In reality, being bound and taken away by Xiao Ya was something Aoki did on purpose; with his Qi techniques, he could have broken free from Xiao Ya’s restraints at any time.
However, in the simulated world, he truly had no choice.
After Qin Shuang gave Qin Feng a pill, she held Aoki in her arms, and the three of them fled from Nongli’s palace.
“Put me down! Qin Shuang!”
“No way! Senior Brother Aoki, I suspect you’ve been bewitched by that fox demon!”
“Aoki, back when Sword Immortal You came, it really wasn’t me who—…”
This mother and son, one calling him Senior Brother Aoki, the other just Aoki, their way of speaking was truly awkward.
No matter what Aoki said, the mother and son still took him away from Nongli’s palace.
High above, Aoki was forcibly pressed to the ground, only able to watch the great fire burning in the city in the distance.
The mother and son stood to the side, both looking at him with strange expressions.
“What are you looking at?”
Aoki looked at them with annoyance.
“Why aren’t you dead?”
The mother and son spoke in unison, then glanced at each other. Qin Feng ducked his head, saying, “Mother, you ask first.”
With that, Qin Feng ran off to the side.
“Senior Brother Aoki, what’s really going on?”
“I’m not dead, that’s all there is to it. Things aren’t as simple as you think. I need you to let me go—I have to stop Lin Qiyou and Nongli. They can’t keep fighting.”
“I’m sorry, Senior Brother… I…”
“What are you waiting for? What you wanted, what she wanted, you both already have, don’t you?”
Aoki’s words shook Qin Shuang a little. Indeed, things were just as she and Lin Qiyou had said before—both had gotten what they wanted; there was no need to keep fighting.
“Did Lin Qiyou trick you? Did she ever tell you she colluded with Benji? The whole grudge between the Human and Demon races started because of this.”
“I actually knew, but I never said it outright…”
“So… you still want things to turn out this way?”
“I owe her… Back then, when she was besieged, it was me who informed on her. I guess she actually knows about this. When Qin Feng was captured, that was also my doing.”
Qin Shuang’s face was full of guilt towards Lin Qiyou. “I can’t betray Lin Qiyou again. Besides, what she’s doing is right.
Given the situation between the Human and Demon races, it’s time to deal Demon King Nongli a heavy blow. Whether we’re still caught up in this after, it’s a definite benefit for the Human race.”
Aoki frowned at Qin Shuang. He felt there was no way they’d reach an understanding on this. “What’s the story with this child?”
“Picked him up.”
Qin Shuang shrugged. “Found him by the roadside ages ago—he doesn’t know.”
“So you never married.”
“Of course.”
“Mm…”
Aoki nodded. Qin Shuang saw he had nothing else to say to her, so she turned and patted Qin Feng on the shoulder.
Qin Feng walked over and stared at Aoki’s face for a moment before asking, “Aoki, do you know my mother?”
“Mm!”
Aoki’s attitude was strange. Though he looked like a child, there was an air of disdain that made Qin Feng uncomfortable.
Qin Feng thought it over, perhaps because of everything that happened before, and apologized, “Back when Sword Immortal You came, I didn’t actively betray you, she figured it out herself… But it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have said anything… I can’t face you, Aoki.”
“Still calling me Aoki?”
Aoki glanced at Qin Shuang in the distance and whispered, “Call me Dad.”
“Huh?”
Qin Feng was stunned.
Aoki spoke mysteriously, “You really don’t know?”
Qin Feng’s face was blank. “Know what?”
“When your mother was young, she had a Dao companion—named Aoki.”
“What?”
Qin Feng panicked. He had indeed heard some rumors that his mother once had a Dao companion, but couldn’t recall the name.
But thinking of his mother’s attitude toward Aoki just now…
No way, right?
“No, what are you talking about?”
“What do you think I’m talking about? At the Six Flavors Hall, did you just think it was fate that we met? I saw right away in the crowd—you’re my son.”
Qin Feng didn’t know that he was actually someone Qin Shuang had picked up, and this gave Aoki the chance to take advantage. “Look, Qin Feng, in fact, you’re Qing Feng.”
“I won’t let you say that!”
Qin Feng looked constipated, took a step forward, and grabbed Aoki’s hand, feeling a hundred kinds of awkward.
Let alone the kid-version Aoki claiming to be his biological father, even that middle-aged uncle at Six Flavors Hall—he couldn’t accept that either.
And when could this have happened?
Just thinking about it gave him the chills.
“Sigh… Do you want to know if you’re really my son?”
Aoki suddenly threw out this ambiguous line, making Qin Feng’s head ache, but he didn’t dare alert his mother behind him. He was afraid that if she heard, he’d get a terrifying answer.
Why had a rescue mission suddenly turned into a family drama?
“Stop talking nonsense, Aoki, I’m warning you.”
“How about this… Let me go now, I’ll go find Lin Qiyou and Nongli… If I’m not there, there’s bound to be a bloodbath.
Besides, this is your responsibility; you ought to pay this back. If you hadn’t messed things up back then, none of this would be happening now.”
“You’re trying to trick me?”
“No… Whether or not you’re my son is a minor thing. Why do you think your mother and I became Dao companions in the first place?
Do you believe I’ll go back and really make you call me Dad this time?”
Aoki’s threat landed squarely, leaving Qin Feng at a complete loss. He felt like he’d have to call a little kid Dad.
“You—you better not mess around!”
“Let me go, or you’re my son.”
“Fine, fine, fine!”
Qin Feng shouted as if giving something up, drew his sword, and charged at his mother.
“Qin Feng, are you crazy!”
Qin Shuang quickly raised her sword to block, utterly confused by Qin Feng’s sudden outburst. Qin Feng’s sword was frighteningly fast—he really thought her son wanted to kill her.
Have you been bewitched by Nongli, that fox demon, too?
As she tried to talk sense into him, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aoki darting down the slope, clutching a talisman, vanishing in a flash.
No need to guess—the talisman must have come from Qin Feng.
“Qin Feng, why are you doing this?”
“I don’t know, I don’t want a dad! I’m terrified!”
“What nonsense are you spouting!”
…
…
Aoki clutched the talisman Qin Feng had given him, wind at his heels, and soon arrived back at Benji’s city gates.
Watching as the demon clan’s citizens fled past him in droves, he instantly recalled the last time Lin Qiyou and Nongli had clashed.
Last time, he missed it completely; this time, he’d make it.
If he died here, he’d be truly dead—so he couldn’t die, he mustn’t die.
He had to solve the problem, but no dying!
With that thought, Aoki dashed into the city, only for a streak of sword Qi to come flying at him.
He saw clearly—it was Lin Qiyou’s sword Qi.
Great, looks like he’s about to die!