A Gift

Qian Renxue let go and turned her head aside with a haughty pout.

"From now on, you're not allowed to tell anyone you beat me."

"Got that?"

Lin Qiu hurriedly nodded, fixing his hair as he spoke.

"I didn't beat you, I didn't."

"Big Sister was just going easy on me."

Only then did Qian Renxue give a satisfied hum.

"At least you know your place."

She glanced at the sky.

The light in her eyes suddenly dimmed a little.

Her high spirits ebbed away like the tide.

In their place came a faint sadness.

But she quickly hid it.

"All right, I'm leaving."

"You can play by yourself."

With that,

Qian Renxue didn't linger. She turned and headed out of the courtyard.

Her retreating figure seemed a little hurried,

as if she feared Lin Qiu might notice something was wrong.

Two days later,

on a secluded official road outside Spirit City,

a black carriage sat quietly by the roadside.

It bore no markings and looked utterly ordinary.

But the pair of Dragon Scale Horses pulling it carried Soul Beast blood.

Two black-robed elders stood beside the carriage like withered trees. Their auras were completely concealed, making them seem almost nonexistent.

They were none other than Spirit Hall's elders, Snake Lance Douluo and Porcupinefish Douluo.

Qian Renxue stood before the carriage.

She had changed out of her women's clothes and into a man's fine silk robe.

Her long hair was tied up beneath a crown, and her face had been specially disguised.

At that moment, she looked like a handsome young nobleman.

She looked back toward the towering Spirit City in the distance.

Her gaze passed through palace after palace, as if she were trying to make out the direction of a certain side hall.

There,

was the person she cared about most.

And also someone she... cared about a little.

This journey would take her to the Heaven Dou Empire to go undercover.

It would be a spy's life lasting years, perhaps even more than a decade.

No family. No friends.

Every day, she would have to live behind a mask, pretending to be someone else.

At the thought of it,

a deep ache and loneliness welled up in Qian Renxue's heart.

"Young Master."

Snake Lance Douluo spoke quietly.

"It's getting late. We should set out."

Qian Renxue took a deep breath.

She forced the moisture in her eyes back.

"Let's go."

"There's nothing for me to miss, anyway."

She turned around, her voice hardening again.

"That woman doesn't care about me, anyway."

"As for that little rascal..."

Lin Qiu's infuriating grin appeared in Qian Renxue's mind.

"Hmph."

"It's not like I'll miss him."

No one will fight me for things or make me angry. I should be happy.

In secret,

the two Titled Douluo, Snake Lance and Porcupinefish, exchanged a glance and sighed inwardly.

Their young master was still a child, after all.

She was so young, yet already had to shoulder such a heavy mission.

She was leaving the home where she'd grown up for a completely unfamiliar place.

Anyone would be sad.

Neither dared to say much. They simply opened the carriage door.

Qian Renxue lifted a foot, about to climb inside.

Suddenly,

she stopped.

Her disguised eyes snapped toward the woods beside the road.

A small figure was slowly emerging from behind a tree.

He wore a simple white training outfit.

A blade of foxtail grass dangled from his mouth.

His hands were clasped behind his head, and he looked utterly at ease.

Lin Qiu.

Qian Renxue froze.

She had never imagined she would see Lin Qiu here.

How had he found out she was leaving today?

And how had he found this secret route, known only to the elders?

"You..."

Qian Renxue parted her lips. Her hard façade crumbled in an instant.

She strode over and glared at Lin Qiu.

"What are you doing here?"

"Who told you to run off on your own?"

"What if... what if someone had taken you?"

Her tone was fierce,

but the delight in her eyes was impossible to hide.

Lin Qiu spat out the foxtail grass.

He looked at her with a grin.

"I heard Big Sister was going far away."

"I came to see you off."

"Otherwise, how pitiful would it be for you to set off all alone?"

Qian Renxue blushed.

She turned her head aside haughtily.

"W-Who said I'd be all alone?"

"I have two elders with me."

"And I'm going to do something important, not go play."

"I don't need you to see me off."

Though she said that, her toes scuffed lightly at the ground. She clearly had no intention of actually chasing Lin Qiu away.

A little voice in her heart muttered:

At least this little rascal has a conscience.

Lin Qiu didn't call her out.

He walked up to Qian Renxue and studied what she was wearing.

"Big Sister, this outfit of yours..."

"Looks pretty cool."

"But you look better in a skirt."

Qian Renxue's heart tightened.

This was her biggest secret.

Starting today, she would have to live as a man.

"From now on... I probably won't get many chances to wear a skirt again."

Qian Renxue sighed.

Her voice held a loneliness she could barely conceal.

"I'm going very far away."

"I might not come back for a long, long time."

"Everything familiar will be left behind."

She looked at Lin Qiu, her gaze a little distant.

"Maybe by the time I come back, you won't even recognize me anymore."

By then,

you'll be Bibi Dong's most cherished son, the Holy Son of Spirit Hall.

And I,

will be a usurper with blood on my hands.

We'll drift farther and farther apart,

until we become strangers.

At the thought, Qian Renxue felt a pinprick of pain in her heart.

Lin Qiu looked at the little girl before him, pretending to be strong.

He shook his head.

His voice was exceptionally firm.

"No."

"No matter where you go or what you become,"

"I'll still recognize you."

"And besides..."

Lin Qiu paused, then broke into a radiant smile.

"I'll come visit you."

"No matter where you are, whether in Heaven Dou City or the imperial palace,"

"I'll come find you."

Qian Renxue stared at him, stunned.

Then she gave a bitter laugh.

"Do you know how far away Heaven Dou City is?"

"Do you know how heavily guarded the imperial palace is?"

"What makes you think you can come visit me?"

"Your Martial Soul hasn't even awakened yet."

Lin Qiu didn't argue.

He just slipped a hand inside his robe and fumbled around for a moment.

Then he pulled something out.

"Here. This is for you."

Qian Renxue instinctively lowered her gaze.

A feather lay in Lin Qiu's pale hand.

A colorful feather.

It was only about the length of her palm, and five different colors shimmered across it.

It looked dazzling.

But that was all.

There was no Soul Power fluctuation, nor any unusual aura.

It looked like an ordinary bird feather that had been dyed.

Or a cheap trinket you could buy for a few Copper Soul Coins at a roadside stall.

"What is this?"

Qian Renxue looked a little puzzled.

Lin Qiu smiled mysteriously.

"A good-luck charm."

"This is a treasure I went to great trouble to get."

"Wear it, and if you run into danger, it'll protect you."