Chapter 0.59 Mask
“Ding. Host’s Natal Spirit Tool, ‘Bud of Taihuang,’ has officially begun its advancement, stepping towards the Heavenly Tier.”
As the system’s prompt sounded, Qin Gou gently placed his hand on Qin Xiaoyou’s shoulder. Gazing at her fading figure, he promised, “Rest assured for now. In a few days when you wake up, your master will definitely take you to eat delicious food.”
“Mhm!” With a relieved smile on her lips, Qin Xiaoyou softly closed her eyes. Her small body vanished without a trace, having completely entered the Bud of Taihuang Spirit Tool.
Immediately thereafter, a wave of spiritual energy fluctuated, and a familiar voice sounded.
“The Mother Tree has suddenly entered wither and flourish…”
Song Qianyin appeared not far behind Qin Gou and said softly, “It seems Sister’s wish has finally been realized.”
Qin Gou turned his head, looking at Song Qianyin in confusion. “Sister?”
Song Qianyin nodded, her eyes filled with a blessing, and spoke truthfully, “Sister was actually born only a little earlier than I was. We knew each other when we were still in our nascent stages, living in our respective flower houses. We are sisters from the same generation. I have always known my sister’s intentions and wished to contribute to her plan one day. I never expected that fellow Daoist Qin would also participate and succeed in one fell swoop.”
“So that’s how it is.”
It seemed that Qin Xiaoyou’s agreement with Black Robe, and her decision to become his disciple, had been kept a secret known only to the two of them. After all, it was likely close to the time when Black Robe intended to breach the dimensional barrier. Making this matter public would only bring further disadvantage to Qin Xiaoyou and the Daoist You Ke Clan.
“From now on, if fellow Daoist Qin needs anything important, I will surely lend a helping hand,” Song Qianyin said gently. “In this way, I hope fellow Daoist Qin can also be more tolerant of my sister in all matters.”
“What? Qianyi, you’re being too serious. Little You and I are currently cooperating, and we definitely haven’t signed any Dictatorial Contract.”
“Little You?”
“That’s my current name for that wench, taken from your Daoist You Ke Clan. She quite likes it herself.”
“Is that so? Qianyi remembers.” Song Qianyin smiled and nodded. “However, fellow Daoist Qin, you seem to have misunderstood my meaning. I naturally trust fellow Daoist Qin’s character. It’s just that you might not know, Sister Xiaoyou is too naive in many aspects. Most of the knowledge she has acquired over the years is solely related to controlling the Mother Tree. She doesn’t understand human relationships or even much common sense.”
“Therefore, she might occasionally suddenly act like a child of hundreds of years old, which might give fellow Daoist Qin a headache. That’s why Qianyi hopes you can be more gentle and patient when interacting with her, and can slowly teach her.”
Qin Gou spread his hands. “In short, I suddenly have another child?”
“It seems so.”
“A trivial matter.”
“Hmm?” Song Qianyin looked confused.
Qin Gou was confident and full of self-assurance. “Qianyi, you might not know, but when it comes to parenting experience, this seat is quite rich! Any child I’ve personally taught, which one of them isn’t standing tall… uh, not conforming to the mundane!?”
“Why did fellow Daoist Qin’s voice tremble at the end?”
“Let’s exclude ‘guilt.’ You can guess anything else!” Qin Gou’s old face flushed.
…
Central Palace.
“Master, look at this.” Qingyu handed Qin Gou a sinister-looking mask with several cracks on it.
After taking it, Qin Gou scanned it with his divine sense. “This is a Fatal Relic?”
“Precisely.”
Qingyu lightly nodded her head and explained, “Just now, when I was investigating Shang Yong’s Dao body, I found this. I wanted to give it to Master immediately, but you were meditating to recover your spiritual power, and then you went straight away with fellow Daoist Song.”
Qin Gou examined it. “Perhaps I was focused on the Godplunder Altar at the time and didn’t notice this item? Or perhaps this Fatal Relic was obtained by Shang Yong from someone else, and not derived from himself on the spot?”
“I think it was likely derived from Shang Yong himself. Because when I discovered it, there were still quite a few residual spiritual power fluctuations from Shang Yong on it. But it’s not that Master was distracted; it’s just that this Fatal Relic, due to some of its own characteristics, did not exhibit the same prominent radiance as other Fatal Relics before.”
“Interesting.”
Qin Gou nodded with interest. “Little Fish, you haven’t tested its special abilities or the price one has to pay after using it, have you?”
“No.”
Qingyu answered, then quickly added, “Master, at this moment, no one knows what price they will have to pay after using this Fatal Relic. Be extremely careful, it’s best not to try it yourself!”
“Don’t worry, I have a better method.” Qin Gou reached out and lightly touched his Nas.
In an instant, the Stone Spirit, Little Brother, who looked exactly like Qin Gou, appeared.
This time, before Qin Gou could even smile and explain, the Stone Spirit, with its dull eyes, stared directly at the Fatal Relic in Old Qin’s hand.
“Gou!”
Another scream was heard as the Stone Spirit turned and ran.
Qin Gou stood on the spot, not moving an inch, tossing several Spirit Stones into the air, and catching them with one hand.
The Stone Spirit, halfway through its escape, suddenly stopped. As if it had sensed something, its neck stiffly turned back.
“Gou…”
“What ‘Gou,’ are you still acting spoiled?” Qin Gou didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I’ve prepared Spirit Stones for you. It’s as if I’ve ever mistreated you. Do you want it or not?”
“Mama, Mama!” The Stone Spirit sulkily returned.
Qin Gou: …
“If I can ever fix that mouth of yours, it will surely be a monumental act of merit!”
“This Spirit Puppet’s appearance?”
At this moment, Ren Su, who was beside them, said, “So that’s how it is. It seems that the fellow Daoist Qin who was acting strangely earlier, the one people were talking about, should be him?”
“Acting strangely?”
“Running around wildly with a child, smiling very childishly. Most importantly… not only did he not yield to the child, but he also seemed to be enjoying it?! It really doesn’t seem like something a distinguished figure like fellow Daoist Qin would do; it’s a bit strange.”
Qingyu, who had already recovered, was about to explain, “This, fellow Daoist Ren, Master he sometimes…”
“That’s right, it was him.” Qin Gou’s mouth twitched. He suddenly patted the Stone Spirit’s shoulder, and specifically gave a heads-up. “Right? You tell them. Of course, the two of you should also understand that my little brother’s language skills are a bit chaotic. When he says ‘you’ or ‘mama,’ he’s actually expressing affirmation.”
Although he wasn’t intentionally not yielding to a child at the time, it was because he couldn’t be separated from Little You, otherwise, her consciousness would dissipate. As for enjoying it… cough, but since Little Brother Stone had already been misunderstood and bore the blame, Uncle Qin also wanted to maintain his dignity in front of Little Su…
“Is that so? You mean he can only say one or two words at a time?” Ren Su’s eyes were suddenly filled with curiosity.
The Stone Spirit immediately blurted out, using the few words it had in its head with perfect fluency, “It was Qin Gou who did it!”
