Qin Shi: I went astray in the Heavenly Sect

Chapter 220 Qingze Zixuan, Gai Nie Li Qin

"Miss Zi Nu, how have you been?"

In a small courtyard on Mount Taiyi, Han Fei greeted Zi Nu with a smile.

Upon seeing Han Fei, Zi Nu instinctively covered her mouth.

"Ninth Young Master!!"

"You were not killed by Ying Zheng."

Han Fei's appearance was somewhat unexpected; a soul that should have been dead was now alive and well in front of her.

Han Fei shrugged, seemingly having anticipated Zi Nu's reaction. He then looked at the young man beside her.

"Someone invited me to participate in another chess game."

Recalling the words the young man had spoken to him in the Qin prison, ripples stirred once more in Han Fei's heart.

"Another game?"

Noticing Han Fei's gaze, Zi Nu subconsciously looked over and saw the young man beside her smiling faintly, not responding. The future was still uncertain, and it was too early to talk about such things now.

"Are you satisfied with this answer, Miss Zi Nu?"

Xiu Yuan looked up at Zi Nu.

This young woman, who had roamed freely in Xinzheng, lowered her eyelids, concealing the turmoil surging in her eyes. After a while, she first glanced at Han Fei, and then looked at the young man beside her.

"The more you know, the greater the price you pay. Do I have no way out now?"

Unlike Hu Meiren and Madam Mingzhu, who stayed at the shop at the foot of Mount Taiyi after arriving there, she was brought here by the young man.

Both the other chess game mentioned by Han Fei and the fact that Han Fei is still alive are secrets that could lead to a great disaster.

Han Fei himself once mentioned in his essay "On the Difficulty of Persuasion" that "things are accomplished by secrecy, and ruined by careless words." This means that "things succeed because of strictness, caution, and secrecy, while failure may result from careless words."

Therefore, Zi Nu had already foreseen her fate.

After a moment, Xiu Yuan took out two items from his bosom and placed them in front of Han Fei and Zi Nu.

"Before the game began, Mount Taiyi did not have Han Fei and Zi Nu, only Qing Ze and Zi Xuan. What do you two think of them?"

Upon seeing this item, Zi Nu's eyes narrowed.

Two lifelike human skin masks appeared on the table, exquisitely crafted in every way.

"How long until that match starts?"

Han Fei picked up the male skin mask, examined it carefully for a while, and then asked a question.

"I'm not sure about the specifics, but it could be as short as seven years or as long as longer."

Speaking of this, Xiu Yuan's aura suddenly became extremely ethereal, as if he would ascend to immortality at any moment.

Zi Nu, being close by, sensed this change, and her gaze flickered slightly.

It was widely rumored that this young man had reached the Grandmaster realm, but she had never sensed it before. Now, this unintentionally leaked aura finally gave her an answer.

After a long while, the girl murmured softly to herself.

"This is the Grandmaster realm, huh?"

Time flies, and seven years have passed in the blink of an eye. One dynasty after another came to an end during these seven years, and finally, a new empire rose.

The Qin Dynasty lived up to expectations and finally ended the chaos of the Seven Kingdoms war.

Taiyi Mountain, a sacred Taoist site, enjoyed a brief period of peace amidst the chaos of the world thanks to the presence of two great masters.

Over the past seven years, Mount Taiyi seems to have remained largely unchanged; the green hills are still there, and the mountains themselves have not changed. However, the people living on the mountain have undergone some changes over the years.

The boys who were once young have become more composed, the girls who were once young have become more tender, and some of the old people who were once old have not survived the five signs of decay and have finally returned to the world. New people come and old people go, and everything seems to follow the laws of the world.

At the foot of Mount Taiyi, there is a very large shop. The shopkeeper is a man of ordinary appearance named Qingze.

In recent years, the business of the shop has grown bigger and bigger. When it is busy, in addition to the shop assistants, many girls come to help. This situation is the envy of many. Some busybodies have commented that Qingze is rich and powerful and enjoys the blessings of having multiple wives.

However, Qingze simply laughed it off and didn't take it to heart.

The backyard of the shop is a very large courtyard with a lake, rockery, bridge, stream, flower garden, and farmhouses, where one can see all aspects of human life within a single courtyard.

Even the disciples on the mountain sometimes come to visit such scenery.

Under a osmanthus tree, two girls were chatting idly, passing the time.

One of the girls in palace attire exclaimed, "I never imagined he would betray Ying Zheng!!"

Upon hearing this, another girl replied, "Gai Nie is a disciple of Guigu, so he must have his reasons for doing this, but this matter is not of much concern to us."

At this point, the girl in palace attire added softly.

“Gai Nie did not leave Qin alone; he had a child with him. We only have one piece of information so far: the little guy seems to be named Tianming. But we know nothing about his identity or background.”

Upon hearing this, the girl in the fiery red dress let out a soft exclamation, somewhat surprised by the answer.

Then she asked softly, "Didn't they find anything at Cape either?"

cape.

Today, it is one of the few intelligence organizations in the empire, and its power is extremely large, with its roots reaching every corner of the empire. Even the Luo Wang (a powerful intelligence network) cannot match it in terms of intelligence.

Of course, Luo Wang also took action in this situation, but after some events, Luo Wang ultimately chose to back down.

"Nothing was found!"

After a while, the girl in palace attire replied softly.

Recalling the information she had obtained, she continued, "He seems to be a very ordinary boy. He was adopted by an ordinary farming family outside Xianyang City. Everything had been uneventful until recently when Gai Nie took him away."

The girl in the red dress had a distant gaze. Some things are hard to find out if too much time has passed, just like the matter she was investigating, which ultimately came to no conclusion.

After thinking for a moment, she asked again, "Is Miss Zixuan still in charge of the Cape?"

The girl in palace attire nodded.

"It's Miss Zixuan who's in charge. I wonder where the young master brought such a girl back. In business, I'm afraid even the Heavenly Sect and the Human Sect combined can't compete with her!"

Zixuan and the other woman didn't know the girl's background. She was simply handed over to them; her delicate appearance and shrewd methods led her to become the shopkeeper at Haijiao. However, they had no objections to this, as being a shopkeeper was no easy task. It required not only managing the shop well but also outsmarting and outmaneuvering customers.

They weren't really interested in those things.

A gust of wind blew by, and the osmanthus tree swayed gently, sending tiny petals fluttering down. The girl in the red dress reached out and caught the falling yellow petals. Looking at the small amount in her palm, she seemed to remember something and asked, "By the way, where is Ni Chang?"

The girl in palace attire frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and replied, "I'm not quite sure. A few days ago, she seemed to have made a breakthrough in her cultivation level and even went to spar with Master Xiaomeng!"

"Master Xiaomeng?"

The girl in the red dress raised an eyebrow. Xiaomeng was no ordinary person; she was the current head of the Daoist Heavenly Sect, whose strength was unfathomable. Many years ago, she had already broken through to the Grandmaster realm, and now, seven or eight years later, no one knew what realm she was in.

"How many moves did you withstand this time?"

The girl in the red dress spoke with a hint of mischief. She had challenged Ni Chang several times before, but unfortunately, she couldn't last more than a few moves each time.

This is not to say that the opponent's attacks were not sharp, but rather that the Heavenly Sect has a technique that is extremely effective against movement techniques. And since Ni Chang is known for her movement techniques, she would be lucky to unleash even one-tenth of her full strength when faced with this technique.

The girl in palace attire shook her head and smiled bitterly.

"Since you've already guessed it, why ask?"

The girl in the red dress chuckled.

"He didn't even last one move before Xiaomeng froze him completely!!"

Speaking of this, the girl in the red dress couldn't help but sigh softly. The Heavenly Sect's world had lost its color, suppressing cultivation levels too drastically. Even those at the same level would be affected, let alone Xiaomeng, whose cultivation level was far higher than hers!
Mount Taiyi is vast, and there are many disciples on it, but few of them truly interest these two girls. They always seem to talk about the same few people. After chatting for a while, the girl in the red dress asked again, "Has Bai Yao come to cause you any trouble lately?"

Upon hearing the name Bai Yao, the woman in palace attire frowned slightly. This person was none other than Lady Mingzhu, the cousin of Bai Yifei, the Blood-Clad Marquis of Han. After arriving here, she had never gotten along well with the girl beside her. Although they didn't exactly fight, they certainly didn't have any pleasantries when they met.

She had tried to persuade him about this several times, but it didn't seem to have much effect.

"Sister, there's no need to argue with her. The young master treats you much better than he treats her!"

The girl in the red dress narrowed her eyes slightly. Speaking of which, she and her sister had both suffered at each other's hands when they were in South Korea. Although it wasn't a big deal, it still made her a little unhappy when she thought about it.

She wasn't as open-minded as the girl beside her. Now that her strength had greatly improved, she naturally wanted to get revenge, but Bai Yao didn't dare to provoke her at all, so this matter hadn't been accomplished yet.

"I really don't know what that bastard brought her here for!!"

Hearing such defiant words, the girl in palace attire shook her head. This place was large, but it was the same courtyard, and they would see each other all the time. There was no need to hold a grudge over such things.

Besides, my young master isn't that kind of lecherous person. Even if the other party has all sorts of martial arts skills, it's like casting pearls before swine.

"elder sister."

In the shop lobby, a handsome young man saw the shopkeeper lounging in a rocking chair, looking quite relaxed, and shook his head helplessly.

"Shopkeeper, a friend from the farm is coming today, shouldn't we tidy up a bit?"

"Why bother cleaning up all that? They came to buy things, not to eat. Besides, even if they wanted to eat, we don't serve them here!"

The shopkeeper was Qingze. He was lying in a rocking chair with a folding fan covering his face. Hearing the waiter's words, he replied without removing the fan.

The shop assistant was helpless against the lazy shopkeeper, but he greatly admired the shopkeeper's skills.

In today's empire, white paper and refined salt are no longer their exclusive secrets. The Gongshu family and the Mo family have successively developed papermaking techniques. The price may be slightly higher, but the quality is almost the same.

Even so, they are still the largest supplier of blank paper, and the credit for this is naturally inseparable from him as the manager.

Some say the business world is like a battlefield, a series of battles fought without weapons. This seemingly young shopkeeper, whose methods were extremely ruthless, won the victory without even knowing how it happened.

In its later years, the Mohist school devoted itself to the cause of overthrowing the Qin Dynasty, and was listed as a traitor by the empire. Their papermaking industry suffered a devastating blow, and now they only dare to sell some privately, never daring to openly seize the market.

Although the Gongshu family also made some gains, the later achievements were all taken by the imperial court. The paper they produced was mostly supplied to the royal palace, and the court officials and others could not enjoy it. So, after many twists and turns, their white paper remained the mainstream of the empire, and its biggest advantage was that it was of high quality and low price.

As for refined salt, they no longer produce it here, and the workshops that produced it have been moved to Dongjun.

After a while, Qingze removed the book from his face and then rubbed his slightly messy hair.

"Mo Xuan, I'm going out for a walk."

After tidying up briefly, Qingze greeted the shop assistants.

Mo Xuan was the name of a waiter. Seeing the manager leave without a word, Mo Xuan was in a bind. The farm's customers were almost here, and if the manager ran away, he couldn't make the decision.

"Shopkeeper, you can go out, but you should at least tell me where you're going! I'll come find you when the farmhouse guests arrive."

Upon hearing this, Qingze paused, then uttered three words.

"Jade Liquid River".

Mo Xuan's lips twitched, but he still nodded.

He had heard disciples of the Heavenly Sect mention the story of "enlightenment through water," and the protagonist of this story was none other than Qingxu, one of the two great masters of the Heavenly Sect today.

But enlightenment is something that requires talent. Only those with exceptional talent might succeed in achieving enlightenment. As for ordinary people, even if they live in water, it's the same.

Several years ago, Taoist disciples would often be seen daydreaming by the Jade Liquid River. However, they gradually realized that this way of enlightenment was not suitable for everyone, so the number of people gradually decreased.

Although we can still occasionally see one or two now, it's a world of difference compared to a few years ago.

As for Qingze, he had always had this habit, but the other party mostly went during their free time, so it didn't interfere with their business. After a while, he stopped caring about those things.

However, he never guessed the identity of this shopkeeper. The other party was directly assigned to him. Qingze had a good relationship with his master, Master Qingxu of the Heavenly Sect. Apart from this, there was no other information.

Only when Qingze had walked far away and could no longer see his back did Mo Xuan suddenly narrow his eyes, a hint of inquiry appearing in them.

"Who exactly is this person? We can't even find out his identity at the ends of the earth."

"But Bai Feng has been quite active lately. The Four Heavenly Kings of the Flowing Sands, what an impressive title!"

On the banks of the Jade Liquid River, Qingze saw a young man holding a fishing rod and fishing in the distance. His eyes lit up and he slowly walked over.

He had heard the story of Jiang Ziya fishing without a hook at the edge of the Wei River, waiting for those who were willing to take the bait.

"Master, are you waiting for me?"

The young man paused in his work and suddenly replied.

"Fishing."

Upon hearing this, Qingze lowered his head helplessly, then asked in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Master Xiuyuan, isn't it about time?"

(End of this chapter)