After spending the whole previous day practicing moves, Beiming Lieyang, having rested for the night and been tidied up by the Ice Empress, decided to take a stroll around Heaven Dou City.
Heaven Dou City's main street was indeed bustling. Shops stood one after another, pedestrians crowded the roads, and hawkers' cries mingled with the rumble of cartwheels in an endless clamor.
Dugu Yan walked ahead to lead the way. "Your Excellency, up ahead is the liveliest market in Heaven Dou City."
She turned and pointed toward a dense cluster of stalls not far away.
"They sell everything: medicinal herbs, weapons, and all sorts of strange little trinkets."
Having witnessed Beiming Lieyang's terrifying strength, Dugu Yan no longer dared address him by name and instead used the form of address reserved for a Title Douluo.
Ye Lingling walked beside her, but her gaze kept drifting toward Beiming Lieyang.
The golden-haired youth walked in the middle, firmly flanked by two shadows of entirely different colors.
"Xiaoyang, Xiaoyang, what are those?" The Ice Empress's emerald twin ponytails bounced with each step, and her golden eyes darted around, finding everything new and interesting.
She suddenly tugged on Beiming Lieyang's sleeve and pointed to a roadside stall, its fragrance wafting halfway down the street.
Beiming Lieyang looked where she pointed. "Spicy Rabbit Heads, and Spicy Rabbit Legs."
"Are they good?"
The Ice Empress stared fixedly at the pot, her gaze already stuck to it.
"Bing'er is getting greedier and greedier." The Snow Empress chuckled softly beside her.
"Hmph, didn't we come to Heaven Dou City to eat?" The Ice Empress snorted with complete confidence.
"Why not just buy some and try it?"
Just as Beiming Lieyang was about to head over, Dugu Yan spoke first. "Your Excellency, let me handle this."
She hurried over to the stall and ordered one portion each of numbing-spicy, fragrant-spicy, five-spice, cumin, and sweet-and-sour flavors.
Seeing how generously she spent, the vendor also gave her a portion of cold Blue Silver Grass rabbit meat for free.
Dugu Yan took out a Gold Soul Coin and turned to leave.
The vendor stood stunned for quite a while before realizing that he had run into a wealthy noble young lady today.
"Your Excellency, there are quite a few flavors: numbing-spicy, fragrant-spicy, five-spice, cumin, and sweet-and-sour. The owner also threw in a portion of Blue Silver Grass rabbit meat."
Dugu Yan handed over the packets of rabbit meat. Seeing the pile of oil-paper parcels, Beiming Lieyang's eye twitched.
Blue Silver Grass rabbit meat.
Now that was really something.
"Auntie Bing, try the numbing-spicy one. It should be the most fragrant." He picked up a spicy rabbit leg and handed it to the Ice Empress.
The Ice Empress took it and bit down hard. After chewing twice, her eyes lit up instantly.
The numbing, fiery flavor exploded across her tongue. She froze for a moment, then chewed even faster, as if she wanted to swallow that novelty straight into her stomach.
Then she held the rabbit leg up to his mouth.
Beiming Lieyang lowered his head and took a bite, chewing it. "Mm, the numbing-spicy flavor has enough kick, and the rabbit meat is nice and firm. Delicious."
The Ice Empress wore an expression that said, See? I told you it was delicious, then offered the rabbit leg to the Snow Empress.
Before the Snow Empress could say anything, the rabbit leg had already been shoved to her lips, leaving her no choice but to lower her head and take a bite.
She chewed very slowly. After swallowing, she frowned slightly. "It is quite fragrant, but I still prefer lighter flavors."
"Mother Xue, the cumin flavor is milder." Beiming Lieyang picked up another cumin rabbit leg and handed it over.
The Snow Empress tasted it, the furrow between her brows easing as she nodded. Then she held it to Beiming Lieyang's mouth and let him take a bite.
After he bit into it, the Ice Empress leaned over and took another bite.
"The cumin flavor is delicious too. So rabbit meat can be this tasty. Xiaoyang, you should have some too."
"Mm, very fragrant. Very delicious."
One rabbit leg had been bitten with three neat gaps, one large and two small.
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling stood nearby, watching the three feed one another, their expressions gradually turning complicated.
They already knew that Beiming Lieyang was extremely close with these two beautiful women, but wasn't this a little too close?
And for some reason, they felt as though someone had pried open their mouths and stuffed them full of dog food. Before they had even eaten anything, they were already full.
Burp...
"Yanyan."
Ye Lingling lowered her voice. "Don't you think the feeling between them... is especially strange?"
"It's not strange." Dugu Yan paused. "It's closeness. The kind of closeness where there is no need to be on guard."
As she spoke, she thought of her parents, and her expression dimmed slightly.
Now, she only had her grandfather to rely on.
Ye Lingling fell silent for a moment and did not respond. She knew about Dugu Yan's situation.
She looked again at the easy harmony between Beiming Lieyang, the Ice Empress, and the Snow Empress, and inexplicably felt a little envious.
Only after the three of them finished the rabbit legs in their hands did Dugu Yan step forward and take out several handkerchiefs for them to wipe their hands.
"Your Excellency, there is a restaurant ahead called Guanyun Pavilion. Its Heaven Dou City specialties are quite good. Would you like to go rest for a while?"
By now, Dugu Yan had truly become like a little attendant, bustling around before and after them.
Beiming Lieyang nodded. "Sure. I am getting tired from walking anyway."
He turned to look at the Snow Empress. "Mother Xue, shall we sit for a while?"
The Snow Empress nodded slightly.
The Ice Empress was still chewing her final bite of spicy rabbit leg as she shouted indistinctly.
"Let's go, let's go! I want that thing—what was it called? That yellow powdered thing pressed into shape, the sweet pastry with a little fragrance. We had it yesterday morning!"
"Chestnut cake." Dugu Yan answered quickly.
Watching Dugu Yan bustle about like that, Ye Lingling's lips curved upward unconsciously.
The only people who could make Dugu Yan act this way were probably Beiming Lieyang and his group.
Just as Beiming Lieyang's group headed toward Guanyun Pavilion.
Among a group of people strolling together not far behind them, one person's attention shifted to Beiming Lieyang and the others.
"Huh, aren't those Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling?"
"Who are those people beside them? Those two women are so beautiful."
"Yeah, yeah, the twin-tailed one is even prettier than Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling."
"But why does Dugu Yan kind of seem like she has become a little attendant?"
The moment those words were spoken, the others were immediately surprised.
"Now that you mention it, she really does."
"And Ye Lingling too."
This group was the newly formed Heaven Dou Royal Team.
They had happened to come out for a stroll together and had not expected to run into Beiming Lieyang's group.
Yu Tianheng stared directly at Dugu Yan, a glint flashing through his eyes.
"Let's go take a look."
In a window-side private room on the third floor of Guanyun Pavilion, the carved wooden windows stood half-open, offering a full view of Heaven Dou City's main street outside.
Beiming Lieyang took his seat, with the Ice Empress sitting to his left and the Snow Empress to his right.
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling stood to one side like servants awaiting instructions.
"You two should sit too. No need to act like this." Beiming Lieyang glanced at them.
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling exchanged a glance before carefully sitting down.
After the menu arrived, Beiming Lieyang gave it a quick look and pushed it directly in front of the Ice Empress. "Order whatever you want."
The Ice Empress held the menu and flipped through it for a long while before pointing at the illustrations.
"This one, this one, and this one!"
She ordered seven or eight dishes in one breath: Eight-treasure duck, Braised Pork Knuckle, Cloud Snow Soup, steamed cod, salt and pepper crispy bones, hot and sour soup, until the entire table was packed.
Then she took out a chunk of Void Mysterious Ice from her Storage Soul Tool and began fiddling with shaved ice and milk tea.
The Ice Empress hummed some unknown tune as she shaved the ice. Watching her, the Snow Empress shook her head with an amused smile.
"Bing'er, you are treating someone else's restaurant like your own home."
"Hmph, what are you afraid of?" Without even raising her head, the Ice Empress scooped up a spoonful of shaved ice and put it into her mouth. Squinting in satisfaction, she let out a contented sigh.
Beiming Lieyang was lowering his head to gnaw on a piece of braised pork knuckle. A little sauce seeped down the corner of his mouth, but he did not notice.
The Snow Empress raised her hand and gently wiped the sauce from the corner of his mouth with her fingertip. Then she withdrew her hand and lightly licked it clean.
Beiming Lieyang looked up at that exact moment and saw the scene, his heartbeat quickening.
Then he ladled out a bowl of Cloud Snow Soup from the dish before him and gently pushed it toward her.
"Mother Xue, this one is lighter."
The Snow Empress looked down at the bowl, picked it up, and took a sip. The faint furrow of her brow relaxed.
"It tastes quite good."
The Ice Empress leaned over. "What about me?"
Beiming Lieyang glanced at her. "Don't you have milk tea in your hand?"
"Milk tea is milk tea, soup is soup!" The Ice Empress declared righteously.
Beiming Lieyang ladled out another bowl and pushed it in front of her. The Ice Empress lowered her head and took a sip, smacking her lips. "Mm, it really is pretty good."
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling sat opposite them, watching the Ice Empress divide the shaved ice into two bowls and push them in front of the two girls. Fruit jam and syrup had been drizzled over the top.
The two looked down at the crystal-clear shaved ice in their bowls, somewhat stunned.
Void Mysterious Ice could actually be eaten like this?
And the Void Mysterious Ice before them seemed to exude an enticing magic.
Dugu Yan scooped up a spoonful of shaved ice and put it into her mouth, then suddenly froze.
It was way too delicious!
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling also joined the army of eager eaters, deaf to everything outside the window.
As long as I don't look, no dog food can be stuffed into my mouth.
Before you continue