Stellar Transformations

by I Eat Tomatoes

  “Yes!”

  There is also a tinge of excitement on Yan Rui’s face. She certainly understands Qin Yu’s meaning. Since she does not have to go deeper than 100,000 li into the Wilderness, the mission of searching in the Wilderness is not very dangerous, so naturally she is happy and relaxed.

  ……

  Qin Yu is lying on a white cloud among the other clouds in the sky, holding a flagon of wine in his hand taking one sip after another. Li’er is sitting with legs crossed on the cloud beside him. A zither has been placed on her legs. She is enjoying playing the zither with eyes closed.

  Drinking wine while listening to the music makes Qin Yu feel happy as if he is an immortal.

  As the white cloud floats, the zither music comes down from the 9th level of the sky as if it is the sounds of nature.

  When the zither music stops, Qin Yu puts the flagon away in an instant and sits up. He says smilingly to Li’er: “Li’er, this time I have to trouble you again, but Xiao Lu is just like my younger sister. I can’t bear seeing her live the rest of her life with a severed arm like that. I …”

  “All right, don’t be so sad.” Li’er says with a smile. “How long do we still need to reach Su Yan City?”

  “We’ll be there soon.” Qin Yu immediately accelerates the cloud.

  ……

  At a gate of Su Yan City,

  Qin Yu is wearing a blue robe outside, which is something he rarely does. This blue robe is extremely valuable and was personally given to Qin Yu by Qin Zheng. Li’er is also dressed entirely in blue and has a silk belt tied around her slender waist.

  The 2 of them enter the city.

  With a sweep of his holy sense, Qin Yu finds out Tie Shan’s and Xiao Lu’s locations, but what his holy sense has discovered stupefies him. Afterwards, he laughs out loud.

  “Why are you laughing, Qin Yu?” Li’er asks doubtfully.

  Qin Yu says mysteriously: “Follow me.” He quickens his pace in an instant. With just 2 or 3 steps, he travels 100 m, but the ordinary people around him simply do not notice anything unusual. This is because he is too fast.

  Li’er is still waking slowly. With 2 steps that make her look as if she is floating, she easily follows Qin Yu. It seems her steps can greatly shorten space.

  ……

  In Tang Mansion in Su Yan City,

  “Darling.”

  A white-clad handsome young man is kneeling in the main hall. This young man has red lips and white teeth and is so handsome that he can make women mad about him and men envious of him. This man is none other than the so-called no. 1 calligrapher of the Qin dynasty Tang Yuan, who can casually draw paintings worth thousands of gold sycees.

  “You let father-in-law down, didn’t you? Kneel before his altar for 2 entire hours.”

  Tang Yuan’s wife, Xiao Lu, says strictly.

  Now Xiao Lu is already more than 20 years old and is in the prime of her youth. There is an air of delicacy about her but there is also an amount of heroism on her forehead. Delicacy and heroism are conflicting qualities but they coexist in harmony in Xiao Lu.

  In the past, this air of delicacy and heroism attracted Tang Yuan. To court Xiao Lu, he was beaten by Tie Shan 3 times and suffered countless hardships. In the end he was able to win the belle’s heart. However, Xiao Lu adores another brother the most -- Qin Yu. After Qin Yu left the Qian Long continent and that battle on the river Wu received widespread attention, she started to put a lot of effort into training, aiming to follow Qin Yu’s example. She reached the Xiantian level 5 years later and now she is already at the middle Xiantian level.

  As a gentle, weak scholar who is married to a Xiantian-level heroine, Tang Yuan naturally … has suffered.

  “Xiao Lu, you’re too merciful to Qinglan. Yesterday this disobedient son even went to a brothel with some scoundrels to drink wine. He must kneel at least 6 hours.” A 50 to 60 year old luxurious-looking married woman stares angrily at Tang Yuan.

  “Mother …” Tang Yuan secretly takes a look at his mother but does not see a glimmer of hope.

  “Darling…” He then looks at Xiao Lu.

  Seeing the pitiful look in his eyes, she cannot help softening a little.

  “Tang Qinglan!” A loud shout comes in from outside. A man dressed in military uniform rushes in. There are even 2 guards behind him.

  “Ah, brother-in-law.” As soon as Tang Yan sees Tie Shan, he acts like a mouse seeing a cat. He is so frightened that he immediately gets up and runs to Xiao Lu’s back, saying hurriedly: “Save me, darling. Save me, darling. Brother-in-law will kill me.”

  Tie Shan’s face is full of anger: “Tang Qinglan, you even dared to go into a brothel again. You let my sister down, didn’t you? This time I won’t let you go before giving you 20 military lashes.”

  Lady Tang, who had harsh words for Tang Yuan just moments ago, also says hurriedly: “Commander Tie, you can’t use your whip. I’ll make him kneel for 6 hours, no, 10 hours. But if you give him 20 military lashes, he will be bedridden for a half month.”

  “Lying on bed is also good. He’ll become better-behaved.” Tie Shan is boiling with anger.

  The Tang clan is influential and is a large clan in Su Yan City, but Tie Shan is the commander of the city’s army and a sworn brother of the reigning emperor’s younger brother, the Qin clan’s 3rd Prince, who took part in that legendary battle on the river Wu.

  Therefore, even though the Tang clan is powerful, it will not dare to offend Tie Shan.

  “Big brother, kneeling 2 hours is enough for him. He won’t dare to make the same mistake.” Xiao Lu hastily gets in front of Tang Yuan. She does not like her husband to be hit with a military whip.

  “Step aside, Xiao Lu.”

  “No.” Xiao Lu keeps blocking her big brother’s way.

  Tie Shan is furious, but he cannot use force because, firstly, he hates to hurt his sister, and secondly, he … is no match for Xiao Lu. Although he has been training assiduously, he is not highly gifted like her at all. There is nothing he can do about this.

  “Darling, you’re the best.” Tang Yuan says while hiding behind Xiao Lu.

  “Oh, is a play going on here?” A jocular voice rises.

  Everybody is startled and looks outside the hall. They see Qin Yu coming in, with Li’er going behind him.

  “Xiao Yu.” Tie Shan opens his eyes so wide that they look like small copper bells.

  “Brother Yu.” Xiao Lu’s face is also full of disbelief.

  Chapter 11: Xun Feng, Situ Xue

  Qin Yu and Li’er go into the main hall successively.

  “Xiao Lu, Tie Shan, what’s going on here? Is the gentleman behind you your husband, Xiao Lu?” Qin Yu says with an indifferent smile.

  Xiao Lu looks at Qin Yu. In just a while, she becomes misty-eyed.

  After Qin Yu left the Qian Long continent to enter the boundless ocean, nobody knew when he would be able to return or even whether he would return. Xiao Lu was also grieved by Qin Yu’s departure and therefore she has been putting her effort into training since then.

  “Brother Yu.” Xiao Lu suddenly walks up 2 steps and hugs Qin Yu. She can no longer hold back her tears.

  Tie Shan’s eyes also slightly redden. At the moment this iron man is also extremely excited.

  “All right, don’t act like a child. Now you’re already a wife so you got to be virtuous a bit. Do you understand?” Qin Yu strokes Xiao Lu’s shoulders and wipes her tears off. Afterwards he looks at Tang Yuan, asking: “You’re Tang Yuan, right? Are you my younger sister’s husband?”

  Tang Yuan is basically someone who fears nothing, but now he becomes somewhat cautious.

  This is because the man before him is Prince Yu of the Qin dynasty, the unprecedented Xiantian external expert of the Qian Long continent, who even became a Xiuzhenist at the age of 20 and who was the winner of that legendary battle on the river Wu.

  “Brother-in-law, I am Tang Yuan, courtesy name Qinglan. I am exactly Xiao Lu’s husband.” Tang Yuan calms do
wn in a short while and says courteously. However, he calls Qin Yu ‘brother-in-law’ so the distance between them is immediately shortened.

  Qin Yu secretly approves of his behavior.

  “Xiao Yu, there wasn’t even a tiny piece of news about you in 10 years. Today we must drink until we’re drunk. Qinglan, I’ll suspend these military lashes for the time being today. You quickly go prepare a nice feast with fine wine. This time I and my brother got to drink to our hearts’ content.” Tie Shan is now very high-spirited.

  Qin Yu says with a smile: “Da Shan, today I’ll drink with you until you can’t take it anymore, okay?”

  At Qin Yu’s current level, he can drink as much wine as he likes so how can he possibly flinch from drinking?

  “Awesome. Tang Qinglan, what are you standing there for? Why don’t you go make preparations?” Tie Shan suddenly stares at Tang Yuan.

  Tang Yuan’s facial expression stiffens. He forces a smile: “This, brother-in-law, just now you said you would suspend the military lashes for the time being, didn’t you? But today is such a day of great happiness because of Prince Yu’s arrival, so could you exempt me from these lashes?”

  “Nonsense, quickly go prepare the feast.” Tie Shan says angrily.

  Qin Yu says with a smile: “Da Shan, did you become a fool? He doesn’t necessarily have to go prepare the feast himself. Just now that housekeeper went out right after hearing what you had said. Perhaps he went to prepare the feast. Qinglan is playing a trick on you.”

  Tang Yuan looks at Qin Yu with a little shock: “Brother-in-law, just now the housekeeper was at the door and your back was facing him, how could you know what he was doing?”

  He does not know martial arts and does not even know about the existence of the holy sense.

  “Hubby, how can you possibly imagine my brother Yu’s magic power?” Xiao Lu helps Qin Yu answer.

  “Magic power?” Qin Yu says with a smile. “When it comes to magic powers, I’m far inferior to my junior sister. Let me introduce a bit, this lady is my junior sister Li’er.” He pulls Li’er’s hand then introduces her to everybody. She gives him a look but does not pull her hand back.

  After Qin Yu pulled Li’er’s hand for the first time, she has not resisted too much when he has pulled her hand again. There is a hint of satisfaction at the bottom of Qin Yu’s eyes because his ‘plot has succeeded’ but too bad … she does not see it.

  Li’er nods to everybody with an indifferent smile.

  “Sister Li’er, are you really my brother Yu’s junior sister?” Xiao Lu looks doubtfully at Qin Yu and Li’er.

  “Yan’er.” She suddenly says.

  A little head sticks out from a corner of the main hall. Those shiny black eyes are extremely cute.

  “Yan’er, come here. Quickly greet your uncle.” Xiao Lu calls that little boy. This boy is none other than her son Tang Yan, looking just about 3 years old. His hair is combed into an upright bunch and his cheeks are ruddy.

  Tang Yan walks towards Qin Yu then looks at Li’er. He turns his little face upwards and asks doubtfully: “Uncle, you just said she had some magic power, didn’t you? What is it?”

  “Right, what is sister Li’er’s magic power?” Xiao Lu also becomes doubtful.

  “She can heal your severed arm.” Qin Yu looks Xiao Lu in the eye and says slowly.

  Xiao Lu, Tang Yuan, lady Tang and Tie Shan are all dumbfounded.

  ……

  3 days later, Qin Yu, Li’er, Xiao Lu, Tang Yuan and Tie Shan are walking on the streets of Su Yan City.

  “Da Shan, how do you feel about being the commander of this Su Yan City?” Qin Yu asks smilingly.

  Tie Shan thinks for a while and says: “I feel so-so. It’s just that dealing with the children of some officials is a little troublesome. But it feels pretty good when I eat and drink with those brothers of mine. Xiao Yu, you’ve seen my robust, good-natured son, he’s very strong, right?”

  “Yeah, he’s unusually strong. He’s so young but he can already drink wine.” Qin Yu cannot help giving a smile.

  Suddenly his face changes color. Then he gives a faint smile.

  “Tie Shan, this Su Yan City has a young man who is fond of holding a folding fan, about 25 or 26 years old and quite cute and handsome, right? There’s a small plait at the back of his head.” Qin Yu asks Tie Shan.

  The latter says with a ‘humph’: “Yeah, it certainly does. This is our Su Yan City’s governor’s son, who belongs to the same gang as this Tang Qinglan fella.”

  “Brother Ziyou?” Tang Yuan looks doubtfully at Qin Yu.

  Qin Yu says with a nod: “Tang Yuan, this friend of yours will most likely lose his little life because … he’s annoyed someone he shouldn’t annoy.”

  ……

  Xun Feng, son of Su Yan City’s governor, likes to have many romantic relationships with women so he and Tang Yuan are compatible. He occasionally dallies with women of good families, but he does this for harmless fun only and has never really exploited them.

  Today, Xun Feng and several male servants are taking a stroll on the main streets.

  “Wow, what a beauty, what a beauty. I’ve fallen in love with her.” He looks at a nearby woman, feeling his heart pounding in his chest.

  The woman ahead of him is dressed entirely in purple with no traces of a smile on her face. There is an extremely grim air about her, but because her facial features can be considered perfect, people will think that she is an ice queen. Her purple lips even add to her lordly, frosty air.

  “Young lady, I am Xun Feng, Xun Ziyou.” Xun Feng goes forwards and says with a smiling expression he considers the friendliest.

  “Get lost.”

  The purple-clad woman says with an expressionless face. Her eyes flash with coldness.

  Xun Feng is startled. He cannot help feeling somewhat embarrassed. But he has an unusually thick skin so he continues to say with a smile: “Young lady, I am very familiar with Su Yan City and its every corner. If you want to go somewhere for a stroll, I will definitely be the best tour guide.”

  The purple-clad woman’s eyes suddenly turn eerily grim.

  “Oh my, brother Ziyou, since when have you become so polite in chasing a beauty? Beautiful lady … I am Wang Shan of Su Yan City’s Wang clan. Why don’t you follow me to the Wang clan to look around a bit?” A slightly sharp voice rises.

  At the same time, 2 henchmen go towards this purple-clad woman to grab her.

  Wang Shan is different from Xun Feng. Xun Feng play jokes on women at the most, but Wang Shan even abducts them.

  “All of you … die!”

  The purple-clad woman’s eyes radiate coldness. All of a sudden, her body shoots various rays of light into her vicinity. The 2 henchmen of the Wang clan closest to her are broken into pieces in the blink of an eye. Xun Feng cannot help secretly getting shocked by this. Given his puny power, he simply cannot dodge at all.

  “Miss Situ, if you want to kill someone in my Qin dynasty, at least you have to tell me about it first.”

  Qin Yu appears in front of Xun Feng immediately as if using teleportation. The rays of light the purple-clad woman shoots towards the place where Qin Yu is standing are easily blocked by him.

  “Ah!” As for Wang Shan in another direction, just like his servants, he is reduced to pieces. His blood is all over the ground.

  Xun Feng’s face turns very white and is full of disbelief. He never thought that this frosty beauty was such a deadly god.

  The purple-clad beautiful woman gives Qin Yu a look. The corners of her mouth slightly curve upwards, which is a rare sight. It is possible that she considers this action smiling.

  “Tower master Qin Yu.” The woman’s manner is fairly polite.

  Qin Yu says with a smile: “Miss Situ, why are you taking a stroll on the streets of Su Yan City alone instead of staying with brother Yi Da? This brat has some connections with my younger sister’s husband so I certainly can’t watch him die.”

  This purple-clad beautifu
l woman is none other than Situ Xue, one of the 3 leaders of the Purple Flame Devilish Dungeon.

  “Since tower master Qin Yu has got into action, I’ll spare this brat this time.” Situ Xue casts a glance at Xun Feng then looks at Qin Yu, saying: “Tower master Qin Yu, both Yi Da and Jiao Jiu are in Su Yan City. Perhaps they are in a certain place of the city now.”