Chapter 182.1 - Sanshoku Dango

182.1 – Sanshoku Dango

Li Wanting’s mouth moved slightly, yet she said nothing.

“What’s, what’s wrong? Why are you angry all of a sudden?”

Xue Qilin asked in a panic.

Li Wanting exhaled deeply and tried her best to calm the anger that is threatening to burst out of her. Despite this, there is still a hint of anger in her voice that cannot be concealed.

“Do you… think that things can be fixed in a short ten plus days? Do you know that it took a lot of effort to create Empyrean Universe?”

Xue Qilin shrank back, embarrassed.

She roughly understands why Li Wanting is angry.

Xue Qilin still remembers the unsightly expression on Li Wanting’s face when she handed her the badly damaged mechanical sword. At that time, Li Wanting didn’t say much, nor did she blame Xue Qilin. She must have kept everything in her heart.

It is not surprising that Li Wanting got angry.

She happily hand over the crystallization of he hard work to another person. But when she finally got it returned, it was in a rather sorry state. Anyone would feel angry at this.

Xue Qilin’s visit to inquire about the progress of the repair is probably inappropriate.

Not only does it give off the impression that she’s urging her, but it also makes one wonder if she thinks that the maintenance of the mechanical sword doesn’t take too much time and can be done easily.

From this, it is not surprising that Li Wanting feels that her hard work has been insulted.

Of course, Xue Qilin just wanted to be up to speed with Phecda’s circumstances, nothing else. But her behavior has finally angered Li Wanting.

Xue Qilin recalled Li Wanting’s expression — the happy expression when she gave her the mechanical sword, the focused expression when the mechanical sword transformed, and the gloomy expression when she saw the tattered mechanical sword return to her hands.

She must attach great importance to the effort she spent on Empyrean Universe.

I’d better apologize sincerely. After all, her hard work has been half-destroyed in my hands… Xue Qilin mused, feeling guilty.

“I’m sorry, I…I didn’t mean to break the sword.”

Xue Qilin tried her best to plaster a sincere expression on her face. However, she isn’t good at apologizing. It’s really embarrassing.

Did I do well? Feeling uneasy, Xue Qilin cast an imperceptible glance at Li Wanting.

As a result, before her gaze has locked on the target, she heard a heavy sigh.

It feels like she is mourning something, like she spat out the unhappiness in her heart.

If the sigh had a form, then Xue Qilin would probably see it whirl and drift around in the room.

“Forget it.”

Li Wanting, feeling a little tired in her heart, sat down and waved her hand. She looks disheartened.

“It couldn’t be helped. After all, in front of a Grandmaster… no matter how exquisite a mechanism is, it is still useless.”

At this moment, Xue Qilin feels like she got a glimpse of a world that is collapsing and peeling off inside the other party’s eyes.

The other party’s words contain an unspoken implication and her eyes emit a sense of loss that cannot be concealed.

Could it be that… she is discouraged because the crystallization of her hard work was so vulnerable in front of a Grandmaster? Xue Qilin suddenly had this guess.

Is this the case? Is it really the case? Xue Qilin isn’t certain. At the same time, she mused — if my guess is right, then Li Wanting is akin to a parent who has great hopes for their child, only to be disappointed.

Xue Qilin has nothing to say, because the truth is evident. No matter how refined and firm a weapon is, it cannot withstand the majesty of a Grandmaster.

However–

“Little Ting, it was probably thanks to you that I was able to come back alive.”

Xue Qilin comforted her a little.

Humans are creatures that need reasons. As long as they have enough reasons, they can ignore the truth.

Even if it’s only self-deception, people occasionally need some excuses to comfort themselves and keep on living.

If Li Wanting really regards mechanics as a kind of belief and is willing to sacrifice anything for it, then Xue Qilin can’t remain silent and let the other party feel dejected and eventually be buried by the fragments of the crumbled belief.

“Thanks to me?”

Li Wanting inexplicably fixed her eyes on Xue Qilin.

She, who is quite straightforward in her thinking, probably doesn’t understand how Xue Qilin being able to escape alive relates to herself, who was far away at the time.

“Yes, yes! You wouldn’t know!” Xue Qilin jumped up and made exaggerated gestures, “But Asura’er is thousands of times harder than the stones you use to test swords!”

The gloomy air that filled the room at some point in time was slightly dispersed.

Li Wanting stared blankly at the pouting Xue Qilin, stunned.

“When I think of the fact that, no matter how I attacked her, it didn’t leave a scratch, I feel angry!”

She was just thinking about easing the atmosphere. But as a result, Xue Qilin got unconsciously angry, and went on to say through gritted teeth, “I was bullied really bad!”

While she spoke, she waved her fist as if Jialan was right in front of her eyes. But in the next moment, as if denying everything from just now, she showed a pitiful expression and wiped away the nonexistent teardrops from the corners of her eyes.

“Hey, Little Ting, say, am I not pitiful?”

“Er…”

Li Wanting, who doesn’t know how to answer, could only utter a meaningless sound.

What are you doing? Li Wanting’s sluggish expression appears to be asking this. For her, Xue Qilin’s behavior is probably too erratic, making it hard for her to keep up.

If it was Qi Qiqi in her place, she would probably immediately say “blabbermouth” and cover her mouth.

However, Li Wanting didn’t attempt to figure out the situation, because Xue Qilin didn’t give her a chance.

The lass curved the corners of her mouth and hummed twice through her nose, triumphant.

“Fortunately, I had you — I had the sword you made for me, Little Ting! If it weren’t for the sword you made, I wouldn’t be able to break through her Imperishable Vajra Body.”

“Er… that should be mostly due to Phecda, right?”

Why have you suddenly become so sharp at this time? Xue Qilin roared in her heart. At the same time, she tried her best for the smile on her face not to collapse because of the hit-the-nail-on-the-head question.

As Li Wanting said, if it weren’t for Phecda, it would be impossible to break through the Imperishable Vajra Body. However, if the place where Phecda dwells wasn’t Empyrean Universe, then Xue Qilin would be helpless in front of the majesty of a Grandmaster.

“That’s not wrong…” Xue Qilin sat down lightly and said softly, “But if most of the credit belongs to Phecda, then the rest must be attributed to Empyrean Universe.”

Both were indispensable — the combination of the two gave Xue Qilin the power to profane the majesty of a Grandmaster.

Probably because she grasped the implication behind Xue Qilin’s words, Li Wanting shook abruptly.

Next, there was silence.

She fell into a stupor.

She’s probably thinking.

The long silence finally came to an end, and Li Wanting smiled wryly.

“Young Teacher, Little Sister Temple Master often says that you are a fool. But it looks like there are times when you are as keen as a puppy who smells food.”

“What the deuce?” Xue Qilin pointed at herself in disbelief, “Me, a puppy? How do I look like a puppy.”

“Ha-ha-ha, not really.”

“Come on, where will you find a puppy as cu–”

“You look like a panda instead.”

After Li Wanting jokingly interrupted her boasting, Xue Qilin immediately uttered “ah”.

“Pa, pa, pa, pa, panda?”