The Ice Emperor and the Snow Emperor

The car came to a stop by the roadside, and the three got out.

The building before them was utterly out of place amid the surrounding Donghai City. It was neither a modern steel structure nor quite like an ordinary ancient-style building.

It was a European-style church constructed entirely of white granite. Above the main entrance stood a bell tower, its spire piercing Donghai City's gray, hazy skyline.

The rose window on the front was a full stained-glass image of an angel, six wings spread wide, hands folded over its chest, its face blurred by light and shadow into a soft outline.

"This is the Soul Planning Hall?" Xie Xie looked up at the bell tower, his mouth slightly agape. "It's completely different from what I imagined. I thought it'd be something like the Spirit Pagoda."

"The Soul Planning Hall's architectural style follows its founder's personal tastes," Lin Xun said casually. "The first Hall Master liked this church-like style, so every branch hall was built from the same mold."

In truth, it had inherited the architectural style of Spirit Hall.

Xie Xie turned to look at him. "Brother Xun, how do you know everything?"

"Read more."

The three climbed the steps. The oak doors at the entrance were left slightly ajar, with no guards in sight.

The light inside was dimmer than outside. Straight ahead stood a statue of an angel, identical to the image in the rose window.

Six wings spread wide, hands folded together, its expression gentle yet solemn.

Several rows of wooden benches stood at the statue's feet.

Xie Xie lowered his voice. "Why does it feel like we've walked into a church?"

"It is a church." Standing before the statue, Lin Xun looked up at the angel's face blurred by light and shadow. "The Soul Planning Hall's core faith is the Angel God. They just haven't mentioned it much to the public in recent years. Not many people on the continent know about it."

Beside the statue, behind an old wooden desk, sat a young woman. She wore a plain robe faded nearly white from washing, her silver hair neatly tied behind her head. Her face was thin, and her gaze gentle.

Seeing the three youths enter, she set down the old booklet she had been reading and smiled faintly.

"What brings you little ones to the Soul Planning Hall?"

Her tone was very gentle.

Xie Xie stepped forward. Rarely, he put away his usual playful manner and gave a proper bow.

"Hello, we're students from Donghai Academy. This classmate of mine has run into some difficulties at home. We heard that the Soul Planning Hall has public welfare apprentice slots every year, so we wanted to try our luck."

The woman nodded, her gaze sweeping across the three of them.

"That is indeed the case. There are still two slots available this year."

She flipped the old booklet to a certain page, traced her finger down the list, then looked up and said gently, "Come, have a seat first. But Deacon Wang Mingcong, who is in charge of interviews and identity verification, went out on business and won't be back for a while."

"Will all of you be interviewing?"

"I... just me." Zhou Changxi stepped forward two paces and spoke softly.

At that, the woman's gentle gaze settled on Zhou Changxi's thin frame, and she nodded lightly.

"Then just come with me."

Zhou Changxi froze slightly, confusion appearing on his face. He instinctively asked, "Miss, didn't you just say that Deacon Wang Mingcong was out on business and wasn't in the hall?"

Before coming, they had already made inquiries. The Soul Planning Hall's apprentice recruitment had always been personally interviewed and approved by a deacon, and the process was extremely strict.

So why was the deacon absent, yet she was directly allowing him to interview?

The woman smiled softly, her expression gentle and composed.

"Deacon Wang isn't here, but the bishop is. It's the same if the bishop interviews you personally. He rarely has free time today, so you're quite lucky, child."

This counted as being lucky!?

The bishop was the overall decision-maker of the Soul Planning Hall's Donghai City branch, equivalent to the master of Donghai City's Spirit Pagoda branch.

An interview personally conducted by someone of that rank.

The pressure was easy to imagine.

Zhou Changxi hesitated somewhat, but Lin Xun patted him on the shoulder and reassured him, "Go on."

"Don't be nervous." Before turning away, the young woman said to Zhou Changxi, "The bishop doesn't eat people."

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman raised her hand and pointed to the open areas on either side of the main hall, gently instructing Lin Xun and Xie Xie.

"You two little ones don't need to come along."

"The reading areas on both sides of the hall contain quite a few ancient books and classics, as well as soul master journals. You may browse them freely while you wait. No need to be reserved—just wait peacefully."

Lin Xun and Xie Xie looked in the direction she indicated.

Along both sides of the spacious hall stood neat rows of ancient solid-wood book walls. Layer upon layer of shelves were filled with old books of varying thickness.

Yellowed pages and antique covers densely filled the entire reading area. There were thousands upon thousands of volumes, stretching so far that the end could not be seen at a glance.

In the entire quiet hall, aside from the statue and benches, the most eye-catching sight was this vast collection of books.

"Thank you, Miss." Xie Xie nodded obediently.

Lin Xun gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.

Then the woman turned and led the deeply apprehensive Zhou Changxi toward the inner hall at the back of the main hall.

Once the woman disappeared through the side door, Xie Xie dropped back onto a bench and let out a long breath.

"As long as it doesn't eat people. You should've seen Zhou Changxi's expression just now—it looked like he was going to meet the King of Hell."

Lin Xun ignored him. He was staring at the rows upon rows of bookshelves along the wall, stretching from the floor all the way to the ceiling, packed densely with books.

Old and new volumes were mixed together. Parchment scrolls and thread-bound books were crammed in crookedly, while several stacks that had likely only been half-sorted were casually left beside a ladder.

Xie Xie came over, casually pulled out a book, and flipped through it. His brows rose. "This book's got some age on it, doesn't it? The paper's practically brittle. Even my family's library doesn't have stuff this old."

He turned another two pages, then suddenly let out a surprised sound. His whole body seemed to come alive.

"Brother Xun, Brother Xun, look at this." He raised the book before his eyes and read aloud. "The Ice Emperor and the Snow Emperor, ranked among the Three Great Kings of the Extreme North and both among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts. Yet few in the world know that the two beasts once both fell for the same human man..."

At that point, Xie Xie snapped the book shut. His expression was like he had just uncovered earth-shattering gossip.

"The Ice Emperor and Snow Emperor both fell in love with one person? Isn't that complete nonsense? Whoever wrote this really dared to write anything. That's way too wild."

Lin Xun stood before the bookshelf, the book in his hand suspended midair.

"What book?"

"This one." Xie Xie handed it over. "It's called Douluo Secret History. No idea who wrote it, but it's full of gossip."

Lin Xun took it and opened it.

The pages were yellowed and brittle, their edges curled and frayed. It really had been around for quite some time.

The first thing he saw was a line of neat writing.

"The Ice Emperor, a ferocious beast of the Extreme North Ice Plain, ranks seventh among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts. The Snow Emperor, ruler of the Extreme North Snow Region, ranks third among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts. For reasons unknown, the two beasts successively fell for the same human man. This man's name can no longer be verified; only that the Ice Emperor once, for his sake..."

Lin Xun closed the book. The motion was not forceful, but it was decisive.

"What's wrong?"

Xie Xie leaned over.

"Nothing." Lin Xun returned the book to the shelf, shoved it into the deepest corner, then moved two nearby books over to block it. "It's just wild gossip and unofficial history. Read it if you want, but don't take it seriously."

Ice Emperor.

Though that girl had a tail, and there had been something rather enticing about what she did when she came at him from behind. But whenever he thought of her, he still could not help gritting his teeth.

The only setback of his entire scumbag career—he had always been the one dumping others, yet for the first time in his life, he had nearly been cheated on.

After getting together with him, Ice Emperor had actually turned around and started a lesbian relationship with Snow Emperor. She had almost put a cuckold's hat on his head.

Fortunately, he had ultimately gotten Snow Emperor for himself and turned the tables on her.

Just imagine it: he and Snow Emperor loving each other inside the room, while Ice Emperor—the green twin-tailed loli—could only rage helplessly outside the ice house, alone with her scorpion tail...