Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 361 - 98: I Really Wish I Could Contact the Secondhand Weapons Market...
"So you just watched as that old man took Qingming away!?"
In the deep of night, Li Wanqing incredulously questioned Wang Jiu, who was still feasting on the second floor of the inner hall, her tone rarely tinged with a hint of sobbing.
At the birthday banquet, when Shen Ruoshi, with his Sea Overturning Realm cultivation, instantly suppressed Shen Qingming so she couldn’t utter a word, Li Wanqing and Li Chaolu, present as well, were also speechless.
Without Shen Ruoshi deliberately targeting them, his mere presence at the scene was enough to silence anyone who dared question him. It was a fear that emanated from biological instinct, akin to a puny ant encountering a Primordial Beast. Even the usually audacious Li Wanqing was petrified, unable to move despite a thousand urges to stand up, her body refused to obey.
This feeling of bewildered helplessness was rare in Li Wanqing’s eighteen years of life... In QingCyan Cloud yun City, considering her identity, few Great Cultivators would unleash such overwhelming pressure directly at her. Also, among the entire city, there was no Sea Overturning Realm Great Cultivator who could impose a crushing sense of powerlessness, like looking up at the heavens.
As long as Li Wanqing harbored any trace of defiance towards Shen Ruoshi, this intangible oppression wouldn’t cease, persisting until the end of the banquet.
When everyone dispersed and left, when Shen Ruoshi took Shen Qingming and Zhao Jincheng to discuss the marriage, only then did Li Wanqing, void of resistance, regain control over her body.
With a stiff and painful sensation, she immediately turned her gaze upstairs. The person in the second-floor box, who was supposed to come forward in time to stop everything, where had they gone?
——
"It was Qingming who asked me to wait here for her, not to leave. Now that she hasn’t come to fetch me, of course I shouldn’t move at will," Wang Jiu replied as a matter of course. "She rarely entrusts me with anything so earnestly. How could I not abide by our agreement?"
"You... you usually pride yourself on your intelligence, but don’t you have any adaptability!?" Li Wanqing was genuinely angry. "Couldn’t you see that you should have stepped up to stop that old undead at that time!?"
Wang Jiu looked at Li Wanqing seriously and asked, "Why stop him?"
"Do you even need to ask!? Shen Ruoshi wants her to marry such a random pervert. If you don’t stop it now, are you going to wait until they have children to stop it?!"
Wang Jiu said, "Are you referring to the first child in 2019 or the second child in 2020?"
"You!?" It was the first time Li Wanqing felt this kind of anger boiling up against Wang Jiu. "Wang Jiu, are you serious with these words?"
Wang Jiu said, "There’s no need for me to joke about such matters, so I’m seriously asking you, why should I stop Shen Ruoshi?"
This conversation was something even Li Chaolu couldn’t bear to listen to.
"Mr. Wang Jiu, any other reason might be excused, but you heard Qingming’s words at the time. She explicitly opposed it; it was Shen Ruoshi who forcibly took her away!"
Wang Jiu said, "Yes, so?"
"So..." Li Chaolu truly couldn’t continue, seeing this side of Wang Jiu was too unfamiliar to her. Though he remained as handsome and charming as always, the sense of heart-pounding attraction was rapidly fading.
Indeed, although her relationship with Shen Qingming was not good, at the birthday banquet, watching Shen Qingming being violently suppressed and taken away by Shen Ruoshi, she still hoped the Celestial Divine Sword would appear to stop it all.
However, this hope was cruelly dashed, with that hero, who should have been towering and indomitable, using this ridiculous excuse to evade his duty!
While Li Chaolu felt a sense of bitter sadness, Wang Jiu spoke.
"You should be able to perceive Shen Ruoshi’s strength, even with your limited cultivation. This is his home turf. Inside the hall are the Four Instruments Thirteen Arrays, outside are the Banner of Invincibility, and underground are the ley line nodes of a thousand-mile radius. Furthermore, by Shen Ruoshi’s side are Shen Jinghai, Shen Yueying, and other cultivators aiding in battle. With such comprehensive combat strength, it could rival a Demon Race army during the Jiuzhou Immortal Demon War period. Under this overwhelming disparity in strength, I have no means to stop him."
These cold words further sank the hearts of the two young women.
Indeed, although Wang Jiu was once the invincible Celestial Divine Sword, now he was but an empty shell. His grand and magnificent Sword World had barely reached one ten-thousandth of reconstruction, resembling a critically injured, dying individual. Expecting him in such a state to contend with a Peak Stage Sea Overturning Realm cultivator was indeed an unreasonable expectation.
"Really... There’s no way at all?" Li Chaolu, still unwilling to give up, struggled to ask.
"In head-to-head combat, I would be breached in the outer sword array in 0.01 seconds and completely lose the casting environment for the Illusion Sword Technique in 0.03 seconds. Then, within half a second, I would endure seventeen rounds of Immortal Technique bombardment. Upon realizing they cannot harm my Divine Sword Body, Shen Ruoshi and others should promptly switch tactics within three seconds, from annihilation to sealing. Initially, they will undoubtedly use the Banner of Invincibility, attempting to trap me with the battle array of hundreds of thousands of heroic spirits across generations. And at this point, it would be my closest opportunity to victory. The Banner of Invincibility is spirit-driven, and as the Celestial Divine Sword Spirit, I inherently suppress it in rank. Within this supreme military array, I have a one percent chance to seize control over the Banner of Invincibility, then using this Immortal Treasure, I have a one percent probability of shaking the underground Spirit Vein, detonating the Spirit Pool nurturing the whole city buried here. The rupture of the Spirit Pool has a one-third chance of triggering a heavenly tribulation, leveraging such a tribulation, I have a one-third certainty to slay Shen Ruoshi and others within the turmoil. So then it’s simple calculation; should I engage head-to-head, I have about a one in ninety thousand chance to eliminate the opponent, and a one in a thousand chance to escape Shen City with everyone amidst the chaos, a three in a thousand chance to take Shen Qingming alone... The remaining chances are essentially being suppressed on the spot, followed by undergoing torturous treatments like the carrot water punishment."
Wang Jiu leisurely finished speaking, leaving the two young women stripped even of anger and bitterness, with only sheer despair remaining.
"So... you didn’t intend to take action after all, but rather, you’ve calculated it so precisely." Li Chaolu murmured, "Indeed, forcing you to step forward here is quite unreasonable."
Li Wanqing gritted her teeth: "Relying solely on us is certainly not enough. If even Wang Jiu can’t overcome them, then avoiding conflict at the first sign is the wise choice... I’ve been foolish, what good is wasting time blaming you? I’ll contact my family right away. If Shen Ruoshi is going to act this way, QingCyan Cloud yun City needed no excuse to wage war against him!"
However, just as Li Wanqing finished speaking, a cold voice echoed from outside the room: "I’m afraid I can’t let you do that."
In the next moment, Li Wanqing felt a heavy oppressive force closing in from all directions. She hastily circulated her Divine Sense, only to find the area sealed off, as if they had been trapped!
It was then that Li Wanqing suddenly realized her folly. She silently cursed herself. The threat Shen Ruoshi posed had been so overwhelming that her mind had stopped functioning. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
She had actually forgotten they were still in the City Lord’s Mansion! The conversation between her and Wang Jiu had undoubtedly reached the ears of their foes, word for word!
"No way! I encrypted everything I said. Those outside can’t hear a thing." Wang Jiu said proudly.
Li Wanqing was fuming: "But what’s the point if others heard us anyway?!"
At this moment, the voice from outside spoke again: "Since you are determined to defy the will of the Lord City Lord, and are even willing to spark a war between the two cities, then you will have to stay here for the time being."
Li Wanqing immediately responded: "Cyan Cloud can’t afford not to get our regular replies..."
"I’ve read every letter you’ve sent over this past month. I am confident I can mimic your style and sentiments quite well. While it may not fool everyone forever, it will at least work for a while. And a while is all we need."
Li Wanqing coldly said, "You’ve certainly plotted this well in advance, Shen Jinghai. Unless you intend to kill us here, once we get out, you will be torn to pieces, that promise is eternal!"
Outside, Shen Jinghai smiled faintly: "To meet such an end for the Lord City Lord, that would be an honor for me."
With that, the door to the room was opened, and from outside, a large, round, ball-like young man was tossed in, sound asleep on the ground.
"You’ll be staying here for a few days. Just spread the tablecloth, and food will appear. But perhaps you’re too proud to eat anything from the Shen Family now."
——
After Shen Jinghai left, Li Wanqing let out a long sigh, sinking down as if all the strength had left her body.
There were many things she wanted to say, but anything said now would only lower morale further. On the other hand, thinking of the desperate and hopeless look when Shen Qingming was taken away, her heart grew even more uneasy.
"I wonder how Qingming is doing now..."
Involuntarily, Li Wanqing spoke up.
She wasn’t expecting a response, but then Wang Jiu spoke.
"Qingming is playing chess with me. She’s currently on a 97-game losing streak."
"...What?!" Li Wanqing felt her worldview shaking. At this time, Shen Qingming was playing chess with Wang Jiu?! How? With which Wang Jiu?! Wasn’t Wang Jiu here in the room, sealed off?!
Wang Jiu, surprised, said: "Who said I was in the room? I’ve been with Shen Qingming all along. What was left here was only the Illusion Sword Technique. The Divine Sword Body had already sneaked off to reunite with her."
Li Wanqing felt her eyes nearly pop out. Upon closer inspection, indeed, Wang Jiu’s waist was empty; the White Sword was nowhere to be seen!
"You?! Since you sneaked off to see Qingming, why didn’t you say so earlier? At first, you even deliberately said to stay put here!"
Wang Jiu replied in surprise: "I thought you would have noticed. Didn’t expect your observation skills to be that poor... Besides, Qingming did tell me to stay put here, so my main form had to remain. Until her instructions change, the one staying by her side will only be the Divine Sword Body."
"..." Li Wanqing covered her face with her hand, feeling as if her intelligence index had been forcibly lowered.
