Chapter 268: Beauty and the Painting
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
Qin Mu left Saint Arrival Mountain and returned to Imperial College. Gu Linuan immediately ran over and held a banquet to welcome him back.
Qin Mu stared with eyes wide open, torn between laughter and tears. He smiled and asked, "Lord Gu, is there a need for this?"
Gu Linuan smiled and said, "As fellow practitioners of the devil path, we naturally have to support one another. Cult Master Qin, is Junior Protector Sword still to your liking?"
"It is. I'm not returning it," Qin Mu explained. "The rules of our Great Ruins…"
"I know!" Gu Linuan laughed loudly. "I stayed in Great Ruins for two hundred years and I know its rules—things that got scammed with one's abilities are never returned! You see? Aren't you regarding me as an outsider again? Hahahaha! I've stayed in Great Ruins for two hundred years so Great Ruins can be considered to be partly my homeland, we're half fellow countryman! Now that Cult Master Qin has returned from our homeland, how can I not treat you to a meal to relieve the feeling of homesickness?"
Qin Mu was flabbergasted and sighed. "Lord Gu's realm is too high, this little brother admires you."
"I dare not, I dare not! Cult Master Qin is the talented youth, born a hero."
After they flattered each other, Gu Linuan sighed ruefully. "When I first saw you in Great Ruins, I instantly knew you weren't any mediocre talent, but bound to achieve meteoric success in your career, yet never would have I expect this day to come so fast. Cult Master Qin… Sigh, ain't I regarding you as an outsider by calling you Cult Master Qin? Cult Master, due to unforeseen circumstances, there are quite a lot of empty positions among the first and second ranking officials in the imperial court, could cult master help to pull some strings?"
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry and said, "Lord Gu, I'm just a fifth ranking little official…"
"If Cult Master doesn't regard me as an outsider, you can call me Linuan."
Qin Mu composed himself and said, "I'm merely a fifth ranking palace grandee without any real power in hand, where do I have the rights to ask questions regarding the promotions of first and second ranking officials? Truth be told, the sword that killed the crown prince was this Junior Protector Sword that I scammed from Lord Gu. The emperor is actually bearing a grudge in his heart and has some worries towards my Heavenly Saint Cult. If I tried to put in a word to raise the rank of Lord Gu, I would actually be harming you."
Gu Linuan's smiled. "That's indeed the case, Cult Master is wise. Let me propose a toast to you."
He was an understanding man, and the motive behind his invitation to the banquet wasn't to make Qin Mu put in a word to the emperor for him to rise in ranks. It was to make friends with Qin Mu and resolve their earlier grudges.
No matter if Qin Mu was or wasn't the emperor's favorite person now, he had to make friends with him.
The devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult was an existence on the same level as Rulai and Dao Master. Building a good relationship with Qin Mu was equivalent to building a good relationship with Rulai or Dao Master, and if that could be done with just a banquet, it was naturally a profitable bargain.
After the banquet, Gu Linuan personally sent Qin Mu back to Scholar's Residence. On their way back, Qin Mu was bewildered when he noticed some foreigners at Imperial College.
"After the rebellion, the new crown prince abolished the treaty the renegade had signed and took back the lands. Some of the foreign countries were terrified, so they sent over peaceful envoys to learn the culture of Eternal Peace."
Gu Linuan could see his suspicions and said, "The crown prince permitted it. He permitted foreigners to seek knowledge in Eternal Peace while some descendants of aristocrats would be learning in Imperial College."
Qin Mu nodded, then suddenly saw a familiar face and was slightly stunned. He smiled towards a youth and called out, "Pangong Tso!"
That youth who was from the barbarian race in the prairie turned back to look at Qin Mu, with puzzlement in his eyes. There were numerous retainers from his foreign country following behind him, and two of them were great shamans of Rolan's Golden Palace.
Pangong Tso asked the person beside him in a low voice, and a great shaman immediately said something to him in a low voice. Pangong Tso suddenly understood and returned a greeting to Qin Mu indifferently. "So it's Heavenly Devil Cult Master. What's the matter, Cult Master?"
Qin Mu was stunned again and just shook his head. "Nothing."
Pangong Tso and the rest walked away.
Qin Mu frowned slightly, and Gu Linuan caught it. He asked, "Cult Master, you recognize this Pangong Tso?"
"He's the youngest son of Barbarian Di Empire's Khan. I once saw him practicing his punches at the border and his fist skills have a unique bearing, which should stem from a unique constitution."
Qin Mu looked at the back of Pangong Tso and pondered over it. "He once challenged Chancellor Ba Shan and said he will definitely defeat Chancellor Ba Shan in the future, giving me a deep impression of him. Why does it seem like he just met me for the first time…"
Gu Linuan smiled and said, "With the nature of a youth, he must have forgotten."
Qin Mu returned to Scholar's Residence, where the dragon qilin lay outside the house. When he came into the room, he felt that it was lonely and somehow wrong
"If only Ling'er was here." He sighed to himself.
If Hu Ling'er was here, she would definitely tidy up the room so this place wouldn't so messy. The entire room would also be arranged comfortably.
Suddenly, the low and muffled voice of the dragon qilin came from outside. "Young lady, who are you looking for?"
"Is your Cult Master Qin around?" a pleasant voice asked.
"He is."
"I'm going in."
"Okay."
Qin Mu immediately walked out of the room and saw Ling Yuxiu pushing the door. This young lady was charming as she smiled with her red lips and white teeth. She wore a gown with a red overlap and collar. When she walked into the courtyard, an air brimming with youthfulness bombarded Qin Mu and made his heart race slightly.
"The one who herds cows!" The girl's eyes were shining brightly as she walked over with a smile. "The big dog at your door is quite easy to talk to!"
"I'm going to put him on the table for the next New Year's dinner, he can't even guard a door properly!" Qin Mu said ruthlessly.
The dragon qilin's voice came from outside, "Cult Master, I heard everything."
"I wanted you to hear it! You only know how to eat besides sleeping!"
Qin Mu examined this princess in detail and saw that she was becoming more and more beautiful, even if her face still had the childish nature of an infant. However, she was still taller than Qin Mu and was a big young lady. Her spring gown couldn't hide her alluring figure, the two melons that were about to burst out, making it hard for him to move his gaze away from her body.
Qin Mu had also started to grow taller recently, and he was doing it as frantically as the weeds in a desolate land once spring came.
The last time they've met, this princess was still a wild lass who wore male clothing was very free and at ease.
Ling Yuxiu came to the front of the yellow pear tree in the courtyard and only saw small buds. However, the blossoms needed to open up first and the stamens to pop their heads from the tender petals.
Ling Yuxiu stretched her slender jade hands to fiddle with the flowers and smiled. "You're pretty interesting, to plant a pear tree on a jade mountain. When the pear blossoms, I must definitely come to admire…"
"Don't move!" Qin Mu's eyes lighted up, and he said, "Stay in this posture. Give me a second!"
He quickly took out his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to paint. Ling Yuxiu was a little impatient and said, "Are you done yet? My arm is already aching."
"Right away."
Qin Mu was about to finish the painting, but he stopped at the last stroke, taking out his seal to stamp on the painting before placing down the last stroke with a smile. "It's done."
Ling Yuxiu came over and looked at his painting. She saw that she looked slightly shy in the painting, and it was evident that Qin Mu had managed to capture the bashfulness that had poured out from her heart.
"Such likeness," Ling Yuxiu exclaimed in admiration. "Why did you have to stamp your seal first before drawing the last stroke?"
"My painting skill is too good. If I finish the last stroke first, you will walk down from the painting and run away. This stamp is also called a seal. Take a look at the picture on the seal, it isn't my surname but a kind of sealing rune instead," Qin Mu explained.
Ling Yuxiu went up to take a look at the seal and the two of them huddled together. Qin Mu's gaze shifted toward the face of the girl and saw the soft redness on her fair cheek as well as her bright and clear eyes. While she looked at the seal seriously, her fair neck was very moving and her serious attitude made his heart race.
"It's really sealing runes!" Ling Yuxiu was astonished and said curiously, "If this seal is wiped away, can I really walk out of the painting?"
Qin Mu nodded and said, "What I use is Bestowing Soul Skill and Bestowing the Divine Soul with a Dot Using Mutual Sensitivity. However, I only succeeded once and I don't know if it would have worked this time. Still, it's best to seal the painting in case you run away."
Ling Yuxiu looked at him shyly and immediately rolled up the painting. "This painting in mine, don't steal it from me! That's right, I've almost forgotten about the task at hand. Father has summoned you into the palace, he said it's for diagnosing his injuries. I met the eunuch sending the decree and took his job."
Qin Mu tidied up his clothes and said, "Are you coming along with me?"
"Alright! We haven't met for quite a while and I have things I want to tell you."
The young man and young woman walked out of the room, and the dragon qilin raised his head. "Cult Master, I'll guard the door and definitely not let anyone in."
"Got it," Qin Mu said. "Perform well and I won't put you on the table for New Year. And also, train more, remember all the muscles on the green bull's body. How can you defeat him like this?"
The two people walked out of Scholar's Residence and saw many scholars greeting them with smiles on the way. However, most of them looked terrified, so it was evident that they had heard that Qin Mu was the devil cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, a fellow of savage nature. He had chopped off Ling Yuxia's head in front of the emperor and was truly fiendish.
Outside Scholar's Residence, Chancellor Ba Shan walked over with long strides and behind him were two scholars. One of them was Wei Yong and the other was Yue Qinghong. These two people had great improvements in their cultivation, so it was obvious that they had received quite a lot of benefits from cultivating with Chancellor Ba Shan.
Behind them came a big green bull that was incomparably robust. He walked on the road with two legs and lumps of muscle covered his entire body. Fire spewed out from his nostrils, and he looked extremely fiendish with a peony in his mouth.
Chancellor Ba Shan stopped and smiled. "Cult Master Qin, are you two eloping?"
"We're not," Ling Yuxiu said angrily. "Don't speak nonsense, Teacher Ba Shan, father has summoned him to the palace!"
Chancellor Ba Shan laughed loudly and said to Qin Mu, "I met that Pangong Tso brat of Barbarian Di Empire just now, and he has become very strange. Even though he recognizes me, he's no longer that Pangong Tso."
Qin Mu nodded and said, "I also have this feeling. Pangong Tso didn't recognize me, and he seemed like a different person."
"His abilities are very strong; no weaker than yours," Chancellor Ba Shan said.
Qin Mu's blinked and asked in doubt, "No weaker than mine? I'm very strong."
Chancellor Ba Shan gave him a look. "His Six Directions Divine Treasure is about to break through, and I can also feel a kind of terrifying power hiding in his body. You might not be able to beat him! Could this barbarian brat have had a miraculous encounter? Yet it doesn't seem like a miraculous encounter, but more like spirit possession… Go and meet the emperor first, I'll come and find you later."
Qin Mu came to the palace with Ling Yuxiu to see that both the emperor and Imperial Preceptor were there. Beside them was also an ugly man whose face was covered in warts, and he was diagnosing their injuries.
Qin Mu walked in, and Emperor Yanfeng raised his head to reveal a smile. "Palace Grandee is here."
The man whose face was covered in warts looked at Qin Mu and his mouth broke into a grin. He was like a huge toad that had transformed into a spirit, and his smile looked like a crying face. "Junior Brother, is Teacher, that old man, still doing well?"
Qin Mu stopped in his footsteps and stretched his hand out to block Ling Yuxiu's way. "Little Poison King?"