Chapter 0: 139. Don’t Call Me Big Brother
“She calls Banwei ‘Master’?”
“Yes.”
Qin Gou looked thoughtfully in the direction of the two Qingqings.
It seemed that this White Tiger Primordial Lord was likely a disciple of the Nine Saint Monarch, and the ‘Eldest Senior Brother’ she mentioned, from the descriptions of several Residual Soul/Emotion Fragments and Luo Cangming, the father of Nine Saints, was none other than Old Qin himself.
Moreover, it wasn’t too unbelievable for the Nine Saint Monarch to have a Beast Land disciple, as Qin Gou himself was a Human Race cultivator.
However, the White Tiger Primordial Lord’s words were quite nonsensical. After experiencing so many strange events, Qin Gou didn’t mind suddenly having a former Junior Sister appear. His only hope was that this White Tiger Junior Sister could act more like a proper person, that was all.
With a wave of his hand, he summoned Pink Qingqing, with whom he had a good relationship, and asked softly, “Qingqing, can you still actively summon that White Tiger Primordial Lord right now?”
“How did Big Brother know her name? I see, Mother must have told you.” Pink Qingqing was surprised at first, but soon revealed an understanding expression. She was clearly accustomed to Jing Shixue’s inability to keep secrets, as even she had learned to follow suit.
“But neither Little Dumb Egg nor I can actively summon the Primordial Lord. We can’t even talk to her. The Primordial Lord only appears when we are in particular danger, or if she chooses to appear herself. I also have no way of knowing what the Primordial Lord did during those times.”
“In that case, it’s really quite difficult to meet this White Tiger Primordial Lord.” Qin Gou thought for a moment and said, “How about this, Qingqing, can you describe your impression of that White Tiger Primordial Lord in a simple word? I want to understand her a little.”
As he asked this question, Qin Gou actually had some guesses in his heart. From Ao Banwei’s diligent imitation before, he had already personally witnessed the image of an unusually lively and crazy girl, but he was still not entirely convinced.
To his surprise, the answer Pink Qingqing gave in the next second was far beyond Qin Gou’s expectations.
“Unreachable!” Pink Qingqing said without hesitation.
“What?” Qin Gou’s expression showed slight surprise.
Pink Qingqing said sincerely and meticulously, “Qingqing is speaking from the heart. The Primordial Lord is noble, elegant, and even perfect in her bearing! She is forever pure and bright, an untainted pearl of our Great Marsh Cloud Tiger Clan! She was also once the foremost among all beauties in the entire Beast Land, a divine consort, a fairy!”
“As the saying goes, this flower does not compare with other flowers… it is naturally the best of flowers!”
“Is… is that so?”
Qin Gou was dumbfounded.
Was this description really of the same person who was proudly wagging her tail in front of the Little White Dragon just now?!
Banwei would never deceive her Esteemed Master, so there was only one truth…
Qin Gou had miscalculated; he had asked the wrong person.
After all, reincarnation and cultivation aside, the White Tiger Primordial Lord and the Pink Qingqing in front of him were essentially the same person. At least, they themselves could think so. This little one was probably just trying hard to praise herself, plus her renowned skill in ‘talking Qingqing’ that never lost an argument, it was really difficult for Qin Gou to get any truly useful information from her and distinguish truth from falsehood.
Immediately after, Qin Gou suddenly heard Jing Shixue’s delicate shout from not far away.
“Then there’s no need to say more, this must all be the doing of Yan Shang, the Lord of Bi Fang!”
“Clan Leader Jing, what is this?”
“Fellow Daoist Qin, the Spirit of this Secret Realm seems to have lost complete control. What he said to A’Yuan, Qingqing, and the others is similar to what you and I heard before. He insists on blaming them for being sinners who committed forbidden acts?! I, this King, know very well that Qingqing has not done anything out of line, and Sister A’Yuan also has no memory of ever offending the Spirit God Cult.”
Jing Shixue paused, her eyes sharpened, and she snorted coldly, “Therefore, I have every reason to suspect that all of this is due to the conspiracy and trickery of Yan Shang, the Lord of Bi Fang, behind the scenes! There was something suspicious about this matter from the very beginning. That guy used underhanded methods to learn about my plan this time through an insider and threatened me. And now he has vanished as if evaporated from the world, never to be seen again!”
“It seems that in this exploration of the Secret Realm, both my Great Marsh Cloud Tiger Clan and Fellow Daoist Qin’s side have been thoroughly deceived by that scoundrel Yan Shang!”
These words truly made Old Qin feel greatly ashamed. Although he hadn’t expected this accident in the Spirit God Cult’s Secret Realm initially, he still felt somewhat… sorry for such a courageous lady. He immediately said:
“Clan Leader Jing, there’s no need to jump to conclusions so quickly… Moreover, I guarantee! As long as we continue to cooperate wholeheartedly, I, Qin, will do my utmost to ensure that none of our companions present return empty-handed.”
“No, Fellow Daoist Qin, I am not making an unfounded conclusion. That guy Yan Shang is infamous in my Beast Land for being domineering and reckless, never doing anything good! My trade with him this time was out of absolute necessity, and even these past few days of interaction have been agonizing for me. I always felt he had ulterior motives, as if he was constantly trying to pry information from me!”
Jing Shixue crossed her arms, still feeling apprehensive. “Ultimately, we are both male cultivators, but why are there such vast differences in people! If Yan Shang were half as upright as Fellow Daoist Qin or Brother Zhao, I wouldn’t dislike him so much!”
However, the so-called ‘Yan Shang’ whom Jing Shixue had been greatly wary of all these days was still Old Qin himself.
For a moment, Qin Gou didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Indeed, one’s everyday actions greatly influenced how others perceived them. Otherwise, even someone as ‘upright’ as himself, personally certified by the tiger girl and with a good reputation, could not change others’ impressions by impersonating Yan Shang.
At this moment, Jing Shixue remembered something and asked Qin Gou directly, “Fellow Daoist Qin, you said before that the reason you were unwilling to follow the Secret Realm Spirit’s orders and enter the Trial Spiritual Path was that it was very similar to my situation… I haven’t been able to figure this out.”
Hearing this, Qin Gou thought that since Jing Shixue was a close friend of Xinting and had revealed the secret of Qingqing and the White Tiger Primordial Lord due to her trust in him, he should naturally give this straightforward tiger girl a measure of trust. So, he said with a smile, “What else could it be? Saving my daughter.”
After speaking, Qin Gou looked in A’Yuan’s direction.
Jing Shixue was stunned for a moment. Following Qin Gou’s gaze, she saw A’Yuan and the two Qingqings in red and pink dresses beside her, all three of them.
Then, she heard Qin Gou continue, “By the way, Clan Leader Jing, if you have time, please tell Qingqing not to call me ‘Big Brother’ anymore! It was fine to call me that at first, but now it feels increasingly inappropriate!” After all, if he were Qingqing’s Big Brother, wouldn’t he inexplicably be a generation lower than Jing Hanhan? Moreover, Qingqing now had her White Tiger Primordial Lord sister as an identity.
As soon as he finished speaking.
“Fellow Daoist Qin, you…” Jing Shixue’s small mouth parted, and the autumn water in her eyes trembled slightly.
Although Qin Gou’s two sentences, taken individually, were not problematic, they were given in such close succession that it created the illusion that he was referring to the same matter. This caused Jing Shixue, who had just felt that she was gaining a righteous ‘Old Qin Brother’ in addition to Brother Zhao, to suddenly have her heartstrings stirred.
