The Missing Xuan Hao

"Done!"

Xuan Hao bit off the thread, stood up, and dusted off his hands as he examined his handiwork with satisfaction.

The stitching was not particularly fine, nor was there any fancy embroidery, but at least he had adjusted the sleeves and pant legs to the proper length and taken in the waist. The clothes were still somewhat loose and boyfriend-style on Na'er, but at least they would not fall off anymore.

Paired with Na'er's stunning looks, this originally ordinary set of old clothes somehow gave off the feel of high-end custom wear.

"Not bad. You look quite sharp."

Xuan Hao nodded, then lowered his gaze to Na'er's feet.

Those worn little cloth shoes were completely ruined. Their soles had nearly worn through, exposing her fair little toes.

"There's nothing I can do about the shoes. I don't know how to make them either."

Xuan Hao shook his head. Out here in the wilderness, there was nowhere to buy any. If she kept walking barefoot or in those ruined shoes, her feet would be wrecked.

"Get on."

Xuan Hao turned around, crouched in front of Na'er, and patted his shoulder.

"Huh?" Na'er froze for a moment.

"What do you mean, 'huh'? I'm carrying you."

Xuan Hao glanced back at her. "The nearest town is dozens of li away, and it's all mountain paths. If you walk your feet raw, I'll be the one who has to treat you. Hurry up. Stop dawdling."

Looking at his broad back, Na'er felt a warm current rise in her heart.

She pursed her lips and carefully climbed onto his back, her small hands gently wrapping around Xuan Hao's neck.

"Hold on tight."

Xuan Hao supported her with both hands, gave her a slight bounce, then strode toward the mountains beyond.

"Gege... why are you so good to me?" Na'er asked softly beside his ear, her breath carrying a faint milky scent.

"It was on the way, and I felt sorry for you."

Xuan Hao looked ahead, his feet moving swiftly, while his tone remained as casual as ever.

"Besides, picking up such a pretty little sister makes me look good when I take you out, doesn't it?"

"If things don't work out for me later, I can mortgage you off to some wealthy family as a child bride. You'd probably fetch quite a bit of money."

"...Gege is lying."

"How am I lying? I'm completely serious."

"Because... I didn't see the look of someone who wants to sell me in Gege's eyes."

"Looks like not only is your brain not working properly, but your eyesight isn't either."

"That's not true!"

Spirit City, deep within the Papal Palace.

An incomparably terrifying wave of Soul Power suddenly erupted. Like an icy wind from the depths of hell, it instantly swept through the entire hall.

The doors to the secret chamber slowly opened, and Bibi Dong stepped out.

Her aura was even deeper and more terrifying than it had been a month ago. With every gesture, the surrounding space itself seemed to distort faintly.

Level 98!

After a month of seclusion, aided by her rage and the peculiar magnetic field produced during the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast's sacrifice, she had turned misfortune into fortune. She had advanced even further, stepping into the Level 98 peak realm that countless Titled Douluo dreamed of!

"Phew..."

Bibi Dong slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, purple light flowing through her eyes.

Although she had broken through, the anger in her heart had not diminished in the slightest.

If she had obtained those two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts and absorbed their two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings, her Soul Power could have directly reached the threshold of Level 99, becoming a Peerless Douluo and formally beginning the Rakshasa God Trial in her complete state!

But now, everything had been ruined because that bastard boy had sided with outsiders.

"Go. Bring Xuan Hao to me."

Bibi Dong returned to the Papal throne, her voice cool and emotionless. "After being locked up for a month, he should have calmed down by now and realized where he went wrong."

Over the past month, she had actually thought through many things.

Kill him and take his soul bone?

She had indeed considered it. But after calming down, she abandoned the idea.

For one thing, with her current cultivation and configuration of Soul Rings and soul bones, one more soul bone would merely be the icing on the cake, not something she desperately needed.

For another, Xuan Hao's talent was truly unprecedented in her life. Golden Dragon and Silver Dragon—such ultimate Twin Top-tier Martial Souls, if properly nurtured, might one day surpass even her.

Destroying such a perfect successor over a mere soul bone was not worth it.

As for the two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts she had lost, the two beasts in the Core Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest would become hers sooner or later.

Once she reached Level 99 and took control of the Elder Hall, she could start planning the hunt.

However, while death might be spared, punishment could not.

If she did not give him a proper lesson this time, wouldn't he tear down the Papal Palace someday?

Bibi Dong was weighing whether to give him a hundred killing-might rod strokes or throw him into Mizong Grand Canyon for training.

Yet, second by second, time passed.

The maid she had sent remained standing at the bottom of the steps, head lowered and body trembling, without moving for a long while.

"What are you standing there for?" Bibi Dong frowned slightly. "Did you not understand what I said?"

Thud!

The maid's knees gave out, and she collapsed to the floor, pressing her forehead tightly against the ground as she cried, "Your Excellency... please forgive me!"

"It's not that this servant refused to go... it's... it's Young Master Xuan Hao. He... he's gone!"

"Gone?" Bibi Dong's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, gone? He was locked in the House Arrest Room. Could he have vanished into thin air?"

"He... he really is gone!" the maid cried. "He... he's been missing for over half a month!"

Boom—!

Bibi Dong shot to her feet, and the Papal throne beneath her instantly crumbled to dust.

"Over half a month?!"

Her voice rose sharply as her figure flashed, turning into a streak of purple light that shot out of the hall and straight toward the House Arrest Room in the side hall.

The door to the House Arrest Room stood wide open.

Bibi Dong rushed inside and looked at the empty stone bed, as well as the floor already covered in a thin layer of dust. She felt like she was about to suffer a stroke.

Her gaze immediately locked onto a sheet of paper resting on the stone bed, folded neatly and held down by an ink-jade paperweight.

She strode over and snatched up the letter.

[To my beloved Elder Sister: Seeing these words is like seeing me...]

[...Accept the small rod; flee from the big rod...]

[...Elder Sister's anger right now is probably at the level of an enormous rod...]

[...Once Elder Sister calms down... your disciple will definitely return...]

Riiip—!

The letter instantly shattered into countless scraps in Bibi Dong's hand, before being reduced to ash beneath her terrifying Soul Power.

"Good... very good!"

Bibi Dong trembled with rage. Frost covered her exquisitely beautiful face, and her chest heaved violently.

"Accept the small rod; flee from the big rod?"

"Wicked Disciple! He truly is a Wicked Disciple!!"

Here she was, thinking about how to deal with him leniently. She had thought that as long as he admitted his mistake, she would let him go. She had even been considering how to nurture him in the future.

And what happened?

That little bastard had packed up and run off long ago!

Not only had he run, he had even left her such a sarcastic letter!

Going on about how he feared she would kill her disciple, how he would repay her filial devotion someday—every line screamed, "I don't trust you," and "I'm slipping away first," with that shameless face of his!

"Guards!!"

Bibi Dong roared, the sound wave nearly lifting the roof.

"What the hell have you all been doing?! Get in here!!"

A moment later.

A squad of Hall Guardian Knights responsible for guarding the House Arrest Room, along with the maid who delivered meals, all knelt outside the room, their faces drained of color.

"This is what you call guarding him?!" Bibi Dong pointed at the empty room, looking as though she wanted to devour them. "A Soul Elder barely above Level 30! An eight- or nine-year-old child! And he strolled right out of the heavily guarded Papal Palace under the noses of a whole group of Soul Kings and Spirit Emperors?!"

"Are all of you blind?!"

The guards exchanged looks, cold sweat streaming down their backs, yet none dared answer.

They were desperate too! Who could have imagined that a child under House Arrest could vanish into thin air? And without making a single sound!

"Speak!" Bibi Dong looked at the meal-delivering maid kneeling in the corner. "When exactly was he discovered missing?!"

"It was..." the maid answered tremblingly. "Half a month ago, this servant noticed that the meals sent in had gone untouched for two consecutive days. Only then did I dare enter to inspect the room, and I found that he was already gone..."

"At the time, Your Excellency was at a critical point in seclusion. This servant did not dare disturb you, so... so I reported the matter to Elder Yue Guan."

"Yue Guan?" Bibi Dong narrowed her eyes. "Tell him to get his ass over here!"

Not long after, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan rushed to the scene in a panic after receiving the message.

The moment he saw Bibi Dong's Facial Expression, dark enough to drip water, his heart sank halfway.

"Your Excellency..."

"Where is he?" Bibi Dong asked coldly. "Since you knew half a month ago, have you found him?"

Cold sweat poured down Yue Guan's face. "Your Excellency, I've been wronged!"

"The moment I learned that Xuan Hao had gone missing, I ordered Spirit City sealed off and led the Enforcement Team in turning the entire city upside down! But... but it was as if he had vanished into thin air. He didn't leave behind a single trace!"

"My deduction is... by the time his disappearance was discovered, he had likely already left Spirit City more than two days earlier."

"Half a month..."

Bibi Dong's vision went black. Her body swayed, and she nearly fainted from rage.

The only way he could have left silently under the Papal Palace's guard was by using the ability of the Hundred Thousand Year Spirit Ring and Bone he had just obtained!

Half a month!

With that brat's cleverness, plus such an ability, forget leaving the city—he might have already reached Heaven Dou City or Star Luo City!

The world was so vast. Where was she supposed to look for him?!