Originated from mountains and seas, life never ends

Qin Xiao bit his hairband and heard footsteps at the door. He turned his head and saw Qiongqi slowly crossing the threshold. The next second, he appeared on Qin Xiao's desk.

Qiongqi frowned and looked at Qin Xiao's new clothes: "What are you wearing?"

Qin Xiao changed into a black short-sleeved shirt with a few white patterns on his chest and a brown leather belt tied tightly around his waist. The short-sleeved shirt seemed a little small and would pull up when he raised his hand, revealing the belt, which made his waist look slender and strong. His long and straight legs were wrapped in blue and white jeans.

The trouser legs only reach the bottom of the calves, revealing the white and slightly longer ankles.

Qiongqi had never seen anyone dressed like this before and couldn't help but feel curious.

Although we passed many places along the way, most of the time we were flying in the sky, and we didn't pay much attention to the clothes of the people passing by on the road. It was not until today when I saw Qin Xiao wearing it that I felt a little weird.

"The clothes are a little small." Qin Xiao tugged at the bottom of the clothes, couldn't help frowning, and took out a white long-sleeved jacket from the closet.

The long sleeves covered the hideous scars on his arms. Qin Xiao felt that his bangs blocked his vision, so he used a hairband to tie his hair into a high bun, revealing his smooth forehead.

Qiongqi looked at Qin Xiao's hairstyle and was speechless for a moment.

"I was planning to look for you." Qin Xiao said, tugging at his clothes again, feeling uncomfortable.

"What do you want from me?" Qiongqi frowned and looked at Qin Xiao in confusion.

"No, I just noticed that you were gone, and I was a little curious about where you went." Qin Xiao touched the little bun on his head, and felt it was a little loose, so he tucked the hair next to it back in.

Qiongqi's expression became more complicated.

Qin Xiao's hair was shaved to the neck before he came out, but because of poor technique, it looked ugly, with pieces and patches as if it had been gnawed by a dog. The longest hair almost reached his shoulders, and his bangs were layered. Now he tied his bangs up, with his slightly long hair thrown back. In addition, his hair was just washed last night and was still a little fluffy, which made him look particularly funny.

Facing Qiongqi's complicated eyes, Qin Xiao felt nothing.

At the dinner table, Qin Jichen and others saw the look Qin Xiao was staring at, and their expressions were a little complicated for a moment.

Qin Xiao still didn't care.

During breakfast, Qin Xiao learned what Qiongqi had done.

"You guys should be careful recently." Qin Jichen said.

Qin Xiao looked at him. He didn't know if he was being indifferent on purpose, but today's meal tasted better than yesterday's. "What's wrong?"

"Last night and early this morning, someone saw a monster appear. The monster ate three people in total."

Qin Xiao paused with his chopsticks and glanced at Qiongqi.

"……Then what?"

"Someone witnessed it. They said it was a black monster with wings. It was not very clear at night, but it was huge. The fangs on its face flashed a cold white light in the night. The man was still moving when it ate him, but it was useless—"

"Are you talking about a book?" Qin Jinyi glanced at him speechlessly, indicating that Qin Jiuyuan was still here, "Pick up the key points."

"That's the point." Qin Jichen said innocently, "Just think about it, how powerful must the monster be to make several people enter its belly without even a chance to resist."

When Qin Yun'an heard the description, he paused with his chopsticks and looked towards Qiongqi quietly.

Qiongqi yawned and flicked its tail, looking lazy and non-threatening.

Qin Yun'an turned his gaze to Qin Xiao again.

Qin Xiao remained calm and even asked knowingly: "What are the characteristics of the monster? Has it not been caught?"

"I heard from bystanders that it was completely black, and then it was very strange. After the monster ate the people, it disappeared in front of everyone. Not even a trace of it could be found. Don't you think it's strange?" Qin Jichen also felt strange when talking about this matter. "So some people on the street speculated whose monster it was, or its attributes, otherwise why would it suddenly disappear."

"Who died?" Qin Jinyi asked.

Speaking of this, Qin Jichen looked complicated and glanced at him: "People from the Lin family and the Huang family."

"Who?" Qin Jinyi's expression changed slightly, and his face became serious as he thought of something.

Qin Xiao and Qin Yun'an didn't understand what was going on and stared at them in confusion.

"The third son of the Lin family and his father, and the eldest son of the Huang family." Qin Jichen's face darkened and he turned to look at him. "I don't know if it's a coincidence, or... Never mind, let's not talk about this."

"What do you mean?" Qin Xiao asked, "What happened to them?"

Qin Jinyi looked at him, hesitant to speak, and finally shook his head: "Don't ask... Forget it, I'll tell you later."

After Qin Xiao heard this, he stopped asking questions.

Qin Yun'an also wanted to know, but Qin Jinyi clearly didn't want to talk to him more, so he looked at Qin Xiao eagerly.

Qin Xiao looked a little disgusted, but said nothing and nodded slightly.

Qin Yun'an felt relieved and picked up the dishes with a smile.

Qin Jinyi looked at them, seeming a little worried, and warned them: "If you meet their two families on the way out, stay away and don't get into trouble."

Qin Yun'an could tell that Qin Jinyi meant well, so he nodded along with Qin Xiao.

Qin Xiao looked at Qiongqi again and thought to himself.

It was quite a coincidence that these three people were still connected.

Just after finishing my meal, I heard someone visiting.

Qin Xiuyun hadn't come back yet, so the elder wanted to ask the acting elder to come up, but the visitor insisted on seeing Qin Xiuyun, and only Qin Xiuyun. The elder had no choice but to let them sit in the living room and wait.

During the waiting period, Qin Jichen had persuaded them more than once to go back and wait for news, and then notify them as soon as Qin Xiuyun returned.

But for some reason, a few of them seemed determined to meet Qin Xiuyun and repeatedly shook their heads to refuse. In the end, Qin Jichen gave up trying to persuade them and stayed in the back hall to talk with Qin Jinyi and the others.

Of course, as for discussing such things, they had already sent Qin Jiuyuan away - although even if they didn't send her away she would have gone out to play by herself.

"They are actually just afraid. They are afraid that it was that person who did it, and they are afraid that the next target will be them. That's why they are like this." Qin Jinyi said this with a bit of disdain for these people's behavior, and said it with a bit of disgust.

"This is normal. No matter how they scolded him before, that person ignored them. Now someone from the Lin family suddenly died, so he's naturally scared." Qin Jichen said.

"Aren't they doing all this just to drag our family into this? Really... Dad has advised them before, but they didn't listen. Now they are afraid after something happens." Qin Jinyi whispered in dissatisfaction.

Qin Jichen shook his head and did not express his opinion.

"Who is that person?" Qin Xiao was confused and asked doubtfully.

Qin Jinyi glanced at him, checked to see if there was anyone around, then pulled him aside and explained to him softly.

"The man we are talking about is called Wang Ji. He is the head of a noble family in the imperial capital and the person with the highest status and power in the country. Now he is in charge of basically all matters of Yuhua."

"The royal family—"

"The current emperor ascended the throne just three years ago. It's normal that you don't know about it." Qin Jinyi explained to him in detail what had happened in the past few years.

"The current emperor is only 18 years old, a woman——"

"18? That's very young." In Qin Xiao's impression, the youngest emperor was over 30 years old.

Qin Jinyi nodded and continued, "The old emperor passed away three years ago. He had no sons but only a daughter, who was born in old age. The emperor was young at the time and had not yet been exposed to political affairs. There were many separatist and reactionary forces at the time. Seeing that the heir was just a young and ignorant girl, some ambitious and wealthy families could not sit still and wanted to replace her. For a time, there was a tendency for war to break out in various places."

"At this time, Wang Ji spread the word that he stood on the emperor's side, and immediately mobilized his men to quell the unrest in various places. Wang Ji was young, but he was very skilled. He unknowingly grasped the power of the royal family and successfully suppressed the hearts of those who wanted to rebel."

When Qin Xiao heard this, his eyes moved slightly and he looked at Qin Jinyi.

"Yes, you should also know that the one who can quietly draw the power of the royal family to his side must not be a good person. Although he was suppressed on the surface, there were still many people watching him secretly. After all, the throne was within his grasp at that time. Even if he really ascended the throne himself, it would not surprise anyone."

"But surprisingly, he really supported the emperor's ascension to the throne and never showed any intention of replacing him."

Qin Jinyi said this and drank a sip of tea. Qin Jichen then continued.

"But in fact, the emperor is just a title. The current emperor does not have much real power. Instead, he has to rely on Wang Ji for everything."

"It doesn't matter who holds the throne." Qin Xiao said calmly, "Wang Ji can't give up his power. Even if he does, the emperor may not be able to take it over."

Qin Jichen nodded: "That's right, so now it has been rumored that the current emperor is just a puppet, a tool played by Wang Ji, and when Wang Ji gets tired of playing with him one day, he will abandon him and replace him."

"..." Qin Xiao was quite speechless after hearing the rumor.

"In fact, because Wang Ji's attitude towards this matter is a bit strange, it is now rumored that Wang Ji forced the emperor to do some..." Qin Jinyi got stuck halfway through his words. Looking at Qin Xiao's indifferent eyes, he always felt that he should not tell him these colored rumors.

"…It's a strange thing." Qin Jichen continued with the second half of the sentence.

Qin Jinyi nodded quickly: "Yes, it's just a strange thing - don't ask what it is."

Qin Xiao: ...

"So, they are..." Qin Xiao looked towards the front hall.

"They are against Wang Ji's monopoly of power... They say they can't stand Wang Ji holding so much power, but who knows the truth." Qin Jinyi said this with some disdain, "They have been spreading rumors about Wang Ji. Those who died this time were the ones jumping the most, but to be honest, in this remote place, Wang Ji may not even know about this place, and they have been jumping around for several years. It's a bit too late to take action now."

"...Anyway, I think it's just a coincidence." Qin Jinyi muttered, "My family has never been involved in their political affairs, and my father has never taken sides. Now they are obviously desperate and trying all kinds of methods. Even if my family is considered the number one family in Rongcheng, it is not enough to compare with the big families in the imperial capital, not to mention that my father does not participate in politics at all."

"I think so, too." Qin Jichen agreed. "Besides, the monster's behavior was strange. If it was intended to kill, it shouldn't have waited several hours before killing someone. So I still think it's more likely to be a coincidence."

"But they don't think so... They have to wait for Dad to come back, really..." Qin Jinyi covered his forehead with his hands, his tone full of disgust, "Don't you think about it? Even if it's true, Wang Ji really wants to kill them, they can't hide anywhere."

"Judging from the rumors circulating on the street, the monster is obviously very powerful. It might just swallow them up in one gulp and then disappear?" Qin Jichen said with his arms folded.

Qin Xiao: ...

Qin Xiao glanced at Qiongqi silently.

Then he paused.

Because he found that Qiongqi's eyes were shining, as if he had heard some interesting ideas.

Qin Xiao had a bad feeling.

[I think what your brother said makes sense. Look, I'll go eat them all. No one will suspect you anyway. It's a good thing someone else is taking the blame, so we don't have to——]

Qiongqi didn't finish speaking, but Qin Xiao had already heard it.

Qin Xiao covered his forehead with his hands in pain and looked at him helplessly.

[Please, be quiet for a while. ]

Qiongqi curled his lips, obviously disdainful of his behavior.

[Are you hungry? ] Qin Xiao asked.

Qiongqi turned his face away.

[No, I just think it's quite interesting.]

Qin Xiao: ...

Qin Xiao covered his face in pain.

"Oh, anyway... let's talk about it after Dad comes back." Qin Jinyi didn't want to say more, waved his hand, as if he had thought of something, and said to Qin Xiao, "You should be careful when you go out recently. The monster has not been found yet, don't let anything unexpected happen."

Qin Xiao: ...

Qin Xiao looked calm and nodded.

"What is the name of the current emperor?" Qin Xiao asked with familiarity.

"Nangong Huaxue." Qin Jichen became interested when he talked about this. "This name comes from the fact that when she was born, there was a heavy snowfall in Yuhua. The snow lasted for a whole month. The old emperor gave her this name because he hoped that the snow would melt soon."

"Then why not call it Rongxue?" Qin Xiao asked.

Qin Jichen: ...

"To avoid people asking why it's not called melting snow when the snow starts to melt." Qin Jinyi glanced at him.

Qin Xiao: ...

Qiongqi was lazily swishing its tail. The surroundings became quiet, Qin Jichen turned his gaze towards him, and suddenly stretched out his hand to him: "This cat is quite..."

"Don't touch him." Qin Xiao shouted coldly. This commanding tone made Qin Jichen retract his hand immediately.

Qin Jichen looked at Qin Xiao's cold expression and smiled awkwardly: "I'm a little curious... Sorry, I just think this cat is pretty."

Qin Xiao didn't say anything. Qiongqi sat up, stretched, and looked at Qin Jichen leisurely.

Qin Jichen smiled back.

Qiongqi suddenly smiled at him, revealing his pointed teeth.

Qin Jichen was stunned, and seemed a little surprised: "This cat can laugh?"

"...It's quite special." Qin Xiao really had a headache.

He also felt that his tone just now was a bit harsh, but he had no way to explain it to Qin Jichen and the others, so he could only watch the atmosphere become quiet.

……

Qin Jinyi looked at this, looked at that, and then looked at the black cat that jumped to his side. The black cat had dark gold eyes and a petite body, but it was not as cute as an ordinary cat. Instead, it gave people an inexplicable sense of oppression.

After a moment of silence, a sound was heard outside.

"The patriarch is back."