Back in Chen Lin Village, on the day after Shao Siming Xiao Yi's treatment, July 9, early morning.
The bright red sun rose once more from the eastern horizon, blooming with dazzling light. Before anyone knew it, a new day had arrived.
As if sensing the sunlight shining down, Xiao Yi, lying on the bed in the Guest Room, fluttered her lashes slightly, then woke from her deep sleep and raised a small hand to gently rub her drowsy eyes.
To her, she had no idea how she had fallen asleep yesterday, but after sleeping, she did feel much more energetic, and her whole body felt quite comfortable.
Xiao Yi sat up, looked around, got down from the bed, put on her clothes and shoes, and pushed open the door.
At this moment, Chen Xiaojun was still sitting quietly in the courtyard, using Sword Shadow Body in tandem with his cultivation of the Upright Sword Qi Technique. He had not gone to morning training; he was waiting for Xiao Yi.
And just then, his slightly lowered eyes suddenly opened, and his expression shifted. "Awake?"
When Xiao Yi saw Chen Xiaojun walking over, her eyes lit up, and she hurriedly ran to him.
Chen Xiaojun bent down and reached out to gently pinch her soft cheek. Seeing that Xiao Yi's complexion looked very good, he finally set his mind completely at ease.
He then asked, "How do you feel? Nothing feels uncomfortable, right?"
Hearing this, Xiao Yi shook her head, indicating that everything was fine.
Seeing this, Chen Xiaojun's expression shifted, and then he continued, "Then can you speak now? Try it."
When she heard this, Xiao Yi tilted her head slightly, seeming a little puzzled. She had already tried many times before, but it had always been extremely difficult for her to make even the slightest sound. She had to use every bit of strength she had just to barely force out one or two words.
But at Chen Xiaojun's instruction, she still obediently opened her little mouth and tried hard to make a sound.
"...Wu..."
"I..."
When she heard sound come from her own mouth, Xiao Yi froze instantly, almost unable to believe it. She had actually succeeded!
Though she stuttered a little, it did not hurt!
After the shock, a surge of wild joy welled up in her heart. Her delicate little face flushed crimson, and she opened her mouth, looking at him with her heart full of excitement as she made a sound. "Xiao, Jun... wu..."
Chen Xiaojun's eyes lit up, and he said with a smile, "Very good. Say it again."
Xiao Yi was incredibly excited, and then called out, "Xiao, Jun... ge, Brother..."
"Mm, excellent!" Chen Xiaojun answered with a smile, raising his hand to lightly scrape the bridge of her little nose. Clearly, he was very happy as well.
At this moment, Ye Xiuxin also walked in, and when she saw that Xiao Yi had awakened, she too let out a sigh of relief.
Seeing this, Xiao Yi knew it was Ye Xiuxin and the others who had cured her. She immediately ran up to her, her purple eyes shimmering with glistening tears, opened her mouth, and called softly, "A-Auntie..."
Ye Xiuxin revealed a brilliant smile, then opened her arms and pulled her into an embrace. This child truly made one's heart ache for her.
Old hen stew, sweet-and-sour pork ribs, braised eggplant, spicy stir-fried shredded tripe, stir-fried shiitake mushrooms, Sauerkraut Fish slices, wood lotus jelly, golden pumpkin soup, plus a plate of sweet, juicy, mouthwatering Kirin Watermelon.
Mother Ye Xiuxin did not know what flavors Xiao Yi liked, so she had practically brought out all her signature dishes and made a whole table for Xiao Yi, partly to nourish her body, constantly picking up food for her.
It was clear that Xiao Yi was eating very happily.
She was rather partial to both sweet and spicy flavors. Sweet-and-sour pork ribs, golden pumpkin soup, spicy stir-fried shredded tripe, and Sauerkraut Fish slices—she ate more than half of them, and even more of the Kirin Watermelon.
She also really liked meat. Some girls loved meat to death too, unhappy without it, yet were naturally unable to gain weight!
Even after eating so much, Xiao Yi's belly did not swell much at all!
Xiao Yi ate very gracefully. Each bite was not large, but the frequency was very fast.
Chen Xiaojun and his elder brother Chen Jianjun nearly dropped their jaws. Even a sturdy youth like Chen Jianjun could eat five bowls at most, usually three, while as for Chen Xiaojun, two bowls!
Xiao Yi was gentle and adorable, with a slim figure. This appetite really did not match her character image at all—seven bowls of rice!
Well then, Xiao Yi was an otherworld version of "Hinata."
Mother was delighted. For the person cooking, the happiest thing was seeing the dishes they made swept clean.
There was not even enough rice. The second bucket had been rushed out by Ye Xiuxin using Soul Power.
His grandfather could not help but smile faintly as well.
"If Xiao Yi's recovery is ideal, in a few days we can arrange to help her awaken her Martial Soul," Chen Yu said leisurely.
Xiao Yi raised her head, glanced at Chen Yu, then turned toward Chen Xiaojun, her eyes blinking.
Chen Xiaojun smiled slightly and said, "Xiao Yi, a Martial Soul is an innate power everyone has. You have one too, but it hasn't awakened yet. It requires a special ceremony."
On the morning of July 10, the Ancestral Hall, Council Hall (that is, the side hall).
Every morning, Chen Yu came to the Ancestral Hall to sit in charge for two hours, deciding on matters that needed to be handled. If he was not there, then Chen Hong handled them in his place.
In fact, the village was not large. The Ancestral Hall was the place where clan affairs were handled, and a major part of Chen Hong's duties was managing the Ancestral Hall. The Clan Treasury was also here, and he was usually here as well.
Actually, there were not many clan affairs, so the two old men were quite idle, staring at each other with nothing to do.
However, during this period, Chen Hong had gone out to deal with the Magic Sheep Sect's matters and was not present.
At this moment, Chen Yu was seated in the main seat, and Chen Wenchao and Ling Yunxiao arrived together.
"Yunxiao, how is the absorption of that Hurricane Demon Wolf Right Soul Bone going?" Chen Yu spoke first.
When Chen Yu left two days ago, Ling Yunxiao had still been busy handling the aftermath and had not yet had time to absorb it.
"Yu Ge, thanks to you, it went very smoothly. Just as you expected, I'm level 82 now." Ling Yunxiao smiled briskly.
"That's good. Since you've come together this time, does that mean there's a result regarding the situation in the mountains?"
Ling Yunxiao and Chen Wenchao exchanged a look. "Brother Wenchao, you explain it."
"Alright. Yu Ge, here's the situation. I remember that a month ago, you took Jian Jun to find the Gale Wolf Pack and hunt a soul beast, but came up empty. Is that right?"
"Yes. What about it?" Chen Yu was a little surprised. How was this connected to that?
Chen Wenchao explained, "Here's the thing, Yu Ge. Because this incident involved the Gale Wolf Pack attacking the Black Moon wolves, we immediately focused on the Gale Wolf Pack.
"Four days ago, we and Yunxiao's Defense Force jointly sent out several groups, with Cheng Yuan and the others each leading teams straight to those Gale Wolf Pack gathering places.
"We found that all of them had cleared out. Every last one of them was gone."
"All gone? In that case, if this involved several wolf packs and a large-scale migration happening at the same time, there must be something unusual behind it. You mean there should be a higher-ranking soul beast force commanding them to act." Chen Yu clearly understood what he meant.
"Yes. There wasn't a single trace of battle, and soul masters couldn't command this many wolf packs. It can only be a higher-ranking soul beast."
"What's your thinking, then?"
"There are a great many wolf-type soul beasts in the Xie Luo Mountain Range, the largest number on Douluo Continent. It's the wolves' stronghold.
"I had Cheng Yuan investigate the situation of the other wolf-type soul beasts within a thousand li, especially the Black Wind Wolf Pack and Black Moon Wolf Pack, which don't get along with the Gale Wolf Pack.
"Perhaps the group of Gale Wolves that attacked Old Black was the very one you missed, because it was the closest.
"This time, it was extremely suspicious that they came to Black Moon Forest, on the outermost outskirts of the Xie Luo Mountain Range, to attack Old Black and the others.
"And Old Black also said before that he'd felt a sudden, instinctive unease."
"Mm, not bad. Keep investigating along this lead. At the same time, don't let the situation of other soul beasts slip by, especially whether there have been any large-scale movements."
"Understood!"
"Yunxiao, you can't relax during this period. First, guard against the situation in the mountains. Second, the Clan Celebration is coming soon, so the security measures need to be in place too. If you're short on manpower, report a plan to me."
"Yes, Yu Ge."
Before you continue