Chapter 2913 — Guessing at an Identity

"Oh, our Loess High Sect has passed down its line for a thousand years—surely there must be some collateral branches..." Tu Qingsong said casually.

"Collateral branches? Are there?" This was the first Tu Bawang had ever heard of the Loess High Sect having collateral branches, and he was rather surprised.

"Of course. Here—see whether you can find Mr. Wei Zhao and ask him for the photograph and name of that earth-element inheritor, so I can have a look?" Tu Qingsong asked.

"What do you want the name and photo for?" Tu Bawang was taken aback, somewhat at a loss as to what Tu Qingsong meant. What did the question of whether Wei Zhao's friend was an earth-element inheritor have to do with a name and a photograph?

"Oh, didn't I just say? She might be a collateral branch of our Loess High Sect..." Tu Qingsong said.

"Is that so... Hm? Uncle, tell me—could she possibly be my long-lost cousin?!" Hearing Tu Qingsong's words, Tu Bawang drew an even bolder inference.

"Ah!" Tu Qingsong was startled, never expecting Tu Bawang to leap straight from collateral branches to Tu Ranran herself! Still, he had entertained the same suspicion back then, so it was only natural that Tu Bawang would suspect it too—it was simply that Tu Bawang had less reasoning and evidence at his disposal than he did. Yet with that hint about a "collateral branch," Tu Bawang had reached exactly the same conclusion!

"Uncle, though this inference of mine may shock you, it's not impossible!" Hearing Tu Qingsong's cry of "Ah!", Tu Bawang assumed he had been frightened by his deduction.

"It is indeed possible..." Tu Qingsong smiled bitterly, thinking to himself that he had meant to keep it hidden for the time being—but who would have thought Tu Bawang would work it out on his own!

"In that case, with Wei Zhao at the head of things, might he end up as my brother-in-law?" Tu Bawang's thoughts leapt on again. In his view, since Wei Zhao was seeking medicine for "Tu Ranran," his relationship with her must surely be out of the ordinary—perhaps they were close confidantes of that sort!

"Bawang, what on earth are you imagining..." Tu Qingsong felt torn between laughter and tears. "Besides, didn't you say there's another girl at Mr. Wei Zhao's side?"

"You mean Yang Qiqi. Mr. Wei Zhao is so formidable—surely he wouldn't have just one woman? And from what I saw, Yang Qiqi calls Leader Wei Zhao 'brother'—they might well be brother and sister!" As for Yang Qiqi, Tu Bawang had given the matter little thought. At his level, the notion of one husband and one wife simply did not exist; they were an ancient sect, after all, still observing certain customs of antiquity—and in antiquity, one man naturally took many wives!

"Yang... Yang Qiqi?!" At the name, Tu Qingsong gave a sudden, violent start. "You say... that girl is called Yang Qiqi?!"

"Yes. What's wrong, Uncle?" Tu Bawang sensed something strange about his uncle today.

Yang Qiqi—surname Yang. In those years there had been another adept of the Heavenly Dao named Yang Zhao. Then between them... could there be some kinship? The more Tu Bawang thought, the more plausible it seemed—otherwise, why would Yang Qiqi be at Wei Zhao's side?

But clearly he could not say too much of such matters to Tu Bawang. "Nothing—it's a good name..."

"A good name?" Tu Bawang was rather dumbfounded. Were numerical names fashionable now? Though it seemed his own name wasn't quite as domineering, come to think of it!

"Yes. A good name," Tu Qingsong said with perfect seriousness.

"All right, then. I'll do my best to ask." Tu Bawang was rather astonished at his uncle's sudden change in taste, but he could not press him further and simply nodded in agreement.

……………………

In Yang Qiqi's room, Yang Qiqi relayed to Xiao Jiu what Tu Bawang had said. Xiao Jiu, on the other end of the line, was somewhat shocked; after Yang Qiqi finished speaking, she fell silent.

"Xiao Jiu, I'm sorry. I'm afraid this is the best way to resolve the matter—I couldn't find you a better option..." Yang Qiqi could well understand what Xiao Jiu must be feeling at this moment. After all, if Xiao Jiu went to the Loess High Sect to receive its inheritance, she would have to do a certain thing, and that thing might put her in danger...

"Sister Qiqi, please don't say that. You and Brother A-Yi have been running yourselves ragged over my affairs—I can't thank you enough!" Xiao Jiu said. "It's just that I don't want to be parted from you... The Loess High Sect is in the Western Regions; once we're apart, meeting again will be hard. And what about the hacker work for the assassin organization? If I set it down, there's no one here to take it over for the time being..."

"We'll just have Mother Zhou fill in for now," Yang Qiqi said. "I want to ask you, Xiao Jiu—what do you truly want?"

"You and Brother A-Yi have both set out on the path of cultivation. I... I don't want to be left behind either..." Xiao Jiu said weakly, after a moment's silence.

Yang Qiqi was slightly taken aback, then amused despite herself. So in the depths of her heart, Xiao Jiu did not want to be left too far behind—behind herself, and behind Wei Zhao. Wei Zhao already stood at the very heights of the cultivation world, and she herself would keep striving; but Xiao Jiu could not. The gap between the three of them would grow ever more obvious in the years to come, so it was only natural that Xiao Jiu should feel this way.

"All right, then. I'll let Brother Wei Zhao know what you've decided," Yang Qiqi said, nodding once she had confirmed Xiao Jiu's wishes.

"Mm..." Xiao Jiu nodded.

After hanging up, Yang Qiqi went to Wei Zhao's room to look for him.

"Qiqi, are you and Xiao Jiu finished?" Wei Zhao opened the door, and was rather surprised to see her—he hadn't expected a result so soon. He had assumed Yang Qiqi would be chatting with Xiao Jiu until the middle of the night.

"Yes. Xiao Jiu says she's willing to become a cultivator and receive the inheritance—she doesn't want the distance between us to grow so great!" Yang Qiqi said.

"Good. In that case, I'll go find Tu Bawang right now!" Wei Zhao said nothing more; there was no need to say more. He understood what was in Xiao Jiu's heart—it was just like the Young Lady back then, who had also wanted to cultivate, not wanting the distance between them to grow ever greater...

At the thought of the Young Lady, Wei Zhao could not help but sigh softly. He had been away for some time now; he wondered whether she was well.

Toward the Young Lady, Wei Zhao had always harbored a complicated set of feelings. One might even say that his coming to Songshan City, his blending into city life and beginning a normal existence—all of it was bound up with the subtle, unspoken influence of the Young Lady. (To be continued)