The setting sun was beautiful, but dusk was drawing near.
Yang Fan watched the little figures of children who had just awakened their Martial Souls for the first time. Something seemed to sting him gently in the heart.
As he watched each child awaken their Martial Soul, Yang Fan felt as though he were seeing his past self.
He saw himself, thrilled by his transmigration; himself, timid and helpless because of his low Innate Soul Power; himself, transformed from the inside out with the help of a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
How could a young man understand the sorrows of life? He laughed, turning the vicissitudes of life into wine money.
"Yin'er, why do I feel a little old?"
Ah Yin no longer suited the nickname Lan Yin. After nearly two years of friendship between them, calling her Lan Yin outright no longer felt appropriate; it seemed too distant.
As a man blessed with the sacred constitution of being single in both his lives, Yang Fan had a sudden inspiration and came up with a form of address that made Lan Yin feel both embarrassed and awkward.
"If you're already old, then in your eyes, I, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, must be an old woman shamelessly chasing a younger man."
Lan Yin was thoughtful and gentle, so she naturally noticed what was on Yang Fan's mind. She used a joke to gently cheer him up.
She also believed that even if she didn't comfort him, Yang Fan would soon figure things out on his own. After all, he had never hidden his goal from her: to become an immortal god.
Lan Yin wasn't disappointed. Yang Fan did indeed get his feelings under control soon enough.
"I'm just feeling a little sentimental. It seems like I've been through so much, stopping and starting along the way. Suddenly, I'm a little curious what wheat juice tastes like."
In his first ten years in Douluo, he'd lived an unremarkable life. But ever since he acquired his First Soul Ring and activated the Heart of Eros, he'd seemed to be pushed forward again and again by an invisible hand.
He'd stolen Lan Yin, opened an appraisal shop, met the Son of the God King, and crossed paths with the Dragon King.
In less than two years, his life had become several times more exciting than all the years before.
After dinner at the Peace Hotel, Eastsea City's most famous restaurant—the Eastsea branch—Xu Chengxing and his daughter were on their way home.
"Xiaoyan, why do you keep looking so pensive after your Martial Soul Awakening?"
Xu Chengxing patted his daughter's little head, sensing that something was off with his precious girl.
"Dad, do you believe in love at first sight?"
Xu Xiaoyan had happened to glance out the window and spotted a figure that seemed very familiar. He was holding hands with a silver-haired little girl about her age, and the two of them were being all lovey-dovey in the park without a shred of shame.
"Huh?!"
Xu Chengxing froze for a moment, then flew into a rage.
"What kind of pedophile is that? I'll make sure he gets a good look at Federation law—and a taste of the power of truth!"
As he spoke, he patted the gun holster inside his jacket.
How dare anyone mess with my precious daughter? Some punk with dyed hair and a hot rod—he'd make sure the guy regretted it!
Xu Xiaoyan pointed toward a garden behind the car. "There's someone in that garden. He looks really familiar to me. I don't know if it's love at first sight, but that's how it seems to go in novels."
Hearing her mention novels, Xu Chengxing was confused.
Hadn't he told Yuyu to hide her romance novels and keep them away from Xiaoyan? Where had this girl found them?
Still, he breathed a sigh of relief. It was just that she'd been too influenced by a novel—not some pervert or punk. Crisis averted.
"I'll have someone pull the surveillance footage from there when we get back, and let you watch it. For now, you're coming home with me and telling me exactly what's going on with those novels."
Xu Chengxing grumpily patted Xu Xiaoyan's little head.
He had only one daughter. What else could he do but spoil her?
To outsiders, Xu Chengxing was Eastsea City's most promising rising star in politics. But at home, his status was only a little higher than that of his son, Xu Xiaoyu.
His wife, Xiao Yu, came first, Xiaoyan came second, and only then did he, the deputy minister, get a turn.
Still, with the cooperation agreement with the Spirit Pagoda in the works, he'd soon be able to drop that "deputy." Power would let him protect such a large family even better.
Looking back at the park, Xu Xiaoyan decided that the familiar figure could only be Yang Fan.
One hour earlier
After leaving the Spirit Pagoda, Yang Fan had somehow wandered into this park. He was walking along a path strewn with pebbles.
The sea breeze swept his short black hair into a neat, clean-cut style. On his right eye, a Monocle with a dark-gold frame and deep-purple lens caught the sunlight, its sheen dark and profound.
His figure was tall and straight. Though he looked a little frail, every step he took had a natural rhythm to it.
After walking for a while, Yang Fan stopped and turned around.
A girl stood about two meters behind him.
She looked no older than six or seven. She wore a tattered, oversized sackcloth robe that looked as though she'd fished it out of some trash can. Her face was smudged with dirt, and she looked every bit like a little beggar who'd escaped from a refugee camp.
Yet beneath her filthy bangs were a pair of clear, lively eyes, like purple crystals, and a few stubborn tufts of short silver hair that stuck up.
Yang Fan looked at her, and she looked back at him.
Yang Fan took a step to the left.
The little beggar slid one step to the left as well.
Yang Fan took a step to the right.
The little beggar immediately slid one step to the right, too.
Yang Fan drew in a deep breath. He felt as if the Monocle on his right eye were growing warm with sheer exasperation.
He'd been sitting on a park bench when the little girl drifted over like a ghost and stood silently in front of him.
Yang Fan had assumed she was hungry and had just been about to fish out some Federation coins to send her on her way. But she only stared fixedly at the monocle on his right eye, then started following him wherever he went, stopping whenever he stopped, like his shadow.
"Listen..." Yang Fan finally couldn't take it anymore. He leaned forward slightly and nudged the Monocle on his nose with his slender fingers, trying to break the deadlock in a gentle yet forceful tone. "Little girl, did you get separated from your family, or... could you stop following me?"
The little beggar blinked her purple eyes but still didn't say a word.
Yang Fan was starting to panic.
He thought it over, then suddenly realized that this little beggar looked just like the Silver Dragon King's first appearance in the original story, when she'd revealed her astonishing wisdom.
There were some differences, but discrepancies between a novel and reality were only natural.
But could someone tell him why this enormous Silver Dragon Fish wasn't going to Aolai City on the day of her awakening to cling to the Son of the God King? What was she doing in Eastsea City?
In a metropolis as expensive as Eastsea City, wasn't it strange to find a Silver Dragon Fish cleaned up to look like a little beggar?
Let me take a look at the people in the park: an old man leisurely practicing tai chi, a woman pushing a stroller, young people jogging around...
He realized that Eastsea City was in the middle of summer and still full of people, yet he couldn't help feeling there was an indescribable quiet in the air.
It was a frightening kind of quiet—not physical silence, but a silence on the level of the mind.
Yang Fan had a constant, ominous feeling.
He felt as if countless pairs of eyes were watching him.
But he couldn't find anyone who was watching.
I haven't attracted the attention of Tang Hao or Ah Yin in this era, have I?
He'd thought he was keeping a pretty low profile. Ah Yin was asleep in Shrek, waiting to awaken Tang Wulin's powers, while Tang Hao was lying low, preparing to make a big move.
In theory, they shouldn't have been paying any attention to a mere ant who hadn't even obtained his Second Soul Ring.
But Na'er's appearance made him uncertain.
"God Almighty of Heaven and Earth for Blessings, Heavenly Lord of Heaven and Earth for Blessings, God Almighty of Heaven and Earth for Blessings, Heavenly Venerable of Heaven and Earth for Blessings."
"If someone really is plotting against me, please protect me!"
"Oh, and my most beloved God of Poverty, The Fool who doesn't belong to this era, the Mysterious Ruler Above the Gray Fog, the King of Yellow and Black who holds dominion over good fortune. Great Lord of the Mysteries, please let this journey through Legend of the Dragon King go a little more smoothly."
In his panic, Yang Fan had started desperately throwing coordinates at powerful beings from another world.
Unfortunately, this was Douluo, not Lord of the Mysteries. No one answered his prayers.