Chapter 593: Epilogue · The God of Wealth and the Beggar Spirit (Final)

Epilogue · The God of Wealth and the Beggar Spirit (Final)

"Is this… the Qin Huang?"

Xie Ziran froze slightly, then realized who this outsider youth was—her eyes widened, and she instinctively reached for the door, but in the next instant, a figure suddenly dashed out.

Nangong Wumeng pressed both hands against the temple gate and slammed it shut.

Face flushed, stammering: "Y-y-y-y-you!"

"What are you doing here?!"

"W-what are you challenging me to? Whose hand in marriage are you seeking?!"

"Who, who's seeking a spouse?!"

Before Li Guanyi appeared, when those martial artists came, brandishing swords and spears, shouting and arguing, Nangong Wumeng sat lazily on the high-backed chair, utterly unmotivated.

She had naturally broken through to the Dao Master realm.

The several Primordial ones within the Daoist Academy often came to sit idly here, trying to coax this girl back into the Academy as one of the next generation's Daoist Palace Masters—but they were turned away time and again.

If asked, Nangong Wumeng would remain calm and say: "The Daoist path is tranquil and harmonious, naturally free and easy—why need a Palace Master? If someone truly deserves to be Daoist Palace Master, their insight into the Dao must be extraordinary."

"But if one's insight into the Dao is truly extraordinary, how could they care about empty titles?"

Zhenren Ziyang fell silent.

"The head of the Academy is still a position of great stature."

Nangong Wumeng lifted a cup of tea and smiled:

"I have three treasures: first, compassion; second, frugality; third, daring not to be first under heaven."

Thus, the two Daoist Primordials could only depart in regret.

When Xie Ziran began to feel a little respect for her teacher, the woman spat out the scalding tea in her mouth and asked if that was why she refused to go—Nangong Wumeng looked at Xie Ziran with the eyes of a foolish disciple.

"Of course it's because I'm lazy."

"Foolish disciple."

Her Dao heart was both pure and once forged in the vast battlefields—her combat experience was immense, and she wielded the divine weapon, the Yin-Yang Wheel Turn Ruler.

In truth, even an ordinary Jianghu Bazhongtian Master would struggle against Nangong Wumeng, and these Bazhongtian Jianghu Masters were all seasoned veterans—regardless of their own martial skill, their insight and discernment were sharp.

Nangong Wumeng, the Yin-Yang Wheel Turn Master?

The most beautiful woman under heaven?

An elder from Jiangnan kicked his nephew on the buttocks as the boy tried to sneak down the mountain to witness this great Jianghu event, shouting: "Damn Tu Shengyuan, who doesn't know this girl is the next Daoist Palace Master and the Qin Huang's lifelong companion?!"

"You traitorous bastard, digging pits for the Jianghu, planning to lure every last Jianghu person into it so the Great Qin cavalry can crush them left and right into mud?! Tu Shengyuan, may your sons be born without anuses!!"

"Pah!"

"You heartless wretch."

"Damn it, go sit with Yan Daiqing from the Western Regions!"

Some sects with long histories and Bazhongtian Masters present took this whole affair as Tu Shengyuan's scheme, devised for the Qin Huang, to wipe out all Jianghu sects in one stroke.

Not a single one came.

These people here, though numerous, collectively couldn't match even one strike from Nangong Wumeng—yet she lazily ignored them all, barely glancing up, still gazing at the clouds above.

Until that wooden sword appeared, until its sword qi shook the four directions—she froze, then instantly appeared at the door from her reclining chair, pressing both hands hard against the gate, face flushed.

Li Guanyi's lips twitched.

"What are you doing?!"

Nangong Wumeng's lips trembled: "I—I don't know!"

"Then open the door!"

"I won't!"

Li Guanyi laughed bitterly—only Nangong Wumeng had remained unchanged since the beginning. Even he, on his path forward, had gradually transformed, grown more composed—but Nangong Wumeng was still the same.

Nangong Wumeng stammered:

"Anyway, I—I'll… you wait outside first."

"I—I need to calm down!"

"Just let me calm down, then I'll come find you, really, really, Your Majesty."

Li Guanyi suddenly smiled: "Old Lei returned and said you refused to come because you were sulking—that you wandered the length and breadth of the land for me, and that, for public and private reasons alike, I should have come here personally to invite you back."

Huh???

Nangong Wumeng was stunned as if struck by lightning.

She suddenly recalled the final moment when Old Lei had bowed and smiled—and realized she'd been tricked. Even if that man had grown fat, even if his hair had turned white, even if he now looked like a seasoned politician—

But Old Lei was still Old Lei.

The same man who boasted he'd place his own tablet above the ancestral founder of the Beast Taming Manor, the same smug bastard who proudly built the Strange Beast Legion!

The original member of the Fire Qilin Army, the so-called "all-capable" Old Lei.

"That bastard!!!"

Nangong Wumeng gritted her teeth.

Smoke nearly rose from her head as she shoved the door shut—why? She didn't know herself, only that she instinctively fled. Suddenly, she remembered childhood: her teacher had found her floating down the river, smiling softly, sorrowfully, with worry, whispering her name.

"Don't dream, protect yourself."

"Run, run…"

"The Jianghu is dangerous."

So she had always been accustomed to avoiding—but this time, she couldn't escape, because the Qin Huang had cleverly jammed his foot into the door's crack and shoved his shoulder against it.

"Hey, what are you hiding from?!"

Li Guanyi leaned in, peering inside—Nangong Wumeng's eyes widened, just as she had as a child, instinctively retreating under pressure, wanting to flee, wanting to postpone this crucial decision until later.

She stepped back, but Xie Ziran suddenly understood.

She blinked, tossed the broom aside, then took two steps to run behind her teacher, pressed both hands hard against her teacher's waist, and shoved forward: "Teacher, don't run away!"

Nangong Wumeng said: "I wasn't running!"

Xie Ziran said: "Then what about the luggage and bundles at home?"

Nangong Wumeng froze. Li Guanyi stepped forward; the wooden sword sang like a dragon. Nangong Wumeng tried to retreat, but the next instant, Li Guanyi's hand reached out and seized her wrist.

The warm, strong hand squeezed tightly.

Li Guanyi took half a step forward, entering this small world. The temple was silent; petals and leaves drifted down from the trees. Nangong Wumeng stumbled backward; in her gaze, the Emperor still looked like the young hero who had once charged into dragon dens and tiger lairs with a sword on his back.

He had entered her world.

Li Guanyi walked into the temple, his temple hairs slightly swaying; their breaths mingled. Nangong Wumeng was backed into a corner. Li Guanyi gripped the wooden sword, bending slightly.

Only now did Nangong Wumeng realize how time had changed.

When they first met, that boy was now a head taller than her. As he bent down, his sleeves stirred faintly in the wind, carrying a subtle, mountain-like pressure. Her heart beat rapidly.

Li Guanyi said: "So, duel."

"I accept."

Li Guanyi swung his wooden sword; the wind rippled. The trees in the temple trembled slightly; petals and leaves spiraled down. Xie Ziran widened her eyes, then saw the wooden sword sweep across.

The sword qi stirred the wind, swirling the falling petals and leaves, until the wooden sword rested horizontally before Xie Ziran's eyes, blocking her view. The next instant, Li Guanyi bent lower, leaving Nangong Wumeng no escape.

Their lips met.

Nangong Wumeng's face flushed crimson; the strands of hair near her forehead were damp. Thin wisps of white mist rose. Her eyes lost focus, hazy and dreamlike. Deep within her heart, the little girl who had hidden since childhood, the fearful one, seemed to hear the sound of shattering before her.

If there had been such a young hero back then, sword on shoulder, boldly bursting through the door, wouldn't she have loved him?

Li Guanyi exhaled, looked at Nangong Wumeng, and said:

"Come back."

Nangong Wumeng opened her mouth to speak.

Li Guanyi said: "No refusing."

"No talking."

"No excuses."

Li Guanyi and Nangong Wumeng had known each other too long—over a decade. He knew exactly how this person would react. Her heart was full of hiding, dodging, evading. Unless pushed to the limit, she would never reveal the truth.

Li Guanyi asked: "One question: come with me?"

Nangong Wumeng blushed furiously.

She took a deep breath and whispered, barely audible: "Fine."

Li Guanyi released his grip. The woman stepped back two paces, her face delicate and beautiful. She used her fingers to smooth the black hair at her temples. Even with the disguise mask, her beauty was clear. Nangong Wumeng looked at Li Guanyi, clasped her hands, and whispered:

"I… really like you too."

"Little one, but…"

The yin-yang qi suddenly shifted. Nangong Wumeng shot upward, activating her divine step, enhanced by divine weaponry, soaring at incredible speed: "But don't even dream of catching me, Miss!"

"I swear I'll only be gone a little while—I'll give you an answer soon. Also, I really like you, and it's not a lie!"

Xie Ziran's expression slowly froze.

She suddenly realized her teacher was a coward who chickened out at the critical moment.

This woman is a beautiful waste, damn it!

Xie Ziran gritted her teeth, but saw Qin Huang wasn't the least worried—he even seemed interested in watching her. Li Guanyi looked behind Xie Ziran and saw a Bai Hu Zong manifestation shaking its head.

'…A new Bai Hu Zong destiny, but not the qi of slaughter.'

'Master of the Metal Qi of Reform and Guard?'

"Nangong really is someone anyone can pick up."

Xie Ziran froze, then saw a faint smile on Li Guanyi's face. The next instant, her teacher's voice came from the sky.

"Eeeeyaaah!!!"

In the sky, the nine-colored divine deer's radiant light spread. Nangong Wumeng's smug expression froze. The next instant, Li Guanyi leapt into the air and wrapped his arms around Nangong Wumeng's waist.

Nangong Wumeng blushed furiously, looked at Li Guanyi, who smiled slightly and raised an eyebrow, radiating youthful vigor: "Do you have any idea how many years we've known each other?"

He slung her over his shoulder and smiled:

"Let's go back!"

Nangong Wumeng kicked and flailed: "Qin Huang! Qin Huang is kidnapping a civilian woman! Don't you care about your reputation!!"

Li Guanyi said: "Trading Qin Huang's spotless reputation for you is worth it."

"We're going back for the wedding—you're stuck with me for life."

Nangong Wumeng mumbled, then heard Li Guanyi's soft laugh: "But Li Guanyi can occasionally take Nangong Wumeng on a journey through the Jianghu."

Nangong Wumeng stopped struggling, slumped over Li Guanyi's shoulder, her face blazing red. Her eyes shimmered; she clenched her fist and lightly patted his back, muttering: "Damn it…"

Li Guanyi gripped the wooden sword with the Dragon Pattern, took a deep breath, and drew his blade. The Changfeng currents swirled; that day, the sword qi filled the entire Jianghu. Elder Murong's final sword invited the entire Jianghu to witness it.

Li Guanyi's sword invited the heroes of the Jianghu to share a cup of wedding wine.

Crimson clouds stretched endlessly.

In mutual celebration.

(End)