Chapter 1749 Searching for s.h.i.+fu!
“Eiiii! s.h.i.+fu, third brother, we’re about to arrive”
Qin Xiao Lou’s voice reverberated throughout the surroundings.
The three galloping horses gradually slowed down and began to run along a dirt road.
Xie Dao Ling, Qin Xiao Lou, and Gu Qing Shan were each riding their own horses as they observed the city at the end of the road.
“Ah, I can see it” Gu Qing Shan replied.
The city’s name was Luo Shui.
This was one of the biggest cities in the Human realm.
Ever since the Samsara was reset, Qin Xiao Lou had been taking refuge within this city.
He wasn’t particularly strong, nor did he like to fight, so he hadn’t been able to leave the city in fear of running into the Elemental monsters.
But he was also in a hurry to find Xie Dao Ling as well as his junior sect brothers and sisters, so he had to establish a base in the city, using divination every day to search for any clues regarding the members of Bai Hua sect.
——as soon as Gu Qing Shan and Xie Dao Ling left the Elements War Zone, they were transported to a barren mountain on the outskirts of Luo Shui city.
After which they were found by Qin Xiao Lou.
Leading the way, Qin Xiao Lou boasted:
“Today, I just felt like I should perform divination. Originally, I didn’t think it would produce any results, but instead, it was ‘Great Luck’
“It’s been so long since I got ‘Great Luck’ during divination, so I tried divining everyone individually starting from Qing Shan, Xiu Xiu, Wan Er, then Qing Rou. In the end, I found that Qing Shan’s fortune was identical to the ‘Great Luck’ results that I got earlier”
“I then tried divining a direction—– and discovered that you were just a little bit to the North of where I was!”
“I immediately set out”
“Sure enough, I found you here, as well as… s.h.i.+fu’s previous life incarnation, truly exceptional luck!”
He cautiously glanced at Xie Dao Ling as he said that.
“That’s right, today my luck is quite decent” Gu Qing Shan followed up.
——the total duration for [True Luck] was 24 hours, and it hadn’t been 24 hours yet.
As for divination, it was the most mystical and inexplicable Art among the Six Arts of cultivation, capable of sneaking a peek into heaven’s will. Hardly one among millions of cultivators could even begin to comprehend it, but Qin Xiao Lou was capable of using it just like a fish in water.
Qin Xiao Lou was originally known as the number one expert of the Six Arts whose divination skills far surpa.s.sed others; while Gu Qing Shan was currently affected by (True Luck] and just happened to be dropped off on the outskirts of Luo Shui city
That was why they were found so quickly. At this point, Xie Dao Ling suddenly spoke:
“You said you are called Qin Xiao Lou?”
“Yes, s.h.i.+fu” Qin Xiao Lou respectfully answered.
“Gu Qing Shan is about to head into the Elements Purgatory, while I’m under threat of being captured by the Heavenly Emperor at any moment. With your level of strength, perhaps you should hide to prevent yourself from being caught in the crossfire” Xie Dao Ling suggested casually.
Qin Xiao Lou answered with a stern expression: “s.h.i.+fu, before the Samsara was reset, I had already managed to foretell a great upheaval within our world, causing the disciples of Bai Hua sect to become scattered”
“Oh? You managed to foretell that?” Xie Dao Ling was intrigued.
Qin Xiao Lou slowly explained: “Indeed. To that end, I’ve drafted several plans layered on top of one another, stockpiling plenty of spirit stones, heavenly jades, treasure metals, as well as numerous ingredients. And since my personal strength is lacking, I’ve already thought of the solution to establish a secret base. All I had to do was wait for the Samsara to change and once again establish the foundations of our sect—— which has already pa.s.sed the initial phases!” Xie Dao Ling and Gu Qing Shan exchanged glances.
Qin Xiao Lou continued: “Don’t you worry, s.h.i.+fu, there are ample resources within our Bai Hua sect’s base, hidden in plain sight within a bustling city, furthermore, I’ve installed several transportation formations to facilitate evacuation at any moment, it is completely safe”
“Indeed, what careful considerations” Gu Qing Shan praised.
Xie Dao Ling also nodded and sighed: “My present incarnation truly does have great discerning eyes, taking in disciples with unique talents and such well-rounded hearts, how remarkable”
The three of them entered the city.
As expected, the city was bustling and prosperous, with individuals from the Beast King, Asura, and Human realm casually intermingling with one another.
It was only when some minor evil creatures and monsters showed up that there would be some small-scale chaos.
—–at this point, such creatures had only just started appearing in the Human realm, so they were still a rare sight.
But after a while, everyone would gradually come to accept it as the norm and stop paying attention to them.
The three of them walked through a long main street and eventually reached a secluded alleyway.
“s.h.i.+fu, third brother, we’re about to arrive” Qin Xiao Lou a.s.sured them.
“Second brother, we’re currently facing a difficult problem”
Seeing that no one was here, Gu Qing Shan decided to tell him about it ahead of time.
—-since Qin Xiao Lou had decided to become more responsible, it was natural to discuss the matters of the sect with him.
“Go ahead, junior brother” Qin Xiao Lou told him.
“We’re currently under the effects of a unique technique which makes it so that we can’t search for s.h.i.+fu. If we try to, there would be huge problems” Gu Qing Shan said.
He was explaining it in a roundabout way.
“That’s quite troublesome” Qin Xiao Lou mused.
“That’s right, but we still need to quickly come up with something—– after all, s.h.i.+fu must become whole again in order to have a chance to regain her strength” Gu Qing Shan added.
“If we can’t search for s.h.i.+fu, would it be possible for s.h.i.+fu to search for us instead?” Qin Xiao Lou asked.
“Hm, that’s certainly a solution” Gu Qing Shan praised.
Second brother is finally reliable, I’m glad.
“—–But how would s.h.i.+fu be able to find us? Do you have any specific plan?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
This is actually a very troublesome matter.
After Xie Dao Ling’s seal was broken and she escaped with the miniature Heaven realm, the Heavenly Emperor was definitely furious.
The Heavenly Emperor would surely send out all of his best subordinates to scour the Human realm in search of Xie Dao Ling.
He might even personally do it himself.
For that reason, Gu Qing Shan and Qin Xiao Lou needed to come up with something.
Not only do they need to attract s.h.i.+fu’s attention and thus make her travel to Luo Shui city on her own accord; but they must also make sure that they didn’t actually draw the attention of the heavenly beings.
—–how can we achieve this?
From the very beginning, Gu Qing Shan had been thinking about this problem in particular.
Xie Dao Ling also appeared attentive. But Qin Xiao Lou smiled confidently and replied: “No need to worry yourself, junior brother, I’ve performed many divinations and had been expecting today’s situation. That’s why I’ve already come up with a solution as well as made the preparations for it”
Gu Qing Shan narrowed his eyes in surprise.
Xie Dao Ling also found that unexpected: “You’ve even made the preparations for the solution?”
“Indeed I have” Qin Xiao Lou replied.
“What’s the solution?” Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but ask.
Qin Xiao Lou put his hands together and explained: “We have to draw s.h.i.+fu’s attention, but we need to avoid drawing the heavenly beings’ attention, so we need to send out a message—– the message needs to contain just enough information so that s.h.i.+fu understands it, but the heavenly beings wouldn’t be able to discern its true intentions”
“Makes sense” Gu Qing Shan nodded.
Qin Xiao Lou continued: “If this message is only sent out once, s.h.i.+fu might not notice or pay attention to it, so it also needs to be a persistent message, one that will rouse discussion, doesn’t intrusively draw attention, and one that s.h.i.+fu will immediately recognize and come to find us when she sees it!”
“You’re right” Gu Qing Shan agreed.
“But then, how will you do it specifically?” Xie Dao Ling asked.
—–it seems that not just Gu Qing Shan, but this second disciple of mine is also an extremely smart fellow.
Xie Dao Ling thought to herself.
Qin Xiao Lou the made a mysterious expression and replied: “Follow me, I’ve already prepared everything” The three of them quickly went through the whole alleyway.
Very quickly, they arrived in front of a tall building.
“Take a look!”
Qin Xiao Lou proudly had them take a look at the building
Gu Qing Shan and Xie Dao Ling both looked up to see that there was a large sign being hung in front of the building, which contained two large characters written in brilliant calligraphy.
Gu Qing Shan muttered: “Green—- Building——[1]”
The air immediately froze.
A gust of wind blew away from his body and disappeared.
That seemed to be Li An.
Is she angry?
Gu Qing Shan only had that thought for a split second before he stopped himself.
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he began wracking his brain to resolve another bigger issue.
——I need to quickly come up with a way to help Xiao Lou explain, or he’s dead!
“What is this about?” Xie Dao Ling asked with an indifferent expression.
Qin Xiao Lou boasted proudly: “The ‘qing’ is the same ‘qing’ in Gu Qing Shan’s name, and ‘lou’ in Qin Xiao Lou”
“And? Is that the only reason? Surely there’s something else?”
Gu Qing Shan was winking rapidly at him.
Qin Xiao Lou puffed out his chest: “Junior brother, you don’t understand. Even though the name is ‘Qing Lou’, it’s actually a restaurant”
“A restaurant?” Xie Dao Ling questioned.
“Exactly, it’s my restaurant——- I’m sure third brother still remembers it from back then, we used to be in a duo in the ‘Qing Lou’ airs.h.i.+p combo”
“Really now?” Xie Dao Ling turned her gaze to Gu Qing Shan.
“Ah, we didn’t actually form a real combo” Gu Qing Shan continuously waved his hand dismissively, so embarra.s.sed that he wanted to find a hole to jump inside.
“After s.h.i.+fu found out about this, she scolded me for an entire day straight—— I bet that our ‘Qing Lou’ left a very deep impression on her” Qin Xiao Lou added.
“And then?” Xie Dao Ling asked.
“Although my restaurant still hasn’t opened, you should know about my spirit cooking skills. Once I officially open shop, its name will surely spread far and wide” Qin Xiao Lou replied.
Gu Qing Shan tried following up for him: “After that, s.h.i.+fu would hear about a restaurant that specializes in spirit cooking that is the best in the world, she would only need to think about it briefly to realize that you’re the owner”
“That’s right, then she’ll come searching for
Us!”
Qin Xiao Lou clapped his hands and
about my plan?”
Gu Qing Shan didn’t dare to check Xie Dao Ling’s expression and tried laughing it off: “Although the method is a bit unorthodox, it’s clear that you put a lot of thought into it”
“There is one prerequisite to this, your spirit cooking must actually be renowned throughout the entire Human realm, otherwise, opening a restaurant called ‘Qing Lou’ would only make our sect a laughing stock” Xie Dao Ling coldly commented.
Qin Xiao Lou replied: “Don’t worry s.h.i.+fu. When it comes to cultivation or fighting, I’m leagues behind everyone else, but if you’re talking about spirit cooking… Hmph, the only person in all the realms that can even compare to me is third brother”
“Can you swear to me that your ‘Qing Lou’ isn’t actually doing ‘that’ kind of business?” Xie Dao Ling sternly questioned him.
Qin Xiao Lou answered with a similarly stern expression: “s.h.i.+fu, although I frequently go out drinking with Gu Qing Shan in such establishments, I would definitely not open a brothel”
Gu Qing Shan face-palmed.
Why… did you have to drag me down…
Xie Dao Ling narrowed her eyes and turned to Gu Qing Shan: “Is that the truth?”
What else could Gu Qing Shan say?
He could only pretend like he really didn’t mind those words and happily followed up: “It’s true, second brother would definitely not have the courage to open a brothel, his spirit cooking skills are definitely a cut above the rest, s.h.i.+fu can be a.s.sured”
“Hmph” Xie Dao Ling scoffed.
“…s.h.i.+fu, how about you come inside first, senior brother and I will make you a meal” Gu Qing Shan tried suggesting.
Xie Dao Ling shook her head: “As long as it
doesn’t matter. There’s no need for you to make any food, since you’re going to succeed no matter what you do during this period of time, I’d like to examine your second brother’s spirit cooking first”
Hearing her say that, Gu Qing Shan sighed in relief.
When it comes to cooking, Qin Xiao Lou’s expertise was genuine.
“Then let us go in first”
“Hm”
Qin Xiao Lou began to cook.
Xie Dao Ling personally observed him from behind.
Only Gu Qing Shan remained alone in the dining hall of the restaurant, silently waiting for the results while sipping some tea.
Suddenly, lines of b.l.o.o.d.y red text appeared in the void of s.p.a.ce:
[Attention, the duration for ‘True Luck’ is over]
Gu Qing Shan was surprised.
——has it already been 24 hours?
I feel like… I forgot something… “That’s right, Li An, are you here?” Gu Qing Shan asked.
After a while, Li An’s voice answered him from the void of s.p.a.ce: [ After accompanying you the entire way from before, I returned for a short while earlier ]
“What did you return for?” Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but ask.
Li An replied: [ It’s a brothel, so of course you’ll need the help of my subordinate Tianma girls, they’ll silently protect your s.h.i.+fu as well as drawing more customers to your establishment, becoming renowned in as little time as possible ] Before Gu Qing Shan could say anything, a group of girls merrily entered the restaurant.
Each of them were eye-candy of the highest quality, capable of alluring people with every smile, gesture, physique, as well as aura.
At this point, Xie Dao Ling had just come out of the kitchen.
She was clasping her hands behind and her back and commented with a pleased tone: “Hm, your second brother’s skills are——“
She abruptly stopped.
In front of her, the beautiful girls gracefully came forward and spoke to Gu Qing Shan all at once: “Young master Gu, please take care of us from now on”
“I’m Chuchu”
“I’m Xiao Yao”
“Xin Er here, young master Gu~”
The Tianma introduced themselves one by one.
Gu Qing Shan was completely frozen.
(1) In case anyone forgot, this is written as “Qing Lou’, which can also mean ‘brothel’ in Chinese, made up of two characters from Gu Qing Shan and Qin Xiao Lou’s names respectively