A Sudden Change on a Rainy Night, Nannan: Big... Brother...

The rain came down as if the sky had sprung a leak.

Feng Yun was soaked through.

He moved with Wind Soaring Step, pale cyan battle qi racing along the muddy official road.

He had pushed the active effect of his first soul skill, Flowing Wind Empowerment, to its limit, and before the rain could strike him, an invisible current of air deflected it away.

It was a little trick he had figured out after his control over the wind element improved.

It could not block attacks, but at least he would not have to take a second bath.

"Master, how much farther?"

"At your current speed, it will take another four days to reach Heaven Dou City."

Yun Yun's voice sounded in his mind.

"But there is a small town ten li ahead. You can stop there to rest."

Feng Yun raised his head and looked at the sky.

The lead-gray clouds hung extremely low, and the rain showed no sign of stopping.

"Then I'll rest for the night first."

The small town was called Falling Rock Town.

Its name came from the huge boulder at the entrance of the town, which was said to have rolled down from the mountain and never moved again.

"There is an inn up ahead," Yun Yun reminded him.

Feng Yun looked up.

At the corner of the street hung a faded cloth banner with four words written on it: "Youjian Inn."

"That name is really lazy enough."

Feng Yun quipped, then walked over.

He pushed open the wooden door, and warm yellow lamplight rushed toward him.

The inn was not large.

There were only four or five tables in the main hall, all kept neat and clean.

Behind the counter stood a woman in her early thirties.

She wore a plain cloth dress, and her hair was casually pinned up with a wooden hairpin.

Though fine lines had already appeared at the corners of her eyes, her features were gentle and pleasant to look at.

Beside her stood a little girl.

She looked five or six years old, with two little pigtails, a round face, and big eyes. She was standing on tiptoe, leaning over the counter and looking outside.

When she saw Feng Yun come in, those big eyes immediately lit up.

"Mother! A customer!"

She called out in a childish voice, then added, "It's a little big brother!"

The proprietress smiled and patted her head, then came forward to greet him.

"Young little brother, you're still traveling in such heavy rain?"

"Come in and sit. The stove was just lit. I'll boil you a bowl of ginger soup to warm you up."

Warmth stirred in Feng Yun's heart.

After three years of living like a savage in Soul Hunting Forest, where he faced either soul beasts or cliffs every day, being treated so kindly all of a sudden actually left him a little unused to it.

"Thank you, proprietress. I'd like a room first."

"Of course. Nannan, take this little big brother upstairs to look at a room."

"Okay!"

Nannan hopped out from behind the counter, then ran up the stairs with her two short little legs thumping away.

Halfway up, she turned back to see if Feng Yun was following, her pigtails bouncing from side to side.

"Big brother, hurry, hurry! There's hot water on the second floor!"

Feng Yun couldn't help laughing.

This child really was full of energy.

That evening.

The proprietress made three dishes and a soup.

Pickled cabbage stewed with glass noodles, red-braised pork, a plate of stir-fried seasonal greens, and a big bowl of egg drop soup.

Feng Yun sat in the main hall eating the hot meal, feeling as if his whole body had come back to life.

"Big brother, where are you from?"

Nannan lay at the edge of the table, her big eyes blinking as she stared at him.

"The Wind Sword Sect."

"What kind of place is the Wind Sword Sect?"

"A sect where soul masters cultivate..."

"Wow, soul masters!"

Nannan's eyes grew even wider.

"Big brother, are you a soul master too? Then can you fly?"

"I can't fly yet."

"Then can you use a sword?"

"A little."

"Show me, show me!"

"Nannan."

The proprietress came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl and gave her daughter a reproachful look.

"Don't pester big brother with so many questions."

"It's fine."

Feng Yun smiled and waved it off.

He picked up a chopstick from the table and casually made a sword flourish, the chopstick spinning several times around his fingertips.

Nannan watched and clapped her hands. "So amazing, so amazing!"

The proprietress shook her head helplessly and gave Feng Yun an apologetic smile.

"This child hasn't had many friends since she was little. Whenever she meets someone she can talk to, it's like she's found treasure. Please bear with her."

Feng Yun looked at Nannan.

A little girl of five or six, whose eyes curved into crescents when she smiled.

She had no father and ran a small inn with her mother, yet she was as lively as a little sun.

A certain string in his heart was gently plucked.

"Nannan is very cute," he said sincerely.

"Big brother, you're very cute too!" Nannan replied without thinking.

Feng Yun: "..."

It was the first time in this life that someone had called him cute.

It felt very subtle.

"Oh right, big brother, you must lock your door properly at night."

Nannan's little face suddenly turned serious.

"Oh? Why?"

"There's been a man-eating monster in our town lately!"

"Hm?"

A man-eating monster?

Feng Yun was completely bewildered.

He didn't remember there being demons in Douluo Continent.

"Nannan, don't talk nonsense."

The proprietress tapped Nannan lightly on the head and said apologetically, "Guest, don't listen to the little girl's nonsense."

"Mother, I'm not making things up. That's what everyone says." Nannan covered her head and pouted.

"Proprietress, what's going on?"

Feng Yun keenly sensed that something was wrong.

The proprietress sighed and said, "Recently, a few people in town have gone missing, and rumors have spread that there's a man-eating monster."

"But Nannan was right. Guests should be careful to shut their doors and windows. This area might not be peaceful."

"Missing?"

Feng Yun was somewhat surprised.

Could there be soul beasts in this little town?

But he did not think too much about it.

After finishing dinner, he returned to his guest room to rest.

Late at night.

The thunderstorm still had not let up.

"Ah!!!"

Feng Yun was jolted awake by a scream that cut through the roar of the storm.

That was Nannan's voice!

He sprang up from the bed, pushed the door open, and rushed downstairs.

Then he saw a scene he would never forget.

In the main hall, all the lamps had gone out.

The only oil lamp had been knocked to the floor, its flame flickering weakly in a pool of blood.

The proprietress lay in that pool of blood.

Her eyes were still open, her mouth slightly parted, the expression on her face frozen in extreme terror and agony.

Blood wound out from beneath her, already spreading to the foot of the stairs.

And Nannan...

Nannan was lying beside her mother, her small hands shaking the proprietress's shoulders with all her strength as she cried her heart out.

"Mom! Mom! Wake up! Wake up..."

Blood stained her hands, her dress, and her face.

It was her mother's blood.

"!"

Feng Yun felt as if all the blood in his body had frozen.

He had just been about to rush over and check when Yun Yun's voice suddenly exploded in his mind.

"Yun'er! Don't go over there!"

Almost at the same time, the proprietress's body suddenly tore apart from within.

Rip!

Bones snapped with a crisp crack!

Muscle tore with a wet sound!

Blood splattered with a spurt!

Every sound flooded into Feng Yun's ears in that single instant.

A purple vine burst out from inside her body.

The vine was dark purple from end to end, its surface covered in tiny barbs.

Every thorn writhed faintly, as if it had a life of its own.

The instant the vine drilled out of the proprietress's body, it suddenly pierced through Nannan's chest.

Nannan's body went rigid.

Her sobs stopped abruptly.

Fresh blood slowly trickled from the corner of her mouth and dripped onto her mother's corpse.

She slowly turned her head.

Those big eyes looked toward Feng Yun.

Her blood-covered lips moved. "Big... brother..."

Her voice was as faint as a candle flame in the wind.

Then her body went limp.

The purple vine pierced her tiny body, the barbs on its surface writhing madly as they drained her flesh and blood at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Nannan's corpse shriveled rapidly, her skin turning sallow and clinging tight to her bones.

A living, breathing life had turned into a... dried corpse right before his eyes.

"Nannan!"

Feng Yun's gaze trembled.

"Yun'er! Dodge!"

Yun Yun's voice exploded again.

"Whoosh!"

A sound of tearing air shot toward him from the front.

Feng Yun instinctively twisted aside, and an identical purple vine grazed past his shoulder and smashed into the wall.

A fist-sized pit was smashed into the earthen wall.

Feng Yun retreated violently while looking over.

A person stood at the entrance of the inn.

A black cloak wrapped him up tightly.

His hat had been removed, revealing a face so pale it was unnatural.

A strange red light glowed at the corners of his eyes, and a strand of viscous saliva hung from the corner of his dark purple lips.

The purple vines had drilled out from his cuffs and spread, writhing across the ground like living things.

The vines were still connected to the corpses of Nannan and her mother, still sucking away their flesh and blood!

"Kekekeke!"

His laugh was sharp and grating, especially chilling in the silent dead of night.

"What delicious blood food. Especially the little one."

"Kekekeke, a pity it was over too fast. Gone before I could even savor it."

"!"

Feng Yun's mind went briefly blank.

Nannan...

That little girl with the pigtails had now become a dried corpse.

Right in front of him!

Clang!

The Green Phoenix Sword appeared in Feng Yun's hand.

"Yun'er!"

Yun Yun's voice was like a basin of cold water poured over Feng Yun's head.

Her soul form emerged directly from the Ring.

"Calm down!"

Her voice carried a rare urgency.

"This person's soul-power fluctuations are at the Soul Ancestor level, but his aura is extremely strange. He isn't a normal soul master!"

"If you charge up now, you're just throwing your life away!"

Feng Yun's chest heaved violently, and the Green Phoenix Sword in his hand hummed without cease.

He stared fixedly at the black-robed man.

His fingernails dug into his palm, drawing blood.

"I know you're furious."

Yun Yun lowered her voice slightly, carrying a trace of anxiety he had never heard from her before.

"But now isn't the time to be reckless."

"This man's abilities are strange and his methods are vicious. You have to calm down before you can deal with him!"

The black-robed man's gaze turned over.

He saw Feng Yun, and an exaggerated look of surprise appeared on his pale face.

"Oh? I missed one?"

The corners of his mouth split all the way to his ears, revealing a mouthful of teeth blackened by blood.

"Little one, you look delicious too."

Purple vines surged in from every direction, like countless venomous snakes attacking at the same time.

Feng Yun drew in a deep breath, his eyes locked hard on the black-robed man.

Then he turned and ran!

Wind Soaring Step was pushed to its limit, and the active effect of his first soul skill, Flowing Wind Empowerment, activated at the same time.

His speed reached an extreme.

He smashed straight through the inn's window and sprinted madly toward the mountain forest outside town.

The black-robed man's shrill laughter came from behind him.

"Didn't expect you to be a little soul master. Run? Where do you think you can run to? Jie jie jie."

Purple vines surged out of the inn's front door like a tide, chasing wildly along the ground, moving so fast they seemed nothing like plants.

Feng Yun didn't look back. He plunged into the dense forest.

"Master."

"Help me analyze his abilities."

Yun Yun was silent for a moment, then asked, "Yun'er, how are you?"

Feng Yun replied in silence, "Not good."

He answered honestly.

Then he exhaled heavily, his eyes flashing coldly in the shadows of the dense forest.

"I'm going to kill him."

"I will."