Preparing for Something Big

The evening breeze seeped in through the crack in the car window, brushing past his hair and shaving another layer off the fading sky overhead. The sun had mostly set, with only half an arc still hanging at the edge of the horizon. Its light spread upward from the earth, dyeing the undersides of the clouds a warm red, as if the last of its fuel were slowly burning away.

By the time Tang Wulin got home, it was nearly dark. When he pushed open the courtyard gate, the lights were on inside. Dim yellow light streamed through the windows, spreading a small patch of warmth across the ground before the door.

"We're having a feast this afternoon!" Tang Wulin called from the doorway, his voice carrying a brightness he had not noticed himself. "I've got money. My treat!"

Standing there, he looked like a newly lit wick—not blazing fiercely, but glowing steadily.

Everything inside was still the same, as though Tang Wulin had never left. There had always been a place for him in this home.

Tang Ziran stood by the door with car keys in hand, seeming to have just returned from work. Lang Yue was still in the car, while Na'er ran out with both hands raised above her head. "Okay! We'll listen to Big Brother!" Crumbs from snacks still clung to the corners of her mouth and her fingers—she had probably snuck something to eat after getting back.

"You little brat."

Tang Ziran sat in the driver's seat with one hand on the steering wheel. The car was parked by the roadside as he turned to look at Tang Wulin. "Tang Tang, tell Dad, how did you make so much money?"

Lang Yue sat in the passenger seat and turned around as well. "Yes, Mom's curious too."

Leaning against the back seat, Tang Wulin briefly told them about what had happened at the Forging Masters Association, leaving out many details. He realized that he did not need to explain much—in this life, he truly had not devoted much energy to forging, yet precisely because of that, he had experienced a feeling he had never known before.

The Soul Power gains brought by focusing on a single craft had saved him an enormous amount of time to improve his cultivation. His Soul Power had steadily risen, and his foundation had grown stronger by the day. He even had a feeling that after returning from Dragon Valley, he might truly be able to touch the threshold of a Titled Douluo.

Tang Ziran fell silent for a while after hearing this. His fingers lightly tapped the steering wheel twice, and he did not ask any further questions.

He started the car again, and the streetlights outside began to slip backward one after another. Lang Yue glanced at Tang Wulin through the rearview mirror and smiled, saying nothing more.

Tang Wulin did not know what this couple had experienced in their youth, but he could vaguely sense that before meeting him and Na'er, they had already had little left to lose.

It was the arrival of the two of them that had given the couple the courage to fight fate again. They were not especially capable and had always avoided dangerous matters. Whether in their youth or now, they had always been pawns at the mercy of others. But there was one thing they had always insisted on: Tang Wulin and Na'er had to die after them.

Everyone enjoyed dinner immensely. Then, beneath the moonlight, they watched the streetlights retreat one by one until they returned home.

The lights of the night shone in through the window, laying a narrow strip of warmth across the floor. Na'er had already fallen asleep on the small bed in the inner room, her breathing even and steady, one cheek pressed against the corner of her pillow and outlined softly by the lamplight. Tang Wulin sat beside his own small bed and took out the things he had brought back one by one, placing them on the table—the silver bead went onto the windowsill, where it glimmered faintly beneath the moonlight.

If only Na'er could come to school with me. He held the thought in his heart without saying it aloud.

The Golden Dragon King's voice sounded in his mind. "Then what about your father and mother? Do not place too much trust in the Silver Dragon's subordinates."

Tang Wulin did not answer immediately. He turned his head to look outside, where the outline of the courtyard wall gradually faded beneath the moonlight. "Then what about Na'er?" he asked. "She's my little sister. I want her to be like an ordinary person, able to see this beautiful world, instead of being a wager or a tool."

The Golden Dragon King fell silent for a while and did not respond. Tang Wulin waited, but no further words came. Still, he was not angry. Their time together had made him understand that the Golden Dragon King's evil mostly came from the portion of power he had inherited from the Dragon God. Though it could not be changed, that evil had already been worn down somewhat by time.

That violence and ferocity were things engraved into his bloodline, not entirely the result of his own choices.

He took the ring and a bank card from the Storage Soul Tool and examined them beneath the light. There were two things he wanted to do. The first was to have his father make up for the ceremony his mother had never gotten in her youth—a wedding. It did not have to be grand and extravagant, but at the very least, he wanted her to know that someone was treating her sincerely.

The second was to renovate and rebuild this old house, so it could truly stand for many more years. He put the two items away and returned them to the hidden compartment of the Storage Soul Tool.

The wind outside passed through the gaps in the courtyard wall, stirring faint rustling sounds. Moonlight streamed in through the window, dragging a thin silver-white ribbon across the floor, like a road not yet fully laid out. When Tang Wulin lay down, he glanced out the window. The branches of the old locust tree swayed gently in the wind, their tips turning once in the moonlight before falling still again, as if they were either growing or relaxing. He no longer thought about the things yet unfinished. Listening only to the steady breathing from the inner room, he closed his eyes.

Nothing was over yet, but at least for tonight, it could all wait.