Only I am Venerable

The men had no idea that Qin Li and Shiyu were already shocked beyond measure. The Ancient Map! To think they would hear news of it again in a place like this!

Qin Li now had three pieces of the map. He had gotten one from Shiyu’s mother, one from the Cui Family, and one he had just obtained from the Black Gold Divine Leopard Clan.

Qin Li had tried to piece the three fragments together, but he discovered they depicted three completely different locations. He had no idea how many smaller maps were needed to complete the full picture.

’I have to get that map!’

The Ancient Map not only marked all the Mysterious Lands across the Celestial Essence Continent, but the massive and intricate Array on its reverse side was equally mysterious, beckoning one to explore its secrets.

Qin Li quietly attached a wisp of his Divine Sense to the old man. ’No matter what, whether by trade or some other means, I have to get that map!’

As Qin Li mulled this over, more people began to trickle into the tavern. It was nearly noon, and the crowd of diners was growing. The group of four at the other table started eating and drinking, their conversation coming to a halt.

To be fair, the four men were quite cautious and had revealed almost nothing incriminating. Their only mistake was misjudging Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu, mistaking them for ordinary people.

A question suddenly occurred to Qin Li. ’Since that strange Array has appeared in three of the four great perilous lands, could it be that it’s meant to attract everyone who holds a piece of the Ancient Map to come and investigate?’

The more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed, and a thrill of excitement coursed through him. He had brought Shiyu out this time ostensibly to investigate the strange occurrences, but his main reason had been to travel with her, to let her gain some experience and clear her mind.

He never expected to make such a discovery.

The tavern grew crowded, and the tables around Qin Li and Shiyu filled up. People ate and chatted, and many were discussing the same topic: the four great perilous lands!

Among them, Qin Li could clearly tell that some were ordinary Mortal Martial Artists. Their strength was mostly at the Profound and Earth Levels, with only a handful at the Celestial Level.

Watching these men hold forth so brazenly, Qin Li found it rather amusing. The gap between Martial Artists from the Mysterious Lands and Mortal Martial Artists was simply immense; they were people from two different worlds. Now that they were all mixed together, the indifferent expressions on the faces of those from the Mysterious Lands made it clear they were thoroughly unimpressed by the boisterous heroes of the Martial World.

The heroes of the Martial World seemed to sense this as well. However, most people in the Martial World knew better than to stir up trouble needlessly. Still, there were always a few who were hot-tempered or eccentric. The Martial World, after all, was home to all kinds of people.

Qin Li had done his best to dress Shiyu as a simple village girl, but she still looked utterly charming. The Spiritual Qi that shone from her bright, lively eyes, in particular, was impossible to hide. Consequently, some men couldn’t keep their eyes off Shangguan Shiyu.

Though Shangguan Shiyu lacked combat experience, her high cultivation realm spoke for itself. There was no way she could be oblivious to gazes so thick with desire.

Her delicate brows knitted together. She put down her chopsticks and said to Qin Li, "Husband, I’m full. Let’s go."

Qin Li had gotten the information he wanted, so he nodded. He stood, settled the bill, and left hand-in-hand with Shiyu.

On the way back to the inn, Qin Li gave a wry smile. "It really takes all kinds. Those men didn’t give up on their wicked ideas; they’re following us."

Shiyu stared at Qin Li and huffed. "This is all your fault. You dressed me as a village girl, but you still made me look so pretty. Now we’re being followed, aren’t we?"

Qin Li couldn’t help but laugh. ’If I made you ugly, would you even agree?’ he thought.

"How about we find a secluded spot and let you get some practice in?" Qin Li suggested.

Shiyu pursed her lips. "On those worthless nobodies? Are they even worthy?"

The seven or eight men following behind would never have guessed, not even in their wildest dreams, that their targets weren’t meek little lambs, but terrifyingly ferocious lions.

They grew more and more excited as they watched the pair ahead chat while walking toward a secluded area. They were already fantasizing about how they would enjoy the village girl, never suspecting that they were being led to their doom.

Before he knew it, Qin Li had led Shiyu to the ruins of the old Qin Family estate. The grounds were now overgrown with weeds and trees. Some of the newer trees had grown quite tall, joining the towering, ancient ones that had always stood there. More than a decade had transformed this place into a forest in the middle of the city.

People had tried to develop the land before, but as soon as they began, someone in their family would die mysteriously, with no discernible cause of death.

And so, rumors gradually spread that the Qin Family estate was a cursed place. After all, if it wasn’t cursed, how could the entire family have been annihilated? People said the restless spirits of the dead now guarded this cursed ground, and anyone who coveted the land was doomed to die. Even young lovers who chose this spot for a tryst would meet an inexplicable end. Eventually, no one dared to have designs on the land anymore; no one even dared to set foot on it. The place was unnervingly silent, even in broad daylight.

Qin Li gazed upon the desolate land, feeling a wave of emotion. He hadn’t heard the various legends that had sprung up in Yellow Sand City over the years, and even if he had, he wouldn’t have believed such rumors about cursed residences and haunted grounds.

His thoughts drifted unconsciously to the black-robed men who had annihilated the Qin Family all those years ago. They had even hunted him for a time, but now, they seemed to have vanished without a trace.

The once prosperous and powerful Qin Family of Yellow Sand City was now nothing but dust and smoke.

Acting completely oblivious to their followers, the pair strolled along until they arrived before a once-exquisite garden. Qin Li sighed softly. "This was Zichen Garden," he said. "My mother lived here from the time she was a child. The entire Qin Family coveted this garden. Later, to get me to marry you, Qin Hongyuan returned this place to my mother. I didn’t get to live here for very long, though. Heh."

Shangguan Shiyu’s starlike eyes grew misty. She hugged his arm and said softly, "But I’m still by your side."

Qin Li smiled. "That’s right. You’re still by my side."

Just then, a group of seven or eight men approached. They surrounded a young man in his late twenties like stars orbiting the moon. He was tall and slender, dressed in a white robe that made him look quite debonair. With his sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, and fair complexion, he was classically handsome. The only flaw was his gaze, which held a sinister, effeminate quality, completely lacking in masculine vitality.

"Heh, young lady, you have such refined taste, finding a tranquil place like this for a romantic rendezvous," the young man said, his gaze fixed on Shangguan Shiyu with a casual air. "However, it seems you’ve chosen the wrong partner. Look at the man beside you. Tsk, tsk. How could you possibly be interested in someone like him? Come with me. I will make you more noble than any princess in this world. You shouldn’t be wearing such plain clothes. I will give you the most magnificent dresses in existence!"

’What a lunatic,’ Qin Li groaned internally. This young man was truly out of his mind, trying to romance a village girl he’d just met. ’Then again,’ he mused, ’if Shiyu really were a simple village girl, she might actually be charmed by his words. After all, being more noble than a princess... that’s a dream every woman in the world would yearn for!’

Too bad for this young master. His luck was atrocious.

Shiyu didn’t even spare him a glance. "What about the man I’m with?" she said coolly. "He is a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times better than you! No... trash like you can’t even be compared to him. To even mention you in the same breath would be an insult to my husband!"

With that, Shangguan Shiyu turned to gaze at Qin Li with deep affection. "Husband, am I right?"

"Absolutely," Qin Li replied without the slightest hint of modesty, completely ignoring the other men.

"You’re courting death, kid!" A middle-aged man beside the handsome youth snarled, his face cold and grim. "If you know what’s good for you, scram! An ordinary person like you could never comprehend how dangerous the world truly is!" As he spoke, he stared daggers at Qin Li and unleashed a wave of killing intent that swept toward him.

An ordinary person would never be able to withstand such killing intent; they would be scared witless. The middle-aged man could already picture the sallow-faced youth soiling his pants in terror, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. For him, occasionally toying with an ant-like commoner was quite an amusing pastime.

’What’s the point of having power if you don’t use it to bully people?’ he thought. ’Only freaks are capable of defeating the strong as the weak. Martial Artists like us enjoy bullying others with our power. In fact, there’s nothing more satisfying.’

As he was chuckling, the middle-aged man suddenly realized something was wrong. The young man across from him seemed completely unaffected by his killing intent. In fact, he was looking at him as if he were a complete idiot.

"Wife, is there something wrong with that man’s brain?" Qin Li asked Shangguan Shiyu, a look of pure bewilderment on his face. "What’s he giggling about like a pig?"

Shangguan Shiyu let out a little snort and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Her laughter left the group of men completely stunned. They had never before understood the meaning of a smile that could topple a city, but now, they finally did.

Shangguan Shiyu’s smile caused everything around them to pale in comparison. It was as if her impossibly sweet smile was the only thing left in the entire world.

The handsome young man in the white robe could only stare, his eyes glazed over, completely transfixed.

After a long moment, the grim-faced middle-aged man beside him finally realized that the woman’s beautiful laugh was because her companion had been mocking him.

The middle-aged man flew into a rage. He pointed at Qin Li and sneered, "You little bastard, you brought this on yourself! Don’t blame me for what comes next!"

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