"Gu Han, one one one..." Jun Moxie was momentarily speechless, then after a long pause, he asked, "...Why does Miss Qiao suddenly ask this?"

"I wish to hear the truth from the Lord of the Mansion, because I know there must be something amiss!" Qiao Ying's voice was low and heavy, yet perfectly coherent: "Your original intention for coming to the Holy Land camp was to have me assist in combat. Your true purpose should have been to utilize my unique Wisdom Eye divine ability, hoping I could exert my power when fighting the alien race's Supreme Heavenly Fiend. Is that correct?"

Jun Moxie nodded helplessly, "That is correct."

"But in all the subsequent battles, I never made a move! It wasn't for lack of opportunity, but rather... but rather Xue Yan was deliberately stopping me, persistently preventing me from advancing. My Wisdom Eye—uh... it was never displayed in this battle. For this fight, this secret weapon of the Holy Land was completely unable to exert any effect!"

Qiao Ying stated calmly, "Presumably, that is because you changed your original intention. That's why Venerable Mei didn't let me go to the front lines to kill the enemy! Keeping me stationed deep in the rear had only one objective: to protect me and ensure my safety. Is that so?"

"That is also good," Jun Moxie conceded frankly.

"But why did you change your intention? I truly cannot imagine what person or thing could sway your decision!" Qiao Ying suddenly looked up, fixing Jun Moxie with a piercing gaze. "The only explanation is that conversation you had with my Master, Gu Han, that day. He must have told you something that earned your approval, leading you to change your original plan!"

Jun Moxie met her gaze, astonished. Qiao Ying had actually connected the dots in this direction: but this question was truly difficult to answer. It seemed no matter how he answered, it would be wrong!

Qiao Ying took out the jade pendant from her robes and stroked it gently in her palm, murmuring, "So, I want to know, what exactly did my Master... say to you? I believe the old man made arrangements for my future. I want to know what his arrangements for me were. I know I shouldn't rashly question the Lord of the Mansion; this might put you in a difficult position, but I truly need to know. Master is not only my instructor but someone who has been like a father to me. Lord of the Mansion, I implore you, please tell me!"

"Cough, cough... Miss Qiao, are you thirsty? Would you like a drink of water first? Someone, bring a cup of tea!" Jun Moxie instantly became somewhat awkward and speechless, resorting to the pathetic tactic of changing the subject.

Inside, he cursed Gu Han incessantly. Damn you, old bastard, you kicked the bucket cleanly enough, but this mess you left behind, how am I supposed to clean it up?

Or maybe you shouldn't have told me about Qiao Ying's relationship with you in the first place. Now look at this—you’re practically roasting me alive! What am I supposed to say? An existence like a father? Bullshit, that old ghost is your actual father!

But looking at Qiao Ying's pitiful state before me, if I truly told her Gu Han was her biological father, she might collapse right here! But if I don't tell her... should she go through life never recognizing her roots, just living vaguely like this?

"If the Lord of the Mansion truly has reasons he cannot speak of, please state them clearly. I am certain I can bear any outcome," Qiao Ying said, clutching the jade pendant tightly and preciously to her chest, her gaze fixed intently on Jun Moxie, demonstrating unusual resolve.

Jun Moxie looked at Qiao Ying's slightly shivering delicate frame and inwardly sneered, Can you really bear it? It would be good if you could. But the problem is, you absolutely cannot bear the [answer]!

She has believed herself to be an orphan, a sheltered orphan, for over a thousand years! And now someone tells her she isn't an orphan, that she does have parents, and that her father is the Master who raised her, the one who was like a father to her...

Heaven knows the shock this news would bring!

Moreover, her father-master died heroically in the War of Seizing Heaven...

From nothingness to existence, and then back to nothingness...

Let alone anyone else, putting myself in her shoes, Jun Moxie felt he might go mad if he encountered such a thing! Fate is ironic, but not this cruel...

But right now, Qiao Ying's eyes are staring straight at me, waiting for my reply. What should I say...?

"Lord Jun, please speak plainly," Qiao Ying whispered softly. "As a disciple, I must fulfill my Master's last wish! Otherwise, what face do I have left to exist between heaven and earth?"

Qiao Ying turned away, a look of desolation on her face, and said heavily, "So many uncles and elders I spent day and night with have all left me forever after that battle, dying heroically! If it weren't for this matter constantly weighing on my heart, I probably would have followed them long ago... Jun Moxie, you don't know, the three Holy Lands combined—nearly one hundred thousand people! In the blink of an eye, not a single one remained. Do you know what that feeling is like? Can you comprehend it?!"

Before Jun Moxie could interject, Qiao Ying let out a desolate, mournful laugh on her own, "Others are orphans, but they still have their relatives, perhaps someone who adopted them, or neighbors, or... even if both parents are gone, there are always some relatives, friends, uncles, elders, close friends... But I, in a single day, lost all of it! Everything vanished!"

"What does having nothing mean? I, Qiao Ying, right now truly am..." Qiao Ying raised her tear-filled eyes and said deeply, "...truly and utterly 'left with nothing, without a single living relative.'"

Jun Moxie fell silent. What Qiao Ying said was heartbreakingly true; in the entire world right now, the loneliest, most parentless person might well be Qiao Ying herself! No one else could be as desolate and helpless as she was now!

"If the Lord of the Mansion still refuses to tell me my Master's final words, then living like this in a daze..." Qiao Ying said sadly, "...truly holds no meaning anymore..."

"Cough, cough, it's not that I don't want to say it; it's just that I don't know how to begin. Those words are simply too..." Jun Moxie coughed a few times, having made up his mind. Alas, shamelessness... I'll be shameless just this once.

In a few years, ten or twenty years, when Qiao Ying's state of mind has slowly settled with the passage of time, I will explain everything to her then.

Let time wash away all the sorrow, dilute it until she can accept it...

Qiao Ying tightly clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white from the excessive force. She tried her utmost to calm her emotions and make her voice sound more detached... yet it still trembled slightly, "Thank you, Lord Jun. Please speak. I can assure you I can accept any bad news."

"Bad news? It's not bad news at all! It's actually like this..." Jun Moxie adopted an embarrassed expression, speaking hesitantly, "Um, how should I put this? Cough, cough, cough... Senior Gu Han had already resolved to sacrifice himself for the Holy Land before the war. However, he was most worried about you, a delicate woman. Therefore, he called me aside..." Cough, cough, cough... "What exactly did the old man say?" Qiao Ying asked, growing even more tense.

"Um, Senior Gu Han said this at the time: 'Jun Moxie, there is one matter that worries this old man to no end.' I asked, 'What is it?'" Jun Moxie continued, "Senior Gu Han stated: 'Qiao Ying, this girl... alas, although this girl has some cultivation, she is too honest, too naive, completely lacking in cunning. This old man truly cannot stop worrying about her. This is my only lingering concern. Therefore, here today, I solemnly entrust this girl to you, youngster...'"

"Ah?" Qiao Ying gasped.

Damn... "At that time, I said, please rest assured, Senior Gu Han, Jun Moxie will certainly take good care of Miss Qiao and ensure her life is without worry!" Jun Moxie said, breaking out in a cold sweat. "But... unexpectedly, Senior Gu Han then said: 'Such a guarantee is meaningless. Only if you can promise to marry her as your wife after the war will this old man truly be at ease. You won't gain much advantage, youngster, but you will be truly good to your own wife...'"

What is the limit of shamelessness? And then he just left! Such shameless rhetoric was truly deafening!

"Ah!" Qiao Ying cried out upon hearing this. She had made countless guesses before, but never imagined that her teacher's "final words" would be like this. Her pretty face instantly flushed red, so embarrassed she wanted to find a crack in the floor and disappear forever. She never expected that the intense sorrow that had brought her to question Jun Moxie with such urgency would now erupt with such explosive news from this fellow's mouth!

If the teacher's last words were truly like this, then Jun Moxie's long delay in telling me is understandable. And those embarrassing words—"...Um, why did I rush to ask just now, it makes it sound like I was eagerly pushing myself onto him"... What does this... what does this mean?

The utterly shameless fellow hadn't expected this sentence to be so effective, making everything go awry in a fortunate manner. However, the moment these words left his mouth, the surrounding atmosphere of utter sorrow and despair instantly transformed into embarrassment and shyness...

Jun Moxie thought to himself, I'm not just spouting nonsense. Your father actually entrusted you to me before his death. It's just a pity there's no tape recorder in this world to record it as evidence for court... Even if we went to court, this innocent maiden would be mine...

"You're talking nonsense!" Qiao Ying managed to retort angrily after a period of intense embarrassment.

"How can this be nonsense? I didn't want to say it, but you forced me to!" Jun Moxie cried out, feigning injustice. "This is the absolute truth! That day, when your Master spoke of you, his face and heart were full of guilt. The Holy Land sealed your youthful vitality for a full twelve hundred years for the sake of the War of Seizing Heaven. Senior Gu felt extremely remorseful about this matter. So, in the final moments, he expelled you from the gates of the Holy Land and betrothed you to me."

Young Master Jun's skin was clearly now thick enough to withstand anything, speaking to the young woman about marriage so righteously, as if to say, You forced me to say this, and now you're going back on your word? Didn't you say you could accept any consequence?!