matter.
At this moment, her brother gave her the thumbs-up and gestured for her to try harder.
“Good, so I’m forgiven.” She became braver with her brother’s support. Nevertheless, she still didn’t dare to look at Li Qiye in the eye.
Li Qiye was quite amused at her demeanor: “Is this how someone apologizes? Try harder.”
“This is still not enough of an apology?! What more do you want!” She shouted in order to hide her nervous state.
“An apology should be gentler, how can your aggressive tone be considered an apology?” Li Qiye teased her again.
“You!” She glared back with blushed cheeks.
At this moment, the other two thought that Fengying would still be furious. However, she hesitated for a moment but still walked forward and let go of her pride.
“Yes, I was wrong.” She finally mustered enough force to say this. It certainly wasn’t easy for someone as stubborn as her since she would rather die than to bow her head and yield before someone.
Li Qiye sighed in his mind after seeing her lowering her head and said: “I already forgot about it and was only messing with you earlier. No need to bend down to achieve something. Be who you are.”
1. Mind our own business, but needed to be literal for this next line
2. Raw text is Heibai Wuchang, or Hak Bak Mo Seong, literally "Black and White Impermanence", are two deities in Chinese folk religion in charge of escorting the spirits of the dead to the Underworld. Leaving this in the raw form doesn’t flow as well. Grim reaper or reaper was my first choice but it evokes a western image. Emissary of death works but maybe just leaving it as the Black and White Impermanence works too. This character does show up in a lot of Chinese literature.