195.2 – Gong Manor

Likely because he didn’t expect the two people he picked up and dropped off to be two famous martial practitioners, the young coachman stood aside dumbfounded. Lian Gui looked at him amiably.

“Little brother, you can drive the carriage back first. The Gong Manor will assume the responsibility of sending them back.”

“This…”

The young man looked at Qi Qiqi, at a loss. Consequently, Qi Qiqi nodded at him, indicating that he can leave.

“Open the gate, we are going to welcome distinguished guests!”

After his words fell, the Gong Manor’s gate opened slowly along with deep rumbling sounds.

Is it some kind of mechanism? Is it voice-activated? Looking back and forth between the old man and the automatically opening gate, Xue Qilin was quite surprised.

“Temple Master Qi, Senior Xue, please come inside.”

Lian Gui bowed slightly and made an inviting gesture.

＊

Under the guidance of the old man, Xue Qilin and Qi Qiqi stepped into the Gong Mansion.

Since Gong Jing is one of the great generals of the Four Guard Forts and his son is second-in-command in the Ministry of War, the Gong Clan can be said to be a double threat. Not only is their manor large and wide, but it also has all necessary amenities.

In the front courtyard house, there is an artificial lake glowing with silver-white moonlight, an array of strange mountains and rocks, and various flowers and trees.

The most eye-catching thing here is the ten statues in martial attires. Holding an identical spear, they are neatly lined up on both sides of the road leading to the main hall, looking quite majestic. Whether deliberate or coincidental, their eyes are slanted, looking in the direction of the Gong Manor’s gate.

“These are the ancestors of the Gong Clan.”

Qi Qiqi, who noticed Xue Qilin’s gaze rest on the statues several times, said softly in admiration.

“The Gong Clan has served in the army for generations and guarded the northern border ever since the Hua Dynasty’s conception, rendering remarkable military service. Do you see the spear in their hands?”

Qi Qiqi pointed at one of the statues, and Xue Qilin nodded and replied with a “yes”.

“That is the artifact, the guard spear ‘Northpiercer’, that the founding Emperor of the dynasty ordered to forge. It has been handed down in the Gong Clan for generations. This spear, which has claimed the lives of countless people over the past hundreds of years, is one of the famous guard artifacts.”

“That so…” Xue Qilin said with ample interest, “Then I’d really like to see the original.”

Suddenly, Xue Qilin had an epiphany, and her bright eyes focused on Qi Qiqi’s sleeve.

“Hey, Little Seven.”

“Hmm, what’s the matter?”

“You said that we will meet Old Master Gong later. Will he really agree to meet us just because we asked?”

“You’re really… stop being rude.”

Angered by Xue Qilin, Qi Qiqi raised her eyebrows. However —

“He-he, as long as Senior Xue says the word, Great Master should happily agree.”

Lian Gui, who is in the lead, turned around and said with a smile, “Great Master has heard of Senior Xue’s exploits, which he mentioned often. He seems to rather admire Senior Xue’s valor.”

“Oh, is that right? Hey, it appears that Old Master Gong is quite discerning.”

“As it should be.”

“Hey, you’re not bad either.”

Lian Gui smiled and stroked his gray beard complacently, saying, “This is as it should be as well.”

This old man is quite interesting! Xue Qilin wrinkled her nose, and her lips outlined the smile of a crook.

However, her smile froze in the next moment.

“…”

All expression suddenly disappeared from Xue Qilin’s face.

She stopped. Her sparkling, limpid eyes lit up, revealed bursts of dim light, and flickered with a certain shade.

“Qilin?” “Senior Xue?”

Qi Qiqi and Lian Gui both called out suspiciously.

Xue Qilin was silent.

Her emotionless gaze passed Qi Qiqi and Lian Gui and fell not far away from the latter.

An old man is standing in front of the main hall’s gate.

He is dressed in a black huafu [3], and countless faint stars are hidden in his murky eyes.

His long gray hair, which is tied into a ponytail behind him, flutters with the wind like a dragon. The outline of his face is well-defined, yet the skin is not sagging like that of ordinary elderly people. The faint scar on the right cheek makes him look imposing.

— unmoving like a mountain.

Just by standing there, the old man is like a mountain, exuding a majestic and overwhelming air.

“Heaven Realm… is that Gong Jing?”

Xue Qilin muttered to herself thusly. At the same time —

“Great General Gong!” “Great Master!”

Two exclamations rushed out from Qi Qiqi and Lian Gui respectively. They also discovered Gong Jing.

Upon hearing the exclamation of the two people, Gong Jing, who was looking silently at Xue Qilin, finally retracted his gaze and walked towards Qi Qiqi contentedly. When he aimed his gaze at Lian Gui, he nodded slightly.

“Temple Master Qi, this old one hasn’t seen you in a few years. You are growing more and more beautiful. Even when compared to Senior Beiming and Her Highness the Empress, who are hailed as the Hua Dynasty’s two pearls, you are not the least bit inferior. What this old one finds even more admiring is that Temple Master Qi, you stepped into the Earth Realm at the tender age of 16. In time, Temple Master Qi may still be able to break the record set up by Saintess ‘Asura’er’ from the Western Regions’ Vajrayana Buddhism and become the youngest Heaven Realm master and even Grandmaster in history! The designation “proud daughter of Heaven”, no one else is more worthy of it than you, Temple Master Qi.”

He paused here and sighed rather emotionally.

“Your esteemed father’s soul in Heaven is surely proud of you…”

Qi Qiqi wanted to say something, but then hesitated.

After a while, she showed an ugly smile mixed with bitterness and responded softly, “Great General Gong is flattering. It would be great if, just like Great General Gong said, this girl’s father could be happy for this girl in Heaven.”

“Although this old one was not familiar with you esteemed father, but I have fought him many times five years ago. This old one can roughly tell from his sword intent that he was an upright gentleman. How could such a person not feel proud when his daughter achieves unprecedented accomplishments?”

Qi Qiqi is a genius of the martial path. Not only is her talent beyond outstanding, but with her own efforts and the Merak Temple’s resources, she finally made history and stepped into the Earth Realm at the age of 16. She became the youngest Earth Realm expert in history, leaving her name in the annals of history.

Although she has been with her all the time, but Xue Qilin didn’t actually have much sense of Qiqi’s achievements. It is only now that Gong Jing is raining praise on Qi Qiqi, that she finally realized that Qi Qiqi is quite famous.

Well, whether it is beauty or talent, Qi Qiqi has the potential to reach the top of the world.

Either due to excitement or embarrassment, Qi Qiqi’s cheeks flushed slightly. However, she still smiled reservedly.

[3] – huafu

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