Chapter 0: The Chain of Suspicion
After several more intimate moments, Qin Gou returned to his room. He found that Jing Liyu, the White Tiger Primordial Lord, had fallen asleep at his desk with a remarkably well-behaved sleeping face.
Qin Gou took a few steps forward, and Jing Liyu immediately opened her hazy eyes.
“Eldest Senior Brother? Where were you last night?”
“Ahem.”
Qin Gou didn’t answer and instead asked, “Liyu, why are you here?”
“Hmm? That’s right,” Jing Liyu said, rubbing her eyes. “Eldest Senior Brother mentioned before that he wanted to practice refining magic tools. Yesterday, I went out with Yuan Zhenjie and the others, right? When I returned, I observed the stars and found that last night’s celestial phenomena were perfect for absorbing the essence of the sun and moon to aid in refining. So, I came to inform Eldest Senior Brother.
But I didn’t expect to miss you and had to… travel through time and space…”
“Just say you fell asleep, no need to talk about traveling through time and space,” Qin Gou said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Jing Liyu chuckled and asked, “So, where did Eldest Senior Brother go?”
Qin Gou very seriously uttered two words: “Cultivation.”
“Eldest Senior Brother is still so diligent even with his current cultivation.”
“Wasn’t it the Abyss Demon God who forced me? Besides, Xiao Lizi, aren’t you the same? Except for yesterday when you finally relaxed, you’ve been working very hard lately,” Qin Gou said with a smile.
“That’s still no match for Eldest Senior Brother’s tireless efforts.”
Jing Liyu thought for a moment, then said resolutely, “How about this, Eldest Senior Brother? When you cultivate in the future, bring Liyu along with you!”
“I’ll try my best,” Qin Gou’s mouth twitched slightly. Some cultivation could be shared, but some clearly couldn’t.
“But Eldest Senior Brother, don’t forget to spend some time with Master when you’re not cultivating. Otherwise, it won’t be good if Master becomes overly cold and condescending again,” Jing Liyu reminded him.
Qin Gou was bewildered. “What do you mean? She gets like that?”
“In the eyes of most people, the Nine Saint Monarch is like that. Of course, it’s not that she’s ruthless in her actions, but rather it seems like she belongs to a different world,” Jing Liyu spread her hands. “The reason Eldest Senior Brother doesn’t know is… well, ever since she sees Eldest Senior Brother now, she’s always smiling.”
“I understand.”
Moreover, Qin Gou was increasingly eager to recover his past memories. The things Jing Liyu was saying now were completely unheard of to him. However, with the passage of time, those memories might not allow Qin Gou to instantly feel ‘That’s right, that was me.’ Instead, it might be like watching a very long movie in the Profound Realm, the ‘Dark Cosmos.’
…
Through the blood mist portal summoned by Qin Gou, everyone arrived at the location previously agreed upon with Ren Ci. Ren Ci had not yet appeared, but once she finished handling the affairs of the Ren Clan, she would be able to come directly through the Demon Lord’s portal.
Qin Gou took out a Spirit Boat, allowing everyone to rest while they waited.
“Bang bang bang.”
A short while later, in his Spirit Boat room, Qin Gou heard a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
As soon as she entered the room, Luo Wei Ban said, “This Master is not here to ‘seize the moment.'”
“What?” Qin Gou looked confused.
“Don’t play dumb,” the Lord Saint Monarch glared at Qin Gou.
“Alright, I know when to seize the moment. I have it under control,” Qin Gou nodded and smiled.
“No sneak attacks!”
“I promise!” Qin Gou couldn’t help but chuckle.
“But I can unilaterally sneak attack you.”
“Ah?”
“Let’s talk business.”
Qin Gou’s mouth twitched. “What do you mean by ‘stopping just short’?”
“Don’t use that phrase with vulgar connotations!”
“Who did I learn from?” Qin Gou asked indignantly.
“Then who did this Master learn from?” the Lord Saint Monarch finally achieved a victory.
“Ahem…”
“Alright, look at this.”
As she spoke, Luo Wei Ban had a thought and summoned her ‘ancient scroll.’ The dazzling radiance indicated that an Abyss Demon God wished to make contact.
“These two are truly interesting. Although they fight fiercely, their actions and behaviors are all too similar,” Qin Gou said. He also took out his ancient scroll, which was also flashing with brilliant light. Today, the other party had already tried to contact him multiple times.
“Do you want to open it?” Luo Wei Ban asked.
“One by one. I’ll go first.”
As he spoke, Qin Gou had a thought and accepted the contact, opening his ancient scroll first.
“Qin Gou!”
As the Demon God’s voice sounded, the temperature in the entire room seemed to drop significantly.
“What is it now?” Qin Gou deliberately used an impatient tone.
“You brat are truly too cunning.”
Qin Gou chuckled. “You’ve been trying to contact me through every means possible. Is it just to scold me like this?”
The Demon God’s voice was sinister. “Do you still remember what you mentioned a few days ago about my ‘Soul Grabbing Umbrella’?”
“What, you’re actually agreeing to let it recognize me as its master?” Qin Gou asked.
“Stop pretending. I’ve already fallen into your trap,” the Demon God gritted his teeth.
“Then tell me your current thoughts. Let me see how accurate your guess is,” Qin Gou said with a faint smile.
The Demon God snorted. “You deliberately brought up the matter of the Soul Grabbing Umbrella in front of both me and that guy earlier. That was your biggest scheme! Although that guy outwardly refused, he must have agreed. Why? The Soul Grabbing Umbrella in this realm belongs to me! That bastard wouldn’t care about something that isn’t his. Moreover, letting you obtain the Soul Grabbing Umbrella would weaken my strength, which is even more beneficial to him.”
The Abyss Demon God’s tone became even colder. “So, being pushed to this point, it’s at least better for me to lend you the Soul Grabbing Umbrella myself to gain a bit of favor. Otherwise, I’ll truly lose everything and be completely schemed against by the two of you.”
Hearing this, Qin Gou nodded slightly. “Alright, please wait a moment.”
“Wh—”
Before the Demon God could finish speaking, Qin Gou directly closed the ancient scroll and, at the same time, gestured for Luo Wei Ban to open her ancient scroll.
“I want to talk to Qin Gou.”
The voice of the old demon from the Western Heaven Realm sounded.
“I’m here,” Qin Gou said with a smile.
“That Soul Grabbing Umbrella is yours. As long as you can find it and unfold your ancient scroll before it, I will directly make it recognize you as its master,” the old demon said without hesitation.
Qin Gou nodded and smiled. “So that’s how it is. After all, the Soul Grabbing Umbrella in this realm isn’t yours. You wouldn’t care about something that doesn’t belong to you, right?”
“No. At first, I had absolutely no intention of giving you the Soul Grabbing Umbrella. However, I understand ‘that guy’ too well, just like I understand myself. I guessed that he would definitely think I would agree, then get stuck on it, and finally agree himself.”
The old demon said decisively, “In that case, I might as well gain some favor and directly give it to you!”
