195.1 – Gong Manor

The seemingly unending sound of wheels rolling finally disappeared into the night.

It looks like they arrived at their destination.

The young coachman opened the curtain and protruded his head into the carriage, and his gaze stayed on Qi Qiqi unnaturally. It was not until Xue Qilin coughed dissatisfiedly that he extricated himself from the red radiance and announced awkwardly, “Ladies, we arrived at the Gong Manor.”

Xue Qilin glanced out the window and found out that the carriage is parked on a remote street.

“Oh, we finally arrived?”

“Hey, Qilin, be careful not to mess up your hair!”

Xue Qilin rushed out of the carriage like a nimble mouse, prompting Qi Qiqi to warn her in a hurry.

She just got off the carriage, when a magnificent mansion filled her vision at once. Xue Qilin had to bend backwards quite a bit before she could see the plaque high on the gate.

— Gong Mansion.

These two words engraved on the plaque are vigorous and powerful, have distinct angles, and faintly contain a wisp of military presence, forming an intangible majesty.

“The writing is pretty good…”

As she examined the plaque, Xue Qilin rubbed her chin in amazement.

“Yes, it’s completely different from the scribbles of a certain qilin [1]!”

“Hold on, I just don’t know how to use a brush! My handwriting is pretty good!”

Xue Qilin waved her arms agitatedly. If she had a pen at this time, she would have made a public demonstration of the penmanship that propelled her to the top four in the kindergarten calligraphy competition. In response, Qi Qiqi just made a soft “oh” sound.

“You don’t believe me?!”

Xue Qilin kicked away a pebble on the side of the road.

Next, both people were dumbfounded at the same time.

The pebble hit the gate of the Gong Mansion.

Knock!

The sound of the gate being knocked rose.

The deep sound rang especially loud in the quiet street.

“You –!”

Qi Qiqi stared at Xue Qilin sullenly, and the latter shrank her head back, aware that she did something wrong.

However, now is not the time to dwell on this.

The small door beside the gate opened from inside, and a gray-haired old man poked his head out from behind. Dressed in burlap duanda [2], he should be a gatekeeper or something.

However, a mere old man responsible for guarding the gate has an Earth Realm cultivation base.

As expected of a large, influential clan … even their gatekeeper is a martial practitioner! Xue Qilin mused.

The gatekeeper with murky eyes quickly scanned the two girls, one blue and one red, with his gaze. When his gaze fell on Qi Qiqi, he was shocked momentarily, but then quickly restrained himself and didn’t pay her more attention.

“… what brings the two Ladies here?”

His voice was hoarse, as if it was emitted by stones rubbing against one another.

— like a swaying flame.

Qi Qiqi took a step forward elegantly. At the same time, she took out the already written greeting card from inside her sleeve and handed it to the gatekeeper according to proper etiquette.

“Good wishes, old Mister, this girl is Qi Qiqi, the Temple Master of the Merak Temple, and has come to pay the Great General Gong Jing a visit to discuss important matters. This girl hopes that old Mister can pass this on.”

There is no contempt in the girl’s words and attitude, only due respect.

Furthermore, this is not a put on act, but an expression of genuine respect.

Perhaps for Qi Qiqi, everyone deserves her respect.

“Luoyang’s Merak Temple?”

The old man, who received the greeting card, appears to be quite surprised by the identity of the visitors that came at night. He opened his eyes wide and looked again at Qi Qiqi. At this time, he faced the gorgeous girl in a red dress squarely for the first time.

“Yes, it is Luoyang’s Merak Temple.”

“This old one is Lian Gui, the Gong Clan’s manager. This old one heard that the beauty of the Merak Temple’s Temple Master can overturn the world. Today, this old one ascertained that this reputation is well deserved.”

As he spoke, the old man stepped back, clasped his hands, and bowed. Qi Qiqi immediately extended her hands to stop the other party.

“Old Mister Lian is overpraising this girl.”

After straightening up, Lian Gui smiled with satisfaction.

Then, his gaze fell on Xue Qilin, who is standing slightly behind Qi Qiqi, and he sized her up.

“This is…?” The old man hesitated for a moment, “Temple Master Qi’s apprentice?”

“Uh, this…”

A crack appeared in Qi Qiqi’s elegant expression.

However, without waiting for Qi Qiqi’s answer, Lian Gui stroked his long beard, observed Xue Qilin from top to bottom undisguisedly, and muttered, “Not like… this Lady is not at all like a martial practitioner, but more like an ordinary person! That’s amazing! How weird! This old one faintly perceived a formidable breath, yet why did the breath disappear without a trace when this old one focused his attention?”

Ever since getting close to the imperial capital’s inner city, Xue Qilin deliberately concealed her breath in accordance with Qi Qiqi’s instructions. This is a countermeasure to avoid unnecessary troubles. After all, if a Heavenly Realm master enters the inner city without concealing their majestic breath, it is enough to a attract all manner of detection and surveillance for different reasons.

However —

“Qilin, are you playing tricks again?”

Qi Qiqi frowned and asked in a low voice beside Xue Qilin’s ear.

“Wah, what do you take me for?” Xue Qilin, who was misunderstood, waved her small fist angrily, “I’m listening to you properly!”

“Really –? Then what is the meaning of the old gentleman’s words just now?”

“Oh, it’s a matter of method!”

Generally speaking, martial practitioners use various arts to confine the breath to the body, thus achieving the effect of hiding the breath. As for Xue Qilin, she relies on the connection and coordination with the outside spiritual qi to ultimately assimilate with the outside breath, thus borrowing the outside breath to mask her own breath.

If you were to compare the two, the latter is more like dyeing oneself with the colors of the outside world.

Qi Qiqi blinked her eyes, not really understanding. However, she didn’t continue to ask, and instead turned to the gatekeeper again. She pointed at Xue Qilin and introduced her, “This is an elder of this girl’s temple.”

Qi Qiqi didn’t state Xue Qilin’s identity clearly.

Nevertheless, as if he understood something, Lian Gui revealed a startled expression, and stared at Xue Qilin in surprise.

“Could it be senior ‘Natural Disaster’ –?”

When Qi Qiqi replied with a “yes”, Xue Qilin raised her hand and grinned at Lian Gui.

“Hello!”

“Junior greets Senior Xue.”

Lian Gui clasped his hands towards Xue Qilin respectfully.

His salute was in accordance with the etiquette between martial practitioners, that is to say, he called himself a junior as a martial practitioner.

Although Lian Gui is fairly old, but on the martial path, he who has greater attainments has a higher status. Since Xue Qilin is in a higher realm, it is only natural for him to refer to himself as a junior.

What’s more, who knows how old Xue Qilin is. After all, since she has already rejuvenated, it is difficult to tell her true age from her appearance. Just like Beiming Youyu, who looks only 18 or 19 years old, and occasionally even appears in front of people as a little girl. Reportedly, however, she is almost 200 years old.

[1] – qilin

[2] – duanda

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