Chapter Ninety-Five: Yan Qingqing

“I’m sorry! I thought you were a friend of mine. You two are far too alike!” Long Yun sighed and said softly. Unknowingly, that cool and solitary figure had already become part of his heart.

Seeing the expression on Long Yun’s face, a sly look flashed across the girl’s features, and she immediately burst into a giggle. “Actually, you were right. I am that friend of yours. Do I look like her?”

With that, her delicate hand lashed out like lightning. Two torrents of heat roared from her palms, transforming into surging seas of fire that swept down over Long Yun’s head. This girl of only sixteen or seventeen was actually a cultivator at the fifth level of the Innate Realm, the Fusion Stage.

Under her precise control, the flames did not damage so much as a single inch of the small room, and in an instant they were already before Long Yun.

A terrifying wave of heat spread outward. Long Yun stood there dumbfounded; the girl’s momentary innocence had nearly made him believe her.

Most of all, her peerless beauty truly was identical to Yan Ruqing’s. While he was still dazed, the fiery tide had already reached him.

Whoosh—

Within Long Yun’s body, a golden barrier surged up. At the critical moment, his true energy again protected its master, forming a huge golden shield before him.

No matter how fiercely the flames battered the shield, they could not break through even a fraction.

Still, separated by that barrier of true energy, the wild heat still poured through, making Long Yun grimace repeatedly as beads of sweat fell like rain.

“Hm?” Seeing that Long Yun had actually withstood her flames, a gleam appeared in the girl’s bright eyes. She clapped her hands and said, “I never thought you could block my Ninefold Heavenly Fire. This really is fun!”

Long Yun gave a wry smile. Looking at the barrier that had vanished along with the Ninefold Heavenly Fire, he let out a long breath. This girl’s temperament truly was rather unpredictable.

If not for his true energy automatically protecting him just now, he would likely have been reduced directly to flying ash. What exactly was this Ninefold Heavenly Fire, to possess such terrifying power?

Long Yun could not help thinking of Yan Ruqing. Her true energy leaned toward ice, and the blood flowing through her veins was that of the Ice Phoenix. But the aura of this girl before him was entirely different.

Ice and fire were completely opposite attributes. Long Yun became even more certain that the two were not the same person.

“Miss, if I offended you just now, please forgive me. What I said is true. If you do not believe me, then when I see her in the future, I will certainly bring her here to meet you!” Long Yun said dully, his interest somewhat waning.

The girl smiled sweetly. “What was that move you used to block my Ninefold Heavenly Fire just now? It was amazing. It even kept my Ninefold Heavenly Fire from drilling through!”

Long Yun shook his head with a苦笑. It was not that he did not want to explain, but that he himself did not know what that move was called. He could hardly tell her that it was his true energy acting on its own and had nothing to do with him, could he?

Seeing that Long Yun did not answer, a trace of displeasure flashed across the girl’s lovely face. She continued to press him. “By the way, what’s your name?”

“I’m merely a disciple of a small sect. My humble name is not worth mentioning. Since this is our first meeting, perhaps it would be better if you did not ask,” Long Yun said softly. Though he did not know whether the girl would let him go.

Still, by the bear monster’s account, this girl did not slaughter indiscriminately. Moreover, though that strike of Ninefold Heavenly Fire had been frightening, Long Yun had truly not sensed the slightest killing intent.

“My name is Yan Qingqing!” the girl said lightly.

“Your name, Miss, is not something I’m interested in knowing, only…” Before he could finish, Long Yun’s entire body suddenly trembled. Then, with a somewhat shaking voice, he asked, “What did you say your name was?”

The girl walked toward him, her stunning face still carrying a faint smile, and said quietly, “My name is Yan Qingqing.”

“She’s also surnamed Yan?” Long Yun took two steps back. How could two people be so alike, and even have the same surname? Could this really be nothing more than coincidence?

Yan Qingqing looked at him, her large eyes blinking, her gaze full of innocent curiosity, as if she were trying to find an answer on Long Yun’s face.

Yet from Long Yun’s eyes, she saw only sincerity, and a trace of faint sorrow.

“What is your friend’s name? Is she really also surnamed Yan?” Yan Qingqing, infected by Long Yun’s mood, asked softly. By now she was less than three feet from him.

Long Yun likewise gave her a familiar feeling. He even had the absurd impulse to throw himself into her arms, as though that embrace had been reserved for her all along.

At that thought, Yan Qingqing’s face also grew faintly warm. Then she heard Long Yun sigh and say, “She is just like you, also surnamed Yan. Her name is Yan Ruqing, only one character different from yours.”

Yan Qingqing shuddered, lowered her delicate head slightly, and said nothing.

A trace of apology suddenly rose in Long Yun’s heart. “I’m sorry. I know you may truly not know her. But having seen the two of you with my own eyes and witnessed such a miracle, I find it hard to accept all at once.”

“I believe you! I also want to meet this older sister who looks exactly like me!” Yan Qingqing said suddenly, making Long Yun doubt his ears. He could hardly believe that Yan Qingqing’s temperament could change so quickly.

Looking at her bowed head, Long Yun suddenly felt an impulse to reach out and touch it. But the thought had only just formed when he immediately suppressed it.

The miraculous way Yan Qingqing had controlled fire just now was truly unique, and coupled with her formidable cultivation at the fifth Innate level, Long Yun could not help feeling a renewed sense of caution.

“Brother, your aura feels so familiar. It makes me feel very comfortable!” Yan Qingqing unconsciously took a few more steps toward Long Yun, her delicate body seeming as though it wanted to lean against his.

A醉人的 fragrance drifted from Yan Qingqing’s hair, filling Long Yun with a sense of ease and delight. The scent she carried was nothing like the heavy, powdery aroma of cosmetics; it was a fragrance more thoroughly blended with nature itself.

Hearing Yan Qingqing’s words, Long Yun’s heart stirred. What she had said was exactly what he himself had felt. The first time he met Yan Ruqing, he had experienced the same sensation.

And now, facing Yan Qingqing, that familiar feeling had returned once more. Yet back then, because of his recklessness, Long Yun had nearly been slain by Yan Ruqing’s sword, and since then he had always restrained himself.

Now, hearing Yan Qingqing say this, he could not help but say, “When I first met her, her aura was exactly the same as yours. At that time I nearly walked straight up to her and offended her as a result. I almost had my head chopped off because of it!”

As he spoke, Long Yun seemed to have returned to that moment, and a smile even appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“Is she your beloved?” Yan Qingqing asked carefully. At this moment she was like a little girl, endlessly full of questions.

Long Yun shook his head. “I don’t know either. We only spoke a few words in total, and afterward she was taken away by an elder from her sect. Since then, we have never met again.”

Hearing this, Yan Qingqing wrinkled her cute little nose and said, “Brother, can you take me out to meet her?”

Long Yun’s gaze fell on her face. In her eyes, he saw sincerity; she was not merely toying with him. Still, he said, “Only, you are an awakened beast, and my cultivation is too low to protect you. If those so-called righteous experts discover you, they will certainly act against you.”

Upon hearing this, Yan Qingqing immediately burst into a fit of laughter and looped her arm around Long Yun’s wrist. “I’m not an awakened beast! I’m a genuine human being!”

Long Yun’s expression changed slightly, and then he asked in surprise, “You’re saying you’re human?”

Yan Qingqing smiled. “Of course. I came in from outside, and I’ve been living here for about three months now.”

“Then why do they call you boss? You didn’t run into the Blue Wolf King?” Long Yun asked in disbelief.

Yan Qingqing said, “Of course I did! It was Uncle Blue Wolf who helped me build this space, and he even named me princess. But I’ve always been mischievous, so they all like to call me boss!”

“Then do you still remember what happened outside?” Long Yun asked in confusion.

Yan Qingqing shook her head blankly. Just as she was about to speak, a voice suddenly drifted over.

“Young man, there’s no need to press her. She does not remember what happened before. Qingqing, bring him to the Blue Wolf Grotto. Uncle wants to meet him!”