72. Your Daughter!?
Looking at the source of the sound, they saw two girls emerge from the inner room, slowly walking towards them.
Their appearance was unexpected, but they seemed too young to be the mastermind.
And as the scruffy man’s gaze fell on the girl in front, the warmth of kinship that welled up in his heart suddenly spread throughout his body, making him freeze.
Qin Huaiqiu looked at Gong Yiling in disbelief, taking a half-step forward. “You… are you…?”
“Dad, long time no see. I hope you’re well.”
Her words stunned everyone present except for Gong Yiling, Leng Yuli, and Qin Huaiqiu.
They knew this Senior Brother Qin had a bit of a… reputation. A young, passionate man, having a romantic entanglement with a woman of similar spirit, what was wrong with that?
It was cool!
And Qin Huaiqiu had always been a reliable Senior Brother in the Returning Heaven Sect. Almost all the younger generation disciples had opposed his execution.
So, when they recently learned that his death was just a facade, they didn’t blame the sect for protecting him, but even admired their Sect Master’s courage.
However, they didn’t know that after his youthful escapades, this Senior Brother Qin actually… had a child, a daughter!
“You…” Qin Huaiqiu was so shocked he didn’t even notice the sword still hovering above his head, and its hilt hit him squarely on the forehead.
“Ling’er… what are you doing here?” Qin Huaiqiu, after his initial shock, looked around anxiously.
His eyes were a mixture of astonishment, anticipation, fear, and confusion. It was clear who he was looking for.
“Don’t bother looking. Mom isn’t here, but she should be arriving at the capital soon.” Gong Yiling walked up to him, glanced at the shocked disciples behind him, and couldn’t help but smile. “I didn’t know you, this big drunkard, had a side like this.”
“Drunkard?” “Drunkard?” “Huh?”
At her words, the disciples began to murmur.
And someone even muttered, “Strange, isn’t drinking forbidden in our Returning Heaven Sect?”
Was drinking forbidden? Was there such a rule? But she remembered her father always had a wine gourd with him.
“Well,” Qin Huaiqiu bent down and whispered in Gong Yiling’s ear, “dear daughter, can you give me some face?”
“You didn’t say drinking was forbidden in the Returning Heaven Sect.”
“This…”
Just then, the others started to ask, “Senior Brother Qin, do you really drink?”
“Ahem…” Qin Huaiqiu coughed awkwardly. “Actually, that rule isn’t so strict.”
“As sword cultivators, we need to cultivate our sword intent and sword heart. Alcohol can numb this perception, so the elders made this rule.”
“However, if your sword heart isn’t affected, then it doesn’t matter if you drink or not. The Grand Elder drinks every day.”
At that moment, a certain white-haired old man, a thousand miles away, couldn’t help but sneeze.
—Something feels off.
As for the others, they basically understood the logic.
In short, if you were talented enough, drinking didn’t matter.
What a Versailles statement. So arrogant.
“Anyway,”
Qin Huaiqiu, resuming his role as the Senior Disciple, cleared his throat.
“If you want the privilege of drinking, then down a jar of white wine, then go and perform a few of the sect’s sword techniques and the Sword Control Technique in front of the Grand Elder. If he approves, then you can drink.”
“If you don’t think you can do it, then don’t even touch a drop. Do you all understand?”
“Yes, disciple.”
Qin Huaiqiu, saying this, never imagined that someone would actually go and drink ten jars of white wine, then create a new sword technique called the “Drunken Immortal Wine Sword.” But that was a story for another time.
“But Ling’er, you still haven’t told me why you’re here.”
“Before that,” Gong Yiling said, “the people from the Baiyao Dynasty will probably come to investigate soon. Let’s go first.”
Seeing her determined expression, Qin Huaiqiu didn’t think much of it and immediately left with the other Returning Heaven Sect cultivators.
They returned to their stronghold here—a cheap, alleyway tavern.
Setting up their base here was a clever move. No one would suspect that the people of the Returning Heaven Sect would be here.
The group quickly disguised themselves as regular patrons, and Qin Huaiqiu, now the tavern owner, with his drunken and lazy demeanor, seemed completely unrelated to the Returning Heaven Sect.
“Dad, why are you disguised like this?” Gong Yiling, looking at him, couldn’t help but laugh. “Even the Blood Orchid Palace doesn’t do this.”
“Ling’er probably doesn’t know about the black-clad swordsmen’s identity.” Qin Huaiqiu sighed and said seriously, “They have a connection to the Baiyao royal family, so we try to avoid acting under their noses, lest they interfere.”
Mmm… it seemed the Returning Heaven Sect wasn’t just sitting around. Her father had already discovered the Baiyao Dynasty’s schemes shortly after arriving.
“And you, Ling’er?”
“Me?” Miss Gong glanced at the cultivators who were sitting but not drinking and chuckled. “If I told you that I’ve already figured out everything you’ve investigated, and I’m even using their own methods to counter-scheme against them, to find you, what would you think?”
“Huh?”
Qin Huaiqiu was stunned.
This girl was just… absurd.
Back at Qian Yue Academy, it was this girl who single-handedly turned the so-called Divine King’s Court upside down.
And now, she was planning to counter-scheme against the other party, even knowing they were from the Baiyao Dynasty.
“Your courage is just like your mother’s.” Qin Huaiqiu couldn’t help but smile. “She was also so unrestrained, never thinking she was weaker than her opponents, never flinching even when a mountain was about to collapse on her.”
“But…”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help but think of those shameful and humiliating memories.
Back then, why wasn’t he by her side…
But as he was thinking, the girl beside him suddenly spoke.
“Dad, is this yours?”
