Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 159 - 129: An Extraordinary Family

Late night, October 17, 2017

The investigation into Li Wanqing's household continued, and Wang Jiu gazed at the mountains of books in front of him, lost in thought.

Based on prior records, Wang Jiu could roughly understand the source of Li Wanqing's disdain for authority, but another important aspect remained unexplained.

Simply put, Wang Jiu still couldn't comprehend why Li Wanqing was so eager to chase after the same sex.

Although same-sex love had been widespread since the Jiuzhou Era, with experts among the Jiu Immortal Venerables, it generally had peculiar causes, and rarely did someone naturally reject heterosexuality.

Judging from Li Wanqing's growth records, early signs emerged—like using Heaven and Earth Spirit Wind to lift her sister's skirt around the age of four or five—yet to assert she had awakened such preferences that early might be premature.

So, what indeed did she experience to become who she is now?

After sifting through the stacks of books, Wang Jiu still couldn't find a satisfactory answer.

There were plenty of records about Li Wanqing, mostly detailing daily minutiae like her cultivation progress, use of Elixir Pills, and meals. After reviewing everything, Wang Jiu confirmed it wasn't due to any wrong medication causing a personality shift.

After some thought, Wang Jiu concluded that the problem might stem from insufficient information.

To properly guide her, it was necessary to broaden the investigation scope, to understand Li Wanqing's upbringing more comprehensively.

As he pondered, Wang Jiu began walking aimlessly around the collection room.

According to Li Jing, he could freely peruse the books as long as he didn't disturb Li Jing himself; he could browse as he wished.

And indeed, Wang Jiu was very interested in Li Jing's collection.

Unlike his academically obsessed brother Li Fengyun, Li Jing's collection mostly comprised novels, particularly light-hearted commercial fiction with diverse themes—Divine Techniques, mystery, romance…

After one circuit, Wang Jiu grew more impressed by Li Jing's broad tastes, yet unfortunately, it lacked any information related to Li Wanqing…wait a moment.

Aside from missing information on Li Wanqing, it seemed the collection was missing something else.

Thinking of this, Wang Jiu turned back and scanned through the thousands of books once more—the Sword Spirit's reading speed was astonishingly efficient.

He confirmed his suspicion—there was everything, except for any BL novels.

This was quite strange. While many men might resist BL themes, given Li Jing's enjoyment of all genres, as long as the stories were compelling, why concern oneself with the characters' genders?

Moreover, not all books in Li Jing's collection were for reading; some were purely for collection. Why deliberately avoid BL themes?

The more Wang Jiu thought about it, the more he felt there was something amiss. Upon closer examination of the display setup in the collection room, he spotted something noteworthy.

There was a small, covertly designed Array hidden there, almost imperceptible due to its faint energy and minimal True Essence Fluctuation. If not for his Sword Spirit's acute Perception of Heaven and Earth Spirit Wind and such fluctuations, he might never have noticed it.

This Array was concealed on an inconspicuous display shelf, laden with classical novels from outdated couple romance tropes. Though devoid of dust, it was clear the owner hadn't touched them in ages.

Given that the inner layer collection room's shelves were often updated, these immovable classics seemed particularly noteworthy.

Standing before the shelf, Wang Jiu carefully observed the hidden energy circuit, gradually formulating hundreds of equations in his mind to reverse-engineer the mechanism's operation.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Wang Jiu solved it.

While shaking his head at his limited computational prowess, hardly a shadow of his prime, he removed the first, third, and fifth books from the topmost left end of the shelf.

Rustle!

The sound of pages flipping arose as the three books turned wildly on their own, with their contents rapidly changing.

A few moments later, the transformation ceased, and the books closed themselves, revealing their covers. On each was simply written the word: Diary.

Upon reopening them, Wang Jiu began reading Li Jing's life.

"December 7, 1987, clear

Today marks the end of my brother's seclusion, a day I have long awaited, to the point of losing sleep and appetite. However, on reflection, he's only been in seclusion for three days; truly, a single day apart feels like three autumns…"

Reading just the first section, Wang Jiu felt a strong sense of discordance, yet couldn't pinpoint the issue, so he continued reading.

"December 8, 1987, overcast

I haven't been this drunk in ages, slept almost till noon… Thankfully, father wasn't home, otherwise, he would have scolded me again.

My brother is truly formidable; at last night's celebration feast, though I plied him with drinks, he remained unfazed. The vintage at the Drunken Immortal Tower can inebriate even deities, yet even with a Hangover Prevention Pill in my mouth, I succumbed, while my brother remained unaffected…could it be that our disparity in True Essence Realm is too vast? I must redouble my efforts, or I'll never be able to outdrink him."

Wang Jiu was utterly puzzled, as if Li Jing were obsessively trying to inebriate Li Fengyun, to the extent of losing sleep and appetite, feeling a day apart as if three autumns had passed.

But what purpose would intoxication of Li Fengyun serve? To showcase to the family Elders that he's a drunken lout, thereby suppressing the eldest and elevating Li Jing's standing as the second son?

Puzzled, Wang Jiu opened the previous diary volume.

"August 17, 1980

Today is my big brother's 13th birthday, and the shopkeeper from Dobao Pavilion sent a set of new men's clothes. They look truly handsome on him. As he walked around the courtyard, many maids squealed in excitement... Hmph, such shallow women."

...

Wang Jiu paused for a moment before casually flipping a few pages.

"November 30, 1980

My big brother's changes recently are truly significant. Since last year, he seems to change almost every month, naturally becoming more handsome each time.

Is this what adolescence is like?

I wonder when my adolescence will start. I hope that one day, I can confidently stand beside my big brother."

...

"October 4, 1981

I originally planned to discuss with my big brother about the physiological phenomena of adolescent development while taking a bath, but was instead called by dad for extra swordsmanship training...

I am really fed up with swordsmanship! I absolutely won't practice swordsmanship in the future!"

Seeing this, Wang Jiu nodded, understanding why Li Jing, despite being a Li Family member, does not use swordsmanship—childhood shadows were at play.

The following parts mostly record various interactions and data comparisons between Li Jing and his brother during adolescence. Through this data, Wang Jiu discovered that Li Jing was slightly inferior to his brother in the length of a certain organ, but he felt somewhat pleased about this fact.

It's quite strange; generally speaking, male psychology often exhibits a superstitious obsession with length, disconnected from practical application. Few are willing to accept that their length is inferior to others—even when the other's length has long exceeded necessary ranges, becoming cumbersome.

Back in the Jiuzhou Continent, there was indeed a group of quirky individuals who cultivated their organs to astonishing lengths, enough to wrap around their waist—naturally making usage inconvenient. Yet, they were very proud. Although others deemed them extremely bizarre, no one compared lengths with them or felt happy for being inferior in length.

So Li Jing's sense of joy is indeed difficult to understand.

Shaking his head, Wang Jiu flipped to the next book.

This book's content was very jumpy, leaping directly to recent times.

"June 17, 2017

My big brother recently hired an Honored Guest Elder... Although hiring Honored Guest Elders has long been common for the family, that person named Wang Jiu is annoying no matter how you look at him. Is it because his background is too suspicious? Or is it because his relationship with Li Qingming is too close?

Alright, I have to admit, it's his appearance that sparked my subconscious wariness.

But actually, there's nothing to worry about; my big brother is no longer inclined toward other men."

...

"July 20, 2017

I have to admit my estimation was off; that guy's influence on my big brother exceeded expectations. My big brother has been exchanging letters with him almost daily recently, to the point of neglecting rest and meals.

Could it be that Wang Jiu has untoward intentions toward my big brother?

No wonder I disliked him at first sight."

Seeing this, Wang Jiu understood Li Jing's hostility toward him.

However, it felt like something was still hidden between the lines of the diary, something he couldn't quite grasp...

"Forget it, no point in overthinking alone. Better to ask someone knowledgeable."

Back in the Jiuzhou Era, Wang Jiu was like this too—faced with unsolvable problems, he'd consult experts. As for this kind of issue...

Wang Jiu thought for a moment, deducing that of course, he should ask Zhou Wenjun, as she and Li Jing were such a well-matched couple, obviously understanding what Li Jing was thinking.

However, when he reached the basement door, he heard Zhou Wenjun's following message.

"Sorry Mr. Wang Jiu, I can't meet with you now. Knowing Li Jing's nature, you must have brought spoilers to retaliate against me, so to avoid trouble, I have locked myself in the basement. Please don't come find me."

After hearing the message, Wang Jiu looked at the basement sealed airtight with various runes and arrays and had to abandon the plan to seek Zhou Wenjun's advice, choosing to ask Lu Xin instead.

To Wang Jiu's impression, that little girl from the Lu Family was quite skilled in social matters and should be able to decipher the mysteries within the diary.

However, when Wang Jiu brought the reproduced diary of Li Jing to Lu Xin, she was already pale-faced after reading just a few segments.

The young woman lowered her head, her gaze gradually becoming unfocused, her body slightly trembling, unable to utter a word for a long time.

After quite a while, she regained a bit of composure, raising her head as if to say something to Wang Jiu.

At that moment, a lively voice rang within the room.

"Sister Xin, did you finish reading? What do you think, does it seem like my dad's quite a pervert?"