Chapter 302: Perhaps One Day I Will Change My Mind

Not telling Ying to keep it secret is somewhat difficult for Ashu, but since the chief ordered it, it naturally must be done.

"Alright, I agree, but how to bring Li Xiang out? He can't come to us right now."

Nan Qinghuan has already thought of this.

"Ashu, I have a way."

At the third watch, the Rongdi Tribe was silent.

Li Xiang, unable to sleep, stood on the Treehouse and gazed over the whole tribe; he was waiting for the Bolan Festival, and once it arrived he could take Qinghuan away.

He took out his compass, but it had failed.

He was certain that their getting lost and crossing here was due to magnetic interference and temporal distortion, yet he had a way out.

A woman crept up behind him.

"Li Xiang."

Li Xiang turned his head to look at the She Nü behind him, "Do you need something?"

She Nü smiled smugly, "Someone wants to see you. Will you go?"

Hearing that, Li Xiang's expression darkened, "See me? Who wants to see me?"

In the dense forest, when Li Xiang and She Nü arrived, Nan Qinghuan was already waiting for them.

This opportunity was extremely hard to come by.

She Nü, seeing Nan Qinghuan, strode forward, "I've already brought the person. Where is the thing you promised?"

Yes, Nan Qinghuan devised a method to see Li Xiang: she discovered that this Snake Woman, Qingshui, has always wanted to avenge her father against the Snake Tribe.

So she had Ashu find this woman; as long as she helped summon Li Xiang, she would give her the Anesthetic Herb she wanted.

She took a packet of Anesthetic Herb from her bag, enough to stupefy many members of the Rongdi Tribe.

"This is yours, but you probably can't save your people yet; you must wait for a chance."

"Then it's my business; your medicine works, right?"

"I don't trust you; you could find someone else, but you can't get this medicine."

"You…"

"Step back."

Li Xiang told She Nü to step back; she could only retreat in defeat. After she left, Nan Qinghuan lit a candle, held it in her hand, and looked at Li Xiang, who had become thin and dark.

Moreover, his white shirt was so blackened it was unrecognizable; it should have been washed long ago.

Having stayed in this Remote Antiquity Era for so long, the cleanliness‑loving senior brother had become sloppy.

"Senior brother, long time no see."

Li Xiang gave her a deep look, "Did you come looking for me because you want to leave with me?"

He hadn't expected this junior sister to come looking for him; did that mean she regretted and now wanted to go with him? After saying that, he tried to get closer to Nan Qinghuan, but she could only step back a few steps, "Don't come near, I just have something to ask you."

Sure enough, seeing her so fearful of him cut Li Xiang's heart like a knife; his steps halted instantly.

"What is it?"

Nan Qinghuan was blunt, "I heard you helped the Rongdi wipe out the Quanrong Tribe?"

The Rongdi hadn't touched the Quanrong for years; why act now? Li Xiang smiled at her question, "That's right, I helped them. You went to great lengths to see me just to ask this. So, is your barbarian husband scared?"

"He's not scared; you have a bias against Ying."

"Of course I have bias; he took you away, how could I be friendly to him?"

Nan Qinghuan didn't know how to tell him; to Li Xiang, Ying truly was a criminal, but this is the Remote Antiquity Era, not modern civilization.

"I don't want to bring up the past, senior brother, but aren't you afraid using Gunpowder to aid the Rongdi? He's a fanatical war monger who, at any chance, wants to conquer and annihilate tribes. You're harming people and altering history; Gunpowder shouldn't exist in the Remote Antiquity Era. Don't act recklessly."

Nan Qinghuan was clever and had already guessed he had made Gunpowder.

Li Xiang was calm, "So are you scared, or is that barbarian scared?"

"Let's not mention him between us. You back off. If you want to return, I can help, but I cannot leave."

Li Xiang's gaze fixed on her every move, "If you don't leave, fine. Everyone has their own aspirations; you can't control me. You want to help that barbarian, I want to help the Rongdi—no conflict. Junior sister, that barbarian isn't suitable for you; you'll regret it someday."

"That's my business, not yours, senior brother. Using Gunpowder here will alter the course of history; do you know what will happen if it changes?"

"What are you afraid of? From the moment you and I arrived, things have already changed. If the barbarian's tribe hadn't… could you live in a Tulou? No need to persuade me; I will definitely help the Rongdi, even if I can't go back, I'm leaving."

He had thought Qinghuan had changed her mind and would discuss leaving with him, but she came to admonish him instead.

He didn't want to hear anything.

If she were willing to leave with him, would he become like this? He knew this would alter the course of history, but how could he prevent the Rongdi Tribe from growing strong, how to wipe out other tribes? He felt only if Ying died could the junior sister and he return home.

Thus, the man who came from a civilized society gradually became barbaric and uncivilized.

Because the environment changed, he could no longer apply civilized thinking here.

He knew that on the Jiuzhou Continent, the strong set the rules.

He wanted to become strong, so he could keep the person he wished to keep.

That's all!

"Li Xiang, stop. Do you have to be like this?"

Li Xiang suddenly halted, gazing at her deeply, "Junior sister, I don't want to clash with you. The only person I hate is Ying. You have two choices: first, leave with me; I've prepared everything for the Fifteenth Month Full Moon Night, just waiting for the Seven Star Conjunction so we can end this nightmare here. Second, you stay here, and then I won't leave either."

Li Xiang was obsessive; his purpose in coming here was to find her, and now that he'd found her, his heart was given to a barbarian—how could he accept?

She didn't understand why Li Xiang had changed, or whether this primitive society forced out a person's true nature.

Had she always misread people? Li Xiang, seeing her confusion, sneered, knowing it was too late, but he still wanted to say.

"Qinghuan, my biggest regret is not telling you earlier, I actually…"

"…love you very much."

Boom!

Li Xiang's words left Nan Qinghuan completely stunned, feeling as if she had been struck by lightning—crispy on the outside and tender inside.

"Impossible."

"There's nothing impossible. Do you know how I spent the days you were missing? When you're in the water, I wait for you in the water; when you're in fire, I wait for you in the ashes. I have waited for you like this, yet still no word from you. I can only take the initiative to go out and look for you, Qinghuan…"

"But I only consider you my senior brother."

"I am your senior brother, but I don't want to be a senior brother. After all these years, my feelings for you—don't you feel anything at all?"

Nan Qinghuan couldn't accept it; a senior brother is like an elder brother, so why bring tangled romantic issues into it?

So his desire for her to leave wasn't because he feared she would suffer, nor for any other reason, but… he was jealous that she was with Ying? "No, I only see you as my elder brother."

Those words were cruel, and Li Xiang had known them for a long time. "Fine, whether elder brother or senior brother doesn't matter. Since you don't want to leave, I won't force you. But you can't demand that I not help Rongdi, just as I can't ask you to stop helping Ying and give him up. Would you do that?"

"We are different."

"What's different?"

"Of course we're different. He is the father of my child, and you help Rongdi. That Beastman Rongdi will kill many people; you are abetting cruelty."

Li Xiang didn't want to hear her nonsense; he had lost everything, what could he still cling to?

"Since that's the case, there's nothing left for us to say. Let's go."

"Since you insist on this, let me give you a piece of advice: don't go astray."

"Go astray?"

Li Xiang let out a deep sigh; this primitive night is truly chilly.

He rubbed his nose, still stubborn, "Perhaps one day I'll change my view, but not now."