"Oh, so you're actually a pretty nice guy, mister."
"A Seven-Ring Soul Sage coming all this way just to ask if we need any help? People as helpful as you are hard to find these days."
Bai Wanwan took a sip of the fruit juice in her hand and regarded the middle-aged man with an ambiguous smile.
"You flatter me, Young Lady."
"As I just said, I've always been willing to use any means necessary. That applies to helping people, too. My approach may have been a little abrupt, but I, Shi Nian, certainly meant no harm."
Shi Nian's voice rang with righteousness.
"Tsk, nicely put."
"I'm almost moved. But would you dare move, mister?"
Bai Wanwan chuckled.
She remembered Shi Nian vaguely. In the original story, during the All-Continent Elite Soul Master Academy Tournament, he had contributed the famous scene of catching the Invitation of the King of Hell barehanded and delivering a spirit bone from far away-a modest gift carrying heartfelt sentiment.
Shi Nian glanced at the two Titled Douluo, Moxiong and Guibao, who were watching him intently from behind, and gave a somewhat stiff smile.
Would I dare move?
Could I even try?
Trying might get me killed.
"Sister, I think the residence still needs a gatekeeper. A Soul Saint is no weakling and would count as a mid-level fighter in any faction. How about keeping him to watch the gate?"
Bai Wanwan linked her arm through Qian Renxue's and asked softly.
"Watch the gate?"
"That could work, but it depends on whether he's willing."
Qian Renxue gently wiped the corner of Bai Wanwan's mouth with her fingertip.
At Qian Renxue's touch, the tips of Bai Wanwan's ears quietly reddened. She did not know why, but she felt that her sister seemed a little different today.
Yet when she thought it over, nothing really seemed different.
After ten years spent together day and night, wasn't it natural for them to be close?
Shaking her head to cast those thoughts aside, Bai Wanwan turned her gaze back to Shi Nian and asked, "Mister, since you're such a nice person, you wouldn't mind watching our gate, would you?"
"Of course, it's entirely voluntary. If you don't want to, my sister and I won't force you."
Bai Wanwan's gaze was very gentle.
It stood in stark contrast to the looks Guibao and Moxiong were giving him from behind.
Yet Shi Nian's expression grew even stiffer.
Watch the gate?
I'm a dignified Soul Saint, and they want me to watch the gate?
At that moment, he felt as though he had suffered a humiliation-an immense humiliation.
But when he looked back at Moxiong and Guibao, who were glaring at him menacingly and even approaching step by step, Shi Nian decided that, when his life was at stake, being a little flexible with his principles was not out of the question.
After all, a person could not afford to be too rigid.
As the saying went, a wise man knew when to bend. From the moment he had first seen these two young ladies, he had felt an urge to follow them. If he stayed true to that first, most honest impulse in his heart, gatekeeping had excellent prospects, too.
As for being threatened by Titled Douluo and forced to agree, that certainly had not happened.
"Young ladies, to tell you the truth, I'm highly experienced at watching gates. With me here, your gate will certainly be safe and sound. To put it simply: as long as I stand, the gate stands."
Shi Nian raised his hand and clenched it, and the Illusion shattered piece by piece like a mirror.
After dispelling the Illusion, Shi Nian very sensibly fell in behind Qian Renxue and Bai Wanwan.
Moxiong and Guibao also withdrew their martial souls and concealed themselves in the shadows again.
Qian Renxue gave Shi Nian a look of approval for knowing his place, then walked ahead with Bai Wanwan.
After wandering around Heaven Dou City for a while, Qian Renxue and Bai Wanwan returned to the residence.
Outside the residence's main gate.
Shi Nian gazed at the vermilion gate before him, his eyes gradually filling with emotion.
"Close the gate properly. From now on, you're responsible for opening and closing it. It's an easy job."
"Understood?"
Guibao patted Shi Nian's shoulder, his tone indifferent.
"Understood."
Shi Nian nodded silently.
"If you fail to watch the gate properly, I know a scenic spot that would make a perfect place for your eternal rest."
"A smart man should know what to do."
Moxiong also patted Shi Nian's shoulder, but there was a vicious glint in his eyes.
"Understood."
"Please rest assured, both of you. I've found where I belong. At this moment, I feel as though even my soul has been uplifted."
Shi Nian nodded silently, never taking his eyes off the gate before him.
If he could do it all over again, he would have slapped his past self in the Auction House.
Respect?
Have I ever earned any?
And I still expected people to show me respect.
Unfortunately, what had already happened could no longer be changed.
Once everyone had entered the residence, Shi Nian stepped inside as well and reached out to close the gate, settling into his new role.
In the rear hall of the residence.
Bai Wanwan rested her head on Qian Renxue's lap, leisurely basking in the sunlight.
"Comfortable?"
Qian Renxue lightly tapped Bai Wanwan's forehead.
"Very."
"Sister, would you like to try?"
Bai Wanwan patted her own lap and looked up at Qian Renxue.
"No need."
"But I think I could try something else."
A thoughtful look appeared in Qian Renxue's eyes.
"Something else?"
"Sister, what do you mean?"
Bai Wanwan sat up and looked at Qian Renxue in confusion.
"A body pillow."
"I seem to be missing a body pillow."
Qian Renxue's gaze drifted down to Bai Wanwan's slender waist, so narrow it could scarcely fill her arms.
"A body... pillow?"
Bai Wanwan froze in bewilderment, then followed Qian Renxue's gaze to herself. "Sister, you don't mean me, do you?"
Bai Wanwan pointed at herself, her tone uncertain.
"What do you think?"
Qian Renxue smiled, rose, and wrapped her arms around Bai Wanwan's waist from behind, resting her head on Bai Wanwan's shoulder.
Bai Wanwan stiffened. Feeling warm breath beside her ear, her cheeks gradually flushed. She stood rigidly in place, her mind seemingly short-circuiting.
Qian Renxue did not know whether resting on someone's lap was comfortable.
But she found the body pillow in her arms very comfortable, with a faint, pleasant fragrance.
Just then.
An ill-timed voice rang out.
"Ahem."
"Young ladies, someone at the gate claims to be the imperial family's Second Prince. He's here to deliver something. Should I let him in?"
Shi Nian lowered his head slightly, avoiding looking at Qian Renxue and Bai Wanwan ahead of him.
"Let him in."
"Remember to take him to the meeting area in the Middle Hall. We'll wait for him there."
Qian Renxue gave Shi Nian a displeased look.
She even felt an urge to exile him to the Extreme North to work in the mines.
Unfortunately, that bitterly cold region was under no faction's control, so she could not send him there to mine.
"Yes, Young Lady."
Shi Nian acknowledged the order and quietly withdrew.
For some reason, though, he had just felt a chill run through his body, as if something terrible were about to happen.
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