Chapter 0: Blood Is Thicker Than Water
Qin Gou looked helplessly at Wang Qisi, who was sobbing in his arms. Judging by her age and cultivation, she was likely related to the fourth generation Wang Xuan, whose real name was ‘Ren Xiaosheng’. From her sorrowful and resentful words just now, it seemed she had been coerced by Feng Guangjian and others for a long time, enduring tears and silence while waiting for Ren Xiaosheng for many years. She was indeed a pitiful person.
However, although Qin Gou had decided to help her, he would never be so selfless as to directly shoulder the blame for Ren Xiaosheng abandoning his Dao Companion. After all, he didn’t understand Ren Xiaosheng’s character or behavior at all. It was fine now, but if the other party saw through his disguise later and exposed him, that would be truly awkward.
“You have suffered,” Qin Gou said calmly and gently, “but I am not…”
“I’m not suffering, I’m not suffering,” Wang Qisi choked out, shaking her little head vigorously. Her bright eyes were filled with crystalline tears. “The one who truly suffered was her!”
Her… and still a child?
“Wench, I cannot lie to you. I am not Wang Xuan,” Qin Gou said sincerely.
Wang Qisi was slightly taken aback, then nodded obediently, “I know. You are Qin Gou!”
“You know?” Qin Gou looked incredulous.
“Yes, it was announced on the Saint Immortal Ranking long ago. You were once an external incarnation of the Master of Arc-Moon Mountain, and you have been using the alias Wang Xuan to avoid that existence. Qisi understands,” Wang Qisi said solemnly.
“No, this is a big misunderstanding. I am indeed Qin Gou, but I have never been Wang Xuan,” Qin Gou spread his hands helplessly, feeling ashamed. Wang Qisi was still holding him tightly as if afraid he would run away.
“Qisi is getting confused by you. Everyone knows Wang Xuan is also Qin Gou. After all, the Saint Immortal Ranking would never intentionally deceive people, otherwise the Daojun Dynasty would suffer severe punishment from the Heavenly Dao!”
Wang Qisi’s words were reasonable. The Saint Immortal Ranking indeed did not lie. But couldn’t someone deceive the Saint Immortal Ranking?
At this moment, Wang Qisi suddenly took out a carefully preserved Saint Immortal Ranking from her Nas space. It was the one from Qin Gou’s first appearance on the list. She pointed a finger imbued with spiritual power at the paper and said, “Please inject a thread of spiritual power as well.”
Qin Gou, somewhat puzzled, injected his spiritual power.
The next second, the name Qin Gou, ranked thirty-seventh on the Saint Immortal Ranking, suddenly shimmered with a brilliant spiritual light. This was actually a special way for those listed on the Saint Immortal Ranking to prove their identity.
Seeing this, Wang Qisi couldn’t help but break into a beautiful, brilliant smile, as if sharing in his honor. Her beautiful eyes held threads of admiration.
Qin Gou never would have imagined that the identity of Wang Xuan, which he had worked so hard to obtain, would one day leave him so speechless.
“Then let me put it another way, wench. I am really not the person you think I am, not your Dao Companion.”
As soon as he finished speaking.
The tears that Wang Qisi had finally stopped flowed again, even more torrentially than before. Crying and sobbing, she reached out and gently stroked Qin Gou’s forehead.
“Daddy! Did something happen during your cultivation? Why are you talking such nonsense?”
“What did you call me?” Qin Gou gasped.
“Daddy.”
“Why?”
“Isn’t it only natural?” Wang Qisi smiled shyly, “But it’s been so long since I called you face-to-face.”
Qin Gou’s eyes widened, and he blurted out, “Ren Xiaosheng actually has this kind of hobby?!”
“Ren Xiaosheng?” Wang Qisi looked confused at the unfamiliar name.
Qin Gou chuckled helplessly, tapped his brow, and revealed his true appearance. “Look carefully. This is my true appearance.”
“You, Fellow Daoist Qin?” Wang Qisi blinked her clear, beautiful eyes in surprise. “So you’ve been here for a long time. Daddy has been by Qisi’s side these past few days!”
Qin Gou’s eyes trembled, and he said incredulously, “Even now, wench, why do you still insist I am Wang Xuan? There’s no need to be so superstitious about the Saint Immortal Ranking!”
“It must be because we are father and daughter. We share the same bloodline, and there’s an inseparable connection between us. Moreover, I just used my Natal Spirit Tool to recognize you without any deception!” Wang Qisi thought for a moment, her voice sorrowful. “I don’t know what happened to you, but don’t worry. Qisi has always kept the memories of the past deep in her heart and will help you recall them.”
If Ren Xiaosheng heard this, he would surely be resurrected from his grave! But…
Qin Gou looked astonished. “So you really are Wang Xuan’s daughter?”
“Otherwise?” Wang Qisi asked inexplicably.
Qin Gou gave a dry laugh. Everything had happened too quickly, and he was a bit dazed, so he had fallen into a misunderstanding from the beginning. Because the appearance of the girl before him bore no resemblance to the Wang Xuan he remembered, he hadn’t even considered that she might be a descendant of ‘Wang Xuan’.
But now that he calmed down, it was most likely that she was a descendant of the fourth Wang Xuan, ‘Ren Xiaosheng’, and therefore wouldn’t resemble the real Wang Xuan.
“That’s strange,” Wang Qisi said with a peculiar expression. “I used my Blood-Granting Eyes to observe your two appearances, and both came back as true.”
“It’s because I possess the blood of the Faceless Hermit and can use its innate power. As for why I have the Faceless… if I were to explain this, it would probably take until tomorrow morning. If only I had cultivated some blood-testing spiritual arts or magic treasures back then, it wouldn’t be so troublesome,” Qin Gou said with a depressed, bitter smile.
“Blood-testing magic treasure? I have one,” Wang Qisi said without hesitation.
“Is that true?” Qin Gou’s eyes sparkled.
Wang Qisi directly took out a small, celadon wine cup from her Nas space and handed it to Qin Gou.
Qin Gou was extremely excited. “That’s great! Now, you and I will use this magic treasure to test each other’s bloodlines. Everything will be revealed, and with this treasure, Tang N over there can also…”
“Since you insist,” Wang Qisi’s gaze was gentle, as if she had returned to her previous state of fearing to agitate Qin Gou’s sensitive heart. While he was speaking, she cooperatively drew a drop of her spiritual blood and let it fall into the celadon wine cup.
Qin Gou also dripped his blood into it without hesitation.
For a moment, the two drops of blood swirled within the cup, then collided, merging into a semi-transparent blood-colored crystal amidst a faint red glow.
Wang Qisi smiled, innocent and enchanting.
Qin Gou, however, was completely dumbfounded.
Although he hadn’t cultivated blood-testing spiritual arts himself, he knew that a situation like this, where two drops of spiritual blood instantly formed a crystal, was the best proof of a perfect bloodline match, where blood was thicker than water.
What the hell?
At this moment, Qin Gou felt his vision begin to blur, his feet unsteady, and his mind rapidly recalled whether he had actually done anything… when he suddenly remembered that not long ago, Wang Qisi had just transferred a drop of some spiritual blood into his body?
“Wench, you didn’t plan this, did you? What was that drop of spiritual blood you put into my palm earlier?”
Upon hearing this, Wang Qisi’s small face turned pale, and she cried out, “It’s over! That was… Myriad Spirit Blood!”
“What?”
Wang Qisi covered her small face, her expression extremely embarrassed.
“Myriad Spirit Blood, one of the seven kinds of spiritual blood that my Natal Spirit Tool can bestow, aside from bringing the aforementioned benefits, has a rather peculiar side effect… for a long time afterwards, when you test your blood with anyone else, you will be judged as their blood relative, 100%!”
