Chapter 65

Chapter 65.1: Qing Ye Li's Prejudice

Qing Yu had naturally noticed the elder sister she was meeting for the first time and saw that her eyes were filled with nothing but enmity which rather puzzled her, not knowing what kind of grudge she could be holding against her.

Yan Ning Luo restrained the dark glint in her eyes and the ends of her lips curled up into a smile. "I have not come back for quite a number of years and I'm afraid that little sister Qing Yu might not recognize your elder sister anymore do you? A girl really changes drastically as she grows up. I remember that you were so skinny and small before and you have now grown to become so beautiful and enchanting."

Those words clearly had a hidden meaning behind them but one just could not find any fault in them.

But people who had clear eyes would be able to see that those words would seem to be directed straight against Qing Yu.

Qing Ye Li's gaze flashed and seemed like he wanted to say something but he was stopped by the young lady right beside him. He had always looked up to her and he would not allow anyone to show her the slightest disrespect.

Although Yan Ning Luo's words were said to Qing Y, but her gaze was always indistinctly drifting over to rest upon Qing Ye Li. And Qing Yu was smart enough as adding her two lives together she would have lived for several decades already, so how could she possibly not be able to see what the gaze in Yan Ning Luo's eyes really meant.

With that thought in mind, Qing Yu tilted her head slightly to cast a deep and knowing glance at the man beside her. Qing Ye Li was completely bewildered by the kind of gaze she was giving him, his eyes seemingly confused.

Because Qing Ye Li's countenance could not be casually revealed after his transformation, he had put his mask back on before everyone walked over to them. Only his luscious green eyes could be seen to be filled with bewilderment like he did not understand why she was looking at him like this.

Qing Yu did not explain anything to him but just smiled as she looked at Yan Ning Luo. "Thank you Elder Sister for the compliment, but compared to the Green Wave Kingdom's greatest beauty, I am still a long way behind."

That response was humble and subdued but the young lady's flawless and alluring beautiful countenance spoke for itself which was just impossible to overlook.

To be fair, Yan Ning Luo was a beauty and there was no doubt about that. Her beauty was more of a kind of stunning beauty upon seeing her, and seeing her from a distance made her look like an unreachable Snow Lotus high upon an unscalable mountain, giving off a feeling that people were not able to get close to. As for Qing Yu, she was like a beautiful and alluring bloom of poppy, mesmerizing people who saw it and unable to extricate themselves even though they knew it was poison but just could not help wanting to get close to it.

With that comparison, the winner was clear.

So how was she anything like the timid and weak person that Yan Ning Luo had said she was before? Even her manner of speech and choice of words were highly adept and intelligent.

Hence, it could be seen that the gaze of Yan Ning Luo's eyes then became rather complicated.

[This Yan Qing Yu seems like a completely changed person. It was clearly still the same face she is seeing but is no longer shy and hesitant, but confident and flamboyant.]

[Was she really that steady and confident now?]

Yan Ning Luo's fingers clenched up tightly into fists within her sleeves but her smile remained the same. "Let's not stand here to talk any longer. Otherwise when Father comes back, he will complain that I am not being a good host." Her voice paused for a moment before she said: "Little Sis Qing Yu should come join us in the main hall for a meal as well!"

She was afterall still a noble princess and was able to win the Sect Chief's eye in the Faint Mist Sect where there were countless highly skilled pugilists. Hence, Yan Ning Luo's level of composure and grace was not to be underestimated. Even when her heart was wrecked by upheaval and turmoil, she was still able to hide it all without showing any signs.

And towards Yan Ning Luo's invitation, Qing Yu merely smiled politely and then replied: "I won't be able to. I had originally intended to go out but now….. Since everything has been settled, and Little Bei's mobility is rather restricted, I need to go back to look after him."

At such a moment, Qing Bei was undoubtedly a very good excuse to use.

Hearing that, Qing Ye Li glanced at the young lady at his side and upon receiving a meaningful look from each other that only the two of them understood, he then just watched her walk far away, unable to recover his senses for a long time.

Chapter 65.2: Qing Ye Li's Prejudice

Till now, the fact that he had really just seen her felt so unreal.

Yan Ning Luo looked at the man's longing gaze and felt her chest becoming stifled and stuffed up, an uncomfortable feeling. When they returned back to the main hall, the atmosphere from earlier was gone and everyone seemed to have lost the mood to enjoy the delicacies.

Seeing that the atmosphere was getting highly oppressive, Baili Ji Ran just could not hold himself back from asking: "That young lady just now….. is really the person you were searching for?"

Qing Ye Li looked at him, and just went: "Mm." without any expression.

"But, doesn't she look rather different from the person in the painting?" Baili Ji Ran then asked puzzledly.

"An accident occured." Qing Ye Li did not explain it any further, but just brushed it off with that statement.

"I can't help but wonder, as this younger sister of mine usually remains at home and seldom goes out, how did the Duke of Vast Sea become acquainted with her."

Yan Ning Luo just could not make herself believe that the man she had loved all this time would be so fond of the person she had hated so much. Based on their conversation earlier, Qing Ye Li had always been searching for her and he had been doing that for a long time. Then under all of that….. what kind of things could have happened that she did not know about?

The answer to this question burning in Yan Ning Luo, was not one that only Yan Ning Luo sought to know, but one that everyone present would be curious about.

However, the man was truly cold and emotionless to everyone else besides Qing Yu. "This is the personal business of this Duke here and it is not convenient to divulge anything."

It was feared that the fact that Yan Ning Luo likes Qing Ye Li was known only to Yu Xiao Ning, a close friend who had grown up together with her and there was nothing they could not talk to each other about. Hence, when Qing Ye Li threw out that cold and distant statement, Yu Xiao Ning had cast a worried glance towards Yan Ning Luo, to see her gaze turn dark for an instant, and her hand that was placed on the table tighten its grip.

That cold face was one that Baili Ji Ran had seen a lot of times and he thought nothing of it but went on to say with a mischievous look on his face: "It was the first time I saw you being so passionate! I thought I saw you embrace her so tightly didn't you? Hahaha….."

Qing Ye Li continued to look at him expressionlessly till Baili Ji Ran shushed up.

"….."

[Sheesh! Do you have to look so terrifying? Can't you take a joke? Was there a need to look at him like he was about to be exterminated?]

Qing Ye Li ignored that gaze so filled with mournful aggrievement and just opened his mouth to say: "Xin Yan, tell the guards to prepare themselves when we get back. We will be returning to the Water Edge in two days' time."

Once those words came out, not to mention the others, but even Yue Xin Yan was taken aback. "Why are we suddenly in such a hurry to go? The Green Wave Emperor has invited us to stay for seven days so don't you think that leaving just after a mere three days might not be very nice?"

"That's right. Just because you've found the person you've been looking for, are you so anxious to bring her back to the Water Edge or what?" Baili Ji Ran asked in bewilderment.

[This fella was someone who wouldn't even step out of their borders for several years when in the Water Edge and that was why the rumours about him grew more and more astounding. Even he himself had last seen the man several years ago and if it wasn't for the All Saints Festival this day, it was feared that the man would not be seen for another several long years.

"Mm. I want to bring her back to Water Edge." Qing Ye Li said.

Yan Ning Luo could almost no longer maintain that appropriate smile on her face anymore as her fingers flexed and clenched, and she fought to suppress that anger rising in her chest. "Isn't it rather inappropriate for the Duke of Vast Sea to do that? Yan Qing Yu is a member of our Eternal Peace Duke Manor and you cannot take her away!"

Yu Xiao Ning beside her secretly tugged at Yan Ning Luo who was about to lose control of her emotions and then opened her mouth to say: "That's right. Regardless of how noble your identity as the Duke of Vast Sea is, a man who stands above all but just one in the Water Edge Kingdom, you cannot take another kingdom's citizen away as you please. This concerns the diplomatic relations between two kingdoms and you cannot just do whatever you deem fit."

Chapter 65.3: Qing Ye Li's Prejudice

"I've already said that this is the personal business of this Duke here, and no one has any right to interfere." The air around Qing Ye Li turned a little cold, his tall frame slowly standing up straight and no emotion could be seen in that pair of green eyes. "Her surname is not Yan. Her name is Qing Yu and she is not from the Green Wave Kingdom. She belongs only in my world and no one has ever been able to stop me from doing what I want!"

Those cold and harsh words that seemed to be declaring sovereignty immediately caused everyone to be startled.

Qing Ye Li did not remain there any longer but just turned to walk out from there. He had not forgotten the gaze that Qing Yu had looked at him with just before she left.

"Is he really going to take her away with him?"

After a long while, Yu Xiao Ning then opened her mouth to ask.

Yue Xin Yan was looking a little confused as she said: "Big Brother Ye Li has never asked for anything before and the only thing he had relentlessly sought was just to find the person in that painting which had been going on for many years. He said that the person was someone very important to him and I had thought….. Even if it isn't his beloved, then that person must at least be someone very close to him. And that was a decision he made that no one had been able to change at all."

"But she is a citizen of the Green Wave Kingdom and the Duke of Eternal Peace will never agree to what he wants to do!"

Yu Xiao Ning really did not want to see her good friend looking so dejected and sad. Even if that Duke of Vast Sea did not like her, but what he was doing was really a little too much.

Hearing those words made Baili Ji Ran laugh out loud where he then shrugged his shoulders in helplessness, fanning himself handsomely. "It just shows that you do not understand Qing Ye Li very well. With the terrifying level of cultivation he possess, and his personality where people who submit to him prospers and all who opposes him dies, if the Green Wave Emperor and the Duke of Eternal Peace does not agree, then he will definitely declare war between the two kingdoms in a fit of rage. Although he might just be a Duke, but he holds in his hand the command over all the military might in the Water Edge Kingdom. The Water Edge Emperor places full trust in him and he will not say a word if Qing Ye Li wants to declare war."

Speaking about that, Baili Ji Ran then paused a moment before he gazed meaningfully at everyone. "If he had not coincidentally undergone a breakthrough to the next level seven years ago, I fear that the Green Wave Kingdom would have become a country defeated in war today!"

Just how truly strong that man was, was still not known till today.

As a strange star that fell from the Heavens, even the astrologers, the mysterious readers of stars were not able to predict his life's destiny but only determined that his future was far beyond measure.

"Hm? Sis, you're came back so fast? Are you done with your task?" Qing Bei was reading a medical book and was poring over a profound phrase that was hard to understand when he inadvertently noticed Qing Yu had returned after just going out for a while, where he then said in surprise.

Qing Yu saw how happy he was and she curled up the ends of her mouth in a smile. "I did not go out. Just took a stroll around and immediately came back."

"Why didn't you go out?"

"Because the matter sorted itself out halfway through!" Qing Yu said with a laugh. "What are you reading? What do you not understand?"

"Mm. About the Silver Lantern Grass, it is clearly highly poisonous but it says here that it can help recover a frail person recover his vitality. But for someone who is so weak, their body would not have much immunity so wouldn't the poison kill him?" Qing Bei asked, unable to comprehend it no matter how hard he thought about it.

"You wouldn't know this now. Although it is a type of poisonous grass, the bodies of frail and weakened people would already be afflicted by illness, which would produce another type of poison, so when the two types of poison are combined, they would naturally counteract and neutralize each other's toxicity."

"So I see." Qing Bei nodded in understanding. "The study of Healing and Poison is really amazing….."

Qing Bei was feeling glad when her entire body suddenly stiffened and her eyes widened, her face incredulous as she exclaimed in shock. "The….. The Duke of Vast Sea? !"