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“Jinling?” Sue Kirin asked, it took her a moment to realize that Qi Qiqi was referring to Nanjing, but even after she figured that out she still had a question. “Heavenly Sword Sect, isn’t that another sect? Why would I go there?”

“You recall that our Scorpio Temple is one of the Five Great Sects, right?”

“You don’t have to repeat the obvious.”

Naturally, Qi Guiyuan had told Sue Kirin a little bit of the sect’s situation, even if he hadn’t said a lot, he did at least mention its status as one of the five greatest sects in the land.

Qi Qiqi took one hard look at Sue Kirin and frowned harshly, obviously displeased with how rude the latter’s answers sounded.

“Well, go on,” Sue Kirin shrugged and gestured for the sect mistress to continue her explanation.

Qi Qiqi picked up the teapot and poured herself a drink, bringing the cup to her lips only to stop mid-action as she considered what to say.

“The status of Great Five Sects is a sweet poison.”

Do people of ancient times not speak human language? What’s the point in answering questions with metaphors? Sue Kirin had no idea what Qi Qiqi was trying to say.

“Can’t you just say it directly? Get to the point already!”

“Don’t you know that patience is a virtue? I think I’m going to wait a bit before I say it. You shouldn’t be in such a rush or you might not ever learn even if you reincarnate.”

Qi Qiqi shot a dirty look at Sue Kirin who could do nothing but accept it, even if she was dissatisfied with the answer.

“Yes, yes, please, please, whatever you say.” Sue Kirin left the matter there, afterall a gentleman doesn’t argue with women.

“You’re so annoying.”

Qi Qiqi considered continuing for a moment before turning to Luo Qing, “Senior Sister, may I have another bowl of rice?”

Sue Kirin was surprised to see that her bowl was empty so soon. Does she always scarf down her food that fast?
“How do you eat so quickly?” Sue Kirin looked at her own bowl that was several times smaller than the sect’s matriarch. She’d asked the other girl to eat slowly and yet that still ended with Qi Qiqi starting on another meal while Sue Kirin had barely finished a third of her own food.

“I’m hungry?”

The sly expression Sue Kirin’s face adopted after hearing that made Qi Qiqi blush in embarrassment.

“No, no, go on! Eat more, having a big appetite is a blessing! A great blessing, I hear that some people like fat gi-”

Suddenly a piece of meat was added to Sue Kirin’s bowl. She was surprised by this but still managed to squeak out a quick, “thank you.”

Luo Qing, who’d taken Qi Qiqi’s bowl to give her more rice used her off-hand to flick a piece of meat over to Sue Kirin, giving the little ancestor a look that seemed to suggest that she should continue in her earlier line of questions.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“The Heavenly Sword Sect!” This girl is a bit slow. Sue Kirin thought, but held it in, she had a feeling that Qi Qiqi’s limited patience was nearing its tipping point and didn’t want to get punched just for teasing her a little.

“Hey, it’s your fault that I forgot what we were talking about!” Qi Qiqi said, unreasonably blaming Sue Kirin with a finger pointed straight at the little ancestor.

“Fine, whatever, blame me all you want. Just tell me what you want me to do about this whole Five Great Sects thing, do you want me to go over there?”

Qi Qiqi calmly took a sip of her tea before responding, “Our Scorpio Temple lost a good number of our elites five years ago and now the only Heaven Realm expert we have is Ye Zhen. Recently, the Heavenly Sword Sect’s master ascended to the Heaven Realm.”

Sue Kirin listened along to Qi Qiqi’s explanation of the sect’s current situation and the Heavenly Sword Sect dilemma while eating.

“I think I get it. To sum things up, you’re not as strong as you used to be and you’re worried about slipping from being tigers amongst men to lowly dogs¹. These really are hard times aren’t they?

Qi Qiqi bit her lip and nodded slightly.

“The situation is even more dire than you think, we don’t even have anymore Tigers or Dragons among our ranks, if it weren’t for what remains of Grandfather’s prestige then I’m afraid that we’d have already fallen to the ranks of a second-rate sect.

Sue Kirin put the teapot down on the table, “and so, you gonna send the dogs to bite them?”

“We’ll probably have t- Hey! Don’t use such an awful metaphor, aren’t you just calling yourself a dog?”

“Is that really what you want to get all caught up about?” Sue Kirin asked with a stiff expression before she continued, “fine, then… are you going to send your lol- Kirin out? Shall I show off a few tricks, tip a bit of my hand, and show anyone that dares to think of coming after our people what they have to look forward to?”

Qi Qiqi was stunned and quickly replied, “God, is this what you’re normally like? I guess you aren’t crazy and neurotic afterall!”

Naturally, Qi Qiqi saw Sue Kirin in a new light.

“God my ⓐⓢⓢ, it’s called free spirit and charity.”

“What the hell kind of charity are you talking about? That’s complete nonsense, right? A cow’s head won’t come with a horse’s mouth².” Qi Qiqi spit out immediately.

“Sect Mistress, this rice is really good.”

With perfect timing, Luo Qing placed a newly filled bowl of rice in front of Qi Qiqi, then passed another piece of meat to Sue Kirin.

“Go on, little ancestor. Don’t just look at it, you need to use your chopsticks to eat it.”

After being cut off by Luo Qing, Qi Qiqi paused and sat back down. Likewise, Sue Kirin had nothing left to say.

Little Qing really is a master at manipulating others. Sue Kirin sighed mentally.

“So will you go to Jinling?” Qi Qiqi asked awkwardly.

“Hmm— Should I?” Sue Kirin put up an act.

“Go, or don’t go, what is there to hesitant about?”

“Little Ancestor, I think there are a lot of interesting things for you to do outside and if you just want to treat the Sect Mistress’ request as an excuse to go out and explore, then you should do it.” Luo Qing added, her tone mysterious.

While what Qi Qiqi wanted was obvious, it was harder to tell what Luo Qing wanted with her repeated suggestions of ‘going out for a walk.’

She said that I could treat the request as a distraction, is it because she thinks I’ve been stuck in the Sword Hill for such a long time that she thinks I should venture out and see the world? Sue Kirin wondered.

“Fine, it just so happens that I want to go out for a walk.”

Honestly, Sue Kirin really did want to go. She was curious about what the world was like. Everyone had a streak of curiosity in them and Sue Kirin was no different. Not to mention she’d be able to help Qi Qiqi while exploring, in that case what reason did she have to stay?

“Alright, it’s a deal then.”

“Alright, when should I go, who will be coming with me?”

“Senior Sister Luo will go with you,” Qi Qiqi said before turning to the woman in question, “Sister Luo, would you mind going?”

Woah now, Seven Seven Seven, just how arrogant can you get? Sue Kirin thought, but held her tongue.

Luo Qing nodded.

“It would be my pleasure. The date for the Heavenly Sword Sect’s competition was originally set by me on behalf of the Scorpio Temple, not to mention I rather like the little ancestor and I think we’ll get along well.”

Sue Kirin blushed at that. Even though she was currently a young girl, before that she’d been a wizard³ who’d never even had a girlfriend, so being told that a beautiful woman liked her was more than enough reason to turn red.

Qi Qiqi ignored Sue Kirin’s blush and spoke, “I’ll find another disciple to accompany you as well. It should be around two thousand kilometers between here and the Heavenly Sword Sect, if your carriage drives swiftly it should take six or seven days for you to arrive. The opening banquet is set about around… half a month.” Qi Qiqi paused for a moment to think before continuing, “so you can leave in a week, do you have anything in mind?”

“I don’t really care,” Sue Kirin answered in a bland tone. Regardless of whether it was the Scorpio Temple or Heavenly Sword Sect, both were foreign to her.

“Good, then that’s it!” Qi Qiqi smiled and nodded with satisfaction at the conclusion of that topic.

Next, Qi Qiqi told Sue Kirin about the more recent internal troubles within the Scorpio Temple. The two held the conversation while eating, exchanging questions and answers while Luo Qing sat by quietly.

When Sue Kirin asked how Ye Zhen could be both loyal and a traitor at the same time, Qi Qiqi hesitated for a long while before answering.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s loyal or traitorous, he and I have different ideas of how to proceed. I want to completely revitalize the sect, and to do that I feel that we need to keep a low-profile while we build our strength.”

It took Qi Qiqi eating through three entire bowls before she felt full, she put down her empty rice bowl to have a drink of tea before realizing something.

“Where is your sword?”

Sue Kirin blinked a few times in confusion, “Sword? I don’t have one.”

“You don’t need a sword?”

“Have you ever seen me use one?” Sue Kirin shot back, rolling her eyes.

“How do you not use a sword, we’re a sect that’s famous for our swordplay. Even if you specialize in Qi techniques, you should still have a decent grasp on swordplay.”

Sue Kirin shrugged, “I don’t know anything about that.”

Luo Qing and Qi Qiqi shared a look, after a moment the former spoke, “Little ancestor, even if you don’t know how to use a sword, it’s better that you wear one regardless.”

“How come?”

“Our Scorpio Temple is famous for our swordsmanship! How can you call yourself our ancestor if you don’t use one!?”

“I don’t need to use a sword to bring honor to the sect. Isn’t faking that I use a sword just asking for trouble? Why do you pay so much attention to such a facade anyway?”

“It’s not a facade, it’s about appearing presentable, you hear?! ”

“The Sect Mistress is right, you do need to wear a sword.” Luo Qing smiled, echoing after Qi Qiqi.

Sue Kirin sat quietly for a moment before sighing. Their ancestors really cared a lot about superficial details.

“Say what you want, but where would I even get a sword?”

“You’ll get up early with me tomorrow and we’ll go and get Sister Li to forge a sword for you.”

“Who’s Sister Li?”

“The fourth elder in charge of the Sword Archive, her proper name is Li Wanting, but you can also call her Elder Li.”

“Oh, there’s a sword room? How exactly am I supposed to find you tomorrow anyway? I don’t know where your room is.”

Qi Qiqi sighed then pointed at the door.

“Go out that door and turn right, you’ll find me in the room next to yours.”

“Oh, so we’re neighbors?”

“Why would I lie about that.”

“Hey um…” Sue Kirin hesitated, “ just wondering, can I change rooms and move next to Luo Qing? I’m just afraid that if I stay next to you my walls won’t even know what happened when they’re suddenly destroyed.”

“WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?”

That night, Qi Qiqi’s scream rang throughout the entire Scorpio Temple.

1. A classic poem phrase from qing dynasty period.

   “Even a shrimp dares to dupe the dragon when it is in shallow waters; a tiger may even be teased by a dog when it leaves the remote mountains and comes to the bright and flat area.”

   Basically it means those who lose their advantages or power over others will be belittled and defeated.

2. Saying meaning that two things don’t go together.
3. Basically a 30 yr old Virgin, it’s an old meme that goes something like, “a guy who goes 30 years without getting laid gains magical powers and becomes a wizard”