When Chen Jieqi and Dugu Bo returned to the chapel, it was already bright.
The morning light climbed up from behind the ridge of East Foothills, plating the bluestone city wall at the mouth of the valley into gold.
Several Dawnlight Village villagers who got up early were fetching water from the well. When they saw Chen Jieqi's figure, the wooden bucket in their hands almost fell into the well.
"The benefactor is back!"
The sound is not loud, but it is like a stone thrown into stagnant water, swinging around in circles.
The doors of the wooden house opened one by one, the old man came out holding the child, and the woman held her head on the door frame,
The yellow dog jumped down from the steps and circled around Chen Jieqi's legs.
Chen Jieqi didn't stop, just nodded and continued walking into the valley.
Dugu Bo followed him, his green robe stained with morning dew and dust, his face expressionless, but the smile at the corner of his mouth betrayed him.
An old man trotted to catch up, holding a bowl of steaming rice porridge in his hand.
"Benefactor, you haven't slept all night, right? Have some porridge to warm you up."
Chen Jieqi stopped, took the bowl, and took a sip.
The porridge was very thick, and the aroma of rice mixed with the smell of firewood made the tip of his tongue numb from the heat.
He didn't frown and handed the bowl back.
"Thank you."
The old man said "you're welcome" and returned with the bowl in hand, the folds of his face smiling like a flower.
Chen Jieqi Keep walking.
Dugu Bo snorted from behind. "You have a way of winning people's hearts."
"It's not bribery." Chen Jieqi didn't look back, "It's entrustment."
There is a map of the mine spread out on the stone table in the main hall of the chapel.
Chen Jieqi used his finger to draw a circle at the crack in the ground.
"The cracks are still there. The first few Evil Soul Master are gone, but there will be more in the future."
Dugu Bo leaned against the door frame, arms folded across his chest.
"Then let them stay back and see when they dare to show themselves up. I'm so poisonous that I don't recognize anyone."
Chen Jieqi nodded.
"Being on guard against Evil Soul Master is the second priority." Dugu Bo paused.
"But Tang Hao can't wait that long."
Chen Jieqi's finger stopped on the map and he didn't speak.
Dugu Bo walked over and sat down opposite him.
"Tang Hao was poisoned by me and injured again. He will need to be nursed for at least ten days.
But that person, whom you have seen, goes crazy and is desperate for his life. He will be injured even if he is not fully healed."
"I know."
"Then what are you going to do?"
Chen Jieqi looked at the map and was silent for a moment. "Wait for him to come."
Dugu Bo snorted.
"Wait? He just smashed the fence of the chapel with one hammer."
Chen Jieqi raised his head and looked at Dugu Bo.
"I'm not waiting here. I'm waiting for him in the mine. Grandpa, that leg bone..."
"I know." Dugu Bo interrupted him, pressing his right hand on his right leg.
"If he wants it, he can get it himself. I won't hide."
The two looked at each other for a moment. Dugu Bo looked away, stood up, and walked to the window.
"You got the inheritance, what changes have happened?"
Chen Jieqi also stood up and walked to his side.
"There is no change. The level has not increased, Soul Power has not increased. There is just one more thing."
"What?"
"The ability to collect faith." Chen Jieqi said,
"When someone truly believes in me, that trust will turn into light and nourish Heart of the Naaru. The purer the faith, the brighter the light."
Dugu Bo glanced at him and was silent for a long time.
"Those villagers of Dawnlight Village?"
"Yes." Chen Jieqi said,
"They call me benefactor, not because I gave them anything, but because they believe in me."
Dugu Bo didn't speak, he turned around and walked towards the door.
"Grandpa."
He stopped.
"You too."
Dugu Bo didn't look back, he opened the door and walked out.
Heaven Dou City, Crown Prince's Residence.
Xue Qinghe was sitting in the study, holding a secret report in his hand. Snake Lance Douluo was standing with His Highness, his head lowered.
"The issues at the mine have calmed down for the time being.
Mr. Chen came out from underground, and Dugu Bo was at the entrance of the valley to meet him.
The cracks are still there, and Evil Soul Master should come again in the future."
Xue Qinghe folded the hidden newspaper and put it into his sleeve.
"Is he hurt?"
"No." Snake Lance said,
"It's just that Soul Power consumed a lot of energy. When it came out, the mark between the eyebrows changed."
Xue Qinghe's fingers tapped lightly on the table.
"Changed?"
"The lines are deeper, like... flower buds."
Xue Qinghe was silent for a moment.
She stood up and walked to the window with her back to Snake Lance.
"I know, you can go down."
Snake Lance stepped back, and she was the only one left in the study.
She took out the piece of feather with burn marks from her sleeve and placed it in the palm of her hand.
The edge of the feather glowed with a dark golden light under the candlelight, and the burn mark looked like a scar, but she didn't feel ugly.
She remembered Chen Jieqi saying, "Whether you choose or not, it's up to you. This is what I recognize."
She clenched her feathers tightly, walked back to the case, picked up a pen and wrote down a warrant.
"Send the order, Earl Chen Jieqi has done great service in protecting the country, and Gold Soul Coin will be given one million and hundreds of carts of grain.
Some medicinal materials will be sent to East Foothill Mine today."
The guard took the order and hesitated for a moment.
"Your Highness, is this... too much?"
Xue Qinghe raised his eyes and glanced at him.
The guard lowered his head, not daring to ask any more questions, and retreated.
She leaned back in her chair and looked out the window.
In the streets and alleys of Heaven Dou City, people have already begun their busy day.
The sounds of hawkers, carriages and horses, and children's play mixed together, making it noisy and lively.
She closed her eyes.
She can't go to the mine, but she can use her identity as "Xue Qinghe" to send light and heat there.
"That's enough." She said in her heart.
Outside Heaven Dou City, there is an abandoned hall.
Tang Hao was leaning on the base of the collapsed statue. The black blood on his left shoulder had stopped, but his entire arm was still numb.
He tore open his robe and saw that the skin around the wound had turned black and the venom was crawling up the blood vessels.
It stopped when it reached the shoulder, and the pill from Pufferfish worked.
He took out the elixir from his arms and looked at it in his palm.
It's not Dugu Bo's pill, it's Spirit Hall's, but he doesn't care.
He swallowed it, and the medicine's power melted in his meridians, pressing back the venom layer by layer.
The pain was so severe, it felt like someone was stirring the bones with a hot iron.
He gritted his teeth and said nothing.
Close your eyes, there is only one thing in your mind.
The relics of Ah Yin are still with Dugu Bo.
He thought of the silver-haired boy standing in front of Dugu Bo,
I think of the mark between his eyebrows, and his calmness when commanding Snake Lance Pufferfish.
"Chen Jieqi." He read the name again, his voice hoarse.
He didn't think about it anymore, closed his eyes, and took the time to recover.
Tang San has gone to Slaughter City.
He did not tell his son that it was easy to get in but difficult to get out.
But he believed that Xiaosan could come out alive, just like he did back then.
"Your mother is looking at you." He said in his heart. Outside the hall, it was already dawn.
Chapel of Light's Hope.
The afternoon sun shines slantingly into the valley mouth.
Chen Jieqi stood on the stone steps in front of the chapel, looking at the ridge in the distance.
Dugu Bo walked out of the chapel, carrying a bottle of wine in his hand, and sat down next to him.
"Crown Prince's Residence sent people to deliver things. Food, building materials, and medicinal materials were piled up in the yard."
Chen Jieqi didn't look back. "Yeah."
"He's really interested in you." Dugu Bo took a sip of wine.
Chen Jieqi said nothing. He looked at the ridge in the distance and was silent for a long time.
"Grandpa, I want to expand the chapel."
Dugu Bo glanced at him. "Expansion?"
"Dawnlight Village people live here, and there will be more in the future.
Evil Soul Master will come, Tang Hao will come, I can't let them have no place to hide."
Dugu Bo snorted. "You don't want to hide yourself?"
Chen Jieqi shook his head. "I won't retreat."
Dugu Bo said nothing. He placed the wine bottle on the stone steps, stood up, and patted his clothes.
"Okay. Just expand it. It's time for me to upgrade the poisonous mist array."
He turned and walked toward the chapel.
He took a few steps, stopped, and didn't look back.
"With your 'collection of beliefs', don't just think about others, you also have to believe in something."
Chen Jieqi was stunned for a moment.
Dugu Bo is gone.
Chen Jieqi stood on the stone steps, looking at Heaven Dou City in the distance.
The setting sun dyes the city golden, and thousands of lights light up one by one.
He took out the smooth feather from his sleeve and placed it in the palm of his hand.
The feathers glowed with a pale white gold in the dusk.
He remembered the words of God of Light. "Light is not used to judge, but to illuminate."
He put the feather back into his sleeve.
"I believe it."