Chapter 380: Strongly Twisted Melons, Sweet Flavors

The Butcher couldn't help but say, "You blind old man, you're making decisions on your own. Did you even ask Mu'er what he wants?"

"I don't need to ask! He's my child; I raised him, so I can decide for him!"

After saying this, the Blind Man took Qin Mu's hand and walked out of the great hall. A group of flood dragons quickly followed Qin Mu, running outside. The Village Chief frowned and said, "Old Butcher, there's no need to chase them. The Blind Man will come to his senses."

The Butcher shook his head and said, "That old coot, his temper is even worse than mine. He actually got angry."

Inside the hall, Qingyou Sanren sighed with emotion and said to Wang Muran and the other two, "The Human Emperor invited us to come out of seclusion to help calculate and repair the spatial numerology model of the Divine Bridge. Now that the model is complete, there's no need for us to remain in Yankang, a place of turmoil. Will you return to Little Jade Capital with me?"

Long Yu and Mu Qingdai both hesitated. Long Yu wanted to return to Little Jade Capital, but he was indecisive and couldn't help but look at Wang Muran. Among the three Little Jade Capital disciples, Wang Muran was the most decisive. Mu Qingdai was more playful; the past few months since descending from Little Jade Capital had been truly exciting, and she wanted to stay.

Wang Muran remained silent for a moment, then said, "This disciple just met the Imperial Preceptor of Yankang."

Qingyou Sanren raised an eyebrow. Wang Muran continued, "He doesn't recognize me anymore."

Qingyou Sanren sighed, "He is the Imperial Preceptor, of course he wouldn't remember you."

Wang Muran said, "The Imperial Preceptor of Yankang oversees the reforms, changing the world and creating a new order. His Dao arts and divine abilities are evolving rapidly, progressing at an astonishing speed. If I stay in Little Jade Capital and train diligently, even if I put in a hundred times more effort than him, I could never surpass him in this lifetime. What's more, he himself is extremely hardworking."

"You want to stay?" Qingyou Sanren asked.

Wang Muran bowed and said, "This disciple wishes to immerse himself in the dramatic changes brought about by his reforms. Many signs of this reform are already apparent. The Imperial Preceptor's Sword Style Three, Human Emperor Qin's primordial spirit, the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon, and the Celestial Phenomenon divine abilities all indicate that Dao arts and divine abilities are undergoing transformation. If I stay in Little Jade Capital and miss this era, the Imperial Preceptor will never remember me. When I seek vengeance against him, he won't even remember who I was after he kills me with a single sword stroke."

Qingyou Sanren sighed inwardly and said, "Very well, then you may stay. Qingdai, Long Yu, what about you two?"

Mu Qingdai smiled and said, "I'll stay too, so our junior brother isn't left without supervision."

Long Yu hesitated, then said, "Since my junior brother and sister are staying, as the senior brother, I should look after them."

Qingyou Sanren felt a headache coming on. "Alright. Senior Brother Youhe, let's return to Little Jade Capital."

The three elder immortals from Little Jade Capital rose, bowed to the Village Chief, the Mute, and the Butcher, and then departed.

As the three ascended into the sky, Qingyou Sanren said to Youhe and Youyun, "I'm worried about these three disciples. You two go back to Little Jade Capital first; I'll secretly keep an eye on them."

Youhe quickly replied, "The Emperor's bombardment of the Celestial Beings has unleashed unforeseen consequences. If you stay, I fear you might also get dragged into it. This is a place of trouble; it's not good to stay here for long!"

Qingyou Sanren smiled, "Don't worry, I understand. I long ago shed my worldly desires; this dazzling world won't ensnare me." With that, he vanished.

Qin Mu sat on the back of the Dragon Qilin, following the Blind Man as they traveled at a leisurely pace. Qin Mu offered for the Blind Man to ride, but he declined, walking steadily towards the Great Ruins with his staff.

After a long time, the Blind Man suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Qin Mu had the Dragon Qilin stop, and all the numerous flood dragons around them also halted.

A moment later, the Blind Man sighed wistfully and said, "Mu'er, Old Butcher asked me to ask you what you think, but I never got around to it. Now I'm asking you: do you want to stay or return to the Great Ruins?"

Qin Mu smiled, "If Grandpa Blind wants me to go back, then I'll go back. If I said I wanted to stay, would Grandpa Blind allow it?"

"No!"

Qin Mu changed the subject, saying, "Did the Village Chief ask Grandpa Butcher about the sun, moon, and stars all being fake?"

"Go ask the pig butcher yourself!"

Qin Mu said no more. The two continued their journey. As dusk fell, Qin Mu built a fire and cooked dinner. After they ate, the Blind Man picked up his bamboo staff and drew a circle around Qin Mu, saying, "You wait here, don't step out of the circle... you won't be able to anyway! I'm going to snatch a wife for you, and once we're back in the village, we'll get married and have children!"

Qin Mu was startled. The Blind Man, holding his bamboo staff, leaped into the air and vanished.

"Snatch a wife? Have children?"

Qin Mu's mind reeled. He quickly walked towards the edge of the circle, only to hear a hum as the circle drawn by the Blind Man flared with light, bouncing him back.

"Grandpa Blind's restriction is powerful, but Grandpa Cripple taught me the Heaven-Stealing Divine Legs, which fear no restriction!"

Qin Mu exerted force with his feet, but as soon as he activated the Heaven-Stealing Divine Legs, he was bounced back again. The circle drawn by the Blind Man was very clever; its size precisely prevented his Heaven-Stealing Divine Legs from reaching the necessary speed to break through. Cripple's Heaven-Stealing Divine Legs required extreme speed to break spatial restraints and thus ignore restrictions.

"Isn't the Ninefold Heaven Eye Opening Technique that Grandpa Blind taught me meant for breaking restrictions? Open!"

Layers of formation patterns rotated in Qin Mu's pupils as he activated his Azure Heaven Eye. He stared intently, but couldn't help but feel dejected. He couldn't understand it. As the creator of the Ninefold Heaven Eye Opening Technique, the Blind Man was known as the God-Eyed Divine Spear. Due to his powerful divine eyes, he possessed unfathomably profound mastery in the ways of restrictions and formations. Even if Qin Mu activated all nine layers of his Heaven Eye, he might not be able to break it.

"I also have two large eyeballs here, the Solar Jade Eye and the Lunar Jade Eye; maybe they can break Grandpa Blind's restriction! But..."

He looked troubled. The circle the Blind Man drew was too small to accommodate those two eyes. Qin Mu looked at the Dragon Qilin and the dozen or so flood dragons. He quickly retrieved the Imperial Plate, activated the Dragon-Controlling Art, and blew the golden flute. The flood dragons immediately roared and attacked the circle. However, despite the flood dragons being incredibly powerful and numerous, they still couldn't break the circle drawn by the Blind Man. The circle's barrier of light would break and reform, constantly shifting, always keeping him trapped. Qin Mu also didn't dare let the flood dragons unleash their full power, as if they broke the circle and couldn't control the force, he himself might be blasted to death. He was completely out of ideas and could only sit obediently within the circle, waiting for the Blind Man to return with his snatched wife.

The massive Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon's platform continued its aerial flight, drifting towards the capital city. On the platform, Emperor Yanfeng watched the burning alchemical furnaces with immense heartache. These furnaces weren't burning medicinal stones, but sack after sack of Great Abundance Coins, causing him, the Emperor, a pang of agony! Just then, a figure swiftly darted across the sky above the platform and vanished.

"Such incredible speed!" Emperor Yanfeng exclaimed. The Imperial Preceptor of Yankang walked over, glanced into the distance, and said, "It looks like that old blind man who fought against the Celestial Gods, likely the Divine Spear from back then."

"It's a pity he can't be used by me," Emperor Yanfeng sighed.

Towards the latter half of the night, that figure rushed back, flying swiftly over the platform. Emperor Yanfeng gazed into the distance, wondering, "Why is this Spear God carrying a large sack?"

"I don't know," The Imperial Preceptor of Yankang was also somewhat puzzled, saying, "Hermits and recluses often have strange quirks. The adults in Sect Master Qin's family all have these peculiar habits; they're hard to understand."

By mid-morning, they arrived outside the capital city and landed the platform. Imperial guards quickly rushed over, kneeling and crying out, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! The Sixth Princess was abducted last night by an old man with a staff!"

Emperor Yanfeng's expression went blank. "An old man with a staff? Imperial Preceptor, is that Divine Spear... carrying a staff?"

Qin Mu woke up to broad daylight. The Blind Man had just returned, dropping a large sack from which muffled sounds of a girl could be heard.

"Fat pig, come here, show your true form!"

The Blind Man led the Dragon Qilin over. The Dragon Qilin revealed its true form as a forty-zhang giant beast. The Blind Man lifted the sack onto its back, then walked over, erasing the circle on the ground with his bamboo staff, and chuckled, "Mu'er, time to go back to the village and get married!"

Qin Mu quickly said, "Grandpa Blind, a forced melon isn't sweet!"

"It'll be sweet, guaranteed sweet."

The Blind Man took him and jumped onto the Dragon Qilin's back, smiling. "If it's not sweet, we'll return it and get a sweet one. You're a lucky boy! Fat pig, stop at the next town and buy some phoenix coronets, embroidered gowns, and red flowers."

The Dragon Qilin grunted. In its true form, its body was wide and ran as steadily as a large ship.

Qin Mu untied the sack, revealing black flowing hair. A familiar fragrance wafted out. The sack wriggled, and Ling Yuxiu lifted her head, making muffled sounds with a strip of cloth in her mouth, wriggling forward as she cried out. The Blind Man stood by, smiling smugly.

Qin Mu quickly pulled the girl out of the sack, only to see that Ling Yuxiu's hands and feet were tightly bound with golden ropes, leaving her unable to move. Qin Mu pulled the cloth strip from her mouth and was about to untie the golden ropes when he suddenly saw the sack still wriggling. Another girl wriggled and wriggled, revealing a small head. Qin Mu was startled and quickly stepped forward, rescuing the other girl from the sack. It was Si Yunxiang, her hair disheveled and her expression panicked.

Qin Mu's mind reeled. He stammered, "Grandpa Blind, you kidnapped two..."

Something else was still wriggling in the sack. Qin Mu's face darkened. He saw a little girl poke her head out, looking up at him pleadingly. Qin Mu was utterly speechless.

"How did you kidnap Ling'er too?" He hastily stepped forward and pulled out the little girl, who looked to be six or seven years old.

"When I went to abduct the Princess and the Saintess, I just grabbed her along the way," The Blind Man said with a smile, "They all live in the Divine Abilities Residence of the Imperial College, right next door. There's no time like the present; you'll get married tonight and enter the bridal chamber! Which one do you like? Pick freely!"

The three girls looked nervously at Qin Mu. Qin Mu said nothing and went to untie their golden ropes. The golden rope suddenly revealed a head, looked up, opened its mouth, and nearly bit his hand. Qin Mu was startled and quickly withdrew his hand.

"These are dragon tendons, not ordinary stuff. You can't untie them." The Blind Man sneered, "These are true dragon tendons, not from these mere flood dragons."

Qin Mu sighed and said, "Grandpa Blind, you're causing trouble again... Grandma, why are you here too?"

The Blind Man hastily turned around. Qin Mu took off running, unleashing the Heaven-Stealing Divine Legs at full power and fleeing into the distance. The Blind Man raised his bamboo staff and pointed it. Qin Mu, who was in mid-air, suddenly lost all his strength and fell from the sky. The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground echoed from afar.

"Always causing trouble." The Blind Man shook his head, then pulled out another golden rope. The rope flew out and soon had Qin Mu bound tightly, bringing him back to the Dragon Qilin's back.

"Grandpa Blind, a forced melon... Mmmph!"

The Blind Man stuffed a cloth strip into his mouth, placed him with the three girls, and muttered to himself, "One bridal chamber per day, guaranteed sweet!"