Several days later, Heaven Dou City, the Crown Prince's Residence, afternoon.
Xue Qinghe set down the memorial and glanced at Chen Jieqi.
"Everything at Shrek Academy is as usual. Flender and Liu Erlong have settled in."
Chen Jieqi nodded without asking anything else.
After a brief silence, he set down his teacup and stood.
"Your Highness, I'll be away for a while."
Xue Qinghe lifted her eyes and looked at him.
"I'm going to Sunset Forest. There are some things I need to take care of."
She gave a quiet "Mm," lowered her head, and continued reading the memorial, as if she'd heard nothing more than an unimportant bit of news.
Chen Jieqi walked to the door and was about to push it open when her voice came from behind him.
"When will you be back?"
He paused, slightly taken aback. She'd never asked him that before.
"Three to five days. Maybe half a month."
"Mm."
Her voice was very soft, as if she were answering him, or perhaps talking to herself.
Chen Jieqi glanced back at her.
Her head was still lowered. The memorial in her hand hadn't moved, and the brush rested to one side, its ink already dry.
He didn't ask anything else and walked out.
The moment the door closed, Xue Qinghe set down the memorial and stared at the doorway, momentarily dazed.
She lowered her eyes to the brush in her hand. The ink had dried; she'd forgotten to dip it.
What was she thinking?
What did it matter to her when he came back?
She shook her head, picked up the brush again, and dipped it in ink.
The tip hovered over the paper, but still didn't touch down.
Outside Heaven Dou City, on the main road.
Chen Jieqi walked at an easy pace, heading south after leaving the city.
Sunset Forest lay southeast of Heaven Dou City. It was half a day's flight away, but he wasn't in a hurry. He'd wait until he was somewhere deserted before spreading his wings.
His thoughts drifted back to a month earlier.
He'd just returned from Suotuo City when he remembered that the Blue Silver Emperor Leg Bone and the sapling were still hidden in a secret cave in the hills behind Holy Soul Village.
After he'd finally confirmed Tang Hao's whereabouts, and before the people of Shrek set out for Heaven Dou City.
He remembered that night. Guided by the descriptions in the original story, he found the cave behind the waterfall in the hills.
It was the first time he'd seen the Blue Silver Emperor sapling and the Spirit Bone hidden in the secret compartment.
The Spirit Bone was smooth and warm, almost as if it were alive, and perfectly intact.
Held in his hands, it gave off a sense of immense vitality, pulsing within.
Without hesitation, he erased his traces and hurried to Heaven Dou City through the night.
Chen Jieqi returned to the present. He'd already turned onto a narrow path through the woods, where the trees grew thicker on either side.
He remembered the fear he'd felt as a baby in his swaddling clothes when he first arrived, and how the eccentric old man had taken him in.
A baby left to die in the depths of Sunset Forest, lifted by a pair of bony hands and carried home.
Without Dugu Bo, Chen Jieqi wouldn't be where he was today.
Deep in Sunset Forest.
Chen Jieqi's Wings of Light gradually faded, and he returned to the little house beside the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
Dugu Bo had arrived early after receiving word and was sitting with his eyes closed, resting.
At the sound, he opened one eye and snorted.
"Xiao Qi, finally decided to show up?"
Chen Jieqi grinned and walked over.
"Grandpa."
Dugu Bo looked him up and down. "Your Soul Power has improved again?"
"Yes."
"Mm." Dugu Bo nodded without praising him further, as if he'd grown used to it.
After a moment's silence, Dugu Bo suddenly asked,
"Did you ask me to come all the way here for something?"
Chen Jieqi took a Spirit Bone box from his Soul Tool and handed it over.
Dugu Bo glanced at it but didn't open it.
"What's this supposed to mean?"
Chen Jieqi opened the box. Blue-gold light instantly illuminated the mists above the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
"A hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone."
Dugu Bo stared at the Spirit Bone for a long time, then looked up at Chen Jieqi.
His eyes held shock and complicated emotions, along with something he couldn't quite name.
"Where did you get it?"
"Found it."
Dugu Bo glared at him but didn't press further. He stared at the Spirit Bone again for a long time.
"You little brat..."
His voice was a little hoarse.
"Do you think I'm old and can't fight anymore?"
Chen Jieqi shook his head.
"I just want you to grow stronger, strong enough that no one can hurt me or Sister Yanyan."
Dugu Bo froze.
He looked into Chen Jieqi's eyes. There was no calculation or attempt to curry favor in them.
Only something pure and unadorned.
He suddenly remembered the baby he'd found in Sunset Forest twelve years ago. Those eyes had held the same thing.
Later, after Chen Jieqi's Martial Soul Awakening, he'd told Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan,
"Grandpa, Sister Yanyan, I'll grow strong enough to protect you."
Back then, Dugu Bo had thought the child was talented and boasting. He hadn't taken it seriously.
Now the boy stood before him, offering him a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Bone and saying, "I just want you to grow stronger."
Dugu Bo turned his head away, his voice muffled.
"All right. Then I won't stand on ceremony."
He closed the box and carefully put it away.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"You could use this yourself."
"Our attributes don't match," Chen Jieqi said.
Dugu Bo snorted.
"Bullshit! It's a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Bone. Even if our attributes don't match, I could still force the fusion.
"You're giving it to me on purpose."
Chen Jieqi didn't deny it.
Dugu Bo fell silent for a moment, then reached out and patted his shoulder, hard.
"All right. Grandpa won't forget this."
Heaven Dou City, Shrek Academy.
Xiao Wu and Rongrong were returning from the training ground when Xiao Wu slowed as they passed a window.
Outside, in the direction of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, the outlines of several tall buildings were faintly visible.
Rongrong noticed her gaze. "What are you looking at?"
"Nothing."
Xiao Wu looked away and continued walking.
Rongrong caught up, looking at her thoughtfully.
"I heard Chen Jieqi left the city. He went south."
Xiao Wu's heart skipped a beat. "Oh."
"I wonder what he went to do."
Xiao Wu didn't answer. She lowered her head, pretending to straighten her sleeve as she hid her expression.
As they neared the dormitory, Rongrong suddenly said,
"What do you think Chen Jieqi is really like?"
Xiao Wu froze.
She remembered the dream, what the person in it had said, and the way he'd looked at her—calm and deep, without greed or covetousness.
"I don't know," she said.
Rongrong glanced at her but didn't press the question.
Not far away, Tang San stood at the entrance to the training ground, watching them walk away.
He couldn't make out what they were saying, but he saw Xiao Wu's attention wander.
He saw her slow her pace and lower her head to hide her expression.
His clenched fist relaxed again. He didn't go over; he just stood there and watched them enter the dormitory.
That night, he lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
That hollow feeling returned. It wasn't anger or jealousy, but something deeper.
It was as if something that should have belonged to him was slowly slipping away.
As if a thread of some perception bound to his bloodline had been severed.
Night deepened over the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
Moonlight fell across the water. The cold spring shimmered silver, while mist rose from the hot spring.
Dugu Bo had gone back inside to study the leg bone. Chen Jieqi sat alone by the spring, gazing up at the stars.
He remembered Xue Qinghe asking, "When will you be back?"
Her head had been lowered, her voice soft, the memorial in her hand unmoving.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
He also remembered the way Rongrong had looked at him in Suotuo City, and how Xiao Wu had approached him of her own accord at the entrance to the Spirit Fighting Arena.
Heaven Dou City, the Crown Prince's Residence.
Night had fallen, but Xue Qinghe was still seated in the study. She'd turned several pages of the memorial without taking in a single word.
She set down the memorial and walked to the window.
Outside, Sunset Forest lay somewhere in that direction, far beyond sight.
She stood there for a long time.
"Three days, five days... or half a month?"
She spoke softly, so quietly she could barely hear herself.
Then she shook her head and returned to the desk.
What was she thinking? What did it matter to her when he came back?
She picked up the memorial again. This time, she managed to read it.
Still, the brush tip paused on the paper for a moment, leaving behind the tiniest spot of ink.
Shrek Academy, girls' dormitory.
Rongrong lay on her bed, staring blankly. She found herself thinking again of what Chen Jieqi had said.
"Because you're Ning Rongrong, not because your surname is Ning."
Why hadn't she taken it to heart when her father had said it so many times, yet remembered it after Chen Jieqi had said it just once?
She turned over and buried her face in her pillow.
In the next bed, Xiao Wu was awake too.
She kept her eyes closed, but her mind was filled with that dream: the bamboo grove, the fragrance of tea, and what that person had said.
"Heaven Dou City has another body of water."
She didn't know what it meant.
But she knew she wanted to see it.