Chapter 28 A Surprise at Fangchen's Birthday
“I gave it to you,” Mu Yao said, taking a box out of her satchel. “But this magic item doesn’t recognize me. It gives me a headache whenever I touch it with my spiritual power.”
Qin Wuyan took it, took out the Heartbreak Flower, and smiled, "It doesn't recognize you because you haven't become its master yet. Here, give me your hand."
Mu Yao reached out, and saw Qin Wuyan take out a silver needle from his body, supporting the back of her hand with one hand and holding the silver needle with the other.
"It will hurt a little, just bear with it."
"Hmm..." Mu Yao responded softly. In fact, he was very gentle. The needle only caused a momentary pain, so it was not something to "endure". It was just that he really cared about her feelings and couldn't bear to let her suffer even the slightest pain.
A drop of blood welled up from Qin Wuyan's fingertip, and he dripped it onto the petals of the Heartbreak Flower. The pure white petals instantly turned blood red, but quickly, amidst the flowing light, the red color gradually faded. The Heartbreak Flower returned to its jade-white appearance.
Looking at the flower, Mu Yao felt that strange feeling welling up in her heart again. It was as if something had entered her body, but this time there was no pain, and no strange sounds or images in her mind. It was just that her heart felt like it was being pulled by something, as if connected by a thread.
She figured this was probably the feeling she had to go through during the process of the magical artifact recognizing its master, so she didn't think much of it.
"Try again." Qin Wuyan placed the flower on her hand. "You can use this magic weapon as a sword, but you don't need to swing it. You only need to activate it with spiritual power. It will change its appearance according to the spell you use."
Mu Yao nodded, gathering her spiritual power to activate the Heartbreak Flower. She silently recited a sword incantation, and instantly a burst of white light erupted, filling the air with fragrance. The petals transformed into countless sword blades that shot skyward, swift as lightning, stealthily chasing after the scene. If anyone were in the air at that moment, unless their spiritual power far surpassed hers, they would have no chance of escaping these swords formed from petals.
She was shocked; the power of the Heartbreak Flower combined with the sword technique far surpassed that of a fine sword. Overjoyed, she couldn't help but recite a defensive incantation again. The petals of the Heartbreak Flower bloomed once more, transforming into a white lotus about half a person's height that rose into the air. Using the lotus petals as a boundary, a semi-circular transparent light shield instantly enveloped her and Qin Wuyan, and within the light shield, a clear and refreshing fragrance filled the air.
Mu Yao exclaimed in amazement, "This magic weapon is amazing!"
Qin Wuyan asked with a smile, "Do you like it?"
Mu Yao put away the Heartbreak Flower, her eyes full of smiles: "I like it!"
She examined it for a long time, then asked curiously, "Master, where did this magic weapon come from? Why is it called the Heartbreak Flower?"
Qin Wuyan said, "This magic weapon was originally forged by the Ghost King Sect Master for his wife a hundred years ago. It is said that when he was forging this magic weapon, the flower could not be fully formed even after ten years of refinement. Later, during the war between the righteous and the demonic, the Ghost King's wife unfortunately died. The Ghost King missed his wife by the furnace and shed a tear. Men do not easily shed tears, so this tear contained rare human emotions. After falling into the furnace, the fire in the furnace went out instantly, and the magic weapon condensed into a flower that floated in the air, finally taking shape. Because it was forged when the Ghost King was heartbroken, it was named the Heartbreak Flower."
Mu Yao sighed, "This Ghost King Sect Master is truly devoted."
Qin Wuyan looked at her deeply and sighed softly, "Yes, he loved his wife and his daughter very much. So after this magic weapon was completed, he gave it to his daughter."
In his heart, Qin Wuyan was unwilling to mention his past life to Mu Yao, but when he thought of how the Ghost King aged overnight after Bi Yao's death and how his hair turned white overnight after failing to revive his daughter, he was still unwilling to hide the true origin of the Heartbreak Flower from the reborn Bi Yao.
Mu Yao asked, "Is his daughter Bi Yao?"
When Qin Wuyan heard her utter the name "Biyao" so easily, he couldn't help but want to tell her, "You are Biyao!"
But after hesitating for a long time, he still didn't say anything, and just nodded slightly.
Mu Yao was familiar with the name, but when she heard it, the first thing that came to mind was Qin Wuyan's proposal to Bi Yao. Unable to suppress her curiosity, she asked, "I heard that Master once proposed to this Young Master Bi Yao?"
Qin Wuyan had anticipated that she would ask about Biyao, but he never expected her to ask about the marriage proposal so directly, and he found it difficult to answer for a moment.
The girl's bright eyes were staring straight at him, as if she wanted to force out all the things he was hiding in his heart.
Qin Wuyan, after all, was experienced in dealing with people, and making up nonsense in a serious manner was commonplace for him.
He smiled and said without changing his expression, "That is indeed true. But at that time I was still in the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, and the marriage proposal was only to form an alliance with the Ghost King Sect. There was no other intention."
Mu Yao asked again, "So Master doesn't like her?"
Qin Wuyan was stunned again, speechless for a moment, before slowly uttering a single word: "Hmm."
She wouldn't let him off the hook, continuing to press, "Does Master have someone he likes?"
The questions were getting increasingly tricky, and Qin Wuyan felt completely overwhelmed. He could only adopt the demeanor of a master and ask her in return, "Why are you asking this at such a young age?"
Mu Yao pouted and said with dissatisfaction, "Master, I've already come of age, I'm not a child anymore."
Qin Wuyan was taken aback. Yes, he had almost forgotten that mortal girls could marry after the age of fifteen, when they reached the coming-of-age ceremony. The woman before him was no longer the little girl who would cry and throw tantrums at the drop of a hat.
Mu Yao noticed that Qin Wuyan was wearing a white robe with embroidered cloud patterns that she had never seen before. The white color suited him perfectly, making him look handsome, refined, and elegant. He didn't look like the Demon Sect Master that people cursed, but rather like a Venerable Immortal.
She remembered what Su Zhenzhen had said earlier, that Xie Qingqiu had given Qin Wuyan a piece of clothing when he went out this time.
A feeling of displeasure welled up inside her, and she said coldly, "Where did you get this dress, Master? I've never seen you wear it before."
Hearing her bring up a different topic, Qin Wuyan secretly breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "On this trip, I took the opportunity to pay respects to a deceased senior. The clothes I was wearing before weren't quite right, so I asked Xie Qingqiu to have someone make me a simpler set of clothes."
Hearing this, Mu Yao felt a little happier. It turned out he had indeed asked Xie Qingqiu to do it. She stopped dwelling on the clothes and instead asked, "Whom did Master go to pay respects to? Why haven't I seen you go before?"
"I went to pay my respects to the old city lord of Yudu who passed away many years ago."
Qin Wuyan's tone was tinged with sadness: "I used to go every year, but I would come back very quickly. You just didn't know that."
"Oh..." Mu Yao frowned, clearly displeased. After following him for so many years, it seemed Qin Wuyan still had many things she didn't know. She suddenly said angrily, "Why didn't Master take me with him?"
Qin Wuyan replied gently, "I'm not just out here to do this one thing. Besides, it's safer for you to stay on the mountain."
Mu Yao was still angry: "But I'm not a child anymore. I can protect myself. You saw it with your own eyes. I defeated everyone at the Heavenly Fox Tournament last year."
She didn't want to rely on him forever, which is why she had worked so hard to cultivate herself all these years, and she was even more unwilling for him to always abandon her in order to protect himself.
Especially during the days he was away, she thought of him every day, the longing choking her heart, so painful. Seeing him completely relieved that pain, and she was so overjoyed that she couldn't help but hug him.
For a fleeting moment, Mu Yao wanted to tell him directly, "I like you, I want to be by your side all the time," but the words stuck in her throat. So she could only try to gauge his feelings for her indirectly.
But Qin Wuyan, upon hearing Mu Yao's words, assumed she was still a child at heart, yearning for the outside world and wanting to go out and play. Indeed, since the incident six years ago, she hadn't stepped out of Fox Ridge Mountain even once.
Thinking of this, Qin Wuyan felt extremely guilty and heartbroken. Even if he meant to protect her, keeping her on the mountain indefinitely was no different from imprisonment.
He sighed softly and said gently, "It's my fault. You've really suffered these past years. How about this, in a few days I'll take you down the mountain to Yudu for a stroll, okay?"
"Really?" Mu Yao was overjoyed. She hadn't left Fox Hill for many years.
Qin Wuyan laughed and said, "Of course it's true. If you can't wait, we can go tomorrow."
"Okay, okay!" Mu Yao couldn't wait any longer, hugging his arm and pleading, "Let's go tomorrow, Master, let's go tomorrow, okay!"
Why is she so happy?
Qin Wuyan felt a pang of heartache again, realizing he had been far too harsh on her before. He smiled even more gently: "I promise you, I'll go tomorrow. So you should go and rest now, okay?"
"good!"
Mu Yao happily replied, her eyes crinkling into two crescent moons with her smile. Suddenly, she raised her clear, bright eyes and asked, "Master, will you be taking other people with you when we go down the mountain tomorrow?"
Qin Wuyan assumed she wanted to go with other people, so he asked, "Who else would you like to bring?"
Mu Yao shook her head, her face slightly flushed. "I...I actually only want to go with Master."
Qin Wuyan was initially worried that something might have happened to her, but then he thought that her cultivation level was indeed much stronger than before, and besides, there were people from the Divine Sect in Yudu. It had been relatively peaceful recently, so she should be fine.
He smiled and nodded: "Okay, then it'll just be the two of us going tomorrow."
Mu Yao was overjoyed and couldn't help but hug him again: "Master, you are so good!"
Qin Wuyan was infected by her excitement and wanted to reach out and touch her head as he used to, but she had grown to his shoulder and had her hair styled in a pretty bun, so touching her head was really inappropriate.
The hand remained stiff for a long time, and in the end, it simply stroked the strands of hair on her forehead with great tenderness.
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