Nuoding City

The next morning, in Niuma Village.

Jiang Bai opened his eyes and stared at the familiar, slightly blackened roof beams overhead for a while before slowly sitting up.

The bed beneath him was hard wood, yet it gave him a long-lost sense of solidity.

This was his home.

When he had returned last night, the room had already gathered a thick layer of dust.

He had cleaned it up a little. Though it was still shabby, it was at least fit to live in.

Pushing open the creaking wooden door, a fresh morning breeze rushed toward him.

Jiang Bai washed up, tied his long hair again, and changed into clean clothes.

Taking out several gifts he had prepared the night before from his Storage Bracelet, Jiang Bai first went to Xihai's house.

After leaving Xihai's house, Jiang Bai went to the village chief's home.

The village chief grandmother's eyesight had worsened, and her hearing was somewhat weak as well, but she was still in good spirits.

She sat alone in a wicker chair beneath the eaves, a thin blanket over her lap, squinting in the sun.

When Jiang Bai approached, she seemed to sense something and slowly turned her head, her clouded eyes struggling to focus.

"Grandma Village Chief, it's me, Jiang Bai." Jiang Bai crouched down, took her thin, withered hand, and softened his voice.

The old woman was stunned for a long time before tremblingly reaching out to touch Jiang Bai's face.

Her fingers were rough as bark, but her movements were gentle.

"Xiao Bai... Xiao Bai has come back?" Her voice was soft and carried the indistinct slur unique to the elderly. "If your mother... if your mother could see you now, she would be so happy..."

Jiang Bai's nose stung, and he nodded hard. "Mm, I'm back."

He set down the gifts he had brought and kept the old woman company for a while, telling her that he had been doing well outside and asking her not to worry.

The old woman invited him to stay for breakfast, and this time, Jiang Bai did not refuse.

It was a simple meal of rice porridge, pickled vegetables, and corn buns.

The old woman watched him eat, a gratified smile on her face as she chattered on about everything that had happened in the village over the years—whose family had taken a wife, whose family had welcomed a child...

Breakfast lasted nearly half an hour.

By the time he left the village chief grandmother's house, the sun had risen higher. Jiang Bai did not return home, instead heading straight toward the mountain behind the village.

There was a hillside there, the village cemetery.

On a relatively level stretch halfway up the mountain stood several dozen scattered graves.

Most were simple mounds of earth with wooden markers or stone tablets. Some had already tilted, while others were half-covered by weeds.

Jiang Bai stopped before one of the graves.

This grave was smaller than most of those around it. Sparse wild grass grew over its mound, and its tombstone was a crude wooden plaque with crooked words carved into it by knife.

The writing had already faded somewhat, and the wooden plaque had cracked from wind and rain.

Six years already.

Jiang Bai slowly knelt down, pressed his forehead to the ground, and solemnly kowtowed three times.

"Mother," he said softly, yet his voice echoed clearly over the silent cemetery, "I'm back.

"I came to see you."

He remained kneeling for a long time before slowly rising.

He took out the tools he had prepared from his Storage Bracelet: a hammer, chisel, saw, several bags of stone, and white lime. He also cut down some sturdy wood nearby and put up a simple work shed.

Jiang Bai first cleared the wild grass from the grave mound, then used a shovel to reshape it into something rounder and taller.

Next, using the chisel and hammer, he shaped the granite blocks he had brought one by one. It was not easy. He was no stonemason, and each stone had to be measured and carved repeatedly before fitting perfectly together.

The grave foundation, stone tomb, and tombstone were completed in turn.

The tombstone was a nearly two-meter-tall slab of blue-gray granite, fine in texture and solemn in color.

Using the chisel, Jiang Bai carved six large words on its front: "Grave of Beloved Mother Jiang Ning." Beneath them, he carved a smaller line: "Erected by her son, Jiang Bai."

On the back of the tombstone, he simply carved patterns of auspicious clouds and an Auspicious Beast.

Finally, he used the remaining stone to pave a level ring around the grave.

By the time the work was finished, two and a half days had passed.

The newly built stone grave gleamed blue-gray beneath the sunlight. The tombstone stood solemnly upright, while evergreen plants around it swayed gently in the breeze.

Jiang Bai neatly arranged the offerings he had prepared before the tombstone. Then he lit three sticks of incense and placed them in the incense burner.

Thin smoke curled upward, spiraled, and dispersed.

He knelt again, his forehead pressed against the cold stone.

"Mother," he said quietly, his voice especially clear in the silence, "I'm sorry that I can't stay by your side forever. I have vengeance that must be taken and a road that must be walked. I have no choice but to leave again, to venture out and grow stronger."

"A ship is safest when docked at the harbor, but that is not what ships are built for. A great vessel must eventually endure wind and waves."

"A person is most comfortable lying at home, but that is not the meaning of life. Life must be tempered by wind and rain before it can bloom with brilliance."

"Mother, I will definitely become a powerful soul master. Not only for revenge, but also... so that I will not betray the life you gave me, the people who have treated me well, or myself.

"I will make you proud in the heavens."

After saying that, he solemnly kowtowed three more times.

Jiang Bai slowly stood up and gave his mother's tombstone one last look. He reached out and gently brushed away a speck of dust from its surface, as though stroking his mother's cheek.

"Wait for me to come back next time, Mother."

With that, he turned around and followed the path he had taken, walking down the hillside one step at a time.

He did not look back.

After returning from the cemetery, Jiang Bai first went to Xihai's house to say goodbye.

Then he went to see the village chief grandmother again.

When the old woman heard that he was leaving, she silently squeezed his hand and said nothing. She merely stuffed a small cloth bundle into his hands. Jiang Bai opened it to find several rice cakes she had made herself, still warm.

"Eat them on the road," the old woman said softly.

Jiang Bai nodded hard. "Thank you, Grandma."

He walked alone along the dirt road to the village entrance and stood beneath the old locust tree for a while.

His hometown remained the same, but he was no longer the boy he had once been.

Jiang Bai took a deep breath and slowly walked out of the village.

At an open field several miles from the village, he summoned the Wind Dragon.

"Go to Nuoding City." He pointed in a direction, swung onto the dragon's back, and spoke calmly.

The Wind Dragon spread its wings and soared into the sky.

Two and a half days later.

Outside Nuoding City.

Jiang Bai landed outside the city, put away the Wind Dragon, and entered on foot.

He first found an inn that looked clean and tidy. It was called the Oak Inn, a plain name for a three-story building.

A young attendant stood behind the counter. Upon seeing Jiang Bai enter, he hurriedly rose to greet him. "Would you like a room, sir?"

--

"I want a superior room." Jiang Bai took out a money pouch from his Storage Bracelet as he spoke.

"Certainly! Superior rooms include meals!" The attendant quickly registered him and handed over a brass key. "The innermost room on the third floor. Its window faces south, and it's quiet."

Jiang Bai paid for the room. Just as he took the key and prepared to head upstairs, he suddenly thought of something and turned back to ask the attendant.

"By the way, has Nuoding Academy's enrollment period for new students already passed?"

The attendant froze for a moment and thought before answering.

"Nuoding Academy? Uh... I think it passed a few weeks ago. Classes should have officially started by now. Do you have a relative enrolling, sir?"

"Just asking." Jiang Bai nodded. "Thanks. Send up dinner later. Something light will do."

"Yes, sir! We'll bring your dinner up around a quarter past six!" the attendant replied eagerly.

Jiang Bai turned and went upstairs. The wooden staircase creaked faintly beneath his feet, while the third-floor corridor was covered in old carpet and dimly lit.

He unlocked the room at the end of the hall. It was more spacious than he had expected.

There was a large bed, a table and chairs, a wardrobe, and a south-facing window. It was open at the moment, offering a glimpse of the street outside.

The room was very clean. The sheets and bedding had been freshly changed and carried the scent of sun-dried fabric.

Jiang Bai closed the door and walked to the window.

He considered how to disgust Yu Xiaogang.

He had never been some saint who repaid grievances with kindness. Bibi Dong had killed him once, and he had remembered that grudge.

Since he could not defeat Bibi Dong yet, he would first collect some interest from the person she cared about most.

He could not kill Yu Xiaogang now. That would be letting him off too easily, and it would also be too easy to expose himself.

Tang Hao had always been secretly protecting Tang San. If he made a move against Yu Xiaogang in person, it would be difficult not to draw Tang Hao's attention.

Besides, Tang San still needed this "master of gods" to guide him onto the "right path"!

So Yu Xiaogang could not die so easily yet.

There were many ways to disgust him. The key was to make it seem natural and leave no trace behind.