Chapter 205 A Letter from Yun ShimoHow could Huangfu Shenglin accept this?
Hua Qiyue smiled. Her haggard face showed a gentle smile, but the look in her eyes was exceptionally deep and meaningful. “Your Royal Highness, no matter where I go, as long as you treat me as a friend, I shall always remain a citizen of Changjing Kingdom.”
Huangfu Shenglin felt his heart shudder. Hua Qiyue meant that if he did not raid Hua’s Mansion and chose to believe in her unconditionally, treating her as a friend, she would never betray Changjing Kingdom.
Huangfu Shenglin stared into her crystal-clear eyes and began to nod. “In my heart… you will always be the most important. If, one day, you would like to return to my side, I will wait for you, Qiyue. The Empress’s seat will be vacant for you!”
Huangfu Shenglin’s eyes revealed his madly adoring fervor. Hua Qiyue only lowered her head quietly, not saying anything.
He stood quietly, feeling an infinite sense of despondency in his heart. Had she not chosen him because she still missed Yun Shimo?
Huangfu Shenglin stayed in Hua’s Mansion for two hours before departing. The next day, Eunuch Zhou sent Hua Liting an imperial edict, designating him as the High Priest, as well as granting him a Death-Exemption Medallion. The medallion could be used an infinite number of times by anyone in Hua’s Manion to avoid the death penalty!
Hua Qiyue was satisfied with this. Huangfu Shenglin was truly a man of his word, which meant that she could leave Changjing Kingdom without worrying about her family.
She was in the capital for five days, and every one of them was spent roaming outside. Many recognized her and treated her with great respect.
Finally, after promising to return once she’d found Tianci, Hua Qiyue bid a sad farewell to Grandma and Hua Liting and left.
The Old Madame was quite worried and wanted Lv Xin and Youshui to accompany her. However, in Hua Qiyue’s eyes, these two maidservants with only rudimentary Qi Art would only distract her.
So, Hua Qiyue started her journey, accompanied by the 10,000-year-old deity in the form of a little hare. They visited big cities and small towns, as well as villages and spa.r.s.ely populated regions. They slew countless demonic beasts and searched many legendary places, but they failed to locate Yun Shimo and Tianci.
Two months later, Hua Qiyue settled down in Yuntian city at the borders of the Changjing and Yuewu Kingdoms.
Hua Qiyue had started drinking heavily since leaving the capital. She missed Tianci so much, she could only fall asleep after having several flasks of wine.
One evening, while Hua Qiyue was preparing to drink, the little hare dashed over and remarked quietly. “Yuewu Kingdom is where the Dark Sect has its headquarters. If you meet with a Qi Artist at the Great Completeness of Moon Eclipse or at the lower level of Round Sun, you’ll be in trouble. Better improve your Qi Art level first!”
Hua Qiyue grimaced. She had not practiced for a long time. Since her green jade gourd had been stolen by Yun Shimo, she had not been in the mood to do so.
But what the hare had said made sense. If she met with a powerful superior, she would indeed face dangers.
Although Hua Qiyue had many trump cards like the Drunken Flower Fan and the Transmission Array, in the end it was still better for her to upgrade her Qi Art level.
Hua Qiyue rummaged her bundle and discovered that she still had 100,000 silver taels in banknotes. But she had very few pills and divine herbs left.
“Looks like it’s not practical to use pills to improve my Qi Art level.” Hua Qiyue felt quite troubled. When Yun Shimo was around, she could have handy pills all the time. But now that Yun Shimo was no longer with her, she could not even purchase the pills she wanted. Not every alchemist could refine top-grade elixirs so easily.
“Haven’t we killed many demonic beasts? Their demonic cores could be used to exchange pills. Those eighth and ninth-grade demonic cores are the most valuable.” The little hare remarked enthusiastically. “I haven’t taken meat for a long time. Buy me some meat, won’t you?”
Hua Qiyue blinked her eyes. “If you want meat, tell me where Yun Shimo is right now.” It had occurred to her that, because the hare was a deity, it may already know where Yun Shimo had taken Tianci.
In the past two months, Hua Qiyue had not bought the hare anything to eat and had made it search for its own food.
“You… stinking girl! I also had a part to play in slaying those demonic beasts!”
“Hoho, Sun Moon Deity, you’re a deity after all. Speak with more integrity, will you? You were just observing all the time. What’s your contribution?” Hua Qiyue snorted. Her pallid haggardness had recovered a little since starting her journey, but her face was still not as full as it once was in the past.
The little hare was stricken dumb. Well, it had always stayed out of Hua Qiyue’s affairs. It did not even contribute in the battle against the Gnawing Devils Sect.
“Humph, although I didn’t make much contribution, those demonic beasts were discovered by me!”
Hua Qiyue was speechless. The hare was so good at making excuses. She smirked, taking out a demonic core of a seventh-grade demonic beast. “Alright, here’s your reward. In the future, don’t start coveting my demonic cores.”
The little hare grimaced. A seventh-grade demonic core could fetch 100 taels of gold, which wasn’t too bad. But if it wanted to savor some famous dishes, those 100 taels of gold could only last a few months!
Hua Qiyue ignored the piteous look in the little hare’s eyes. She took out her demonic cores and started to count them. There were just a little over 100 sixth-grade demonic cores, 50 seventh-grade and 25 eighth-grade ones.
And there were five ninth-grade demonic cores. Hua Qiyue recalled herself frantically slaying demonic beasts over the past two months. She had gotten herself badly injured trying to kill these powerful, ninth-grade demonic beasts.
Only such mad frenzy could alleviate the in Hua Qiyue’s heart.
Someone knocked on the door.
Hua Qiyue put away the demonic cores and opened the door. She saw the waiter, smiling respectfully.
“Excuse me, are you Miss Hua Qiyue?” the waiter asked.
Hua Qiyue stared perplexedly at the letter in his hand. “Yes. What do you want from me?”
The waiter reverentially handed the letter to Hua Qiyue. “Miss Hua, three months ago, a young man left this letter with me. He wanted me to hand this to a young lady with a hare.”
Hua Qiyue’s heart started to pound. She took over the letter and stared at the waiter, not entirely convinced. “What did he give you? Did he look like this?” Then, she quickly took Yun Shimo’s portrait out from inside her robe.
“Yes, yes… that’s the man. He had a young boy with him. And a pretty lady too. And five carriages with them. There seemed to be many people in those carriages. He gave me 50 taels of silver and left me a letter… if I meet with this young lady, he said you’d give me a tip too,” the waiter said with a grin.
The waiter had probably slaved here for a long time and someone had suddenly offered him 50 taels of silver, which was equal to several years of wages. Naturally, he was overjoyed.
Hua Qiyue’s heart started to thump. Her hands began to tremble slightly.
It was the first time Yun Shimo had left her a letter.
Why hadn’t he left the letter in the capital? Hua Qiyue could not quite understand. Perhaps Yun Shimo had guessed that Hua Qiyue would come looking for him and see this letter.
Hua Qiyue unfolded the letter. The handwriting was indeed Yun Shimo’s.
“Qiyue, don’t look for me and Tianci. I will treat him well. In the future, he will return to your side. Maybe in two or five years’ time. —Yun Shimo.”
A few short sentences. And no explanation.
Hua Qiyue felt it quite difficult to recover herself. She really did tip the waiter with a sixth-grade demonic core. Although the waiter had not seen a demonic beast before, he was still beside himself with joy.
“Thank you, Miss… Thank you, Miss… ”
Hua Qiyue’s face sagged. The letter had proven Yun Shimo’s resoluteness.
But what was the reason?
Hua Qiyue lifted up the little hare with one arm and fumed. This hare was always with her, always staring at her every action like an idler, yet had never revealed anything to her about Yun Shimo.
“Little hare, please tell me what you know about Yun Shimo, or else!”
Hua Qiyue said harshly. The little hare blinked its eyes. “I know nothing. If I did, I would have told you long ago.”
Darn it! It still wouldn’t say.
“Tell me a bit and I’ll let you have 10 seventh-grade crystal cores.”
“Oh, 10? I may consider, but isn’t 10 too few?” The hare said with a grin.
“20!” Hua Qiyue was feeling the pain. After all, sixth-grade demonic beasts weren’t all that easy to kill. The little hare was really ripping her off. It was reaping what it hadn’t sown!
A whiff of cunning flashed across the little hare’s eyes. “Hehe, before Yun Shimo left, he asked me to take good care of you. No accident must befall you, and you can’t be hurt…. He might have left for Princess Qianyang’s pearl.”
It was as good as not saying anything! Hua Qiyue rolled her eyes.
“If you won’t tell me, you won’t get your 20 crystal cores.” Hua Qiyue put down the hare, took up her bundle, and prepared to leave the inn.
The little hare immediately whizzed up her shoulder. “Alright. He’s in Yuewu Kingdom. I don’t know exactly where though.”
Hua Qiyue’s face turned cold. She had not expected Yun Shimo to go to Yuewu Kingdom. It was the kingdom of the Dark Sect. If he met with some high-level Qi Artists there…
She had several aces up her sleeve and did not need to fear. She just needed to cultivate along as she searched.
Hua Qiyue gave 20 sixth-grade crystal cores to the little hare. Then, she went downstairs to pay her bills. She asked the waiter for some dry rations and left in her carriage.
After a 10-day journey, they finally arrived at a rather large city in Yuewu Kingdom. Hua Qiyue chose an average-sized inn and rented a room there.
It was said that Yuewu Kingdom had a lot of spirit medicines and elixir pills. Their alchemists were also far more powerful than Changjing Kingdom’s.
In this city, Hua Qiyue used her demonic beast’s crystal cores to exchange for many pills which a.s.sisted in her Qi Art promotion. She searched for Yun Shimo and Tianci as she cultivated.
On this day, Hua Qiyue had just completed her cultivation. Dawn had broken. She arrived at the Legion Agency, and a young woman immediately came forward to welcome her.
“h.e.l.lo, madam. What service would you like?”
“I want to an agent to search for a missing person for me,” Hua Qiyue said quietly.
The young woman quickly sized Hua Qiyue up and took her inside. There were numerous Qi Artists in there, but most were between the Dragon Diagram and Cultivation Dimension Realms.
Hua Qiyue disguised her Qi aura so that these Qi Artists could not tell the level of her Qi Art. Compared to the other Qi Artists, Hua Qiyue was still the youngest.
The service lady quickly led Hua Qiyue to one of the negotiation tables and invited her to sit. She then inquired respectfully. “Who are you looking for?”
“Yun Shimo, and a young boy with him. The boy is the important one.” Hua Qiyue took out Yun Shimo and Tianci’s portraits.
“Yun Shimo! Isn’t he the leader who fought against the Gnawing Devils Sect? This girl is audacious!” A cold, clear female voice interrupted their conversation, full of scorn and contempt.