Luring Little White Tiger

After daybreak, Meow Meow finally woke up properly.

Clear Radiance Pavilion was quiet.

White Dew was curled up by the window, her tail hanging loosely.

Qian Renxue had already changed into Xue Qinghe's robes and was sitting at the table, reading several files sent over from the Crown Prince's Mansion.

Inside the Calming Bell, Little White Tiger Jianbing was curled up beside a small patch of warm Holy Fire light, his eyes half open.

He hadn't slept soundly.

He had probably just come from a place like Black Water Marsh and didn't trust anything.

Meow Meow stretched out his front paws and slowly sat up.

"You're awake?"

A tiny voice came from inside the Calming Bell.

Meow Meow lowered his head and glanced at the bell.

"You haven't slept this whole time?"

"I couldn't sleep."

Jianbing spoke softly.

"I want to go back."

Meow Meow paused.

"Back where?"

"Black Water Marsh."

The little white tiger's voice grew quieter.

"There are still a lot of auras there."

"Maybe there are other lingering spirits like me."

"I can't leave them behind."

Meow Meow fell silent for a moment.

That sounded like it could be trouble.

But he couldn't say Jianbing was wrong, either.

Jianbing had awakened from those bottles. His memories were badly fragmented, but he still remembered his kind and the White Tiger Blood.

It was only natural that he wanted to go back.

But whether it was natural or not, whether he could go back was another matter.

"What can you do if you go back now?"

Meow Meow asked.

"I..."

Jianbing faltered.

He looked down at his nearly transparent paws.

Forget fighting.

If he stayed away from the Calming Bell for too long, he might disperse.

Seeing that he had fallen silent, Meow Meow continued:

"Someone's already watching Black Water Marsh."

"The Black Eagle Family took a hit yesterday, so they'll definitely send people to investigate today."

"If you go back now, you won't find any other lingering spirits. You might even end up trapped in a bottle again."

Jianbing's figure trembled slightly.

Clearly, he was afraid of bottles.

Meow Meow softened his tone.

"I'm not saying you can't go back."

"You just can't go back yet."

"First, get stronger. Then we'll find out what they're really doing."

"Once you're strong enough to leave the Calming Bell, I'll take you there."

Jianbing looked up.

"Really?"

"Really."

Meow Meow nodded.

"Why would I lie to you?"

The little white tiger thought for a moment.

"Yesterday, you still called me a cat."

Meow Meow: "..."

This kid sure held a grudge.

Qian Renxue's lips twitched slightly as she listened.

She couldn't see Jianbing inside the Calming Bell, but she could hear some of the words Meow Meow relayed.

Meow Meow coughed awkwardly.

"Broadly speaking, tigers count as big cats."

"But if you don't like it, I won't call you that again."

Jianbing corrected him solemnly.

"I'm a White Tiger."

"Fine, fine. A White Tiger."

Meow Meow flicked his tail.

"But you're still little, so you're a White Tiger cub for now."

Jianbing didn't argue.

He really was little.

So little that even White Dew could corner him in the Calming Bell's tiny space.

White Dew walked over from the window and gently rubbed against Meow Meow's bell.

Sensing her aura, Jianbing grew a little calmer.

Meow Meow had an idea.

White Dew wasn't as soothing as Snowball, but she could still help a weakened lingering spirit.

"White Dew, whenever you have time, keep him company for a while."

White Dew nodded.

Jianbing said softly:

"She's warm."

"She's a Sacred Flame Spirit Cat,"

Meow Meow explained.

"You'll gradually get used to the Holy Fire Aura, too."

Jianbing thought for a moment and asked:

"Can I become a Sacred Flame White Tiger, too?"

Meow Meow was taken aback.

That was a good question.

Jianbing wasn't a cat.

And he wasn't an ordinary Soul Beast, either.

He was more like a lingering spirit made from fragments of some kind of White Tiger Blood.

Whether he could undergo Spirit Ignition, and what he might become, Meow Meow couldn't say for sure yet.

He didn't make any promises.

"Not right now."

"You're too weak."

"Get stronger first."

"Once you're stable, I'll see if I can fuse the Holy Fire with your White Tiger essence."

Jianbing's eyes lit up.

"Then can I help you fight later?"

"Don't think about fighting yet."

Meow Meow patted the bell with his paw.

"Your most important task right now is not to disperse."

Jianbing lowered his head.

"Oh."

His expression amused Meow Meow a little.

Yesterday, he'd been as wary as a little hedgehog. Now he was already asking if he could help fight.

It seemed the little white tiger wasn't that hard to coax.

Qian Renxue set down the files and looked at Meow Meow.

"Is he willing to stay?"

"More or less."

Meow Meow replied.

"But he wants to return to Black Water Marsh and find the other lingering spirits."

Qian Renxue's expression turned serious.

"We can't rush into Black Water Marsh."

"I've already had people keep an eye on the Black Eagle Family, but they haven't acted."

"They'll investigate after you took the wooden box yesterday."

"If we approach them again now, we could expose ourselves."

Meow Meow nodded.

"I was thinking the same thing."

"So we'll start by setting up the Cat Net."

"The Cat Net?"

Qian Renxue raised an eyebrow.

Meow Meow explained matter-of-factly:

"First, we find a few ordinary cats to keep watch around the Crown Prince's Mansion, the west side of the city, and the Black Eagle Family's grounds."

"Feed them a few times and leave a little Holy Fire Aura behind."

"They don't need to fight. They just need to remember scents, learn the routes, and watch people."

"Once I've figured out who comes and goes from the Black Eagle Family's grounds, I'll decide what to do next."

Qian Renxue thought it over.

The plan sounded simple.

But for Meow Meow, it was practical.

No one in Heaven Dou City would be wary of a group of ordinary cats.

There were plenty of cats near noble estates in particular.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Give me some information on the Black Eagle Family,"

Meow Meow said.

"The layout, its members, and its dealings with Prince Xue Xing."

"Also, if you have any recent Soul Awakening Records from Heaven Dou City, let me see them."

Qian Renxue looked a little surprised at the last request.

"Soul Awakening Records?"

"Yeah."

Meow Meow licked his paw.

"Black Water Marsh involves White Tiger Blood and Nether aura."

"If they really are conducting Bloodline Experiments, they might be selecting targets from among Low-Rank Soul Masters, branch-family Soul Masters, or even children who have only just awakened their Martial Souls."

Qian Renxue looked at him, her gaze gradually turning serious.

"You've thought this through."

"Not really."

Meow Meow shook his head.

"It's just that if they're doing something like this, they definitely won't be targeting only high-ranking Soul Masters."

"High-ranking Soul Masters attract too much attention."

"Children who've just awakened their Martial Souls, or members of a family's side branches, are much easier to tamper with."

Qian Renxue was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"I'll have someone send them over."

With that, she summoned the steward.

Xue Qinghe's identity came in handy at the Crown Prince's Mansion.

In less than half an hour, several neatly compiled files were delivered to the entrance of Clear Radiance Pavilion.

Among them was a brief overview of the Black Eagle Family.

There were also records of Soul Masters who had behaved abnormally in various districts of Heaven Dou City over the past three months.

Finally, there was an ordinary Martial Soul Awakening Brief forwarded from the Spirit Hall's Heavenly Dou Branch Hall.

Qian Renxue hadn't let the steward in. She'd gone to fetch the documents herself.

Meow Meow leaped onto the table and looked at the Black Eagle Family's file first.

The Black Eagle Family wasn't large.

It was a middle-ranking noble family in Heaven Dou City's western district.

Most of the family's Martial Souls were Black Feather Eagles, and they didn't have many Soul Masters.

But they were often in contact with Prince Xue Xing's residence.

On the surface, they handled matters involving the prince's caravans and hunting grounds.

The documents didn't say anything about what they did in private.

After reading the file, Meow Meow lightly tapped the tabletop with his tail.

"Hunting ground affairs."

"Soul Beast blood."

"Black Water Marsh."

"Put those words together, and something doesn't smell right."

Qian Renxue nodded.

"I'll look into their hunting ground accounts from the past few years."

Meow Meow turned to the records of abnormal Soul Masters.

Several Soul Masters had gone missing.

A few remote villages and towns had reported Soul Beasts acting violently.

There were also two recorded cases of Low-Rank Soul Masters suddenly suffering mental breakdowns.

There weren't many cases.

But they were spread across an area that ran from Heaven Dou City's western district to the outskirts of Sunset Forest.

"This has been going on for more than a day or two," Meow Meow said.

"It's just that the scale was small before, so no one connected the incidents."

Qian Renxue's expression turned cold.

"Heavenly Dou Nobles often cover up what happens below them."

"If one or two commoner Soul Masters go missing, no one will bother to investigate seriously."

Meow Meow glanced at her.

"So your Spirit Hall can't be like that in the future."

Qian Renxue paused.

Then she nodded lightly.

"Mm."

Only then did Meow Meow open the last document, the Martial Soul Awakening Brief.

It was a jumble of information.

Most of it consisted of routine records from Spirit Hall branch halls across the region.

In a certain village, someone had awakened an ordinary farming tool Martial Soul.

In a certain town, a child with Innate Soul Power of rank three had appeared.

In a certain city, a new member of a certain family had awakened a mutated Beast Martial Soul.

Meow Meow skimmed through it quickly.

But when he reached a line of tiny text, he suddenly stopped.

[Fasinuo Province, Holy Soul Village, boy, name: Tang San, Martial Soul: Blue Silver Grass, Innate Full Soul Power.]

Meow Meow froze completely.

Here it was.

It had finally come.

It was only an inconspicuous line in a document.

But to him, it stood out more than the entire page on the Black Eagle Family.

Qian Renxue noticed his change in demeanor.

"What is it?"

Meow Meow stared at the line for a few seconds before slowly looking away.

"Nothing."

"I just saw an awakening record that seemed a little strange."

Qian Renxue followed his gaze.

"Blue Silver Grass, Innate Full Soul Power."

Her brows shifted slightly.

"That is rare."

"But the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul is too weak. Even with Innate Full Soul Power, he might not get very far."

Meow Meow glanced at her and sighed inwardly.

Under normal circumstances, that was true.

But this boy wasn't normal.

Tang San.

The son of Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao.

The Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline.

The Mysterious Heaven Skill.

Hidden Weapons.

And, later, a whole string of Divine Thrones.

The problem was, Tang San was still just a child who'd recently awakened his Martial Soul in Holy Soul Village.

To Spirit Hall, he was merely an unusual case.

He wasn't even worth paying special attention to.

But Meow Meow knew how much trouble this "unusual case" would cause Spirit Hall if they did nothing.

Still, he couldn't rush things now.

Tang San was still a child.

Tang Hao was still in hiding.

If he acted rashly, he might draw out Clear Sky Douluo himself.

Besides, his current priorities were Qian Renxue, Bibi Dong, Spirit Hall's regret arc, and the new Black Water Marsh storyline.

"Just make a note of it for now," Meow Meow said quietly.

Qian Renxue had heard him.

"You think there's something wrong with him?"

"A Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul with Innate Full Soul Power is strange enough on its own."

Meow Meow didn't explain further.

"Have the Spirit Hall branch hall record him according to procedure. Don't draw special attention to him."

"If a child like this really has potential, it'll show in time."

Qian Renxue nodded.

She didn't press him further.

But she'd already memorized the name.

Tang San.

Holy Soul Village.

Blue Silver Grass.

Innate Full Soul Power.

Meow Meow looked over the document again and spotted a note below.

[The boy has enrolled at Notting Junior Soul Master Academy.]

"Notting Academy, huh?"

Meow Meow murmured the words to himself.

The main plot of the original story had begun.

He didn't linger over the record. Instead, he closed the document.

"Qinghe."

"Hmm?"

"The Black Eagle Family needs investigating."

"Keep an eye on Black Water Marsh."

"And give me a copy of this Awakening Brief every year from now on."

Qian Renxue raised an eyebrow.

"Every year?"

"Mm." Meow Meow nodded.

"A lot of trouble starts out small."

"The sooner you notice it, the easier it is to deal with."

Qian Renxue was silent for a moment.

"Fine."

Meow Meow breathed a sigh of relief.

He wouldn't mention Tang San just yet.

There was no point. Qian Renxue might not believe him.

And Tang Hao wasn't someone they could afford to provoke at this point.

Keep watch.

Take it slowly.

Inside the Calming Bell, Jianbing suddenly asked in a small voice,

"Is that Blue Silver Grass child important?"

Meow Meow's heart stirred.

Could it sense his emotions?

This Little White Tiger was weak, but it seemed to have a keen spirit.

"He might be important in the future," Meow Meow said.

"But there's no hurry right now."

Jianbing nodded.

"Then I'll remember him, too."

Meow Meow smiled.

"First, focus on getting stronger."

The Little White Tiger obediently curled up beside the Holy Fire.

Clear Radiance Pavilion grew quiet again.

Qian Renxue continued reading the Black Eagle Family's file.

Meow Meow lay beside the table, gazing out the window.

Heaven Dou City was vast.

Black Water Marsh was only the beginning.

The Black Eagle Family was only the beginning, too.

Tang San's name had appeared.

That meant the original main storyline of Douluo Continent was slowly drawing closer from afar.

"Fine, then."

Meow Meow flicked his tail lightly.

"Since it's started, this cat will see what happens."

"This time, who can still follow the same path as before?"