Searching Parties

After dinner, Shui Yue'er paid the bill, and the group left Sea Flavor Pavilion amid laughter and chatter.

Night had fully fallen, yet the snack street was even more crowded than before, filled with lanterns and vendors' cries.

Shui Yue'er led everyone through two narrow alleys, avoiding the crowds, and arrived at the post station outside Vast Sea City's northern gate.

A luxurious carriage bearing Skywater Academy's emblem was already waiting there.

Two specially bred ice-element soul beast horses pulled the carriage. Their bodies were snow-white, and fine ice crystals drifted from their manes in the night wind.

The carriage compartment was a full size larger than an ordinary carriage and could fit ten people. Soft cushions covered the interior, while an exquisite little charcoal brazier sat in one corner with a pot of hot tea warming atop it.

"Get in, little cuties." Shui Yue'er opened the door and made an inviting gesture.

Jiang Lan climbed aboard with doro in his arms, and the moment he entered, he was stunned by how luxurious it was.

The cushions were even softer than his bed in Sea God Palace. Roasted tangerine peels on the brazier gave off a faint, refreshing fragrance, and there was even a small bookshelf in the corner, neatly lined with several Soul Master guides.

"This is way too luxurious, quack..." Jiang Lan set doro on the cushions and sank down beside her. The little orange flippers of his penguin onesie kicked twice against the padding, and he narrowed his eyes in bliss.

The girls climbed aboard one after another. Shui Yue'er was the last to enter, closing the door before knocking on the front wall of the carriage to signal the driver to depart.

The two Ice Soul Horses snorted, their hooves tapping out a crisp rhythm against the stone road. The carriage smoothly left the post station and headed northeast along the official road.

Once they left the city, the road grew bumpier, but the girls in the carriage were all Soul Masters. To them, the swaying was practically nothing.

Xue Wu leaned against Yu Hairou's shoulder and dozed off. The other three girls huddled together and chatted quietly, while Shui Yue'er persistently teased doro.

doro lay sprawled across Shui Yue'er's lap, her belly rubbed until it faced the sky. Her two tiny legs curled against her chest, her eyes half-lidded as she occasionally let out a contented, "doro~."

She had completely given up resisting. She even nudged her head into Shui Yue'er's palm on her own, utterly forgetting whose Martial Soul she was.

Jiang Lan lay on the cushions with his head resting on Shui Bing'er's thigh. The tiny penguin beak on his hood bobbed up and down with the carriage's movements.

He had wanted to say something, but the drowsiness of being full swept over him like a tide. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and before he could speak, his breathing had already become even.

The carriage sped through the night. The driver flicked his whip, and the hooves of the two Gale Horses rang out in a crisp, steady rhythm.

The world beyond the carriage gradually quieted. Only the howl of wind rushing past the windows and the occasional cry of a night bird could be heard.

After the carriage left Vast Sea City, the entire city descended into a modest bout of chaos because of his disappearance.

The first to realize something was wrong was the supervisor of the Vast Sea Great Soul Arena.

Not long after the men he had dispatched set out, one team hurried back with news that nearly made him tear off his goatee.

"What did you say?" The supervisor rose from his chair, both hands braced on the desk. "That child is no longer on the snack street?"

"Absolutely!" The messenger wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Following your orders, this subordinate began tailing him from the Soul Arena and followed him all the way to the snack street. Everything was fine at first, but then a group of girls in blue-and-white battle skirts suddenly appeared, surrounded the child, pinched and hugged him, then went into Sea Flavor Pavilion together."

"This subordinate waited outside the whole time, but the child left through the back door with those girls! He got straight into a carriage! This subordinate couldn't catch up at all!"

The supervisor slowly sat back down, unconsciously twisting the tip of his goatee between his fingers.

A six-year-old monster had just thrown a heaven-shaking punch in the Soul Arena. Before he could even figure out the child's background, he had been carried off by a group of girls.

If his superiors learned of this, his days as supervisor were probably over.

"Keep pursuing them. Follow the direction they took out of the city." The supervisor rubbed his brow. "You must find him."

At the same time, Salas, the master of the Spirit Hall Vast Sea City Branch, received the news as well.

"He's gone?!" Salas slammed his hand on the desk, making the teacups atop it jump three times. "What do you mean, gone?!"

"I-I mean exactly that." The deacon kneeling on the floor barely dared to breathe. "By the time our scouts reached Sea Flavor Pavilion, that child had already left. According to the restaurant staff, he had a meal with seven young girls in blue-and-white battle skirts, then left in a carriage through the back door."

"Blue-and-white battle skirts?" Salas frowned and pondered for a few seconds. "Those are Skywater Academy uniforms! Did people from Skywater Academy take him away?"

He paced around the room several times before abruptly stopping. A shrewd gleam flashed through his cloudy old eyes. "Immediately send word to the nearby Spirit Hall branches. Tell them to closely monitor Skywater Academy's recent movements. If they spot a six-year-old child in a penguin outfit, do everything possible to recruit him, regardless of the cost!"

As for the spies from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, their method of tracking was more unusual than the other two groups'.

They did not follow Jiang Lan. Instead, they went directly to find the auntie selling grilled little yellow croakers.

The auntie described Jiang Lan's appearance in crystal-clear detail and also mentioned the girls in blue-and-white skirts. The spies immediately determined that they were from Skywater Academy.

Thus, three groups of people received nearly the same answer at almost the same time: Jiang Lan had left Vast Sea City with people from Skywater Academy.

When the supervisor heard the news, he was drinking tea, and it splashed all over his robe.

When Salas heard it, he was writing a letter, and he crumpled the paper into a ball.

Yet the person being frantically sought by all three forces was currently curled up in Skywater Academy's luxurious carriage, sleeping soundly with his head on Shui Bing'er's thigh.

Jiang Lan had a dream.

In the dream, he had returned to Sea God Island. Mama Bo Saixi stood at the entrance of Sea God Palace, waiting for him to eat.

The table was covered with grilled fish in garlic sauce, braised sea cucumbers, steamed king crab—every dish was one of his favorites.

He ran over excitedly and was just about to grab the biggest crab when Mama Bo Saixi suddenly lifted him up and smacked his backside.

"That's for sneaking off! That's for leaving without saying goodbye! That's for making me worry!"

He struggled desperately in the dream, shouting that he was sorry, Mama Bo Saixi, but her slaps only grew heavier, making him spin wildly in midair.

Then he woke up.

Jiang Lan groggily opened his eyes and found his face pressed against something soft.

He shifted his head slightly. The sensation against his cheek was soft and springy, carrying a faint fragrance.

Jiang Lan blinked, his vision gradually focusing. What entered his sight was a stretch of blue-and-white skirt fabric.