Chapter 79 Best Friend

No matter how composed Qin Ming was, he was still a young man. He did not hide his feelings, and his question, “Why?” revealed his resentment.

Meng Xinghai laughed and said, “Only by holding the ‘rules’ can we reason, right?”

At this moment, Qin Ming held the mutton-fat jade iron knife in his hand, not because he couldn’t control himself, but because he did it intentionally. In front of an elder, he should show some youthful spirit.

“I shielded him from trouble, but in the end he was dissatisfied. Where can I reason with him?” Qin Ming said. These experiences are indeed infuriating.

“It seems that although you have lived in the Cui family for more than ten years, you have never regarded yourself as a scion of a prominent family,” Meng Xinghai said.

Qin Ming was taken aback, then understood what he meant.

“Is it simply because the heir of the Cui family is of noble birth and unattainable?” he asked calmly.

“Yes, for you, putting yourself in his shoes and understanding his feelings might make you even angrier,” Meng Xinghai smiled.

Qin Ming felt it was better to ignore Cui Chonghe and not try to figure out why he was angry.

Because, in Cui Chonghe’s eyes, his status was so low that it could be ignored, yet he still went along with his fiancée, which was a serious overstepping of his bounds.

Meng Xinghai said, “You feel that you have helped him avoid disaster, but as the eldest son of a thousand-year-old family, he cannot possibly care about your feelings.”

Qin Ming said self-deprecatingly, “It seems I’m just an ordinary person. Even after living in the Cui family for many years, I haven’t developed that kind of aristocratic air, nor have I immediately adopted that mindset.”

But the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. His so-called maturity beyond his years and composure were useless now, and he could hardly suppress his anger.

Clearly, in Cui Chonghe’s eyes, he was just a servant who could be sacrificed, a servant raised by the Cui family to be used at any time. How could he walk side by side with the eldest daughter of the Wang family?

Qin Ming recalled his experience in the Cui family, where the hierarchy was indeed very strict. So, he had helped someone avoid trouble, but in the end, he had “offended” them.

“To be fair, Cui Chonghe does indeed possess near-immortal potential. That senior hadn’t taken on any disciples for over a century, but he made an exception for him, taking him away when he was only three or four years old,” Meng Xinghai said.

In fact, he was also trying to remind Qin Ming not to be too impulsive, given the vast difference in their circumstances.

Qin Ming nodded, then suddenly realized that Cui Chong and his fellow disciples were all over a hundred years old? If they were still alive, that would be quite frightening.

At this moment, he had a strong desire to become stronger and wanted to go deep into the mountains and marshes to find spiritual substances.

In addition, he hopes for another spring thunder.

Although there is a saying that the safest time to enter the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall is when the first spring thunder rumbles, and when the spiritual substances produced are most abundant, he still wants to try at other times of the year.

“The Li family, the Wang family, and the Cui family are like three unshakeable mountains, and I am just an ordinary teenager who doesn’t want to get involved,” Qin Ming sighed.

He learned from Meng Xinghai that the Wang family was furious when they realized they had been deceived, and that the Cui family originally intended to quickly get rid of the fake Cui Chonghe to quell the storm.

“Old Seven Cui is a sentimental person. He said he would treat you as his own nephew and that you couldn’t be killed. He almost fell out with some people in the Cui family.”

It was precisely because Cui Hao intervened, and because the matter had escalated and leaked, that the Cui family was hesitant to take further drastic measures, fearing they would be branded as callous and ungrateful.

“Unbeknownst to me, I had been on the verge of death many times.” The thousand-year-old family was simply too overwhelming for Qin Ming; he even considered leaving his hometown.

Meng Xinghai seemed to see through his thoughts and said, “You can stay in Chixia City for now. After early spring arrives, those ancient lineages and some special academies will start selecting disciples one after another. You can study them carefully. Some organizations are quite hostile to aristocratic families.”

He himself comes from a prominent family, so it’s not appropriate for him to say too much on this topic.

Qin Ming was absent-minded. The world of night fog was vast and boundless, but also fraught with danger. Where was he suitable?

Meng Xinghai said, “Don’t worry, the token I gave you is still very useful. You don’t need to worry about your safety in Chixia City for the time being.”

Qin Ming examined it closely. It was a piece of black jade, with the character “Meng” on one side and the character “Xun” on the other.

“Thank you, Uncle Meng!” He immediately stood up to express his gratitude.

This is an extraordinary token brought from the Meng family. The “巡” (patrol) character was temporarily engraved by Meng Xinghai to grant him the authority to patrol the city or the mountains.

With Qin Ming possessing this token, he was essentially under temporary protection.

Meng Xinghai said, “I’ve told you so much and given you a lot of information because Qingyue asked me to look after you. Some people don’t care who Cui Chonghe is; they only know that an old friend once used that name. At the same time, I must remind you that many more people care a lot about Cui Chonghe’s identity, so you must be extremely cautious when you encounter old acquaintances in the future.”

Qin Ming nodded solemnly and said, “If Qingyue encounters any trouble in the future, even if she is thousands of miles away, I will rush over to support her as soon as I hear the news!”

If it weren’t for Li Qingyue, would Meng Xinghai even know who Qin Ming was? Even if he had heard of him, there would be no reason for him to take such good care of him.

Back when Qin Ming lived in Qinghe City as Cui Chonghe, he had many friends, but now, there are probably very few who can still be called close friends.

Meng Xinghai said, “Qingyue said that the closer a true friend gets to you, the more trouble they will bring you.”

“I understand!” Qin Ming nodded. In order to quell the Wang family’s anger, the Cui family once wanted him to disappear completely to calm the storm. If he were to re-enter that circle and associate with familiar people, trouble would definitely follow.

Qin Ming felt a surge of frustration, but circumstances forced him to act against his will. Others had already drawn lines for him, forbidding him from setting foot in certain areas or contacting people from that level.

“With my talent, I should be able to rise quickly. When I am strong enough, if I go to the Cui family to retrieve the silk scroll, once I come into contact with that circle again, Cui Chonghe, Li Qingxu, and even some people from the Wang family may target me. The road ahead is full of challenges, and I need to grow up quickly.”

These were the thoughts in Qin Ming’s mind. The road ahead was not smooth, and could even be described as rugged, but it also made him full of fighting spirit, and his eyes were filled with fire.

If he himself doesn’t have confidence, then he might as well go back to Black and White Mountain immediately and take the initiative to live in seclusion in that remote place!

“Well, actually, the reason I can tell you all this isn’t entirely because of Qingyue. I also think highly of you. Last time I found out you entered the Thunderfire Alchemy Hall,” Meng Xinghai said directly.

His frankness surprised Qin Ming; this matter had not been kept secret at all.

Meng Xinghai smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I’m the only one in the entire Crimson Cloud City who noticed something was wrong with you and left there alive.”

“Thank goodness!” Qin Ming breathed a sigh of relief.

“Besides you, Qian Cheng is also alive, but he mysteriously disappeared the next day.”

Qin Ming knew who he was talking about, that dull-witted boy, who was actually not stupid.

“I’m not joking with you. Recently, you should carefully study those ancient traditions and special institutions of higher learning. In some places, even aristocratic families can’t overstep their bounds.”

When Qin Ming got up to leave, Meng Xinghai brought up these things again.

“Thank you, Uncle Meng!”

After leaving the city lord’s mansion, Qin Ming returned to the inn and played with the black jade token. He was somewhat lost in thought. If he were to go into the mountains, he would also be a member of the patrol team, and at a relatively high level.

He was somewhat moved because his first murder was against Fu Entao, Feng Yi’an, and other members of the patrol team.

In a private room at a restaurant not far away, several people had closed the window and watched Qin Ming enter the inn not long ago.

“He dares to meddle in the affairs of our Xinyi Hall. It seems he does have some connections in the City Lord’s Mansion. Let’s not touch him.”

“Not only should we not act rashly, but look, someone gave us this painting and told us to keep a close eye on him. This young man may be someone of great importance.”

“If you encounter someone you can’t understand, then you should get involved less. You can keep an eye on them, but if the client asks you to take action, then you should politely decline.”

“Currently, the other party has no intention of asking us to take action, and they seem to be visitors from afar.”

…

Over the next two days, Qin Ming and Wu Zheng reviewed the organizations and lineages that had selected disciples in Chixia City over the years.

He suspected that Meng Xinghai was referring to those special institutions of higher learning, because these required unified examinations and were open to everyone, even those from aristocratic families could not enter directly.

Unless someone truly possesses exceptional talent and a proven track record of overwhelming an entire region, everyone must undergo a unified test and trial.

Afterwards, Qin Ming began to carefully study the map of the mountain range outside Chixia City, wanting to find spiritual substances. He was stimulated by the three powerful families of Cui, Wang, and Li, and wished he could rise to prominence immediately.

The next day, he went to a well-established weapon shop and bought a black gold hammer. It still had a long handle, but it was much heavier than the one he used before.

“Brother Qin, it seems you really wasted fifteen gold coins at my house. You haven’t grasped the essence of both spear and arrow at all. Are you going to switch to practicing the hammer?” Wu Zheng was very disappointed. There was no one to spar with. He wasn’t as conservative as Old Wu and really wanted Qin Ming to guide him.

Qin Ming smiled and said, “I actually know a little about marksmanship. You can ask me any questions you have. I’m practicing with a hammer now because I’m preparing to deal with tough-skinned behemoths. Ordinary weapons are too light and gentle; they can’t hurt those huge creatures.”

He is preparing to go into the mountains. With his current strength of nearly 5,000 jin, he can easily withstand even a person who has undergone six or seven rebirths.

If anyone dares to steal it again this time, he will definitely let them know what it means to strike with a hammer and cause a thousand peach blossoms to bloom!

…

Xu Sheng, whom I hadn’t seen for three days, arrived, pale-faced, and apparently injured.

“Brother Xu, what’s wrong with you?”

Qin Ming and Wu Zheng both asked him with concern what had happened.

Xu Sheng sighed: “Sigh, Zhou Lin and I went to help a friend, and we were ambushed in the mountains. I suddenly realized that being a spiritual hunter is even harder, and it’s better to be a traveling merchant.”

“It’s good that she came back alive and unharmed. By the way, how is Sister Fenfang?” Qin Ming asked.

“Who is Sister Fenfang?” Xu Sheng asked suspiciously.

“Um… Sister Zhou Lin.”

Xu Sheng laughed and said, “Haha, she’s fine, she dodged faster than me.”

“You got ripped off again?” Qin Ming asked.

Xu Sheng sighed: “Not yet. We just entered the habitat of the spiritual creature and hadn’t even found its nest when we were ambushed.”

“How about we take another look?” Qin Ming was tempted.

Xu Sheng wanted to say something, but suddenly realized that the other party was already stronger than him! He was a master who had been reborn five times, but he could only lift a cauldron of more than 3,000 jin, which was far inferior to Qin Ming now.

“Okay, let’s go again!”

Soon, Sister Fenfang and Zhou Lin also received the news and went into the mountains again with Xu Sheng and Qin Ming.