Winged Snake

"She wasn't a snake," Liusu said slowly. "I didn't expect to find such a rare species in a remote kingdom like Nanli. How interesting."

"She wasn't a snake? Are you saying that the wings weren't a mutation from the demon-transforming miasma, but something of her own?"

"That's right. A tiger can grow wings after it turns into a demon, but a snake with wings is a completely different story."

"Don't tell me she's a dragon."

"She's a winged snake," Liusu said casually. "It's a rare species dating back to the remote ages, and they're almost as prestigious as dragons. But she's far from being strong enough to do anything… With the right opportunity, she might be able to progress, but I don't think that'll happen. Nanli is simply so small that it's like sitting at the bottom of a well and looking up at the sky. It's already a miracle that a capable cultivator like Minghe and someone like Li Qinglin showed up here together."

Qin Yi suddenly recalled the Kingdom of Yelang from an old proverb. The analogy might not be appropriate, but there were similarities. To make things more interesting, Liusu had also shown up in a tiny place that resembled Yelang. At that thought, he chuckled and said, "If Minghe's arrival is a miracle, what about your existence?"

Liusu said quietly, "Nanli didn't even exist when I first came to life. I'm… a lot older than the kingdom. So, I didn't 'show up' in Nanli. Rather, Nanli is lucky enough to have located itself in my vicinity."

Its tone sounded different from usual. Qin Yi sensed some condescension again, as if someone was looking down on him from the Milky Way.

Minghe's tranquility and Liusu's unruliness were essentially the same—both considered themselves to be superior to the human race.

Qin Yi pondered for a moment and suddenly asked, "If Night Wing belongs to a rare species, does it mean that her speed is part of her natural endowments?"

"Yes. After the demon-transforming miasma enlightened her, she was able to transform into her human shape at such a young age and was able to break out of the formation. It was all because of the incredible nature of her species. Unfortunately, she has never properly cultivated and has depended on her instincts only. She has hardly learned any cultivation skills. Otherwise, even if she wasn't a winged snake, any other demon in the Transformation Stage wouldn't have had to flee for their life from a peach wood sword."

"What kind of attack skills does she have?"

"How am I supposed to know? I didn't see them. What are you getting at?" Liusu smirked. "Do you want me to tell you that Li Qinglin probably sent her to kill the crown prince?"

Qin Yi fell silent.

Liusu went on. "You were confused on our way back when Li Qinglin didn't try to get back as soon as he could. Instead, he was even in the mood to help his sister with some unsolved case. You should've realized that he was waiting for the assassination to happen and couldn't rush back to the capital city too soon. Since you've already reached your conclusion, why are you waiting for me to say it aloud for you?"

Neither of them had expected to see the case resolved so quickly.

It wasn't that they had been amazing detectives, but Li Qinglin simply didn't try to hide it from them. Qin Yi had the feeling that if he were to ask Li Qinglin, he might explain everything to him in more detail.

Since they had a common enemy now, everything else could wait.

After a long while, Qin Yi said, "I don't care what scheme he's running. He's been nice enough to me." As if trying to convince himself, he continued in a low voice, "Anyway, I'm only joining hands with him to deal with Donghuazi. The other stuff is none of my business."

Liusu asked coldly, "Are you sure?"

Qin Yi didn't reply. However, Li Qingjun's weeping when she heard about the crown prince's death entered his mind.

Even the immortal-seeking trip was part of her brother's plan.

Qin Yi didn't know how to evaluate Li Qinglin's behavior. No matter how sincere the man was, he had been nice to Qin Yi, which made it very hard for Qin Yi to dislike him. However, what Li Qinglin had done was against Qin Yi's principles, and he felt very conflicted.

Rising to his feet, he walked to the window and looked up at the bright moon. After a long while, he said quietly, "You were right. One will only know certain things after they have seen the world."

Liusu asked. "Do you know those things now?"

"Not yet. How about you? How do you feel about the whole thing?"

"To me, the creation and end of a world is no different from the coming and going of waves. The power strifes of a small kingdom isn't enough to affect me. Even the most twisted and obscure plots will only interest me a little," Liusu said casually. "I do wish that Li Qinglin could be more interesting, though. That way, I'll have more stories to chew on in my neverending life."

If you're so awesome, why do you always fall for the tiniest provocation from me? Qin Yi thought. He wanted to express his sarcasm, but he couldn't because he knew Liusu meant every word it said.

Those words belonged to a creature who had seen more worlds than one could count.

…

At the end of the day, the wish to get back at Donghuazi came from both Qin Yi himself and the original owner of the body. This desire was so strong that Qin Yi felt his stomach turn every time he heard "the master teacher" mentioned. He knew he had to get it over with and that Li Qinglin was the most ideal partner. As a matter of fact, Li Qinglin was the leading force, and Qin Yi was only the wingman.

Everything else could wait.

Frankly speaking, he soon realized that Donghuazi was without a doubt a cultivator with some genuine talent and not a swindler as the Li siblings had made him out to be. If he was a real cultivator, no matter what level he was at, he was still better than Qin Yi, who hadn't started cultivating yet.

Even if he allowed Liusu to start teaching him from this instant, he wouldn't have enough time. All he could count on was Liusu's vast knowledge in cultivation, which might sabotage Donghuazi's plan in some unconventional way. As a wingman, that was probably enough.

Hence, while Li Qinglin was busy consolidating his position as the future crown prince with no spare time for other arrangements, Qin Yi decided to stay indoors and learn some cultivation theories from Liusu.

Some of the skills could be used without cultivation, but even for those that did require cultivation abilities, it wouldn't hurt to learn the theories first. He was a much better student than when he was in the village. He didn't set foot outside the house.

Of course, he had another reason to not go out: he didn't want to run into Minghe.

Even if the crown prince was killed by Night Wing, Qin Yi couldn't bring himself to think that this cute little girl who blinked at him might be killed by Minghe.

Maybe Liusu was right. Their visit to the Zhang Manor didn't teach him anything. Qin Yi thought he had learned how meaningless one's appearance was, but when a little girl was sitting in front of him, he couldn't stop pitying her. He couldn't turn a blind eye to her, and he had to be honest with himself.

Liusu didn't try to persuade him to look beyond appearances either. It seemed that it really wanted him to figure things out for himself.

"This is called an enlightening pill. As the name suggests, it can increase your intelligence." Picking up a pill, Qin Yi said patiently, "Now, open up and say 'Ah—'"

Sitting on the floor, Night Wing found his behavior suspicious. "I've obtained my human form already. Why do I still need enlightenment?"

"Don't you think you're a little dumb and could use a boost in your intelligence?" Qin Yi asked.

"You're the dumb one," the girl said.

"Fine. In fact, it works as a demon-transforming miasma, but it's more advanced. Maybe it'll erase the effect of that miasma. That way, Donghuazi won't be able to control you when you confront him."

Night Wing immediately strained her neck, trying to steal the pill with her mouth.

Qin Yi drew back his hand, and the girl fell to the floor with a thump. She then gave him an indignant look.

"Moron." That was Liusu.

In fact, Liusu had been the one who said "she's a little dumb and could use a boost in her intelligence".

It was because Night Wing had very little common sense. To be more precise, she lacked knowledge of how humans behaved. For instance, she was sitting on the floor rather than on a chair, and she reached out with her neck instead of her hand when trying to grab the pill.

To Liusu, a demon of the Transformation Stage walking around with all her primal behaviors was such an idiotic way to live. However, Qin Yi found it adorable. He would probably squeak if she stretched her neck out and started licking water from a bowl in front of him.

"I was only joking, but this pill isn't edible." Night Wing was still staring at him vexedly when Qin Yi smiled and pressed the pill onto her forehead.

There was a flash of light, and the pill shrank until it disappeared.

"Now, how do you feel?"

Night Wing stared at him in confusion for a long time before saying, "I don't know. I think I've forgotten something, but nothing seems to have changed."

Qin Yi feigned an enigmatic voice. "That was supposed to happen. You can leave now."

He wanted to ask Liusu what she could've possibly forgotten.

"No, I'm not leaving." Night Wing was still sitting on the floor. "Tell me the monkey story."

Burying his head in his hands, Qin Yi felt like moaning. Night Wing wasn't the only one. Li Qingjun had been coming over all the time just to listen to his stories. You two morons! Do you have any idea how precious my time is now? I don't even have enough time for my classes, yet I have to spend most of my time telling you stories…" Qin Yi thought.

"Nope. I'm busy today." Qin Yi picked her up and tossed her out of his courtyard.

He was telling the truth. For instance, he was halfway through setting up a formation in his backyard, and the core was Minghe's peach wood sword.

He deduced that Donghuazi couldn't have killed all the demons without keeping some of them as his servants. If that man really had a secret demon army, this formation that combined Minghe's sword with Liusu's formation would be more powerful than anyone could imagine.