The Happy Farmer Wanderer-Chapter 674 King Qi’s Hobby_1

Although Li Qing had never interacted with the archaeological team,

he was still aware that, in their eyes, every clod of earth in the Underground Palace might have research value.

Yet what Li Qing and his group did in the Underground Palace was nothing but fight and slash, or recklessly burn everything down.

If the archaeological team heard about such things, they would probably be heartbroken to death.

"Even though the bureau has put me in charge of this matter this time, you know I’m not up for the task, Hong Fang Zhenren. Just starting out, I’m not even clear about my own strength, let alone able to bear such a heavy responsibility," Li Qing stated his purpose very directly, "So the task of leading the team should still be left to you, Zhenren. The knowledgeable shall be the teacher. You will be in charge of the command, and we will handle the messy killing."

Hong Fang Zhenren stroked his short beard and laughed heartily, "My fellow Daoist needn’t be so modest, let’s stick to the orders from the bureau and discuss it, shall we?"

"That’s really not good," Li Qing shook his head, "I truly do not have that skill."

"Tsk tsk..." Zi Ling suddenly grimaced as if suffering a toothache and said, "Why so modest now? This isn’t like you at all!"

Li Qing glanced at Zi Ling with annoyance, "This is called being aware of one’s limitations."

"Oh, really? Heartthrob," Zi Ling bit on her small canine tooth, heavily emphasizing the last few words.

Li Qing couldn’t help but chuckle; this little girl had taken to heart the deliberate remark he made today.

This was a good thing.

It didn’t matter whether she called him a heartthrob or a playboy, or whatever else.

As long as she took his words to heart, Li Qing had already succeeded halfway.

"Zi Ling, show some respect!" Hong Fang Zhenren scolded sternly.

Zi Ling made a face at Li Qing and stuck out her tongue.

Li Qing smiled knowingly at her adorable antics, and couldn’t help but recall the scene in the bathroom earlier.

The feeling was truly wonderful.

He had thoroughly explored it earlier, and now the very thought was endlessly satisfying.

Although he only touched the crevice briefly, he could still feel the charm of that place.

It was a shame that he didn’t know when he would have such an opportunity again.

"Fellow Daoist," Hong Fang Zhenren’s low call brought Li Qing back from his thoughts.

"Then let’s temporarily settle on this plan. We’ll go down to the Underground Palace tomorrow, how about that?"

Li Qing could only nod, "We’ll follow Zhenren’s lead. However, Zhenren just mentioned that the tomb owner’s preferences greatly influence the Underground Palace. Do you have any findings regarding this King Qi?"

"I almost overlooked that matter," Hong Fang Zhenren chuckled, then continued, "King Qi should be considered a person of grand strategy in history, proficient in state governance. In the early days, he built up his forces and established countless merits."

"However, he was defeated in the struggle for the throne among the five dragons and was appointed King Qi. After the new emperor ascended to the throne, this man of great talent and grand vision started to feign madness and act the fool. He spent his days roaming mountains and waters, not inquiring about anything related to his fiefdom and leaving all matters to the Provincial Governor."

"This person had several hobbies in his lifetime. He loved weapons, though this interest greatly faded later, but it was still there. Besides that, he loved beauties. It was rumored that the number of his consorts exceeded even that of the emperor, and he even built a garden called Beauty Forest."

"In the height of summer, he would have his consorts go without clothes..." cough cough." Hong Fang Zhenren coughed slightly, embarrassed, before he continued speaking, "In short, he was pretty good at extravagant debauchery, almost like a ’pool of wine and a forest of flesh.’"

Li Qing was genuinely envious when he heard this.

The lives of ancient kings and nobles were the ultimate dream for men.

To wake holding power over all under heaven, to sleep with a beauty’s head in one’s lap!

There was a slight pause before Hong Fang Zhenren continued, "Another rather unusual hobby of his was that King Qi was fond of keeping pets, all kinds of animals, among which cats were the most numerous. Rumor has it that he even tried to tame predators like tigers and leopards into pets, but he was not successful."

Li Qing’s brows furrowed slightly.

He suddenly thought of the orange cat that fed on the Elixirs of the Underground Palace.

Could that one possibly be a fossil cat that had lived from the time of King Qi until now?

At that moment, Hong Fang Zhenren’s voice sounded again, "King Qi’s preferences should be taken as references, though they might not be very useful."

"Master, the usefulness might not just be ’not very big,’ it might be quite significant." Shisan said quietly, "When we went down earlier, Brother Li and I encountered an orange cat in the Underground Palace, and I was injured by that cat."

"You were beaten to this sorry state by a cat? Don’t call yourself my disciple in the future, it’s too embarrassing for me." Hong Fang Zhenren was stunned.

When he came in, he had noticed Shisan limping, but had been too busy greeting Li Qing and hadn’t had time to inquire further.

But he had never imagined that the injury would have been caused by a cat.

"True Person, you can’t blame Shisan for this, that cat... it’s quite capable," Li Qing said solemnly, "It could shatter tons of huge rocks with a single swipe of its paw, and it seemed to do so quite effortlessly."

"Shattering rocks with its paw, this cat must have reached the Foundation Establishment Realm," Hong Fang Zhenren finally said seriously.

"A cat of this Realm, it’s understandable that Shisan couldn’t beat it, but it still embarrasses me, being weaker than a cat."

"True Person, do you think it’s possible that cat could be one of King Qi’s pets?" Li Qing voiced his speculation.

Hong Fang Zhenren shook his head with certainty, "Absolutely not."

"It’s been almost a thousand years since the era of King Qi. If you encountered a millennial cat demon, it wouldn’t just end with injuries; one glare from it could kill you. This cat’s strength probably hovers around the Foundation Establishment, it could be a mountain spirit that happened to find the Underground Palace and made it its lair."

"Nowadays, the Spiritual Energy of the world is sparse, and many of these mountain spirits like to burrow into ancient tombs. They have much more success with tomb raiding and seeking treasures than humans do, and if they manage to find some Magic Artifacts or Elixirs, they could use them for Cultivation."

Li Qing felt somewhat relieved inside, if that was the case, then it was no big deal.

In fact, he wasn’t that worried about the cat anymore, since they had already made peace with each other.

What Li Qing was concerned about was, if that cat truly had lived all the way from King Qi’s era to the present, would that also mean there were other pets? King Qi liked keeping pets and might have brought all of them into his tomb.

If they encountered a bunch of creatures capable of flying or burrowing in there, and couldn’t beat them at all, that would be awkward.

"Let’s leave it at that for now, rest well today to muster your strength, we’ll enter the Underground Palace tomorrow," Hong Fang Zhenren said, turning to look at Li Qing, "Fellow Daoist, is there anything else you need to prepare?"

Li Qing waved his hand, "I don’t need anything extra, I’ll follow True Person’s arrangements."

"All right, then that’s settled," Hong Fang Zhenren shook his head with a smile, as if somehow Li Qing, the youngster, had pushed him to the forefront without anyone noticing.