Chapter Eighty-Six: Lute Vine

"Quick, save Grandfather!"

The girl behind him was utterly startled when the house collapsed, but she recovered at once and looked at Yue Qi with a tearful face.

The commotion here was simply too loud. In no time at all, Bai Lian, Xin Zi, and the others had rushed over. Seeing the old man lying on the ground and the young girl standing beside him, everyone seemed to understand immediately what had happened.

The girl was not used to suddenly having so many people around her and took several frightened steps back. But when she saw how composed Yue Qi was, she understood that they must be his companions.

"Step aside for a moment. I'll try to save him," Yue Qi said, first soothing the girl beside him, then turning to Xin Zi and the others. Bai Lian also knew that Yue Qi disliked being disturbed while casting, after all, if he used spiritual force to bolster the spell, the efficiency of the rescue would be much higher.

Moisture gathered in his hand. This was the first time Yue Qi had used a second-tier spell since advancing to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. He could clearly feel that his physical strength and spiritual energy flowed far more smoothly than they had in the early stage of Foundation Establishment. Yet when he compressed the spell with spiritual force, even Yue Qi found it somewhat difficult, because his progress in spiritual power had not kept pace with his advancement in cultivation.

The spell burst forth in a single stream. It was immediately obvious that the surrounding water vapor grew intensely dense, all of it surging toward the old man lying on the ground.

"A cultivator?"

The girl beside him was stunned. She had lived in this forest since childhood, and the only cultivators she had ever heard of were those her grandfather had mentioned. Now that she was seeing one cast a spell in person, she was instantly captivated by the beautiful sight.

After finishing the spell, Yue Qi had nothing else to do. He simply watched quietly, waiting for it to take effect. The spell's effect was quite obvious, and it responded very quickly. Moreover, the old man had not suffered any serious injuries; he had only lost oxygen while in the cellar, so there should not be any real danger.

"Cough, cough!"

Sure enough, before the spell had even fully run its course, the old man began showing signs of waking. He coughed repeatedly, as if the smoke around him was too thick and was interfering with his breathing.

Yue Qi immediately cast a Wind Ward. The black smoke from the sparks was blown entirely in the opposite direction, which was indeed a good solution.

After thinking it over, Yue Qi still felt something was not quite right. He took a piece of gauze from his interspatial bracelet and instantly cast a Water Ward, soaking the gauze at once. Then he wrapped the cloth around his hand and reached for the old man's mouth and nose.

"What are you doing?!"

The girl beside him widened her eyes and hurriedly shielded her grandfather, looking extremely tense, as if she would strike first the moment anything seemed wrong.

"Please don't worry, miss. I'm only afraid there might be dirt in your grandfather's mouth, making it hard for him to breathe," Yue Qi explained patiently, though she had interrupted him. Truth be told, Yue Qi was not normally this easygoing, but the girl was quite delicate and beautiful, and he felt awkward losing his temper at her.

Her pale yellow clothes had already been half blackened by smoke. The hem of her skirt, whether from having just run out of the fire or not, was also tattered and torn. Yet despite her somewhat disheveled appearance, she could not hide her unique bearing. Her plain, unadorned face looked especially haggard, which only made her more pitiable, and there was even a faint mischievous sparkle in her brow from time to time, adding a touch of liveliness to her charm.

"Oh, all right..."

Seemingly realizing she had misunderstood, the girl scratched her head awkwardly and apologized.

Yue Qi nodded and was about to continue what he was doing. To be honest, he found it a little disgusting, but there was nothing to be done. The girl beside him clearly did not have much ability to protect herself, so it would be safer to wake the old man first.

But just as Yue Qi was about to make his move, the old man suddenly opened his eyes. It startled Yue Qi so badly that he took a step backward and sat down hard on the ground.

"Grandfather! Grandfather, you're awake! That's wonderful!"

The girl also saw this and immediately ran to the old man's side, delighted.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. I've worried my dear granddaughter..." The old man was still somewhat disoriented. He merely answered the girl instinctively, then looked around at the others and asked, "These are..."

"Oh, Grandfather! These are the people who saved you. It was this big brother who carried you out of the cellar. Otherwise, you might have..." The girl pouted slightly and pointed at Yue Qi with one hand, then glanced at the collapsed house beside them.

"So that's how it is. Then I thank you, brave young man, for saving my life!" Before the old man had even stood up, he cupped his hands in salute toward Yue Qi, who was still sitting on the ground. The gesture looked somewhat unusual.

"Not at all, not at all. It was only a small effort. There is no need for such formality, sir. The end of the world is upon us now, and we survivors should help one another." Yue Qi hurriedly returned the salute, then suddenly thought of something else. "My surname is Yue, and my given name is Qi. If you do not mind, sir, you may simply call me Qi."

"Then thank you, Brother Qi. But your surname is Yue? Could you be from Yue Family Village nearby?" The old man suddenly thought of something and looked at Yue Qi with curiosity.

"You know about that?" Yue Qi was now the one who felt puzzled. He thought to himself that Yue Family Village was not famous enough for even the hidden hermits living here to know about it.

"Not exactly..." The old man smiled bitterly. "It's just that many people from Yue Family Village get lost in the array outside. I've rescued a few of them over the years, so after a while I came to know that there was a village nearby called Yue Family Village."

"So that's how it is! Then if someone of the same clan was saved by you, and today I saved you, doesn't that count as good deeds bringing good reward?" Yue Qi laughed. Since they knew one another now, there was less awkwardness in speaking.

The old man nodded, then turned to the girl beside him and said, "Dear granddaughter, you've suffered. I did not protect you well enough."

"Don't say that, Grandfather. It's Qin Luo's fault! I'm already this old, and I should have taken good care of Grandfather!" Tears suddenly welled up in the girl's eyes and would not stop.

"Qin Luo? What a strange name..." Though he thought that to himself, Yue Qi still kindly eased the awkwardness for everyone. "At least the two of you are alive and well. That should be cause for joy!"

"True enough! Qin Luo, stop crying. It looks terrible in front of outsiders." The old man comforted his granddaughter, then said to Yue Qi, "Still, for the few of you to have reached this place, your understanding of formations must not be weak. Otherwise, ordinary people could never walk into the depths of this forest."

Yue Qi smiled apologetically and pointed to Xin Zi beside him. "That was not my doing. We only made it out thanks to Brother Xin Zi here, or else we would never have found our way out."

Xin Zi seemed to be pondering something, but Yue Qi's interruption drew him back. He quickly bowed to the old man and said, "I only happened to have seen this formation before. I cannot claim to know much about it. Sir, you flatter me."

"However, sir, there is something I do not know whether I should ask..." Xin Zi suddenly remembered something and said to the old man, "You bear the surname Qin, and your mastery of formations is so profound. Could it be that you are..."

Before he could finish, the old man hurriedly cut him off. "Only an empty reputation. Still, Brother Xin Zi, I suspect your background is not simple either."

For some reason, the old man placed special emphasis on the words "Brother Xin Zi."

Xin Zi said nothing. He merely retreated awkwardly, as if afraid the old man might say more.

"Well, I knew all along that sir was no ordinary person. To hide here in seclusion, if not for those zombies disturbing your peace, you would probably still be living the life of a hermit, planting beans beneath the southern hills..." Yue Qi, not catching the subtle edge in their exchange, said.

"Sigh, so you call those things zombies. That is indeed rather apt. Qin Luo and I have been hiding in that cellar for a very long time, and we were never discovered by them. Luckily, the cellar still had food and water stored within. Ever since several months ago..." The old man kept reminiscing, presumably about how disaster had suddenly struck that night, and how he and his granddaughter had fled into the cellar. For months, they had not dared to come out. Fortunately, the stored provisions had kept them alive.

"But I do not know why this place suddenly caught fire. If only you, Qi, had not come, the two of us grandparents and grandchild might have had to meet again underground..." The old man patted Qin Luo's hand and smiled bitterly.

"Then you should also thank the fire. If we had not noticed the flames, we probably would not have rushed over either," Yue Yunsheng said from the side, listening in and occasionally joining the conversation.

"That is true. What a strange bond of cause and effect this is!" the old man sighed.

Everyone sat there in the wilderness. The fire had mostly been put out, and aside from the black smoke around them, it no longer affected anyone.

"By the way, Qi, Qin Luo said you're a cultivator?" After a while with no one speaking, and perhaps finding the atmosphere too heavy, the old man asked.

"Yes, but I'm only a small Foundation Establishment cultivator. Sir is truly making fun of me..." Yue Qi said a bit embarrassedly.

"Oh? A Foundation Establishment cultivator at your age? You would probably be regarded highly even within a sect!" The old man chuckled lightly. A Foundation Establishment cultivator at this age was neither particularly impressive nor particularly poor; he was simply of average standard.

"Not at all, not at all. Sir really does love to tease me." Yue Qi nodded, somewhat sheepish. In his sect? Apart from his master and a few senior brothers, perhaps no one even knew him...

"Then, Qi, have you had any contact with formations before?" the old man asked casually, not taking it too seriously.

"Formations?"

Though the speaker had not meant anything by it, the listener took it to heart. It seemed this old man intended to teach him something about formations?

Thinking of that, Yue Qi quickly said, "Today was the first time I have seen the formation you set up, sir, and it did give me some insight. But it was only superficial. I hope you might guide me a little..."

Just kidding. A formation master like this could even move Xin Zi. Yue Qi would not miss the chance to flatter him and get him to teach a few things!

"Oh? You gained some understanding on your very first look? Tell me, let me hear it! This old man will discuss it with you as well!" This time, the old man was truly moved. Could it be that he had really encountered a genius here?