第18章 欲知后事,且看下回

The Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, crown prince's bedchamber.

Xue Qinghe gently kneaded her sore cheeks, unable to suppress a lingering sense of melancholy.

She had worn this disguise for too long. Day after day, she remained gentle as jade, with speech and manners flawless, and even the curvature of the corners of her eyes measured as if by a ruler.

Upon returning to her chambers and dismissing the attendants, she finally had a brief moment to peel the mask belonging to "Xue Qinghe" from her face.

"Young master." A very faint voice came from behind the screen.

Qian Renxue did not turn her head.

She sat before the bronze mirror, pressing her fingertips against the lower edge of her cheekbones, kneading away the stiff muscles stroke by stroke.

The face in the mirror had refined features, save for the eyes, which were as cold as unmelting snow on a mountain peak.

"Speak."

"It has been investigated thoroughly."

The voice behind the screen dropped to a murmur. "A youth with dark blue hair released his Martial Soul in the middle of the street. Two spirit rings, one yellow and one purple. Afterward, the people in half the street began to laugh, which quickly spread to the entire Heaven Dou City. No injuries, no illnesses, not a single soul spared, and the laughter could not be stopped. That person left in the chaos without injuring anyone the entire time."

Qian Renxue's hand paused.

"One yellow and one purple?"

"Yes, the configuration matches the spirit rings of the girl in the red dress who appeared in Notting City."

"Just like that masked fellow, too," Qian Renxue said softly.

She raised her head, looked into her own eyes in the mirror, and her voice quieted further. "Continue the investigation."

"Lords Snake Spear and Pufferfish have already gone."

"After disguising themselves, they questioned seventeen witnesses on the main street, three of whom were spirit masters."

"According to descriptions, the youth is about seven Chi tall, with a slender build, dark blue hair, and messy ends."

"He wears an asymmetric work jacket that is wine-red and black-purple spliced, with the collar open to reveal a black form-fitting inner layer, dark slim-fitting trousers on the lower half, paired with long black leather boots, and a constant smile on his face. He smiled as if..."

The person paused.

"Speak."

"He smiled with exceptional craftiness."

"...?"

Qian Renxue's fingers slowly tightened.

Just a moment ago, she had just picked up a teacup when the corners of her mouth inexplicably curved upward.

It was not that she wanted to smile; something had seeped in from the air.

She had thought government affairs were simply too exhausting.

Yet before she could even put down the teacup, that sense of amusement welled up again.

She smiled.

Though extremely brief and faint, this was indeed the first time she had been unable to control herself since she began disguising herself as Xue Qinghe.

"What a terrifying spirit skill... Find this person, and do not let the people of Spirit Hall make contact."

"Understood."

After that, Snake Spear and Pufferfish investigated for a few more days.

Yet that dark blue-haired youth seemed to have been swallowed whole by the night of Heaven Dou City, leaving not even a single strand of hair behind. The more people they asked, the more chaotic the accounts became.

Some said he went east, while others claimed he headed south.

There were even those who swore they saw him fold his entire body in half like a piece of paper after laughing, crawling right into a rat hole at the base of a wall.

"Foolish talk," Qian Renxue replied with only those two words.

She sat behind the desk in the crown prince's palace, half a stack of case files spread out before her.

They were all anomalies that had occurred within Heaven Dou City over the past few days.

She read with extreme speed, scanning pages in a flash, her brow devoid of emotion save for an occasional light stroke of her brush along the margin.

Snake Spear's low voice drifted in from outside the door. "Young master, we still haven't found a trace of that person. However, while conducting inquiries, the men below did bring back some... things."

"Speak."

"A few pages of paper. Recovered from an old book stall in the south of the city. They said these have been circulating wildly in private throughout Heaven Dou City recently, and even some unpretentious minor noblewomen are copying them."

Qian Renxue put down her brush and raised her head.

The door cracked open, and Pufferfish personally carried in a wooden tray.

A grey cloth was spread across the tray, upon which several sheets of paper were neatly arranged.

The paper was slightly yellowed with ragged edges, and a few sheets still carried a very faint trace of charcoal ash, as if rescued from the edge of a hearth.

Qian Renxue did not touch them right away; she merely lowered her gaze.

The topmost sheet of paper had been copied so much that the handwriting was blurred, yet the very first line remained clear:

"Douluo Calendar, a certain year, the two Mountains set sail together upon the same boat and departed for the ocean."

She slowly picked up that sheet of paper.

"What is the content?" she asked.

"It is written... seemingly concerning the past affairs of two titled Douluo."

Pufferfish lowered his head. "However, pseudonyms are used. Some people have already cross-referenced them, and the spirit skill and appearance of one of them bear a striking resemblance to that person from the Clear Sky School."

Qian Renxue said nothing and flipped to the next page.

This page detailed Sea God Island, sea breezes, white waves, and three people who stepped ashore side by side.

There was little text and an abundance of blank space. When it reached the line, "The island master turned her head, her smile blooming with a hundred charms," everything stopped below.

"Who wrote this?" she asked.

"It cannot be found."

Pufferfish replied, "The old woman who sold these papers is illiterate. She said someone gave them to her for free to use as kindling paper, and thinking it a waste to throw them away, she resold them to a book vendor."

Qian Renxue fell silent for a moment and placed the paper back onto the tray.

"You may withdraw first."

"Understood."

The door closed again, leaving her alone in the hall.

Qian Renxue did not immediately pick up those sheets of paper once more.

She merely sat there, her fingertips tapping lightly twice upon the table.

That spirit skill which had caused the entire city to laugh had yet to be investigated thoroughly.

And now these papers had emerged, detailing those very individuals who had stood at the absolute pinnacle of this continent years ago.

She suddenly felt that there might be a connection between these two matters.

"Laughter across the entire city, and now these papers," she murmured, as if reciting to herself.

"Just what are you trying to do?"

The night outside the window was exceptionally quiet, save for the wind blowing past the veranda, causing those few pages of paper at the corner of the desk to tremble slightly.

The bottom-most sheet of paper had been folded, and the final few words were faintly visible:

"To know what happens next, please refer to the next chapter."

Three days later, another batch of papers circulated.

This time, it was a complete booklet.

It recorded "Past Affairs of Sea God Island."

The text stated that Haoyue and Tianyue boarded a ship and set out to sea together, though initially, there were no words spoken between them.

As they reached the densest part of the sea mist, Tianyue suddenly asked, "Why do you always wear a bamboo hat?"

Haoyue did not answer, merely pulling his bamboo hat down a fraction lower.

When the sea mist dispersed, Tianyue saw that on Haoyue's left ring finger, a very thin silver band was fitted.

That silver band was neither a spirit tool nor an heirloom of the Clear Sky School.

It was something the two of them had picked up from an anonymous, frozen corpse during a battle in the northern snow ridges years ago.

Tianyue asked no further.

When the ship docked at Sea God Island, the island master came personally to welcome them.

The island master was exceptionally beautiful. That single smile caused even the seabirds to forget to beat their wings. She looked at Haoyue first, then at Tianyue, and finally said, "The two of you, trust you have been well since we last met."

The text recorded: "The moment those four words left her lips, the ocean tide refused to recede."

Later, the island master made a pact, declaring, "Whoever becomes a god, to them I shall belong."

Tianyue withdrew first—not because he could not contend, but because he must not. When he left, it rained on Sea God Island for three days.

In the night, the island master knocked on Haoyue's door and presented a lamp.

Haoyue accepted the lamp without a word. By dawn, Haoyue had departed.

He did not say where he was going, stating only, "If I do not become a god, I shall not return."

When the ship left the shore, Tianyue was no longer there. Haoyue stood alone at the bow for the entire night, the silver band in his embrace twisted out of shape by his grip.

The text did not mention whether Bo Saixi knew of this matter.

It merely left a single sentence on the very last page:

"In truth, on that day, Tianyue did not leave first; he hid within the sea mist, watching that vessel until it vanished completely."

Qian Renxue furrowed her brow. "What kind of nonsense is this..."

In an inn within Heaven Dou City, Luo Yan gently put down his brush.

Looking at the stack of paper before him, he revealed a faint smile.

Qian Daoliu loved Bo Saixi, Bo Saixi loved Tang Chen, and Tang Chen... loved Qian Daoliu!

This was truly... far too entertaining!