Forty-Eight Moons Embracing the Stars

Tang San returned to Dorm Seven clutching the silver belt. Huang Fei was lying on his bed, "on standby."

By standby, he meant waiting.

Waiting for the system notification.

Ever since Tang San and Yu Xiaogang had struck their deal beneath the Old Locust Tree, a taut string had been pulled tight in Huang Fei's mind.

He had deliberately stayed behind so the deal could go through smoothly.

Now Tang San was back, and he had a glittering belt in his hands. At last, that taut string began to tremble.

"Ding—"

There it was.

Huang Fei kept his eyes shut, the corners of his mouth lifting in a barely perceptible smile.

"Target Tang San has acquired the Storage Soul Tool 'Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges.' The host has triggered the reward mechanism—generating corresponding reward..."

"Generation complete. Congratulations, host. You have obtained: 'Forty-Eight Moons Embracing the Stars.'"

"Claim now?"

Huang Fei silently thought: Claim.

"Reward issued. Please retrieve it in an unoccupied place. A private space is recommended."

Huang Fei opened his eyes and sat up.

Tang San was on the opposite bed, fiddling with the belt, clearly unable to put it down.

The twenty-four pale-blue gemstones gave off a faint glow in the dim Dorm Seven. They really were pretty.

"Huang Fei! Look!"

Tang San raised his head excitedly and held up the belt for him to see.

"This is the Storage Soul Tool that Grandmaster gave me. It's called Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges! Each gemstone is a separate storage space!"

Huang Fei obligingly put on a surprised expression. "Well, look at that. Fart Master's pretty generous."

The phrase "Fart Master" made Tang San choke for a moment. He gave an awkward smile. "He said I don't have to become his disciple. I just need to help him with some research. He also promised to help me find my First Soul Ring."

"That's good." Huang Fei nodded, sounding sincere. In his heart, he thought something else: You help him with his research, and I'll research you. Seems perfectly reasonable.

He stood up, stretched, and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Tang San asked.

"To take a bath." Huang Fei didn't look back. "I've been lying around so long these past two days I'm about to grow mushrooms. Time to wash up."

Tang San said, "Oh," and didn't give it another thought. He lowered his head and continued examining his new treasure.

Dorm Seven had no bathing room, so the student workers had to use the public bathhouse on the west side of the academy.

At this hour, there weren't many people in the bathhouse. Most of the students were having dinner or out and about.

Huang Fei pushed open the door, and a wave of steam washed over him.

Empty.

He was alone in the vast bathhouse. Several coarse-cloth towels were neatly folded on a wooden bench, and the basin in the corner was filled with warm well water.

The setting sun streamed in through a high window, casting a patch of orange-red light across the floor.

Huang Fei went to the far corner and, after checking that no one was around, took a deep breath.

"Retrieve."

A gentle light appeared at his waist.

It wasn't a dazzling golden light or a brilliant burst of color, but a warm silver radiance, like moonlight spilling across the water.

The light seeped out of his body, gathered at his waist, and slowly took shape.

The whole process took less than three seconds.

When the glow faded, Huang Fei looked down.

A belt rested quietly around his waist.

Its silver body was slightly narrower than Tang San's, but its texture was more refined, as if woven from some unknown metallic thread. It felt cool and smooth to the touch, and was light as air.

A ring of gemstones was set into the front of the belt, arranged in two staggered rows. Each stone was a little smaller than Tang San's, but there were twice as many.

Huang Fei counted them.

Forty-eight.

He unfastened the buckle, took the belt off, and held it in his hands to examine it.

The forty-eight pale-blue gemstones were arranged in two rows, twenty-four above and twenty-four below, offset from one another like two intertwined rivers of stars.

Every gemstone was a deeper shade than Tang San's. They weren't light blue, but a color between starry-sky blue and deep-sea blue, with what seemed like flecks of light slowly drifting inside.

The clasp was a silver crescent moon, engraved with patterns so fine they were only discernible up close: stars and flowing clouds.

All in all, it looked better than Tang San's belt.

Not better in the sense of "I'm more expensive than you," but better in the sense of "I'm a higher grade."

It was like putting a genuine article beside a limited edition. You could tell the difference in quality at a glance.

Huang Fei nodded in satisfaction and tried channeling Soul Power into the belt.

In an instant, all forty-eight gemstones lit up at once.

Then a stream of information flowed into his mind.

Forty-eight independent storage spaces, each twice as large as Tang San's.

In other words, in terms of capacity alone, this belt was four times the size of Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges.

But that wasn't what surprised him most.

A second piece of information appeared.

Fusion.

Huang Fei's mind stirred. As if sensing his thoughts, the belt suddenly turned into a stream of silver light, flowed into his skin along his waist, and vanished without a trace.

He looked down and touched his waist. It was smooth and bare; there was nothing there.

But with just another thought, the belt would instantly take shape again, exactly as before.

Huang Fei couldn't help smiling.

This belt could fuse with his body.

Tang San's Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges was an actual belt worn on the body.

It could be stolen, snatched, and seen by others.

Anyone who saw a priceless belt around his waist would grow greedy.

But his Forty-Eight Moons Embracing the Stars was fused into his body.

No one could see it, and no one could take it away.

Now that was what you called storage.

Huang Fei tried out the last function, too.

He tossed a small stone he'd picked up off the floor into one of the gemstones' spaces, then left it in the corner and paid it no more attention.

He began bathing, leisurely scrubbing nonexistent dirt from his body and humming a tune that was more or less off-key.

When he finished, he probed that gemstone again with his consciousness.

The little stone was still there.

But its surface seemed to have acquired the faintest glimmer, as if it had been steeped in something.

Huang Fei took it out and turned it over and over in his palm. He couldn't see any real change, but he knew the Star Nourishment function was working.

If left long enough, the stone might really become one imbued with the power of the stars.

Of course, Huang Fei couldn't be bothered to wait.

He tossed the stone back into the storage space, dried himself, changed into clean clothes, and strolled out of the bathhouse.

The evening breeze drifted over from the sports field, carrying the scent of ginkgo leaves.

The sunset blazed across the horizon like an orange-red sea, and a few early stars had already appeared in the heavens.

Huang Fei walked back toward Dorm Seven with his hands tucked into his sleeves, his pace unhurried.