No matter how composed Qin Ming was, he was still a youth. He did not conceal his feelings, and that single question—*on what grounds?*—spoke all his indignation.
Meng Xinghai chuckled. "Only when you hold the 'rules' in your hand can you talk reason, right?"
At this moment, Qin Ming gripped his mutton-fat jade iron saber. It was not that he truly could not restrain himself, but rather a deliberate display. In front of an elder, showing a bit of youthful spirit was only natural.
"I warded off disaster for him, and in the end, he is the one who's displeased. Where am I supposed to talk reason?" Qin Ming said. Such experiences were indeed enough to make anyone's blood boil.
"It seems that although you lived in the Cui clan for over ten years, you never considered yourself a scion of a prominent family," Meng Xinghai remarked.
Qin Ming started, then understood his meaning.
"Simply because the Cui clan's heir is noble and exalted, far out of reach?" he asked calmly.
"Indeed. From your perspective, once you put yourself in his shoes and understand his mindset, you might only become angrier," Meng Xinghai smiled.
Qin Ming felt it was better to ignore Cui Chonghe and not waste thought on why the person was enraged.
For in Cui Chonghe's eyes, Qin Ming's status was low enough to be disregarded entirely, yet he had traveled alongside his betrothed—a severe overstepping of boundaries.
Meng Xinghai said, "You feel you warded off disaster on his behalf, but from the standpoint of the direct heir of a millennial clan, it is impossible for him to care about your feelings."
Qin Ming gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "It seems I truly am an ordinary person. After living in the Cui clan for so many years, I never cultivated that aristocratic air, nor did I adopt that kind of mindset right away."
Yet the more he thought about it, the angrier he grew. His so-called precocious maturity and composure were useless now, and he found it difficult to suppress the anger flaring within his chest.
Evidently, in Cui Chonghe's eyes, he was merely an expendable servant raised to take his place in death, someone the Cui clan could discard at any time. How could such a person walk side by side with a daughter of the Wang clan's direct line?
Qin Ming recalled his experiences in the Cui clan. The hierarchy was indeed rigid and strict. So after acting as a shield against catastrophe, he had ended up "offending" the man instead?
"To speak frankly, Cui Chonghe truly possesses talent bordering on the celestial. That old senior had not accepted a disciple in over a century, yet broke the rule for him and took him away when he was only three or four years old," Meng Xinghai said.
In truth, he was reminding Qin Ming not to be reckless; the disparity between their stations and circumstances was vast.
Qin Ming nodded, then suddenly realized: Cui Chonghe's senior brothers and sisters were all over a hundred years old? If they were still alive, that was rather terrifying.
At this moment, a fierce craving to grow stronger surged within him, an urge to delve into the deep mountains and vast marshes in search of spiritual substances.
Moreover, he longed for another spring thunderstorm.
Although it was said that entering the Thunder-Fire Gold-Forging Palace was safest and yielded the richest spiritual substances only when the first spring thunder stirred each year, he still wanted to try his luck at other times.
"The Li clan, the Wang clan, and the Cui clan are like three immovable mountains, while I am just an ordinary youth. I don't want to be swept into this," Qin Ming sighed.
He learned from Meng Xinghai that when the Wang clan discovered they had been deceived, they were furious. The Cui clan had initially intended to eliminate the fake Cui Chonghe swiftly to quell the storm.
"Cui Old Seven is a man of sentiment. He said he regarded you as his own nephew and refused to let you be killed, nearly falling out with several members of the Cui clan over it."
It was precisely because Cui Hao stepped forward, and because the matter had grown somewhat noisy and word had leaked, that the Cui clan found it unfeasible to strike with a heavy hand, wary of acquiring a reputation for cold cruelty and ingratitude.
"So without my knowing it, I hovered near the gates of hell time and again." To Qin Ming, a millennial clan was simply too colossal; he even contemplated leaving for distant lands.
As if seeing through his thoughts, Meng Xinghai said, "Stay in Chixia City for now. Once early spring arrives, ancient orthodoxies and certain special academies will begin selecting disciples one after another. You can look into them carefully; some of those institutions are quite averse to prominent clans."
He was himself a son of a prominent clan, so he could not say much on the subject.
Qin Ming's mind wandered. The world of the night mist was vast and boundless, yet fraught with peril. Where was a place that truly suited him?
Meng Xinghai said, "Rest assured. The medallion I gave you is quite useful. Within Chixia City, you won't need to worry about your safety in the short term."
Qin Ming examined it closely. It was an ink-jade medallion, engraved with the character 'Meng' on one side and 'Patrol' on the other.
"Thank you, Uncle Meng!" He immediately stood to express his gratitude.
This medallion had been brought out from the Meng family and was of uncommon significance. The character 'Patrol' had been carved by Meng Xinghai on the spot to grant him authority; with it, he could patrol the city, or he could patrol the mountains.
Holding this medallion meant Qin Ming was temporarily under his protection.
Meng Xinghai said, "The reason I shared so much with you and told you all this news was initially because Qingyue asked me to look after you. Some people do not care who Cui Chonghe truly is; they only know an old friend once went by that name. At the same time, I must warn you: far more people care very deeply about the identity of Cui Chonghe. If you encounter old acquaintances in the future, you must be exceedingly cautious."
Qin Ming nodded solemnly. "If Qingyue ever runs into trouble in the future, even if separated by ten thousand li, the moment I hear word, I will rush to her aid without hesitation!"
Without Li Qingyue, would Meng Xinghai even know who Qin Ming was? Even if he had heard of him, there would be no reason to show him such care.
Back when Qin Ming lived in Qinghe City under the identity of Cui Chonghe, he had many friends, but by now, very few could truly still be called close friends.
Meng Xinghai said, "Qingyue said that the closer true friends are to you, the more trouble it will bring you."
"I understand!" Qin Ming nodded. To appease the Wang clan's wrath, the Cui clan had once wanted to make him disappear completely to quell the storm. If he reentered that circle and associated with familiar faces, disaster would surely follow.
A surge of pent-up resentment welled in Qin Ming's chest, but circumstances were stronger than man. Others had already drawn a line for him: he was forbidden from setting foot in certain regions and barred from contacting people of that tier.
*With my innate talent, I should be able to rise swiftly. Once I am strong enough to go to the Cui clan and retrieve the silk book, reentering that circle means Cui Chonghe, Li Qingxu, and perhaps even members of the Wang clan might target me. The path ahead is fraught with challenges; I must grow quickly.*
These were all thoughts racing through Qin Ming's mind. The road ahead was far from smooth—rough and treacherous, even—yet it stoked his fighting spirit, igniting sparks in his eyes.
If he lacked confidence even in himself, he might as well return to Black-White Mountain right now and resign himself to seclusion in that remote land!
"Mm. Actually, that I am willing to share all this with you is not entirely because of Qingyue. I also think rather highly of you. Last time, I noticed you entered the Thunder-Fire Gold-Forging Palace," Meng Xinghai pointed out directly.
Such candor startled Qin Ming. Had he failed to hide it at all?
Meng Xinghai smiled. "Rest assured. In the entire city of Chixia, only I noticed something amiss about you and saw that you walked away alive."
"That's a relief!" Qin Ming breathed a sigh of relief.
"Aside from you, that Qian Cheng survived as well, though he mysteriously vanished the very next day."
Qin Ming knew whom he meant—that dull, wooden youth, who was actually not foolish at all.
"I am not joking with you. In the coming days, look closely into those ancient orthodoxies and special higher academies. In some places, even prominent clans find it hard to reach their hands too far."
When Qin Ming rose to take his leave, Meng Xinghai mentioned this once more.
"Thank you, Uncle Meng!"
Leaving the City Lord's Estate, Qin Ming returned to the inn. Toying with the ink-jade medallion, he zoned out a little. If he went into the mountains, he would count as a member of the mountain patrol team as well—and a rather high-ranking one at that.
He felt a wave of strange emotion, for the first time he had ever killed in his life was against members of the mountain patrol team, such as Fu Entao and Feng Yi'an.
In a private room of a nearby tavern, several people closed the window after watching Qin Ming make his way into the inn moments earlier.
"He dared meddle in Xinyi Hall's business, so it seems he truly has connections in the City Lord's Estate. Don't touch him."
"More than just not making a reckless move—look at this. Someone gave us this portrait and told us to keep a close watch on him. This youth might have quite a background."
"When dealing with people you can't see through, keep your hands clean. We can watch him, but if the client demands we make a move, we'll have to decline politely."
"For now, they haven't indicated they want us to act. And by the look of it, they're visitors from far away."
...
Over the next two days, Qin Ming and Wu Zheng went through records of the organizations, orthodoxies, and sects that had recruited disciples in Chixia City over the years.
He suspected Meng Xinghai was referring to those special higher academies, because they required unified examinations open to everyone; even scions of prominent families could not enter directly.
Unless one truly possessed extraordinary natural talent and genuine battle achievements capable of overwhelming an entire region, anyone, without exception, had to undergo unified testing and trials.
Afterward, Qin Ming began studying the map of the mountain range outside Chixia City in detail, intent on searching for spiritual substances. Goaded by the three great mountains—the Cui, Wang, and Li clans—he wished he could rise overnight.
The next day, he went to a time-honored weapon shop and bought a black gold hammer. It was still long-handled, but far heavier than the one he used before.
"Brother Qin, looks like you really wasted fifteen day gold coins at my place. Not a shred of the Twin Perfection of Spear and Bow taken in, and now you're switching to a great hammer?" Wu Zheng felt it was a pity that he had no one to spar and exchange pointers with; unlike Old Wu, he wasn't as conservative and really hoped Qin Ming would guide him along.
Qin Ming chuckled. "I actually know a thing or two about spear techniques. If you have questions you don't understand, you can ask me directly. Practicing with the hammer now is to deal with thick-skinned, tough-fleshed behemoths. Ordinary weapons are too light, too gentle; they can't make a dent in monsters like that."
He was making preparations to enter the mountains. With his strength now nearing five thousand jin, he felt little pressure even going toe-to-toe against someone who had undergone the Newborn process six or seven times.
If anyone dared hijack his prize this time, he would make sure they learned what it meant for a single hammer strike to make ten thousand peach blossoms bloom!
...
Xu Sheng, whom he hadn't seen in three days, arrived. Pale-faced, he was actually injured.
"Brother Xu, what happened to you?"
Qin Ming and Wu Zheng both asked with concern what had occurred.
Xu Sheng sighed. "Ah, Zhou Lin and I went to lend a friend a hand and got ambushed in the mountain forest. It suddenly hit me that making a living as a spiritual hunter is even harder than being an itinerant merchant."
"As long as you made it back alive and it's nothing serious, that's what matters. By the way, how is Sister Fenfang?" Qin Ming asked.
"Who is Sister Fenfang?" Xu Sheng asked suspiciously.
"Er... Sister Zhou Lin."
Xu Sheng laughed. "Haha, she's fine. Dodged faster than I did."
"Did someone hijack your quarry again?" Qin Ming asked.
Xu Sheng sighed. "Not yet. We had just entered the spiritual creature's habitat and hadn't even found its lair before someone ambushed us."
"How about we go take another look?" Qin Ming was tempted.
Xu Sheng initially wanted to say something, but suddenly realized that Qin Ming was already stronger than him! He was an expert who had undergone five Newborn transformations, yet he could only lift a tripod weighing a bit over three thousand jin—far inferior to the current Qin Ming.
"Alright, let's go again!"
Soon enough, Sister Fenfang, Zhou Lin, received word as well and headed into the mountains once more alongside Xu Sheng and Qin Ming.
Chapter 79