Book 8, Chapter 4

B8C4: Deceiving

These 10-odd princes and princesses all open their black eyes wide and look at the 3rd uncle they have never met before. The empress and concubines however heard the legend of this 3rd brother-in-law long ago. The word about that battle on the river Wu in the past has definitely spread throughout the Qian Long continent.

One side of the battle on the river Wu was none other than their 3rd brother-in-law so naturally at the moment the empress and the concubines all observe this brother-in-law carefully to see how extraordinary he actually is.

“Ha-ha, Xiao Yu, the empress, the ladies and the little ones are all looking at you. Could it be you haven’t prepared some meeting gifts?” Qin Feng on one side says jokingly. Qin Zheng also looks playfully at Qin Yu with brightening eyes.

Li’er immediately says smilingly: “Qin Yu, everybody is looking at you.”

Qin Yu is startled.

He has not prepared any gifts at all. But these nephews, nieces and sisters-in-law are all looking at him, and even worse, there are so many of them. Although he can take out a couple of precious objects, there are too many people here.

Suddenly an idea pops into his mind. He has remembered one thing.

With a wave of his hand, 16 flying swords immediately fly out. This scene makes Qin Zheng and Qin Feng dumbfounded. To be able to fly, these must be holy weapons. Could it be their brother’s meeting gifts are these precious holy weapons?

“Little ones, I give you these 16 flying swords as toys.” Qin Yu says smilingly.

Qin Zheng, Qin Feng, the empress and those concubines are dumbstruck. The eyes of the 16 princes and princesses however brighten. Holy weapons are given as toys? On this Qian Long continent, they are frighteningly precious and a country has only one holy weapon or two.

“Hah, big brother, you can even take these things out?” Hou Fei mumbles. Hei Yu also flaps his wings disdainfully.

Qin Yu is surprised.

The Stellar Tower established a large army of guards so naturally it had to hand out weapons. Therefore, it gathered all kinds of treasures and ores within a radius of several tens million li and ordered the experts such as the squad leaders and the guardians to forge flying swords and weapons together to arm their subordinates.

Because Qin Yu is a forging expert, he also forged weapons when he was bored, and several thousand low-grade holy weapons were made in total. In his spatial ring, there is still a large pile of this kind of low-grade flying sword. Now, these flying swords are indeed no different from toys to him.

“Xiao Yu, you absolutely can’t do this. Your gifts are too precious.” Only at this moment does Qin Zheng totally wake up from his fright.

When a holy weapon is already very valuable to a mortal country, how wasteful is it to give some children 16 flying swords as toys?

“This is nothing, but blood personalization … um, they’re all still very young so I’ll help them.” If these children have to bite their fingers, they will be in a lot of pain, so Qin Yu makes a pointing movement and 16 golden shafts of light are shot at all the princes and princesses.

Afterwards, 16 drops of blood fly out from their bodies and fuse with a flying sword each.

“Um, in this way, the flying swords definitely won’t hurt you.” Qin Yu nods with satisfaction. “All of you have to remember not to use the swords to hurt people.” He advises.

The flying swords fly in front of each prince and princess. When these little children hold the 3-cun long small swords, they easily fuse them with their bodies directly. Because the blood personalization has been done, the swords and the children are telepathically linked and therefore they naturally know how to handle the swords without being given much instruction.

The princes and princesses then play with the swords, sometimes fusing them with their bodies, sometimes taking them out. They are so excited that they laugh out loud.

“Why haven’t you thanked your 3rd Uncle?”

Qin Zheng shouts.

The relatively old princes and princesses immediately kneel down, saying clearly: “Thank you, 3rd Uncle.” As for the babies who are not weaned yet, their mothers thank Qin Yu on their behalf.

Qin Yu makes another wave of his hand. 35 pearls that are even larger than table tennis balls fly out. Such huge pearls have probably been unheard of on the Qian Long continent. Generally, a pearl about the size of a table tennis ball is no longer called a ‘pearl’, but a ‘dragon ball’.

The empress and concubines all look at them with glittering eyes in stupefaction.

“Even the Imperial Palace doesn’t have anything comparable to such huge dragon balls.” Qin Zheng is astonished.

Qin Yu however gives a smile.

He certainly knows that such huge pearls are precious on the Qian Long continent. But in the underwater Xiuyao world, even though they are rare, with his current status, pearls as large as them have basically piled up in the Stellar Tower’s warehouse.

“2nd brother, there are many pearls like them in my Stellar Tower. They don’t mean anything at all. Please accept them, sisters-in-law.” Qin Yu says smilingly. The 35 pearls fly in front of the empress and concubines in an instant.

Immediately, they say clearly: “Thank you, 3rd brother-in-law.”

Afterwards, the empress and concubines all begin to discuss quietly with each other. They are obviously very excited. Women love jewels and such huge pearls are priceless treasures on the Qian Long continent so naturally they extremely love the pearls. Perhaps later they will even want to hold the pearls while sleeping.

“Fei Ya has come.” Qin Zheng suddenly says. “Fei Ya, come here, come to my place.”

Everybody sees a young married woman and a little girl coming in the distance. Hearing what Qin Zheng just said, Qin Yu knows that this woman is his big sister-in-law and that Princess Fei Ya is his big brother’s daughter.

“Your Majesty.”

Fei Ya says in a lovely voice then runs to the side of Qin Zheng and sits directly on his thighs. Judging by appearances, she is still very young, only 6 or 7 years old.

“Yanyun, come here and meet your 3rd brother-in-law.” Qin Feng says with a smile.

That natural and graceful young woman looks at Qin Yu. Her eyes brighten. She says immediately: “It’s nice to meet you, 3rd brother-in-law. I am Yanyun.”

“Please stand up, big sister-in-law.” Qin Yu hurriedly says. He notices at a glance that this big sister-in-law is a martial art practitioner. Even though her clothes are luxurious, there is an air of heroism about her that cannot be hidden.

Qin Feng says smilingly: “Xiao Yu, your big sister-in-law Yanyun likes martial arts the most. But … her talent is just so-so.” Liu Yanyun gives Qin Feng an angry stare. Because there are many people around, she does not get mad on the spot, but Qin Yu is sure that this big sister-in-law is a straightforward person.

Qin Feng gives a smile: “Ha-ha, she hasn’t been able to reach the Xiantian level for so long, how could that mean she’s highly talented? But Yanyun is really a martial art freak. She has been admiring you since she first knew about that battle on the river Wu and has wanted to meet you once for a long time.”

Liu Yanyun looks at Qin Yu and says with a little disbelief: “3rd brother-in-law, you … are the one who killed Xiang Yang?”

Seeing that Qin Yu currently looks like a young man in his early twenties, she cannot imagine that he is the legendary super expert who killed Xiang Yang.

At that time, Qin Yu had many difficulties in killing Xiang Yang. But now, perhaps he could kill Xiang Yang in only one move.

“Could I not look the part?” Qin Yu says smilingly.

Li’er says on one side: “Don’t listen to his bragging, sister-in-law Yanyun. Those are trivialities but he always likes to be smug about them.”

Seeing Li’er, Liu Yanyun cannot help secretly praising her natural bearing. She says with a smile at once: “Young lady, are you … my 3rd brother-in-law’s wife?” As soon as Li’er hears this, her face reddens. She immediately gives Qin Yu an angry stare. Knowing what she means, Qin Yu hurriedly explains: “Big sister-in-law, this is my junior sister Li’er.”

“Please excuse me, Miss Li’er.” Liu Yanyun apologizes.

At the moment, Princess Fei Ya is playing with those little princes and princesses.

“3rd Uncle … I also want that thing …”

She runs up to Qin Yu and stares at him.

Qin Yu cannot help shaking his head with a smile then waves his hand, making another sword fly out: “Little Fei Ya, you have to remember not to hurt people at will.” He helps her personalize the sword with blood too.

Qin Zheng suddenly says: “Xiao Yu, you gave the kids these flying swords but they still know very little. It will be bad if they hurt people.”

“You’re right.” Qin Yu agrees with Qin Zheng. He says immediately: “This way is better. They can still play with the swords, but I’ll put a restrictive spell on the swords. It’s going to cover the swords completely and make the swords unable to attack. When the kids undergo the ceremony of adulthood, you can ask any Xiuzhenist to remove the spell.”

Qin Yu waves his hands, which look like illusions as a result. In an instant, 17 restrictive spells are cast and totally cover the 17 flying swords.

All of these children do not have elemental energy so naturally they cannot remove Qin Yu’s spells.

These spells are not powerful at all. They only form a layer of energy on the blades of the swords, making it impossible for the swords to harm people, and any Xiuzhenist can remove them easily with elemental energy. However, these spells do not affect the children sucking the flying swords into their bodies.

Not feeling any changes in the swords at all, the princes and princesses keep playing very excitedly.

Liu Yanyun’s face suddenly changes color. It seems she has remembered a certain thing. She immediately opens her mouth, wanting to say something. But Qin Feng pulls her hand and stops her with his eyes. She takes a deep breath and swallows what she is about to say into her stomach.

However, Qin Yu has noticed this scene.

“What’s the matter, big brother? Big sister-in-law, if you have any problems, feel free to tell me.” Qin Yu says smilingly.

Qin Feng says with a smile: “Xiao Yu, your big sister-in-law sees that the empress and ladies were given such huge pearls so she wants one as well. I’m just afraid of losing face. There are so many people here, how can she ask for something like a kid?”

“This is nothing.” Qin Yu takes out a huge cat’s eye gem without delay. “I forgot to give you a present. This cat’s eye gem is as good as those pearls. Please accept it, big sister-in-law.”

Liu Yanyun immediately says with an embarrassed smile: “Thank you, 3rd brother-in-law.”

After saying so, she receives the cat’s eye gem.

Qin Yu then begins to chat laughingly with Qin Zheng and play noisily with the princes, princesses and Princess Fei Ya. Even Li’er also begins to play with the children. As Qin Yu is in a very good mood, he simply does not notice that there is a tinge of worry in Liu Yanyun’s eyes after she accepted the cat’s eye gem.

……

In the evening of the same day, in a bedroom of Prince Rui’s mansion,

“Feng, 3rd brother could take out so many flying swords in one breath. Obviously his status has improved a lot for the past 10 years in the overseas Xiuzhen world. He definitely won’t care about a middle-grade holy weapon. Why don’t you ask him for one?” Liu Yanyun says very angrily.

Qin Feng says with frustration: “Yanyun, what do you want me to say?”

Liu Yanyun says: “At that time in Hundred Official Pavilion, I was about to ask him for a middle-grade holy weapon for you. How could he have refused? It would have gone all right, wouldn’t it?”

Qin Feng says with a shake of his head: “Yanyun, there are many things you don’t know. Judging by what happened today, Xiao Yu has indeed somewhat established himself in the overseas Xiuzhen world. But … do you know my 3rd brother’s character?” He suddenly asks rhetorically.

Liu Yanyun says with a nod: “I already heard from you long ago.”

Qin Feng says with a sigh: “Yes, he’s resolute and unyielding. Even though his dantian didn’t let him practice internal techniques, he still trained hard using external techniques and became the first Xiantian external expert of the Qian Long continent. Afterwards, he joined the ranks of Xiuzhenists.”

“My 3rd brother is one who never admits defeat. Given his character, I believe he has been able to occupy a territory for himself in the dangerous overseas Xiuzhen world. But I believe even more that … he can even give up his life for the sake of his brothers and close relatives.”

Now Qin Feng is somewhat agitated: “Yanyun, if you ask for a middle-grade holy weapon, 3rd brother will ask where my middle-grade holy weapon is. How should I answer him? Could I say that … I was useless so the weapon was snatched away from me?”

“Could I possibly say that? Yanyun, do you think I could tell 3rd brother about this?” Qin Feng’s eyes even redden a little.

Liu Yanyun opens her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end she says nothing.

“Yanyun, this event can’t be mentioned. Once it’s revealed, given my 3rd brother’s character, he’ll surely want to find out who snatched my middle-grade holy weapon. Once he knows the truth about this, he’ll definitely discover a series of events and then he’ll fight the enemies to the death! Facing those people, how can he have any chance of surviving?”

Qin Feng shakes his head and says with a sigh: “3rd brother is formidable, but … he has been wandering the overseas Xiuzhen world for only 10 years. Though he’s got some foundation, how deep can it possibly be? I won’t let him get hurt no matter what.”

Liu Yanyun’s face is full of worry. She wants to say something but does not know what to say.

“But, but … how can you overcome the 4-in-9 Heavenly Tribulation without a middle-grade holy weapon? Are you certain that you can? It’s much more difficult to go through a 4-in-9 Heavenly Tribulation without a middle-grade holy weapon. I don’t want you to die. Feng, I really don’t want you to die.” Liu Yanyun embraces Qin Feng tightly.

Qin Feng hugs his wife and says with an indifferent smile: “Life and death are written in the stars. Yanyun, I won’t drag 3rd brother into this no matter what. He has … suffered too much in his life. We can’t let him suffer hardship and risk his life again even if I have to … die.”

In Qin Feng’s bosom, Liu Yanyun cries her eyes out.

After a long time --

“Feng, what if 3rd brother meets father?” Liu Yanyun suddenly says. “Once he sees father, given his intelligence, he’ll definitely figure out everything.”

Qin Feng says with a sigh: “Father already knew about Xiao Yu’s return, but he and Fengyuzi have been doing closed-door training for the sake of Xiao Yu. They don’t want to let Xiao Yu know about that incident. Even though we said father would come out within a half year, nobody can tell exactly how long a closed-door training session will last, right?”

Liu Yanyun raises her head to look at Qin Feng and says in disbelief: “So, to hide this incident, father and Uncle Feng will do closed-door training all the time without coming out?”

There is a hint of distress on Qin Feng’s face: “There’s no other way... You know father’s and Uncle Feng’s character, don’t you? Also, father always thinks he owes 3rd brother. So, whatever happens, he’d rather do closed-door training all the time than do 3rd brother harm by coming out.”

Liu Yanyun’s heart is in anguish, but she does not say anything. Qin Feng is also upset. His upright body now cuts a somewhat desolate figure.

NOTE:

Prince Rui is Qin Feng’s title, meaning Prince of Vigor.

End of b8c4.