Chapter 116: A Nephew Over Eight Hundred Years Old? (Early Morning Request for Subscription)

The old temple spirit’s Adam’s apple bobbed as the realization dawned on him. Two lines of aged tears welled up and spilled from the corners of his eyes. He then knocked his head against the ground and cried out, "For the Immortal’s grace in restoring my name, this little demon has no way to repay you. I... I kowtow in gratitude to the Immortal!"

His tone was sincere, devoid of any pretense.

"Rise," Xu Boqing said, shaking his head. "It is not me you should truly thank, but the barefoot doctor who saved your life and taught you the ways of the world."

"Good and evil always have their rewards. When one performs good deeds, even if fortune has not yet arrived, disaster is already far away. When one performs evil deeds, even if disaster has not yet arrived, fortune is already far away."

Wu Qin clapped his hands and laughed. "Now your karmic reward has arrived, aided by a noble person. As long as you cultivate diligently from here on out, this cause and effect will be enough to propel you even further!"

The old temple spirit wept with joy, bowing repeatedly. "This little demon thanks the two seniors! Thank you, Immortal!"

"Your method of divine cultivation must be incomplete." Xu Boqing pondered for a moment, then, borrowing the divine power of his Water God Edict, flicked his finger. A glimmer of spiritual light shot into the spirit’s crown. "I hope this method will allow you to shed your demonic form and attain a righteous fruition."

The old temple spirit was momentarily stunned. When he realized that his mind now contained a system of divine cultivation far more comprehensive than the one in his jade slip, his face was filled with immense joy.

"This little demon thanks the Immortal for the gift of this teaching!"

"I hope that when we meet again, you will refer to yourself as a lesser deity, not a little demon."

After saying this, Xu Boqing waved his hand. "Go now, go."

"This... this little demon will never forget the Immortal’s words!"

The old temple spirit bowed and kowtowed once more to the surrounding group before using an earth-escaping technique to vanish into the ground.

Seeing him depart, Xu Boqing cupped his hands and asked, "I am Xu Boqing. May I ask how the two of you are addressed?"

"Wu Qin," the man replied, also cupping his hands. Seeing his young master staring at the scenery again as if afflicted by some ailment, he added, slightly embarrassed, "This is my young master, Long Xing."

He tacked on a final remark: "My young master is not good with words and is quite shy. I hope Young Master Xu will not take offense."

"Master Wu, you are too modest." Xu Boqing cupped his hands toward Ao Xing and smiled. "If not for Young Master Xing’s deity-restraining spell, it would have taken me much more effort to uncover the ins and outs of this Dragon King temple."

Ao Xing’s expression turned slightly awkward. He was not good at interacting with strangers, but he knew that not responding when someone spoke to him would appear ill-mannered.

But how should he reply?

After a long moment of inner struggle, just as Wu Qin was about to speak for him, he cupped his hands and said, "You are too kind."

Wu Qin, seeing the conversation stall, stepped in to change the subject, saying with a sheepish smile, "I noticed earlier that Young Master Xu possesses the aura of a Water Clan righteous deity’s edict. It feels quite familiar..."

"I obtained it after slaying a great demon," Xu Boqing replied without denial, keeping his tone half-truthful. "That demon was much like the old temple spirit you just saw, but with a high level of cultivation, it acted as a River God and plagued the region. When I encountered it, I simply struck it down."

"Hiss... I am impressed, truly impressed." Wu Qin’s handlebar mustache twitched. As the Turtle Chancellor of the Tongtian River Dragon Palace, he had seen many river and lake deities, and he knew that to be a River God, one’s cultivation must be profound. His admiration was sincere.

He then seemed to recall something, bowed, and said, "Young Master Xu’s cultivation is profound. Slaying such a demonic god is a great service to our Water Clan. I should pay my respects."

"No, no, that is unnecessary." Xu Boqing quickly stepped aside, maintaining his half-truthful stance. "That demonic god clearly possessed a Water God Edict, yet it remained wrapped in malice and refused to walk the righteous path. I won that battle mainly by exploiting its weaknesses and using some clever means; I hardly deserve to be called profound in cultivation."

He paused, then looked at Long Xing. "I perceive that Young Master Xing is of the dragon lineage with a serpentine form, and he carries a noble air. With a steward like Master Wu by his side, I wonder at which precious land he cultivates?"

Ao Xing was slightly taken aback. Thinking of his mother’s instruction not to claim to be the Crown Prince of the Tongtian River Dragon Palace while abroad, he wanted to name a random place to gloss over the question.

But upon reflection... he hadn't really been anywhere else.

Moreover, Xu Boqing’s background was clearly not ordinary. If he accidentally said the wrong thing, wouldn't he just make a fool of himself?

After struggling for a while, he dared not answer randomly and cast a pleading look at Wu Qin, as if asking, 'Chancellor Turtle, how should I fabricate a lie to cover this up?'

Wu Qin saw this and curled his toes, wanting to cover his face with his hands. He felt his young master was... truly pure to a fault.

"Young Master Xu, a word in private..." Wu Qin stepped forward awkwardly, pulled Xu Boqing aside, and used a spell to isolate their voices. He then explained embarrassedly, "Please do not take offense, Young Master Xu. My young master... he is simple-minded and not good at expressing himself."

"I gathered as much," Xu Boqing said, glancing back at the visibly conflicted Long Xing. He asked with a strange expression, "Master Wu, if I may be so bold, how old is your young master?"

"Over eight hundred," Wu Qin replied with a look of despair.

"Eight..." Xu Boqing’s eyes widened; he nearly choked on his own saliva. "Young Master Xing has lived this long, has he never interacted with anyone?"

"Aside from our own household, my young master rarely leaves home, let alone interacts with outsiders..."

"This..." Xu Boqing imagined himself stuck at home for eight hundred years without leaving; he would surely have gone mad.

"Sigh..." Wu Qin seemed to recall something, glanced back at his young master, and sighed. "My young master usually likes to study weapon crafting and alchemy; he is not fond of socializing. A while ago, the Matriarch went out for a trip. When she returned, she gave the young master a lecture and ordered him to enter the world and cultivate... The Matriarch also realized that with his personality, if no one supervised him, he would probably just curl up in some river and never move. So, she sent me along to follow him."

He paused, adding helplessly, "If there has been any offense, I hope Young Master Xu will be magnanimous."

Matriarch? Went out for a trip recently? Returned and gave him a lecture? Ordered him to enter the world and cultivate?

Xu Boqing blinked, feeling a sense of wonder. In his mind, the image of Ao Lan, the True Dragon he had fished out while using his own body as bait on the river, surfaced naturally. Ao Lan had mentioned having a disobedient son at home... He had even taught her the principles of raising children... and he had proposed the theory of "entering the world to cultivate."

With this suspicion in mind, and remembering the faint, lingering sense of causality he had felt when he first saw Long Xing, he couldn't help but feel a tremor of shock in his heart.

Could it really be such a coincidence?

He glanced at Long Xing again; the more he looked, the more he resembled her.

If this were true, given the brother-sister-in-law relationship between himself and Ao Lan, wouldn't this Long Xing be his own nephew? An eight-hundred-year-old nephew?

"You are too formal," Xu Boqing said, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he probed further. "The young master is over eight hundred years old and still gets lectured? Is the Matriarch of your house that strict?"

"That’s not quite it..." Wu Qin hesitated for a moment. He had intended to build a rapport, thinking that revealing some inconsequential "secrets" might bring them closer. "The Matriarch is usually very kind-hearted; there is nothing to fault there. It was just that after she went out for a trip a while ago, she became strict upon her return..."

"Strict after returning from a trip?" Xu Boqing raised an eyebrow and probed, "Young Master Xing must have had a rough time, being lectured by the Matriarch at eight hundred years old. He must be harboring some resentment. Master Wu, you really should guide him properly..."

"Oh, it was more than just rough... the way he was scolded... I can’t even describe it... I daren't say..." Wu Qin thought of the miserable state his young master was in that day, and he couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air through his teeth.

He then snapped back to reality and said, "My young master does indeed harbor resentment, but I have already found a way to shift that resentment onto someone else, so it is of no consequence..."

Xu Boqing, seeing Wu Qin’s lingering fear, pondered: if the Matriarch was indeed Ao Lan, then this Long Xing had likely been beaten quite severely. He then acted very interested and asked, "How is it possible to transfer such resentment?"

"That is easy..." Seeing his interest, Wu Qin understood the meaning of the saying, "Gossip can bridge the distance between people." Was his relationship with Young Master Xu not being pulled closer in this very moment?

He stroked his mustache and explained, "After the Matriarch returned from her trip with a changed personality, I deliberately led the young master to believe that some villain must have whispered slanders in the Matriarch’s ear."

He paused and smirked. "And so, the young master’s resentment naturally shifted away, didn't it?"

Xu Boqing’s face twitched. He finally understood where the cause and effect between him and Long Xing originated. He immediately raised a thumb in praise, "High, truly high! Brilliant, truly brilliant!"

"You overpraise me, you overpraise me..." Wu Qin laughed, then adopted the posture of someone sharing a secret with a close friend. "I hope Young Master Xu will keep this secret for me..."

"That goes without saying." Xu Boqing was now ninety percent certain that the Matriarch Wu Qin spoke of was Ao Lan, and the disobedient son Ao Lan had mentioned was this socially anxious, shy Long Xing before him!

This... he glanced at Long Xing, who was also looking their way. After a brief meeting of eyes, they both looked away.

This... how many beatings must he have endured...