The General's Genius Daughter

“Yes, I will. Don’t worry!”

Yun Shimo replied quietly and left with the hare.

They came to the tower.

Ji Feng and the others also followed behind. The hare glanced at them. “You’d better have a good drink with them. They are worried over you too. I will search my Space Ring to see if there are any manuals to raise your powers.”

Even the hare was not confident. Besides, it needed to raise its own powers too. But the hare liked to collect manuals on forbidden arts. Perhaps he could find a few useful ones?

Yun Shimo silently walked to a pavilion in front of the tower. The maidservants quickly served the guests and their master fruits and snacks.

Ji Feng and Huangfu Xuan exchanged glances. Ji Jing was not a patient girl. The moment she sat down, she asked in a whisper, “Brother Yun, what really is going on? That man must be that devil Tianpi. But why would Sister Qiyue agree to leave with him?”

From Hua Qiyue’s expression, one could see that she hated Yun Shimo so much. She wanted to shred him into pieces. Yet her expression was also full of love.

The clash between love and hatred made Hua Qiyue unable to act. Ji Jing was extremely worried. But Yun Shimo merely raised his teacup without saying anything.

Ji Feng glared at Ji Jing and said in a low voice, “Don’t be anxious, Jing’er. There must be a reason. Tianpi is a devil. Perhaps he had Qiyue under his control.”

“Yes, that must be it. That must be the reason why Qiyue was willing to go.” Huangfu Xuan also chimed in. But Yun Shimo said nothing, merely continuing to take his wine quietly.

The company saw him this way and no longer said anything. They kept Yun Shimo company silently.

“I can’t talk about this matter. But I will find a way… to bring her back.” Yun Shimo finally spoke. His voice was extremely hoarse. The company watched his haggard face and although perplexed, did not dare to ask more.

“Brother Yun, you must take good care of yourself!” Ji Feng said softly. He took out some precious herbs from his Storage Ring. “You may need these for your refining. Accept them first.”

Yun Shimo glanced at these precious herbs. Although they could not match top-grade divine herbs like the Ginseng with Nine Souls, they were important in guiding herbs to the meridians.

Yun Shimo started to thank him, but his entire person was still apathetic and dispirited.

“Brother Yun, don’t act this way. I believe Sister Qiyue will be soon back by your side. By the way, I heard that an ambassador of the Nanhe Kingdom had learned of Sister Qiyue’s departure. He immediately requested the Emperor to let their princess marry you.” Ji Jing wanted to broach some amusing topic and liven up the atmosphere.

Ji Feng sneered. “Nanhe Kingdom is ambitious and greedy, isn’t it? It has always wanted to align the southern states and invade Changjing Kingdom. Unfortunately, we have Brother Yun and Qiyue with us. A big shot at the Great Deity realm. Now, it doesn’t even dare to let off a fart.”

“Humph, those small fries. It’s not up to them to decide Brother Yun’s marriage. Who do they think they are?” Ji Jing said with a laugh. “Sister Qiyue will surely return. Prince Nan’s consort will be her for sure.”

Only now did Yun Shimo slowly relax the muscles on his face. “Indeed, she will be my consort. If anyone knows better forbidden arts that can improve my powers, please share them with me.”

Everyone started to shake their heads. What forbidden art manuals? They would never possess these forbidden books.

“Then I can only rely on the Sun Moon Deity.” Yun Shimo turned silent again. He quietly drank his wine, his eyes full of melancholic sorrow.

The night was dense with cold moonlight. Everyone silently kept Yun Shimo company until the return of the hare.

Only when the rest had dispersed did the hare slowly take out an ancient scroll.

Yun Shimo anxiously took and unfurled it. There were only three words on the scroll: “The Heavenless Book”.

Apart from these three words, there was nothing else.

“What’s this?” Why was the rest of the scroll a blank? Why wasn’t there any explanation?

Hare harrumphed. It did not know how to explain too. “I don’t know. Only that many people were trying to seize this. So I joined in the fun and snatched it from the Eight-horned Dragon. After losing the Purple Primordial Chaos Bead and Hallucinatory Pearl, that old creature had regressed into an ordinary dragon.”

Yun Shimo gazed silently and intently at the blank on the scroll. He could see nothing. The hare must have seized it and then thrown this manual into the ring, unable to make heads or tails out of it.

“Are there other manuals?”

Yun Shimo frowned. He really wanted to rapidly advance his powers. At the very least, he must defeat Tianpi to get close to Hua Qiyue.

The hare shook its head. “Nothing more. I have already given you all my good stuffs.”

After thanking the hare, Yun Shimo silently left Prince Nan’s mansion with the scroll. He left for the depths of the mountains. The hare followed silently behind. The Man-Hunting Insect and Asura Chicken were also with them.

“Hare, hare, where has our little master gone?”

The Man-Hunting Insect queried from behind the hare. Hare rolled its eyes at them. “Didn’t you see what happened yesterday?”

“No. We were drunk. We have just woken. Um… why are our little master and big mistress gone?” The Man-Hunting Insect innocently blinked its large eyes. The Asura Chicken also started to cackle. It had always been so slim, as if it had never put on weight before.

“Go and ask the people around you!” The hare was impatient. It instantly vanished, going after Yun Shimo.

The Asura Chicken and the Man-Hunting Insect helplessly exchanged glances. They could only fly back to Hua’s Mansion and ask Caining and Caiqing.

Yun Shimo arrived in the depths of the mountains.

It was nearly 300 kilometers away from the capital. Yun Shimo sat quietly down under a large Bodhi Tree. His long, shapely and fair fingers unfurled the ancient scroll. His handsome features seemed to have comprehended something. He sat silently there, ignoring the wind, the falling leaves and every sound.

The hare silently squatted on one side. It did not disturb Yun Shimo.

All Qi Artists at the Great Deity Realm must rely on lethal skills and their innate understanding if they stalled in their cultivation.

Just like the hare giving him the Heavenless Book. It must be some scroll requiring comprehension. Ordinary people would not make heads or tails out of it.

Yun Shimo had no other choice. His inky hair drifted in the wind, brushing his deep-set profile now and then. His handsome brows was clouded by a tinge of melancholy.

He neither moved nor said anything, sitting on like this…

—

“Wow! Ice City is so, so big! So many ice sculptures around!” The moment the little fellow entered the Ice City, he immediately whooped with joy. The boy attracted some disdainful stares from around him.

These people thought that Tianci was only a country boy from the mountains. But after looking at the outfits of Tianci, Hua Qiyue and her friends, their eyes were filled with great astonishment!

The men were exceedingly handsome and the woman so gorgeous that she could cause a city to fall. The boy was as charming as a jade sculpture. His large eyes seemed like dark grapes, luscious and attractive.

All the fabrics they were wearing were of premium quality. They must be from distinguished families.

Hua Qiyue cast her eyes far out. The Ice City had indeed lived up to its name. There were many ice sculptures of flowers, plants and animals on both sides of the street. They were of a wide variety of shapes, exquisite and pretty.

The weather was very cold. All their exhaled breaths had turned into white vapors.

Tianci was unusually excited. He pointed at a small food stall nearby and yelled, “Mom, I want to eat Five-flavored Balls!”

Hua Qiyue looked where his finger was pointing. She saw a little stall selling special meatballs— beef balls, pork balls, beast balls and the likes. The five flavors meant that the meatballs would taste sour, sweet, bitter and spicy all at once…

“Alright. Mom will take you there.”

Hua Qiyue was quite uninterested. But since Tianci liked it, she smiled softly. With his hand in hers, they walked over.

Tianpi and Hua Zun were silently following behind. When they sat down, the two glanced at each other. Tao Xian’er in her previous life had been born into an affluent family. Her clan doted on her and she had never suffered. So she usually did not like food from such stalls.

The moment Tianci sat down, he made the waiter bring them their tastiest foods. They would have one portion of meatballs of each kind.

Hua Qiyue was left totally speechless. Tianpi and Hua Zun also sat by one side, their faces wreathed with smiles. “Look, the food here is indeed tasty. So many people trying to squeeze their way in!”

Indeed, after a while, many started to squeeze their way in to where they were— men and women, the old and the young. No one knew whether they were after Hua Qiyue and her friends, or the tasty meatballs.

The waiter saw that these customers were all splendidly attired and good-looking. His face immediately lit up with a smile. “Please wait for a while, sirs and madam. Soon, we will be serving the meatballs. I guarantee that everyone will find them delicious!”

Hua Qiyue glanced at the waiter quietly. Her eyes, once as clear as spring water, were now glazed over with indifference. Tianpi’s heart immediately sank. Hua Qiyue now was so lifeless.

She must have that man still in her heart!

Now and then, Hua Zun would cast her a surreptitious glance. Her expression was still so cold and indifferent. Only when she faced Tianci would she show a tender, quiet smile.

Soon, the waiter brought them a dozen plates of meatballs. They were of all kinds— yellow, white, purple and red… an assortment of colors. They did not look at all like meatballs, but plates of dyed beads.

“This is a special snack of Nanhe Kingdom. They make meatballs out of special herbs. Usually, they’re tonics as well. So these are very popular among common folks. They come in a wide variety of colors and they take after the color of the herbs.” Tianpi lazily narrowed his eyes and picked up a bamboo skewer. He poked at a meatball and bit into it.

Hua Qiyue and Tianci were also looking forward to the food. They bit a mouthful and instantly felt their tongues overwhelmed by strange flavors!

“Wow! They’re yummy!” Tianci’s large eyes brightened. He was excitedly enjoying this special snack of Nanhe Kingdom.

Hua Qiyue slightly pursed her lips. Her eyes, as profound as an inky sea, were unfathomable. No one could tell what she was thinking. A ray of sunlight shone in through a hole in the canopy, illuminating her ravishing face.

“Humph, a country boy visiting the city, everything’s new to him.”

A cold voice interrupted their eating.

Hua Qiyue ignored the voice. But Tianci looked in the direction from which it had come. On their left was a table with three men and a woman. They were dressed in finery, looking at him with disdainful eyes.

Tianpi indifferently lifted up his brows. “Ugly two-horned dragons, mocking a better-evolved human. What ignorance!”

The men heard him and immediately glared at Tianpi. “What nonsense are you spouting?”

Hua Zun replied with a chuckle. “My brother is talking about you fellows. Don’t you get it, you foolish descendants of the dragon?”