Cohabitation with Sword Spirit

Chapter 385 - 120: A Parent’s Heart Knows No Bounds

"Apologize?"

Upon hearing Wang Jiu’s words, the people traveling with him found it unbelievable.

Based on the data collected during the QingCyan Cloud City period and the brief interactions in Shen City, an apology from Shen Ruoshi was as rare as Wang Jiu’s emotional intelligence, Li Wanqing’s integrity, or Shen Qingming’s secondary sexual characteristics.

Since graduating from the Outer Courtyard and officially debuting as an adult cultivator, he was known for being domineering, autocratic, and stubborn, always insisting on his way despite widespread opposition. Although most of the time over the past century, it proved more correct to be stubborn. But on rare occasions, when Shen Ruoshi made a wrong judgment, he would only silently make amends afterward and never admit it verbally.

Hearing an apology from Shen Ruoshi was as much a dream come true as a cultivator ascending or a ruling class abolishing exploitation — the ultimate ideal. No one expected this dream to come true in their lifetime.

"He really said that!?" Shen Qingming was the most incredulous, "Are you sure you didn’t see it wrong?"

Wang Jiu pondered for a moment and said, "Based on my understanding of human language systems and lip-reading techniques, there is a 95% probability that he said ’apologize.’"

"So there’s a 5% chance it’s something normal?" Shen Qingming questioned.

Wang Jiu nodded: "Considering factors like his swollen cheeks, bleeding gums, Qi blood fluctuations, and the Shen City accent, there’s also a 5% chance he said ’er*ection.’"

"..." The young girl’s face instantly turned red, regretting why she brought up this topic.

Fortunately, Li Wanqing intervened in time: "If it’s an apology, it means Shen Ruoshi has conceded... Fairy Yueqin is really formidable."

Li Chaolu then asked, "So, we should be fine now, right?"

After this sentence, the group looked at each other, some wanting to speak, but moving their lips, not knowing what to say.

After a long period of contemplation, everyone had to admit that with Shen Ruoshi’s apology, this two-month journey had finally come to an end.

They went through great hardships to come to Shen City to repair the relationship between the Shen and Li families. In fact, the Shen family high-ups, aside from Shen Ruoshi, no longer held resentment toward the Li Family from twenty years ago. Even before Shen Ruoshi’s birthday banquet, rumors of the two cities re-establishing relations were already spreading throughout the city, attracting merchants seeking opportunities to profit.

If it weren’t for Shen Ruoshi suddenly acting up at the birthday banquet, everything should have gone smoothly, and now, with his apology, things are simply back on track.

——

When the group entered the city, things indeed progressed as expected, everything returned to normal.

The person officially welcoming them was Shen Yueying, the hero who single-handedly turned the tide, smiled brightly at Shen Qingming and the others.

"Welcome back."

Seeing this smile, Shen Qingming couldn’t help but feel her nose get a little sore.

She thought of her mother.

Though the people of Shen City often said that the personalities of the sisters Shen Yue’e and Shen Yueying were very different, almost as if they weren’t real sisters, yet... the love in their eyes when facing Qingming was exactly the same.

As Shen Qingming’s heart surged and she was unsure of what to say, Shen Yueying had already stepped forward and embraced her tightly.

"Qingming, welcome back."

The girl responded with a sound and then embraced Shen Yueying with all her might, feeling that warm embrace was identical to her mother’s.

A moment later, since they were in a public setting and had cleared the unrelated passersby, Shen Yueying still felt slightly embarrassed and released Shen Qingming. Seeing the girl’s dependent and affectionate gaze, Shen Yueying felt her heart pounding uncontrollably.

Amidst the heartbeats, there was also some guilt and regret. If she hadn’t been so willful back then, perhaps things would’ve ended well, her sister wouldn’t have to break with the family, she could freely travel between QingCyan Cloud City and Shen City, bringing her precious daughter to visit the family every now and then. And she would have seen this adorable little girl much earlier.

To avoid losing her composure, Shen Yueying quickly activated her primordial spirit to calm her mood, glanced at Shen Qingming, and casually said, "Really, there’s not much change... Before coming, grandma insisted that Qingming is now completely transformed, and the average person probably wouldn’t recognize her, it’s not that exaggerated."

As soon as she said that, Shen Yueying noticed the young girl in front of her growing cold all over.

"...What’s wrong?"

Shen Qingming replied with a sub-zero smile: "Nothing."

Shen Yueying frowned, feeling as if the little girl’s eyes were about to weep tears of blood.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on these matters.

"Come home with me to rest for a while. We’ve got a lot of work ahead. The process of rebuilding relations between the two cities is detailed and complex; it’s not as simple as the City Lord saying a word."

Seeing that several people were showing disinterest, Shen Yueying said seriously, "QingCyan Cloud yun City has sent you here as an envoy to Shen City, and you are obligated to represent QingCyan Cloud yun City until the work is done. Come on, don’t be so impatient, I will work overtime with you."

——

In the two days that followed, the QingCyan diplomatic team, led by Shen Qingming, was kept busy with the affairs of re-establishing relations between the two cities, almost living directly in Shen Yueying’s Vice City Lord’s Mansion, tackling the countless official procedures and working overtime to a ruthless degree.

The hardship of this process surpassed even the special training tasks Wang Jiu set for everyone during the QingCyan competition—although the latter was cruel to the point of brutality, cultivation was everyone’s interest. But handling these official matters was tasteless and unbearable for even a minute. Shen Qingming, Li Chaolu, and others, after being taught by Shen Yueying to write one or two official documents, each showed a look of despair, as if violated by life.

In stark contrast to these victims of tough times was Wang Jiu, who had nothing to do.

As the leader of the envoy team, Wang Jiu was supposed to shoulder the most important tasks. However, after the Vice City Lord’s Mansion witnessed the astonishing wisdom of the Celestial Divine Sword, the entire official team unanimously decided to give him an indefinite vacation, allowing him to wander around Shen City freely.

This turned out to be a good thing for Wang Jiu. Unlike Shen Qingming, who came with a mission, Wang Jiu had come for the delicacies of Shen City in the first place. To him, many of the tasks along the way were distractions. Without these mundane burdens, he could finally seriously examine the customs and culture of this Southeast Heroic City.

Additionally, he was waiting for an old friend.

Thinking of the old friend whom he hadn’t seen for thousands of years, even the ever-so-transcendent Celestial Divine Sword felt a tinge of anticipation.

According to past experience, this friend, who valued beauty above all else, made people wait for a considerable time on every occasion. Every time she went out, she dressed as grandly and formally as a host of a grand ceremony.

Previously, in the Southern City Mountains, she was hurt significantly after being counterattacked by the Moon Shadow Array and playing dead using corpses to transmit messages, and needed to recuperate for at least a month. During this period, she certainly wouldn’t show her face in public.

She preferred not to meet at all rather than leave an imperfect impression on important people; this was her principle.

Thus, it was not surprising that after that, Zhao Chenlu was no longer seen by Wang Jiu.

What was strange was that she didn’t even send a letter. In the past, whenever they fought side by side, if they ever had to carry out separate tasks, she would send at least two letters a day, each with no less than three thousand words.

Most of the content expressed concern for Wang Jiu’s current situation and a simple account of her own. At the end of the letters, she usually included some photos with inexplicable gestures to prove the letters were personally written by her—frankly, Wang Jiu didn’t quite understand this authentication method. Her handwriting and the accompanying True Essence Fluctuation were enough to confirm her identity. This photo authentication seemed utterly redundant, but she always found enjoyment in it.

But now, even though a few days had passed since they parted, she didn’t send a letter. It was unclear whether the habit of writing had faded after her rebirth or whether she was caught up with new tasks lately, leaving her no time to write.

In any case, while waiting for the old friend’s letter, Wang Jiu wandered alone around Shen City.

Without the burden of companions, Wang Jiu, traversing alone, discovered many new things, and Shen City’s unique ecological environment deepened his understanding of human society.

That morning, while he was investigating the dietary culture of human society on the East City Barbecue Street, he suddenly saw a short woman in a thick cloak not far ahead, holding a compass and looking around as if searching for something.

This short woman’s form and posture bore a seven or eight-part resemblance to Shen Qingming. Wang Jiu recognized her identity at a glance—it was Lu Xin, Shen Qingming’s stepmother.

Out of politeness, Wang Jiu proactively approached to greet her.

"Lu Xin, what are you doing here?"

In the next moment, Lu Xin, startled, trembled all over, accidentally dropping the compass on the ground. She frantically bent down to pick it up, pulled out the needle, and turned around to point it at Wang Jiu as if it were a dagger.

"Who are you!?"

Then Lu Xin finally recognized Wang Jiu, blinking incredulously. "Mr. Wang Jiu!?"

"It’s me, good morning. Are you here to have breakfast too?"

But the next moment, Lu Xin approached quickly, grabbing Wang Jiu’s sleeve and asked in a trembling voice, "How is Qingming? And what about Wanqing and Chaolu... where are they now?!"

Wang Jiu deftly avoided Lu Xin’s hand and replied, "They are working overtime at the Vice City Lord’s Mansion."

"...What?"

Wang Jiu asked in return, "Didn’t they write back to you previously, saying they needed to work overtime here to handle official matters?"

Lu Xin was silent for a while and said, "We thought you guys were being held hostage by the people of Shen City and were deliberately sending misleading messages to cover up the truth..."

Before she could finish, a tall man in a mask landed from the air not far away, his feet barely touching the ground, as he urgently said, "Xin’Er, I found them. They’re in the Vice City Lord’s Mansion, and they all look in pain, I don’t know what torment they’re suffering! Should we attack and rescue them immediately?"