"Husband"

"Young Master!"

General Xiong San hurried in from outside the tent and roared, "These assassins only took a bounty. We couldn't torture out who was pulling strings behind them! The priests don't have any way either!"

Wu Wang leaned against the beast-hide chair, looking somewhat weary, a faint light flickering in his eyes.

"Kill them. Keep it quiet, and remember to have the priests destroy their lingering souls."

General Xiong San widened his eyes. "Just kill them directly? Wouldn't that be letting them off easy?"

"Handle it discreetly," Wu Wang said, waving a hand. "Report this to my father tomorrow. Don't disturb my father and mother's reunion."

"Yes!"

General Xiong San bowed to accept the order and turned to leave.

"Wait, General San."

Wu Wang suddenly called General Xiong San back, the light in his eyes flickering uncertainly.

General Xiong San stood there blankly below. It was the first time he had seen the young master, who usually spoke with absolute finality and acted like thunder and lightning, reveal such hesitation.

"Young Master, what is it?"

"Someone has already set their sights on me. We cannot let whoever is behind this off lightly, or how will our Bear Hug Tribe gain a foothold in the Northern Wilderness?"

Wu Wang slowly exhaled. The hesitation had vanished from his eyes as he said calmly:

"Mutual development can only happen when we are not the ones taking losses.

The Northern Wilderness ultimately looks at whose fist is bigger, not who has done more good deeds.

General San, execute these people immediately, but do not feed the corpses to the wolves. Once dawn comes, spread word that...

My mother used the ultimate essence of her unique Star Invocation Technique. Under the guidance of the omnipotent Star God, following the way of cause and effect, she will cast a spell upon these assassins' corpses for seven days and find the origin of every event."

General Xiong San could not help asking in confusion, "What kind of thing is this way of cause and effect?"

"Just spread it as I said. Have you remembered all of it?"

"Remembered it! Lord Cangxue takes action, the Star God gives guidance, the abilities of the foremost of the Seven-Day Sacrifice, following the way of cause and effect to find the place where the cause began!"

General Xiong San glanced at Lin Suqing, then immediately raised his head and puffed out his chest.

"Rest assured, Young Master. We can't possibly be that stupid!"

Seeing Wu Wang nod, the burly man charged out of the tent in a blaze of haste. Several loud roars stirred up a small commotion.

Beside him, Lin Suqing seemed deep in thought. When she looked up at Wu Wang, she found his body sunk into the beast-hide chair.

The starlight was faint, illuminating his somewhat thin face while leaving patches of gray darkness untouched.

"Young Master, is something wrong?" Lin Suqing asked softly.

"Nothing."

Wu Wang answered, closed his eyes, and formed the hand seal used by priests during prayer. In a low voice, he said:

"May those who are about to vanish because of my decision today find rest under the Star God's guidance."

Then he silently added in his heart:

Limitless Heavenly Venerable, Jade Emperor, Namo Gatling Bodhisattva, Great Venerable Einstein of Relativity.

Though the Great Wilderness was not under their jurisdiction.

Lin Suqing did not quite understand Wu Wang's prayer. Those who killed would inevitably be killed; there was no need to show any pity toward assassins who had come to murder him.

Could it be that the young master was actually incomparably gentle at heart... and she simply did not deserve to enjoy that gentleness?

Shutting oneself away often happened in the space of a single thought.

Yet what happened afterward completely surpassed Lin Suqing's imagination. If it had to be summed up in four words, there could only be—

A bloody storm.

The assassins' bodies were hung outside the Royal Court, while large numbers of priests surrounded them and prayed without cease. The rumors spread by General Xiong San swiftly traveled everywhere with the Star God Cult fanning the flames.

On the sixth night of displaying the corpses, the wolf pups in beast pens throughout the Royal Court paced about uneasily.

At midnight, great numbers of dark figures descended from the sky, their target the dozen or so corpses. Yet they were surrounded by Bear Hug Tribe elites who had been waiting for them.

Starlight sealed the paths, and arrows crisscrossed through the air.

The slaughter lasted less than an hour. Dozens of the invaders were captured alive, while all the rest were wiped out. Their origins were tortured out and repeatedly verified without error.

A neighboring clan of the Bear Hug Tribe—the Long-Haired Tribe.

The Long-Haired Tribe consisted mainly of humans and the Hair Folk. They excelled at commanding beast herds and worshipped both the Star God and the Beast God.

Although this clan's overall strength did not rank among the Northern Wilderness's top ten, it was by no means weak. They had also had plenty of friction with the Bear Hug Tribe over border divisions, and their grievances ran deep.

Their plan had originally been seamless. Through a certain force in the Western Plains, they had posted a bounty among merchant caravans. The captured witches of the Yushique Kingdom were also a "professional team" that had spent years carrying out assassinations and attacks. Almost no one could trace the employer's roots.

But who could have imagined that the Star Invocation Technique possessed some ultimate mystery of cause and effect?

At first, the Long-Haired Tribe's Clan Leader and Grand Priestess firmly refused to believe this news.

But as rumors spread throughout their tribe and strange phenomena repeatedly appeared in the starry sky, they ultimately could no longer sit still.

What was even more fatal was that the Death Warriors they had sent had not died, nor had they endured a certain young master's little interrogation tricks. The dozens of confessions, each differing in detail, all pointed to the Long-Haired Tribe's Clan Leader and Grand Priestess.

Half a month later.

The Bear Hug Tribe launched an undeclared war, splitting into three forces to ambush the Long-Haired Tribe.

A month and a half later.

This clan war came swiftly to an end with the Long-Haired Tribe's defeat.

At Lord Cangxue's suggestion, the Bear Hug Tribe evenly divided part of the Long-Haired Tribe's former territory among several other powerful nearby clans.

—Naturally, this had been Wu Wang's arrangement.

The gun shot the bird that stuck its head out, while blessings smashed the strongest.

Since Brother Xing Tian harbored ambitions to contend with the Heavenly Emperor, it was perfectly fine for their Bear Hug Tribe to follow behind, drink a little soup, and steadily get by in the Northern Wilderness.

After the war, Cang Xue convened and presided over the council of the Seven-Day Sacrifice. The Long-Haired Tribe was erased from the Northern Wilderness, while its former people became refugees whom all tribes sheltered by the Star God were permitted to absorb.

A medium-sized clan had vanished into thin air within two months.

Worth mentioning was that the Bear Hug Tribe had suffered relatively few casualties in the battle.

The surrounding clans had all believed this would be a deadlocked war lasting at least half a year. In reality, the Bear Hug Tribe had advanced in a one-sided sweep, and the Long-Haired Tribe had been utterly unable to resist.

The formations of carriage-mounted crossbows, the Star Invocation Technique that affected local weather, and the new Repeating Giant Crossbows in the hands of the Giant Wolf Riders became the focus of every clan's attention.

Unfortunately, the Bear Hug Tribe guarded the new giant crossbows tightly. Their public response was simply, "They don't exist," "They're toys," "How could we possibly have such things?" and "It's all nonsense our tribesmen made up while bragging."

Once the Long-Haired Tribe war had completely drawn to a close, the designer of these giant crossbows and tactics picked up a brush in his riverside cottage and wrote a single large character:

Strive.

Lin Suqing, who was grinding ink beside him, furrowed her brows and pressed her lips together. She asked quietly, "Such a huge clan just... vanished like that?"

"Otherwise?"

Wu Wang set down his wolf-hair brush, sat back in his chair, and smiled. "A clan that has never produced a Day Sacrifice will forever be a marginal force in the Northern Wilderness. It may be swallowed by other forces at any time."

Lin Suqing hesitated, but still voiced her worry:

"If the ones who came that night had not been the Long-Haired Tribe, but another powerful great clan... wouldn't we have suffered enormous losses? Like injuring the enemy by a thousand while losing eight hundred ourselves."

Wu Wang thus explained a little more:

"Before making this decision, I hesitated for a long time too. But there was no other way. This was a responsibility I had to bear.

If I were an ordinary member of the Bear Hug Tribe, then if I were ambushed, I would only fight back with my own strength.

But I am the heir to this clan's leader. An assassination attempt against me is no longer my private matter."

Seeing that Lin Suqing only half understood, Wu Wang continued:

"If the young master of a clan can be assassinated and the clan treats it as though nothing happened, then other powerful clans will certainly view that clan as weak, and disasters will come one after another.

There may not have been no other great clans supporting the Long-Haired Tribe from behind. Otherwise, they could not have lost their minds and spent every day thinking about opposing us.

Only by properly flexing our muscles can we deter forces truly capable of threatening us.

This is the way to survive in the Northern Wilderness."

After pausing, Wu Wang smiled. "Why am I telling you all this? Go back to your room and cultivate."

"Oh," Lin Suqing answered. She headed toward the door with light steps.

Before leaving, she remembered something and turned back to ask, "Young Master, where is that sealed puppet?"

"It was cremated."

Without raising his head, Wu Wang replied, "Its self-awareness was erased right after it was born. It was quite pitiful."

Fire...

Lin Suqing pressed her lips together, lowered her head, and withdrew. She had thought Wu Wang would spare that puppet's life.

Wu Wang rested for a while and calmed his somewhat turbulent state of mind.

He rose and lifted his brush. His brush carried the force of a thousand jun yet fell as lightly as a feather touching snow, writing the character for immortal after the character for strive.

The last time his parents returned to the clan lands to reunite, Wu Wang had already told them that he wanted to venture into the Human Domain and see the world.

His father had strongly opposed it, while his mother had expressed some concern.

However, as long as his mother agreed, persuading his father would not be difficult.

After the battle with the Long-Haired Tribe, the Bear Hug Tribe should remain stable for quite some time. Star God's Blessing was unlikely to happen again soon, and the Wave Tribe stood in front of them as well.

The time to seek immortals and cure his strange illness had become fully ripe.

It was time to make preparations for going to the Human Domain, to visit Northern Wilderness Market and purchase some "school starter gear," displaying the ordinary wealth of an ordinary Northern Wilderness clan.

Thus, three months later, Wu Wang's carriage charged out of the Royal Court. With Giant Wolf Riders covering the mountains and plains, it headed toward a seaside market.

"Husband, husband?"

Who?

Wu Wang "opened" his eyes. Before him lay a hazy aurora, and he was sitting beneath a tree.

Lowering his head, he saw a pair of small, fair hands. He wore a beast-hide short shirt and shorts, exactly like how he had dressed when he was seven or eight years old.

A dream?

"Husband, do you like me?"

A clear call suddenly sounded by his ear. Wu Wang abruptly raised his head. A little girl stood before him, slowly bending down.

Wu Wang could not see her face or her figure clearly, yet he could see the sweet smile at the corner of her lips.

"Then it's settled. The two of us are husband and wife now."

Husband and wife?

How had they suddenly become husband and wife?

Wu Wang's eyes widened, and he immediately realized something. He wanted to raise a hand and grab the little girl before him, but his entire body was powerless and he could not lift his hand.

A faint numb soreness came from his shoulder. The little girl had actually bitten his shoulder, and she even had two sharp fangs.

The next instant, the little girl vanished, and a blurry graceful figure suddenly appeared.

This figure was tall and slender, with almost perfect curves. Her most striking feature at first glance was her long hair, which fell past her waist. He still could not see her face or clothing clearly.

Who are you?

Wu Wang asked in his heart, unable to make a sound. An immense longing surged within him. He wanted to see her face clearly, to know where she came from.

Who exactly are you?!

After asking this, Wu Wang suddenly saw those bright eyes. He saw the gentleness and lingering affection in them.

The blurred figure abruptly dispersed. Fragmented scenes flashed past Wu Wang's eyes, accompanied by calls that seemed near and far:

"I will not make you wait too long..."

"Husband..."

"Wait for me... wait for me..."

Wait!

On the speeding carriage, Wu Wang suddenly opened his eyes. His entire body was tense, sweat beaded on his forehead, and for a moment his eyes could not focus.

"Young Master? Are you very hot?"

Lin Suqing's voice came from beside him, making Wu Wang feel as though he had seized a rope and dragged himself out of a mire.

Slowly exhaling, Wu Wang immediately called for the carriage to stop. He had Lin Suqing take out the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone she carried with her, then rapidly drew three paintings.

The first depicted the scene from the dream: a lush, leafy tree, a small lake reflecting starlight, and dazzling auroras drifting everywhere.

The second was the outline of that little girl.

The third was a pair of eyes—a pair of eyes impossible to capture in exact form. They were almond-shaped eyes, yet gentler than almond-shaped eyes.

After completing the three paintings, Wu Wang seemed utterly drained. He sat there blankly for a long time, unable to recover.

Had he forgotten something?

When he was seven or eight, had there been a gap in his memories?

Wu Wang tried hard to remember and investigated repeatedly, only reaching an extremely certain conclusion—his memories were complete, without even the slightest break.

Then what was... going on?

He could not possibly have had such a dream for no reason!

In terms of the Star Invocation Technique, he could barely be called a "strong expert" in the Northern Wilderness. He could not possibly dream at random.

"What is it, Young Master?"

Lin Suqing asked worriedly beside him. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"How did I fall asleep?"

"You just fell asleep," Lin Suqing said, somewhat at a loss. "After getting into the carriage, you began meditating. As you meditated, you started snoring."

Wu Wang carefully recalled it, and the scene before he fell asleep surfaced in his heart.

Lin Suqing worriedly said, "Have you been pushing yourself too hard in your usual cultivation? You must be careful. Cultivation most fears greed for rapid progress. An unstable state of mind can easily induce inner demons."

Inner demons?

Had his desperate desire to learn where his strange illness came from created a crack in his Dao heart?

Wu Wang rubbed the space between his brows. Looking at the paintings before him, his mind remained unsettled for a long time.

This might be an inner demon, or perhaps...

The root cause of his strange illness itself!

Based on the clues he currently possessed and the information he knew, he could not reach any useful conclusion.

A flame surged from his palm. Wu Wang directly burned the three paintings to ashes, then instructed Lin Suqing a few times, telling her to act as though she had seen nothing.

He clenched the necklace he kept close to his body. Wu Wang wanted to contact his mother, but then loosened his grip on the necklace.

First, he had to determine whether it was a heart demon at work. Then he could ask his mother for help. He couldn't depend on his mother for everything.

"Young Master," the guard at his side reported, "the marketplace is not far ahead. According to the rules agreed upon by the various clans, large forces are not allowed to approach the market."

Wu Wang asked, "Suqing, how are things going with the contact over there?"

"They're ready."

"Mm." Wu Wang took a beast-bone mask from his robes and put it on.

For the rest of the journey, he continued pondering that sudden dream.

What Wu Wang could be certain of was that he had absolutely never seen the owner of those almond-shaped eyes before.

After careful comparison, Wu Wang also ruled out the Star God.

The Star God's eyes were rather narrow and long. They should have been phoenix eyes.

No joke, Wu Wang had truly thought many times before that some rich Star God lady had taken a fancy to him and placed some kind of "blessing" on him, preventing him from coming into contact with other women.

He had even mentally prepared himself: if the Star God came to seize him and he couldn't defeat her, then he would sacrifice himself for the Dao and defend his right to choose a mate!

But now, things seemed to be becoming... a little sinister.

He raised a hand and touched the spot on his shoulder where he had been "bitten," yet there was no wound at all, much less any related memory.

What if—he was only saying what if—his strange illness truly stemmed from the woman in that dream leaving some mark, curse, or other bizarre thing on him?

And if the strongest Sun Priest of the current Northern Plains, as well as his grandmother who had lived for more than six hundred years, could do nothing about this curse, then that woman's identity...

Was she no weaker than the Star God?

Impossible. There was no reason for it. It was simply too inconceivable.

The final scene of his previous life had been him piloting a spaceship into a wormhole that had suddenly appeared near Blue Star.

Then, with a bang, the spaceship exploded. He was gone. Vaguely, he had felt his soul drift through endless darkness before being drawn away by some vortex.

He had fully recovered the memories of his previous life at the age of three, and he had also retained all his memories from before he turned three.

Wu Wang could be completely certain that he had never seen that girl in either his previous life or this one!

A heart demon, right? This had to be a heart demon, right?

But setting aside the Star Invocation Technique, he was still only in the Gather Qi Realm...

Ah, this!

His head hurt.

The sound of waves crashing against the shore came from afar. Pure azure filled the edges of his vision, and he saw the glittering sea at the horizon.

Four Frost Wolves charged forward like battering rams, plunging straight into the bustling marketplace and drawing countless gazes.

A moment later, Wu Wang temporarily suppressed the chaotic thoughts in his heart and entered the largest circular tent in the marketplace, surrounded by more than a dozen guards.

The arrangement inside the tent reminded Wu Wang of the circus performance venues he had seen in his previous life.

Several hundred seats surrounding the central round stage were completely empty, while every entrance had been sealed off by fierce guards.

The moment their group entered, more than a dozen women from various clans, dressed coolly and blessed with fiery figures, immediately stepped forward to bow.

"Sir, this way, please," they called sweetly.

Wu Wang gave a slight nod, and a guard beside him tossed out two pouches of gold and silver trinkets.

They were nothing more than colored little stones.

Shortly afterward, Wu Wang sat in the very center of the front row. All manner of delicacies lay before him, and a glass cup swayed at his hand.

Lin Suqing stood quietly at his side and called toward the stage, "You may begin."

Clang—

A brawny man with horns atop his head and dense bloody aura emanating from his body struck a golden gong, threw back his head, and shouted:

"The six hundred and thirty-second Northern Plains Treasure Auction officially begins!"

Wu Wang sat there, still doing his best to recall and ponder.