Chapter 59: Ripples

A few days later, before the new year, Qin Hanyue left quietly, taking Qin Xue with her.

Looking at the somewhat empty home, Qin Li felt a bit lost for a moment. Then he smiled mockingly to himself. It seemed he had actually grown used to his current identity. Since when did Qin Li need to rely on others’ care to survive?

Qin Hanyue’s departure seemed a bit sudden, but upon careful thought, it was actually quite reasonable.

A highly talented woman had endured hardship, raising her child all on her own for thirteen years. Thirteen years—not just a day or two! What’s more, Qin Hanyue was once the young lady of the Qin Family, with a noble status. Others used to wait on her—when had she ever waited on others?

Thirteen years had almost worn this proud daughter of heaven down into an ordinary housewife.

Luckily, Qin Li had finally risen and matured.

Qin Hanyue watched her son grow explosively in such a short time. He had cunning, methods, and intelligence—he lacked nothing. Finally, she felt at ease. And then, a wave of longing, suppressed for thirteen whole years, washed over her.

Almost five thousand days and nights!

They say one day apart feels like three years. How many years apart did she endure in those thirteen years?

That feeling gave Qin Hanyue an uncontrollable impulse to rush immediately to the Mysterious Island. But she held back. She still could not fully trust her son to live alone.

Only after her son attended the Shangguan Family’s banquet and she learned the full details did she finally let go completely. She had always believed that her only option in this lifetime was to wait for him to come here again, that there was no other possible outcome.

But fate had treated her generously. After all her hardships, her son had finally transformed—from a timid fledgling bird peering over the edge of its nest, into a young eaglet brave enough to challenge the blue sky. Well then, if that was the case, why not let go completely, allowing him to become a true eagle soaring across the heavens?

With deep reluctance, Qin Hanyue resolutely left Huangsha City, the city she had come to utterly detest, and set out on another path… a path that was truly her own.

…

Pretending to be a teenager all the time was honestly a bit difficult for Qin Li. He had to be careful every moment not to give himself away, and he had to handle all sorts of unexpected situations around him. If not for the memories from another soul inside him, Qin Li would truly have felt at a loss. A child trying to act mature looks ridiculous, but an adult trying to act young is even more laughable!

But the downside of the memories in his head was also obvious. Many times it made Qin Li feel disoriented, as if he really was the thirteen-year-old Qin Li!

Fortunately, as Qin Li’s strength steadily grew, those moments became fewer and fewer.

And the heartfelt conversation Qin Hanyue had with him before leaving made Qin Li realize that his act in front of her might have been unnecessary. Still, he couldn’t be blamed—he had never experienced a mother’s love before. He had heard that a mother’s love is the greatest in the world, but hearing about it and actually feeling it are two different things.

So, only when Qin Hanyue had truly left did Qin Li suddenly understand that truth: to a mother, no matter how mature or outstanding her child becomes, she only feels happiness and pride—she would never doubt him.

In this world, the love that asks for nothing and regrets nothing is a mother’s love. That is beyond doubt.

Under the bright moon and glittering stars, Qin Li stood on the roof of the ordinary house, gazing at the silent sky, his gaze seemingly piercing through the endless night to fall upon that woman.

“Mother, take care on your journey!”

…

Hardly anyone paid attention to the slums. So Qin Hanyue and Qin Xue’s departure was not immediately noticed by the families watching Qin Li. By the time they found out, two days had already passed.

In Huangsha City, the Wang Family.

Ever since Wang Cheng, the third legitimate son of Family Head Wang Guanghui, was publicly beaten and injured by Qin Li at the Shangguan Family’s place a few days ago, the entire Wang Family had been shrouded in anger.

In Huangsha City, for a small family aiming to survive, strive for a better position, and develop into a medium-sized family, it’s not just unimaginable effort that is required—there also needs to be a sense of unity, a spirit of solidarity!

The Wang Family was a young family. They didn’t lack unity, nor did they lack solidarity. While everyone knew about Wang Cheng’s usual behavior, understanding didn’t mean they could swallow the insult. Just an illegitimate son of the Qin Family, who had attached himself to the powerful Shangguan Family—did that mean he could look down on everyone?

Moreover, someone later pointed out that the incident where Wang Cheng was forced to kneel and apologize publicly, and the city lord’s daughter was so frightened she lost control—that was a unique mental attack technique from the Supreme Overlord of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

A poor kid who had been clearly abandoned by the Qin Family, without any foundation, and who foolishly cut ties with the Shangguan Family—if the Wang Family couldn’t get their honor back from someone like that, they really wouldn’t be able to hold their heads up in Huangsha City anymore!

What’s more, the Shangguan Family had publicly announced after the banquet that day: From now on, any actions by Qin Li had nothing to do with the Shangguan Family!

Many had already guessed beforehand whether the Shangguan Family would go that far. It was rumored that the young lady of the Shangguan Family had been taken away by a mysterious super-powerful expert. Consequently, Qin Li, who had been engaged to the young lady, was now nothing more than a joke. If the Shangguan Family had been a bit more righteous, they could have protected Qin Li for life. But the problem now wasn’t that the Shangguan Family lacked righteousness—it was that Qin Li was seeking his own doom!

The Wang Family’s Council Hall was far less luxurious and grand than the Qin Family’s. In a large room, an oval table was surrounded by a dozen or so people. Wang Guanghui sat at the head, slightly frowning, and said, “We must get our honor back, but how? Personally, I think we shouldn’t be too public about it. The Shangguan Family may say nice words, but if they decide to turn on us later, they’d have leverage over us.”

“Brother, Little Cheng is your own son! He was beaten like that, forced to kneel publicly—he disgraced our Wang Family! If we don’t openly teach that kid a lesson, how can we have any face left to survive in Huangsha City?” A middle-aged man around forty years old said loudly, his face full of anger. “So I say, we directly send the elite third squad, capture that kid, tie him up, and don’t even kill him. Make him kneel outside the Wang Family gate, slap himself while shouting ‘I was wrong!’ After three days, we let him go—that would even show our magnanimity…”

The other Wang Family members rolled their eyes in unison upon hearing this, thinking, You call that magnanimity? You might as well just kill him outright.

Wang Guanghui waved his hand, looked at the middle-aged man, and said quietly, “No. I can’t risk the entire family for the sake of my own son! Besides, our Wang Family wasn’t the only one insulted that day. Have you forgotten the city lord’s family? Now, that Qin daughter has quietly disappeared, and the stunning maid the Qin family trained vanished with her. Hmph, it looks on the surface like the Qin Family cut ties with them, but can you be so sure? Who knows what scheme is at play here! The Qin Family and the Shangguan Family are both far stronger than us. Qin Hongyuan and Shangguan Tie—those two old foxes are cunning as wolves! Even though we’re stronger than before, every step we take is still like walking on thin ice! This matter needs careful, long-term planning! Hmph, as long as that kid doesn’t leave Huangsha City, we’ll have plenty of chances! So what we need to do now is wait!”

Seeing that the Family Head had made his final decision, the Wang Family members stopped objecting. On one hand, they respected the Family Head’s decision; on the other hand, wasn’t it because the one injured was the Family Head’s own son? The one who should be most aggrieved was Wang Guanghui himself! If he could let it go, why couldn’t they?

Truly, not many could behave as Wang Guanghui did—enduring humiliation and bearing a heavy load, even when facing a kid with no backing or power. This was precisely why the Wang Family had been able to rise from a small family to an upper-middle-sized family in just a few decades!

Endure what ordinary people cannot; do what ordinary people will not!

Qin Hanyue’s departure didn’t cause much disturbance in the Shangguan Family either. Of course, if Shangguan Tie had already come out of seclusion, he would definitely have slapped his second son Shangguan Buhui hard across the face a few times. The reason was simple: before going into seclusion, he had repeatedly stressed—treat Qin Li well, and definitely don’t look down on Qin Li just because Shiyu went off to learn from a great master. Little did he expect that Shangguan Buhui not only completely ignored his words but acted in direct opposition to his intentions!

As for the Qin Family, the sudden disappearance of Qin Hanyue and Qin Xue made Qin Hongyuan feel restless. For over a decade, he had suspected one thing: Did his youngest daughter Qin Hanyue actually know martial arts? He had even deliberately allowed the servants to mock his daughter, hoping to force the person behind her to show themselves! Otherwise, even if Qin Hanyue had done something truly disgraceful, how many of those servants would have had the guts to ridicule her?

Thirteen years passed in a flash. Qin Hanyue endured it all silently—no resistance, no complaints—making Qin Hongyuan truly start to believe he had wronged his daughter!

That was why, a while ago, he let them move back to Zichen Garden—partly out of a guilty conscience, in fact.

What he hadn’t expected was that ever since Qin Li and his mother moved out, great changes had taken place in their lives. On the surface, the Qin Family seemed indifferent to Qin Li and his mother, but in reality, almost every move Qin Li made after leaving the Qin Family was under their surveillance. Of course, they definitely didn’t know about the incident where Qin Shisan was killed.

It wasn’t that no one in the Qin Family had ever practiced the Supreme Overlord of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. That combat technique was extremely powerful; it was quite good for training some loyal fighters. But no one had ever survived the third Nirvana.

In other words, after eighteen months, death was certain.

This cost was a bit too high. Even if one were willing to be a loyal fighter, they couldn’t die like that, could they? Qin Hongyuan didn’t believe his daughter didn’t know about this. But she actually dared to let Qin Li practice it! And now, half a year had passed, yet Qin Li showed no signs of Nirvana at all!

This… was what Qin Hongyuan cared about most! If they could find a way to counter the soul-damaging effects of the Sovereign of All Battle Skill’s Nirvana, then the Qin Family wouldn’t need many years to become the number one family in the entire Azure Dragon Kingdom… No! In the entire Tianyuan Continent!

They would… be invincible under heaven!

Don’t say this is just unfounded ambition. And don’t talk about why no one succeeded in ancient times—just because no one succeeded then doesn’t mean no one can now!

Just as Qin Hongyuan was preparing to find an opportunity to call Qin Hanyue back and have a heartfelt, reasonable talk with her… his precious daughter, along with the maid Qin Xue whom he had given to them, had simply… vanished!

This made Qin Hongyuan, who had always been suspicious of his daughter, fly into a rage immediately. He severely punished several of the spies assigned to watch the Qin Family. He hardly needed to think—his daughter’s departure undoubtedly had a direct connection with Qin Li’s father!

But now, saying anything was useless. He had misjudged her after all. He immediately gathered the Qin Family’s senior members, especially instructing brothers Qin Feng and Qin Hu that they absolutely must not cause trouble for Qin Li in the short term, or they would face heavy punishment!

Qin Hanyue’s departure was like a small stone thrown into a calm lake—only a light ripple formed on the surface, but it triggered… a whole series of chain reactions!

This could be seen a little from the fact that Qin Li didn’t feel anyone watching him as he walked on the streets of Huangsha City.

Qin Li came out this time because he wanted to buy a good sword. After his mother left, she had left him eight thousand taels of silver! Qin Li was confident that this much silver was enough to buy an excellent weapon.