Chapter 146. He left his words on the ship. Qi Ying…

On the ship...

Qi Ying led Lao Hei and A Fan to a room, took out a stack of books from the shelf, and had the words "Book of Rites" gleaming in gold on the cover.

Old Hei felt the golden light was blinding. "Why does he carry this with him when he goes out?! And so much of it, so thick, how long will it take to copy it all?"

Qi Ying suppressed a laugh and said, "If you're quick with your pen, you can copy it once in three days. It's alright, everyone copied it back then, practice makes perfect. Once you can memorize it, you'll be even faster when you write it from memory."

Old Hei's teeth chattered. But he was at a loss for what to do. He could only swallow his anger and begin copying.

Afan had nothing to do. The ink was already prepared on Lao Hei's desk; she didn't even have to grind it. Qi Ying poured her a cup of tea. He and Qi Fu had been guarding outside the door and had overheard Afan's words. He admired a snake demon for being so loyal and trustworthy, and wanting to comfort Afan, he advised, "The Fang family's affairs will naturally be handled by the adults. You can put down your burdens and think about what to do in the future."

Could she let go? Afan stared blankly at Old Hei, who was gritting his teeth as he copied the book, and remained silent for a moment. She had promised Nanbei to protect his bloodline, but although Nanbei's daughter and granddaughter hadn't fallen into the hands of the Divine Palace, they had both died in accidents. This sense of powerlessness had been haunting her, preventing her from finding a way out. Afan stared blankly out the window, reflecting on the past years, but it seemed there was nothing worth remembering.

Sometime later, Lu Qing passed by the outer deck, tossing dried fruit into the air and then craning her neck and opening her mouth to catch it. Lively and mischievous, she resembled Nan Bei from back then.

Afan tiptoed out.

After finishing the dried fruit, Lu Qing was lying on the edge of the boat cracking sunflower seeds. His posture was languid and lacked any sense of solemnity, yet every part of him exuded ease and carefree spirit.

When Afan was following Fang Lanxi, she had secretly observed Lu Qing. Back then, Lu Qing had an inscrutable, aloof expression, completely different from her expression now. It was as if all the burdens weighing on her had been lifted off her shoulders with the revelation of the truth.

Lu Qing turned around and saw her blank expression. She guessed what she was thinking and handed her a handful of sunflower seeds. "Want to chat?"

Afan took the melon seeds and gave a soft "hmm".

Lu Qing smiled and said, "There are some things we can change, but there are some things we can't change even if we risk our lives. We can only let them go. If you carry these burdens and can never let go, they will become your inner demons. I don't think that's what Nan Bei wants to see. If you really want to fulfill Nan Bei's request, accompany Lao Hei and guide her back to the right path, that's what you really need to do."

As if struck by a sudden enlightenment, Afan's eyes lit up. "But I have a contract with her."

Lu Qing patted her shoulder. "You didn't break the contract. Don't worry, we Spirit Clan are all very forgiving and not petty. Back then, you were just a little snake without any senses, so it's already quite good that you did this much. On behalf of Nan Bei, I forgive you. However, I feel like you haven't really had a proper education. Let me tell you, bad people aren't scary, what's scary is when a bad person knows more than you, is more eloquent than you, and is better at deceiving people. So, you need to read more books. When Lao Hei is copying books, don't just sit around. There are so many books in the study; if you don't understand something, just ask someone. These disciples of the Divine Palace were all carefully selected by Wu Chen. They look respectable and act respectably. They're completely different from the Zou family. If anything goes wrong, come to me anytime. I'll protect you from now on. If we're happy in the human world, we'll be happy; if we're not happy in the human world, we'll go back to the Western Wilderness. Don't play with the Fang family. After all these years, I don't think you've learned anything."

Pity was evident in Lu Qing's eyes.

Afan seemed to see Nanbei from the past again. She wanted to nod obediently, but the Fang family members were still alive, as if there was a high threshold blocking her way, which she couldn't cross no matter what. Afan silently carried the handful of melon seeds back to her study.

Old Hei had been copying the "Book of Rites" in the study until his head was spinning and his vision was blurry, feeling like his wooden claws were no longer working properly. He looked up in a daze and saw that it was almost evening, and the boats were already anchored at the shore. She looked blankly at Afan, who was sitting cross-legged by the window, a book on his left and a large plate of melon seeds and dried fruit on his right, cracking the seeds with remarkable ease.

"Have we reached the shore?" Old Hei was a little dazed.

"Hmm." Afan looked up at her. "You're done copying?"

"Where is it? We've only copied the first volume." Old Hei's mind was filled with those lamentations, and he was completely distraught. "Where's Lu Qing?"

"She was fighting with the disciples on the lake. She was quite formidable; so many of them couldn't defeat her alone." A-Fan now found Fang Lansheng's plan utterly absurd. Had Fang Lansheng lost his mind, trying to be a hero and save the damsel in distress? Having just witnessed Lu Qing's skills and cultivation, she knew that even a dozen of Fang Lansheng wouldn't be a match for her, let alone one. Thinking of Fang Lansheng still lying in the boat's cell, A-Fan couldn't help but ask, "How do you plan to deal with the Fang family?"

"Kill them!" Old Black said viciously, his original intention unchanged.

"Hehe," Lu Qing's laughter came from the window, "Who are you going to kill this time?"

Old Hei quickly put down his pen, "Where do you want to go?"

“Let’s go ashore! That nighttime flower festival lasts for half a month.” Lu Qing, dressed up beautifully, winked at Lao Hei.

"I want to go too!" Old Hei shouted.

"Then let's go. What are we waiting for?" Lu Qing turned around and saw Wu Chen approaching gracefully, dressed in an elegant and tailored manner. "Whose young master is this? He's so handsome."

Wu Chen laughed, tapped her on the head, and said, "Naughty." Then he took her hand and said, "Let's go." Without waiting for anyone else, the two of them strode away.

Afan and Lao Hei both stuck their heads out of the window, craning their necks to watch the two men's backs.

"Are they abandoning the Fang family?" "They didn't even wait for me!"

The two spoke at the same time, then looked at each other in bewilderment.

Old Hei jumped out of the window. "Hurry up. Who cares about the Fang family? We'll talk about it after this is over. Whether Wu Chen comes or not is our problem, whether he comes or not is Wu Chen's problem. We just need to mind our own business. Anyway, we're going to kill them all in the end. What difference does it make who kills them?"

Afan… Lu Qing was right, the Spirit Clan really are all incredibly audacious. So Afan also jumped out of the window.

Following behind Wu Chen and Lu Qing were not only Lao Hei and A Fan, but also other disciples of the Divine Palace on the boat. The night flower fair on Fuxian Lake was drawing to a close, and the shopkeepers, fearing that their goods would not sell, were working hard to attract customers, making the streets very lively.

Wu Chen stayed close to Lu Qing, keeping up no matter how fast she weaved through the crowd. He paid for her purchases and readily ate the food she offered. The other disciples from the Divine Palace chuckled, but feeling embarrassed to get too close, they eventually separated and went off to play on their own.

Lu Qing strolled around the main street for a while, and finally calmed down a bit. Pointing to a restaurant on the side of the street, she said, "That's Fuxianlou. I ate there last time, and the food was pretty good. Want to go in and try it?"

“Okay.” Wu Chen let her hold his hand and walked into Fuxian Tower. His doting smile as he looked down at Lu Qing made Luo Heyi and Qi Zhi, who were following far behind, so angry that they almost vomited blood.

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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 15:39:46 on November 14, 2020 and 12:47:07 on November 16, 2020!

Thank you to the little angels who irrigated with nutrient solution: 10 bottles from Gobi Desert;

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!