A Stroke of Luck in My Past Life, and Again in This One?

"Senior Dugu."

"Miss Dugu's safe return is a tremendous blessing."

Xue Qinghe cupped his hands in salute, his tone exceedingly gentle.

"Your Highness, I will remember this favor."

Dugu Bo released his granddaughter and gave Xue Qinghe a deep bow.

Though he had been proud and unruly all his life, a favor owed was a favor owed. He had that much integrity.

"Senior Dugu, you are too courteous.

"Saving people is simply my duty. The lapse in Heaven Dou City's security was my responsibility.

"Miss Dugu has suffered a fright and needs proper rest.

"I have had guest rooms prepared at my residence, along with medicinal herbs and tonics."

Xue Qinghe waved a hand, then glanced at Dugu Yan again.

Ge Long stood behind Xue Qinghe, watching everything with a blank expression.

He was a marshal forged on the battlefield and had little interest in worldly niceties, but he understood one thing...

Xue Qinghe had traded the favor of a kidnapped girl for the favor of a Titled Douluo.

No matter how one looked at it, it was a worthwhile deal.

After Xue Qinghe and Ge Long took their leave, Dugu Bo returned to the bedside and watched his granddaughter drink the freshly served medicine.

His movements were more careful than any time he had brewed poison.

A dignified Titled Douluo held a bowl of medicine as though he were defusing a bomb.

After drinking the medicine, Dugu Yan leaned against the headboard and drifted off in a daze.

Dugu Bo kept vigil by her bedside all night, only closing his eyes briefly when the sky began to brighten.

Even in sleep, his brows remained furrowed, as if he were having a rather unpleasant dream.

By then, Jiang Ming had been away from Heaven Dou City for three full days.

After leaving Heaven Dou City, he traveled westward, deliberately taking remote paths and avoiding every town and checkpoint.

Tai Tan would not be slow to react. The Strength Clan's informants were spread throughout the areas surrounding Heaven Dou City.

He had to get farther away before the net they cast began to close.

After traveling for roughly three days, the outline of Sunset Forest finally appeared at the edge of his vision.

The vast, dark primeval forest rose from the horizon like some colossal beast crouching upon the earth.

Even from this far away, he could feel an ancient, primal aura rushing toward him.

Jiang Ming did not enter the forest in a hurry.

He found a small village built against the mountains at the forest's outskirts and knocked on the door of a household to ask for lodging.

The process went smoothly. He handed over several Silver Soul Coins.

As the old woman welcomed him inside, she rambled on about something else.

People from nearby villages had gone missing!

And they had vanished without leaving any trace.

Jiang Ming made a mental note of it, but handling the Whale Rubber was the most pressing matter at hand.

Jiang Ming shut the doors and windows, then took the Whale Rubber from his Soul Tool.

This stuff was extremely troublesome to process.

But Jiang Ming had his own method.

He went to the stove and lit a fire.

He suspended the Whale Rubber over the flames, carefully controlling the heat to roast it evenly at high temperature.

The heat required for this process was extremely precise.

If the fire was too fierce, the Whale Rubber's medicinal properties would burn away completely.

If the fire was too weak, the impurities inside the Whale Rubber could not be refined out.

Jiang Ming focused his spiritual power completely, as though he were grilling an extraordinarily precious piece of meat.

After about half an hour, the Whale Rubber began to change.

Its hard surface gradually softened, and tiny bubbles began to swell along its edges.

A fishy-sweet scent spread through the air.

Jiang Ming did not stop. He continued increasing the heat.

The softened Whale Rubber gradually shrank, going from palm-sized to fist-sized, then from fist-sized to the size of an egg.

Its color also changed, from pitch-black to dark brown, then to a translucent amber hue.

Another hour passed, and the Whale Rubber was finally refined to perfection...

Only a thumb-sized lump remained, pure translucent amber in color.

It was soft and elastic, like a warm gummy candy.

This was the true essence of the Whale Rubber.

Without hesitation, Jiang Ming placed the refined Whale Rubber essence into his mouth.

The instant the Whale Rubber entered his mouth, a scorching current rushed down his throat like a fireball plunging into his dantian.

Jiang Ming did not dare slack off. He immediately circulated his Soul Power and began refining the medicinal energy.

As time passed, fine beads of sweat began to seep from Jiang Ming's skin.

The sweat was murky and black, carrying a faint fishy stench.

When the last trace of murky sweat was expelled through his pores, Jiang Ming opened his eyes.

Outside the window, daylight had already fully broken.

He had actually spent an entire night refining it.

Feeling the surging strength within his body, Jiang Ming's lips curled upward on their own.

He could now directly absorb a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring!

And he no longer had to worry that his frail physique would be blown apart by the Soul Ring's power!

Pushing open the wooden cabin's door, he felt the morning sunlight spill across his face, carrying the fresh scent unique to the forest.

Jiang Ming took a deep breath and was about to return to the village to bid the old woman farewell.

But he saw a large crowd gathered beneath the old locust tree at the village entrance.

When he drew closer, he found several women huddled together and crying.

Beside them stood a gray-haired old man, his expression as dark as a coming storm.

The villagers surrounded him, talking over one another. Every face was filled with panic.

Jiang Ming recognized the old man...

The old woman had mentioned him in passing the night before. He was the village chief.

"Two more have gone missing."

"They were still working in the fields yesterday evening, but they never came home after dark."

"We searched all night and couldn't even find a footprint."

A man dressed as a hunter lowered his voice as he spoke to the person beside him.

"Could wolves have dragged them away?"

"Bullshit. Would wolves leave no footprints after dragging someone off?"

"There haven't been wolves on these mountains for years. Besides, how could wolves make no sound at all?"

The more the villagers spoke, the more frightened they became. Several timid women had already begun to cry aloud.

The soldiers had come twice.

The first time, they searched the area and found nothing, then left immediately.

The second time...

They did not even search. They merely asked about the situation at the village entrance, then went back to report that they had done their job.

Jiang Ming stood at the edge of the crowd, listening to the villagers' discussion.

Vanishing into thin air, leaving no traces, not even a sound...

Why did this feel a little familiar?

A speed-type Soul Beast?

Or...

A windfall from heaven?

Could it be that I struck it lucky in my past life, and I was about to strike it lucky again in this one?

"What happened here?"

Jiang Ming spoke up to ask.

"Young man, are you from outside?"

The village chief asked cautiously.

"Yes. I stayed here for the night and will be leaving today."

Jiang Ming nodded, offering no further explanation of where he came from.

"What a sin... This started three months ago."

"The first to disappear was the Liu Family's second son. He never came home after dark, and his family searched all night without finding even a trace of him."

"Everyone thought the wolves in the mountains had dragged him away, but if wolves drag someone off, shouldn't they leave behind some clothes, shoes, hats, or at least a little blood?"

"There was nothing. It was perfectly clean. Even the footprints stopped halfway up the mountain, as if the person had walked there and simply evaporated into thin air."

"The second was Hunter Wang from the east end of the village, an old hand who had hunted for twenty years and could walk through the mountains with his eyes closed."

"That day, he said he was going to Ox Horn Gully to see if he could catch a roe deer, but once he left, he never came back."

The village chief sighed, his words full of sorrow.