Ninth In the World

“Yes, Xiangnu. It’s not easy for us to stay here, so we should try not to cause trouble.” The young man also walked over.

The woman called Xiangnu stared blankly at the seriously-injured young man and walked towards him.

The woman trying to persuade her hurriedly pulled her away. “Xiangnu, you never liked to cause trouble before. What’s going on this time?”

Xiangnu reacted. She turned to look at her two companions and said, “Ah Xi, Yumo, I’m not causing trouble. I feel that this seriously-injured person is strongly related to me. It’s an indescribable feeling… I have to save him today. I’m sorry.”

Not only did Xiangnu think this seriously-injured man was strongly related to her, but she also felt that she had to save him. It was a call coming from deep inside her without a reason.

“Alright, you bring him back. Ah Xi and I will go to the Harsh Spring Mountain Range first. Be careful on the way.” The other woman knew Xiangnu’s character. Once she decided something, she would not change her mind so she might as well not try to persuade her anymore.

…

When Di Jiu woke up, he found himself lying on a rock bed. His Spiritual Sea had disintegrated and he could only see this rock bed clearly with his eyes.

A woman was facing away from him and cooking something on a simple kitchen stove. Di Jiu knew she was boiling medicine based on the strong smell of herbs.

Di Jiu very soon felt that something was strange and felt a connection between him and her. It was a strange, indescribable connection.

“You’re awake. Here, drink some medicine.” The woman had already brought a bowl of medicine over. Di Jiu faintly felt that not only did she have a connection with him, but she was also somewhat familiar.

He had never seen this woman before indeed. Once she spoke, he came into contact with her language law.

Di Jiu knew that he could not be cured by such low-level medicinal herbs. His Spiritual Sea had transcended Nirvana and he did not have his Spiritual Sea now. A pearl with Dao runes circulating in it was floating in his Purple Palace. This pearl seemed to be related to his mind, but he did not have the time to examine it.

“I don’t have to drink the medicine. I know my own condition well. Thank you for saving me. What’s your name?” Di Jiu asked.

The woman did not force Di Jiu to drink it. Instead, she replied, “I’m Ning Xiangnu, what about you? How come you ended up outside the Harsh Spring Mountain Range?”

“I’m Di Jiu and I got injured in a fight with a demon beast…” Di Jiu casually told her.

“Ah…” Ning Xiangnu exclaimed in shock before saying, “I didn’t expect your surname to be Di. My mother’s surname is also Di.”

She was already wondering if this young man was related to her mother. Was that why she felt that he was so familiar?

“What’s your mother called? Di Jiu asked hurriedly. He also felt that this woman was somewhat related to him. This feeling was sometimes real.

Ning Xiangnu did not hide anything. “My mother is called Di Qiushui…”

Ning Xiangnu then put the medicine bowl in Di Jiu’s hands. “Big Brother Di, you should just drink a bit so that you can recover faster.”

Di Jiu was somewhat disappointed, as he did not know Di Qiushui nor had he heard of her. It had to be a coincidence.

“Where is this place?” He took the medicine bowl. Ning Xiangnu seemed to have a good heart. She had kind intentions, even though this medicine would not help him much.

Ning Xiangnu explained, “This is the Five Tranquil Plains. I originally planned to go to the Harsh Spring Mountain Range to search for spirit herbs and I happened to see you at the side of the road. I felt that the two of us were fated to meet deep in my heart, so I saved you…”

Di Jiu was silently apprehensive. Fortunately, his Quintessential World had a hidden restriction and ordinary cultivators were not able to see it. Otherwise, he would probably have caused a bad outcome.

Di Jiu lifted the medicine bowl and suddenly remembered that Ning Xiangnu’s eyes reminded him of Xiuqi’s charming gaze. It was no wonder that he found her somewhat familiar.

Was he missing Xiuqi too much?

“You have been staying here with your mother all along? Which continent is Five River Plains in?” Di Jiu, who sensed the familiarity, subconsciously asked.

Ning Xiangnu shook her head. “No, my mother and grandmother came from a place called Earth…”

Di Jiu’s hands were already trembling as he hurriedly asked, “What’s your grandmother called?”

Ning Xiangnu looked at Di Jiu doubtfully. “My grandmother is called Nong Xiuqi…”

Crash! The medicine bowl in Di Jiu’s hands dropped to the ground and he mumbled to himself, “Xiuqi left Earth and came here… Di Qiushui… Was Xiuqi pregnant with our children? I didn’t know anything. I’m sorry, Xiuqi…”

As a cultivator, Di Jiu naturally knew that a pregnant cultivator required more time than an ordinary person. This was definitely her first pregnancy, as the birth of his nomological Dao had happened at the same time.

“Where’s your grandmother?” Di Jiu hurriedly shouted as his hands trembled severely.

Ning Xiangnu, who sensed that something was not right, asked in a trembling voice, “Are you related to my mother… or grandmother?”

Di Jiu calmed down and stared at Ning Xiangnu fervently as he said, “Yes. According to my calculations, I’m Qiushui’s father…”

“You’re my grandfather?” Both of Ning Xiangnu’s hands trembled and her eyes were filled with tears. She could not hold them in. Eventually, the tears came streaming down. She then knelt down in front of Di Jiu. “You’re really my grandfather?”

Di Jiu felt embarrassed. Ning Xiangnu looked a few years older than him. The vicissitudes of age had already appeared on both of her rough hands and her face.

However, he immediately remembered that Ning Xiangnu was his granddaughter. They were blood relatives, so he was also excited deep inside.

He then pulled Ning Xiangnu up. “I shouldn’t be wrong. Where are your grandmother and mother?”

Di Jiu increasingly felt that he had let Nong Xiuqi down at the thought of her leading a difficult life all these years. By looking at Ning Xiangnu’s current situation, he reckoned that Xiuqi and Qiushui had not led a very good life either.

The tears in Ning Xiangnu’s eyes could not stop streaming down. “My grandmother killed my father and left with my mother…”

“What?” Di Jiu exclaimed in shock and looked at Ning Xiangnu in disbelief. Nong Xiuqi was definitely not a killer. How could she have killed her own son-in-law?

“What exactly is going on?” Di Jiu calmed down. He knew there was certainly a reason behind this. Otherwise, how could Nong Xiuqi have killed her own daughter’s husband?

Ning Xiangnu shook her head and remained silent.

Di Jiu grew anxious inside. “Do you know where they went?”

“I don’t know,” Ning Xiangnu replied in a low voice with some grievance.

“Why didn’t they bring you along?” Di Jiu wanted to know that reason even more.

Ning Xiangnu was silent for a long while before she said, “Grandmother said that there wasn’t anyone decent in the Ning family, especially my father… She then killed my father and left with my mother.”

“Did she come alone?”

Ning Xiangnu once again shook her head. “She did not. I still have an uncle called Di Wangchuan.”

“Di Wangchuan, Di Qiushui… Wangchuan Qiushui[1]…” Di Jiu mumbled to himself, “I’m sorry I’ve come back late. I have not even returned to Wang Chuan Temple.”

Even though Di Jiu understood the meaning of their names, he was unclear about Di Wangchuan’s name[2].

After a few minutes, Di Jiu came back to his senses. He had to find Xiuqi, Wangchuan, and Qiushui as soon as possible. He looked at Ning Xiangnu and asked in a mild tone, “Xiangnu, you know that I’m your grandfather. Tell me, why did your grandmother kill your father?”

Ning Xiangnu rubbed her eyes and hesitated for a long while before saying, “Although my mother is not a top-notch beauty, she has a very high aptitude. She broke through to the late-stage Pioneer Sea Realm when she was 20 years old and was even one step away from breaking through to the Ekayāna Tripod Realm.

That’s when my mother met my father, Ning Buqiao. It was love at first sight for them, so they decided to spend a lifetime together… My father came from a top-notch large clan in Five Tranquil Plains, the Ning Family. His family had a lot of geniuses and was very popular in the Big Deep Plain.”

Di Jiu frowned upon hearing that. Di Qiushui had only been 20 years old and since she had chosen Dao cultivation, she should not have fallen in love so early.

However, he also recalled that Nong Xiuqi had been just 20 years old when she had been with him. Thus, he could only sigh. Another thing he could not get was why Ning Xiangnu was still wandering about here if the Ning Family was a top-notch clan?

Ning Xiangnu added, “After my father brought my mother back to the Ning Family, the family very soon discovered that my mother’s cultivation level improved at a terrifying speed…”

Di Jiu had always been fighting with all kinds of old hags so he could immediately make out the problem. He interrupted Ning Xiangnu and said, “Xiangnu, you said before that your mother was not a top-notch beauty. Is your mother very beautiful? Tell me the truth.”

Ning Xiangnu hesitated for a while. “My mother is very delicate. Although she’s not considered a top-notch beauty, she’s a rare beauty. She’s at least more beautiful than me.”

Ning Xiangnu could only be considered delicate, not beautiful. Di Jiu asked, “Is your father handsome then?”

Ning Xiangnu immediately replied, “My father is very handsome. I remember people calling him the most handsome man in the Ning Family.”

Di Jiu’s heart sank. He was certain that Ning Buqiao was the one who had discovered the rapid speed of Di Qiushui’s cultivation level and not anyone else in the Ning Family. Ning Buqiao came from a large clan and he was very handsome. How could he have fallen for delicate Di Qiushui?

[1] It also means earnest anticipation

[2] The Wang Chuan in the idiom (望穿) is different from the one in Di Wangchuan (忘川)