The girl had no idea how she had angered the younger girl in front of her.
The girl felt wronged, but said nothing.
She only tried to pat the girl in front of her on the back, hoping to calm her down, but her hand was slapped away.
"Don't touch me."
Ning Rongrong's voice struck the girl again.
"Mm... okay."
The girl nodded.
After confirming that the other girl was the person from that time, Ning Rongrong took out the pill and scroll.
"Can you see these things—the pill and the scroll?"
Ning Rongrong sounded a little anxious.
The girl froze. She looked at Ning Rongrong, then at the "things" in her hands, then at Ning Rongrong's expectant face. Hesitantly, she nodded.
"Mm, I can see them. It's a pill and a scroll."
She could see them!
Ning Rongrong was delighted and hurriedly called the two behind her over.
"Did you hear that? She can see them. You're the only ones who can't. Now you can prove that I was..."
She only saw Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo smile helplessly, then nod.
Who cared why they looked helpless? They'd admitted it!
Ning Rongrong's expression finally returned to something more normal, and the girl before her looked much more agreeable.
"Ow..."
The girl's voice reached her ears, and Ning Rongrong realized she had been gripping her hand too tightly.
"Sorry."
She very quickly put away the pill and scroll, then just as quickly smoothed her hair. Clearing her throat, she looked at the girl.
What a pleasant, delicate face.
Ning Rongrong held out both hands and gave her trademark smile.
"Hello, my name is Ning Rongrong."
A glimmer lit up the girl's face, too.
"I... I'm Tang Twelve!"
There was no malice in her purple eyes, only pure kindness.
"Twelve? Why are you called that?"
"People in the village always called me 'Ten-something, Two-something,' and my father's surname was Tang, so I'm called Tang Twelve."
"That's not your original name?"
"Mm. I was adopted, so I didn't have a name."
"Can we be friends? From now on, I'll call you Big Sister Twelve!"
"Sure, Little Sister Rongrong."
Tang Twelve smiled sweetly.
Ning Rongrong sent Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo away. She wanted to talk to Tang Twelve alone from then on.
"Do you know? That morning, when I woke up, I found that my body no longer belonged to me. I was controlled by a powerful being. It made me eavesdrop on the Evil Soul Masters' information and go to their hideout."
"Mm, Rongrong came to the place where I was being held."
"Right. Then it made me hide in a wooden crate, and none of those Evil Soul Masters noticed! After that, it controlled my body again and wiped them all out. It used the cultivation method in the scroll to help me rise four levels in a row, all the way to level thirty..."
Ning Rongrong was in the middle of telling her story when her spirits suddenly sank.
"But after I came back and regained control of my body, I told Dad, Sword Grandpa, and Bone Grandpa what had happened...and none of them believed me. They couldn't see the scroll or the pill, either."
Ning Rongrong suddenly clasped Tang Twelve's hand.
"Until I met you! You said you could see them, which means you'll believe me, right?"
Tang Twelve narrowed her eyes and smiled. "Of course. I believe you. I believe everything you say."
"That's wonderful!"
Ning Rongrong flung herself into Tang Twelve's arms and hugged her.
Tang Twelve, meanwhile, gently smoothed Ning Rongrong's fine hair again and again.
After a long while, once Ning Rongrong had let out all her feelings, she pulled away from Tang Twelve's embrace.
"Your Martial Soul..."
"Mm, Dark Blue Silver Grass. An Evil Martial Soul. I was born with it. But I've never used it to do anything bad."
Tang Twelve spoke with a hint of sorrow.
"It's all right. These past few days, I've heard Dad talk about some things. Not all Evil Soul Masters have Evil Martial Souls, and having an Evil Martial Soul doesn't make someone an Evil Soul Master. Whether someone is an Evil Soul Master should depend on whether they have a kind heart!"
"...Mm!"
Tang Twelve nodded in agreement, and crystalline tears fell onto Ning Rongrong's hand.
Ning Rongrong wiped away her tears and encouraged her.
"Then I hope you recover soon. I'll be going now!"
She rose and left the medical ward.
Tang Twelve watched Ning Rongrong's departing figure and smiled.
She knew Ning Rongrong had deliberately avoided asking about her hometown.
But she had to accept it.
The day before yesterday—the day she woke up, when Ning Fengzhi brought people to ask who had escaped from the cave—she had learned the truth.
"They're all safe and sound!"
Watching Ning Rongrong's figure disappear from sight, she smiled and said the words.
The sect's main hall. Ning Rongrong was in good spirits.
She brought Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo to Ning Fengzhi.
"They can both vouch for me. I really was being controlled."
Ning Fengzhi looked at his excited daughter and at Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo, who wore helpless expressions, and didn't know what to say.
But he thought of the report he had received not long ago, which analyzed Ning Rongrong's abnormal behavior. Knowing she might have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—with delusions, avoidance, and emotional instability—Ning Fengzhi decided to go along with her for now and help her calm down.
"All right. I'll arrange for someone to help you resolve this."
In the end, he nodded.
Before long, the people he had called arrived.
"Rongrong, these are professionals I hired. They specialize in clearing away evil influences."
Ning Fengzhi smiled.
"Professionals?"
Ning Rongrong looked at the people wearing strange clothes, pasting on yellow talismans and pouring out talisman water, her face full of doubt.
"Absolutely! I hired them specially!"
Ning Fengzhi said solemnly, as though that really were the case.
"These past few days, we've been secretly discussing this the whole time, all to ensure the cleansing goes smoothly!"
"Ah, so that's what was going on. You had me worried for so long!"
Ning Rongrong felt she could finally be understood by others again.
Thinking about it, Sword Grandpa and Bone Grandpa's strange expressions earlier must have been because of this, too. So everyone did believe her; they'd only been trying to help.
The more Ning Rongrong thought about it, the happier she became. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the exorcism.
Taking the opportunity, Ning Fengzhi turned to the follow-up intelligence on the Evil Soul Master incident.
"Huo Shengsheng, from the Star Luo Empire. A Spirit-type Soul Elder, skilled in all manner of incantation Soul Skills, including but not limited to silencing, restricting movement, and slowing thought... While tracking this person's movements, more than a dozen Soul Ancestors and Soul Kings joined the search, but in the end, no one managed to find her."
Attached to the intelligence report was a portrait of a person with pale blue hair and gray-white eyes.
"What a troublesome character..."
After putting away the report, Ning Fengzhi looked at his daughter, and some of the pressure in his heart finally eased.
"Rongrong, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
Seeing that the exorcism was nearly over, Ning Fengzhi spoke up.
"What is it, Dad?"
Ning Rongrong was in a very good mood.
"The Heaven Dou Royal Academy..."
The atmosphere froze.
The smile vanished from Ning Rongrong's face.
"I told you, I'm not going to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy!" Her voice caught in her throat. "It's full of pampered noble brats. They're all so fake, and they talk and do everything in such a roundabout way. I don't want to be around them!"
The people performing the exorcism sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly packed up and left.
Ning Fengzhi also realized something was amiss.
"No, that's not what I mean. How about giving it a try, Rongrong?"
Rongrong opened her eyes and stared at Ning Fengzhi without expression.
"I absolutely won't accept this. Not this one thing."
Before you continue