Ye Xinglan's "Darkest Hour"

The footsteps outside did not fade away as expected. Instead, with the tragic air of a hero marching toward certain doom, they staggered back and forth in the stairwell.

Bang!

With a deafening crash, the front door was violently shoved open again. The force was so great that the door nearly flew straight into the living room. Ye Xinglan stood in the doorway. Her usually waterfall-smooth golden hair now resembled a bird's nest struck by lightning, every strand standing on end, with suspicious wisps of black smoke curling from the tips. Her clothes had suffered too. Several spots on her once-white training uniform had been scorched, a piece was even missing from one sleeve, and a few shallow red scratches marked her exposed arm, as if something sharp had cut her.

Her face was in the worst shape. That delicate face, usually three parts aloof and seven parts proud, was now filled with utter despair. A huge black eye sat beneath her left eye, a bandage was stuck to her right cheek, and her lips... those strangely shaped lips twitched uncontrollably, as though she were desperately suppressing the urge to explode.

"Gu—Yue—!!!"

Ye Xinglan roared those three words with every ounce of strength she possessed. The sound waves made the leaves of the houseplants tremble, and even the newly unpacked celadon tea set on the coffee table gave off a faint hum.

Gu Yue was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, holding a carrot pillow. She looked up innocently at the "refugee" who seemed to have returned from a battlefield. Tang Wulin stood beside her with the cup of milk, now somewhat cold, and leisurely crossed his legs, clearly ready to enjoy the show.

"Oh, you're back?" Gu Yue waved the pillow in her hand, her tone as cheerful as if she were greeting a neighbor returning from a stroll. "How did it go? Did you beat Xie Xie until he was crawling around looking for his teeth, crying and begging to go back to Shrek Academy for retraining?"

"Beat him?" Ye Xinglan looked as though she had heard the biggest joke in the world. She staggered into the living room and collapsed into an armchair, spreading out in the shape of a star, her chest heaving violently. "Gu Yue, do you know what hell is? What despair is? You told me to spar with him—why didn't you just send me out to feed Soul Beasts?"

As she panted, she raised a trembling finger and pointed toward the door, as though some terrifying monster still lurked beyond it. "That Xie Xie! That damned Xie Xie! He isn't human at all! He's a demon! An abyss! A walking time bomb!"

Gu Yue tilted her head, her eyes brimming with utterly sincere confusion. "No way, right? Xie Xie talks too much, but he's still a Soul Emperor. Even if he's not great in actual combat, his fundamentals should still be there. Did he run away before the fight? Did you scare him out of his wits?"

"Run away? That was a 'strategic repositioning'! 'Luring the enemy deeper'! A 'strategic retreat to preserve living forces'!" Ye Xinglan gritted her teeth. Every phrase seemed squeezed out through the gaps in her teeth, filled with an accusation written in blood and tears.

As it turned out, just as Gu Yue had expected, Ye Xinglan had found Xie Xie wandering around downstairs. He was wearing sunglasses and fiddling with his Light Dragon Dagger. When he saw Ye Xinglan coming down, he even gave a sleazy whistle. "Yo, isn't this our 'cold-faced killer,' Sister Xinglan? What, Gu Yue wouldn't play with you, so you came to catch up with me? Come on, come on, big brother will teach you a couple moves..."

Before he could finish, Ye Xinglan moved.

As an assault-type battle soul master, she flashed forward in a streak of golden light and instantly appeared before Xie Xie. Her slender Star God Sword thrust straight for his throat. The strike was fast, precise, and ruthless—clearly intended to make Xie Xie shut up.

By all rights, with Ye Xinglan's strength, that strike should have been enough to force Xie Xie back. Yet that bastard, in that very instant, pulled out a—flash grenade—from his soul tool belt.

Sizzle—!!!

Blinding white light erupted instantly, like the noon sun exploding inside the narrow stairwell.

"Ah—my eyes!!" Ye Xinglan instinctively closed her eyes, and her attack faltered.

In that fleeting second, Xie Xie actually used the Light Dragon Dagger like a baseball bat. Taking advantage of Ye Xinglan's brief blindness from the intense light, he swung it hard across her!

Bang!

Ye Xinglan took the blow squarely. She had not suffered any serious injury, but the humiliation hurt worse than being struck by a fixed-installation soul cannon.

"Xie Xie, you bastard! You used soul tools to play dirty!" Ye Xinglan roared as she opened her eyes, only to discover that the stairwell was filled with smoke. It was actually a smoke grenade Xie Xie had prepared in advance, and she could not see a thing.

The next ten minutes became the longest nightmare of Ye Xinglan's life.

Xie Xie took cowardly tactics to the absolute extreme. He refused to fight her head-on, instead tossing flash grenades, smoke grenades, and all kinds of disruptors through the smoke. Whenever Ye Xinglan was about to catch him, he would throw out some "Lost Trail Perfume"—supposedly a cheap soul tool product he had picked up through some dubious channel—making Ye Xinglan sneeze nonstop and drastically weakening her combat ability.

Even worse, Xie Xie actually knew how to use her own strength against her.

Once, Ye Xinglan finally rushed out of the smoke and was just about to unleash her Martial Soul Avatar to teach that brat a harsh lesson. Then she stepped on some kind of lubricant that bastard had smeared on the floor.

She slid more than ten meters in an instant and slammed headfirst into a fire hydrant, seeing stars from the impact.

"At that moment, I was thinking," Ye Xinglan accused weakly from the sofa, "I'm one of the Shrek Seven Monsters, and I was actually driven into a frenzy in a hallway by a useless fool armed with nothing but soul tools and such filthy tricks! I even... I even heard him whistling outside! He said, 'Sister Xinglan, don't rush. The game's only just begun!'"

Gu Yue nearly spat out the milk in her mouth. She imagined the scene: the icy and proud Ye Xinglan in a complete mess inside the smoke, while Xie Xie bounced around like some street thug. The image was simply too beautiful—too beautiful to bear looking at.

"So, he blinded you with a flash grenade, then knocked you out with the Light Dragon Dagger?" Gu Yue summarized, fighting back laughter.

"Was that knocking me out? That was humiliation! A devastating blow to my dignity!"

Ye Xinglan clawed at her own hair in frustration, turning her already messy golden hair into an even worse bird's nest. "In the end, he annoyed me so badly I lost my temper. I was just about to use my spiritual power to flick his forehead and teach him a lesson, when that bastard saw things were going wrong and immediately used the Thirty-Six-Kick Combo..."

"Wait," Tang Wulin cut in. "Xie Xie knows the Thirty-Six-Kick Combo? I thought all he knew was how to run his mouth."

"He doesn't! He just had oil under his feet! His running posture was so ridiculous that he somehow turned it into the effect of a Martial Soul!" Ye Xinglan pounded the sofa armrest in grief and indignation. "I chased him through three streets! Three whole streets! In the end, he ran into a fried chicken shop, locked the door, and shouted at me through the glass, 'Sister Xinglan, want some fried chicken? I'll treat you! Stop hitting me! Yuanen's waiting for me to confess to her!'"

At that point, Ye Xinglan finally could not hold herself together anymore. She curled up on the sofa, buried her face in a cushion, and let out a whimper like a wounded beast.

"And then?" Gu Yue leaned closer, asking with a wicked smile. "You didn't charge in?"

"Charge in?" Ye Xinglan suddenly raised her head, two clear tear streaks on her face—from anger. "Gu Yue, do you have any common sense? That was a public place! It was full of ordinary people!

If I charged in and tore apart someone's fried chicken shop, tomorrow's Star Dou Battle Network headline would be: <Shocking! Once-Gifted Young Woman Reduced to Fried Chicken Thief>. Would Shrek still have any face left? Would the elders of Sea God's Pavilion jump right out of the Golden Tree in rage?"

Gu Yue froze for a moment, then burst into earth-shaking laughter. She laughed so hard she doubled over, tears streaming from her eyes, and in the end had to hold Tang Wulin's shoulder just to stay upright.

"Hahahaha... Sorry, I didn't mean to, but this is just..." Gu Yue wiped away her tears. "Xie Xie definitely knew you would care about your image! He grabbed hold of your weakness! That move was too sinister! Too shameless! I love it!"

"You love it? Gu Yue, doesn't your conscience hurt?" Ye Xinglan watched Gu Yue laugh until she could barely breathe and felt her entire worldview collapse at that moment. She had always believed Gu Yue was the partner who understood her best, the one who could fight side by side with her. Yet she had only just discovered that Gu Yue not only did not feel sorry for her, but was watching with relish like a spectator at a monkey show.

"Of course it hurts." Gu Yue stopped laughing and looked at Ye Xinglan with a serious expression. "So I've decided that Xie Xie's portion of dinner is canceled tonight. No, at every group meal from now on, as long as I'm there, Xie Xie won't be allowed at the table! That's his punishment!"

Only then did Ye Xinglan recover a little psychological balance. She snorted, sat up straight again, and began tidying her messy golden hair. She had lost, and she had been played, but at least Gu Yue had not mocked her fighting ability and had taken her side—though all she had done was unilaterally declare sanctions against Xie Xie.

"Forget it." Ye Xinglan sighed and waved a hand as if accepting her fate. "I was careless this time. I didn't expect that brat Xie Xie to evolve and actually learn military strategy. When I get back, I need Teacher Wu to open a special training course just for me: 'How to Handle Cowardly Opponents.'"

"Give it up." Tang Wulin poured cold water on her without mercy. "I think you should first take a survival class called 'How to Ignore Xie Xie and Turn Around Immediately When You See Him.' Staying alive is more important."

Ye Xinglan glared at Tang Wulin. Though she did not want to admit it, she knew he was right. Getting tangled up with Xie Xie was absolutely the least cost-effective choice. That guy was like sticky taffy—once he latched on, he could not be shaken off, and he would leave you covered in trouble.

"What do you want to do?" Gu Yue asked.

"Tomorrow." Ye Xinglan stood up. Though her legs were still a little weak, her back was perfectly straight. "Tomorrow morning at six, I'm coming to get you for morning training. No being late, no using back pain as an excuse. And no saying you're some housewife who only knows how to hover around the stove."

With that, she grabbed her coat from the sofa and strode toward the door. Her steps were still somewhat unsteady this time, but they were filled with resolute strength.

At the door, she stopped and looked back at the two people in the living room. The fading sunlight fell over her, outlining her in gold.

"And one more thing," she added through gritted teeth. "This isn't over! Once I recover, I'm going to bend Xie Xie's pair of Light Dragon Daggers with my own hands! I'll bend them into a bow and give them to you as a birthday present!"

"Wow, what a romantic gift." Gu Yue smiled and waved.

The door closed.

The living room became quiet again. The air still retained the gunpowder scent of their earlier commotion, but it held even more warmth and peace.

Tang Wulin walked over to Gu Yue and gently draped an arm around her shoulders. "Looks like our peaceful days are coming to an end."

"That may not be a bad thing." Gu Yue leaned against his shoulder and watched the sunset gradually sink beyond the horizon. "Having people chattering around at home can be lively sometimes. Besides..."

She paused, a sly curve appearing on her lips. "I also want to see whether someone as proud as Ye Xinglan can really keep getting up at six every morning. I'll bet a bottle of collector's Longjing that she won't last a week."

"You're on." Tang Wulin smiled and pinched her nose. "But are you really not going to respond to Xinglan's challenge? She sounded serious just now."

Gu Yue fell silent for a moment. She walked over to the pile of unopened delivery boxes and casually picked up one. It was a rectangular package marked: "Precision Instrument. Handle with Care."

"Wulin," Gu Yue said absently as she peeled away the tape, "do you think what I am now counts as a kind of 'strength'?"

Tang Wulin was stunned for a moment, then understood what she meant. He thought about it before answering seriously. "The strength we pursued before was soul power rank, soul ring configuration, and being able to kill enemies and win on the battlefield. That kind of strength was a shield against the outside world. But now..."

He looked toward the kitchen, where the fresh vegetables and meat Gu Yue had just bought were still sitting.

"Now, you know how to care for people, how to build a life, and how to find yourself a peaceful corner in a chaotic world. You no longer need to defeat anyone to prove yourself, because you yourself are already a harbor worth protecting. That kind of strength is the foundation within. Without that foundation, no matter how splendid the shield outside may be, it will ultimately be hollow."

Gu Yue's hands stopped moving. She looked at Tang Wulin, her eyes warming slightly. She had heard countless people praise her for her extraordinary talent and tremendous power, but no one's words had ever struck so precisely at the softest part of her heart—the part that longed most to be understood.

"So you're saying I can win without fighting Ye Xinglan?" Gu Yue asked, with a hint of coquettishness that was hard to detect in her voice.

"I'm saying..." Tang Wulin bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "You've already won. From the moment you chose to walk through this door and embrace this life, you had already won. As for sparring... that's enjoyment between friends, seasoning for life, not some test you have to pass."

Gu Yue smiled. It was an easy smile, one that came from the bottom of her heart.

"Then this tea set counts as a reward?" She lifted the celadon tea set and admired it beneath the light.

"It counts. Of course it counts." Tang Wulin agreed with a smile. "But since Xinglan brought up training, I think we should do something too. After all, with a 'battle maniac' who could erupt at any time watching us, we can't really let ourselves slack off."

"Like what?"

"Like..." Tang Wulin blinked mysteriously. "I'll sign up too and do morning training with Ye Xinglan. I'll keep an eye on her so she doesn't slack off. Though my main purpose is actually..."

He pulled Gu Yue into his arms and held her tightly. "To stop certain people from sneaking ice cream out of the refrigerator in the middle of the night, or trying to use a carrot pillow as a training dummy."

Gu Yue struggled twice in his arms. When she realized she could not break free, she gave up resisting and simply leaned against him like a lazy cat.

"Do whatever you want. Just don't stop me from opening my packages."

"Open them, open them." Tang Wulin patted her back affectionately. "Once you're done, it'll be time to make dinner. Since Xinglan put Xie Xie on the blacklist, it looks like tonight's sweet-and-sour ribs can only be handled by me, the 'substitute player.'"

"You?" Gu Yue raised her head and looked at him skeptically. "You know how to cook?"

"If I don't know, I can learn." Tang Wulin looked completely confident. "Isn't it just pouring sugar and vinegar into a wok and stir-frying them? How hard can that be? For my beloved wife, I'm going all in!"

Gu Yue looked at his expression of brave determination mixed with eager anticipation and could not help laughing.

Outside the door, in some dark corner, Xie Xie—who had just survived the "Great Fried Chicken Shop Escape"—was rubbing his aching arm as he indignantly typed a message to Tang Wulin: [Boss, save me! That violent maniac Ye Xinglan has her eye on me! I feel like my personal safety is under serious threat! I need lots of food to soothe my wounded heart! Preferably... food made by Gu Yue!]

The glow of the phone screen lit up his face, which was written with the word "miserable."