Faceplanting into a Cushion Zone: The Value of a "Duang"

After moving away from the site of the encounter, Qian Renxue slowed down.

She landed in a hidden clearing within the forest,

removed her white mask, and set She Xian down.

Her golden hair was once more exposed to the dappled forest light, and her cold, stunning features returned to normal.

She glanced at She Xian.

The six-year-old white-haired child was frowning slightly, seemingly lost in thought.

"What is it?"

She Xian came back to his senses and shook his head.

"Nothing... I just thought that person's name sounded a little familiar."

Qian Renxue raised a brow slightly. "Yu Xiaogang?"

"Mm."

She Xian put on an expression of trying hard to remember. His little face scrunched up as he reached back to scratch the back of his head.

"I think Grandpa mentioned that name before."

"He said something like... he was from the Tyrant Dragon Clan?"

He tilted his head, looking confused. "Or maybe I'm remembering it wrong."

After saying that, he casually waved a hand, his tone light.

A six-year-old child vaguely recalled a name his grandfather had mentioned in passing during some idle conversation.

Uncertain, unsure, casually brought up.

Innocent, harmless, unguarded.

Yet every word in She Xian's heart had been meticulously calculated.

His grandfather, She Long, had naturally never said anything like that. He was merely borrowing a tiger's hide to raise a banner.

The words "Tyrant Dragon Clan" were the information bomb he had deliberately planted.

Yu Xiaogang, son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's patriarch, a mutated martial soul possessor, an abandoned child expelled from the clan.

More importantly, he had once shared a hidden romantic entanglement with Qian Renxue's mother, Bibi Dong.

And Qian Renxue most likely still did not know about that relationship.

A chasm lay between her and Bibi Dong. Information between mother and daughter had never been exchanged.

Of course, She Xian could not directly say, "That man has something to do with your mother."

If a six-year-old said something like that, Qian Renxue would be strange not to regard him as a monster.

But with a simple "I think I heard Grandpa mention him," he could gently stuff the two keywords, Yu Xiaogang and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, into Qian Renxue's mind.

As for whether she investigated, and how deeply she investigated, that would be her own business.

As for Tang San...

She Xian chose to wait and watch.

That child was Tang Hao's son. That information was far too precise—so precise that no excuse could explain where it had come from.

Worse still, Tang Hao was a rank ninety-six Clear Sky Douluo. For all he knew, he might be lurking beside Tang San right now, protecting him in secret.

If Tang San's identity were rashly exposed and triggered a chain reaction, bringing that god of slaughter out into the open,

then it would not be stirring the undercurrents. It would be setting off a hydrogen bomb.

So,

the Yu Xiaogang lead could be given.

The Tang San lead had to stay hidden.

Give half, keep half, and let Qian Renxue piece the puzzle together herself.

"Oh?"

When Qian Renxue heard the words Tyrant Dragon Clan, her golden eyes narrowed slightly.

There was only one clan on the continent that could be called that: the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

One of the Upper Three Sects.

Their martial soul was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, and their clan's power was entrenched in the eastern part of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Within the sect hierarchy of the entire Douluo Continent, the Upper Three Sects stood at the very peak of the pyramid.

Yu Xiaogang. His surname was Yu!

The core surname of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was Yu.

Qian Renxue recalled the appearance of that middle-aged man from earlier.

His clothes were plain, his bearing downcast, and he looked utterly shabby. He claimed to be a junior Soul Master teacher at Nuoding Academy.

How could someone from one of the Upper Three Sects' clans end up teaching at some lowly academy?

If he truly came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, why had he identified himself only as a humble teacher from Nuoding Academy, deliberately concealing his clan background?

Was he hiding his identity?

A dim light flashed deep within Qian Renxue's golden eyes.

For the time being, she did not connect this matter to Bibi Dong.

She knew very little about her mother's past.

No one had ever mentioned that hidden romantic history in front of her.

But the words "Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan" were enough to arouse her vigilance.

Whether it was coincidence or something else, it was worth looking into after she returned.

Qian Renxue buried the matter in her heart.

Her usual calm returned to her face.

"Let's go. We can't delay the soul ring matter any longer."

She Xian obediently followed.

He had caught the slight narrowing of Qian Renxue's eyes when she heard the words Tyrant Dragon Clan.

The seed had been planted.

Now, he only had to wait for it to sprout on its own.

The two continued deeper into the Soul Hunting Forest.

Qian Renxue led the way ahead, her golden hair swaying gently amid the forest's shifting light and shadows.

She Xian followed behind her, his steps keeping pace automatically, though his mind had already drifted elsewhere.

He was still thinking about Tang San.

Earlier, Qian Renxue had casually killed that four-hundred-year Mandala Snake with a single slash.

If he remembered correctly, that snake had been the source of Tang San's first soul ring in the original story.

The Mandala Snake's soul ring had granted Blue Silver Grass its first soul skill, Entanglement, and added a poison attribute to it as well.

This became one of the foundations of Tang San's future combat system.

Now, Qian Renxue had cut that snake down.

She Xian silently calculated in his heart. What will Tang San's first soul ring become?

Without the Mandala Snake, would his Blue Silver Grass's first soul skill still be that damned Entanglement?

The butterfly effect had already begun.

The original story's plotline was shifting.

For She Xian, this was both a good thing and a bad thing.

The good thing was that once the original trajectory changed, Tang San's path of growth would no longer be something he could fully predict.

But likewise, those fated opportunities and coincidences from the original story might also be disrupted.

The bad thing was that once the butterfly effect spread, the course of this world would drift further and further beyond the scope of his foreknowledge.

His greatest cheat—his knowledge of the original plot—would gradually lose its value.

The more deeply She Xian thought, the more absorbed he became.

"Duang!"

Suddenly, She Xian's face slammed solidly into something soft in front of him.

It was incredibly elastic.

Warm and full.

The sensation enveloped both sides of his face, along with the distinctive silky texture of Qian Renxue's clothing.

She Xian's mind went blank for 0.3 seconds.

Then he realized that Qian Renxue had stopped walking.

And he had been distracted.

His face was currently buried against Qian Renxue's... rear.

More precisely, the place where her perfect curves were outlined.

He had crashed straight into it, his entire face fitting perfectly into that cushioned zone.

She Xian froze.

Qian Renxue turned her head.

Her golden phoenix eyes lowered as she looked at She Xian, whose face was buried against her backside.

Her expression was terrifyingly calm.

"When you walk, don't get distracted."

Her voice was cold and clear.

If She Xian had not still been a child, she would have already struck and minced him into pieces.

She Xian yanked his face out of that softness at lightning speed and took a big step back, his ears burning red.

"Yes! This disciple knows his mistake!"

He reflexively clasped his fists in salute, his posture respectful to the extreme.

But the redness on his face gave everything away.

Qian Renxue glanced at him.

It was common enough for a six-year-old child to bump into someone while walking.

But this child's blush was far too exaggerated.

Qian Renxue chose not to probe into this suspicious point.

She turned back around and continued onward, her pace half a beat faster than before.

She Xian followed behind, honestly staring at the road ahead without letting his gaze wander.

In his mind, Little White was still muttering faintly, "My husband's face can only press against this servant's..."

Medusa Queen added with a cold laugh, "You really dare press it against anything."

She Xian wiped away cold sweat in his heart as he retorted, "I was distracted! I really was just distracted!"

"That spot was an accidental physical collision!"

Medusa Queen sneered. "Oh?"

The doubt contained in that single "oh" made She Xian decide to shut up.

Qian Renxue, walking ahead, suddenly stopped once more.

This time, She Xian had learned his lesson.

He braked in advance and maintained a safe distance.

"Teacher?"

Qian Renxue raised a hand, her slender fingertip pointing ahead.

"We've arrived."

She Xian looked in the direction she indicated.

The dense forest suddenly opened up ahead, revealing a broad stretch of water.

It was a cold pool.