Master, What Dao Do You Cultivate?

Chapter 63: Will You Dual Cultivate with Me?

Ji Qinglin hung up on Lei Qiuyun, but he still didn’t let go of Yu Ye in his arms. 

His hand stayed wrapped around his Disciple’s waist, her little face resting against his chest, slightly tilted to one side like she was listening to his heartbeat. 

Ji Qinglin gently bumped his nose against Yu Ye’s head. 

“Alright, what kind of image are you giving people if they see this?” 

Yu Ye looked up, her clear apricot eyes full of sincerity. 

“Disciple just feels the Master’s kindness runs so deep, I don’t know how I could ever repay you.” 

Mad Ye: Keep going! Just say you’ll give your body to repay the debt! Only ugly ones say dumb stuff like they’ll be a horse or ox in their next life. 

But Ji Qinglin simply raised his hand and tapped her nose lightly with a snort. 

“No need to talk about repaying me. Just don’t drag my name into things if you cause trouble someday.” 

Yu Ye was about to respond with, “How could I?” but then she remembered fleeing to Bangkok and her heart sank. Yu Ye: Do you think we really won’t bring disaster down on Master? 

Mad Ye: Probably not. It’s been so long and there’s been no movement—they must’ve given up. 

Seeing Yu Ye hesitate, Ji Qinglin frowned and tilted his head. 

“You didn’t actually mess up, did you?” 

“No, no! Disciple is just worried about the future...” 

“I was just messing with you earlier. If something really happens, you have to tell me right away, got it?” 

Yu Ye pressed her head back against him, nodding obediently. 

“Well, since you didn’t mess anything up, do you think you could stop clinging to me like a koala?” 

Yu Ye stuck out her tongue and let go of him, and even helped straighten her Master's clothes before stepping away. 

“By the way, Master, since I seem to have some talent in Soul Refinement, is there any way I could help you compensate for your inability to refine your soul from birth?” 

Mad Ye: Do you really have to ask that like you don’t know the answer? 

Ji Qinglin shook his head. 

“There’s not really a good solution. But I accepted it long ago—it’s just fate.” 

Yu Ye bit her lip, took a deep breath, and asked with courage: 

“Master, I read in a book... dual cultivation of yin and yang can help with soul reinforcement to some extent.” 

Ji Qinglin didn’t expect her to actually say it outright, so he turned with a mischievous smile. 

“Then Yu Ye, would you be willing to cultivate the Yin-Yang Dual Cultivation technique with your Master to help me reinforce my soul?” 

Even though she had mentally prepared herself, she didn’t expect her Master to ask it so directly. Her little face instantly turned red like an apple, but she didn’t back down. Biting her lip, she stammered: 

“If... if it’s Master’s request, if... if it could truly help strengthen your soul, then Disciple... Disciple...” 

Mad Ye: At this rate, it’ll be nighttime before you finish talking! 

Seeing Yu Ye’s adorable expression—face burning, but still forcing herself to speak—Ji Qinglin smiled. 

“Alright, just knowing you feel that way is enough for me. But the Yin-Yang Dual Cultivation method won’t work on me.” 

Yu Ye, her face still flushed, blinked in surprise. 

“Why not? Even if it’s slow, shouldn’t it at least be effective?” 

Ji Qinglin shrugged. 

“Maybe it’s because of my unique constitution. Anyway, let’s drop it. I need to contact Cui Sanmei and have someone come deal with Jiao Yang’s corpse before it starts stinking.” 

With that, he headed downstairs. 

Mad Ye: Are you kidding me?! I was looking forward to that! It doesn’t work?! 

Yu Ye: No, wait, Master was clearly trying to change the subject. I suspect he’s hiding something. 

Mad Ye: Hiding something? What, like his body’s not up to it? No way—he felt pretty solid when I was lying on him. Zhang Huai Min even said I’d suffer a bit. 

Yu Ye: I’m not sure... I should ask a professional doctor. 

Mad Ye: Shen Bixin! I miss her already! 

———————— 

“Didn’t expect Old Huang to still be so efficient. I’ll send someone to deal with the body right away.” 

Cui Sanmei had thought that with Huang Silang investigating the Lei Qiong incident, the wanted criminal case would’ve slowed down. But here they were, just a few days later, and another head had rolled. 

“Just doing my part. I want to ask—do the police have any data on cultivation techniques used by Commerce Guild personnel?” 

“They do, but it’s not complete. Not every move gets recorded.” 

“Got it.” 

To avoid exposing their identities, Ji Qinglin called Yu Ye downstairs. Together, before the police arrived, they dumped Jiao Yang’s body into a drainage ditch in a nearby alley. 

Unbeknownst to them, the whole thing was seen by the three-man group led by “Slayer Zizai,” who had been tailing them since yesterday. 

“Heart-Gouging Hand” Chen Sun whispered, 

“Yup, they’re pros. Took advantage of the chaos to dispose of the body. Looks like Jiao Yang got decapitated in a single blow. That little female Disciple’s no pushover either.” 

“Throat-Slitting Blade” Yang Qu chimed in, 

“They might not even be real Master and Disciple. Remember that long howl we heard last night? They could have some shady relationship.” 

Watching the two head back into the General Store, Chen Sun asked quietly, 

“Boss, should we go check the body? We might be able to tell what technique was used by examining the wounds.” 

The silent “Two-Faced Blade Demon” Slayer Zizai waved a hand. 

“Don’t get cocky! Who knows if it’s a trap? We outsourced this mission already—if Huang Silang can kill Ji Qinglin, great. If not, even wounding him gives us a shot later.” 

As the trio discussed their next move, a commotion broke out. 

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP—— 

Police cars raced into the alley, followed by a few officers and some law enforcement recording bots. 

“Right here! Search carefully!” 

“Over there, in front!” 

Already wanted criminals, the trio immediately tensed up. 

Chen Sun muttered,  

“Holy sh*t, that’s brutal. This is classic baiting! Boss was right—good thing we didn’t go down there just now.” 

Yang Qu was just as surprised. 

“This guy runs a shady store, kills someone, doesn’t report it to act like the victim, doesn’t turn in the body for a bounty, just dumps it in a ditch and calls the cops? He’s clearly trying to lure us out.” 

The arrival of the police drew a few local residents out. After faking a crime scene the last time with Duan Tianpeng, Ji Qinglin and Yu Ye were now even better at putting on an act. 

“No way, another one? Somebody died again? This alley’s d*mn cursed!” 

“Shut it, Master. Be careful the killer doesn’t hear you.” 

From upstairs, watching Ji Qinglin and Yu Ye closely, Chen Sun cursed, 

“F***, they’re good actors. It’s obvious they came out looking for us during the chaos. If we’d gone down to snoop, we’d be fighting already.” 

Slayer Zizai nodded. 

“Now we know why Huang Silang suddenly got all cautious and demanded more money after hearing Ji Qinglin’s name. No need to rush. Let’s just watch and wait for updates.” 

Soon after the police left, Yang Qu, still tailing them, warned: 

“They’re heading out!” 

Ji Qinglin straddled the Night Owl 750 and Yu Ye hopped on behind him, one arm around his waist and the other hand gently resting on the Master’s long-absent Big Black Bird. 

Honestly, the Coal Boss could’ve kept up, but he didn’t want to give up this moment of warmth for nothing. 

The Night Owl roared to life and sped off toward the West Chang District. 

“Boss, should we follow?” 

“No. Could still be a trap. We’ll wait till they return.”