Ling Tian walked out of the secret chamber and visited Shui QianRou’s room next.
After her previous injuries, Shui QianRou used this as an excuse to stay in the Ling Family Courtyard. She was sworn sisters with Ling Chen and Yu BingYan after all, and Ling Chen would naturally prepare a personal room that belonged to her. After the battle with the Lei Family, she had also suffered severe injuries and naturally stayed over here.
First, Shui QianRou was extremely fatigued and did not have the mood to face the few Elders from her Shui Family or those Shui Family young nobles. She was afraid that she would end up retching if she saw them and it definitely wasn’t healthy for her recovery. Second, Shui QianRou naturally had her own reasons for staying back at the Courtyard.
Shui QianRou’s decision was one that her maid Die’er supported greatly. However, Shui QianRou hadn’t seen her personal maid for a couple of days already. During this period of time, Die’er did not do anything else but take care of the casualties. However, the only casualty that she took care of was Ling Chi alone! All of Ling Chi’s brothers were all completely filled with jealousy!
At that time, Ling Feng teased Die’er, “Miss Die, men and women should not have such physical contact with each other. With you taking such good care of dog egg, changing his clothes and tending to his injuries, his pure body had been completely seen by you. You have to take responsibility for this!”
Die’er replied without a care in the world, “So be it! Why would I be afraid of taking responsibility for him? I just like taking care of brother Chi’ge, so what?!”
As Ling Yun saw Ling Feng being stumped for words, he quickly came to Ling Feng’s aid, “Miss Die, if you are here to take care of dog egg, who will take care of your young miss?”
Who would have thought that Die’er’s reply would be, “Young miss? What young miss?! AHHHH… I forgot…”
This was not the worst!
Ever since Ling Chi was injured, Die’er’s heart ached badly and she guarded next to Ling Chi’s bed each day. Even when Justice commanded that no one was to watch by the side when he was treating the injuries of the wounded, that lass completely ignored Justice’s commands. After knowing about this, Shui QianRou broke out in cold sweat for her personal maid. Who was Justice? How would he allow anyone to watch him display his medicinal skills? What if he killed Die’er in a fit of rage?! How unlucky!
In fact, it wasn’t because of Justice’s magnanimity that he didn’t fly into a rage. It was only because Die’er had nothing else in her eyes apart from Ling Chi. With her mind and soul fully occupied with Ling Chi, how would she have the mood to secretly learn Justice’s medicinal skills? Although Ling Chi was severely wounded in battle, he also profited from his injuries. During this period of time, his relationship with Die’er took a great step forward. His injured comrades were all completely filled with jealousy as they cursed Ling Chi for making use of his injuries to pick up girls. Even Justice who originally had the intention to train Ling Chi could only helplessly give up on the idea!
Seeing Ling Tian coming into the room, Shui QianRou went into a daze for a moment before asking, “You’re here?”
“I am here.” Ling Tian rubbed his nose and felt as though he was spouting unnecessary garbage. I am standing right in front of you already, can I possibly say that I am not here? What kind of a question is that? Why would this usually bright lady ask such a silly question?!
With this silly question and answer, an awkward atmosphere filled the room…
Shui QianRou lowered her head as she sat on the chair and twiddled with the corners of her shirt like she was a frightened quail. She had actually shrunk back with nervousness and her breathing also became ragged.
After Ling Tian replied to Shui QianRou, he fell silent and actually did not know what to say. Seeing Shui QianRou’s reaction, Ling Tian also felt a tinge of embarrassment. Such a heavy atmosphere was not what which he had imagined.
“You…” Shui QianRou said.
“You…” Ling Tian said.
The two of them said at the same time.
“You first…”
“You first…”
They said at the same time again!
They actually had such chemistry!
“Puchi…” Shui QianRou burst out into giggles and Ling Tian also broke out into a smile. The two of them truly felt that such an awkward atmosphere was truly amusing. The awkwardness in the room was also swept out with both of their laughter.
“Ladies first. What would you like to say?” Ling Tian asked with a smile.
Shui QianRou smiled, “I wanted to ask. You can’t possibly be coming over just so you can fall into a daze with me, right?”
“Haha,” Ling Tian smiled and cleared his throat before saying, “I heard that the Shui Family base in the Heavenly Wind Continent is beneath Mount Vacant?”
Shui QianRou replied with an ‘Mmm’ before continuing, “This isn’t a secret. Three hundred years ago, our Shui Family shifted our family from Gold Water City to Mount Vacant, which is the current Mount Hateless. From then on, there had been eight family heads and after generations of hard work, our base is pretty impressive!”
“Pretty impressive? Miss Shui is too humble…” Ling Tian said with a thoughtful expression, “Has your family made any actions recently?”
A look of bitterness could be seen on Shui QianRou’s face. “Previously, I hid the news of my brother’s death and while our family was thrown into chaos because of this matter a while back, we were still able to hang in there. But after this matter, the standing of our faction within the Shui Family had already become shaky. If not for my merits of setting up the Shui Family Courtyard in Sky Bearing to allow my Shui Family to stabilize our standing in Heavenly Star, my father’s position of family head would probably have been…” Shui QianRou said with a dim expression before looking at Ling Tian with gratitude, “In fact, I have to thank you for this matter.”
Ling Tian smiled, “Miss Shui does not need to thank me as such. Since we are in an alliance with each other, it is only right for us to aid each other. Besides that, if I did not have a motive, I would not have helped you either. After all, we all have our own motives. There isn’t a need to thank me.”
With regards to Ling Tian’s completely frank reply, Shui QianRou was stumped for a moment before lowering her head with a tinge of depression. Could it be that Ling Tian’s heart wasn’t made from flesh? Why are all of his words so heartless?!
Ling Tian paced around the room for a while before saying with a solemn tone, “With the current strength of your Shui Family, if you guys were to face the Yu Family who is at their peak during the generational battle, what are your chances of victory?”
“Generational battle? Ah ah…” Shui QianRou let out a self-mocking laugh, “In truth, the generational battle has already lost its initial meaning. What’s left is just two families killing each other out of hatred. For so many years, both the families have given birth to countless peerless geniuses who led the elites of their family to face off in battle. However, as the ambitions of both families grew over the years, the battle between the families also changed…”
“Our Shui Family is only holding on with our gigantic outer shell. After all, our Shui Family holds the ultimate authority on the Heavenly Wind Continent, and Outside Heaven has already fallen from its glory and is no longer a threat. Furthermore, the Heavenly Wind Continent only has three empires, and they all have to follow the orders of our Shui Family. This is also the reason for the arrogance of our Shui Family members. Consider the arrogance that my Shui Family elders displayed when they first came to Heavenly Star and their intention to swallow the Ling Family. Our situation in Heavenly Wind is truly far superior to the situation of the Yu Family on Heavenly Star. While our Shui Family may not be superior to the Yu Family in terms of absolute experts, the manpower of our Shui Family is far superior to the Yu Family! Especially when the leader of the Yu Family’s women’s team, little sister BingYan, has a strange ailment that could kill her at any moment. Our family no longer treats the generational battle with any importance! Even if our men’s team were to lose, our woman’s team would definitely emerge victorious. However, little sister BingYan’s martial arts are no longer like before. Who knows what will happen a year later? I may no longer have a chance for victory.”
Shui QianRou sighed as she continued, “Historically, the generational battle would be located in Heavenly Star. After all, both Heavenly Wind and Heavenly Sun are far smaller than Heavenly Star. They are only safe because of the large ocean that separates the continents. The Yu Family has already begun their expansion, and they have already occupied half the continent. As compared to the Shui Family, the Yu Family is far superior in wealth, soldiers and martial strength. In addition, our Shui Family has actually broken out in internal conflict at this moment. What is the point of talking about the generational battle? The meaning of this battle is truly… You should be extremely clear that I am not worried about the generational battle. I am more worried about whether or not our Shui Family will be around to take part in the generational battle!”
Ling Tian replied in a low voice, “You don’t have to be so worried. Yu ManLou would not dare to touch the Shui Family before he destroys me. In fact, he may not even dare to provoke the Shui Family. After all, it would only result in them suffering heavy losses, and his Yu Family would be swallowed up whole by me. While the Shui Family is currently in an awkward situation, it is still not facing the threat of destruction. However, I just do not understand why you guys must have a foothold in Heavenly Star. Wouldn’t it be enough to rule over the Heavenly Wind Continent? Isn’t such a move unnecessary?”
Shui QianRou replied with a bitter laugh, “The battle of factions within the Shui Family has already been going on for a couple of generations and our Shui Family did have wise individuals over the years as well. They knew that if the battle between the factions continued very long, destruction would be the only fate of the Shui Family. Thus, our ancestors commanded that if we could destroy the Yu Family, we should split up the direct descendants and side branch of the family. One faction will develop in Heavenly Wind while the other develops in Heavenly Star. With both factions being separated by the ocean, there wouldn’t be the risk of the family’s destruction. Even if one faction is successful in its development, they wouldn’t be able to harm the whole Shui Family. At the same time, both the factions can also be at ease. However, how could the Yu Family be destroyed so easily? If both families were to engage in an all-out battle, our Shui Family would definitely be the one to be destroyed! It would be a pipe dream to even win a Pyrrhic victory!”
“Besides that, a new force had also risen up in the Heavenly Wind Continent over the past five years called the Sky Alliance. When this force first appeared, they only had a few dozen people and were only capable of creating some minor disturbances. However, after just a couple of years, they had turned into the largest bandit group on the continent. Their organization was a tightly knit one and it was impossible to penetrate their ranks. There were a couple of times when the empires tried to surround them but they were an extremely slippery bunch. As soon as something was amiss, they would swiftly integrate themselves back into the civilian ranks. Once the danger was over, they would gather their forces together to take their revenge, creating a great deal of trouble for the empires that attempted to surround them. However, the empires were completely helpless against them because they did not have a fixed residence and would come and go like the wind. On top of that, their leaders are extremely skilled in martial arts and no one was capable of dealing with them. As time went on, they gradually became a large organization.”
“Sky Alliance…” Ling Tian let out a strange laugh and said with a solemn expression, “Could it be that your Shui Family allowed this Sky Alliance to do as they wish?”
Shui QianRou laughed bitterly. “Three years ago, some of the empires requested for us to take action to wipe out the Sky Alliance. However, my second uncle said that we should attempt to pull the Sky Alliance over to our side and personally went to carry out negotiations. My father was not supportive of this idea, but my second uncle was extremely insistent about it and the elders also pressured my father greatly. However, the negotiations went exceptionally well and the Sky Alliance actually agreed to our Shui Family demands and did not give us any conditions of their own. From then on, they gave us 30% of their monthly plunder. Just this alone was a huge benefit to our Shui Family and my second uncle also gained the support of the family’s elders because of this. The internal struggle within the family also intensified because of this…”
“However, how could such benefits last for long? A year ago, the wings of the Sky Alliance were fully grown and they suddenly ceased handing over a portion of their plunder to the Shui Family. The family was thoroughly enraged and my second uncle sent out the experts of the family to surround them but was unable to find them. However, the experts of our Shui Family were ambushed by the Sky Alliance on their way back and were almost completely wiped out.”
“After that incident, the Shui Family launched a couple of operations against the Sky Alliance, but they all ended in failure. They weren’t even willing to fight us in battle and would never be greedy for success. They did not even fall into a single one of our traps! Even with the allure of treasures, they would not fall for our tricks. At the same time, their style changed completely. They stopped plundering and diverted all of their attention toward our Shui Family. If our Shui Family appeared, they would kill if there weren’t many of us and hide if they were outnumbered. They would haunt us like a ghost and as a result, our whole family was fatigued by their actions. At the same time, my father’s shaky family head position was also preserved. Of course, the fractures within our family were also the reason for our inability to wipe out the Sky Alliance. Not a single faction was willing to allow their forces to be harmed by the Sky Alliance. Thus, the Sky Alliance grew stronger day by day.”
Ling Tian nodded his head and said with a questioning tone, “Could it be that a thousand-year-old family like your Shui Family is unable to wipe out a bunch of bandits? Did your dad have a hand in that?”
Shui QianRou’s face turned red and she said with helplessness, “He didn’t. In truth, my dad did indeed have such intentions at the start but he was unable to contact a single one of the bandit’s leaders! A bunch of bandits? Perhaps your words would be true five years ago, but the Sky Alliance had already developed to a frightening size three years ago. Together with the fact that they would rob the rich to aid the poor, they won the hearts of the commoners. When they hide among the commoners, unless we kill all of the commoners mercilessly, it would be impossible to capture them. Today, it is already a sizable force that even both the Shui and Yu Families have to treat seriously.”
A mysterious look of praise could be seen on Ling Tian’s lips as he said, “If that’s the case, these bandits are truly pretty capable.”
“They aren’t just ‘pretty capable’,” Shui QianRou had her head lowered in frustration and she did not see Ling Tian’s expression, “the leaders of these bandits are truly geniuses! I heard that the leader of the bandits is called Tian ZhiYi, the second leader Tian ZhiEr, and third leader Tian ZhiSi. They are a trio of biological triplets. While their names sound a little strange, they are all extremely valiant in battle and skilled in martial arts. Furthermore, their schemes are extremely brilliant, and they are a huge threat to our Shui Family. Our Shui Family attracts all the attention with our size while the Sky Alliance is always in hiding. As time went on, our family grew extremely frustrated… Thus, my father suggested to put them aside first and look into expanding in Heavenly Star. However, who would have imagined that things are a hundred times more troublesome in Heavenly Star?” Shui QianRou let out a long sigh of depression.
Ling Tian smiled but did not say a thing. What could he say? All of the frustration that the Shui Family faced was a result of his orders. Ling One, Ling Two and the rest traveled to Heavenly Wind with Ling Tian’s handwritten guerrilla warfare tactics. It truly wasn’t easy for them to develop to such a size in less than five years.
Thinking for a moment, Ling Tian then asked with doubt again, “Then why don’t you guys expand towards Heavenly Sun? There shouldn’t be any obstructions there, right? Why Heavenly Star?”
Shui QianRou rolled her eyes and said, “Heavenly Sun is far inferior to Heavenly Wind and they are lacking in basic commodities. So what if we conquer the continent? Wouldn’t it be equivalent to being banished? Neither factions would be willing to expand towards Heavenly Sun, and our ancestor’s command was for us to destroy the Yu Family and occupy Heavenly Star. First, this is so that both the factions would be united in the face of a common enemy. Second, this is because of our enmity with the Yu Family. Third, regardless of which faction occupies Heavenly Star, it would be a huge victory for our Shui Family. However, it seems like this is no more than a pipe dream. How lamentable, our family has actually broken out in conflict over this…”
Ling Tian chuckled before saying solemnly, “Your Shui Family shouldn’t be in such desperate straits right? It is just that I do not agree with the actions of your Shui Family. If I acknowledge your Shui Family, I believe that you guys would be able to replace the Yu Family. After all, you have already witnessed the strength of me and my Ling Family. I definitely have the strength to achieve that. However, there is only a single possibility to make me acknowledge your Shui Family. That is for your Shui Family to become my strength. At the very least, your Shui Family must aid my Ling Family. If not, I could not be bothered to be involved with your affairs. After all, it isn’t a happy affair to have an alliance partner that may stab me in the back at any moment!”
The matters of the world are always changing and the Ling Family was originally a small grassroots family in the eyes of the Shui Family. However, Ling Tian had actually said that the Shui Family needed to receive his acknowledgment. Furthermore, Shui QianRou, who was in front of him, did not have the intention of disagreeing with him. In Shui QianRou’s heart, the strength of the Ling Family had obviously exceeded her Shui Family.
This was an undeniable fact!
Shui QianRou had a frustrated look on her face as she said, “I know that you have such an ambition but our family would never agree to it. It would be impossible for even my dad to agree, not to mention the others!”
“Your dad wouldn’t agree? That’s right, your dad is the current family head and his agreement is truly important. But… what if you agree and you are the family head? What about that?!” Ling Tian said patiently, “I will promise you a complete Shui Family, and I only need the three continents to be united under my rule. As for your Shui Family, regardless of whether the world is united as one or the various empires are at war, your Shui Family would still be the Shui Family. What’s the difference? Do you understand what I mean?”
“If I was the family head…” Shui QianRou let out a fuzzy smile and her eyes were locked on Ling Tian’s face, “If I was the head of the Shui Family, whatever you want and whatever your request, I will agree to it!”
Shui QianRou’s burning gaze was fixed onto Ling Tian’s face for a long while before she added, “At that time, even if you want me to disband the Shui Family, I will agree to it without hesitation!” As she said that, she seemed to be a volcano that was on the verge of erupting!
Ling Tian suddenly felt an immense pressure. Shui QianRou was trying to force him to reveal his cards. With Shui QianRou’s personality, for her to say these words, it meant that she had already made a choice between Ling Tian and her family!
Letting out a long breath, Ling Tian suppressed the agitation in his heart and said, “You have to be clear about something. I want to unite the world, and what I want is not just the Shui Family. Even if we are able to be together someday, it shouldn’t be because the Shui Family helped me or because I helped the Shui Family. I do not want it to become an exchange of conditions. If we are together in the future, the only possibility is because both of us are willing parties! Regardless of who you choose to marry, the Shui Family will not be your dowry.”
“I understand! I truly understand!” Tears began to well up in Shui QianRou’s eyes and she looked as though a burden was lifted off from her shoulders, “I really understand what you mean. I wouldn’t mind… are you willing to trust me?!”
Ling Tian let out a bitter laugh, “Because I trust you, you have to be clear that regardless of the negotiations or dealings with your Shui Family, it would only be a matter between our families and not us. You must not have any sense of guilt.”
Shui QianRou wiped off her tears and huffed angrily, “You are obviously trying to force me. How can you still say such things after what I just said?!”
She was obviously trying to whine to Ling Tian. From this moment, on, the relationship between the two of them had also been completely transformed.
Ling Tian made an exaggerated expression in response, “What did I do? What did you do? I am only speaking the truth. You sound as though I am trying to force a lady into prostitution! As though I am trying to force you into a marriage with me.”
Shui QianRou burst out into laughter, “Aren’t you someone like that? A playboy who would resort to unscrupulous means to achieve your objectives whenever you see a pretty lady? Don’t think that I don’t know! Hmph!”
“Achieve my objectives? What objectives? What unscrupulous means did I resort to?” Ling Tian asked with an innocent smile.
“Scram!” Shui QianRou’s face turned red and she threw her pillow at Ling Tian.
Ling Tian chuckled and caught the pillow before taking a sniff on it. “How fragrant. The true fragrance of a virgin.”
Shui QianRou was both embarrassed and enraged, but she also felt her body was light and fluffy as though she was in the clouds. She had an inexplicable shyness in her heart and felt an immense sense of satisfaction. In all of her life, this was the first time she felt such sweetness in her heart.