Love Travels through Time (My father who traveled through time and space to cultivate immortality came back to pick me up) - Chapter 86

Chapter 86: Favoritism

Xiang Haikui’s eyelids twitched slightly.

“Why? Could it be that he also shared a fate with you?”

Was needing Blood Asura’s Dream sword right now the fulfillment of that fate?

“Not at all.”

Yin Changli signaled for her to head out of the mountain first, talking as they walked.

He was nearly frozen stiff and couldn’t open his little black orb; they had to leave the valley first.

“Blood Asura came from an unorthodox sect. His grandfather, the sect leader, was an unorthodox cultivator, and so was his father. He was the successor.”

Xiang Haikui nodded.

“Just like setting Dao Chen on the right path, you gave him the sword to turn him away from evil and back to righteousness, right?”

Boss Yin was rich yet merciless, frequently doing things that weren’t very human.

But stripping away his outer shell to look at his nature, his starting point was often good.

“No.”

Yin Changli rejected her guess, stating with utmost candor, “His grandfather offended me. Since I couldn’t kidnap his son, I waited for his grandson.”

Thus, the moment Blood Asura was born, Yin Changli had his eyes on him.

“At the age of ten, right when his sea of consciousness had just expanded, I tricked him into binding with the Dream sword. He could never cultivate unorthodox arts again.”

His family had always passed their legacy down through a single line for generations, and the unorthodox technique they cultivated was a secret inherited from their ancestors, never disclosed to outsiders.

Though the grandson was alive, in a sense, their family line’s inheritance had been severed.

Hearing this unexpected answer, Xiang Haikui was strangely calm.

Wrapping her cold-proof cloak tightly around herself, she walked toward the outer mountain against the icy wind.

This man, Yin Changli—

He was a deity, and he was a demon.

When merciful, he was like a Bodhisattva; when malicious, he made people want to smash his head in every second.

Yet that malice always had a bottom line.

At the very least, Blood Asura was now one of the three righteous Sword Venerables of the mortal world, just one step away from achieving the Dao.

As for these pit-falls of divine swords, risk naturally coexisted with opportunity.

Stuffing her wild hair, blown about by the cold wind, into the bun atop her head, Xiang Haikui said, “Hearing it like this, it seems the divine swords brought over by that big shot next door all ended up in your hands?”

Yin Changli: “I went through the trouble of collecting them just to study the secrets behind these swords.”

Xiang Haikui had an ominous thought: “Once you figure them out, you aren’t planning to forge a few yourself just for fun, are you?”

“I can’t forge them.”

Yin Changli’s tone held a note of genuine regret.

“This type of sword requires the forge-master to possess the Heavenly Artisan bloodline.”

“Heavenly Artisan?” Xiang Haikui looked up toward the sky.

“Artisans of the Celestial Clan?”

No, that wasn’t right.

The divine swords had been passed down from the neighboring Three Thousand Realms, so it wasn’t the same heaven as this place.

“An artisan from the neighboring Celestial Clan?”

“There is no Celestial Clan next door, only the Four Clans of Deities.”

After leaving the mountain, the little black snake’s stiffened body gradually recovered.

Slithering out from Xiang Haikui’s sleeve, he turned into a streak of black light and landed before them.

Spreading his palm, the little black orb slowly floated up, sprang out from his hand, and expanded in size.

The group entered the mobile palace, leaving Bai Xingxian outside to pull the carriage as usual.

“Uncle, where are we heading?”

Yin Changli: “To the Capital, Jinling.”

“Wait.” Xiang Haikui asked, “Didn’t you say we were going to see my father first?”

Yin Changli nodded.

“Yes.”

Xiang Haikui was puzzled.

“My father is in the Capital?”

“Little Bai, let’s go.”

Yin Changli walked behind the desk and sat down. Lifting the teapot from the stove, he poured a few cups of hot tea and motioned for her and Lu Xiqiao to come over and drink a cup to warm their dantians.

“With Jinling in such a commotion over the Lesser Jianmu tree, and you going missing, do you think your father could still sit still in Silver Sand City?”

Xiang Haikui froze for a second.

“Before I went into secluded meditation to recover from my injuries, didn’t I tell you to send a message to my father?”

Yin Changli lowered his eyelashes.

“Think back carefully. I steered the conversation away at the time and never actually agreed to do it.”

Lu Xiqiao, who had originally intended to step forward for some tea, suddenly felt a mountain-crushing, sea-toppling wave of fury rushing toward them.

Shuddering, he involuntarily shuffled his feet backward.

Xiang Haikui darted over in a single stride, slamming both hands onto the desk as she leaned down to glare at him.

“What do you mean by that? Do you have any idea how worried my father must be after I’ve been missing for months?”

Yin Changli handed her a cup of tea.

“In the past, when you spent seven or eight months at a time collecting demon cores to heal my injuries, I didn’t see your father worry much then. Now it’s only been four months.”

“Is that the same thing?” Xiang Haikui endured it for a long while before holding herself back from flipping the teacup he handed over.

“Before, I was out running errands! This time, I disappeared right during a massive upheaval in Jinling…”

“It’s no different. He trusts your abilities immensely—or rather, he over-trusts me—so he won’t be overly worried.”

Yin Changli raised his dark, moist eyes.

“I know you wouldn’t tell him about the things that happened recently. So letting him worry about you just a little bit to add a few more points to his sense of paternal responsibility—wouldn’t that be a bad thing, either?”

Furthermore, although he hadn’t sent a letter right away, he had dispatched a bird to keep an eye on Xiang Heng’s reactions.

Seeing that he didn’t seem particularly anxious at first, Yin Changli had decided against sending it.

Only when Xiang Heng gradually began to panic did the letter finally get delivered.

Xiang Haikui’s chest had initially ached with rage, but looking into his eyes right now, she read a deeper meaning beneath them.

He was standing up for her.

He wanted to say that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

He also wanted to tell her that time could dilute all emotions, including familial love—otherwise, there wouldn’t be a saying like “a close neighbor is better than a distant relative.”

Yet affection could similarly be fostered through spent time.

It wasn’t that her father didn’t love her; it was just that too much time had passed—so long that he had forgotten how to love her.

He ought to be reminded, not shielded.

Xiang Haikui broke eye contact. It felt as though a balloon hidden deep in her heart had been poked by someone, popping with a loud bang that left her mind in an agitated, frustrated turmoil.

“Senior Yin, the relationship between us isn’t as close as you think it is. Don’t you think you’re meddling a bit too much?”

His lip line tightened slightly as a touch of coolness rose in the depths of Yin Changli’s eyes.

“You know very well that I never wake up early without a profit to reap. Since we aren’t that close, on what grounds should I send a letter for you just because you asked me to?”

He was truly angered.

Her lips twitched twice.

Lifting the cup before her, she threw her head back, drank it all in one gulp, and walked over to the side to meditate in silence, refusing to respond.

He poured tea and drank, a cold expression on his face, remaining equally silent.

Lu Xiqiao sat down on the steps at the entrance of the mobile palace, not daring to step forward.

It was clearly a mistake to follow them inside; he should have stayed outside pulling the carriage with Little Bai instead.

However, the anticipated cold war did not drag on for too long.

Xiang Haikui was not a petty or pretentious person.

Knowing she was in the wrong, she naturally wanted to apologize.

Yet she also knew Yin Changli’s temperament inside out. If she bowed her head to apologize, he would definitely push his luck, taking advantage of the moment to demand a bunch of unreasonable favors as compensation.

After brief consideration, she stated with righteous confidence.

“You ask on what grounds? Being favored means having nothing to fear! No matter how difficult or troublesome it is, isn’t it ultimately because you’re willing, because you like to?”

Yin Changli: …

Pinching the space between his brows, he didn’t know how to respond for a long while. His tightened lips finally relaxed, and he offered her a smile that clearly said, “You win.”

—

The Celestial Realm.

Over the course of nearly four months, Jing Ran’s injuries had only healed by roughly thirty percent.

He had underestimated the power of the Tian Kuang Sword. Although the two gaping wounds on his chest and abdomen wouldn’t take his life, they continued to rot, making the restoration process excruciatingly arduous.

Furthermore, he found it truly difficult to quiet his mind during meditation.

He hadn’t felt it much at first, but as time went on, those two starkly contrasting gazes constantly replayed in his mind.

The look in Xiang Haikui’s eyes when she threw herself forward to embrace him as he faced danger.

And the look in her eyes as the streetlights extinguished one by one when she thrust her sword into him.

These two gazes appeared alternately and relentlessly, growing clearer and sharper with the passage of time.

They forced him to reconsider: Was what he did to her really that severe?

Severe enough for her to fall into total despair over him?

He had clearly taken her feelings into account as much as possible.

Feeling irritable and restless, Jing Ran ceased adjusting his breath, stood up, and walked out of the room.

“Emperor.”

The palace maidens knelt on the floor all around.

Just as he was about to step through the main hall doors, he was stopped by a secret guard.

“Emperor, this is the list of all foreign clan members who previously infiltrated Bian City…”

Jing Ran ordered, “Assassinate their leaders.”

The secret guard asked, “Only kill the leaders?”

Jing Ran said impatiently, “Yes. Hand it over to Han Qi to handle.”

The secret guard froze slightly.

“You still trust him?”

Jing Ran let out a cold sneer.

“I have never trusted him.”

Having said that, he continued walking forward.

The secret guard followed behind him, feeling an overwhelming dread in his heart as he realized the direction Jing Ran was heading seemed to be the Palace of Heavenly Deities.

Could the Emperor be planning to activate the Xuantian Mirror once again?

The Xuantian Mirror was the paramount treasure of the Celestial Clan; it had existed for as long as the Celestial Clan itself.

Before undertaking major actions, successive Emperors would always activate the Xuantian Mirror to inquire about good and bad fortune.

For instance, before the former Emperor decided to wage war against the Shanhai Clan, he had activated it, only striking after receiving an outcome that indicated victory was possible.

And when Shuluoye, the former Underworld Lord, forged the magical artifact meant to annihilate the Celestial Clan, the Xuantian Mirror had proactively issued a warning, which was how the Emperor learned of the matter in the first place.

As for when the Emperor reincarnated to undergo his tribulation, he had inquired of the Xuantian Mirror as well.

This mirror was generally believed to convey the will of the Heavenly Dao.

Only those of royal bloodlines could activate it, yet the user had to expend a vast amount of vitality to do so, requiring utmost caution.

—

Two days later.

Bai Xingxian brought the little black orb to the outskirts of Jinling, after which the group switched to a unicorn carriage.

Just as Bai Xingxian was about to board the carriage, Yin Changli parted the curtain and handed him a jade slip.

“You won’t be entering the city with us. From here on out, you will act alone.”

Panicking inwardly, Bai Xingxian hesitated for a long moment before taking the jade slip into his hand.

“What is this?”

Yin Changli did not answer him. Turning his head toward Xiang Haikui, he asked, “You asked me a question before—do you still remember it?”

Xiang Haikui said sheepishly, “I have way too many questions.”

“At least you’re aware of it,” Yin Changli chuckled softly.

“It was about why I don’t go around lobbying other small clans to unite and resist the Celestial Clan.”

Xiang Haikui nodded.

Back in Bian City, watching those colorful “people” come to assassinate Jing Ran like Calabash Brothers rushing to save their grandfather one by one, that exact doubt had arisen in her mind.

“Because the time was not yet ripe. The smaller a clan is, the stronger their racial prejudice. In their eyes, big clans like us are all birds of a feather.”

Yin Changli pointed at the jade slip in Bai Xingxian’s hand.

“Given the Emperor’s style, he is about to begin his retaliation.”

An eye-for-an-eye retaliation: since you assassinated the leaders of the Celestial Clan, the Celestial Clan will go assassinate your leaders.

“Inside the jade slip is a map. Each of those circles marks the hiding place of leaders from various small clans that can be allied with. You go save them and tell them your father is the former Crown Prince Shuluoye, and that you are preparing to seek revenge and seize power—they will believe you. Then promise them some benefits, such as granting each clan their own territorial domain after you become Emperor in the future…”

“M-Me? Going alone?”

Bai Xingxian pointed at his own nose.

This was no small task!

He had just taken a quick glance—there were at least over six hundred circles!

“Of course. You must demonstrate your capability and wisdom to them, proving that you are not a puppet of the Shanhai Clan’s Grand Patriarch. Otherwise, who would follow you?”

Bai Xingxian’s hand holding the jade slip trembled slightly.

He knew his uncle had kept these foreign leaders around without recruiting them, investigating and analyzing them one by one, all to pave the way for him—so that they would become his power base, not the Shanhai Clan’s.

It was truly painstaking effort.

It was also a test his uncle was setting for him.

A test that tolerated no failure.

In truth, as long as the Emperor didn’t personally intervene, saving these leaders from the hands of the Celestial Clan by relying on Inspiration suppression wouldn’t be difficult. What he feared was…

“What if Han Qi is the one making the deployments…”

“Stop overthinking; it is him,” Yin Changli said with absolute certainty.

“I’ve written strategies inside the jade slip. Figure them out yourself.”

Cold sweat broke out on Bai Xingxian’s face.

“Uncle, I can’t do it…”

His mind was indeed sharper than before, but there was no way he could outsmart Han Qi!

Yin Changli directly drove the unicorn carriage to divert into the city.

“I have done everything I should. I will not send anyone to protect you. From here on, you can only rely on yourself.”

The cold sweat on Bai Xingxian’s forehead grew heavier.

Xiang Haikui was filled with worry.

Was this a mistake? Throwing out a straight flush right off the bat was making things way too difficult for Little Bai, wasn’t it?

However, when an old father was educating his son, outsiders couldn’t easily interject.

At the same time, she shot a look at Lu Xiqiao, signaling for him not to interject either.

After the beast-drawn carriage had traveled a dozen or so paces, they heard Bai Xingxian shouting from behind.

“Uncle, I can do it! I won’t let you down!”

Yin Changli sat steadily, closing his eyes.

“You really aren’t planning to send anyone to protect him?”

“Yes.”

“Not even secret protection in the shadows?”

“No.”

Yin Changli assumed a non-negotiable attitude.

“Growth under immense pressure is usually both stable and fast.”

“Then figure it out yourself. Either way, I feel like you’re coming on a bit too strong.”

Seeing his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white—whiter and whiter—Xiang Haikui knew in her heart that he definitely couldn’t bring himself to be as heartless as his words implied.

It was merely that he couldn’t bring himself to lose face.

After all, having spoken so decisively, wouldn’t sending someone to protect Little Bai now be a slap right across his own face?

—

Upon leaving Jinling, roots of the Lesser Jianmu tree had protruded everywhere, destroying half the city.

Now, no traces of that destruction remained.

Being an immortal city after all, it didn’t require rebuilding brick by brick.

Speaking of which, this Lesser Jianmu tree was brought down by the upper realm’s Meng Clan for Xiang Tianqing to accumulate merit.

After being thwarted by Jing Ran, who knew how it was ultimately resolved.

At any rate, the Lu family who planted the tree was completely finished.

Despite already possessing wealth rivaling nations, they still had to seek their own doom.

As they passed by the Lu family’s compound, Lu Xiqiao lifted the carriage curtain.

As the second young master of the Lu family, even though he was actually the victim, he had ended up becoming a wanted fugitive.

It was indeed hard to explain, so he simply gave up trying.

Ever since entering the city, he had been wearing a cloak, keeping his face thoroughly hidden.

Xiang Haikui patted his shoulder.

“Lu…”

“Don’t, Sister Kui, I’m not wallowing in sentimental grief over the past.”

Lu Xiqiao shook his head, beating his chest and stamping his feet in anguish.

“I’m mostly heartbroken over my family’s money! It was accumulated by eighteen generations of my Lu family ancestors. Sure, there was dirty money in there, but there was also plenty earned through honest hard work. Now my dad has been executed, my big brother was eaten by me, and I’m the only heir left in the Lu family. That money should have been mine, yet every bit of it was confiscated!”

Xiang Haikui: …

Thinking of those treasures piled up like mountains, even she felt a pang of heartache for him.

She certainly couldn’t bring herself to utter clichés like “money is just a worldly possession.”

Uncharacteristically, Yin Changli offered words of comfort.

“There is no need to be sad. Think about Little Bai—he was supposed to be the Crown Prince of the Celestial Clan, yet ended up as a servant. You are far better off than he is.”

When Lu Xiqiao thought about it, that was actually true.

Before he could finish comforting himself, Yin Changli added, “Yet right now, he is taking back everything he lost. You can do the same.”

Xiang Haikui furrowed her brow—what did that mean?

Was he egging Lu Xiqiao on to start a rebellion and take down the Jinling King?

Before Lu Xiqiao could speak, he heard Yin Changli continue, “Your family’s compound, shops, and all your properties—I have bought them all.”

Xiang Haikui: ?

Lu Xiqiao: ?

Xiang Haikui: “For real?”

Yin Changli pulled a treasure box out of his bracelet, containing all sorts of secret keys inside.

Judging by Lu Xiqiao’s expression, it was real.

Yin Changli shot Xiang Haikui a look.

“Aren’t you going to ask me why I bought up the Lu family’s properties?”

Xiang Haikui had originally intended to ask, but seeing his eager, impatient attitude, she already knew the answer.

That withered Lesser Jianmu tree on the Lu family estate was the place where the two of them had dual-cultivated; it held a special significance.

Xiang Haikui gave him a side-eye.

Avoiding her gaze, Yin Changli looked toward Lu Xiqiao.

“All of your family’s properties—you can win them back from me through your own ability. For instance, by accompanying Little Bai through mountains of daggers and seas of flames for a dozen or so years…”

Lu Xiqiao instantly felt humiliated.

“Senior, what kind of talk is that? Little Bai is my friend. Even without any benefits, I would still go…”

“Then off you go. You’re going of your own accord; it has nothing to do with me.”

Yin Changli interrupted him just in time, pulling back the treasure box.

“The brotherhood among you young people is truly touching.”

The beast carriage came to a halt, and Lu Xiqiao was booted off.

Holding a jade slip marked with various route maps in his hand, he was left standing there feeling somewhat dazed.