Chapter 126: Li Qinghe Becomes a Suck-up, and Your Master Is Still Your Master

「The next morning.」

Jianghai Library.

Having finished a few rounds of work with no other tasks, Qin Yang went back to his usual routine of slacking off, sitting on his little stool and scrolling through his phone.

A full night had passed since the Hall Master’s return, and during that time, the library’s security presence seemed to have vanished overnight.

From then on, no one mentioned the recent turmoil again.

Even the previously enthusiastic Steward had gone quiet. He rarely passed by Area 2 anymore, deliberately avoiding it whenever he walked by.

’Tsk, did Li Qinghe confess to her dad?’

Qin Yang thought to himself as he sat on his stool, scratching Xiaobai’s chin and watching her blissful expression.

Just then.

TAP, TAP!

The sound of light footsteps echoed.

Li Qinghe appeared, her hands behind her back. She skipped toward the entrance, a smile creasing her eyes, her steps light and airy.

"Master, that human is here again!"

Xiaobai wagged her tail, nestled in Qin Yang’s arms. She looked toward Li Qinghe, then suddenly wrinkled her nose and sniffed the air. "It seems like she’s holding something. Does it smell like some kind of treasure?"

"A treasure?"

Hearing this, Qin Yang glanced at Li Qinghe. His Spiritual Power instantly spread out, seeing right through to the object she was hiding behind her back.

It was a palm-sized, oval-shaped object covered in dense Array Patterns, emitting a soothing fluctuation of Star Force.

’It really is a treasure.’

Seeing this, Qin Yang was a little puzzled.

’What’s going on?’

’What is this girl doing bringing a treasure over here?’

Just as Qin Yang was wondering,

"Mas—ter—"

Li Qinghe had already sidled up to him, drawing out the word as she called to Qin Yang and presented the treasure in her hands.

It was a handmade lotus bud, crafted with a gilded shell, carved with silver-inlaid Array Patterns, and adorned with arcane Sanskrit. It looked incredibly luxurious.

"What’s the meaning of this?"

Qin Yang examined the Golden Lotus, then looked up at Li Qinghe warily.

’In just one night...’

’This girl has changed so much?’

’This is like a fox guarding the henhouse!’

"It’s nothing, Master, don’t worry!"

Li Qinghe placed the Golden Lotus on Xiaobai’s back and said with a grin, "I just saw how tired you were, so your disciple wanted to show her respect. I carved this Golden Lotus myself. It can help you sleep, making you more comfortable when you’re slacking off."

"..."

Hearing this, Qin Yang was skeptical. He weighed the golden object in his hand and did a quick scan of its internal structure.

Beneath the gilded shell were two stacked Calming Arrays, supplemented by a few small Spirit Nourishing Arrays. There were no other tricks. Combined with its exquisite shell, it would probably be worth a fortune on the open market.

"I personally inscribed all these Arrays. It took me the entire night."

Li Qinghe pointed to the dark circles under her eyes and said softly, "If you keep this Array in your pocket and rest with your eyes closed for a little while, it’s equivalent to a one-hour nap. It’s very comfortable."

"Master, just consider it a disciple’s gift. I won’t disturb your Cultivation any longer."

With that, she turned and walked away, quickly disappearing from Qin Yang’s sight.

"???"

Qin Yang was completely bewildered, momentarily stunned.

’Did this girl take the wrong medicine today or something?’

’Whatever.’

Qin Yang accepted the Golden Lotus Magical Artifact, deciding not to overthink it.

’There’s nothing wrong with the item itself, so I’ll just take it. It’s not like I won’t use it.’

...

「A moment later.」

Li Qinghe went behind a bookshelf and peeked through a gap between the books to watch Qin Yang. Seeing that he had accepted her gift, she breathed a sigh of relief.

’Good, he finally accepted it.’

’This is a good start... To catch you, I must first let you go. I’ve got you right where I want you, you Qin guy, hehe!’

Li Qinghe felt a sense of relief and pulled out her phone, scrolling through her call history.

Yesterday, when Li Daoming returned to the library, he had spoken with her on the third floor about the matter of the Beast Tide.

Jianghai City was now in grave danger. The future was uncertain, and even with their current security forces, they might not be able to handle the threat.

But!

If they could respectfully request the Sword God to take action, their chances of victory would soar to one hundred percent!

’Don’t worry, Father. I will definitely complete the important task you’ve given me!’

Li Qinghe thought to herself that the only thing standing between her and the senior Sword God was this barrier named Qin Yang. As long as she could get past him...

...she would naturally be able to meet the real senior Sword God!

’So for now, I’ll just have to grit my teeth and suck up to that Qin guy. I must endure this for the sake of my goal!’

’Hmph, when the time comes, with my world-shaking talent, I’ll definitely be able to become the senior Sword God’s disciple!’

At this thought, Li Qinghe felt a surge of motivation. She opened her phone, found the library management group chat, and sent a message directly under her manager’s name.

[Manager: This week’s list of outstanding employees.]

[Manager: I’ve reviewed the duty records for the past few days. There’s a group of employees in the library who have been quite efficient and deserve to be commended.]

[Chief Steward: Understood. I’ll arrange for the performance bonuses to be distributed right away.]

A moment later.

DING!

Qin Yang’s phone chimed.

"Hm?"

’Another notification from the group chat?’

Qin Yang paused, then quickly pulled out his phone. He opened the employee group chat and immediately saw a list of names for this week’s best employees.

His own name was right there on the list!

"???"

Qin Yang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Wait, I slack off every single day. How could I possibly be the ’best employee’?"

’There must be some kind of mistake here.’

However, as he thought about it, Qin Yang’s brow furrowed. He recalled Li Qinghe’s sycophantic behavior from this morning.

’Something’s up!’

’I haven’t done anything to deserve this reward.’

’Is this girl secretly pulling strings?’

’Whatever, let her do what she wants.’

With that thought, Qin Yang put his phone down and went back to slacking off as usual.

As it turned out, the rest of his day at the library went exceptionally smoothly.

Around noon, the Steward came to find him, promising a salary increase and an early payout for this month’s wages.

In the afternoon, Li Qinghe came by again, this time with a personal mobility scooter as a reward for his "hard work." After that, a seemingly endless stream of small gifts followed.

Qin Yang was swamped with so many gifts his hands went soft. He suddenly found that she was actually quite pleasant to look at.

The day passed pleasantly.

Soon, it was evening, time to get off work.

The sun was setting as employees began to leave the library. When Qin Yang and Xiaobai arrived at the entrance to clock out, they found Li Qinghe already waiting for them.

"Master, when are you free?"

"What is it?"

"It’s nothing, I just wanted to invite you to dinner. I saw there’s a new hot pot place in the southern part of the city that looks good."

Li Qinghe stood on her tiptoes and said in a low voice, "We can consider it our master-disciple banquet. Besides, I also want to learn a little about... our sect’s affairs. For example, who is my Grandmaster...?"

"Grandmaster?"

Hearing this, Qin Yang paused, not reacting for a moment.

’What does Grandmaster mean?’

’A master’s master?’

’Wait a second...’

Qin Yang narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly as he looked at Li Qinghe’s fawning expression. He was starting to understand.

’Tsk tsk, her real intentions lie elsewhere.’

’So this girl is trying to suck up to me to find out the ’Sword God’s’ whereabouts, and then become my junior sister!’

However.

’Even if you become the ’Sword God’s’ disciple...’

’...you still have to call me Master!’

’Your master’s master is still your master!’