Refining the Mountains and Rivers

"The fish soup is here!" Little Sea walked up with a smile, carrying a stone pot in her hands. Qin Yu noticed the eyes of the ship's cultivators on him, but didn't place them in his heart.

She put down the tableware and lifted the lid. "Taste it. What do you think of the flavor?"

As the milk-white fish soup entered his throat, it was incomparably tasty. Qin Yu gave her a positive thumbs up.

Little Sea smiled blindingly.

A table of dishes, a pot of fish soup, all of this was cooked by Little Sea. In truth, the flavor was much better than what Qin Yu imagined. He hadn't had a proper meal in a long, long time. He let loose and continued eating until sweat formed on his forehead.

After eating until he couldn't any longer, Qin Yu laid down his chopsticks and let out a long breath, "I'm full."

Little Sea had already prepared the tea. She put down a cup in front of him. Qin Yu wasn't polite; he drank it down in one gulp.

He laid down the teacup and thought for a moment before saying, "I'm sure many things have happened in these past years. If you don't want to tell me then I won't ask. But, what do you plan on doing from here on out?"

He looked down below deck, "In the end, subsisting on the sea is a hard way to live. Hai Ya'er will eventually grow up. You don't want her to continue hiding in her cabin, do you?"

Little Sea bit her lips. "I have always raised Hai Ya'er in her cabin. Besides concern over her safety, it is because I didn't want her to be contaminated by the atmosphere of the sea. Originally, I had already completed arrangements. Once she grows a little bit more, I was going to send her to shore."

She looked at him and respectfully bowed, "I must thank you for today. Because of you, us mother and daughter were able to survive. I know I shouldn't be asking anything else of you, but for Hai Ya'er's sake, I can only thicken my facial skin and say it. Qin Yu, I hope you can bring Hai Ya'er away from here. You don't need to look after her much. Please just take her someplace where she can live a calm and stable life."

Qin Yu let out a deep breath, "Stand up. It makes me uncomfortable when you're like this." Seeing that Little Sea had no intention of rising, Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows. "Little Sea, what are you doing? Since I have agreed to be Little Sea's uncle, I will definitely look after her. But you, why must you leave your daughter? Are you that cruel that you want her to leave by herself, experiencing loneliness in this world?"

Little Sea's eyes reddened but she didn't say anything.

Qin Yu lightly said, "If she must go, then you will go with her and I will make sure you both live somewhere safe. Otherwise, you will need to endure hardsh.i.p.s here with your daughter."

Little Sea looked up. She was already crying copiously. "I…I am not worthy of being Hai Ya'er's mother…with me by her side…she will never be able to lift up her head…"

Qin Yu coldly sneered, "Just because you practice charm techniques and walk the path of plundering?"

Little Sea's crying paused and her face paled. She originally wanted to conceal this, but she never thought that Qin Yu would see through her. Shame ran hot through her body. She forcefully suppressed this feeling so that she wouldn't fall over. "If you knew then…why…why eat food that I prepared…"

"Humph! Why did I eat the food that you prepared? Little Sea, you must remember that the most dangerous thing in this world is nothing more than the hearts of people. Even if they are splendid on the outside, who knows how ugly they are on the inside? Even if some people are covered with scars, that doesn't mean their original intention has changed.

"No matter what others think, in the eyes of me, Qin Yu, you are the same Little Sea as before. You are my friend and this will never change."

Little Sea wept out loud. She wanted to vent all of the sorrow and injustice she felt in her heart.

Qin Yu didn't stop her. He watched as she cried her voice hoarse and finally fainted.

He picked her up. She was light and weightless, as if a simple breeze would blow her away.

Looking at her pale face and her inflamed red eyes, Qin Yu suddenly pushed back the previous decision he made.

He needed to investigate just what it was that Little Sea experienced and whether there was someone behind all of this.

If someone really had harmed her, making her end up in her current situation, Qin Yu vowed he would teach them what it meant to suffer a fate worse than death!

…

Although Little Sea was discreet, with so many people by her side, there were bound to be some who knew about her past.

Qin Yu didn't spend too much effort before he found out what she had experienced these past years. Put in words, it wasn't too complex. She hadn't been able to see through the fake façade of others and had chosen a cruel and heartless husband. Her life was made unbearably difficult and after she finally reached the edge of her limits, she had no choice but to bring her daughter with her and return to the sea.

As for the horrible family that had treated the mother and daughter so harshly, they had already all died off before Little Sea left. She was someone with no background that came from the sea. No matter how she seemed on the surface, there was always a trace of cut-throat ferocity in her bones.

Qin Yu let out a long breath and laid down this matter. He only wanted to determine if someone had purposefully plotted to harm Little Sea and never expected he would dig up her sad past.

Although the methods Little Sea used to bring this matter to an end might seem a bit vicious, if she didn't hate them to the extreme, if they didn't terribly mistreat her, how could she have done this?

Qin Yu wasn't a saint, so he would naturally stand on Little Sea's side and consider things from her perspective, and thus he could understand why she did what she did. With all of these grudges having been brought to an end, all that remained was to place the mother and daughter somewhere safe.

He originally didn't want to stay here, but he inevitably stayed for another day. Little Sea eventually changed her mind and brought her daughter to leave with Qin Yu.

She didn't choose to return to the mainland. To Little Sea, that place was now a land of sorrow. Qin Yu brought them with him as he rushed towards the sea race's capital city.

On that day, Little Sea had concealed some things from the Ecstasy Union Sect cultivators; she had not only seen the divine stone that fell from the heavens, but she also found out where it landed in the sea.

Qin Yu summoned the sea map and compared it to the position that Little Sea told him about. He frowned. After determining that Little Sea didn't wish to return to land, he immediately set off.

While his initial experiences in the sea races' capital city weren't too pleasant, there were still some people there who had weight in his heart.

For instance, Sang Yueyue. That little girl must be an a.d.u.l.t by now.

For instance, Leon. This boy of an uncertain fate and who was still his only disciple.

And there was also the one he owed a favor to, the Commander of the Wolf Riders - Xue Zheng.

The area where the divine stone had crashed was near the capital city. Now that all the influences of the Land of Divinity and Demons had begun to stir, it was unknown what methods they would use.

The sea races were strong, but that was only relatively speaking. If they were to face people from the Land of Divinity and Demons, a single misstep and they would suffer calamity.

Qin Yu wasn't in the mood to be their savior, but he wasn't cruel enough to watch on helplessly as those people he was acquainted with experienced catastrophe.

Little Sea looked up. Seeing the broad shoulders and tall figure of the man in front of her, she felt peace inside.

This familiar sense of security that she had never felt from anyone else before, wrapped around her.

In the past, if she had less scruples and recklessly chased after him, would she have had to withstand the suffering she did these past years?

Her heart was astringent and a blurry look came over her face. Hai Ya'er seemed to sense something. She waved her hand in front of Little Sea's face and asked, "Mama, are you okay?"

Little Sea regained her composure. She looked at the kind Hai Ya'er and quickly composed herself. What use was there in thinking about what might have happened in the past? If Qin Yu discovered any of this, it would only make things awkward for the two of them.

If Hai Ya'er's future was affected because of this, even if she died as an apology she would still feel guilty.

Little Sea lifted Hai Ya'er up into her eyes. She smiled and said, "It's nothing. Mama is just curious what type of place the sea races' capital city is."

Qin Yu took a step forward. Water split apart in front of him, forming a channel that dove deep into the sea. His eyes flashed and he let loose a gentle breath. With his current cultivation boundary, his senses far surpassed the imaginations of others.

Qin Yu had already detected certain feelings that Little Sea had. But he had simply decided to feign ignorance. However, he was still a little worried. If Little Sea revealed anything to him, what should he do so that she wasn't heartbroken?

Now, it seemed that Little Sea had thought things through on her own. This was undoubtedly the best result.

He deliberately slowed down the pace in consideration for Little Sea and her daughter. They still arrived outside the sea races' capital city in one day. Even after dozens of years, nothing seemed to have changed.

Qin Yu probed with his senses and then relaxed. The situation was much better than what he assumed. While there were several tyrannical auras in the capital city, they were orderly and nothing was in chaos.

His eyes fell upon several giant sh.i.p.s stationed outside the capital city. His eyes flashed and said, "Come, let's go."

The strength of the path of water spread out, shrouding over the three people. Even until the moment they entered the capital city, no one noticed their arrival.

Fluctuations of water covered their figures. With Qin Yu's current cultivation, if he wanted to hide, there was no flaw in his concealment.

The divine stone was good, but he had no intention of competing for it. The only reason he came to the sea races' capital city was to confirm the safety of some people as well as place Little Sea and her daughter here.

If so, then it was best to cause as little trouble as possible. He didn't want to alarm many people, otherwise if he were sucked in it would be difficult to extricate himself.

He walked through the long streets. There were many sea folk along the path, but if anyone approached them, they would be unknowingly pushed aside with an invisible strength.

Qin Yu suddenly stopped. He looked up at a high nine layer pavilion that had the characters 'Sea Spirit Pavilion' written atop a plaque in large brilliant strokes.

The front entrance was open and numerous sea folk walked in and out. Business was clearly good.