Calculations and a Bird

Jiang Nannan grabbed Xue Lingyun's wrist and jogged all the way toward the South City Gate.

Her palm was a little warm, and her grip was quite tight, as if she were afraid he might run off halfway.

Xue Lingyun let her pull him along, matching his footsteps to her pace without struggling free. He had intended to enter the city and look around anyway, and having someone lead the way was better than wandering about blindly.

After running for a while, Jiang Nannan finally slowed down. Tilting her head to look at him, her eyes curved into crescents. "Your stamina's pretty good. I thought people like you... uh, the kind who look really formidable, didn't like moving around."

"What kind of people?" Xue Lingyun asked.

"The kind who always wear a stiff face, like, 'I'm strong, so don't mess with me.'" Jiang Nannan gestured. "That guy Xu Sanshi is like that. He thinks even taking two steps lowers his status."

Xue Lingyun thought of Xu Sanshi's face, which always seemed to proclaim "I'm number one under heaven," and could not help laughing. "Then I'm different. I like moving around."

Jiang Nannan smiled as well. She released his wrist and walked beside him instead.

After walking ahead for a while, she suddenly asked, "By the way, you seem pretty familiar with that Yuhao guy?"

Xue Lingyun nodded, his tone casual. "I met him while traveling before. I stayed at his house for half a day."

"Traveling?" Jiang Nannan looked at him curiously. "You started traveling when you were that young? When you passed by my house before, you weren't just out on an outing?"

"Not that young," Xue Lingyun said. "I just went around, saw different places. If I came across something interesting, I stayed for a while. If not, I kept going."

Jiang Nannan blinked and waited for him to continue.

Xue Lingyun fell silent for two seconds, seeming to consider how to put it. In the end, he simply said, "That kid's pitiful too. He grew up without a father, depending on his mother for everything. Then his mother passed away too, so he came to Shrek alone."

Jiang Nannan froze for a moment. The smile on her face faded slightly as she said in a low voice, "I see..."

She didn't ask further and merely walked quietly for some time.

Xue Lingyun did not speak either.

The sky gradually darkened toward evening, and the lanterns along the street lit up one after another.

In the distance, the outline of the South City Gate grew clearer in the twilight. The gates stood wide open, with a constant stream of people entering and leaving.

"So how did you two meet?" Jiang Nannan asked again.

Xue Lingyun thought for a moment, amusement in his voice. "It was quite a coincidence. That day, I was fishing in the wilderness. I caught a few fish and was about to pack up when I looked up and saw a bird flying overhead."

"That bird had glossy feathers and looked nice and plump. I figured grilled fish with roasted bird would make a complete meal."

Jiang Nannan burst out laughing at that. "You just decided that? The bird was flying along perfectly well."

"It was flying well enough, but my eye is pretty accurate too," Xue Lingyun said solemnly. "I judged that it should taste quite good."

Jiang Nannan laughed so hard her shoulders shook. "And then?"

"Then I knocked it down," Xue Lingyun said. "But when the bird fell, I didn't catch it—or rather, someone caught it before I could."

Jiang Nannan was stunned. "Who?"

"It fell into a courtyard." Xue Lingyun pointed at the ground. "Right into Yuhao's family's courtyard."

Jiang Nannan's eyes widened. "That much of a coincidence?"

"Exactly that much," Xue Lingyun said.

What he did not say was that, at that moment, he had stood outside the courtyard wall and watched the bird trace an arc through the air, landing with perfect accuracy in that shabby little courtyard. A thought had surfaced in his mind: All right, looks like the time has come.

The place where the bird had fallen that day was right outside the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

He had walked all the way there and finally stopped outside that shabby little courtyard.

It was not because he had known anything in advance, but because he vaguely felt as if something were waiting for him.

He stood outside the courtyard wall for a while and took a look with Huangji Jingshi.

There was a woman and a boy in the courtyard.

Above the boy's head, the pillar of destiny's fortune shone with startling brilliance.

Though it was still thin for now, that soaring momentum had already begun to take shape.

Several faint, barely visible threads coiled around the woman—a thread connected to the boy in the courtyard, another stretched toward the majestic residence in the distance, while several others were so dim they were nearly severed.

Her fate had already reached its end.

Standing there, he thought, So this is a Child of Destiny.

He had read the Original Work, so of course he knew who Huo Yuhao was.

But seeing it with his own eyes was still different. The radiance of that destiny's fortune was like someone lighting a lamp in the darkness of night—it was impossible not to notice.

He began to calculate in his mind.

If this world were compared to a novel, then Huo Yuhao was the protagonist chosen by fate.

And what about himself?

He had transmigrated, survived in the Far North, been adopted by the Snow Empress, awakened twin top-tier Martial Souls, and obtained an opportunity as rare as the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger with his very first Soul Ring... With so many coincidences piled together, there was no way he could be mere cannon fodder.

Most likely, he was an important character too—perhaps even the protagonist of another plane.

Then, as a "supporting character" or "the protagonist of another storyline," what position would bring the greatest benefit when facing a Child of Destiny like Huo Yuhao?

He had read too many novels. Those who loyally followed the protagonist around often ended up becoming stepping stones;

Those who opposed the protagonist generally did not survive past three chapters;

But there was one type of person who often did quite well—the kind who left a deep, positive impression on the protagonist, then departed for a while before reappearing after several arcs had passed.

Such people were usually given a fortuitous encounter by the author, their strength skyrocketing before they made a stunning return.

To put it bluntly, it was the plane assigning opportunities to that person in order to equip the protagonist with a powerful teammate.

So long as he left a good impression in Huo Yuhao's heart, he could at least ride some of that destiny's fortune.

Besides, he had the deductions of Huangji Jingshi, which allowed him to see some of the underlying threads and kept him from going astray.

Of course, he would not become overly obsessed with this path. Being too fixated might instead lead him into a dead end.

While traveling, he had never deliberately sought out Huo Yuhao—not because he did not want to, but because the sense from Huangji Jingshi had never pointed in that direction.

He had tried a few times. While traveling, he deliberately focused his thoughts toward the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, wanting to see whether there would be any response.

But the feeling had always remained calm, like a stagnant pool without the slightest ripple.

Instead, all sorts of "beneficial" signals had appeared one after another from elsewhere.

So he stopped thinking about it. Since the feeling had not guided him to seek Huo Yuhao, it meant the time had not yet come.

Forcing it too much might instead lead him into a dead end.

But today was different.

The moment he arrived nearby, the feeling had faintly stirred—and then that bird had fallen inside.

If that was not the right time, then what was?

He straightened his clothes and walked over to knock on the door.