Nan Qiuqiu: Daddy, Love Me One More Time! Ahhh--!!!

Earth Dragon Gate, a secluded courtyard.

The night was thick, wrapping the entire courtyard in a tight embrace, with only a few strands of dim candlelight filtering out from the ancestral hall.

"Snap! Snap! Snap!"

Crisp sounds rang out, interspersed with a few suppressed, delicate whimpers that echoed through the night.

"Mom, I said I was wrong, isn't that enough?"

Nan Qiuqiu knelt on the ground, pouting, speaking with great reluctance.

Standing before her was a middle-aged beauty who bore a striking resemblance to her, holding a bamboo cane with a stern expression.

The woman appeared to be in her early thirties, her brows carrying the authority of one long accustomed to a high position, though softened by the faint, fine lines at the corners of her eyes.

These were the marks left by toil; far from diminishing her beauty, they added the unique charm of a mature woman.

Nan Shui-Shui, the current sect master of the Earth Dragon Gate.

"How many times have I told you? Your father has just passed, and the Earth Dragon Gate needs time to stabilize... yet you still dare to go out and stir up trouble?"

Nan Shui-Shui gazed at her kneeling daughter, her eyes cold and her face devoid of any mercy.

Although she had taken a husband into her home, with his support gone, certain elders within the Earth Dragon Gate had already begun to grow restless.

For the past two years, she had been cultivating desperately, hoping to break through to the Soul Douluo realm as soon as possible to stabilize the current situation.

"It's just that those people were bad-mouthing our Earth Dragon Gate... I couldn't help it."

Nan Qiuqiu defended herself, feeling aggrieved.

Endure, endure, endure! Always enduring! The outside world had already begun to look down on the Earth Dragon Gate.

"If only Dad were still here~"

Nan Qiuqiu raised her head, looking toward the offering table with tear-filled eyes.

On it sat a black-and-white portrait of a man with a gentle face and a smile on his lips, his voice and expression still vivid in her memory.

Dad had spoiled her the most... when Dad was around, few people in all of Dragon City dared to speak loudly to her.

"Oh, Qiuqiu."

Nan Shui-Shui looked at her daughter's red-rimmed eyes, and her heart softened after all.

She dropped the bamboo cane, crouched down, and pulled her daughter into her arms, her voice tinged with self-reproach.

"It's all Mom's fault for being useless..."

Gradually, her own eyes turned red as well.

Nan Shui-Shui recalled the grievances she had endured with no one to confide in during these past days, and two lines of silent tears slid down her cheeks.

For a widow and an orphan to hold up the Earth Dragon Gate—how could it ever be easy?

"Mom..."

Seeing her mother weep, Nan Qiuqiu couldn't help but burst into tears herself.

"Please don't cry, it's all Qiuqiu's fault... wuwuwu!"

The mother and daughter embraced, and the only sound in the ancestral hall was their sobbing, wrapped in the thick night, unnoticed by anyone.

However, at that very moment, Nan Qiuqiu, who was huddled in Nan Shui-Shui's arms crying, suddenly widened her eyes.

She saw the portrait of the man that had been resting quietly on the offering table suddenly blur, and then, it smiled at her.

"Hm?"

Nan Qiuqiu froze.

She hurriedly rubbed her eyes with her hands and looked again, only to find that her late father in the portrait was still smiling at her.

It wasn't a hallucination??

"Mom, Mom—"

Nan Qiuqiu screamed in terror, her small hands frantically patting Nan Shui-Shui's back.

"What's wrong?"

Nan Shui-Shui wiped away her tears and looked down at the daughter in her arms; why was this girl suddenly trembling like this?

"Dad smiled at me!"

Nan Qiuqiu looked up in disbelief, pointing her finger at the offering table ahead.

Nan Shui-Shui: ???

"You girl, what nonsense are you spouting?"

Nan Shui-Shui chided her, the maternal love that had just risen in her heart instantly dissipating; she hoisted Nan Qiuqiu up, preparing to continue the family discipline.

To dare make a joke about her deceased father—it was truly unfilial...

"No, Mom! Look for yourself!"

Nan Qiuqiu clung to Nan Shui-Shui's arm, her entire body suspended in the air, her two legs hooked around her mother's waist.

Her gaze turned toward the front in terror; the father in the portrait was not only smiling at her, but even winked!

"Hmm?"

Nan Shui-Shui frowned, and seeing the panicked look on her daughter's face, a sudden sense of alarm surged in her heart.

She whipped her head around to look above the offering table—

The next moment, an extreme chill rose from behind her, so intense that even a Soul Saint like Nan Shui-Shui felt it seep into her very marrow.

"Who!!!"

Nan Shui-Shui was horrified, her seven soul rings rising instantly.

But before she could fully summon her Martial Soul, five icy fingers had already clamped around her throat.

"You—!"

Nan Shui-Shui's pupils contracted sharply; at some point, a figure shrouded in a black robe had appeared before her.

Crack, crack, crack—

A bone-chilling cold spread from that palm, invading her meridians through her neck.

Her soul power was frozen instantly, and even the soul rings on her body lost their luster, falling silent and dim.

"Mom!"

Seeing the black-robed figure suddenly appear, Nan Qiuqiu didn't even think; she opened her small mouth and bit toward the figure.

"Qiuqiu, no."

Nan Shui-Shui shouted, but the next second, the black-robed figure moved, flicking a finger to send Nan Qiuqiu flying.

Bang!

Nan Qiuqiu knocked over the offering table and fell to the ground, catching her grandfather's memorial tablet in her arms just as she drifted into a peaceful sleep.

"Qiuqiu!"

Nan Shui-Shui's heart trembled, her eyes turning red, but with her soul power sealed, she could only look up at the black-robed figure.

"I do not know why you have graced us with your presence, Senior. If there is anything this humble woman can do, I will certainly help you resolve it..."

She looked at the figure inches away, her body taut, struggling to keep her voice steady.

The two were only a few inches apart; she could feel the other's breath, yet she could not see his face at all.

This meant the other's strength far exceeded her own—he was at least a Title Douluo, or perhaps even stronger...

"Hehehe, you are a smart one!"

The black-robed figure let out a strange laugh, then reached out and grabbed the unconscious Nan Qiuqiu as well.

"Sect Master, you wouldn't want anything to happen to your daughter, would you?"

The words were light, yet they felt like a blade pressed against Nan Shui-Shui's throat.

"Please, Senior, give your orders."

Nan Shui-Shui took a deep breath, her tone even carrying a hint of compliance.

The fact that he hadn't killed her immediately meant he needed her for something, which meant there was still room to maneuver.

"Tell me, where is the switch under the well in the backyard?"

The black-robed figure asked coldly.

"The well?"

Nan Shui-Shui was stunned, then she understood.

This person had come for the treasure vault beneath the well water—a place of extreme cold discovered when the Earth Dragon Gate was first established.

So that was it...

The black-robed figure's attack carried an extreme chill; he was clearly an ice-attribute Soul Master, so this was no surprise.

"Senior, the mechanism under the water..."

Nan Shui-Shui did not hesitate and revealed the method to activate the mechanism.

With both her and her daughter's lives in his hands, she dared not play any tricks; it was best to lose some wealth to avoid disaster.

In any case, the Earth Dragon Gate hadn't been able to figure out that treasure vault for over a thousand years.

"Very good."

The black-robed figure smiled with satisfaction.

The next moment, a purple beam of light flew out from under the hood, shooting precisely into the center of Nan Shui-Shui's brow.

Nan Shui-Shui's eyes instantly lost focus, her body went limp, and she collapsed toward the floor.

The black-robed figure reached out and caught her, laying her gently on the ground, side-by-side with Nan Qiuqiu.

"Done!"

After settling the mother and daughter, the black-robed figure reached up and pulled back the hood, revealing a young, delicate, and handsome face.

"To think it would be this easy..."

Jiang Yi looked at the unconscious mother and daughter, a trace of a smile appearing on his face.

With the Ice Empress, an existence comparable to a Super Douluo, he could now carry out many things he had previously dared not attempt.

Immediately after, Jiang Yi crouched down, reached out both hands, and began to rummage all over the unconscious Nan Shui-Shui.

"What are you doing?"

Tian Meng, perched on his shoulder, widened his eyes and reached out to tug hard at his hair, his tone full of disdain.

You really are something, Jiang Yi!

It was one thing to grope her normally, but why was he groping everyone he saw now?

"Stop messing around, I'm scrounging up some milk money for you all."

Jiang Yi rolled his eyes, his hands never stopping for a second.

Looting the spoils was a good habit.

Soon, every place on Nan Shui-Shui where something could be hidden had been patronized by him, and finally, he felt a storage Soul Tool.

Inside were some worn clothes, thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins, and several bank vouchers stamped with the mark of the Earth Dragon Gate.