Xia Youqing gave a miserable smile when she heard Long Qianmei's words.
The person from her memories had totally changed.
The latter wouldn't help them just for the sake of their past relationship.
However, she had expected this from the beginning. Taking a deep breath, she said, "Senior must know that the right eye of the Candle Dragon from senior's clan is with us. I…I can give it to the Long Clan."
While Long Qianmei wasn't surprised by the revelation, Tianlong surely was. Having cultivated inside the Candle Dragon's dao dream, he was indebted to the dragon's spirit.
He still remembered the dragon's request of bringing back its right eye.
Xia Youqing looked at Long Qianmei who didn't have any change in expression and heaved a sigh. Her offers did not affect the other.
"Two decades ago, I had heard rumours about senior Long getting injured. Knowing that senior's enemies may use this chance to retaliate, I had created a Heaven Evading Formation that blocks all kinds of divinations regarding senior. Till now, it has blocked more than a hundred such divinations!"
This time, Long Qianmei finally had a change in her expression. Although she didn't fear others due to her own strength and her husband's, the Long Clan itself was very weak.
This was one of the many reasons that she didn't venture out too much from her room.
If the enemies came to make trouble, she could handle them. However, unless there was no need, she didn't want to lose her peaceful family life.
Knowing that some people were trying to divinate her location, she absolutely needed to pay them a visit.
Seeing the change in her expression, even Xia Youqing who was just a projection, felt her heart trembling.
However, she felt relieved because this change meant that Long Qianmei's heart had finally moved. "I'll give you all the names of the people who attempted this in the past. In addition, I deploy troops to secretly guard the clan in your absence."
Long Qianmei had a thoughtful expression on her face as she considered her words. Although she did sever most of her feelings for the clan, there were still some lingering sentiments in her heart.
While she was considering the words, Xia Youqing considered her next choice of words. She knew that both of her offers didn't mean much to her.
Giving the Candle Dragon's eye? If she attacks the kingdom with her husband, they would have to hand it over to her anyway. It was already a miracle that Long Qianmei hadn't snatched it for them till now.
Giving protection to the clan? Long Qianmei didn't care much about restricting divinations regarding herself and protecting the clan was something she could easily accomplish with her husband's status. It would just be a bit troublesome.
She had a few more treasures that she could use as bargaining chips. However, there was another method she wanted to try to gain Long Qianmei's favour.
Xia Youqing looked at Yun Tianlong with a gleam in her eyes. She was very satisfied with his looks and calm disposition.
Her eyes darted between her nieces and him multiple times as she carefully asked, "Has senior Long already arranged a dao companion for her son?"
Tianlong who was calmly sitting beside his mother was immediately startled.
He didn't like how the conversation had taken a sudden turn…
"No." Long Qianmei languidly replied. She could already guess what the other was thinking.
"Great!" Xia Youqing clapped her hands and let out a laugh. "Little Mengyi and Little Jingyi have turned twenty this year. They have already crossed the marriageable age. Junior, what do think about having one of them as your cultivation partner?"
Both of the Xia sisters were shocked beyond belief.
Even if one didn't consider their royal status, their beauty alone could make men willing to die hundred times for them.
Suddenly, they felt that their aunt had sent them here keeping this mind.
But after they pondered a bit, they could understand the reasoning behind their aunt's action.
'Bah, how can I marry this smelly man? Under his good looks, he's just a brute!' Xia Jingyi gritted her teeth when she reminisced her fight.
When she remembered how he had covered her with boiling water and draw out blood from her, she was even more angered.
'Hai, but I can't let him get together with elder sister either… Fine! I would've been married as a political chip sooner or later. Elder sister's talent is much greater than mine, so she can maintain her status in the family… I'll just sacrifice myself for her sake!' With righteous thoughts going throw her head, she straightened up her posture and smiled at Tianlong as if trying to get his attention.
Xia Mengyi who was standing beside her, couldn't help but shake her head helplessly. 'I don't think he's interested in you at all…'
While the two sisters having these thoughts, Tianlong looked at Xia Youqing and politely replied, "Thank you but I'm not interested in any of them~"
"Haha… wait, what?" Xia Youqing's laughter immediately came to a halt.
She was well aware of the beauty of her nieces. Countless men in the capital would willingly give their lives for them. She had never imagined that any man, a teenager at that would refuse them.
Not only her but Xia Jingyi was also stunned. 'Not interested in us?! What does he mean by that?' She was caught off-guard by his refusal.
With her experience, all men who approached her either coveted her beauty or status. There wasn't a single exception. 'If he is not interested in us, does it mean he's interested in someone else? Hmph, how can any girl hope to compare with my elder sister?!'
Apparently, this little missy was now angered by his refusal…
Meanwhile, Xia Mengyi sighed in relief. She didn't want to marry a man with whom she had never talked with much less ever seen, neither did she wish this for her sister. 'Just as I thought, he's not that type of man…'
Long Qianmei had expected her son's reply. Looking at Xia Youqing she coldly replied, "Not to mention one of them, even if he marries both of them, he'll just suffer a big loss. At most, they can be his maidservants!"
Xia Youqing's face twitched. "Senior Long…"
"What was that? Even if we consider that these two somehow survive the curse past the age of sixty, the two of them would surely be married to some sect to form relationships!" Long Qianmei looked at her with a hint of a sneer.
"Forget the fact that his status is far greater than these two girls, just in terms of talent only, he exceeds both me and his father! Being his maidservant is their good fortune… Who knows he might be able to cure them too?"
While Xia Youqing was hesitating at first, Long Qianmei's last line caused her to pause, "Senior what do you mean by that? How can your son cure them?"
"Because he cured me…" She didn't elaborate further.
Xia Youqing's mind felt shaken. She couldn't help but reevaluate the white-haired boy again.
After careful analysis, she concluded that the boy didn't look the type of man a woman would seek for treating illness.
But no matter how much he was talented, she wouldn't let her nieces become his servant.
Since her matchmaking attempt completely failed, she decided to use her other cars. But before she could speak, Long Qianmei interrupted her. "Youqing, since you've asked for my help, it means I should have a way to help them. First let me see if I can agree to your methods, then we can talk further."
"Right." Xia Youqing nodded. "I have studied their curses and isolated the seed in their soul that continuously devours their lifespan. Now we only need to kill Gu Yuan Zi and…" Her words stopped when she saw Long Qianmei shaking her head in disapproval.
"You don't understand how curses work! If I'm not wrong, then the curse which affects them is totally independent of Gu Yuan's life. Killing him would accomplish nothing!" She calmly stated.
"Then…" Xia Youqing's voice trembled. She had indeed created methods to preserve their life, but all of them were based on the presumption that Gu Yuan Zi was involved in the curse's working.
Curses were one of the most mysterious divine abilities to master. They involved bizarre laws that couldn't be grasped by others.
That's why even with Xia Youqing's vast knowledge, she couldn't solve the problems surrounding her nieces. Hence, she came to seek help from Long Qianmei who was a devil cultivator.
Long Qianmei tapped the wooden table in front of her and gave her own solution, "I have two methods that could potentially help them. The first method is the safest but also difficult – Take them to any of Suzaku's medical sects and ask for a high-rank Soul Cleansing Elixir. But this method doesn't seem possible for you…
"The second method is simpler but also more dangerous – It involves forcefully severing the seed from their soul."
"Absolutely not!" As soon as Long Qianmei voiced the second option, she firmly shook her head. "Forcefully removing it could potentially kill them!"
"Not if the person doing the severing possesses Soul Transformation realm Sword Intent Domain…" Long Qianmei calmly stated.
Xia Yuqing's eyebrows immediately creased. Long Qianmei hadn't reached the Soul Transformation realm. But knowing her, she wouldn't raise that option unnecessarily.
Long Qianmei looked at her with a sharp gleam in her eyes. "Wait for fifty years and I would have both of these options open for you!"
"My own Sword Intent Domain would reach Soul Transformation realm, which means I can easily separate the soul from the curses!"
"Even if I fail, I promise that I can take them to the Nine Lotus Sect in Suzaku!"
"Since Mourning Soul Sect and other sects are creating so many problems for your Xia country, I can destroy them for you too!"
"Gu Yuan? Hmph, if you want, I can kill him while also wiping out his entire bloodline!"
"In addition, I can also help you become a rank 5 formation grandmaster!"
Xia Youqing gulped. "Se… Senior Long…"
Her mood became extremely tense. While each of Long Qianmei's statements tempted her, especially the last one, she knew that they must come at an incredible price.
Moreover, knowing the latter's attitude, she most likely wouldn't be able to refuse!
That's why she was afraid, extremely so.
"Giving the eye of Candle Dragon, protecting and nurturing the clan, you'll do both of these. Apart from that, I also want the Coiling Dragon Spear that your brother treasures so much. Finally, I want you to pass on all of your knowledge about Formations to my son! These are my demands. Fulfil them and I would keep my promises!"