Nocturne, Spirit Eyes

Xue Xiao Ran gazed up at the starry sky, silent for a long time.

He was standing outside the camp now, having just finished his routine task of scattering anesthetic around its perimeter. He stretched lazily. What a busy day.

Still, the training camp in the Star Dou Great Forest would soon be over, and running into Wang Dong had been purely unexpected.

But this was going to be troublesome.

Xue Xiao Ran muttered to himself. If he spent time with Wang Dong, who knew what that young lady might say and accidentally expose his identity.

"Xiao Ran, you really made me search for you."

Wang Dong's voice came from behind him, and he turned back with a smile.

"What is it? Why were you looking for me?"

Wang Dong's gaze dimmed at his question.

"Nothing... Can't I look for you just because I want to?"

"Of course you can." Xue Xiao Ran smiled as he rubbed Wang Dong's short hair, then sat down beside her.

"Go on. I'm listening."

By the starlight, Xue Xiao Ran looked at Wang Dong's somewhat hazy face.

"Why didn't you tell me about so many things?" Wang Dong sat beside him with puffed cheeks and gave a huff. "I don't keep my affairs secret from you, so why are you hiding so many secrets from me?"

Xue Xiao Ran blinked his Jade Eyes. "What secrets could I possibly have?"

"Senior Sister..."

Xue Xiao Ran laughed soundlessly and shook his head. "Wang Dong, don't overthink it. At most, we have a Senior Sister-junior relationship. Even if she likes me, I won't accept her."

"Is that true?"

There was a trace of tears in Wang Dong's voice, making Xue Xiao Ran's eyes widen.

He had not expected her feelings for him to run this deep.

Xue Xiao Ran took a long breath, then gently stroked Wang Dong's pink-blue short hair and comforted her softly. "That's right. There's only you in my heart."

"Oh."

Wang Dong sat there hugging her knees like an abandoned little animal, making Xue Xiao Ran shake his head helplessly.

"Love never ends," Xue Xiao Ran said with a smile. It was still too early to talk about love with twelve-year-old Dong'er, but...

He leaned against Wang Dong and pulled her into his embrace.

He could let her act spoiled once in a while.

Wang Dong silently pounded Xue Xiao Ran's chest. Her mood gradually calmed, then slowly grew warm again.

"How's your studying going?"

Xue Xiao Ran quietly pulled back a little. This was the Star Dou Great Forest, after all. If the teachers saw them, they would definitely get the wrong idea.

"I worked really hard, and I even got first place in the Freshman Competition."

"Oh, not bad."

Xue Xiao Ran said with a smile. Though it had been expected, he still congratulated her sincerely.

"Our team relied on me."

Wang Dong proudly thumped her chest and giggled.

"Not bad. Did the secret of your Twin Martial Souls get exposed?"

"Yeah. I'm from the Clear Sky Sect, after all, so there was no way to hide it from the teachers."

Wang Dong stretched, her feet swaying back and forth.

"Oh, right, I joined the Tang Sect!"

Like a child showing off to an adult, Wang Dong grabbed Xue Xiao Ran's shoulders and spoke excitedly.

"The Tang Sect? There are Tang Sect members in Shrek Academy?"

Xue Xiao Ran gave a surprised sound. What he had searched for everywhere had fallen into his lap without any effort.

"That's right." Wang Dong spoke eagerly, but then her voice softened. "But there are really too few people in the Tang Sect now..."

"How many? There should be at least a few hundred, right?" Xue Xiao Ran asked curiously. He had heard Father-in-law say that the original Tang Sect had several hundred disciples in each hall, with its total membership once reaching two thousand at its peak.

"Including me... there are only four."

"..."

Xue Xiao Ran's expression twitched slightly. He had not expected Father-in-law's description of the Tang Sect's decline to mean this kind of decline.

Only four people. Did that mean four hall masters?

A bare-bones commander?

Xue Xiao Ran showed no emotion on his face and sighed. "There really are too few people."

"Yeah." Wang Dong's mood sank as well.

"I've got it." She grabbed Xue Xiao Ran's shoulders and giggled, giving him the uneasy feeling that something bad was about to happen.

"Xiao Ran, do you want to join our Tang Sect?"

Xue Xiao Ran fell silent for a moment. He neither agreed nor refused.

"I need to meet whoever is currently in charge of the Tang Sect."

His eyes narrowed slightly. He would honor Father-in-law's promise and join the Tang Sect, but if its sect master was incompetent, he was prepared to put Wang Dong in the position—or simply take it himself.

"Sure, sure! Teacher Xiao Ya will definitely be so happy." Wang Dong clapped her hands.

"Then after this vacation, I'll pay a visit to Shrek Academy."

Xue Xiao Ran blinked his Jade Eyes and smiled faintly.

"Mm!"

The night passed without incident, calm and peaceful.

Xue Xiao Ran rose early for morning training. When he went to inspect the area around the camp, he unexpectedly found many footprints.

"Tch, what's going on here?" Xue Xiao Ran murmured. Their main camp had not been built within a soul beast's territory, so what were these footprints?

His Purple-grade Demonic Eye flickered faintly as he stared silently at the chaotic tracks.

After considering it for a while, Xue Xiao Ran returned to the main camp.

To his surprise, the blue-haired youth from Shrek Academy who had grilled fish for them yesterday was already up and training.

Looking more closely, Xue Xiao Ran recalled that he seemed to have met this blue-haired youth once outside Wang Dong's dormitory.

The youth saw Xue Xiao Ran and nodded politely.

Xue Xiao Ran nodded back, then climbed up a tree and sat on a branch. Watching the sky in the distance, he began to cultivate quietly.

His Sea of Consciousness had expanded by far more than a little after a night's sleep, leaving the Ice Empress thoroughly delighted. Xue Xiao Ran found it strange as well. If sleeping could expand his Sea of Consciousness, then he might as well sleep every day.

There was still no explanation for that strange dream. Xue Xiao Ran narrowed his eyes at that bizarre ten-thousand-year span of time viewed through the perspective of the Imperial Auspicious Beast.

"Hello, my name is Huo Yu Hao."

Xue Xiao Ran blinked when he heard someone speaking to him. He raised his Jade Eyes and saw the blue-haired youth greeting him.

"Xue Xiao Ran. Please guide me during this time."

Xue Xiao Ran nodded and replied calmly.

Huo Yu Hao hesitated, then asked politely, "This may be abrupt, but I still wanted to ask: Xue Xiao Ran, what is your martial soul?"

Xue Xiao Ran raised an eyebrow in surprise, but martial souls were not exactly secrets. There was no harm in telling him.

"My martial soul is Extreme Poison."

Xue Xiao Ran raised a hand, and a cloud of green vapor drifted over his palm.

Still, that question really was abrupt.

Xue Xiao Ran thought helplessly.

"Thank you. My martial soul is my eyes." Huo Yu Hao smiled and pointed at his own eyes.

"Eyes? That's truly a rare martial soul."

"Brother Sky Dream, that's very rude!"

"That's strange. Then why do I sense such a familiar aura from him?"