Ancient Strengthening Technique

AST 798 – Di Chen and Di Qing, Bewildered

“Old Ancestor, actually, there’s no need for you to do anything about things like this.” The elderly man on the Dark Crane smiled at the old man in front.

“Hong Chang and the others are in trouble, to be able to put them in trouble without any information leaking, this just goes to show that the enemies are really formidable. We know too little about Heavenly Palace and the rumored young man. I have been having a feeling that things aren’t right.” The elderly man’s eyes slowly brightened up as he looked afar.

“Old Ancestor, don’t you think that you’re overestimating the young man and the Heavenly Palace?” The other old man chuckled.

“How far off is San Lang’s strength compared to yours? Despite this, he still got into trouble. Hong Hai, do not ever underestimate any of your opponents. Even though Zuoshi Clan isn’t like us Baima Clan if they were really eliminated by one person, that person would definitely be someone we shouldn’t underestimate because even I myself wouldn’t dare to challenge Zuoshi Clan alone.” The old man said in a calm tone without any sign of emotions in his words.

“Alright, Old Ancestor, so what’s the plan this time?” Baima Honghai looked at the old man and asked in suspicion.

“We’ll talk about it by then. There are times when fighting isn’t the best solution.” Judging from the old man’s wise expression, it could be felt that he was reminiscing about something.

……

“Qing Shui!”

When Qing Shui heard someone calling out for him, he turned around and noticed Di Qing approaching him from not so far away with a faint smile across her bewildering beautiful face. Qing Shui didn’t exactly know why but he felt a bit panicked upon seeing her.

The first time he met her was in that dreamland, a fantasyland similar to that of being in a dream among a sea of flowers except the location of the fairyland was Furniture City in Southern City. It was only after that that he knew she was the protector of Sword Tower, Sword Demon Huang Qing.

Huang Qing!

This was her pseudonym. At the time when her sister was in the Heavenly Palace, she intentionally became the guard of Sword Tower to get close to her sister. Similarly, both Qing Shui and the Sword Tower also shared conflicting views with each other at that time, hence slowly, there were some conflicts that occurred between them. Now, he became her brother-in-law.

But she never addressed him as her brother-in-law. As for the reasons why, even she herself was unclear about it.

“Miss Qing.” Qing Shui smiled

“Why are you still calling me by that? It feels so distant.” Di Qing smiled. The alluring expression she showed on her face gave her a kind of unreal beauty similar to Di Chen’s faintly discernable aura.

“Well then, why don’t you address me as your brother-in-law? In any case, everyone already knows about the relationship between your sister and I.” Qing Shui chuckled at Di Qing.

“Don’t even think about it, you must address me as Sister Qing. If you don’t like it, you can also wait until you become a famous person and a warrior who can topple over the World of the Nine Continents. Only then will I address you as my brother-in-law.” Di Qing winked and smiled.

Her smile looked graceful, indistinct and a bit cunning, looking somewhat similar to Di Chen’s complexion except the traits that they shared were really different. It was a bit inferior to Di Chen’s in terms of looking extraordinary and a bit superior in terms of possessing an elegant and noble aura.

“I’m ok with you not addressing me as your brother-in-law but don’t you think that this is a bit disrespectful to your sister?” Qing Shui couldn’t help but tease her a bit as he saw her cunning face.

As expected, Di Qing’s expression became really unnatural. She looked at Qing Shui: “Even you are forcing me, Qing Shui, even you?”

Qing Shui never thought that Di Qing would react so dramatically. In the past, she had been forced once by her dad to do so, it’s just that Qing Shui didn’t really care about this, hence he let her address him anyway she liked. Let alone she was also older than him.

“I’m just kidding, don’t take it seriously.” Qing Shui hurriedly responded.

However, Di Qing’s eyes were a bit teary and she looked a bit frustrated. This made Qing Shui panic and he hurriedly said: “Don’t cry, is me addressing you as Sister Qing not enough? People will think that I’m bullying you if you continue behaving like this.”

In actuality, Qing Shui was really not accustomed to seeing a girl frustrated. He quickly tried to comfort her. Unfortunately, he was totally not made to comfort girls, hence, he hurriedly said something out of formality.

“You bully me all the time.”

When Di Qing finished speaking, she hugged Qing Shui tightly.

Qing Shui stunned. He wasn’t actually happy that such a beautiful girl hugged him. On the contrary, he panicked. He kept both of his arms down and didn’t dare to even move an inch.

“Sister Qing, I know that I’m wrong now. Please don’t be mad. I’ll promise you whatever you want. It’ll be bad if others see this.” Qing Shui begged for mercy.

“Hrmp! It’s not like you haven’t hugged me before.” Di Qing responded grumpily. Regardless, she still let go of Qing Shui. She wasn’t really sure why she hugged Qing Shui earlier, now her face also looked really red.

During the last time Qing Shui went to Central Continent with her, he had no choice but to hug her. Not only so, he even called her a stupid woman. He didn’t know that what he did would actually leave such a deep impression in her heart.

No one had ever neglected her, nor had there been any men who dared to hug her. Furthermore, no one had ever called her a stupid woman. However, Qing Shui had done all of these before. Qing Shui didn’t do all of these to gain her attention. Of course, Di Qing wasn’t someone whose attention could be caught merely with these childish methods.

The true reason was because Qing Shui was the man that Di Chen looked up to. Added on the things which were mentioned previously also had a huge part to do with it as well as the good feelings that she had for Qing Shui. Naturally, it would pique her interest for him. In addition to that, she could feel that Qing Shui really didn’t have any place for her in his heart.

Humans were really weird. No matter what, they would often have a rebellious heart. For example, when a man met two women, these two women were really good friends. But one of the women fell for this man, so much so that she would throw away everything just to go for this man. The other woman on the other hand, she didn’t have any feelings for this man. Under this kind of circumstances, it would be very easy for the man to develop feelings for the girl who didn’t like him. This actually had a huge part to do with human psychology, to be rebellious. It might have been because those that were easy to get weren’t precious and that the one that was relatively harder to attain would forever be superior because they would never know how attaining them felt.

Qing Shui was stunned by Di Qing’s words. He said helplessly, “You also hugged me earlier too. So now, we’re even.”

By the time Qing Shui finished speaking, he realized that things were really bad. Originally, he was only planning to joke around but he felt that things have gone worse.

“Qing Shui, am I really that bad? Do you really hate me that much?” Di Qing looked at Qing Shui. This time, tears started dropping down her snow white skin.

Qing Shui didn’t know what to do. This time, he realized that he has really said the wrong thing. He panicked and immediately hugged her: “Why would I hate you? So even an extreme beauty like you would be so uncertain with yourself.”

“Do I look pretty?” Di Qing raised her head and asked Qing Shui.

“Pretty, really pretty, extremely pretty.”

“Then do you like me? Do not lie to me.” Di Qing looked at Qing Shui and asked. Qing Shui felt hurt when he saw tear stains on her face. He has a really soft heart.

“I like beautiful women.”

“Then you like me?” Di Qing said gently.

“You are Chen`Er’s sister, of course I’ll like you.” Qing Shui smiled gently.

“Don’t be so sloppy, I know you know what I mean.” Di Qing looked at Qing Shui without blinking.

“We’re close relatives, alright Qing`Er, don’t go too far.” Qing Shui patted her and said.

It’s as if this pat woke Di Qing up from her dreams. Her face was scarlet red. She glared at Qing Shui grudgingly and quickly escaped. However, Qing Shui stood at the side in bewilderment. He felt really confused.

At the moment, even if he has been more stupid, he would still be able to tell that Di Qing had a thing for him. However, he already has Di Chen. Even though Di Qing looked really beautiful, it didn’t necessarily mean that he would need to have her. Even if she had been one of the women on the Portraits of Beauty, a woman and a man would still need to develop feelings for them to be together. Feelings was something which had to be nurtured over time. However, Qing Shui didn’t want to nurture it. This was because he felt that there were already enough women around him. He didn’t have time for more.

He didn’t want to let his women down. In the end, love was still selfish. At the same time, it was also a wonderful thing. If he really ran into a woman whom he was willing to sacrifice everything for, he might go after her. The thing’s that Di Qing was Di Chen’s sister, he didn’t want to leave Di Chen in an awkward spot.

“Qing Shui!”

Qing Shui’s heart thumped as soon as he heard the voice. He looked at Di Chen who was approaching him with an unnatural look. She still looked extraordinarily beautiful as before. She looked at Qing Shui with a gentle smile, making him feel uneasy.

“Qing`Er likes you.” Di Chen said gently.

“Chen`Er, you saw it.” Qing Shui said with a bitter smile.

“Actually, I have already realized that since the time when we were in Di Clan. Do you like Qing`Er?” Di Chen smiled and looked at Qing Shui. Her eyes looked really natural and calm.

Qing Shui looked at Di Chen and panicked: “Chen`Er, you’re my woman, you will forever be mine.”

When Di Chen heard Qing Shui’s words, she smiled. She looked at him and said gently: “Qing`Er has always enjoyed fighting over things with me since we were young for reasons unknown. As long as they’re things that I like, she would fight with me over it. It’s just that I had never expected her to do the same with you.”

“Love is something that has to be agreed by both sides. Chen`Er, you can’t force it for things like this.” Qing Shui had a feeling that Di Chen was planning something. Hence, he hurriedly responded.

“What are you thinking about? Qing Shui, unless you leave me, I won’t leave you. Do you really not like Qing`Er?” Di Chen looked at Qing Shui and asked.

“I love you but I don’t feel the same with her.” Qing Shui shook his head and smiled.

Di Chen gently smiled and pulled Qing Shui: “I’m saying, if you like Qing`Er, I wouldn’t mind.”

Now, Qing Shui really didn’t know what Di Chen meant. He looked at the extraordinary woman in front of him in bewilderment. Even at the time when Qing Shui hugged her, he still felt really distant from her. It was only at the time when he met Di Chen at the dream among the sea of flowers that he felt like there were no secrets between them.

“Qing Shui, I’m leaving.”

Di Chen’s words made Qing Shui feel as if he just stepped on an explosive mine. He looked at Di Chen in shock and for a moment, felt that his mind went blank.

“Don’t be like that, Qing Shui, I won’t leave you. After the things with Baima Aristocratic Clan is done, I’ll be gone for a while but I’ll come back.” Di Chen touched Qing Shui’s lifeless face and said gently.

“Did you run into any troubles? Tell me, I’ll come and help you.” Qing Shui frenetically grabbed both of her arms.

“Don’t worry Qing Shui, I’ll tell you about it once the issues with Baima Aristocratic Clan is solved, alright?” Di Chen smiled. Despite this, Qing Shui could tell that she wasn’t feeling that calm.

‘Alright but if anything happens, you have to tell me. I mean, if you happen to run into any troubles.” Qing Shui said seriously.

“I’ll tell you everything.” Di Chen chuckled.