"Wait!" Gu Yuena pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed. "Don't you know how far Nuoding City is from here? The three of you would take at least a month to walk there."
"What are we supposed to do, then?" Gu Tian spread his hands, looking utterly helpless. "Wife, you know I'm like a live-in son-in-law now, with nothing to my name."
"Sigh, I'll open a spatial portal for you. Just go through it, and you'll reach Nuoding City." Gu Yuena lifted her slender, jade-like finger and drew a circle in the air.
Silver ripples shimmered outward, then rapidly expanded to form an oval portal more than a person tall. Silver light flowed within it, carrying a mysterious, profound aura.
"Go through this portal, and you'll arrive just outside Nuoding City in Fasinuo Province." Gu Yuena lowered her hand. A hint of reluctance showed in her eyes, but she quickly concealed it. "Gu Yue, Na'er, take good care of him. If he so much as loses a single hair, I'll hold you two responsible."
"Don't worry, Big Sister." Na'er stuck out her tongue obediently.
Looking at the miraculous portal before him, Gu Tian took a deep breath and stepped through with the two beautiful girls, so different in temperament.
After the world spun around him, Gu Tian opened his eyes again to find himself surrounded by neither towering ancient trees nor dense life force. The air was somewhat dry, and a smooth highway stretched beneath his feet. In the distance, the outline of a gray-blue city shimmered faintly in the sunlight.
"We finally made it." Gu Tian brushed the dust from his clothes, excitement surging through him in a way he could hardly describe. "I have to say, spatial teleportation sure is convenient."
"Spatial teleportation? If I remember correctly, that was the little one Milim's ability. I wonder how she's doing." Ao Linxi murmured to herself, but her voice went unnoticed by Gu Tian.
The three followed the flow of people into the city.
Nuoding City was only a middling city in Fasinuo Province. But since it lay near the border of the two great empires, only about two hundred kilometers from the Star Luo Empire to the south, it naturally became one of the main trading hubs for merchants from both empires. That was what made Nuoding City prosperous.
It was countless times more bustling than Ancient Dragon Village. Shops lined both sides of the street, and vendors' cries rang without end.
As they walked, Na'er, who had been obediently following behind, suddenly stopped. She sniffed, and her violet eyes lit up in an instant.
"That smells so good..."
Na'er tugged on Gu Tian's sleeve and pointed to a stall up ahead. A large pot of roiling red oil sat over the stove, its rich aroma drifting over on the breeze.
Smelling it, Na'er licked her lips. Before she could even think, her mouth had already begun to water.
Gu Tian looked up. Five large characters were written on the sign: Old Wang's Spicy Rabbit Head.
There were clearly seven characters, but that didn't matter. The owner was only going to show up for a little while anyway.
"Brother Gu Tian, Na'er wants that!" Na'er's voice was soft and sweet. She grabbed Gu Tian's right hand with both of hers and swung it from side to side, pleading with a coaxing charm no one could resist.
Gu Tian smiled helplessly and led the two girls over. "Boss, six rabbit heads, please. Two for each of us."
"Coming right up! Six rabbit heads. Thirty Copper Soul Coins for one, fifty for two, so that'll be one hundred and fifty Copper Soul Coins in total." The boss wrapped them up briskly and held them out.
Out of habit, Gu Tian reached into his shirt. The instant he felt around, his smile froze on his face.
The pack he'd been carrying, along with the heavy money pouch inside, had all been left in Gu Yuena's bedroom. Last night, he'd been wedged between two beautiful girls, and he'd been in too much of a hurry to leave. He'd actually forgotten everything he owned!
"Um... Boss, could you wait a moment?" Gu Tian was so embarrassed he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him. A Dragon God's heir with innate twentieth-level soul power had been stumped by a hundred Copper Soul Coins.
He couldn't help it. A penny could stop even a hero, and in human society, being penniless was harder than reaching the heavens.
"Actually, Boss, just look at how we're dressed. We're from the Ancient Dragon Sect, a great sect in the Star Luo Empire! So, you see..." Gu Tian rubbed his hands together, hoping to talk the boss into letting them have the food for free.
The boss clenched his fists. His knuckles cracked, making it obvious he didn't believe a word Gu Tian said.
"You're the tenth person this month to say that. Do I look like an idiot to you? If you don't have the money, stay here and wash dishes to pay off the bill!"
Just as Gu Tian was at his wits' end, Gu Yue furrowed her brows slightly and held out her fair, slender right hand. On her ring finger was a ring set with a deep green gemstone.
"Use this to pay." Gu Yue's voice was cool and terse.
"Oh, no! I couldn't possibly. This treasure's worth more than my entire stall!" Though the boss didn't know what he was looking at, he could tell the gem was priceless and waved his hands in alarm. In the end, Gu Yue forced the ring into his hand, then led Gu Tian and Na'er away.
"Gu Yue, was that your storage ring?" Gu Tian asked, sounding a little pained.
Gu Yue gave him a puzzled look. "You needn't worry, Young Master. It was just an ordinary gem from the bottom of the Lake of Life. I have plenty more."
After asking around on the way, the three soon reached Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy. It was enrollment time for the new students, and the academy gates stood open. Gu Tian didn't want to attract the guards' attention, so he led the two girls around to a secluded stretch of wall.
"Climb over."
Gu Tian pushed off with his toes and sailed over the three-meter-high wall, light as a swallow. Gu Yue and Na'er crossed it as easily as if they were walking on level ground.
It was the noon break, and quite a few students were strolling around the academy grounds. Gu Tian led the two girls behind some bushes and watched carefully.
"Look, that's the person." Gu Tian spoke in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the figure ahead.
Under a large pagoda tree at the edge of the grounds stood a boy and a girl. The boy wore a faded blue cloth shirt and had a worldly air about him, while the girl beside him made Gu Tian hold his breath in an instant.
That was Xiao Wu.
She wore Nuoding Academy's distinctive blue-and-white uniform. Beneath her short skirt, her long legs, clad in white stockings, looked especially slender, and their slight sway carried a youthful vitality. A scorpion braid fell to her hips, and her tender little face held a pair of lively ruby-red eyes. As she spoke, the adorable rabbit-ear ornaments atop her head quivered from time to time.
"This girl can actually resonate with my Supreme Bone. No wonder she's Xiao Wu!" Gu Tian adjusted his trousers and forced his gun down.
"Is she the target of Young Master's mission?" Gu Yue asked coolly from beside him, a trace of scrutiny flashing in her dark green eyes.
Gu Tian was about to answer when Tang San spoke up ahead.
"Xiao Wu, Teacher said he'll take me to the Soul Hunting Forest the day after tomorrow to hunt for my First Soul Ring. He's an authority on this, so I'd like you to come with us. That way, he can help you choose a suitable Soul Ring too." Tang San's voice carried a strange confidence, and even a hint of condescending superiority, as if he were doing her a favor.
Gu Tian cursed inwardly. So this was that hypocrite Yu Xiaogang's usual trick—he was actually trying to win Xiao Wu over this way.
"The Soul Hunting Forest..." Gu Tian mused. This was the perfect chance to snatch the prize from under their noses.
Just as he was thinking up a plan, Na'er, who had been standing nearby munching on a rabbit head, suddenly brightened. She looked at the girl ahead, who also had rabbit ears, and seemed to have found a kindred spirit.
"Big Sister, have some!"
Na'er actually darted out from Gu Tian's arms and shot toward Xiao Wu like a blur, holding up a half-eaten Spicy Rabbit Head.
Xiao Wu had been listening intently when suddenly her vision blurred. A stunning silver-haired girl was right in her face.
The Spicy Rabbit Head in Na'er's hands was covered in a glistening layer of crimson chili oil. Caramel-colored braising sauce had seeped deep into the bones, and white sesame seeds clung to it like stars. What made Xiao Wu's scalp crawl most was the pair of hollow eyes in the middle, filled with gleaming red oil.
For that instant, it was like a horror movie had come to life.
Xiao Wu shuddered violently. A tremor shot without warning up her spine to the crown of her head, making every hair on her body stand on end.
"Ah!" Xiao Wu shrieked in fright and jumped back a full step. It was a rabbit's instinctive reaction to danger.
Tang San's eyes turned cold. His right hand had already reached for the Silent Sleeve Arrow hidden in his sleeve, ready to attack the unwelcome intruder at any moment.
"Not good! Ay, Dios mío!"
Gu Tian was horrified. He rushed out of the bushes and, just before Tang San could make a move, scooped up Na'er, who was still trying to sell the rabbit head. He hurried into the woods beside them without looking back.
"Brother Gu Tian! That big sister has ears too. I wanted to share one with her!" Na'er complained plaintively in Gu Tian's arms.
Xiao Wu stood there looking terrified, while Tang San's face darkened. The two of them stared at each other, stunned.