Chapter 3: He Is a Dragon!

As he spoke, Ling Qiu had already placed a hand on Old Master Qin.

“What are you doing?! Don’t touch my grandfather!” Qin Siyao moved as if to stop Ling Qiu.

But Ling Qiu merely cast her a sidelong glance, his eyes calm and indifferent.

That single glance sent a chill through Qin Siyao’s soul, startling her to the core. In Ling Qiu’s eyes, it seemed as if there was an endless pall of death—as if those eyes did not belong to the living, but should have existed only in the depths of the underworld.

At that moment, Ling Qiu swiftly rotated the pitch-black ring on his finger. Beams of ghostly golden light, visible only to him, radiated forth, enveloping Old Master Qin.

Suddenly, a piercing wail shrieked through the air. Qin Siyao could not hear it, but she suddenly felt an icy chill seeping through her bones, as if she had been plunged into a world of snow and frost.

Dark, swirling specters rose from Old Master Qin. The ghost opened its gaping, blood-red maw and roared in fury, “How dare you! You actually dare to harm me!”

Ling Qiu responded with a cold, disdainful smile. “Not only will I harm you, I’ll devour you as well.”

As he spoke, a surge of energy enveloped Ling Qiu, transforming him into a profound and bottomless vortex. The immense suction terrified the specter.

“What? This power—who… what are you?!” the ghost howled, unleashing all its strength to flee.

However, with a slight acceleration of the ring on his finger, Ling Qiu left the ghost with nowhere to escape. The overpowering force dragged it mercilessly into the abyss.

A torrent of sinister black energy surged into Ling Qiu’s body.

“No! Impossible! I’ve cultivated for nearly a century… become a fearsome specter… Even a true Maoshan sorcerer couldn’t destroy me so effortlessly… Ahhh!” The specter’s shriek was so sharp and sorrowful that it made the entire room tremble.

But these were its last words.

There was a faint hum. The black mist completely vanished into Ling Qiu’s body, never to cause trouble again.

Throughout the process, Qin Siyao was left utterly bewildered and astonished.

Because she could see nothing, hear nothing—only that the room suddenly became bitterly cold and terrifying, and then Ling Qiu, as if talking to himself, hurled threats into empty air.

But for Old Master Qin, everything was painfully vivid.

Because that specter had been attached to him.

He had already been half a step into the land of the dead. This experience was one he would never forget for the rest of his life. The scene was far too bizarre!

As the thought crossed his mind, Old Master Qin suddenly sat up with a start.

“Huh?!”

Seeing her grandfather suddenly full of vigor, Qin Siyao was startled and rushed to his side. “Grandpa, you… you can move?! And… your complexion—it’s suddenly so much better!”

Old Master Qin stared at his hands in disbelief. Now he felt as if boundless energy coursed through his body. Far from being on death’s door, he even felt as if he’d suddenly grown twenty years younger!

After a moment’s thought, Old Master Qin turned to Ling Qiu, his face filled with shock. “Young man, was… was it you who saved me?”

Ling Qiu rotated the black ring, digesting the specter’s power. He exhaled contentedly, then spoke in a detached tone: “As I said, your life or death had nothing to do with me. My target was the thing that wanted your life. Saving you was merely incidental.”

“…No, no matter what, you saved me!” Old Master Qin hurriedly climbed from the bed, brimming with vitality. “Young man, I don’t know who you are, but you truly saved my life! Saving me means saving the entire Qin family. Such a debt of gratitude, I, Qin Haishan, will never forget for as long as I live!”

He made as if to kneel in thanks, but Ling Qiu would not allow it. He turned, striding toward the window without a backward glance. “Let me reiterate—I never intended to save you. You were simply lucky.”

Just as he reached the window, Ling Qiu paused and glanced back at Qin Haishan from the corner of his eye. “Oh, by the way, you saw everything just now, didn’t you?”

Qin Haishan nodded vigorously. That strange and earth-shattering scene had been burned into his memory. “Yes, I saw it all!”

“Then you’d best pretend you saw nothing.”

At those words, Qin Haishan’s heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly understood. “Understood! Rest assured, I saw nothing!”

“Remember your words. Otherwise…” A glint of cold light flashed in Ling Qiu’s eyes. “You’ll bear the consequences yourself.”

With that, Ling Qiu vaulted from the window and disappeared.

Staring at the empty window, Qin Haishan took a long, deep breath. His face was openly filled with gratitude—and even reverence. “That young man… is truly extraordinary!”

“Grandpa… he just… actually dared to threaten you!” Qin Siyao finally snapped back to her senses, realizing that Ling Qiu’s words just now had shown not a shred of regard for their Qin family.

Qin Haishan shook his head and turned to her, speaking with meaning. “Yaoyao, there are many unknowns and unreachable figures in this world… That young man is not one to be underestimated.”

As he spoke, Qin Haishan frowned slightly. “Besides… I don’t know why, but I get the feeling that I’ve seen him before.”

“Familiar?” Qin Siyao echoed.

“Yes…” Qin Haishan pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up. “I remember now… That young man… he’s the infamous wastrel from the Ling family—Ling Qiu!”

“What?!” Qin Siyao was incredulous. “That man just now… is the Ling Qiu who’s notorious all over River City as a useless good-for-nothing? How is that possible? Wasn’t it said that Ling Qiu spent all his days in dissipation and debauchery?”

Qin Haishan’s eyes gleamed with joy and admiration. “Unbelievable! At such a young age, he possesses such skills and methods—who knows how long he’s kept them hidden? The Ling family has been declining for so many years, on the verge of collapse, yet out comes a true dragon among men! Ha… River City’s future will no longer be dull!”

“He’s… really that remarkable?” Qin Siyao was dazed. In her memory, her grandfather had never spoken so highly of anyone. Just now, he seemed to have exhausted all his words of praise.

“Yaoyao… I suddenly have an idea,” Qin Haishan said, stroking his beard with a smile.

“What idea?” asked Qin Siyao.

Qin Haishan narrowed his eyes. “Didn’t you just say that as long as someone could save your grandfather, you’d be willing to marry them, no matter who they might be? Well then, what if that person… was a true dragon?”

“Ah?” At these words, Qin Siyao blushed deeply. “Grandpa, you can’t possibly mean… No, no! This is much too hasty. I… I didn’t even know him before, and… oh, it’s just impossible!”

“What’s wrong? Do you think he’s not handsome enough?”

“That’s not it. In fact, if you look closely, he does have some looks, but… oh, that’s beside the point!”

“Hahaha!” Seeing her flustered state, Qin Haishan burst out laughing. “Silly girl, I’m only teasing you! To be honest, even if you were willing to marry him, he probably wouldn’t want you!”

Huh???

That left Qin Siyao dumbstruck.

Wouldn’t want… her?

What a joke…

Throughout River City, countless heirs from prestigious families pursued her…

Yet her grandfather claimed… he would not choose her?

Qin Siyao stared blankly at the empty window, her mind filled with the image of Ling Qiu’s departing figure.

Was Ling Qiu… truly as extraordinary as he seemed?