Dugu Yan Comes Calling?

At that moment, on the street outside the Scripture Depository.

Two graceful figures strolled along, chatting. One had purple hair and green eyes, with a bold, flamboyant air; the other wore a veil over her face, cool and immaculate.

"I'm so full, so full! Thanks, Lingling. You're the only one willing to come out with me this late!"

"If you asked, I'm sure Yu Tianheng would be happy to... Hmm? Yanzi? What are you spacing out for? Come on!"

When Ye Lingling came back to herself, she realized Dugu Yan had fallen several steps behind. Seeing that Dugu Yan didn't answer, she had no choice but to walk back.

"Hey!"

Dugu Yan jolted. "You scared me!"

Ye Lingling smiled sweetly, a mischievous glint of triumph flickering in her eyes. "What are you looking at so intently?"

Dugu Yan pointed toward a building not far away and asked uncertainly, "Lingling, do you see a pavilion over there?"

Huh?

A flicker of confusion crossed Ye Lingling's beautiful eyes... A pavilion? What pavilion? How could there be a pavilion on Gourmet Street?

This street was a famous food district in Heaven Dou City, and at its end stood the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena. They had often visited the Great Soul Arena for practical training, and that meant they had frequented this street as well. They knew all the restaurants, eateries, and street stalls here by heart.

But when she followed Dugu Yan's pointing finger...

Ye Lingling froze on the spot. There really was a magnificent nine-story pavilion there. Moonlight spilled over it, revealing its basic outline. Lights flickered on the first floor, while the eight floors above were pitch-black. Above the entrance hung a plaque bearing the words "Scripture Depository," written in bold, forceful strokes;

At first glance, it looked like a pitch-black monster crouching on the ground, its bloody maw gaping as it waited for passersby to enter...

This...

How could this be...

She clearly remembered that a mobile food stall used to operate there!

How had it turned into a pavilion?

Most importantly, the architecture of this nine-story pavilion was completely different from the style of buildings in Heaven Dou City. There was nothing like it anywhere in the city. It did, however, look somewhat like the buildings in Seven Treasure City and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect;

The pavilion seemed to have appeared out of thin air... No, not seemed. It really had appeared out of thin air!

There had definitely been no such building on Gourmet Street before!

Where had this pavilion come from?

Could it be...

At the thought, an indescribable sense of dread swept over her. All sorts of terrifying stories surfaced in Ye Lingling's mind... haunted houses, sinister forests...

Even though she was already a thirty-ninth-level Soul Elder, facing a situation like this still made her feel as if someone were blowing cold air against the back of her neck...

"Whoo~ haa, whoo~"

Ye Lingling turned her head and saw Dugu Yan blowing cold air against the back of her neck.

"Hey, are you trying to scare me to death?" she chided, rolling her eyes.

Dugu Yan laughed. "Come on, let's take a look..."

As she spoke, she strode toward the Scripture Depository, her long legs eating up the distance.

"Hey... Yanzi, don't..."

Ye Lingling reached out to grab Dugu Yan's arm, but caught nothing.

Whoosh—

The night wind howled, and the shadows of the trees swayed.

Watching Dugu Yan walk away, Ye Lingling's delicate body trembled as she shivered violently.

"Yanzi, wait for me! Yanzi... Don't leave me... Yanzi, what am I supposed to do if you leave, Yanzi!"

"Oh, come on. I'm here, what are you afraid of!"

Dugu Yan took the stairs two at a time, hurried back, grabbed Ye Lingling, and in just a couple of steps had them both up on the landing. She pushed the door open and went straight inside.

Creeeak—

The door opened!

Ye Lingling immediately shrank back, still clutching Dugu Yan.

"Forget it, Yanzi... Let's not go in. Let's head back!"

She lowered her voice.

"Relax. I'll go first. Don't be scared. Let's take a look, just one peek."

Dugu Yan made it sound easy, but her pupils had already become those of a snake. Red, blue, and purple toxins swirled in her palm, while the phantom of her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Martial Soul moved across her body.

Seeing this, Ye Lingling had no choice but to risk her life for her best friend. She gritted her teeth, and a Nine Heart Begonia bloomed in her palm.

But when the two of them actually entered...

What met their eyes was... bookshelves?

And, at the far end, a figure standing tall and straight as a pine.

He wore a blue-green robe, and light brown hair fell to his shoulders. His face was as handsome as jade, his eyes bright as stars, and his whole bearing radiated a calm, otherworldly composure.

It was just that his movements seemed inexplicably strange. He circled an irregular path, sometimes raising a hand as if to hold up the sky, sometimes straightening his back and stretching his body... As his movements changed, so did the rhythm of his breathing.

The two exchanged a glance. Clear disappointment showed in Dugu Yan's eyes... She'd thought there'd be something interesting, but it was just this?

Ye Lingling, on the other hand, quietly let out a breath of relief. Coming back to herself, she looked from the blue-green-robed figure in the distance to the nine groups of bookshelves arranged in three rows and three columns, and immediately grew interested.

She loved reading. At home, she had medical texts and pharmacopoeias, and she especially loved all kinds of popular novels.

"Excuse me, is this a bookstore... Are you the owner?"

Thinking back to how she'd acted earlier, she found it rather funny. She'd actually been scared by a bookstore. She'd never read that sort of book again...

To her surprise, the shopkeeper acted as though he couldn't be bothered with them. He kept making those strange movements and didn't even glance in their direction.

"Customers this late?"

"Heh, that's unusual..."

"Browse and choose whatever you like!"

His tone was flat, edged with impatience and distance.

In fact, Li Jingzhe had already sensed them when they first stepped onto the stone stairs outside the Scripture Depository;

The Scripture Depository was both his Martial Soul and a manifestation of the system. When the two entered the Scripture Depository, it was the same as entering his Innate Domain, so he naturally sensed them.

"Hey, you—"

Dugu Yan looked ready to step forward and argue... Damn it, she'd been talking to him nicely, and he was putting on airs? As the granddaughter of Poison Douluo, she'd never seen anyone put on such a ridiculous act!

Especially after sensing that the Soul Power fluctuations around him were only about level five, her contempt reached its peak.

He looked decent and had a respectable bearing, but what a useless weakling. At best, he was a fallen noble.

Since when had trash like this dared to put on airs in front of Dugu Yan?

"Yanzi..."

Ye Lingling tugged her arm and pulled her back. "There's no need, there's no need. Let's just look around. We won't stoop to his level."

Hmph—

Dugu Yan snorted in Li Jingzhe's direction.

"Fine, I'll do it for Lingling's sake. Otherwise... I'd beat his face until it bloomed like peach blossoms!"

She deliberately drew out the last words as she shouted in Li Jingzhe's direction. But for all her talk, could a dignified forty-second-level control-type Battle Soul Ancestor really pick a fight with a level-five weakling?

Still, after that little episode, she had no interest in browsing anymore.

"I'll wait for you at the door."

She called to Ye Lingling, then went to lean against the doorway, watching Ye Lingling flit like a butterfly among the groups of bookshelves.

"Yanzi, Yanzi..."

Ye Lingling suddenly stopped in front of a set of bookshelves. Without turning around, she called out, her voice a little urgent and strangely hesitant. "Come look at this!"